Volume 4.5 Chapter 5 Part 1

At the designated place, many students were crowded together.

I thought that some people would participate. Looks like it’s about half of the student body.

I had imagined a little more, but the uninterested students may have taken this as a chance to enjoy themselves at the pool while not many people were around.

Since participation was up to the student, how they used this day was also up to the student.

As if they were about to meet the cut-off time, the stage in front of us began to clamor.

It looked like the one to give the explanation would be 3-A’s homeroom teacher, Takatou-sensei.

It seemed like almost all of them had gathered, but Acting Director Tsukishiro and the advisor of 1-D, Shiba couldn’t be seen. If Shiba was working for that man again, then it’s no wonder he’s not here now.

In truth, Mashima-sensei, and Chabashira now know about him and his duties after all.

“Good morning everyone. It is now 10 o’ clock, so please allow us to end the selection with the students currently gathered here.”

Another teacher who had been standing by the entrance slowly closed the door.

Even if it was a game with optional participation, rules are rules.

If someone comes here one second late, they wouldn’t be allowed to participate.

“Before I start the explanation, I will first explain how we came to host this treasure hunting game. This treasure hunt was once again brought forth by the Student Council President Nagumo-kun. After being situated in that harsh island and competing with other school years, he proposed that recreation should be had in order to deepen friendship between one another. Nagumo-kun, if you please.”

Having been called by Takatou-sensei, Nagamo stood in front of the participants.

“This time, with the cooperation of the whole school, we are able to hold a bonus game. We arrived at this proposal from the learnings of the Student Council which seeks to enhance and uplift our school lives. On the Uninhabited Island Test, people from all school years have fought viciously many times, but in this treasure hunt one can select a partner regardless of school year. By all means, participate while maximizing that.”

While talking like a serious Student Council President, he brought his short speech to a close.

I remember him showing himself in front of us yesterday.

Ichinose was also among the Student Council members, listening as she sat by the side of the teachers.

As far as I can see from here, nothing about her has changed but…

The wound in her heart can’t be small. Right now, she’s acting naturally, but it’ll take some time for her to heal.

When that happens, she may lose the feelings of love she held or come to oppose me.

Regardless of how she will change, what’s for certain is that this will turn out to be a huge turning point for her in the future.

Nagumo’s greetings ended and he returned the mic to Takatou-sensei.

“Because the members of the Student Council will be administering this treasure hunt, they will not be able to participate. This duty will have them relinquish their holidays, so kindly treat them well.”

Starting with people like Horikita and Ichinose, several Student Council members stood gathered to Nagumo.

“With that, I will summarize the treasure hunting game. There are no complicated rules. It is an extremely simple game.”

Takatou-sensei raised his right hand. Between his thumb and pointer fingers was a square piece of paper. It looked to be about 5×5 centimeters large. 2D codes were printed on that paper.

“There are 100 seals on which these 2D codes have been drawn. They have been scattered all throughout the ship. Participants are to look for these seals in this treasure hunting game. When read by an exclusive app, private points are granted. However, the number of times they can be read by a single phone is only once. Because the result will be recorded on-site once accessed and the rewards will be given immediately, please be careful. Of course, if a 2D code that has already been used is scanned, even with another phone, it will be ineffective and rewards will not be given. Once again, those who selfishly peel off the seals or use something like a pen to make them unreadable will be punished severely even if it is a game, so please refrain from doing this.”

I see. It’s an extremely simple game that places value on luck.

“The private points that can be gained are at least 5000 points. 50 seals are assigned this value, exactly half of all of them. Then the next most plentiful are 30 seals with 10000 points.”

Unfortunately, half of the 100 seals would result in a loss of money.

And even if one finds a seal among the 30%, they wouldn’t gain anything.

“The classification of the remaining 20 seals are: 10 seals give 50,000 points, 5 seals give 100,000 points, and 3 seals give 300,000 points. The remaining two seals give 500,000 and 1,000,000 points. It could be said that as much as it is difficult to find a hidden 2D code, so it gives a proportionally large reward in private points.”

The fact that there will be 200 participants will mean that every one out of two people won’t get anything, and that if you find the hardest seal to find, you’d get 1,000,000 points, huh. Even from special tests this isn’t an amount one could get their hands on easily. This way it’s no wonder that half of the seals yield a net loss in money, but…

“For the 200 students who will participate, 100 seals have been prepared. We cannot avoid having students that will not receive anything. However, we have also prepared a way to avoid the risk. It is possible to make a pair with anyone regardless of the school years. If a code is scanned by a pair, then the rewards for that code, for example, 30,000 points, will be granted to each member of the pair.”

Which meant that if only pairs scanned the 100 codes, 200 people could be rewarded. The possibility of not receiving anything could be avoided very effectively.

If there were a demerit, then it would be if the pair found various 2D codes and disagreed on which code they should scan or something like that. A demerit along those lines existed, but the merit to forming a pair was high.

“Furthermore, the scope of the places on which the 2D codes have been placed has been decided beforehand.”

Though he said that it was spread all throughout the ship, of course, there are some places that can’t be infringed upon.

Takatou-sensei continued to explain using teh screen.

In a nutshell, 2D codes have obviously not been placed in toilets or lodgings, as well as floors and rooms reserved for personnel.

And they’re not being hidden on floors that students don’t have access to, either. It was always in public places. They emphasized that the scope was limited to the places students could access.

“Now – we will grant this.”

With that, the employees all started to distribute papers.

Before long I had received one which was folded into two layers.

It was a map of the ship with the areas of the seals being colored. Then a graphic and a letter that I wasn’t used to were recorded.

“Luck fundamentally plays a large role in this game. However, we have mixed in just a few elements that involve ability.”

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He’s probably referring to what was written in the maps we had received.

“There are three puzzle problems written here. Upon solving them you will learn the positions of the three places in which three codes are hidden. These places cannot be accessed as long as one does not solve the puzzles.”

Three 2D seals were prepared apart from the rest of the 100 seals, huh.

I skimmed through the three puzzles and placed the paper in my pocket.

“Participation registration will take 30 minutes starting now. Please indicate whether or not you will participate on your phones. Furthermore, if there is anyone whose phone is out of battery or in a similar situation, please report your concern to the nearby teachers.”

The students started to take out their phones and go to the reception desk one after another. Almost all of the students in this place are surely going to participate. The game ends at 5pm. We need to scan a 2D code within this time. Most people produced their phones, deciding to participate.

But with this many people here, the number of gazes directed at me is also the biggest for these past few days.

If the scale were this large, then students from other years would naturally also notice that they’re looking at something. As if they were coordinated, or they had been ordered to do this beforehand, when the students from other years started to trace where they had been looking at, their lines of sight would temporarily scatter and decrease.

It seems that they don’t want to publicize the fact that they’re monitoring me yet.

They’re preserving more effective opportunities, and opportunities that will allow them to damage me further.

As long as I don’t know what their final goal is, I need to avoid them well.

I’ll move with the assumption that all of the information about me has been leaked to them.

My girlfriend Kei is also among the participants, but we haven’t even met eyes.

After all, as long as our relationship is not known, I’m avoiding obvious eye contact.

Of course, we won’t make a pair either.

I usually don’t think about forming a pair with Karuizawa Kei in places like this, where we’re with familiar faces.

Then, Horikita took the mic and showed herself in front of the students.

“I am Horikita from the Student Council. I have a request to make of all the students who will participate. In order to make sure that no foul play will occur, please pay 10,000 points upon leaving the room and register your name under your year level. We will not acknowledge writing on someone else’s behalf or similar things whatsoever. After receiving your reward, please report back here until the test ends. If not, there is also a possibility that your rewards will be invalidated.”

There was no way to link students with this convenient system.

Because of that, it was possible for me to participate with a different phone. Putting aside the problems that would cause, it would certainly change the game from the way the rules intended it to be. But by forcing everyone to record their names upon designating their phones, each phone can be linked to its original owner. Even if I tried to receive the rewards using someone else’s phone, on the last check it would be seen as a violation of rules. Even if I wanted the owner of the phone to receive it, since their name wouldn’t be in the name registry it wouldn’t be acknowledged. The Student Council members and teachers coordinated and placed a table by the doorway.

It seemed that we would pay the participation fee and write our names under the appropriate school year there before leaving the room.

It was possible for people who didn’t pay the participation fee to download the app after all.

Those who finished installing the app left this room in order.

After I blended in and lined up, I finally reached Horikita who was manning the desk.

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“Your name here. Then we will collect 10,000 points.”

She spoke to me impersonally. I entered my name under the registry.

Then I went to the machine that would designate my phone and paid 10,000 points.

With this, I have officially entered the treasure hunting game.

“Next person.”

Horikita didn’t exchange any special words with me. I rode the flow and exited the room.