Battle Survival (2)
The slight amount of time had passed by now.
“……Huu. It’s tough.”
I gently wiped away the sweat dripping down my temple while scanning the surroundings with careful eyes.
Then I could see the faces of the children sprawled on the dirt floor in rags, utterly wrecked as if they had endured the worst possible fate.
One had blown up after stepping on a landmine. Another had been left dangling from a snare, unconscious. And a third one…
“Ugh, uuuugh, L-Lee, Jinhyuk… eek…”
Kim Useong.
Kim Useong, a bit away, was breathing raggedly like a beast caught in a trap, glaring at me with fierce eyes.
But he seemed unable to move. His body didn’t respond.
He tried to stand up, but couldn’t budge even an inch.
That made sense. Thick, green mucus was clinging all over his body, sealing his movements.
Of course he’s got too much blood in him. After I scratched him a few times, he just charged like a wild boar.
Kim Useong, in his rage, had tried to charge headlong into the minefield without thinking.
Of course, with his tough physique and supernatural ability, he could have endured it somehow.
But Useong, you shouldn’t think there were only explosive landmines. I had also planted some poison-tipped ones for types like you.
“That’s too reckless, isn’t it? You’re not Seo Nari, you know. Charging in blindly was pretty stupid, dude.”
“Ghhk, y-you, Jinhyuk!”
So you ended up being treated like a target after being pinned down like this.
It wasn’t hard to bring down Kim Useong, who couldn’t move.
I just had to shoot arrows straight at his vital points from a distance.
No matter how strong Kim Useong was, enduring continuous mana arrows for long was impossible.
Plus, he had already taken accumulated damage from stepping on explosive mines multiple times.
Even someone like Seo Nari with powerful body reinforcement might have struggled, but at Kim Useong’s level, he couldn’t last long.
“Then rest well, Useong.”
“Hey, wait! Wait a second! Jinhyuk, wait…?!”
“Oh, what now.”
I raised the training sword high and swung it hard at Kim Useong’s head pinned down.
Clang! With a beautiful ringing sound, Kim Useong let out a short gasp, twisted his head, then rolled his eyes back and dropped his head down.
He had apparently passed out.
Kim Useong and two others… Well, I somehow managed to bring them down.
It would have been impossible to win fairly.
But with the various traps and items, I could definitely take them out.
Active heroes might not have fallen for such tricks, but these kids were still just hero trainees.
Good. Now, let’s steal their points.
I approached the unconscious kids and manipulated the smartwatch to confiscate the points they had.
I could get a total of 300 points.
Since all the trainees had started with 100 points each, I now had 400 points in total.
Should I press their elimination button and retire them completely? Or hold off?
I thought about it briefly, but soon shook my head.
Security personnel or instructors could come here and check for signs of the traps having activated.
So, I had no choice but to hold off on their elimination.
Good for you, Useong. Today’s the first day, so if you work hard afterward, you might avoid failing.
I muttered some pointless words in my head, then let out a dry smile and stretched my waist.
…It had been too long since I caused a commotion in one place.
A series of loud explosion sounds echoed through the forest. Some kids might have heard them. Maybe they were already coming.
If others hear this, it’ll be troublesome. Let’s get out of here first.
Now that the task was done, I decided to flee quickly.
The traps I had set up around here were mostly depleted, so facing the kids here would be very dangerous.
Of course, I could run to the next spot with traps set, but…
I hope I meet Soyeon soon.
This forest was huge, but the starting positions were assigned through spatial movement in order of entry.
In other words, if I knew the entry order of the main characters, I could roughly guess where they would be.
Considering the positions I had deduced, there was a high chance that major figures like Jin Soyeon and Lee Siwoo were around the B-1 area.
Taking movement speed and action radius into account over time, I could even guess more precisely.
Using satellite maps and portable radars smuggled via spatial pocket, it would be even easier to pinpoint the location.
If I meet Soyeon, I can ask for cooperation.
Soyeon is great with allies.
Her ability is good, and she has no reason to betray anyone.
And if I form an alliance with Soyeon and then meet Siwoo, could I recruit him as an ally?
Recently, the atmosphere between Soyeon and Siwoo was a bit delicate, but even so, there was no way he would attack her rashly.
If I persuaded Soyeon well, I could definitely form an alliance with Siwoo.
Hmm.
If I welcome Soyeon and Siwoo as companions, this test would be very easy.
Well, it probably wouldn’t go that smoothly… but who knows?
I took a swig of the kimchi soup and slowly began walking again.
Right then.
“Lee Jinhyuk.”
Along with the sound of brushing through the bushes, a man’s voice grabbed my ankle.
Ah, who came already?
I clicked my tongue inwardly once, then slowly turned my head toward the voice’s source.
I didn’t know who it was, but it didn’t matter. I had a getaway item, so I had confidence in running to the next trap site.
…As long as it wasn’t a monster like Siwoo.
Siwoo.
He was likely to be around here.
But why exactly Siwoo?
Isn’t that bad luck?
“Was everything you did?”
Far away.
A boy who was gently trampling the weeds while giving a signal.
“Kim Useong… wasn’t the kind of opponent you could defeat.”
His sharp eyes, reminiscent of the cold northern wind, and his handsome features with bluish hair looked at me slowly, his lips moving.
“Not just Kim Useong, but the other kids too…”
The boy scanned the fallen kids and then spoke in a low voice toward me.
“……It seems you used traps. I must not be careless either.”
Siwoo stood there, quietly drawing his training sword, staring at me with calm eyes and a cold expression.
Wait, Siwoo?
Why him of all people?
I just felt that it was ruined.
After all, there were only a few traps left here, and fighting him directly would have been hopeless.
Plus, escaping would be difficult too.
If it was Siwoo with his skill level, the moment I turned my back, he would surely shoot sword qi at me.
***
Siwoo.
The male protagonist who represented Romance Hero Academy.
He was one of the self-proclaimed top geniuses, and the so-called growth-type character that grew stronger the more danger he faced.
Excellent background, outstanding looks, exceptional talent, powerful supernatural ability… All the benefits in the world.
He was a character who served as Jin Soyeon’s supporter, overcoming countless trials and hardships together with her.
Because of that, Siwoo could be called another protagonist of Romance Hero Academy.
Different from me.
That I had to face Siwoo right when the traps were almost all depleted… This is dangerous…
Talent, ability, looks, background—none of them could be compared to Siwoo’s.
I was a character who had been harassed by NPCs until the very end and was forced to exit the stage alone.
Without a backup plan.
“Actually, I’ve been curious about your skill level all along since the performance evaluation.”
Siwoo, tilting the sword without a blade toward me.
“Right after you got hit by my arrow, your movement with the Black Hand Long-Armed Monkey was noticeably slower.”
If Siwoo swung that sword, it would turn into something sharper than any other blade.
“The other kids seemed to overlook it, but Yu Seolhyeon was looking at you very carefully.”
“R-Really?”
“At some point, Yu Seolhyeon said something like you might end up with a big nose if you underestimated you.”
Yu Seolhyeon?
Wait, what the hell was Yu Seolhyeon saying about me?
“I thought it strange when I saw Yu Seolhyeon took you to the Yeongdeung Mountain Dungeon. No matter how good you are at tactics and strategy, you’re just a trainee.”
Eh, what.
That’s true.
“Your tactical ability alone couldn’t explain it.”
That’s right.
I would have thought the same if it was Siwoo.
Taking a mere trainee into a dungeon that even professional heroes failed in.
“There must be something hidden. And Yu Seolhyeon noticed it, so she brought you.”
Wait, hidden or not, Yu Seolhyeon just brought me because she thought I had future sight ability…
“The Yu Seolhyeon I know basically dislikes useless people. But seeing her so close to you makes me think she had some idea.”
“No, that’s…”
“The tactical ability you showed in this test was definitely excellent, but that alone couldn’t explain how you dealt fatal damage to the Black Hand Long-Armed Monkey.”
Of course, if I said I knew the weakness of the Black Hand Long-Armed Monkey, he wouldn’t believe it. Even if he did, he’d ask how I knew it.
Plus, if I claimed the weakness was something like apple allergy, he might even think Is this guy mocking me now?
“So I got curious whether you were hiding something else.”
“Siwoo.”
His eyes now held hostility, as if he had made up his mind.
“And whether you’re the kind of man who can stand by Soyeon’s side.”
“Hey? What are you suddenly saying?”
“Well. It’s just my personal opinion, Jinhyuk. So……”
He declared it with a noble voice.
“……Draw your bow, Jinhyuk. Let’s fight once.”