Liliana
Flames roared. The High Elf plummeted from the World Tree, which burned like a colossal campfire, her scream tearing through the air.
Huh…
Lucky, I supposed. She'd fallen, but she didn't look seriously hurt. Which meant bringing Elise and Lucy along had actually been worth it.
"Go. Elise, Lucy, Rumi!"
Elise and Lucy stared at me like I'd just said something insane.
"Sorry. I'm out of mana. I can't fight."
"You're telling us that now?! You idiot!"
"It's fine. You three can handle this."
A shriek ripped across the clearing. The High Elf had hit the ground, snatched up her bow, and was already sprinting back toward the blazing World Tree to defend it.
Elves were elves. They treasured the World Tree as much as their own lives. Exploit that instinct — destroy the tree first, then take the elf — and the Elf's Essence was yours.
As for why an elf and a World Tree were sitting in the middle of a survival exam in the first place… I had no idea. That was how it went in the original. Don't ask me.
Rumi's shield caught a volley of arrows with a sharp crack. Lucy laid down suppressing fire, and Elise surged forward.
"I'm going in. Cover me."
She called the request over her shoulder and wove through the storm of shafts. The High Elf's eyes were ice. She loosed arrows in every direction, each one bending through impossible curves — and every last one of them was aimed at me, the one burning her tree. She cared more about me than the swordswoman charging straight at her.
My pulse kicked. I wrung the last dregs of mana from the bottom of my reserves and activated Insight, twisting aside as the arrows hissed past. Keeping the World Tree alight was devouring everything I had. I didn't even have enough left to throw up a Cotton Guard.
A guttural snarl. No more arrows came my way — Elise had closed the distance and was already swinging. Lucy and Rumi poured magic in behind her, pinning the elf down.
"Watch out! Roots coming up from the ground!"
The earth bucked. Massive roots of the World Tree erupted under the High Elf's magic and hammered down at Elise. She reacted to my shout instantly, leaping aside as the first trunk smashed the dirt where she'd been standing.
"Ah—! Why are there so many?!"
Lucy and Rumi weren't spared either. Roots lashed at all of us — but this was nothing more than a dying flare. I'd already burned the World Tree down to a husk.
The elf understood. She screamed, raw and desperate, but it was far too late. I'd poured everything into the fire before the fight even started, and the enormous body of the tree was already too far gone to hold itself up.
Elise read the elf's failing condition and pressed the attack, buying every second she could. The way she carved through the rising roots and still kept pressure on the elf herself was, even to my eye, genuinely impressive.
Time was on our side. The elf tried to put an arrow in me anyway, frantic, but Elise wasn't about to leave her an opening.
Tens of minutes later, the World Tree burned out completely.
It toppled with a groan like a falling building, and the last of its power went with it. The roots attacking us withered and vanished. The elf stood holding her bow, staring at the wreckage in a daze.
Wait about ten seconds in that state and she'd let out a howl and awaken. Kill the awakened elf, and the Elf's Essence was yours.
But did I really need to wait?
I walked up to the elf still standing there with her mouth hanging open, eyes locked on the fallen tree, and drove a Spiral through her stomach.
She hiccupped a sob, the awakening cry already rising in her throat — and then the spell tore her apart.
"Ugh… grotesque."
Ripping a humanoid monster in half was a genuinely unpleasant experience. I plucked the glittering orb from near her heart, slipped it away, and turned around.
"All taken care of, girls."
I announced my victory with a grin. Their faces did not match the mood.
"You burned the tree and she just… died? Is that an elf thing?"
"Something about that felt off…"
"You did wonderfully, Ho-yeon…!"
Elise and Lucy, who'd actually been trading blows with the elf, had clearly found her behavior a little too strange. At least Rumi was on my side. That was nice.
"Thanks— ngh."
My skull throbbed. The world started to spin. I was dizzy enough to fall over. Almost no mana left — I was a breath away from complete exhaustion.
I checked the point rankings. Fewer than ten cadets remaining. Good.
"That… handle it for me."
I pointed at the elf. Scanning her code was worth a fat three hundred and fifty points. There weren't many cadets left anyway, but I wasn't about to throw scores away. Everyone still showing on the minimap was far off. Nothing dangerous was coming.
"Guys… I'm gonna sleep."
I pulled a tent from my spatial storage, crawled inside, and shut my eyes.
"Hey… you okay?"
"We'll keep watch."
"…Yeah. Please."
Lucy and Rumi's worried voices followed me down as I drifted under.
"Wake up."
Someone was poking me.
"Nnnh…"
I cracked my eyes open. Elise was looking down at me from above.
"You're last. Night watch."
"Ah…"
There wasn't going to be any real danger, but better safe than sorry. I pulled myself together and sat up. Lucy and Rumi were curled into tight little balls on either side of me, fast asleep. I watched them for a moment, straightened my clothes, and stepped out of the tent.
Outside, it was broad daylight.
"Go in and rest. Thanks."
"Mm."
Elise didn't bother hiding how tired she was. She yawned her way into the tent. It was already past noon. The three of them must have rotated a long watch so I could sleep.
"They're so good. I've raised my heroines well."
Satisfying.
I took the Elf's Essence from my pocket.
Grade: High
The concentrated mana essence a High Elf gathered to protect the World Tree.
Upon absorption, Charm increases and the user becomes more attractive.
The effect of the Elf's Essence was a Charm boost.
Charm wasn't even a stat on the status window. And "become more attractive" sounded useless at a glance — until you factored in a protagonist buff.
Charm, at its base, meant a handsome face. Raise it, and your face got better. But what happened if you were already at the absolute peak of good looks before the stat went up?
Not just handsome. The kind of face you'd ruin if you so much as touched it. Mine, for example.
When someone like that raised their Charm, other things got beautiful instead.
First, the body. The physical form sculpted itself toward an ideal.
Second, the inside. Blood vessels, mana circuits, organs — all of it optimized for efficiency.
Wait… if Elise took this, it would treat her mana disorder, wouldn't it?
In the original, the protagonist swallowed it on the spot, so this possibility had never even come up. Not that it changed anything. Even if it would cure her, I was eating it. I'd treat Elise later.
"I'll take it after we get out."
This wasn't a game. I wasn't about to down an elixir in the middle of an exam. I tucked the Elf's Essence back into my spatial pouch, saving it to absorb slowly at home once the test was over.
Special Exam complete. You will be teleported to the Academy shortly.
Sunday, 10 p.m. The godawful special exam was finally over.
The Elf's Essence had been the goal, but I'd also made real progress with Elise. A solid haul all around. Rankings hadn't been posted yet, but with a point lead that lopsided, first place was mine.
Elise didn't seem particularly hung up on her score anymore. She'd found a possible cure for her mana disorder, and that was where her attention had gone.
"Yes. Sebas Chan. We need to find a mana massage therapist…"
The exam had barely ended and she was already in the corner of the classroom, deep in a phone call. Everyone else had collapsed face-down across their desks. The cadets who'd been eliminated early had apparently been locked in academy lodging until the test officially closed.
"Uuuugh… it's over. I'm never leaving my dorm bed again…"
"You're not going to walk around during the festival, Lucy?"
She was draped over her desk, looking completely wrecked.
"Aaah… I do want to have fun at the festival, though. What about you, Lee Ho-yeon?"
"Me? Beats me."
Honestly, I had no plans for the festival. I was tired enough that I wanted to rot in the dorm — except I had a lot of people to see. And I'd completely forgotten I still had that duel with the student council vice president. The survival exam had wiped it from my mind. We'd said we'd do it when the festival started, but when exactly was that?
I needed to see Liliana soon, too. She'd been eating properly, right?
The classroom door slid open. Homeroom Professor Kim Jin-hyeok walked in, and the hard click of his dress shoes pulled the slumped cadets up one by one.
"You all look wonderful. The exam is over. It's late, so anyone in the dorms should head back promptly. The festival starts tomorrow — enjoy yourselves. That is all."
He sure is sloppy about wrapping things up.
Medical checks had already been done, so there wasn't a real problem… but something about it still sat wrong. The other cadets didn't have the energy to complain. They shuffled out like zombies.
"I'm going to go pass out… see you later. Come on, Rumi."
"Okay. See you at the festival, Ho-yeon."
"Got it. I'll text you."
Rumi steered a wilting Lucy out of the room. I slipped out after them and walked over to Elise, who was just hanging up.
"Yes. I'm counting on you, Sebas Chan."
Good timing. The call was done.
"Elise. You did well."
"You too. Thank you. For this time."
"Make sure you find someone good at mana massage… and if you have any questions, ask me whenever."
"Alright."
A goodbye, and a casual invitation to come to me with anything she was curious about. I left it at that and headed for the dorms.
Wonder when she'll actually call.
Not immediately. She'd try at least a few massage therapists first.
It was past ten, and the walk back was dark. After a week in the forest, a paved road under streetlights felt strangely unreal.
"Wow… that's a lot of messages."
My smartwatch was buried in them. I'd go through those later, once I'd actually rested. I sent Liliana a text saying I was on my way.
She would've kept up the stream just fine… and she would've been feeding herself, right?
A soft chime. The dorm, after a week away, looked exactly as I'd left it.
Except it was too quiet.
And then — a low, ragged moan. The wet, filthy sound of something moving through slickness, coming from inside the room.
I approached the door slowly and opened it.
The room was a disaster. Instant-food packages lay scattered across the floor, torn open at the tops and abandoned. A cola had gone completely flat, left open for who knew how long. The bed was soaked through like a waterlogged sponge.
And there she was. A perverted succubus, twitching, her tail buried in her dripping pussy.
"Liliana…?"
What the hell was I looking at. Her eyes wouldn't even focus. I couldn't tell if she was conscious.
"Master…"
"Liliana!"
Her voice came out hoarse and broken, like her throat had been wrecked. I ran to her and pulled her into my arms.
It wasn't that she hadn't been eating. She'd gone into heat.
"I'm sorry. I never thought it'd get this bad… Liliana?"
A small, breathy laugh sounded against my chest. Something about it was wrong. I eased her back to look at her properly.
"Master… it's all your fault…"
She'd been trembling. And then, all at once, she was looking me straight in the eye, smiling.
Terror crawled up from my fingertips — and in the same instant, something smashed into my skull. The world went black.