Multiple updates today.
This is Episode 1.
The event has begun.
We started moving immediately.
At a speed matching the women riding Mashiro, my enhanced body sprinted.
We ran through the gaps in the trees, heading for the light sphere’s landing spot.
And sure enough, we spotted other participants right away.
“In this shitty environment, I’m getting the hell out of here!”
“It’s mine! If you get in my way, I’ll kill you!”
“Hey, don’t break our promise to wait until whoever gets the ‘Return Right’ can use it!”
“You better watch your mouth yourself…!”
We found two boys wearing torn-up uniforms.
From their conversation, they seemed to be part of a party, but it was obvious they weren’t in a state where they could properly coordinate.
When I looked at Shion, she was shaking her head no.
In short, that promise to “cooperate until whoever gets the ‘Return Right’ can bring us both home” meant neither of them actually meant it.
I mean, when given the chance to escape a brutal life on a desert island, everyone’s different regarding whether they’d stick around for a friend.
Cooperating with lies is a valid strategy, I suppose, but whether we’d want to keep such people in our camp is another matter. “Migiki…
Terauchi…”
I caught Fukubou’s murmur.
Sure enough, those were the names. It had been only a short time since the promotion, so I hadn’t yet memorized everyone in the class.
It was to be expected that Fukubou, the class rep, would remember them, but her reaction was concerning.
Her voice carried the tone of someone recalling something unpleasant… Could it be?
The words she had once told me came back to mind.
“The first ones Fukubou encountered were those two, right?”
She gave a small nod.
She had managed to escape danger because she could use magic, but the fact remained that two men had cornered a female student.
I trusted Fukubou, and besides, Shion’s ability had already confirmed there was no lie in the events leading up to our regrouping.
Those two were guilty.
“Can’t give light orbs to scum like them.”
I temporarily detached from the group.
“Hey!”
And I stepped out to block their path.
I gripped my spear ostentatiously in hand, purely for intimidation. “What? A spear!?”
“Tch… W-well, it’s just a bluff anyway! Get out of our way!”
Is it the effect of the spears?
The two stopped in caution. — This is my win.
As long as they stay still, I won’t miss my target.
I arranged the “Stone Cage” generated from “Stone Material” above their heads.
It immediately descended, successfully trapping the two—regardless of which was right and which was left.
Unlike a standard cage with pillars, this structure consisted of stone walls on all five sides except the floor.
Air holes were provided to prevent suffocation, but under these conditions, they wouldn’t be able to confirm anything outside.
It wasn’t merely heavy; it was too heavy for them to escape on their own.
Moreover, I didn’t think there would be a large group present during the event willing to save these two.
Their elimination is decided here.
“It might be a lenient punishment for attacking Fuka, but stay there until the event ends.”
Even though it was an attack, they had fled in terror after seeing magic, so she hadn’t suffered any actual harm.
Still, it got under my skin, but I didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on it.
The rules state that if the event ends while someone is trapped, they are teleported back to their original position. Since I wouldn’t have to bother freeing them later and wouldn’t need to see their faces again, that was a relief.
“Well, it’s easier on the conscience if everyone ends up looking like those two.”
Leaving the pair behind, I rejoin the group.
Those two were sinners who wouldn’t suffer any mental harm from being stopped, so it was a no-brainer. But if we had to lock up some earnest girl targeting Light Sphere, that would really hurt.
I couldn’t just hand over the Light Sphere, so somewhere along the way, I had to cut my losses.
The crew often called me kind, but if I started preaching universal love here, it would only push their safe return further away. Something I wanted to avoid.
“So…
Sousuke-san!”
Fukaho calls out to me.
Since we were taking the trouble to hide our faces, calling each other by name was pointless, so we switched to calling each other by color.
I’m Red, Chiyu is Platinum, Momoko is Yellow, Shion is Blue, and Fukaho is Black.
“I’m fine! I didn’t get hurt!”
Other participants were visible here and there, but many were fleeing in fear of Mashiro.
We don’t chase those kinds of people.
If they’ve lost their will to fight and move away from the Light Sphere, then that’s good enough for us.
Right now, priority is catching up to the Light Sphere.
Eventually, we arrive at what seems to be the Light Sphere’s descent point, but it had already started moving; there was no sign of it.
“Chiyu, maintain healing and buffs.”
“Roger that.”
Recasting 『Strength Enhancement』 and applying 『Medium Heal』 to recover from fatigue.
“Sousuke! Mashiro can figure out which direction the light went!”
“Alright, I’ll leave the lead to you.”
Mashiro barked and immediately took off at a sprint.
I chased after it, my legs enhanced for speed.
“Damn it! The orb’s way too fast!” “What are we supposed to do with just one knife?” “A knife would be fine if I had one! At least you’ve got a fork on your side!” “Yeah! Keep talking like that, and I’ll crack your skull open with this pot!”
I couldn’t tell if they were part of the same party, but as we chased the light, the argument between the men caught my eye.
I suppose it’s hard to keep a level head when things get tough, but wearing their anger on their faces with such gleeful eyes wasn’t exactly a good look for them.
“Ah, I see the light!”
In the direction Shouko pointed, I saw the ball of light weaving through the gaps in the trees.
It was fast, sure, but apparently due to the rule requiring it to be visible to at least one participant, it maintained a distance that kept it close enough to track without getting too far ahead.
“Wh-what the?! What is that?! A, a monster!” “…Is that a wolf?” “Did someone not board…” “No way… those guys who talked about gaining abilities in dreams? Did they actually get what they wished for?… That’s just too much of an unfair advantage…”
I could understand their feelings, but being envied was becoming a problem.
After all, in that dream, when asked what everyone would receive equally and given time to think, the choice had been ours to make.
We passed by quickly, but even among the other transmigrators, Mashiro stood out.
“Hey, let me in too! Give me a hand!” “You’re scum! This guy’s just a nobody who chugged his Coke down to the last drop and only has an empty bottle left! I’ve got a survival knife, so I’m bound to be useful! Let’s work together!” “Shut up! You know my sick old woman is waiting for me at home, man. Please!”
Two guys came up to us, arguing as they tried to get in on our end.
I glanced at Shion just to be sure, but she shook her head with a look of regret.
“Both ‘Let’s work together’ and ‘sick old woman’ are lies… It’s a power I want, but it hurts seeing through such blatant lies.”
“If that’s the case…”
The two of them started grappling within my line of sight.
As I passed by, I sealed both of them inside a ‘Stone Cage’.
”…Is that okay? I might be lying myself.” “It’s fine. I trust you.” “Huh… Heh, thanks.”
She probably knew, via her ability, that I was being honest.
After a moment of surprised silence, Shion smiled happily.
“Let’s end the lovey-dovey stuff, the light sphere is getting close.”
Guided by Chiyu’s voice, I looked ahead; indeed, the distance was gradually closing.
“Alright! Everyone, use your abilities whenever you can secure someone! Just be careful not to get anyone else caught in it!”
“Mm.” “Ryo!” “Got it…!”
“Everyone, do your best…”
The four of them each responded.
In that instant.
Paaan——— A sound like air cracking echoed through the forest.
“Is this———a gunshot?”
High school students in Japan who have actually heard one are few, but it’s not an unheard-of thing in fiction.
The sound just now was very much like that kind of gunshot.
Besides, there are students in our class who chose ‘Guns.’
And then the sounds continued, one after another.
“Ah, I see it! He’s firing non-stop at the light orb!? Isn’t that dangerous?!”
Shouko screamed.
At the end of our line of sight, a boy holding what looked like a handgun came into view.
It was dangerous enough as it was, but the lack of hesitation was strange.
While using precious ammunition on something that important is correct, he should be shooting more cautiously, yet the gunshots kept ringing out one after another.
”…He’s probably able to resupply his ammo.”
“It’s like their abilities are shaped by what they imagine—maybe she pictured something like a gun that could fire forever without stopping.”
Utsumi added to this observation.
“For Japanese high schoolers thinking about guns… he might have learned from FPS games or something. If so, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to imagine reloading in just a few seconds with massive ammo capacity.”
Things like picking up bullets dropped around there to resupply, or looting them from defeated enemies.
If abilities and magic are granted as is, there’s no reason a dreamlike gun couldn’t be part of the deal.
The real problem is the marksmanship of whoever wields it.
“Oi, oi! You’re gonna hit someone! Stop wasting shots at the light orb…!”
The gun belonged to a male student with a shifty, ill-disposed expression, who was sprinting while rapidly firing a handgun.
— Given the range limitations, shouldn’t he have switched to something else? Is the gun locked to that specific handgun?
If he could summon any firearm, there should be options better suited to the situation, or even more extreme.
But what a mess this is.
He must know the other students are chasing the light orbs, yet he keeps firing anyway.
Of course, he’s smart enough to use warning shots to drive the other participants away before calmly lining up his own shot at the orb.
If you fire regardless of who might get hit and injure someone, you lose 100 points.
Even if you obtain a ‘Return Right,’ having a hundred days of coma plus a deduction for each person injured added to it makes this impossible to manage.
He looks like a dangerous guy, but he should be aware enough not to cross that line.
“This side has healing magic available. We could push through by force if we had to, but…”
Chiyu said hesitantly.
It’d be a valid strategy in a game, but it’s harsh when dealing with real people.
It’s possible, but it’ll be mentally draining.
“We’ll deal with it, but not by force. Hibō and I will immobilize that guy.”
“Y-Yes, we can count on you…”
There are other ability users and individuals with useful tools besides us.
I know what they’re capable of, but winning this event is our job.
To make sure the title, Lac lac Unmanned Island Life, isn’t a scam, I’m keeping that in mind,
so there won’t be any backstabbing among teammates, dark twists, or serious situations. So you can rest easy.
Please look forward to their smooth progress as they favorably advance through island life.
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