Survival Exam (16)

After our sparring session, Elise and I arrived at the river to wash off the sweat.

"I'm going behind that rock. Don't come over."

"Wasn't planning on it."

Like hell I was going to get caught and listen to whatever she'd have to say about it. I decided to wash with the big boulder between us.

A low hum resonated through the air as I set up a Rune Barrier, sealing us off from anyone who might wander by. I'd done the same while Lucy and Rumi were washing, of course. I simply widened the barrier I'd centered on myself so that Elise would fall inside it too.

"Don't forget — we need to be done by the fifty-minute mark!"

"I know."

After passing along the time, I scrubbed myself down thoroughly. Out here, if you didn't wash properly, staying clean was a losing battle. I'd given Elise thirty minutes out of consideration, but I was done in ten. Honestly, taking half an hour to wash was the strange part. Shampoo, body wash, brush your teeth — that's ten minutes, period.

I leaned my back against the boulder and waited for Elise.

This goddamn survival exam was a pain, but we'd packed so thoroughly I could've sworn we were on a camping trip. The one thing I missed was Liliana. I hadn't seen her in a week, and I was starting to crave that succubus's soft body.

I've become a slave to lust myself, haven't I.

Anyway, thirty minutes had to have passed by now, and there was still no word from Elise. Figuring she must have finished washing, I peeked my head over the top of the boulder.

Elise was already fully dressed, crouched in a corner.

What the hell?

Watching her squat in the far corner of the barrier, hands fussing with something, I pulled up her status window.

"...?"

What was that supposed to mean?

I quickly inspected the mana composing the Rune Barrier.

I can't feel a hole... wait.

A faint, almost imperceptible dissonance. The mana forming the Rune Barrier had been damaged — just barely. Even with Mana Sensitivity, the difference was so slight I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been paying attention.

She's going this far?

Setting aside the sheer genius it took for Elise to punch a hole through my barrier, I couldn't figure out why she was even trying. If she were breaking it to pick a fight with me, I'd understand. But what was the point of opening a tiny hole I wasn't supposed to notice?

First things first — I needed to stop whatever this was.

"Elise. What are you doing?"

I stepped out from behind the boulder as I called to her, pretending I had no idea.

"Nothing."

Elise erased the mana in an instant and rose to her feet. Her expression didn't so much as flicker. If I hadn't seen it beforehand, I would have bought the act completely. But in that brief moment as she wiped the mana away, I fully grasped the size of the hole.

It wasn't even big enough for a fist. A single finger, if I had to put a number on it. Which meant it wasn't meant to harm me... wait. Was this a peep hole?

"..."

"What are you doing? Hurry up."

"Uh, yeah."

Elise looked at me strangely as I just stood there. The image of her affection and lust climbing after I'd finished with Baek A-young, and her exhausted face during the next watch after I'd slept with Rumi, flashed through my mind.

Nah. No way. She wouldn't be doing this just to sneak a look at me. But if not that, then what? She didn't even need to find dirt on me anymore.

I watched Elise's back as she walked ahead. For reasons I couldn't name, that retreating figure looked like an invitation.

Elise and I returned to the tent.

Lucy and Rumi were pressed shoulder to shoulder, poking at each other's hands and goofing around. I wanted to squeeze in between them, but I held back and checked my smartwatch.

9:57.

Perfect timing. The battle royale notification would be coming any second.

"The exam ends tomorrow. Where are we heading?"

Lucy asked, looking up from her horsing around as we came back.

"Hmm... we'll have to move carefully, keeping an eye on Kim Young-han's team."

I operated my smartwatch and pulled up the point rankings.

"Kim Young-han's climbed all the way to third. I don't think they'll come looking for a fight, so let's wait for an opening until tomorrow."

Kim Young-han's team wouldn't want a fight with me. Even if those cadets had gathered specifically to take me down, it was already day six. They just had to hold out one more day. Even the dumbest among them wouldn't bother coming after me now.

Elise's drive to take first place had cooled a little too. She'd gotten a way to treat her mana disorder from me, so she'd probably let go of some of that hunger for grades.

Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep.

Then every smartwatch rang at once.

The smartwatch displayed a map of the island, dotted with glowing points of light.

"What's a battle royale?!"

"Th-there was something like this too?"

"...So what do we do now?"

They were all looking at me.

I studied the minimap slowly. Just as I'd expected, a massive cluster of cadets was gathered around Kim Young-han.

Jesus, that's a disgusting number of people.

Even the low-level cadets who should have been eliminated ages ago in the original story were still alive. Over eighty of them had formed a single team.

"Let's head inland first."

"That direction takes us closer to Kim Young-han's team."

"I know."

"Weren't you the one who said we should wait for an opening until tomorrow?"

"They sat on this the whole time and then kicked off a battle royale on day six. That means there'll be another event on the last day. We've got a map now, so I think it's better to keep a moderate distance than to stay too far away."

"...Fine. We'll do it your way."

I talked Elise around with the excuse I'd prepared, then led Lucy and Rumi — who were staring at us with wide, sparkling eyes — toward the center of the island.

The message reached Kim Young-han's team as well.

And Kim Young-han found himself in a predicament he hadn't imagined.

Of course he'd planned to fight if he ran into Lee Ho-yeon. But he had no intention of going out of his way to find him. The special exam was graded on a curve anyway. If things wrapped up as they were, Kim Young-han would finish in third. There was no need to introduce a variable.

Granted, Kim Young-han's team numbered over eighty, while Lee Ho-yeon only had Elise, Lucy, and Rumi with him — four people total. On paper, that was a twenty-to-one advantage. Even if a fight broke out, the odds of winning were high. He just didn't want to take the risk. A stray attack could get him eliminated, and there was always the chance Lee Ho-yeon would hold a grudge.

But... he'd gathered too many subpar cadets, and that was becoming a problem.

"Let's go get Lee Ho-yeon!"

"Let's gooo~ Time for us to flip the script too!"

"He's walking around with three girls even during the exam? I'm going to kill that guy with everything I've got."

The guys were raising hell, clamoring to go after Lee Ho-yeon.

We held out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for six days and NOW they want to start something?

Officially, the team had formed to steal Lee Ho-yeon's food supplies, but with only a day left, that justification had worn pretty thin. Meaning there was no reason to pick a fight and risk getting eliminated.

But there was something Kim Young-han hadn't accounted for.

Surprisingly, a lot of cadets at the Academy didn't care much about their grades. Mid-to-low-tier cadets all got treated about the same anyway. They had no shot at the top guilds. They just wanted the diploma so they could use it later.

Naturally, Kim Young-han's team was full of those types. He'd taken in anyone who showed up, and the quality of cadets had tanked as a result. And the more people you had, the easier survival became. Fewer cadets were thinking, We've made it this far, let's just coast to the finish.

His last hope had been the female cadets, but they were all sitting on the fence after Nam Da-eun's sudden declaration.

Nam Da-eun, who'd been quiet this whole time, had boldly announced that she'd handle Lee Ho-yeon herself.

"Haa... these idiots."

Kim Young-han pinched the bridge of his nose, his head throbbing, and hung his head.

"Boss! Let's go kill Lee Ho-yeon already!"

The guy who was always yapping at Kim Young-han's side was one of them too.

"...Fine. Whatever. Let's go."

If he sat still, all the discontent would get aimed at him — the guy who'd been collecting points as their representative this whole time. Worse, it could damage the image he'd built at the Academy. He'd been carefully managing his reputation so that when he eventually announced himself as the heir to the Iron Blood Guild, the praise would come naturally. All that work could go up in smoke.

Left with no choice, Kim Young-han headed toward the center of the island — toward Lee Ho-yeon.

A professor's research lab.

The certificates, commendations, and research achievements decorating the walls spoke of this professor's brilliant past. Look closer, though, and those same ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠decorations told another story: a professor who hadn't produced any notable results in the last ten years.

In that aging professor's lab, a young man in a cadet uniform was speaking with him.

"Professor. I'm Shin Dong-min, vice president of the student council. You think I'd lose to a first-year? I just want to make this a sure thing."

"...Do you understand what kind of fallout there would be if this got out?"

The documents Shin Dong-min was holding out requested that the sparring arena for the festival's exhibition match be tampered with.

"Then don't get caught. A professor of your caliber can handle that easily."

"How did it come to this? Back in your first year, you were a brilliant boy. Everyone had such high hopes for you..."

"Professor, you're approaching retirement. You need to start thinking about your future. I'll arrange a position for you at the Shinyoung Guild."

Shin Dong-min smiled faintly and met the old professor's eyes.

"......"

Under that gaze, the old professor said nothing. He quietly pulled the documents toward himself.

"I'll be going, then. Please take care of it."

The corners of Shin Dong-min's mouth curled up as he bowed and left the professor's office.

Shin Dong-min didn't let his face twist until he'd left the building and walked a good distance.

"Tsk. Crafty old raccoon. Does that rotting piece of trash actually think he can get into Shinyoung?"

Shin Dong-min had felt a flicker of unease about Lee Ho-yeon's combat ability after watching the one-on-one duel, but now he could finally relax. No matter how skilled he was, this was a fire mage versus a water mage. The elemental matchup was already in his favor, and the arena would be set as a tiny buoy in the middle of the ocean.

Shin Dong-min ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slipped his hands into his pockets, already certain of his victory.