Book 14: Chapter 8: Intro - True Colors Revealed
The dawn of the seventh day. So far, I had accumulated a grand total of 67 points.
Hypothetically speaking, if a four-man group forewent all participation in Tasks and just focused on getting all of their Arrival Bonuses, they’d have 92 points. From that perspective, my score might make it seem like I was in a tough spot, but… there was more to this exam than that. My overall rank had been steadily going up these last few days, and I was now at 51st place. This helped illustrate just how difficult it truly was to continuously traverse the island without missing any designated areas.
Chances were that around half of all groups had pushed forward full steam ahead for the first three or four days until they exhausted their initial supply of food and water. And then, when their progress stagnated by the fifth day, they probably began setting their sights on the harbor to try and get back on their feet.
However, it wouldn’t be easy for a group to get back into perfect shape. The physical stress and fatigue that had been continuously building up wouldn’t go away immediately. There was also no getting around the mental burden that came hand in hand with the prospect of traveling long distances.
Furthermore, since they’d have no choice but to try and curb the loss of points from missing designated areas, they’d probably have to take alternative measures such as sending one of their fellow group members out on their own to reach designated areas. Though, while this would let them avoid the penalty, they’d be forced to give up on any Early Bird Bonuses and they’d only receive a one-point Arrival Bonus as well.
In comparison, I had successfully managed to conserve my energy. I felt just about the same as I did back when the exam started.
I was ready to step it up a notch now that we were moving into the second half of the battle.
In the meantime, Kōenji had been steadily pushing forward, and it didn’t seem like he would be slowing down anytime soon.
He was currently second place on the leaderboard, and only trailed behind the first place group, Nagumo’s, by a slim eight-point margin.