I woke up…..

The atmosphere was still very quiet, I looked around and found all my friends still sleeping in their dreams.

I looked at the digital watch on my arm and found that it was still 3.15 am, way too early for someone to wake up since they had fallen asleep.

The average time humans fall asleep is 6-8 hours a day, it is a normal time for the body to rest and restore energy that was wasted during daily activities.

I try to close my eyes again and try to sleep for at least 2 hours.

Right after I closed my eyes, a certain memory flashed… no, I'm not sure I've ever had this memory or experienced this… what— was this a dream?

No, this is the path in the forest that I walked a while ago.

I stood facing the depths of the forest to the north…

This place was just like the place I had been before—, huge trees with many branching branches forming like an irregular spider web. All the trees are like a big wall with a scary feature.

The tree trunks seemed to move in the direction of the wind, away from a single point—, or perhaps a place….

In the midst of it all… I could sense the presence of something foreign. Crawling from the bottom of the dark abyss of the night, beyond the limits of my knowledge…. In the darkness there, I tried to reach for something.

My body moves on its own, my heart beats fast, and I feel a little short of breath. A tense atmosphere in the middle of an unknown cursed forest. It's like an endless nightmare that has haunted humans since the first time they existed.

I aimed my flashlight trying to penetrate the night between the trees with the available lighting.

I could feel something creeping out like an object or something alive struggling to be grabbed.

Walk and try to get closer…

The steps I took were as heavy as the ones I felt last night.

Without realizing it… a mysterious and annoying terrifying voice, was deafening, too ugly, bad, very annoying to hear.

I closed my eyes and covered my ears. Feels like I want to rip my eardrums apart and seal them with nails rather than being forced to hear this ugly and disgusting voice, I'd rather break my brain and stop thinking than remember what I just heard.

From the midst of it all, a vision...

I saw some of my classmates hanging in front of an old house, on a cliff overlooking the sea. I saw the horrific and the most heinous thing to behold, as if repeating the history of the cruelest human in the Middle Ages. The torn stomach was forced, remove the intestines, hanging right there, swaying in the sea breeze from the other side. It was a very disgusting sight to remember.

When I was stunned to witness the scene before my eyes, something black and huge, appeared from behind the old house, from under the cliff, a giant black hand slid towards me with a constant speed that even exceeds the speed of the human eye's retina in capturing moving objects.

The hand grabbed me, with terrible force, slowly crushing me like a toy.

My consciousness disappeared completely, as my entire body crumbled.

"Ah-,"

I woke up, my whole body in a cold sweat.

In the midst of the calm of the night, only the sound of irregular gasping was heard, my body was a little stiff, remembering what I saw in the strange dream I had just now.

The sound of the nocturnal grew louder and louder. It was so strong that it pierced my ears. Strangely, it looked like I was the only one who heard it, my friends were still fast asleep at the moment. Didn't feel the slightest bit of strangeness shown by nature.

The sound of the little nocturnal animals seemed to be intertwined, at the same time, it sounded like a call to something foreign in the darkness of the night.

I desperately tried to cover my ears with both hands.

My body started to hurt with the hard ground as a bed making my current situation uncomfortable.

I looked at my watch and found that it was 4.15 am, an hour had passed since I woke up from a terrifying cruel dream.

A few minutes later, the sounds of the wild animals calmed down again, suggesting a more normal night atmosphere.

I stretched my body and took a deep breath.

There's something strange just now, to me…. no—, somehow my instincts tell me, something bad is going to happen… it's even happening right now.

I closed my eyes one last time. Fatigue really peaked and my body felt weak. I covered my eyes with my arms and fell asleep, hoping this time nothing weird happened again.

on and half hours later, I woke up as if nothing had happened.

The morning sunlight penetrated the thin fabric of the tent tarpaulin and reached my body, giving warmth to the whole tent.

I looked around, only a few people were left in the tent.

Among them was Yamuchi who was sleeping soundly at the end.

last night, Karuizawa said that Yamauchi and Ike were trying to peek at the girls who were using the toilet.

As Karuizawa shouted at the two of them, Yamauchi and Ike ran towards the forest. Well, even though I tried to trace them into the forest, and got no results. I'm thankful that the two of them didn't get lost into the forest in the middle of the night.

I came out of the tent and found that most of my classmates had started their normal activities.

Ike, who cleaned the remains of the pile from firewood last night using plastic trash bags, some girls who took water from the river only to boil it later so that it could be drunk, and Hirata who was seen chatting as usual with Karuizawa.

I went to the river and washed my face.

I feel a little tired, due to the lack of sleep and nightmares that I had last night.

The calm water, reflecting my face above the surface of the water.

I remembered what Chabashira-sensei said in the reception room back then. And so, the burden on my shoulders are getting heavier.

"To protect your freedom ... then you have to throw away that freedom too,"

I muttered softly, small drops of water falling from my hair and touching my hand.

"Oh, you're here, Ayanokouji-kun."

Hirata came towards me with his usual cheerful expression.

"Hirata, what's wrong?"

"Erm, so you see, we need more firewood to make a campfire for tonight, can you look for firewood in the forest again? Like before, your help back then was very helpful."

Probably Hirata talks about how I went to get firewood in the forest when our camp was first set up. Hirata asked me to find some firewood to make a campfire, of course, he suggested inviting some people to come along, but at that time only Sakura wanted to help me happily.

"Okay, I'll invite Sakura too."

Wow, I didn't even realize I just mentioned her name. Well, there's no one else I can get along with other than Sakura, Horikita, and the three idiots.

Hirata smiled at me and thanked me before leaving.

Now, it's time to work.

I went to call Sakura, who was seen sitting alone beside the women's tent. She quickly came towards me like a dog that was just called by her master.

I explained to her that I needed help finding firewood and she says she would be more than happy to help out.

Now that Sakura has come, I wondered if Yamauchi wouldn't come with me?

On the previous day, he refused me when I asked, but when he saw Sakura, he would come and help me.

I looked around, but couldn't find his whereabouts ... is he still asleep in the tent? Or it's possible that he already wake up and went fishing with Ike and Sudou.

Sakura and I went into the forest leaving our camp. There's no need to go too far from the camp so we won't get lost later.

Sakura and I scattered about gathering firewood, thinking it would end quickly, I started to take the wood that I could find around one by one.

I remembered what Ike said, you need wood that is completely dry and not wet to use for campfires. Come to think of it, the wood here is a little wet and I'm sure it won't be of any use to set up a campfire.

"Em ... Ayanokouji-kun."

"Hm?"

Sakura pulled my sleeve and called me, for some reason her behavior was so cute, I couldn't help but look at her.

Being alone with a girl like Sakura makes my heart beat a little bit faster,

She shows concern, from seeing her come back to me without carrying a single wood in her hand proves that she also thinks the same as what I think.

"Umm, the wood here is all wet ... I couldn't find anything we could use."

I nodded in agreement with her.

I could only find some really dry wood and to be honest it wouldn't be enough to use tonight.

The land around here does look a little wet ...

Maybe if we walked a little further into the forest it would get more satisfying results.

"Looks like we have to go a little deeper, how about you Sakura? Will you accompany me a little longer. "

It will be a long and time-consuming journey, as we will enter deeper into the forest, and there is a chance that the ground a few meters from here will be wet. So it wouldn't be surprising if we picked up wood far away or near class B camp.

"Eh, um, s-sure! Yes! I will keep you company."

"Are you sure? You don't have to force yourself on me. "

"Y-yaa, it's okay," she tried to calm herself down. "Besides, I want to be alone with you a little longer."

"Eh, did you say something?"

I'm sure I heard Sakura muttering something, but when I asked her, her face started to turn red like a tomato that has started to ripen.

"N-nothing!"

Since she strongly denies it, I will not question it any further. What matters now is finding wood for the campfire.

Passing through the trees and bushes, Sakura and I continued walking while looking to see if there was any wood that could be used.

Throughout the trip hardly any of us spoke, and to be honest, that was kind of forward. I don't know how far we walked, but it looks like we are very far from our camp.

'Crack!'

"Hmm?"

I looked at my feet and found a tree branch that broke after I stepped on it.

I took the branch of the tree and tried to observe it, well, this is a good wood for making campfires.

"The land around here seems fine, let's split up here, Sakura."

"Hmm!"

The two of us then split up to collect the wood that we could find around us. We'd better get back quickly before the morning attendance passes.

"This is enough, we better go back."

I've collected dozens of firewood and tree branches that I can find and tied them together using the small rope that I brought.

Sakura was the same too, she lifted the pile of wood that was carried with her two hands, it was quite heavy and I was worried that those two soft and charming hands would be hurt later.

"Give half of the wood you brought to me."

"Eh, for what?"

"Just give it."

I forcefully took some of the wood Sakura was carrying and then tied them together. Now I carry two ties of firewood in my hands.

"It must be tough on you."

"N-no, you don't need to bother ..."

Although she shook her head, happiness could be seen on her face. That cute smile will make any boy's heart race.

The two of us walked back to where our camp was.

As I thought, it's quite a distance. Looks like we've gone deep into the forest. Plus the awkward atmosphere between me and Sakura really made my stomach hurt.

To break the silence, let's have a little chat with her.

"Sakura, what do you think of this special exam?"

Well, I was surprised by how my pathetic self chose the most boring topic of conversation. But this is all that can cross my head.

"Eh, um .."

Sakura looked confused by my question.

"Umm, in my opinion, this is a troublesome test for me ..."

She lowered his head and tried to speak honestly.

"I... I'm not used to doing things like this. I-I mean, different from Ike-kun and the others, I don't have any experience with camping and survival thing... And also regarding my ability to social."

I seem to understand what she is trying to say.

Sakura is someone who is anti-social, she can't interact with other people well. Just like a baby bird that afraid to fly, afraid to make decisions alone.

Just like me, Sakura and I have absolutely no knowledge about something like this. Never crossed our minds that one day we will live in this place. As someone who always lived in the city and away from the interior of the forest, it was only natural.

Plus, Sakura is a girl. In contrast to boys, girls usually have special needs as well as different problems from boys.

"I understand, Sakura. We're both the same. "

"Eh?"

I turned a little and looked into Sakura's eyes.

"I'm the same, I'm not used to living in a place like this. I thought that people like Ike who were used to this exam, then Hirata and Kushida uniting the class were the ones who were more needed. But that doesn't mean we should be discouraged by seeing it all. "

I paused for a moment from my steps and once again looked into Sakura's eyes firmly.

"In a test like this, no matter how good they all are, in the end, you will depend on your classmates to stick around together. Therefore, the existence of classmates is needed. I think you're great too Sakura. You are now willing to help me gather wood for the campfire, and you have hereby assisted our classmates. I am very grateful. And because of that, let's go through this special test with the others. "

I didn't need to say anything exaggerated or something made up of lies to encourage Sakura.

I want her to be grateful, that there is someone who needs her.

Sakura smiled with satisfaction at my words. At least the burden on her shoulders has decreased and I hope she is more confident.

We continued walking, not far from here we would arrive at the class D camp.

I felt Sakura who was behind me glancing at me for some reason, her wobbly eyes turning her gaze repeatedly between me and around her.

"Erm, I thought Ayanokouji-kun ar—, ahh."

I felt something slowly hit me from behind, it was Sakura.

She must be confused about why I stopped my steps in silence, and it made her accidentally bump into me.

"A-ayanokouji-kun?"

Putting my finger in front of Sakura's lips, I gestured for her not to make a sound for a moment.

I glanced behind Sakura, between the trees, I felt something was watching us.

My body got chill ...

The feelings I felt last night started to come back.

This is something different, it's looking to us with really malicious and evil intentions. This was even scarier than the killing intent of a human being simply to intimidate his opponent.

If this was a wolf pack, then they shouldn't scare off their prey by making them aware of their existence.

Looks like Sakura felt it too. She was restless and her legs were shaking, I could also hear her gasping breath.

She glanced at me, her trembling lips slowly opening and as if she was about to speak, but it seemed like she was gripped by the fear she was experiencing.

Whatever is watching us right now, is not a human. If he was, then he really did show off an evil and detestable aura.

I've never faced a situation like this in my life.

"Sakura, keep walking, and don't look back,"

I whispered softly to Sakura who was beside me. She nodded and walked past me. Her legs were shaking, I tapped her shoulder once and reassured her.

I followed Sakura from behind and we slowly lifted our heavy legs from the terrible pressure of something.

"Oh!"

Perhaps due to the intense pressure, Sakura shivered with fear and was about to collapse. So I kept her from falling by lifting her arm slowly.

This situation is annoying, I really want to scream and face something that's watching us in this really bad way.

A strange sound began.

It was like the sound of footsteps, moving pretty fast, not running... felt like they were coming from behind us.

The wind in this area was blowing so hard that the surrounding trees swayed as if they were about to collapse, as if nature itself welcomed the arrival of stranger beings who huddled between nights.

'Dag'

My heart was beating fast and it felt like the time was slowing down.

That's right, I felt something now moving quickly.

Shit!

It's close!

I took Sakura's hand and pulled her walking faster.

"Put down the tree firewoods and anything you gathered right now and—

"Run!"