The Survival Exam

"Aaaah... I'm really dying...♡ Master..."

Slap! Slap!

I gripped Liliana's hips as she lay face-down and drove into her. All the strength had gone out of her; she could only twitch against the floor, the tail that had been swaying near the base of her spine now coiled loosely around my waist.

"I'm gonna come."

"Yesss... please come inside me...! Master♡ Nnhhh...!"

Her writhing walls milked the shaft of my cock, and her womb, descending to receive me, clamped down on the head. This was the kind of sex only a succubus — a creature born to wring a man dry — could offer, and I savored that final creampie.

"Haaah... aaahn..."

Liliana took everything I gave her and collapsed completely, panting against the floor.

"Liliana. Get up. You've still got to clean up."

"Ah, haah... I'm sorry, Master... hahp."

She trembled as she took me into her mouth, but it wasn't the usual greedy, wringing fellatio. This was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a slow, languid cleaning, her tongue dragging gently along the shaft.

"Not enough. One more time."

"Maste— gk... slurrrp... khk..."

Her eyes had gone unfocused; she couldn't even suck properly. I grabbed her horns and pushed myself all the way into her throat.

"Khhnk... ssuck. Mmh. Khhaahk... slurp. slurp..."

Pulling on her horns drove me all the way down her throat, and it felt incomparably better. Liliana came back to herself enough to wrap her tongue around the shaft, and every time she swallowed, her throat clenched and squeezed the head.

"Khgck... nnngh. Slurp, slurp, succk..."

Pushing and pulling on her horns, sliding in and out of her throat — it was a different kind of pleasure from burying myself in her pussy. Calling that hole a throat-pussy would not have been an exaggeration.

"Last one for real. Swallow every drop."

"Slurp... succk..."

Liliana wrapped her arms around my hips and clung to my cock like she refused to let a single drop escape.

Gulp. Gulp.

Every time I pulsed, her throat worked, and she swallowed it down on the spot.

"Mmh... gulp. Ssuck. Kisss..."

"Haaah... I'm wrecked."

Six rounds between her mouth and her pussy had drained the last of the strength from my body.

"Come here, Liliana."

"Master..."

She was just as spent. She crawled over slowly and settled into the crook of my arm. We tangled our legs together, pulled each other close, and closed our eyes in the quiet.

Falling asleep in each other's arms after sex felt best with Liliana.

"...Now what am I supposed to do with this."

Sebas Chan, an executive of the Iris Guild, currently served as both secretary and bodyguard to Elise, who was studying abroad in Korea. He sat staring at the information he had gathered on Lee Ho-yeon over the weekend, sunk deep in thought.

"Physical relationship with Professor Lim Sol. Secretly cohabiting with a woman in the dormitory. Physical relationship with Baek A-young, the Saint. Physical relationship with his classmate Rumi. And a considerable number of other women he is close to."

The relationship with Baek A-young was not entirely confirmed, but after that formidable barrier had vanished, Sebas Chan could read the truth in the way they breathed around each other, in the way their eyes met.

After Ho-yeon had caught him tailing once, Sebas Chan had given the investigation everything he had. It had been enough to call up memories of his youth, back when they had called him the Bloody Wind of the Iris Guild. Stealth arts and infiltration techniques he had sworn never to use again after leaving active duty — he had dusted them all off.

That he, a man who had once ranked among the finest stealth practitioners in the world, had nearly been caught by Professor Lim Sol — a woman still only in her mid-to-late twenties — had been a genuine shock. Fortunately, she had never quite pinned him down.

"Do I report this...?"

The young lady had clearly taken a liking to Cadet Lee Ho-yeon. But was this the kind of romantic history he ought to put in front of her? It might well hurt her.

"...Fine. Concealing the Guild Leader's entanglements is one thing — that can't be helped. But the young lady hasn't even started anything yet. Better to cut it off before it begins."

Better she be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hurt now than after she had already given him her heart.

"Sebas Chan, you said you had something to report?"

As if on cue, Elise stepped out of her room.

"...The results of the investigation into Cadet Lee Ho-yeon."

"Oh, really? Give it here."

The moment she heard it was news about Ho-yeon, Elise snatched the paper out of his hands. Sebas Chan watched the smile drain from her face, and a heavy gloom settled over him.

"Ugh... I feel like garbage."

Had I overdone it last night? Getting my eyes open this morning was a genuine struggle. I toyed with Liliana's cheek as she slept beside me, then dragged myself out of bed.

I wouldn't be able to shower for a while, so I scrubbed myself down thoroughly, every inch. I had packed toiletries for the uninhabited island, of course — but you never know.

Outside the door, the instant meals I had ordered yesterday for Liliana had arrived. I brought the boxes inside and went over to her.

"Liliana. Wake up."

"Nnnh... Master."

She wound her arms around my neck, and I kissed her for a little while.

"There's food over there, so hang in there, okay? Keep up with your streams. Got it?"

"...Okay."

"When I get back, we'll walk around the festival together. All right?"

"...Okay."

"Aigoo."

I pulled her into my arms as her eyes welled up. Of course she was scared. I was the only person she knew in this entire world.

"I'll be back. I'm sorry."

"I know. I'll hold down the fort."

"Heh. Yeah. Keep the place ready for when the man of the house comes home."

Liliana saw me off with a smile.

I left the dormitory and headed for Class A.

"Spatial pouch, check... yeah, that's really all I need to bring."

I tucked the spatial pouch safely into my cadet uniform and started walking. A voice called out from behind me.

"Well, well. If it isn't Cadet Lee Ho-yeon — the guy who had the finals in the bag and still lost to mana exhaustion."

"...?"

I turned around to see who was running their mouth, and there was Kim Young-han, grinning as he walked up.

"Ahh... Cadet Kim Young-han. The rookie hopeful who boldly declared he'd take first place, then crashed and burned in the semis without even reaching the finals? Good to see you."

"...Wasn't that a little harsh?"

His face fell.

"You started it, man."

"You all set for the special exam?"

"Yeah. All set."

Nobody had prepped harder than I had.

"I dug around every which way, but I couldn't get a single scrap of information. It's a whole different league from just getting ahold ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of a tournament bracket."

"Figures. Everyone involved probably took a mana oath. That's why I just prepared for everything."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you later."

He was still my only male friend. If I ran into him on the island, I could at least toss him a scrap of meat.

We traded small talk the rest of the way, and by the time we reached Class A, the whole room was buzzing about the special exam.

"From what I know, the special exam is a flag capture. That's from someone on the inside."

"Flag capture? I heard it was a battle royale."

Armed with the two most dangerous theories in the world — from what I know and from what I heard — the cadets were arguing for whatever exam they personally wanted to take, facts be damned. Every test so far had been some kind of head-to-head competition, so not a single one of them had prepared for a survival theme.

Kim Young-han peeled off toward his usual crowd, and I headed for Lucy and Rumi. On the way, I briefly locked eyes with Elise, who was sitting in the front row, and greeted her first.

"Hey, Elise."

"..."

Elise ignored me, her face a mask of cold indifference.

What? Where was this coming from?

"Elise?"

"..."

She wouldn't even meet my eyes. Something was off. I pulled up her status window.

...?

Her affection had been at sixty-two. How had it crashed all the way to twenty? And why was I trash? You've got to be kidding me.

I wanted to grab her and talk it out, but there were far too many eyes in this room. I left Elise to her cold shoulder and sat down in the seat between Lucy and Rumi.

"Ho-yeon, what do you think the special exam's gonna be?"

Lucy, of course, wanted to talk about it too.

"Beats me. I just bought everything that came to mind."

"Bought? What, did you pick up some fancy weapon?"

"No... I'll tell you later."

"You've never been wrong before, so I'm sure you'll be right."

Rumi beamed at me like a sunflower turning toward the light.

Don't worry, girls. I already bought enough for you too.

The door slid open with a rattle.

"Good morning. I trust you all slept well."

Our homeroom teacher, Professor Kim Jin-hyuk, walked in. He looked us over and smiled with complete self-assurance — a smile I hadn't seen on him in a long time.

"The special exam begins today. The theme of this special exam is survival. From today through this coming Sunday, you will spend seven days surviving on an uninhabited island."

"What?"

"Ehhh?"

The cadets' mouths fell open. Shock rippled through the room.

"P-Professor! My little sibling is home alone — I have to go back!"

"The details will be relayed again once you arrive on the island. We are already aware of each of your individual circumstances. Your families have been notified, and personnel have been dispatched wherever care is needed."

These people are actually insane.

They could have just announced this in advance. Sure, the exam would be more effective this way... but with the kind of backlash this was going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to generate, was it really worth it?

"B-but an uninhabited island with no time to prepare...!"

"The lack of preparation time was deliberate. A true Hunter should have started preparing the moment they heard the words 'special exam.' If any of you did bring something, speak up now. There will be no penalty. On the contrary — I will commend you for your preparedness."

Nobody moved. Of course they didn't. Who would have prepared for this? They had all been expecting some kind of battle royale. A sudden survival test had caught every last one of them flat-footed.

"Should anyone be caught using an item on the island that was not submitted for inspection here and now, they will be disqualified immediately."

Huh?

Hold on. That was never in the game. Since when was there a belongings inspection?

Don't tell me the lack of one was just a gameplay convenience?

"How very disappointing. Not a single one of you..."

"...I brought something."

I had no choice. I raised my hand and walked to the front.

"A rising star really is different. But what did you bring? A little chocolate bar, perhaps?"

Kim Jin-hyuk took in my complete lack of luggage and figured I was turning in some emergency rations.

"Well, I do have chocolate bars, actually..."

I set a fifty-kilogram spatial pouch on the teacher's desk.

"A spatial pouch...? What's the capacity?"

"Fifty kilograms."

"...I'll take a look."

"Professor. Could we at least do this somewhere the others can't see...?"

Opening it here, of all places, felt like a terrible idea. I offered the suggestion as carefully as I could.

"Belongings inspections are conducted in full view of everyone. It is to prevent anyone from claiming an exam-related item as their own and cheating."

Well. Hard to argue with that.

If I held out some smoked pork belly and told them I knew where to find a similar reward if they followed me, I could have kept reeling in cadets who had no idea I had brought the food myself.

Professor Kim Jin-hyuk began pulling the contents of my spatial pouch out onto the desk, one item at a time. Neatly packaged meat and rice. Bottled water. Snacks. A one-touch automatic tent. A lantern. A gas mask. A portable water purifier. A shovel. A pickaxe. A full bedding-and-pillow set...

"...Why on earth did you bring all this?"

"I had no idea what might happen, so I prepared for every situation I could think of."

"..."

Kim Jin-hyuk let out a disbelieving little snort and began inspecting each item, passing mana through them one by one. I glanced back over my shoulder. The rest of the cadets were staring at me with the unmistakable look of people thinking, what kind of lunatic is this?

"...In all my years, I have never seen anyone prepare this thoroughly for a special exam. Very well. Take it with you."

"Thank you, Professor."

Kim Jin-hyuk was smiling, nodding as though thoroughly satisfied. Having the professor's good opinion was nice... but I had a feeling I was in serious trouble.

I walked back to my seat. Every cadet in Class A was staring at me.

Those eyes...

Those were the eyes of predators that had just found their prey.