"Where have you been before?"

I returned to my tent and was greeted by Horikita who was seen sitting quietly near the girls' tent.

Her behavior was a bit strange, she looked at me with a look full of suspicion that made me feel uncomfortable.

Has she been waiting for me? Is there anything she wants to talk to me about?

"I went looking for firewood with Sakura a while ago."

Ugh!

I answered her question but what's with that expression, Please stop it, don't look at me with that flat and creepy face.

"What's up?"

"Hmm? What do you mean by "What's up"? "

"It's just that I feel uncomfortable the way you look at me right now."

Horikita looked at me, for some reason I felt déjà vu... when have I ever experienced the same thing before like this?

However, it seems like she is lonely because there is no me around. Somehow I wanted to try to tease her but it would end badly... right?

Wow, after what I went through earlier, I couldn't believe I could be this calm.

Horikita looked away from me, she seemed to be thinking about something that made her feel uncomfortable. Somehow her attitude now is not like the Horikita I know.

"You seem to be thinking about something, did anything happen?"

Once again I called her, she narrowed her eyes at me, then her expression began to soften as if she was worried.

"Nothing... recently I was just feeling a little anxious."

Anxious?

Is her condition getting worse?

Since this special exam started, I know about Horikita's condition. She is sick. Instead of reporting her condition to school, she decided to fight this exam and endure her illness for a week until this exam is over.

Retire will end up reducing class points, and she's very worried about that. She didn't want to lose any more class points.

I put my hand on her forehead and try t—

Eh?

"What ... are you doing?"

Why?

Is it possible ... this fast?

Perhaps because of my strange act, Horikita forcefully brushed my hand off her forehead.

I stared at my hand for a moment, then looked back at Horikita. For some reason, her cheeks were slightly flushed.

"What is wrong with you?"

"No ... are you really fine?"

"Hah? What do you mean? I've been like this for a long time. I am fine."

That's weird, Horikita should be currently sick.

But when I tried to check her temperature, it was strangely normal. She didn't have any fever. Normally, without proper rest and supportive nutrition, you will not recover easily from a fever, it can last for days.

But Horikita, after three days of surviving on this island without a comfortable bed, pressed by the cold temperature at night, did not eat any food or medicine that supported the body's healing process, she was completely healed now as if a god had blessed her.

No, forget the nonsense about gods .. there could be some logical reasons to support this explanation. Maybe all this time Horikita had been resting well.

"Heh ... by the way Ayanokouji-kun, have you ever had a dream that makes you afraid... and feer?"

Dream?

Horikita looked at me deeply, her usually firm and calm eyes showing something worrying.

I had a strange dream before, and it really gave me a lot of mental pressure. And also the incident that I experienced recently really attacked common sense.

I don't believe in supernatural things, or ghosts and the like, they don't exist. It is just a hallucination of someone's fear arising indirectly from their subconscious.

But still, even now I can't find any plausible reason for what happened just a moment ago to me and Sakura.

"What do you mean? What kind of dream do you mean? "

Then, let's hear what kind of dream Horikita had.

"... That-"

I walked through the forest once again.

Previously I talked to Hirata and said that I will report to the School regarding Chabashira-sensei and morning attendance.

Until 2.40 PM we didn't get any further information from the school, it made Hirata a little worried and asked me to go report to the school.

Hirata had asked me one more time to invite a few people to go together, but I refused. The reason for that is because I wanted to confirm a few things before going to report to the school.

I walked south to where the teacher was and the ship was anchored, but in the middle, I took a detour and went in another direction.

After walking for a while, I arrived at my destination.

"There really isn't a single student here ..."

I arrived at class B camp.

Yesterday, Horikita and I went to class B camp, Kanzaki showed us the way and Ichinose greeted us kindly.

But now I can't see a single human existence here.

I've felt something strange since I went looking for firewood with Sakura. The place where we collect firewood is close to the spot belonging to class B.

I felt something strange at that time...

It was silent, there was only the sound of a waterfall and the splashing of water which was quite heavy because of it.

At that time I wanted to check the state of class B but I had to collect firewood first. And in the middle, we were forced to return to the camp quickly after feeling something bad like something very evil haunt us from afar.

I started walking through class B camp

Besides the abandoned tents and camp equipment, personal belongings such as student bags and cooking utensils such as knives were also here.

It was as if the entire Class B students had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

It's also possible that they were going somewhere and leaving their belongings here. But where and what are the reasons behind Class B's actions?

Even though the school says that stealing other class belonging is a crime and the taking class will be getting some penalty, it is still a reckless act for a leader like Ichinose, by leaving the camp spot completely unattended.

So, a reason that made the most sense to me was that all the class B students decided to leave their camp for some reason.

But why?

There was no sign of an accident or anything related to danger. Everything looks normal, the tents are still standing and items such as student bags are still here.

Have they decided to retire like class C?

If so, that means they have decided to give up on this exam.

I checked one by one the bags belonging to the students of class B in their tent and tried to find clues.

Among the student bags in the girls' tent, I found a card with the name "Chihiro Shiranami" engraved on the card. This is the key card that a leader should have.

Can it be concluded that this student named Chihiro is the leader of class B? If so, I managed to find some useful information.

With this, I managed to find out the name of the leader of class B.

But if I wrote the name of the leader of class B at the end then it would be the same as our class betraying the cooperative alliance we had formed.

... Well.. also if this exam is still running normally

"Hmm?"

I looked at the large rock near the waterfall.

A connection device with a monitor is attached. This is the same tool that is used to occupied a spot using a keycard.

"What?!"

The monitor screen which should display spot ownership information says "Not Occupied"

Why don't they occupy this spot in the morning?

That meant the class B students had left their camp in the morning and had gone somewhere. But until now they haven't returned.

If they retire and return to the ship, why don't they bring their personal belongings like bags and clothes?

All of these things are so abnormal. I don't know what happened but the only solution, for now, is to report to the school about this.

As I was deep in thought, the same feelings I felt before is back.

I turned my body and faced deep into the forest to the south.

It is here...

It is coming ...

Something was waiting for me behind the dense forest, watching me, openly showing Its most evil and disgusting presence.

I grabbed the kitchen knife stuck in the cutting board on the table near the tent and walked back into the forest.

I've finished my business here, now all I have to do is return to the ship where the teachers are.

The feeling of being watched grew stronger in me. That thing boldly showed its presence towards me as if to say, I'm here, find me... or so I should say.

Different from before, I strengthened my guard and made sure to be realistic even in this kind of situation.

I try to remember what had happened so far. Layout scenario after scenario and try to look for clues and draw conclusions.

The first incident, at night on the third day of the exam on an uninhabited island. It was the first time I felt Its presence. At first, I thought it was a wild animal, but it's impossible considering this island doesn't have wild animals like wolves.

Putting aside the nightmare I had at night, the second strange incident happened when I was gathering firewood in the forest with Sakura.

My previous guess of wild animals like wolves reappeared considering the mysterious footprints that sounded around us at that time.

But from the sound of its steps, it couldn't be an animal or a human.

The third strange incident, Chabashira is not seen in her post in the morning. Usually, the teachers from each class will be in their posts which are set up near our spot and she will come to do routine absence every 8 am and at night. Until now we still not get any further information about what happened to the school.

The fourth strange incident, all class B students just disappeared. There was no sign that anything dangerous had happened in the B class camp which made them all just run away. Personal belongings such as bags and changing clothes are still left behind, tents are still standing normally and do not look damaged, and the weirdest part is the unoccupied spots in the morning ... indicating that class B has left this place in the morning before the schedule occupied spot is reset.

All of these strange occurrences indicate that something has gone wrong with the current course of the special exam.

If this was one of the school games... no. It doesn't make any sense.

However, the only option at this time was to make sure this incident became known to the school.

"!"

My legs feel heavy again.

My body organs were thrashing with anxiety.

Without covering up, It showed off its disgusting existence, so disgusting that it pissed me off a little.

Disgusting because It firmly placed its lust on me. As if I was delicious food for It to eat.

I stopped from my steps and I felt something strange around me.

The surrounding trees were swinging in a very strange pattern as if they were waiting for me to walk deeper into the forest.

When I walked again, the trees felt like they were moving closer to me. One step, two steps, it was really like I would be crushed by the sturdy tree trunks if I got any closer.

Normally, plants cannot move on their own. Unlike other living things that have legs and arms and make it easy for them to move around, plants, although they are also living things, should not be able to move or move places by themselves. And usually, they will move in the direction of the sun's rays but still in their normal position.

It's like an illusion.

I tried to calm myself down.

Slightly adjusting my posture and clearing my thought, I tried to feel It presence again.

"Who?"

I try to talk and play with whoever has been watching me.

But no matter how long I stared at this forest filled with trees that could be up to 4 meters high, I didn't get anything in return.

I'm starting to think what I've been through all this time is just my imagination, if so, then I'm grateful for that.

I don't want to think that ghosts or anything like that actually exists.

"Sigh"

I sighed and my head looked up at the sky. For some reason, the weather was cloudy right now.

No, this is not just my imagination.

Once again I looked into the depths of the forest

It's different, it's like you're actually dealing with some hideous ghost or an unknown creature.

Then if that was true, I would have to act as if such creatures really did exist.

This time I spoke and added a little emphasis to my tone.

"Show yourself!"

"Here—"

Behind you