Chapter 123. Survival Exam (16)
Elise and I arrived at the river after finishing our spar to wash off the sweat.
"I'm going behind that rock, so don't come over."
"I won't."
Like I want to get yelled at for getting caught.
We decided to wash up with a big rock between us.
Zzzing—
I set up a rune barrier so no one could see us.
I had already done the same while Lucy and Lumi were washing. I expanded the barrier I centered around myself to include Elise as well.
"Don't forget to be done by 50!"
"Got it."
After passing along the time, I scrubbed myself clean. The environment made it hard to stay hygienic unless you were thorough.
I gave Elise 30 minutes out of consideration, but I finished in just 10.
Honestly, it's weird to take 30 minutes to wash up.
Shampoo, body wash, brushing your teeth—it takes like 10 minutes.
I leaned against the rock and waited for Elise.
This damn survival exam felt more like a camping trip thanks to all the prep I did.
The only downside was that I missed Liliana.
I hadn't seen that soft succubus body in a week. I was starting to crave it.
'I really have become a slave to lust.'
Anyway, it felt like 30 minutes had passed, but there was no sign of Elise.
Thinking she must be done by now, I peeked over the rock.
Elise was fully dressed, crouching in a corner.
'What the hell?'
She was crouched in the edge of the barrier, fiddling with something with her hands. I opened the status window.
★ Heroine Status Window
[Elise]
- [ Affection: 42 ]
- [ Lust: 62 ]
- [ Appetite: 17 ]
- [ Fatigue: 31 ]
Current Status: If I do it like this, a small hole forms in the barrier. If I wrap it with mana, it's harder to detect...
"...?"
What the hell is she talking about?
I quickly checked the mana structure of the rune barrier.
'I don't feel any holes... Wait.'
A very faint sense of wrongness.
A small amount of mana forming the rune barrier had been slightly damaged.
Even with my [Mana Sensitivity], it was hard to notice unless I was paying attention.
'She went that far?'
Elise's genius aside, I didn't get why she was trying to break into my barrier.
If it were to fight me, that'd make sense—but making a tiny hole she hoped I wouldn't notice? For what?
I needed to stop whatever this was.
"Elise. What are you doing?"
I called out as if I knew nothing, stepping out from behind the rock.
"Nothing."
Elise instantly erased the mana and stood up.
If I hadn't seen it beforehand, I'd have totally fallen for her emotionless expression.
But in that brief moment she erased the mana, I was able to gauge the size of the hole.
It wasn't big enough for a fist. Maybe just a single finger?
In other words, it wasn't meant to harm me... Was it a peephole?
"...."
"What's wrong? Hurry up."
"Ah, yeah."
Elise looked at me oddly as I stood there blankly.
My mind flashed back to Baek Ayoung's increased affection and Lust after sex, and Elise's exhausted look after Lumi's watch shift.
No way, right?
She's not trying to peep on me, is she?
But if not... why go through all that? It's not like she needs leverage on me anymore.
I stared at Elise's back as she walked ahead.
For some reason, that back looked like it was tempting me.
*
Elise and I returned to the tent.
Lucy and Lumi were playing around, shoulder to shoulder, messing with each other's hands.
I wanted to squeeze in between them too, but I resisted and checked my smartwatch.
9:57.
Perfect timing. The battle royale alert would come any moment.
"The test ends tomorrow—where are we going next?"
Lucy, still teasing around, asked as we returned.
"Hmm... First, we need to be careful of Kim Younghan's team."
I pulled up the point rankings on the smartwatch.
-----------------------
Current Point Ranking on the Island:
1. Nam Daeun - 1460p
2. Lee Hoyeon - 480p
3. Kim Younghan - 452p
4. Elise - 434p
.
.
.
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"Kim Younghan's up to third place. I doubt they'll want to fight us first, so let's wait it out until tomorrow."
The Kim Younghan team probably didn't want to start a fight.
Even if the cadets had gathered to take me down, it was already Day 6—only one day left.
No matter how stupid they were, they wouldn't come after me now.
Elise's drive to aim for first place had also died down a bit. Maybe because she'd found a way to treat her mana impairment, her desire for top scores faded.
Beep-beep-beep—
Then, everyone's smartwatches rang.
[You've reached Day 6 of the Special Exam.]
[From this moment, the battle royale begins.]
[All cadet names and locations will now be displayed in real time on your minimap. Any cadets who've been hiding until now should be careful.]
The smartwatch showed the island map with glowing dots.
"Battle royale?!"
"T-There was something like this too?!"
"... What do we do now?"
Everyone was looking at me.
As I stared at the minimap, I saw exactly what I expected—a swarm of cadets clustered around Kim Younghan.
'Damn, that's a lot.'
Even the low-level cadets who should've been eliminated in the original story were all still alive, and over 80 of them had formed a team.
"Let's move toward the island's center."
"That direction actually brings us closer to Kim Younghan's team."
"I know."
"Weren't you the one saying we should wait until tomorrow?"
"They waited this long and now they're triggering a battle royale on Day 6. That means there'll be another event tomorrow. And now that we have a map, rather than staying too far away, I think it's better to keep a reasonable distance."
"...Fine. Let's go with your plan."
After convincing Elise with my prepared excuse, I led Lucy and Lumi, who were blinking up at me with their big eyes, toward the center of the island.
*
The message was sent to Kim Younghan's team too.
And Kim Younghan was stuck in a frustrating situation he hadn't anticipated.
He had intended to fight Lee Hoyeon if they crossed paths, but he had no plans to actively go after him.
After all, this was a relative evaluation. If things ended now, Kim Younghan would finish in third place. No reason to risk anything.
His team had over 80 people, and Lee Hoyeon only had Elise, Lucy, and Lumi. The numbers were 20 to 1.
Even if they fought, his side would likely win—but there was no need to invite danger.
A random hit could get someone disqualified, and what if Lee Hoyeon ended up holding a grudge?
But... maybe he gathered too many low-quality cadets.
"Let's go get Lee Hoyeon!"
"Yeah, let's go! Time to flip the rankings!"
"He's got three girls with him even during the exam? I'm gonna kill him with everything I've got."
The guys were getting rowdy, yelling to hunt Lee Hoyeon down.
'Why are you acting up now, after making it through six days?'
Technically, the team had formed to steal Lee Hoyeon's supplies, but with just one day left, that goal didn't matter anymore.
There was no need to risk disqualification with a pointless fight.
But there was one thing Kim Younghan hadn't considered.
A surprising number of cadets at the academy didn't care much about their grades.
Mid to low-ranking cadets get treated the same. They had no hopes of joining top guilds and just wanted a diploma for later use.
Naturally, Kim Younghan's team had many of those cadets. Accepting anyone had lowered the team's overall quality.
And the more people there were, the easier survival became. Fewer cadets were thinking, 'Let's just end it like this.'
The only hope was the female cadets, but even they held back after Nam Daeun's sudden declaration.
"I'll handle Lee Hoyeon."
Nam Daeun, who had stayed quiet until now, boldly declared she would take care of Lee Hoyeon.
"Haah... These idiots."
Kim Younghan rubbed his forehead with a headache and lowered his head.
"Boss! Let's go take out Lee Hoyeon already!"
Of course, the loudmouth by his side was one of the worst.
"...Fine. Whatever. Let's go."
If he just stood still, the complaints would eventually turn toward him for hoarding points.
Worse, it could damage the reputation he'd built at the academy. He was trying to manage his image for when he eventually revealed himself as the heir to the Ironblood Guild, but all that could crumble.
Reluctantly, Kim Younghan began heading for the center of the island—toward Lee Hoyeon.
*
A professor's office.
The awards, commendations, and research achievements on the wall spoke of a glorious past.
But if you looked closely, none of it was from the past ten years.
In that office, an old professor was speaking with a male cadet in uniform.
"Professor. I'm Shin Dongmin. I'm the student council vice president. You think I'd lose to a first-year? I just want to make it clear."
"...Do you understand what kind of fallout this would cause if we got caught?"
The document Shin Dongmin was handing over contained instructions to rig the arena for the upcoming exhibition match at the festival.
"Only if we get caught. But I know you can make sure that doesn't happen, professor."
"How did it come to this? You used to be such a bright student everyone had high hopes for in your first year..."
"Professor, you're close to retirement. You need a plan for what comes next. I can guarantee you a spot in the Shinyoung Guild."
Shin Dongmin smiled faintly and locked eyes with the old professor.
"..."
The professor, unable to speak under that gaze, quietly pulled the papers toward himself.
"Then I'll be off. Please take care of it."
With a smirk, Shin Dongmin bowed and left the office.
Once he exited the building and walked for a while, his expression twisted.
"Tch. Greedy old raccoon. He really thinks he has a shot at joining Shinyoung when he's already rotting trash?"
Shin Dongmin had felt a bit uneasy after seeing Lee Hoyeon's strength in their duel, but now he was confident.
No matter how skilled someone was, it was a fire-type mage against a water-type mage.
On top of that, the match arena would be a floating platform in the middle of the ocean.
"Just wait, you little bug..."
Certain of his victory, Shin Dongmin shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away.