I have a life simulator.

After the "Two-Person Horseback Riding Battle" project was completed, Long Yuanxiang left without even having time to utter a harsh word, his figure disappearing into the forest in an instant.

He could now be considered a double agent for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Kitagawa Ryo. In this three-way meeting, it was too easy to expose his true colors, so he left quite quickly.

As soon as Ryuen Sho left, Ishizaki's group from Class C naturally followed closely behind. However, before they could even move, Kitagawa Ryo blocked Ishizaki Daichi's path.

"Um... Kitagawa, I admit I was a bit sorry about the topic earlier, but we're on different sides, so there's no need for this."

Daichi Ishizaki scratched the back of his head and chuckled.

"It wasn't about this in the first place."

Kitagawa Ryo's gaze was sharp as he leaned closer and asked in a low voice:

"I asked you to keep an eye on Hiyori for me back then, and what happened?"

Upon hearing Kitagawa Ryo bring up the topic, Ishizaki Daichi immediately put on a wronged expression and kept protesting:

“I did indeed do as instructed.”

"But who would have thought that the girls in our class would spread increasingly bizarre rumors about it?"

"I don't know how it's suddenly become that Kitagawa is pursuing Shiina, and is even willing to abandon his own class to help Shiina's team win."

Kitagawa Ryo was speechless upon hearing this. No wonder Ryuen Sho had acted with such inexplicable confidence back then, as if he knew everything about the relationship between him and Hiyori, and immediately tried to recruit him. The spread of rumors was truly deadly.

Thinking about it carefully, the reason why the girls in Class C had such a high level of affection for me was thanks to the few bags of handmade pastries that I had given them to them.

"Alright alright."

Having come this far, Kitagawa Ryo had no choice but to release Ishizaki Daichi and return to his own group.

"Tianze just called me and said she got an upgrade opportunity and is going to pass it on to Liang in person."

Upon his return, Honami Ichinose told him this news.

In that instant, Kitagawa Ryo suddenly had some kind of illusion.

His lie seems to have completely turned this hidden plot into something else entirely...

Things like handshake tickets for idol meet-and-greets.

Chapter 170: The Stalker

"Since Yixia and the others are coming over later, let's find a place to camp here today."

Kitagawa Ryo checked the time; it was around 3:30 PM. There was plenty of time to find one or two more topics, but today's goal had been basically achieved. Their group's ranking had skyrocketed to second place, and they were now only two hundred points behind the first-place Katsuragi Kohei group.

Although the group only participated in four topics throughout the day, which was fewer than the number in the days leading up to the exam, their scoring efficiency was actually much higher than before because they selected topics involving multiple participants within a specific scope. Many other classes that were competing against them basically got nothing.

Under the influence of multiple factors, the class rankings, which were originally clearly divided into three tiers, began to change quietly. Class A's leading score was no longer sustainable and slowly fell to the same score range as Class B. Class D finally began to get rid of its bottom position and its score rose visibly, even gradually approaching the position of Class C.

"There aren't any good research topics nearby, so if we stop here for today... it should be fine."

Honami Ichinose quickly scanned the distribution of topics and rewards in the surrounding grids and nodded in agreement with Ryo Kitagawa's suggestion.

Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu had no objections. Since they weren't under any pressure regarding scores or rankings, finding a shady spot to pitch a tent and rest was undoubtedly a better option than trekking through the sweltering jungle.

"Then it's decided!"

The four members of the group unanimously agreed, and Kitagawa Ryo slammed his fist on the table as he announced it.

After several days of living on the deserted island, the group's camping skills improved rapidly. They quickly chose a good open space and skillfully cleared the ground to set up their tents.

"I really want an ice-cold carbonated drink."

After finishing all the camping work, Kitagawa Ryo lay down on the ground in a starfish shape, muttering listlessly with vacant eyes:

"It's so hot."

"Even the ground is steaming hot... Give me another topic: open water swimming."

"After all, the circle is almost shrinking to the center of the island, and there are hardly any coastline squares left, so Liang shouldn't even dream about such a thing."

Horikita Suzune sat next to Kitagawa Ryo, tilting her head back as she drank water and answered. The temperature today was much higher than the previous few days, and she had just been busy for most of the day. From Kitagawa Ryo's perspective, Horikita Suzune was also sweating a lot, and there was a conspicuous sweat stain on the back of her sportswear, which was almost transparent and stuck to her back, clearly showing the outline of her bra.

It's actually just a very ordinary sports bra style.

Having already seen Horikita Suzune's swimsuit look, Kitagawa Ryo remained completely unmoved.

"I remember the redemption manual mentioned those portable mini-fridges, right?"

Kitagawa Ryo was in high spirits.

"If Liang wants to buy that, he will also have to purchase a complete set of power generation equipment."

Horikita Suzune calmly shattered Kitagawa Ryo's illusions.

"I don't think we have the energy to carry around such a bunch of electronic devices right now. It's only the fifth day of the exam, not the eleventh day."

"Then...where's the ice?"

"I remember ice cubes can be redeemed separately, right?"

"I can tell from Liang's voice that it's really hot."

"Lingyin clearly feels hot too, and your back is covered in sweat."

Kitagawa Ryo pouted and whispered:

"I can see the back strap very clearly."

"say what?"

I don’t know if she heard it or not, but I could feel that Horikita Suzune’s eyes suddenly sharpened.

"...Honami, Arisu! I'm going to go and get some ice!"

Kitagawa Ryo quickly jumped up, completely avoiding Horikita Suzune's question. After saying hello, he headed straight into the nearby woods without looking back, where was the nearest supply exchange point.

"Ice cubes? What ice cubes?"

Ichinose Honami and Sakayanagi Arisu, who were making their beds and tidying up their luggage in the tent, came out of the tent with some confusion after hearing Kitagawa Ryo's voice.

"It's just ice in the literal sense; it feels too hot to be cold."

As Horikita Suzune answered their questions, she turned her head in an awkward posture, as if she wanted to see what was behind her.

"It's really hot today. I hope it will cool down a bit tonight, otherwise I won't be able to sleep well."

Honami Ichinose fanned herself with one hand while constantly tugging at the hem of her shirt with the other, looking quite hot.

"Anyway, the inside of the tent is no different from a steamer right now."

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded in agreement, her face flushed red, with a thin layer of sweat on her forehead and nose.

"When the temperature rises, I feel my mood is affected and I become more irritable."

"That's probably why Class A and Class B suddenly had a conflict today; everyone was very angry."

"If the temperature remains like this for the next few days, I feel that quite a few students will suffer from heatstroke."

"I remember the school initially distributed cooling balm and essential oil."

The three girls chatted away, and before long, Kitagawa Ryo's figure reappeared from the depths of the forest.

What he was holding in his arms was a large insulated box filled with ice.

"Here it comes!"

The rather heavy insulated box made a loud thud when it was placed on the ground, and the ice inside rolled around with a clatter. Kitagawa Ryo lifted the lid of the insulated box, and a refreshing blast of cold air rushed out.

Everyone even forgot to ask Kitagawa Ryo how many points she had spent; they all instinctively leaned their faces closer. Kitagawa Ryo even tried to shove both of her hands into the ice, but before she could do so, Horikita Suzune slapped her away.

"Is it possible that we can use this to preserve the ingredients?"

"Should... be okay?"

Honami Ichinose tilted her head, while Arisu Sakayanagi eagerly stuffed several bottles of drinking water into the ice, seemingly intending to chill them.

Forbidden by Horikita Suzune to stick his hands directly into the pile of ice, Kitagawa Ryo had no choice but to fish out two pieces from it, holding them in his left and right hands, lying to the side like a cultivator absorbing spirit stones, silently feeling the changes in his body.

Although the ice will melt into water in your palm a few minutes later.

"You can make a smoothie!"

Once his mind and body had calmed down, Kitagawa Ryo jumped to his feet.

Horikita Suzune glanced indifferently at Kitagawa Ryo:

"If I hadn't stopped you in time, we would have been able to eat a smoothie with someone's sweaty hands right away, wouldn't we?"

"I'm guilty."

Kitagawa bowed his head in a cool and collected manner, admitting his mistake. He then turned around and took out a plane from the kitchen utensil set in his backpack, but soon another question came to mind:

"But it seems we don't have any fruit or other ingredients on hand. We can't exactly make smoothies with canned meat."

After imagining the horrific scene, even the three girls who had complete faith in Kitagawa Ryo's cooking skills shook their heads with strange expressions, rejecting the culinary disaster.

"Looks like I'll have to go to the exchange counter again."

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was rubbing his chin, preparing to set off again, Amasawa Ichika and Sakura Airi, who had finally arrived at E7 grid, also discovered their campsite.

"What are you making? A smoothie?"

Amazuki Ichika, who hopped and skipped ahead of Kitagawa Ryo, looked curiously at the plane in Kitagawa Ryo's hand and the ice block next to him.

"Yes, but it's a bit difficult to make it now that there's no fruit."

"Ah, Airi, it's been a long time."

While answering Amasawa Ichika's question, Kitagawa Ryo greeted Sakura Airi as she approached:

Do you have any of these ingredients? I'd like to treat you to some smoothies.

"Hmm... there are only a few apples and some bananas left."

Upon hearing this, Sakura Airi rummaged through her backpack and took out a small bag of fruit:

"We got this from a research project this morning, but we've already consumed quite a bit of it."

"It's alright, this should be enough."

Kitagawa Ryo considered it for a moment and then replied with a smile:

"You guys chat with Fanbo and the others for a while, I'll bring it over when it's done."

Although Kitagawa Ryo took some of the ice, the remaining ice was enough to form a small cooling field. The five girls huddled around the insulated box containing the ice, not saying a word, and all of them looked at Kitagawa Ryo, who was processing the food on the other side.

Smoothies aren't that complicated. After slicing apples and bananas and juicing them by hand, Kitagawa Ryo poured the juice directly onto the shaved smoothies, filled them into glasses, inserted spoons, and served them to the girls two glasses at a time.

On this hot afternoon, simply holding a cool glass in one's hand was refreshing. None of the six people wanted to speak, each immersed in the coolness of the shaved ice.

"Come alive..."

After finishing the entire glass of smoothie, Kitagawa Ryo let out a long sigh of relief, then pressed the glass against his face before exclaiming with a sense of relief.

"I never imagined that the services I could enjoy anytime at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School would one day feel so precious."

Sakayanagi Arisu licked the juice from her lips and sighed.

"But don't eat too much."

Horikita Suzune maintained a remarkably restrained tone in her remarks:

"The body may not be able to withstand such a sudden change in temperature."

"That's true. One summer, my sister ate too much ice cream in one day and ended up rolling around in bed with a stomachache."

Honami Ichinose said, with a spoon in her mouth.

"I took him to the hospital."

Kitagawa Ryo raised his hand to add further explanation.

"I have confidence in my body."

Tianze Yixia smiled and finished the entire glass of smoothie.

"It's rare to have a proper meal like this, so I don't mind."

Sakura Airi didn't seem to care. After swallowing a mouthful of shaved ice, she said:

“I was basically not allowed to eat these things before, especially before each concert. Anything that could affect my voice and physical condition was prohibited.”

"That must have been really tough."