A blackboard floating in a white space.

The only things here were desks and chairs, and the ones summoned were the party members.

Me, Chiyu, Shouko, Shion, Minori, and now Roa as well, making six of us.

“...So the people who are actually acting together really are summoned here as a group.”

This was Roa’s first time coming here with other people—aside from the very first time, anyway—so she sounded surprised.

Day 6 has ended.

We will now announce the addition of monsters.

The phrase displayed on the blackboard sent a wave of tension through the room.

“—!”

So it’s finally come...

I’d predicted it before, but I hadn’t expected it to actually happen.

This deserted island was another world, and the mystery blackboard’s purpose was to observe us.

It wanted to see how we adapted. It probably had no interest in watching us settle into an uneventful routine.

“Right when we ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) start getting used to surviving here, it throws in a new hardship. What a rotten personality.”

“Wait, wait. Monsters? What do you mean, monsters? Like—what, slimes and goblins from manga and games are going to show up!?”

“I’ve been trying not to think about it too much, but if Mashiro exists, then I guess it’s possible enemy monsters like Fenrir could exist too...”

At Shion’s words, Shouko went pale.

“What!? No way...!”

“I’m not very familiar with that kind of thing, but does this mean imaginary creatures are going to appear on the island?”

“For those without the ability to fight, that makes the situation extremely dangerous. Even anyone with a secure base will now have to devote attention to defense as well.”

Minori and Roa were calm, but both of them looked deep in thought.

Regarding monsters

Monsters will be added at irregular intervals.

The monsters to be placed will be selected by the participants during the “question” period.

Monsters bear hostile intent toward humans.

Monsters can be defeated.

When a monster’s life functions cease, it disappears.

Points will be added to the total of the person who defeats a monster.

“Points... Right. When we go back to Japan, if your points are positive, you get benefits.”

On the other hand, if your total was negative, the penalty was that you’d fall into a coma for that number of days.

“So it’s not just adding danger. It’s dangling rewards too. That makes it even more nasty.”

“...The fact that it still won’t reveal the details of the points system really makes it feel that way, yeah.”

Shion nodded along with Chiyu’s complaint.

“There’s a practical side to that. If it became known that defeating a monster gave, say, one point, then some people might start getting dangerous ideas.”

“Huh? Minorin, what do you mean?”

When Shouko tilted her head, I answered for her.

“You remember the penalty rules they told us before, right?”

“Yeah. What about them?”

“Murder, including suicide, gives a penalty of negative 1825 points. About five years. If the points awarded for defeating monsters were made clear here—then people could start doing the math...”

“D-doing the math...? You don’t mean some people would actually think about killing someone and then wiping it out by killing monsters? Th-that’s—”

I liked how much Shouko wanted to believe in our classmates, but I still thought we had to be prepared for the worst.

For one thing, we’d literally just run into someone firing a gun during the last event.

Then again, from their perspective, maybe me dropping stone cages on people didn’t look all that different.

“I’m just saying if. And it wouldn’t only be about killing other people. Some people would use it for suicide too. If dying still sends you back to Earth, then what happens if they earn enough points to erase the penalty first?”

“...Ah! Then they could go back to Earth with no risk!?”

“Exactly. It’d become the same thing as getting a Right to Return.”

“O-ohhh. So that’s why they won’t tell us the details.”

It looked like Shouko understood now.

Since the number of points awarded was unknown, and there was no way to check your total accumulated points, participants couldn’t make calculations like that.

Apparently, it intended points to function only as a factor in whether or not you got extra bonuses at the time of clearing the whole thing.

If one goblin was worth one point, then fighting them might be worthwhile. But if it was only 0.1 point, nobody would feel very motivated to hunt them down aggressively.

“The addition of monsters itself is a concern, of course, but when it says ‘the question period,’ does that mean the two-choice vote? In that case, there will now be days when monsters are added during the same period that has previously been used to add things beneficial to us.”

Roa’s concern was a fair one.

The days of this island adding nothing but things that were good for us were over.

From here on, the amount of trouble we had to deal with would probably keep increasing.

“We may end up relying on Mashiro, Micron, and Minori’s power more often.”

“Yes. Leave it to me...!”

“Ugh... I hate it, but I guess we don’t have a choice...”

Shouko was probably worried about her summons.

I understood the feeling.

I didn’t want either of them getting hurt either.

“What counts as defeating one?”

Chiyu got right to confirming the rules.

The person recognized as the one who defeated a monster is the individual who last dealt damage to it before its life functions ceased.

“What counts as damage?”

It refers to interference that causes injury.

...That definitely gives an advantage to people who can fight, but with rules like that, even non-combatants can still earn points.

You could just cooperate with your companions and have someone nick a monster that was already on the verge of dying with a knife or something.

The points went to “the last person who dealt damage,” after all.

Question: Which is more necessary for life going forward—soybeans or corn?

Everyone had been bracing themselves, so they all let out a breath of relief.

Apparently it wasn’t a monster addition this time.

Soybeans / Corn

Even so, it did this every time—jumped straight into the question with no warning.

We still hadn’t even finished processing the monster announcement.

“...Looks like not today, at least.”

“So it wasn’t cruel enough to announce it and implement it on the spot,” Chiyu muttered.

“Hey, everyone. Usually we just vote for whatever we want, but could you all vote for soybeans today?”

Shion looked serious.

That made sense. Soybeans were essential for soy sauce and miso, and Shion, as our head chef, would obviously want them.

More to the point, the rest of us wanted them too.

We all nodded to each other and voted for soybeans.

But the overall vote was split, and for a while corn was ahead.

To the other classmates, it probably looked more appealing than soybeans simply because you could strip it and roast it or boil it and eat it right away.

A majority has been reached. Voting will now close.

Starting on Day 7, “soybeans” will be placed in the environment.

“Yes...!”

Shion clenched both fists in a small, delighted gesture.

Soybeans had managed to win.

The fact that the six of us held six votes by ourselves had probably mattered.

Still... maybe it was my imagination, but it had felt like the soybean side suddenly gained a lot of votes all at once.

Anyway, if things continued like this, Day 7 was about to begin.

But we already knew that there was a brief window before then when we could ask the mystery blackboard questions.

“There are conditions for taking the memories we gained on this island back with us, right? But what happens to our physical state? If we’re injured here, does that carry over when we return?”

Physical information from the main island will be reflected upon return. Injuries, illness, scars, physical ability, sexual experience, pregnancy, and related conditions will be updated as though they had been present from the beginning, so please exercise caution.

In addition, because all mental changes are deeply linked to “memory,” they will not be reflected unless the conditions are met to carry them over.

If you divided a person into body and mind, then—

The body carried over automatically, updating your body on Earth.

The mind could also be carried over, but only if you met the conditions.

That seemed to be how it worked.

Which meant my more toned body—and my enhanced stamina in that department—would carry over too.

That was either a blessing or a little terrifying. Maybe both.

“So that means the condoms really were essential.”

Chiyu muttered it under her breath, and everyone’s faces turned red.

But it was important.

If someone got pregnant on this island, then that would carry over too.

“...You say physical information carries over, but what if someone actually gave birth on this island?”

Whether someone would even get pregnant, or whether we’d spend enough time here for a child to be born, was a separate issue. But it was clearly something Minori had wondered about.

An infant will be processed as information linked to the mother’s “body” and will be reflected upon return.

It will not separately require a Right to Return.

Right after that answer, my vision was dyed white.

Day 7 will now begin.