Another Like Me - Part I (CoTE x OC) ?

Chapter 14 - Deserted Island Special Test, Part 1

I followed the path into the forest, and I could make out a small camp out ahead in the clearing. It was a relatively good place that our Class had stumbled across. There was a small stream flowing right next to the where the tents had been set up, and we were relatively at the center of the island, albeit a bit closer to the beach on the south. We could possibly save a lot of Points not having to buy drinking water if the water from the stream was potable. There was a small checkpoint in the area, at the center, which I assumed was how you occupied spots.

"Hurry up, Takeyama-kun! Occupy the spot already!", Ike shouted over. 

"We cannot occupy a spot so carelessly, Ike-kun", Horikita snapped back, "what if there are spies around us in the trees, waiting for the moment our leader swipes the card? He would instantly be revealed. We must take caution while renewing our spots. And also, don't throw out the leader's name so carelessly. Even the trees have ears."

"Oh, sorry, my bad", Ike grumbled, and he set out towards the rest of where the class was gathered.

"Everyone, I have a very simple strategy to hide our leader's identity while renewing our spots."

"What is it?", Sudo asked excitedly. It was the first time I had seen him like this. Maybe love does this to you. Oh well.

"Every time we need to renew our spot, we can all gather around the checkpoint, and have our leader swipe their card. In that case, even if someone is watching us, they wouldn't know who the real leader is", Horikita explained her plan.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea!", Hirata said, and everyone instantly agreed to this idea.

We gathered around the checkpoint, all 40 of us, and I took out the keycard from my pocket, and swiped it over the machine. It emitted a satisfactory 'KA-CHING!', and an 8 hour timer started, indicating that Class D now possessed full authority over this spot.

"Well, I guess that's that then!", Hirata said cheerfully.

"Yosuke, I think we should fan out and start searching for other suitable spots immediately. I strongly believe that playing defensive in this exam will not get us anywhere. We must be proactive and try to find out the topography of the island as quickly as possible", I said.

"You make a good point, Keisuke, but won't it become obvious to the rest of the classes that you're the leader if you keep going around searching for spots to occupy?", Chiaki had spoken for the first time on the island.

"I didn't say we had to occupy spots", I corrected her, "all we have to do is move around the entire island and try to map it out as well as possible. I know it is hard to do that initially, but later on as the week progresses, having a layout of the entire island will be very beneficial while moving around and also detecting other class's movements."

"That sounds like a good plan", Yukimura said, "I think we should split into 4 groups of 10 each, and go in each of the cardinal directions. We'll meet back here by around 4pm. Try to map out the island and also bring along some fruits and berries on the way. We need to keep check of our food situation as well." Everyone was satisfied with the plan, and we split up into 4 groups and headed out from the main base camp.

My group headed out to the north. The wind in my face from up ahead indicated that there might be a clearing or a slope in the vicinity. I kept my eyes peeled for anything that I deemed remotely useful. We had come across 3 more occupiable spots. They were certainly not suitable for a base camp, but it wasn't too far from our base, at around 300m. We could definitely claim this spot and seal ourselves some bonus points later on.

My group consisted of Ayanokoji, Ike and Chiaki in the lead. The rest of my group followed us from behind. Chiaki pulled me aside from the main group and slowly whispered to me.