Survival Exam (2)

At Professor Kim Jin-hyeok's order to surrender even the smallest items, the cadets reluctantly got to their feet and began submitting the snacks and drinks they'd bought for breakfast.

Elise had about ten mana stones on her — backups, most likely, for when her mana ran dry. In the original story she somehow survived the entire week on those alone.

But why was she acting like that all of a sudden? I couldn't make sense of it. Even reading her status window, all I got were thoughts like trash and filth. No way to tell what any of it meant.

Wait a second.

Had Elise been the one who saw me having sex with Rumi in the club room? Considering she was the daughter of the Iris Guild — an information guild — she might well have ordered her people to dig into my background. Then they'd caught me thanks to my own carelessness, and word had reached her ears.

But is having sex with my girlfriend in the club room really something that warrants being called trash...?

They'd only caught Rumi, so the investigator would just assume she was my girlfriend. Ah, whatever. This guess wasn't even solid to begin with.

"Enter one at a time."

We filed into the teleportation portal one by one. Riding this would take us to the uninhabited island.

I let the portal take me. When I opened my eyes, a vast ocean stretched out before me, and behind it trees grew as dense as the Amazon. The place where cadets were chattering around me was the coastline of an island.

"Class A, assemble here."

Homeroom Professor Kim Jin-hyeok came through the portal last and gathered us together.

"This is an uninhabited island purchased by Victoria Academy. There is not a single trace of human presence, and the ecosystem has been preserved as naturally as possible. You will survive here until Sunday."

Professor Kim Jin-hyeok began briefing us on the special exam. The densely packed trees did look like a tropical rainforest, untouched by human hands.

"The island is home to many poisonous animals and beasts. Even those without venom include plenty of monsters capable of threatening your lives. If you want to give up, contact me at any time through your smartwatch. Should an emergency arise that could endanger your life, use this."

Kim Jin-hyeok distributed stickers that could be affixed to the cadets' smartwatches.

"Tear that sticker and you will be immediately transported to a safe location. However, the moment you tear it, you receive the lowest possible score on the exam."

Unlike previous training, there were no safety nets whatsoever. Still, with an enormous number of drones and surveillance cameras monitoring the island to prevent accidents, it probably wouldn't be that dangerous.

"Isn't this dangerous?"

"I didn't even get to contact my girlfriend..."

Professor Kim Jin-hyeok regarded the murmuring students with indifference and continued his explanation.

"Let me explain the exam format. Each of you starts with a baseline of ten points. Means of increasing those points exist throughout the island. First, hunt a beast and scan it with your smartwatch, and your points will rise. Combat between cadets is, of course, also permitted..."

Kim Jin-hyeok's explanation dragged on forever. Put simply, hunting monsters earned points, and taking down cadets earned points too. Weak monsters awarded modest scores; the stronger the monster, the higher the score. Eliminate a cadet and scan their smartwatch, and you'd receive half the points they were holding. Beyond monsters, supply crates falling from the sky and treasures hidden across the island also awarded points.

"To steal another cadet's points, you simply take their smartwatch. Scan another smartwatch with your own and you claim half the points stored in it. The opponent is then eliminated."

Kim Jin-hyeok tapped his own smartwatch as he explained.

"I don't believe any of you would risk your lives fighting over an exam... but I'll say this just in case. This is ultimately part of your training. It is a process for experiencing in advance how you will handle crises you have never faced. Do not endanger your lives over mere pride."

"Professor... but couldn't emotions get heated during a fight?"

A cadet raised a hand and asked. It was a reasonable enough question — but if that kind of concern would have been entertained, they never would have dragged us here in the first place.

"You are students of Victoria Academy. Whether you have more talent than others, a better family, or more money — none of that matters now. Once you have entered the academy, being exposed to difficult and dangerous training is only natural."

Victoria Academy was a world-renowned educational institution. Behind the academy that had produced so many celebrated hunters lurked this kind of Spartan education — but it was true that the harder the trial, the more a person grew.

"If you lack confidence, contact me and give up. Even if you find yourself on the brink of death, simply tear the sticker. As long as you are still breathing, the medical team on standby will save you somehow, so do not worry. What we will not do is look after idiots who stubbornly die without even realizing they are in mortal danger."

That was pretty terrifying, the way he put it. Of course, I wasn't going to die, so it didn't matter to me.

"That covers everything that needed to be communicated. Lastly, I will distribute individual maps and emergency rations."

Each of us received one map and one pouch. The pouch labeled emergency rations contained two chocolate bars and two eggs.

What the hell am I supposed to do with this...

"Each of you will find a mark on your map. The exam begins once every person has arrived at their mark. From this moment until the exam starts, conversation and contact with one another is prohibited. Immediate elimination if you are caught. Failure to reach your mark within thirty minutes is also grounds for elimination. Now — move out!"

Having said all he needed to say, Kim Jin-hyeok vanished through the portal. He'd probably gone to some kind of control room to watch the exam.

The cadets glanced around in bewilderment, but no one opened their mouth.

"..."

The same situation applied to the other classes. Over two hundred first-years had been dumped on this coastline, after all. After a few seconds of hesitation, the cadets quietly filed into the forest.

I caught Lucy and Rumi's eyes in a silent greeting, then consulted my map and set off to find my way.

I waited at my designated location, and a notification arrived on my smartwatch.

This was the app they'd installed for the exam. Later I'd use it to track other cadets and for any number of other purposes — just not yet.

"Oh?"

A sub quest had popped up too. But I wasn't even first in practicals. Why 'master of both pen and sword'? And why was the reward agility, of all things? Give me magic power instead.

I had to work hard on the special exam anyway. On day seven, the boss monster dropped something I needed. I'd just think of this as a bonus on the side.

First... I needed to find a place to sleep. I planned to pick one base and operate around it. I didn't want to wander around for no reason, and word had already spread among every first-year that I was sitting on a mountain of supplies from back at the coast.

"Isn't there a decent spot somewhere...? Maybe I should head for the mountains."

Mountains had a lot of good terrain. There might even be caves.

"Somewhere close to water would be nice. Good for washing, too."

I'd brought toiletries, so I just needed running water. Looking at the map, I found a nearby river and set my course.

Elise started the special exam in a foul mood. She was already irritated from learning Lee Ho-yeon's true nature, and being dragged to a place like this for a so-called special exam only made it worse.

"Perverted bastard."

Just thinking about it again sent shivers crawling down her entire body. To think he was such a promiscuous man.

He was a guy I actually wanted to get close to...

A strange sense of regret still lingered, but the visceral repulsion drowned it out. She shook her head hard, wiping Lee Ho-yeon from her thoughts. The exam was what mattered now.

"Ten mana stones..."

For Elise, who needed two or three mana stones just to get through a single practical class, ten was pathetically insufficient. But she couldn't give up the exam, so she had to do her best with what she had.

She decided to look for treasure first. There might be something related to mana. Studying the map for places that might hold treasure, she considered heading for the center of the island — then remembered that Lee Ho-yeon had gone that way.

"...I'll go this way."

Heading to the center would have been fine, but thinking of Lee Ho-yeon would only sour her mood. Elise looked at her map and started walking east.

But her innate, catastrophic sense of direction sabotaged her navigation at every turn, and she ended up somewhere completely different from where she'd intended.

"Where am I...?"

A wide river appeared before her — the source of the waterway that ran through the uninhabited island. Elise climbed onto a rickety wooden bridge to cross it, so focused on her map that she failed to notice the cadets concealed on the other side.

The other side didn't want her coming across either.

"Hey... fuck, forget camping — Elise is coming, you crazy bastard."

The two male cadets hiding in the grass started panicking at the sight of Elise crossing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the bridge.

"We're fucked. Wrong target. If we run into her we're done. We gotta run."

"Hey, wait. I don't think she's noticed us yet. Should we try?"

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cadet holding a bow said it tensely.

"We couldn't win even if we ambushed her, so why bother?"

The cadet with a spear slung across his back made a valid point, but the bow-wielding one shook his head.

"We're not going after Elise. We're going after that bridge. We just need to destroy the part connected to our side."

"Oh...? That so?"

An absurd plan to destroy the bridge Elise was crossing. In peak condition, she never would have fallen for such a sloppy scheme — but right now she was in a foul mood and pouring every scrap of her attention into finding her way.

"Yeah. Even if we take her out now we won't get many points. We're just eliminating one competitor."

"Okay. Let's try. If it doesn't work we can just run."

Elise was still frowning at her map.

"No... trees here, trees there, mountains over there, mountains over here — where the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hell am I supposed to go?"

A rustle — the artificial sound of leaves being moved, and a presence she could feel. At the same time, something flying toward her.

Too late!

Elise hastily drew up her mana to brace for the incoming attack.

A sharp crack rang out — but none of the attacks had been aimed at her. The javelins and arrows that flew toward the creaking wooden bridge completely severed the ropes holding it together.

"Huh...?"

Elise locked eyes with the two who'd high-fived after their successful ambush — and then she fell into the river.

The current swallowed her. Bubbles rushed past her face.

I need to get a mana stone...

Forcibly extracting mana to block the ambush had triggered her mana disorder again. To get out of the water immediately, she needed emergency treatment with a mana stone. Fumbling at her inner pocket to pull one out, Elise lost her grip in the unexpectedly strong current.

"...!"

The pocket her hand had pulled open spilled its contents. The mere ten backup mana stones she possessed were swept away by the river, and Elise thrashed desperately to get out of the water — but the aftereffects of forcibly extracting mana left her body unable to move properly.

"This is actually danger— Aah—!"

She decided to peel off the emergency sticker on her smartwatch, thinking she was truly in danger — but at that moment her head, tossed about by the current, slammed into a protruding rock.

Insufficient oxygen, the mana disorder raging inside her body, and the pain exploding from the back of her skull all hit at once. Elise finally lost consciousness and drifted away with the current.