—

  —

  Barely ten minutes after the split, another green blip flashed on my tablet. I marked the timestamp and zoomed in on the location, which was near the centre of the map, close to Tylan’s route. A detour wouldn’t slow him much.

  Crouching by a stump, I keyed the walkie-talkie.

  “Tylan, I need you to shift course slightly about twenty degrees east. There is a new blip in your area.”

  Static, then his reply:

  “What’s the distance from me?”

  I tapped around the map, dragging the screen and using the measurement tool. “Two hundred metres.”

  “Got it,” he said and I watched as his marker edged east across the map.

  I adjusted my crouch, sitting back on one heel, and toggled the map's grid settings, switching to the smallest available scale: 20x20. The total map size was 400 hectares, a 2km by 2km square and with the 20x20 grid active, each grid block represented a 100m by 100m area, which was exactly the same size as each team’s site area.

  Next, I toggled the grid labels and the map transformed into a spreadsheet of terrain, columns marked A through T, rows 1 through 20. Each square now had a unique coordinate, which made giving directions significantly easier. Our two campsites, Site K and Site I sat at J7 and R7, about 800 metres apart.

  I quickly pinpointed my teammates’ current grid locations based on their markers: Tylan in M6, Kamaye at R12, Amara in L10, and Priya entering M12. The first blip had its centre in D18 and the new one lay in K7, right in Tylan’s path.

  I leaned back against a tree and pressed the walkie again.

  “Everyone, I’ve activated the 20x20 grid with coordinates. From now on, I’ll guide you using this layout.”

  I guided the team through their positions grid by grid, painting the terrain in their minds. A proper map briefing would have to wait until regrouping later tonight.

  Then another green circle appeared on the tablet inside my sector.

  

  The blip’s centre sat in S3, and I was on the edge of S6 less than 300 metres away. I opened the scan menu and triggered a Nearby Scan, spending 15 of our 50 points. A translucent wave expanded outward, covering up to S4.

  Nothing. No one else in range.

  Perfect.

  After a quick gear check, I moved out. The terrain was rough with jagged rocks, tangled roots, and ferns brushing my legs as I climbed over uneven ground. But within minutes, I reached the blip’s radius and pulled out the tablet. The moment I stepped inside, our points jumped by 20.

  “58 points now,” I murmured. “Tylan was the third to arrive at that blip.”

  Two other teams had beaten him there. That blip had spawned only about fifteen minutes ago. They were either already close to the area or had started splitting up the moment the exam began. Most likely they didn’t waste time assembling at a central base like we had.

  I made a mental note.

  With S4 secured and my arrival being the first, it was safe to assume no one else had ventured this far south yet. I turned to head back, then froze as I saw a dot blinking on the map in Q6 approaching my area.

  That was uncomfortably close to our camp’s vicinity.

  The nearby scan feature had done its job perfectly.

  Tracing their movement, I could see they were heading straight toward this blip. If they’d activated a scan, there was a good chance they’d already seen me.

  My first instinct was to intercept. If they were tracking me, I could mislead them and draw them away from camp. But another thought stopped me: what if they hadn’t used a scan at all? What if they didn’t even know I was here?

  A small smirk tugged at my lips. I still had over fifty minutes left on my nearby scan. No reason to waste it. Time to make the most of it.

  After checking my teammates’ positions, I adjusted course toward the projected intercept point: R5. As I neared, I slowed and slipped behind a thick tree for cover.

  There she was.

  A small girl moved cautiously through the terrain, a compact bag slung across her chest.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Souko Sekine. Year 10, Class 1. One of Tomiko’s team members.

  I stayed perfectly still as she passed, unaware of me. I’d made the right call. If I engaged her now, Tomiko would have been alerted I was here and might run an individual scan later, and if I was still in the vicinity, it wouldn’t take much for her to start connecting the dots. In the worst-case scenario, she could zero in on the location of our site.

  Her body language and movements confirmed my suspicion. She didn’t use a scan.

  She’d come from the northwest, which sparked a theory in my mind: perhaps Tomiko's team had set up camp somewhere in that quadrant of the map. I could remain near our own site for now, but I couldn’t ignore the possibilities that came next.

  If Souko reported the blip had already been claimed, Tomiko might get suspicious. She’d have two options: a nearby scan or a full map scan. The nearby scan I could handle by masking my position and relocating fast enough to avoid detection. But if she opted for a full map scan, things could get tricky.

  I waited until Souko was well out of range before moving again. Her marker on the tablet kept advancing toward the blip. Perfect.

  Sliding the tablet back into my pack, I started toward the eastern edge. My next destination was T7 which was right along the border of the map. From there, I’d still have line-of-sight coverage to our camp.

  Then the walkie-talkie crackled to life.

  “Diya, I think I stumbled upon a site,” Priya’s voice came through.

  I grabbed the radio. “Tell me everything you see.”

  While waiting, I checked her location on the map: G15, which was to the northeast.

  “I was investigating the surroundings and found the remains of a camp,” she said. “Whoever was here left recently.”

  I ran scenarios through my head, then keyed the mic again. “Try to find out where they went. Look for tracks or anything left behind. I’ve marked the site.”

  

  “Got it,” she replied, and then the line went silent.

  I lowered the walkie-talkie, thoughts churning. Whose site had she found? Hard to say without more intel.

  Adjusting my route toward R9, I decided to sweep the area before circling back to base just in case someone had looped in from the east while I was focused on Souko.

  I checked the time: 9:25 a.m.

  Only twenty-five minutes since the first blip had appeared.

  Yeah… it was going to be a long day.

  —

  —

  The forest at night cast an eerie atmosphere, like something straight out of a horror movie.

  Priya was the last to return, slipping into camp just before 9:45 p.m., cutting it close. Her glasses fogged from the temperature drop, and she admitted her vision had started to blur. That was all I needed to hear; next time, I’d recall her earlier.

  We sat in a circle, a small battery lamp casting a pale golden glow over our faces and the forest floor. The lamp was one of the few items we’d bought using our points. I’d just finished explaining the grid system, tracing lines in the dirt while cross-referencing the map on my tablet.

  Throughout the day, I’d started to piece together a few interesting details about this special exam that were not included in the manual.

  First was the delivery system. When we purchased items with our points, they weren’t sent out immediately. Instead, the school dispatched them on a two-hour cycle. It made sense from a logistical standpoint; batching deliveries meant less strain on their systems but for us students, If we needed something urgently, we had to anticipate that need hours in advance.

  Second were the pickup points. Instead of risking exposure by delivering to our camp, items were dropped at six neutral locations around the map. We could choose which one to use for each order.

  And finally, the feature usage. It was technically possible to clear the exam without using any, though it would demand far more effort. If that route was viable, it might be a path worth taking… at least until the swap.

  At exactly 10:30 p.m., the tablet refreshed. The leaderboard appeared, and the name of the leading team lit up in bold.

  A quiet murmur spread through the group.

  “This is quite a start,” I muttered with a smirk, arms crossed as I stared at the screen. “Savannah.”

  The screen lingered on Savannah’s name for thirty seconds before the rest of the rankings appeared beneath it in descending order. My eyes scanned the list.

  “Fourth place, huh?” I exhaled, tracing our name on the tablet. Tomiko sat in second, and Ran in third, with Natsumi and Ayaka rounding out the bottom.

  Natsumi’s placement caught me off guard, but I wasn’t concerned. The board didn’t show how wide the point gaps were, so for all I knew, we could be just a few steps behind the top.

  Natsumi’s placement was unexpected, but the board didn’t show point gaps—we could be just a few steps behind the lead.

  Day one was for observation, positioning pieces and gathering data.

  Tomorrow, it will be time for me to start making adjustments and taking action.

  —

  —

  The first day is officially behind us. I’ve decided to keep a daily record of everything. This exam rewards information just as much as action, and I want to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Here’s the summary of Day One:

  LEADERBOARD (10:30 PM Update):

  1st – Team Savannah

  2nd – Team Tomiko

  3rd – Team Nagamine

  4th –

  5th – Team Natsumi

  6th – Team Ayaka

  BLIP DATA (Location – Time Spawned – Points Earned by Us):

  D18 – 9:00 AM – 0 pts

  J8 – 9:10 AM – 10 pts

  S3 – 9:15 AM – 20 pts

  M18 – 11:00 AM – 5 pts

  I1 – 11:05 AM – 5 pts

  Q15 – 11:20 AM – 10 pts

  A19 – 11:35 AM – 5 pts

  K16 – 11:40 AM – 5 pts

  T5 – 11:45 AM – 5 pts

  M3 – 1:20 AM – 15 pts

  R4 – 1:40 AM – 20 pts

  L17 – 1:50 AM – 5 pts

  G1 – 2:15 AM – 15 pts

  D20 – 4:10 AM – 15 pts

  S3 – 4:35 AM – 15 pts

  A9 – 4:40 AM – 5 pts

  C6 – 4:45 AM – 10 pts

  A19 – 5:50 AM – 5 pts

  F11 – 6:20 AM – 5 pts

  L19 – 7:40 AM – 5 pts

  A12 – 7:50 AM – 5 pts

  I9 – 8:10 AM – 15 pts

  L6 – 8:25 AM – 20 pts

  G6 – 8:30 AM – 15 pts

  POINTS SUMMARY:

  

• Starting Balance:
• Blips Collected:
• Totem Captures:
• Bonus Points:

  EXPENSES:

  

• Items Purchased (80 pts):
• Food Packs – 20 pts
• Bottled Water – 15 pts
• Lantern – 7 pts
• Flashlight – 15 pts
• Batteries – 8 pts
• Pot – 5 pts
• Stove – 10 pts

Features Purchased (65 pts):

Two-Way Walkie-Talkies – 50 pts

Nearby Scan – 15 pts

Points Lost from Captured Totem:

Penalties:

  FINAL TALLY:

  

• Total Points Earned:
• Total Spent:
• Overall Total Points: