Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Survival Exam (19)
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In this world, elves aren't beautiful beings.
They're a type of monster—lunatics who hunt humans for pleasure.
They have intelligence, but their language is different, so communication is impossible.
Of course, that high elf is under magical control, so even if it could understand, it wouldn't respond.
The high elf is a device set up by the academy to deal with cadets who hide until the very last day without doing anything.
If you'd properly hunted monsters and gathered treasures over the week-long survival exam, you could easily rack up around 200 points.
The high elf ensures that cadets who avoid fighting, just hiding and running, won't survive to the end.
Of course, simply surviving until the last day earns you a decent score. Hiding and staying alive isn't easy, after all.
In the original story, it only took out a few cowards before clashing with the protagonist.
But things are very different now.
"What the fuck!"
"Aaaagh!"
Kim Young-han's team, which had been heading my way, was collapsing under the high elf's arrows that could strike anywhere on the island.
Forming a team of 80 had been a fatal mistake.
More people doesn't always mean better.
If those numbers had competed against each other, snatching points until only about 20 remained, the elf wouldn't have targeted them first.
It would have only gone after the real slackers sucking honey in hiding.
But too many cadets had survived.
With a fixed point supply, more people just means thinner shares.
Of course, it wasn't Kim Young-han's fault. Predicting this would be absurd.
There had been a hint, though.
The message on day 6.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ All cadets' names and positions are now displayed in real-time on the minimap. Cadets who only run away to survive, take heed. This was the hint for the high elf's appearance.
I wasn't sure if it was meant to tip us off. I only learned about it later from explanations floating around online.
Hoping no cadets would die in accidents, I opened the point rankings.
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⚙ POINT RANKINGS ⚙ 1. Lee Ho-yeon. 1210p
2. Kim Young-han. 452p
3. Ellis. 434p
4. Lucy. 210p
...
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Only five cadets on the island had exceeded 200 points.
In other words...
"Jackpot?"
They'd handle everything themselves while I sat back.
Couldn't be easier.
I shook off Kim Young-han's team amid the chaos of arrows and headed toward the coordinates of Ellis and the Lucy-Lumi twins, checking the map.
Time to share points with Lumi.
*
The academy conference room.
The professors were glued to their screens, watching the final day of the survival exam.
"...Shouldn't we adjust this a bit?"
One professor cautiously spoke up as high elf arrows caused cadets to teleport out one or two at a time.
"Our initial calculation of 200 points feels way off now. At this rate, everyone except the top five will drop out."
"So what? Dropping out isn't disqualification. It's relative ranking. The order just shifts—that's it."
"True, but... a mass dropout on the last day due to point caps could raise fairness issues."
Another professor sighed.
Fairness. New professors always brought that up.
They hadn't adjusted to Victoria Academy yet.
"Fairness? Since when do we care about that...? You know the academy policy. Building crisis response skills."
Crisis response skills.
Training for a job rife with sudden, unexpected events.
Victoria Academy emphasized crisis response as an educational institution.
"Still, fairness..."
"If you're griping about fairness, there's plenty to complain about. Mages have a survival edge, right? They maintain basic hygiene with cleaning spells, craft beds with magic, roast meat over magical fires. No complaints there?"
"No, mages using magic is inevitable. That's not the point. I think we should've stopped Lee Ho-yeon from hoarding food from the start."
"Last year's special exam had a student who brought an academy map to prep for potential tests inside. This year, some freshmen heard about it and did the same. Same logic. Prepping is the cadet's freedom. We just announced there'd be a special exam."
"...Fair point."
Debates on fairness arose among professors, but Victoria Academy's policy always won out.
How you prepare is up to the cadet.
The academy only evaluates crisis response.
Favorable or unfavorable situations—doesn't matter.
Creating favorable ones is a skill too.
Kim Young-han, for instance, was highly rated for rallying cadets into his team to tilt odds in his favor.
"Quit overthinking and monitor to prevent casualties."
A senior professor barked at the screens.
Even if it felt unfair now, academy alumni knew these repeated trials built a solid foundation.
"A-13 drone—cadet in danger. Force teleport?"
"Do it without asking. Focus monitoring on Lee Ho-yeon and Kim Young-han."
The professors intently watched the monitors as the exam neared its end.
*
"Phew. Close one, Lumi. Scan quick."
"Yeah. Thanks."
Cadets under 200 points were in danger, so I'd rushed to share. But Lucy had 210 too.
Even asking Ellis to share—sharing was locked.
The academy's trick on the last day: no sharing to force eliminations.
Luckily, Lumi needed exactly 20, snagged from a monster en route.
I'd planned to share with Lee Ho-yeon, but the game offered no day-7 sharing chance—I hadn't known.
Nam Da-eun's appearance had thrown off the timeline too.
"It's coming this way. Must've slipped out in the chaos."
"Phew, good."
"Y-yeah, good."
Lucy and Lumi clutched their chests, sighing in relief.
Watching them, Ellis thought:
These twins are fascinating every time.
Blue and black hair aside, identical looks, identical cuteness that makes you want to bite...
"Ahem."
What am I thinking about peers?
Seeing Lee Ho-yeon approach fast, Ellis seized the chance.
Last shot to ask these two without him.
"What do you think of Lee Ho-yeon?"
"S-suddenly? He's great, of course."
"M-me too... I think he's amazing."
Lucy and Lumi tilted heads at the abrupt question but answered nicely.
"Don't you think he's hiding something?"
"...Dunno?"
"Uh... r-really?"
They seemed to sense it too...
Ellis couldn't shake the frustration.
Should I investigate him myself?
"Girls!"
A man's voice from afar.
Familiar—Lee Ho-yeon.
Pretty far, but already here.
Ellis schooled her expression.
*
'Why the weird faces?'
No words, but awkward vibes flowed.
I checked their status windows.
★ HEROINE STATUS ★ [Lucy] ❤️ Favorability: 88 💋 Lust: 40 🍽️ Appetite: 60 😴 Fatigue: 55 Current Status: He's a good person... definitely. ★ HEROINE STATUS ★ [Lumi] ❤️ Favorability: 92 (+0.3) 💋 Lust: 63 🍽️ Appetite: 25 😴 Fatigue: 39 Current Status: Secret friendships are tough. ★ HEROINE STATUS ★ [Ellis] ❤️ Favorability: 42 💋 Lust: 38 🍽️ Appetite: 25 😴 Fatigue: 45 Current Status: Don't wanna learn infiltration skills... Their inscrutable thoughts only confused me more.
No—not the time to worry about this.
"Lumi, where'd your points come from?"
Rankings showed her at 200 now. I'd rushed to share.
"Oh, we took down a monster together."
"Nice. Good."
Process doesn't matter if she got them.
"Let's move, stat."
"Where?"
"To hunt the elf, duh."
"...The elf? Do we have to?"
"Once it wipes those cannon fodder, we're next."
It prioritized under-200s, sure—but didn't say it ignored the rest.
Surviving those long-range arrows all day 7? Impossible.
In the original, protagonist was centrally positioned and handled it. For the hidden piece, I had to follow suit.
Originally solo plan. But Nam Da-eun fight drained mana.
Recharged en route, but no need to risk it.
Group hunt fine—hidden piece mine alone.
I prep for high elf kill; Ellis and Lucy handle the rest.
"Got it."
"Okay. Let's go."
Convince Ellis, Lucy-Lumi tag along bonus.
We raced island-center.
Arrows busy with Kim's 80; ignored us.
Rankings: ~30 left. Hurry before fodder thinned.
The massive tree at center.
High elf atop, loosing arrows.
I prepped magic. Full-power Flame Burst—simple spark spell, but simplicity packed punch.
Target: that tree.
Burn the world tree.
Whoosh!
Magic circle flared from my hand; tree and elf atop engulfed in flames.
-Kyyyaaaak!
High elf dropped bow, clutched head, burning.
'What?'
Did I bring them for nothing?
Guess I underestimated my firepower.