120. Approaching Shadow (4)
120. Approaching Shadow (4)
Above the skies of the Uninhabited Island.
A single enormous airship hovered there.
"Crazy bitches, every last one of them nothing but lunatics....... This exam was never meant to be like this......!"
Unbelievably harsh language to come from the mouth of the chairwoman who commands Velvet Academy.
Even more so when you realize the ones she's calling 'crazy bitches' are the academy's own cadets.
Her words, as they stood, were fraught with problems.
Yet despite that, the academy instructors beside her who heard those words nodded in awkward agreement.
Because they couldn't help but sympathize.
An exam that should have tested mental fortitude and survival, with every party fending for themselves.
The Uninhabited Island Midterm Evaluation had already far exceeded their expectations.
Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Figures stamping their feet vigorously, exhaling breath drawn up from their cores.
At the scene displayed across the large holographic screen.
Chairwoman Rina squeezed her eyes shut, as if she'd seen something she could never unsee.
"......Have you lot actually become cavemen?! Have you been struck by a curse that degrades your intelligence?!!"
The Midterm Evaluation was now split into two major groups.
On one side, those continuing a communal life in primitive-looking attire, led by Lee Yu-ri.
On the other, those heavily armed in a modern fashion, led by Shin Se-hee.
It was like the early settlement days of America, the nation that had once held global hegemony—
a great war where gun-armed invaders assaulted a continent and fought bloody battles against its native inhabitants.
But there was a significant disparity in numbers.
The majority of cadets had joined Lee Yu-ri's camp.
Only those who couldn't bring themselves to partake in that insanity remained under Shin Se-hee.
The temptation of deviance was that powerful.
"That one goes quiet, and now others run wild and give me a headache......."
Gazing at the board that had already grown bizarre beyond containment, the chairwoman spoke in a hollow voice.
There was no need to specify who she meant by 'that one.'
The chairwoman had been wary of only one person from the start.
Jin Yu-ha.
She'd been keeping an eye on him, only to be blindsided from a completely unexpected direction.
It seemed the kids in the Utopia Party were, without exception, out of their minds.
"Hmm? Speaking of which, what's that one doing right now?"
Instructor Hong Ji-na, who had been watching the cadets' standoff with keen interest from the back, spoke up.
The chairwoman then gestured toward a corner of the hologram.
"......What in the world is that one doing now?"
Hong Ji-na, turning her eyes to where the chairwoman pointed, opened her mouth in bafflement.
"Training."
The reply came from Baek Seol-hee.
Baek Seol-hee had maintained an attitude of total indifference to whatever madness the other cadets were up to, and from the start of the Midterm Evaluation until now, she had been watching only that spot.
There, Jin Yu-ha was swinging a sword at a blonde cadet.
As ferociously as if he had met a mortal enemy on a narrow bridge.
And that female cadet was dodging for her life, her face pale.
To any observer, now that attacks between cadets were permitted, it looked like he was trying to extort her Coins.
"......Training? That? He's going to kill her."
No matter how you looked at it, calling that training was a stretch.
Where in the world was there a crazy bitch who swung such a terrifying lethal blade without hesitation at vitals and called it training?
That crazy bitch—rather, Baek Seol-hee—simply stared fixedly at the screen, offering no answer to her words.
'He corners her right up to that razor's edge where she can still respond. Well learned. Hmph. Still, he could have pressed in a little more just now. As I thought, my disciple is too soft-hearted.'
Baek Seol-hee nodded to herself with satisfaction, delivering an internal assessment that would horrify everyone else.
It was then.
Just before the Shield Tribe cadets and Shin Se-hee's forces clashed in all-out war.
WEEEEEEEE—!
The Flying Ship's interior suddenly flashed red, and a clamorous siren blared.
All the instructors hurriedly readied their gear and looked around.
"Now what, all of a sudden......."
The chairwoman furrowed her brow at yet another strange sense of déjà vu creeping over her.
Bang!
One instructor threw open the Flying Ship observation room door and entered with a panicked face.
"Chairwoman! A gate has broken!"
"......Rank and location."
"A-rank, AA-rank, a-and....... S! It's S! Three gates have broken simultaneously in Anyang, Ilsan, and Pohang!"
"The Management Bureau."
"The Hunter Management Bureau has already been dispatched. But they say their own personnel are insufficient and have requested support!"
'.......'
The chairwoman unknowingly bit her lip hard.
An A-rank gate and an AA-rank gate could be handled sufficiently just by dispatching the instructors here.
But an S-rank gate.
And of all times, while the exam was in progress!
'......I'll have to go.'
If she didn't go now, the outcome was painfully obvious.
Yet for some reason, Rina's feet wouldn't move right away.
Because a thought flooded in: if she left this place now, she would regret it.
Then, suddenly.
Her gaze turned to one spot.
That spot was none other than Jin Yu-ha's hologram screen.
And then,
she felt the ominous premonition and worry she'd been filled with wash away and vanish in an instant.
"......."
After giving him her gaze for a moment, the chairwoman looked back at Baek Seol-hee.
"Seol-hee, summon the Extermination Squad immediately. You will head to the S-rank gate with me."
"Yes."
"Instructor Hong Ji-na, lead the combat instructor team and provide support to the AA-rank gate."
"Yes! Understood!"
"The rest will support the A-rank gate."
"Do the cadets sortie as well?"
Chairwoman Rina shook her head firmly.
"No. Once we are deployed, the cadets are irrelevant. We depart immediately."
As the chairwoman's orders came down, the instructors nodded with resolute expressions.
And Rina turned her head once more to look at Jin Yu-ha.
'I'm counting on you. Please, this time, for sure.......'
She didn't even understand herself what she was counting on him for,
but she prayed with a desperate heart.
* * *
"I honestly didn't expect you'd come out like this from day one, Lee Yu-ri."
In a war of nerves between the leaders of each camp,
Shin Se-hee, who had stepped forward, pressed her temple with a slightly troubled expression.
"......I didn't expect it either."
Lee Yu-ri answered, her voice deeply sincere from the heart.
"Ha, and you say that after already building up this massive force....... You really are a frightening woman, Lee Yu-ri."
"No."
"Truly, it's a method I never would have imagined. Enjoyment that surpasses comfort and convenience....... The very idea of turning this Midterm Evaluation itself into a game......."
"I said no."
"And the moment combat between cadets was allowed, you created an external enemy to solidify the loose internal bonds of the three-person party limit—you calculated all of that? Ha, so the bear-like fox who's been playing coy next to Jin Yu-ha finally shows her true colors?"
"......."
Words simply weren't getting through.
She finally felt like she understood why Kang Do-hee had been singing "Flowerbed-head, Flowerbed-head" at Shin Se-hee.
'No, but wait, why are you standing over there....... Weren't you on bad terms with her?!'
Kang Do-hee stood next to Shin Se-hee, arms crossed and glaring at her with a deeply furrowed brow.
"You! How dare you speak to our leader like that! Apologize right now!"
Lee Min-young, who had been guarding Lee Yu-ri's side, saying they had to match numbers since Kang Do-hee had come out over there, shouted angrily.
Shin Se-hee's gaze turned that way.
"Oh my, you're....... Cadet Lee Min-young, isn't it? The one who kept challenging Jin Yu-ha and got spectacularly crushed every time. I'd heard you'd been quiet lately......."
"......Ha, you'd better brace yourself today. Because today, our Chieftain Lee Yu-ri and our cadets will definitely defeat you and seize victory."
"You really are the perfect example of someone hiding behind other people's strength. Since you have none of your own, you'll borrow the people around you to benefit yourself? That's loser thinking, through and through."
Crunch─
A sharp sound escaped from between Lee Min-young's teeth as Shin Se-hee hit a nerve.
The light in Lee Yu-ri's eyes died.
'No, you're doing the exact same thing....... You dragged her along even though you're on bad terms with Kang Do-hee. And honestly, those two seem to be getting along scarily well......?'
Originally, Lee Min-young's chemistry with Shin Se-hee had been completely incompatible,
but with her fall, the two had come to resemble each other.
"I had been planning to deal with you after winning over Jin Yu-ha....... Hmm, no. In fact, this might be better. For once, rather than borrowing Jin Yu-ha's strength, it might be nice to present him with nothing but the result of an absolute victory."
Jin Yu-ha.
The moment that name left Shin Se-hee's mouth, Lee Yu-ri's expression turned serious.
'Hmm, now that I think about it, I still have a debt to repay to him, and I haven't repaid a single bit of it yet, have I?'
Then she couldn't lose.
This fight was not merely about getting a good score on the midterm.
It was a contest over Jin Yu-ha!
She'd ended up in the role of leader by chance, but if it meant she could give something of value to Jin Yu-ha, Lee Yu-ri was willing to endure any humiliation.
"......Fine. Then let's have a go."
Lee Yu-ri spoke to Shin Se-hee in a stiff voice.
Shin Se-hee gave a snort of laughter.
With that, the leaders ended their war of nerves and returned to their respective camps.
And soon, a massive all-out war began on the Uninhabited Island.
.
.
.
"Sofia. That's enough. Let's start moving."
"......Hahh. Hahh. Y-Yes?! Wh-where? Where are we going?!"
"It's time for the trash bastards to make their move. We have to go take care of them."
"?"
And from the start of the exam, Jin Yu-ha had been waiting.
Now, sensing by instinct that the moment had finally arrived,
he headed for the center of the Uninhabited Island.