Chapter 126. Survival Exam (19)
In this world, elves are not beautiful beings.
They're a type of monster that finds pleasure in hunting humans.
They have intelligence, but they speak a different language, so communication is impossible.
Of course, that High Elf is likely being controlled by magic, so even if communication were possible, you couldn't talk to it.
The High Elf is a mechanism created by the Academy to deal with cadets who hide and do nothing until the last day of the survival exam.
If you hunted monsters and found treasures properly during the week-long exam, you could easily rack up about 200 points.
The High Elf is part of the exam's philosophy that those who avoided fighting and ran away won't be left standing.
Of course, just surviving until the last day still earns you a decent score. Surviving by hiding isn't easy either.
Anyway, in the original game, it only took out a few slackers before confronting the protagonist.
But things are very different now.
"What the fuck is this?!"
"Aaaagh!"
Kim Younghan's team, which had been approaching me, was now being taken down by the High Elf's arrows that targeted the entire island.
Ironically, having a team of 80 was their biggest mistake.
Just because you have a lot of people doesn't mean it's a good thing.
If those members had fought among themselves for points and only about 20 remained, they wouldn't have been the High Elf's first targets.
Only the ones who truly hid and tried to leech points would have been targeted and eliminated.
But too many cadets survived.
With limited points to go around, the more people there are, the thinner the distribution.
Of course, this wasn't Kim Younghan's fault. Predicting this would be absurd.
Though, there was a hint.
The message that appeared on Day 6:
[All cadets' names and locations are now displayed in real time on the mini-map. Cadets who have only been running to survive should take caution.]
That was the clue for the High Elf's appearance.
I don't know if it was meant to be understood clearly. I only figured it out later from some online explanation.
Hoping no cadets would die by accident, I opened the point ranking.
-----------------------
Current point rankings on the island:
1. Lee Hoyeon. 1210p
2. Kim Younghan. 452p
3. Elise. 434p
4. Lucy. 210p
.
.
.
-----------------------
Only five cadets on the island had more than 200 points.
In other words—
"Fucking jackpot."
That means the High Elf will take care of the rest for me.
Couldn't be easier.
I shook off Kim Younghan's team, who were thrown into chaos by the arrows, and followed the map toward the coordinates of Elise and the Lucy-Lumi twins.
Time to go share points with Lumi.
*
Academy conference room.
The professors were focused as they watched the final day of the survival exam.
"...Shouldn't we change this a bit?"
One professor cautiously spoke up as cadets were being teleported out one by one with each arrow fired by the High Elf.
"The original 200-point standard we calculated is too different now. At this rate, everyone except five will be eliminated."
"So what? Elimination doesn't mean disqualification. It's relative evaluation. The ranking just changes."
"True, but... if a bunch of cadets suddenly get eliminated due to a point cutoff on the last day, there might be fairness issues."
Another professor sighed.
Fairness. It's always the new professors who bring that up.
They just haven't adjusted to Victoria Academy yet.
"Fairness? Since when have we cared about that... You know the Academy's policy. 'Training in situational response.'"
Situational response.
Preparing them for a profession full of unexpected and sudden events.
Victoria Academy, as an educational institution, emphasizes situational response.
"Still, fairness is..."
"If we're talking about fairness, there are plenty of other things to nitpick. Mages clearly have an advantage in survival. Some kept clean with simple cleaning spells. Others created their own sleeping quarters. One even cooked meat using fire spells. Are we not going to mention those?"
"But mages using magic is inevitable. That's not what I'm talking about. I think we should've at least stopped Lee Hoyeon from taking food supplies."
"In last year's special exam, there was a student who brought a map of the Academy in case the exam took place there. I heard a few freshmen did the same this year after hearing about it. It's the same logic. Preparation is up to the cadets, and our responsibility ends at announcing the special exam."
"...You're right."
Arguments about fairness often came up among professors, but in the end, no one could go against Victoria Academy's policies.
What preparations the cadets make is their freedom.
The Academy only evaluates situational response.
It doesn't matter if the situation is advantageous or not.
Creating a favorable situation is a skill too.
In fact, Kim Younghan was being highly evaluated for recruiting cadets and shaping the situation in his favor.
"Stop overthinking it and just make sure there are no casualties."
An older professor barked while staring at the monitor.
Even if things felt unreasonable now, the professors who had graduated from the Academy knew these repeated tests built a solid foundation.
"Cadet at A-13 drone looks to be in danger. We should initiate forced teleportation."
"Don't ask. Just do it. And monitor Lee Hoyeon and Kim Younghan closely."
The professors focused on the monitors, not wanting to miss the final moments of the exam.
*
"Phew. Thank god. Lumi, scan quickly."
"Okay. Thanks."
When we heard cadets with under 200 points were in danger, we hurried to share points, but Lucy already had 210.
When we asked Elise to share, the feature was disabled.
Since it was the final day, the Academy had blocked point-sharing to prevent cadets from surviving just by sharing.
Luckily, Lumi was only short by 20 points, and she picked some up by killing a random monster on the way.
Originally, I was supposed to share my points with her, but in the game, there was no opportunity to share on Day 7, so I didn't know.
Plus, Nam Daeun's sudden appearance threw off the plan and the timing.
"He's coming this way. Looks like he slipped out during the chaos."
"Whew, thank goodness."
"Th-thank goodness."
Lucy and Lumi put their hands on their chests and sighed in relief.
Watching them, Elise thought:
These twins never cease to amaze her.
Aside from their blue and black hair, they looked identical, and everything they did was so adorable it made her want to just bite them...
"Ahem."
What was she thinking about someone her own age?
As she watched Lee Hoyeon rapidly approaching, Elise thought this was her chance.
It was the last chance to ask the twins for their thoughts while Lee Hoyeon wasn't around.
"What do you two think of Lee Hoyeon?"
"W-what? Out of nowhere? Well, he's a really good guy."
"I-I also think... he's a really great person."
Lucy and Lumi tilted their heads at the sudden question but still answered kindly.
"Don't you think he's hiding something?"
"...Not sure?"
"I-I-is he...?"
Both of them seemed like they were hiding something...
Elise had no idea how to deal with this frustrating feeling.
Should she seriously investigate him herself?
"Guys!"
A male voice called out from afar.
It was Lee Hoyeon's familiar voice.
He'd been quite far away, but it looked like he had already arrived.
Elise quickly composed her expression so it wouldn't show.
*
'Why do they look so awkward?'
They weren't saying anything, but something tense hung in the air.
I checked the status windows of the three girls.
★ Heroine Status Window
[Lucy]
- [Affection: 88]
- [Lust: 40]
- [Appetite: 60]
- [Fatigue: 55]
Current State: A good person... surely.
★ Heroine Status Window
[Lumi]
- [Affection: 92] (+0.3)
- [Lust: 63]
- [Appetite: 25]
- [Fatigue: 39]
Current State: Keeping a secret friend is tough.
★ Heroine Status Window
[Elise]
- [Affection: 42]
- [Lust: 38]
- [Appetite: 25]
- [Fatigue: 45]
Current State: I really don't want to learn infiltration skills....
Their unpredictable thoughts only made things more confusing.
No, this isn't the time to be worrying about stuff like this.
"Lumi, where did you get the points?"
When I checked the rankings, Lumi's score had suddenly reached 200. And I had run all this way planning to share points.
"Ah, we got them by hunting a monster together."
"Yeah? That's good."
If she got the points, the process didn't really matter.
"Let's head out right away."
"To where?"
"Where else? We're going to hunt the elf."
"...The elf? Do we have to?"
"Once it finishes off all those meat shields, we're next."
It targets cadets under 200 points first – it never said it won't target those above.
It doesn't make sense to dodge those long-range arrows all day on the seventh day.
In the original story, the protagonist happened to be near the island's center and managed to deal with it somehow. So to secure the hidden piece, I have to handle it the same way.
Originally, I planned to take care of it alone. But after fighting Nam Daeun, my mana was running low.
I recovered as much as I could on the way here, but I didn't want to take unnecessary risks.
Even if we take it down together, I can still claim the hidden piece for myself.
I just need to set things up to kill the High Elf. Elise and Lucy will handle the rest.
"Alright."
"Okay. Let's go quickly."
If I convince Elise, Lucy and Lumi are basically bonuses who follow along.
We ran toward the center of the island.
The arrows were focused on hunting Kim Younghan's group of 80, so it ignored us.
According to the point ranking, only about 30 people were left now. We had to move before the meat shields were all gone.
A massive tree stood at the island's center.
The High Elf was shooting arrows from atop it.
I prepared a spell. 'Flame Bloom' — a simple spell where sparks ignite. Its simplicity made it effective.
The target was that tree.
I would burn down the World Tree.
Fwoosh—!
A magic circle rapidly formed from my hand, and flames engulfed the tree and the elf standing on it.
-Kyaaaaaaak!
The High Elf dropped its bow, grabbed its head, and began burning.
'What the hell.'
Did I even need to bring them along?
I must have miscalculated my firepower.