The Hunt

The bell rang, finally releasing us for lunch. My hunger was getting the best of me, I hardly paid any attention during math class. Whoever created the schedule and placed math right before lunch was the devil. Thankfully, the bell gave me reprieve.

Still being ignored by all my “friends” another lonesome lunch was in my immediate future. Not that I wasn’t used to it, my friendless middle school life prepared me for these moments, eating lunch along every day.

“Not so fast everyone,” Ms. Kurokawa said, promptly ending the mass migration of students from the classroom to the cafeteria and other desirable lunch locations. “Everyone back in your seats, I have an announcement to make.”

No one dared to question her. With summer break right around the corner we had all been here long enough to know not to cross her. I especially knew not to, no matter how hungry I was. I still hadn’t shed the “class clown” label from day one and was now the lowest ranked student in the class. Speaking out and getting verbally berated by Ms. Kurokawa given my already fragile social standing would be full social suicide. I’ve never had many friends but actively ruining my chances of making any would be foolish.

“What’s the deal Ms. Kurokawa,” Ryu spoke up. There were no social implications for him, he already had his established clique and was the top rated student in Class A.

“Pipe down Takanashi, just let me talk. Today I’ll be explaining the next class rank examination, from here on out known as ‘The Hunt.’”

So it was finally time for another rank examination. Aside from the first month trial tournament and then year end ranking tournament, class ranking examinations were completely at the discretion of the teachers. Classes could have any number of ranking examinations, or just the two required, all depending on what the teachers decided. Ms. Kurokawa choosing to have one shortly before summer break surprised me, since a lot of kids, myself included, already started having summer brain.

Thankfully, I think my few weeks of training with Sakura were starting to pay off. I still wasn’t able to take her down even on a semi-consistent basis, but I had gotten the best of her a few times. Luck or skill? Probably luck, but I liked to believe it was skill.

“Long story short, this will be a type of scavenger hunt,” Ms. Kurokawa continued as she floated handouts to all of us. Even months into school I still wasn’t used to her using magic to hand out papers. “This will be a bit different from the first month trial. This exam is about much more than raw magic prowess, you’ll actually have to use your brains. So I’m not sure how some of you will fare.”

As always, Ms. Kurokawa pulled no punches. I looked at the handout which just floated to my desk. It contained the rules for “The Hunt.”

- Each team will consist of two students from Class A, and four students from classes B, C, and D. 

- Each team will be randomly assigned one traitor, while the remaining thirteen students will work together.

- The Hunt will last exactly one week. Friday July 16th at 11:59 PM to Friday July 23rd at 11:59 PM. Teams will be able to accumulate or lose points during this time frame. 

- The team with the most points at the close of the competition will be deemed the winner. In the case of a tie, the team with a worse average class rank will be deemed the winner. Benefit goes to the worse off team. 

Point Scoring System (Team): 

- Obtaining an opposing teams statue: 100 points

- Obtaining an opposing teams statue and identifying the team captain: 500 points 

- Obtaining an opposing teams statue and incorrectly identifying the team captain: -350 points 

- Team statue is not captured: 250 points 

- Team statue is discovered: -100 points 

- Team statue and team captain discovered: -500 points 

- Correctly reporting traitor: 100 points 

- Incorrectly reporting traitor: -100 points 

Point Scoring System (Traitor): 

- No actions as traitor: equal to team points 

- Unreported as traitor: 500 points 

- Reported as traitor: -250 points

- Correctly identified team captain while team incorrectly identifies captain: 500 points 

Any actions not explicitly permitted by the rules of The Hunt are allowed.

The rules seemed straight forward enough. More importantly, unlike the first month trial, a classic every man for himself tournament, this examination required cooperation, specifically with other classes. Until now, I had practically no interaction with Class B, C, or D students in any capacity. Would we get along? How capable were the students of other classes? How were teams determined?

“How are we making teams?” Honoko asked perfectly on cue.

“As you all know, each class has a rank ladder for its students. Starting with the top ranked student in the class, each student will get to pick a partner. So in our case, Takanashi you will get first choice on a partner. If Takanashi does not pick Shiina as his partner, she will have the next pick. If he does pick her, then Kuno has the next pick, and so on. The full teams of 8 will be randomized, so the only choice students get to make is their classmate partner.”

It was an interesting drafting scheme. Of course, as the lowest ranked student in the class, I would get no say in who my partner would be.

“I will point out, although the point system is objective, team composition plays a role in any tiebreakers and subjective rulings. If a team with a worse average rank finishes with the same number of points as a team with a better average rank, the worse ranked team will place higher. Keep that in mind when selecting partners.”

Ms. Kurokawa added yet another twist. Now, Ryu picking Shinobu seemed extremely unlikely. The consequences of placing poorly with the two highest ranked first year students on the same team were too great. Even before the examination began students had to plan their moves meticulously. The logical choice for Ryu would be Hikari despite Hikari’s high rank. The two were pretty much polar opposites in demeanor, yet Hikari slid into the role as Ryu’s right hand man seamlessly. Who would I end up with? Would someone ranked as highly as Yukino or Shinobu select me to intentionally lower their average rank?

“I hope you all read the rules, because these papers can’t leave the classroom. You’re all dismissed for lunch. After the afternoon classes I will begin our class drafting process.”

We were all dismissed for lunch, but the atmosphere was completely different from just moments ago. It was an indescribable feeling. It wasn’t nerves, but the tone shift was overtly apparent.

Thanks to the cafeteria being overly spacious I was able to find a table for myself. Since this school and the entire island was funded by the Apex Corporation, the budget was a total non-concern and space was aplenty. Halfway through my bowl of ramen I was interrupted by a soft and gentle voice.

“Hi Nakamura.”

Sakura stood before me, lunch tray in hand.

“Hi Sato, did you want to sit down?”

The question felt unnatural rolling off my tongue, but I couldn’t think of any other reason she would have come over. Even so, despite our growing “friendship”, if you could even call it that, we had never eaten lunch together or associated at school in any capacity outside of study sessions.

“If that’s okay…”

I gestured for her to take a seat. After a moments hesitation, she sat down across the table. On her tray was a salad, a nice assortment of fruit, and a bowl of miso soup. Hardly what I would consider a full meal and nothing compared to the behemoth bowl of ramen in front of me.

Sato wasn’t one for small talk, and I certainly wasn’t either. Together we ate in silence. Despite the silence, Sato’s facial expressions displayed the face that something was on her mind.

“Is something wrong, Sato?” I asked, letting my concern get the best of me.

“I’m just really nervous about this exam… an entire week working with people I don’t know…”

This test was truly unparalleled, a unique combination of magic, brain power, and teamwork. For those of lesser social aptitude such as myself and Sato, the teamwork portion would prove challenging.

“I’m sure you’ll be just fine. After all, not long ago we didn’t even know each other but look at us now, eating lunch together and talking about our concerns with each other.”

Sato’s face visibly reddened as she stared down at her tray of food. Maybe I said something I shouldn’t have.

“I guess you’re right…”

As quickly as the conversation started, it ended. We didn’t utter another word for the rest of lunch.

I didn’t pay any attention through all of the afternoon classes, my mind was wholly preoccupied with “The Hunt.” Even before knowing my teammates, I needed to develop some kind of strategy. Thankfully all my other teammates could compensate for my total lack of magic ability, but that didn’t mean I could slack off. Unfortunately, no form of strategy came to me.

“Alright we’re done for the day,” Ms. Kurokawa announced. “Make sure you all monitor your phones and the school app closely, you’ll receive updates on the examination through the app. All first year students will have all of next week off from class, so this is the last time we will meet as a group until next Friday night. The exam begins officially upon first notification at 6:00 PM and will run for exactly one week. Good luck everyone.” With class dismissed and nothing to do until the examination began, I headed back to my dorm room.

I dozed off at some point after arriving back to my room and was awoken by the ring and vibration of my phone. Still a bit groggy I checked the notification. It was an alert from the school app. The notification arrived right at 6:15 PM. I opened the app and read the message.

So I had been selected. It was only 6:15 PM, did everyone make their choices that quickly or was I possibly selected early in the draft process? There was no point in fretting over it, I’d know soon enough who selected me. My stomach growled at me as I continued to think about possible exam strategies. Fresh out of snacks in my dorm room and with time to kill, I headed to the food district to grab some dinner.

Just my luck. Even though the island wasn’t that big, there were still over 500 total students between the School of Magic and the School of Alchemy in addition to all the staff members and Apex Corporation employees, I still managed to run into Yukino and Emi. I felt so awkward seeing them my body almost physically cringed. Not speaking to them at school was easy enough, we all had to focus on our education after all. But seeing them in a casual public setting like this was a different story. Hopefully they didn’t feel as awkward as I did.

Emi was not subtle with her gestures. I watched from my table as she kept taking glances at me and pointing my way, as if to announce my presence to Yukino. Given her lack of subtlety, she was announcing my presence to everyone in a 15 meter radius. After getting their food, Yukino and Emi came towards my table. Emi’s look of joy perfectly contrasted Yukino’s face of disdain. Frankly, it was the first time I had ever seen her so expressive, and of course it was disdain, likely directed at me. Given their expressions, I drew the conclusion that Emi’s willpower finally won over Yukino’s.

“Hello Nakamura,” Yukino surprisingly spoke first.

“Heyo Nakamura! You mind if we join you?”

The fact that they were willingly associating with me was shocking. Ever since my pitiful fall to the bottom of the class totem pole I could probably count the number of times we had spoken on both hands. Did they have some kind of ulterior motive? Either way, I was in no position to reject this extended olive branch.

“Not at all, take a seat.”

Both Yukino and Emi took a seat across from me. Yukino’s disdain was already gone from her face, replaced by her typical emotionless expression.

“Are you excited for the test, Nakamura?” Emi was her typical, enthusiastic self. “I can’t wait to meet even more people!” How was it possible for someone to be so friendly and sociable?

“I’m more worried than anything,” I replied candidly. “It may be tough dealing with students outside of Class A. Plus, each team will have a traitor in it, that adds another twist to the exam.”

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that! Cooperation will yield everyone the best results!”

“The best results as a whole,” Yukino retorted. “But it’s a simple calculation. If the traitor is capable, they can easily earn the highest score in a group. That kind of reward would be enticing for anyone trying to rise the class ranks.”

Yukino brought up a good point. Since the traitor had to act alone from the rest of the group, the potential reward was very high. But on the flip side, the traitor also had a lot to lose. A high risk, high reward position.

“I swear you two are always such downers…”

Did I really deserve to be lumped into the same group as Yukino like that? Even so, I didn’t really consider Yukino as a “downer.” She was just a bit abrasive with a sharp tongue. If that’s what Emi considered a “downer” I certainly didn’t belong in that category.

Simultaneously all three of our phones went off. We knew that could mean only one thing, our teams had been decided. I pulled my out my phone to check the message. Yukino took extreme precaution to make sure no one was peeking over at her screen, a bit ridiculous if you ask me.

I surmised the message left on Yukino and Emi’s phones were the same. In just over an hour, we would learn who our teammates would be for the next week.

“I should get going,” Yukino said as she finished up her dinner. “Remember you two, this exam impacts our class ranking. Nakamura, maybe you can finally move out of that last ranked spot.”

What did she mean “finally?” I didn’t start in the last rank and this was our first examination since the first month trial, so I never had the opportunity to move up again. I wasn’t exactly choosing to live it up down here. Moving up was easier said than done, of course, since I knew no magic and Ms. Kurokawa knew that.

After Yukino departed I said my goodbyes to Emi and headed back to my dorm room. When I arrived Honoko was still there.

“Hi Hayashi.”

All she gave was a condescending groan in reply. Like everyone else, we didn’t really talk much since my embarrassment against Ryu.

“Look, I’m not really sure what I did, but don’t you think we’ve kept up this charade long enough? We’re roommates after all, we really should get along better.”

“Ugh yeah. Okay, fine.” She agreed with me with surprisingly little resistance. “It was getting old anyway. I guess you can’t help if you’re so much weaker than me. Just make sure you don’t get in my way as I rise the ranks and it’s cool.”

“I’ll be sure not to slow you down,” I replied sarcastically. It’s not like I actually posed any real threat to her.

“So Nakamura… who was that girl you were eating lunch with today?”

I guess she noticed I wasn’t eating along today. Why she was paying attention to my lunch habits, I’m not sure.

“One of our classmates, Sakura Sato.”

“Sakura Sato? I don’t think I know who that is… is she nice?”

“Well she sure has been nicer than the rest of you lately.”

I couldn’t resist the opportunity to get a jab in. Normally, I was on the receiving end of said verbal jabs.

“Well you know Nakamura… now that we’re talking again, maybe we can go back to eating lunch together? Not that I really want to or anything, I just feel bad seeing you eat alone all the time.”

“Sure, that would be nice.”

For maybe the first time, Honoko cracked a smile at me. Man, was she cute. If only she did something about her confrontational attitude…

“Oh shoot I have to go!” Honoko said after glancing over at the clock. It was only 6:15 PM. I guess that effectively ruled out the possibility of her selecting me as a partner. I was left alone in the dorm room with only my thoughts.