113. Midterm Evaluation (4)
113. Midterm Evaluation (4)
Eyes bulging as if they'd pop out and roll away at a mere tap to the back of the head, large ears spreading wide, and purple skin.
A gremlin.
It was a monster resembling a small, hairless monkey.
At a glance, it didn't look like much.
In reality, it was no big deal either.
In terms of combat power, it was a bit above a goblin, somewhere around a Nakey.
Only—when you met it during the day.
Once night fell, the danger posed by this creature shot up vertically to a level a goblin couldn't even touch.
During the day, its ears were useless, drowned out by all sorts of noise,
but at night they became so keen they could pick up the sound of prey turning over in its sleep—as if Detection had been switched on.
During the day, its two eyes could hardly open properly due to light scattering, but at night they could see clearly even in the dark forest.
And it even had Intuition: the moment it judged an opponent's ability was beyond it, it would instantly flee.
'Why am I starting to feel annoyed...?'
As I recalled the creature's traits to myself, my mood soured for some reason.
'It's a sensitive bastard, so if it notices me it might run off right away.'
This place was a forest, a domain familiar to it.
Even if I outpaced the thing in speed, there was a good chance I'd lose it if it used the terrain to flee.
Swish—
I held my breath and quietly moved my footsteps behind the creature.
Grrrr—
The creature was rolling its huge eyeballs this way and that, searching for prey.
But as if it wasn't particularly cautious about anything coming from the path behind it, the back of its head only moved from side to side.
One step.
Another step.
Once I strode forward using Covert Step, I was finally within arm's reach.
'Now!'
Hah!
I kicked off the ground with all my strength and reached out.
Crunch!!!
The brutal sound of bones shattering.
'......Huh?'
Given the effort I'd put in, it was a pretty anticlimactic end.
The gremlin hadn't even noticed my presence, even though I kicked off the ground and charged without hiding my momentum.
It hadn't even managed to scream in that moment its neck was twisted, dying on the spot, so you'd have to say it died without even knowing what hit it.
'......Is Covert Step really that broken?'
I scratched my head, looking down at the creature's eyes, its head twisted the wrong way, staring blankly, now lightless.
"Well, I got a weapon anyway."
I nodded, picking up the worn-out dagger clutched in the creature's hand.
Fwip—
Whirr—
The dagger danced and spun round and round at my fingertips as if it had a will of its own.
However, I furrowed my brow at the sensation in my hand.
"Seriously, picking this up after using Moonlight... the feel of downgrading is no joke."
Unlike Moonlight, which kept its edge no matter how much it was used and withstood any amount of Mana poured into it without issue,
this dagger's blade was so nicked I wondered if it could even cut anything properly,
and its durability was so pathetic it felt like it would break if I put more than a certain amount of Mana into it.
"Still, it's better than nothing."
I let out a short laugh.
No matter how crappy the dagger, a blade was a blade.
Merely having an edged weapon in hand expanded my senses and sharpened the world.
"Alright, now that I've got a weapon, shall I take it easy and find a place to settle down?"
I adjusted my grip on the dagger, pulled out a compass from my backpack, and walked toward the north—N, where the red needle pointed.
* * *
Dawn passed,
and quite some time after the sun rose.
Lee Yu-ri had settled down in a spot not far from where she had first landed.
'Never underestimate nature. I have to move carefully, little by little.'
She was completely absorbed in setting up a shelter.
"Heave-ho!"
Crrrack—
With a bit of force, tree trunks as thick as forearms snapped like chopsticks.
Swish! Swish!
Crrrk—!
Lee Yu-ri untied the vines draped over her shoulder and fastened them so the frames supported each other firmly.
With that, a square pyramid-shaped frame was erected.
Then, she covered it with broad leaves to create a space that would shelter against rain and wind.
Phew—!
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she looked over her completed hideout.
"This is pretty great!"
Lee Yu-ri nodded, praising the simple shelter she had made herself.
The previous day, when the Midterm Evaluation began abruptly with her kidnapping by airship, she had been just as bewildered as the other cadets.
But soon, the moment she landed at the test site, she realized this exam was a stage prepared just for her.
Survival on an uninhabited island!
Wasn't this her area of expertise?!
She was confident.
Confident she could craft all sorts of things in a remote place like this and live off the land better than anyone!
Unlike other hunters who packed excessively when entering a dungeon,
Lee Yu-ri's tight budget had always forced her to pack light or make do with less, and that had cultivated an adaptability in her.
"Being broke is finally paying off."
Pfft—
Lee Yu-ri let out a chuckle, as if her own remark was funny.
"Alright, I've got the shelter set. So now, fire and water? Hmm, no. I'd better deal with the bug problem first."
Even for a hunter with a robust body, underestimating nature could lead to serious trouble.
The most dangerous thing in a forest like this is poison.
Because bugs that were barely visible often carried venom lethal enough to threaten a person's life.
"......Even so, this is a bit much."
With a slightly hesitant expression, she pulled out a few leaves from her clothes.
Leaves she had plucked on the way back from gathering tree trunks and vines a moment ago.
They were a yellowish color with wing-like shapes spreading out on both sides.
Ophria Leaves.
If she crushed these and rubbed the juice onto her body, the average bug wouldn't even come near her.
Even monsters found the smell unpleasant and avoided it, so using it was the obvious thing to do.
"Problem is, that smell isn't any good for me either. And it gets crazy itchy when you put it on... Of course, it doesn't harm the skin, but still......"
After staring down at the leaves for a moment, Lee Yu-ri soon steeled herself and began grinding them vigorously with another rock on a wide stone.
"Ugh... I knew it, this smell is absolutely foul!"
Even before applying any to her body, a musty stench was already stinging her nose.
Even as she retched, she kept crushing the leaves and smeared the pulverized juice thickly all over her body.
Hnngh—
It really was a smell hard to endure with a clear mind.
The color was brown too, which made it look hideous.
"......Still, your nose gets desensitized the fastest, right."
At times like this, it was better to find the next task right away.
Next was fire.
The most essential element for survival.
Frowning heavily at the stench stinging her nose, she stuck a piece of dry wood into the ground.
Then she began rubbing a branch against it.
"Urrrghh!"
By rubbing her hands back and forth rapidly, smoke soon rose up between the two pieces of wood.
"Oh, right! Tinder! I need something like grass to catch the spark!?"
She glanced around frantically, but it wasn't as if tinder would just be lying around on an uninhabited island.
Eventually, she looked down at her own clothes.
"......Anyway, after this Midterm Evaluation is over, I won't be wearing these again, right?"
She had to endure two weeks in this harsh terrain with just this one set of clothes.
They were sturdy and well-made for that, but it was obvious what condition they'd be in after two weeks of roughing it.
The deliberation was brief.
"Yeah, sure. It's just pulling a few threads."
Lee Yu-ri slightly ripped the edge of her top and pulled out some threads.
"I can start a fire with this. For water, there's a river right next to me, so... I can dig a spot by the waterway for some basic first-stage filtration and boil it to drink. Ah, then I'll need a container to boil the water in, won't I?"
She murmured to herself as she rubbed the wood together fiercely.
"Even I, who's used to this stuff, am struggling... I wonder if Jin Yu-ha is doing okay......"
Suddenly, Jin Yu-ha crossed her mind.
He was an exceptionally skilled Damage Dealer and a reliable party leader, but there was no way he'd also have this kind of survival knowledge.
Imagining him wandering around aimlessly, unable to do anything, made her feel sorry for him.
"Sigh, fine. If I don't take care of him, who will? I'll have to go pick up Jin Yu-ha soon."
If she brought him to the hideout she had built, wouldn't he be surprised?
A deep smile bloomed at the corner of Lee Yu-ri's lips as she pictured that expression.
* * *
I had moved diligently all night and was now setting up a base camp in a small cave near the shop.
Of course, it was quite far from the island's center, but I wouldn't be too late if I headed there a week from now, once combat between cadets began.
As this cave also appeared in the game, I knew the surrounding geography well.
At first, I was confused whether this was really the place I knew, but I became certain when I discovered a bear sleeping inside.
That this was exactly that spot.
I approached the sleeping thing silently and drove my dagger into its throat.
The creature, coming to its senses belatedly, flew into a frenzy, but as its throat was already punctured, it didn't even pose a threat.
After securing meat in that manner.
I was currently in the middle of setting up base camp.
Fwoosh—!
I'd only tossed a bundle of fabric the size of a basketball, but the tent automatically unfolded and a large tent sprang into existence.
"Instant pop-up tents really are a godsend! Ow, crap!"
As I threw my arms up in worship of the tent, I suddenly felt a sting on my forearm.
Some mosquito was jabbing its mouthpart into my forearm and sucking blood, shllp shllp.
But this mosquito wasn't like the ones I knew. It was practically the size of my index finger.
"You creepy little bastard!"
Swish! Swish!
I shook my arm, and the mosquito flew off with a bzzz.
"They have mosquitoes here? No, Jesus......"
Bzzzzzzz—
When I lifted my head, a swarm of mosquitoes was massing up above in the cave.
Given their size, the sound of their wingbeats was pretty threatening.
"If those little shits got me in my sleep, they'd drain all my blood and I'd be a mummy in no time."
With a stiff face, I pulled out a spray can from my backpack.
Psssssht—
Psssssht—
I sprayed as if coating my body and the entire tent.
Bzzt— Bzzt— Bzzzzzt—!
Immediately, I could see the mosquitoes convulsing and flying out of the cave like black smoke.
"Good thing I brought this bug repellent spray."
After easily repelling the mosquito threat like that,
I rummaged through my backpack, pulled out a sleeping bag, and tossed it inside the tent.
Then I set up a hammock right next to it.
"......Hmm, it is camping, though. Should I start a fire?"
That thought crossed my mind briefly, but I shook my head.
Nah, why bother.
A fire is something you just start now and then for cooking and put out. Since I brought a fire steel.
"Still, my throat's a bit dry."
I looked around and spotted a pool of water collected in a corner of the cave.
Stagnant water—who knew when it had appeared or how old it was.
"Normally, drinking this water poisons you."
Because in the game, there was a scene where you chugged this water and got sick.
But it didn't matter for me.
Since I had a purification straw.
I pulled out a long, rod-shaped straw from my backpack, stuck it into the puddle, and sucked lightly. Pop, pop—clean water welled up.
Ahh.
"Freaking refreshing. Tastes amazing."