Outsider : Classroom Of The Elite

Chapter 3.3 - Un-expected

Day 1, 10:27 AM.

"Some students from class A just slipped by our campsite earlier," I announced.

"So, they had their eyes on this spot, huh?"

"Yeah, it's a good thing that we managed to secure this spot before them." Hirata sat down on a rock. He was covered in sweat, probably due to the humidity and the heat of this forest.

Almost an hour had passed since the survival test began. The other classes had already set their positions alongside their leaders. Class C was almost done with the setup too. All that was left for us to do now was to somehow survive the upcoming challenges.

"Now in terms of survival situations, the first thing we need is water. Any suggestions?" Hirata asked his classmates.

With the toilet issue now resolved, there came the next issue; drinkable water. Even with the river, it didn't appear as though everything would be easily settled.

"Haven't you noticed? There's a river right behind the cave. We've resolved the problems of bathing and drinking water, right?" Ike's eyes sparked brilliantly as he dreamed of saving points. He intended to use this as an all-purpose river.

"Huh? Drink from the river? Are you insane?" Shinohara and the other girls, however, did not appear to agree, glancing at the river in disgust.

"Well, it'd be great for swimming, but...to drink from?" Hirata seemed to be at dismay trying to decide which side he should take.

"What the heck? It's perfectly fine. The water's clean and pure, right?" Ike said.

Even though the water didn't look muddy or cloudy, the girls were not the only ones to hesitate. The boys also looked unsure.

"Are you sure this is safe to drink? I mean it is a river." Karuizawa inquired, suspicious of Ike's knowledge.

"Well, yeah. It certainly seems like you can drink it, but..."

"I disagree. I don't think we can drink directly from that." I strongly objected to that remark.

"What the heck, you guys? What's wrong with you? There's no reason not to use the river after going through all the trouble of finding it."

"Then you drink it, as an experiment." Shinohara dared him in a condescending tone.

"Huh? Well, fine, whatever..." pressured, Ike scooped up some water with his hands.

"Ah. Wait. Don't drink it before-" Before I could finish, Ike gulped all the water down his throat.

"Ah! Whew, that's ice-cold. It feels great! It's damn good!"

"....."

Although it didn't seem to cause him any problem in the original light novel, I couldn't help but think about how perilous his actions were.

"Ike, why are you so reckless?" I sighed.

"Guys, I come from a family of campers. We used to go every weekend when I was little. I had no problem drinking river water. Sometimes, you can tell if a spring is drinkable just by looking at it." Ike replied.

"I'm not doubting your expertise, Ike. But you should never drink water from a natural source that you haven't purified, even if the water looks clean. Water in spring, river, or lake may look clean, but it can still be filled with bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can result in waterborne diseases, such as cryptosporidiosis or giardiasis!"