Surviving the Uninhabited Island (12)

Cracks raced across the sandy beach. Cheon Hayeon's fist grazed my cheek and slammed into the ground right beside it. As she withdrew her extended arm, she rose to her feet with natural grace. When I turned my eyes sideways, I saw a pitch-black hole with no visible bottom. It was the scar left by the spiraling fist strike she had unleashed, spinning with the force of a legendary martial technique.

"Aren't you two training a little too hard? Kim Mugong, you still alive in there?" Han Yeoreum poked her head through the rising cloud of dust, glancing around. Thanks to Cheon Hayeon's final attack, it seemed she'd interpreted the whole thing as nothing more than an especially intense sparring session.

...Well, was it really just training? The flushed expression on Cheon Hayeon's face when she had been on top of me earlier made the atmosphere feel strangely charged, if I was being honest. Looking back on it now, it really had been closer to both of us simply releasing our limits and going all-out.

"Yeah. Still breathing." I stood up, shaking the sand from my clothes. Gritty particles had gotten everywhere, even sticking to the corners of my mouth.

"I must apologize. I became somewhat excited." Cheon Hayeon lowered her gaze, avoiding my eyes as she offered the apology.

"It's fine. It was refreshing in its own way. My body feels properly loosened up." I rolled my shoulders in wide circles, showing that I was perfectly fine. Despite the absolute devastation our spar had left in the surrounding area, the only real impact I'd taken was to my wrist. Even that was already starting to recover.

"I'll have to join you starting tomorrow," Han Yeoreum said, staring at the wreckage spread across the beach. "That okay with you?" When she looked at Cheon Hayeon, the other girl gave a small nod. Maybe because they'd thoroughly mixed their strength in combat, Cheon Hayeon's earlier strange behavior had calmed down somewhat.

That aside, no matter how much we trained, actually reaching Cheon Hayeon still felt like a distant dream. Neither the Unicorn Divine Art nor Hyeop-in-ji-ro had any effect on her. I let out a small, inward sigh.

Would it be easier if I made Cheon Hayeon a non-virgin?

I immediately erased the insane thought the moment it surfaced. It looked like the "conscience departure" trait had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠activated. To even consider something like that... Letting my guard down really was dangerous. The normal me would never have had such a thought. The trait was useful, but trusting it blindly was clearly risky. I quickly performed a mental reset and returned with a clear head.

Uninhabited Island Evaluation Control Center.

Compared to the frantic activity of the early days, the control center now carried a quiet, almost stagnant atmosphere. While there were differences in how much each group struggled, not a single student had been eliminated yet. In the past, several would have already dropped out by this point. Thanks to the students holding on better than expected, the professors finally had time to rotate shifts and rest.

The ones currently on duty were Professor Pung Jihae and Professor Cheongha.

"They've joined up completely," Cheongha said, watching the leisurely movements of Kim Mugong and Cheon Hayeon as they walked through the jungle. It had already been several days since she'd noticed their merger. Thanks to the path they'd prepared in advance, their progress faced no obstacles.

"It looks less like an evaluation and more like a vacation." Kim Mugong and Han Yeoreum's shelter had become completely inaccessible due to Cheon Hayeon's interference. Still, a student's condition was obvious at a glance. When simply surviving took all your energy, no one had the luxury of worrying about their appearance.

Just look at the Hwangbo twins. Instead of following any planned hunting strategy, they devoured anything they could find—snakes, fish, clams, it didn't matter. Their shelters weren't carefully designed structures but crude lean-tos under rocks or haphazardly woven branch tents. Naturally, their appearances had transformed into something resembling barbarian warriors who only covered the essential parts.

In contrast, Kim Mugong and Cheon Hayeon looked almost unchanged from their academy days. From what she'd observed these past few days, they consistently maintained neat, clean appearances.

"Hmm..." Cheongha hummed after pulling her gaze away from the pair.

"Is something wrong?"

"This is strange. Look here." Cheongha manipulated the display, enlarging one of the screens.

"...Carnivorous behavior?"

"Yes. The Tamatomas, which should be herbivores, are acting strangely. At this rate, the students could find themselves in danger..."

"Hmm. I'll go investigate this myself," Pung Jihae said after a moment of contemplation.

"Should I come with you?"

"There's no need to trouble yourself over a simple Tamatoma investigation. I can handle it alone. Just contact me immediately if anything changes."

"Understood. I'll leave it to you, then."

"It probably won't be anything serious."

"I hope you're right." Cheongha watched the screen with sunken eyes. Ever since the vampire incident, she knew that even the smallest anomaly couldn't be ignored. Since Pung Jihae was going personally, there shouldn't be any real problems. Still, she tried to push away the sudden wave of anxiety that washed over her.

It had been quite some time since I'd joined up with Cheon Hayeon. The day we could finally leave this wretched uninhabited island was now close at hand.

I wanted to eat some proper meat. The moment we got back, I was going to eat meat first thing. Pork, beef, chicken—anything that wasn't wild game would be perfect. I'd grown sick of eating nothing but fish, so I'd tried catching the island's birds one by one, but they tasted terrible. Thinking the difference between fowl couldn't be that big, I'd prepared them carefully only to conclude that fish was the better option. The results simply weren't worth the effort.

It wasn't for nothing that chicken enjoyed worldwide popularity. It was overwhelmingly delicious. Shouldn't chicken be called the king of all birds?

While entertaining such trivial thoughts, I emptied all the Tamatoma magic stones from my backpack and divided them into neat piles of thirty.

"Thirty each. That work for everyone?"

"Yep. I'm good," Han Yeoreum answered.

"I could take fewer if needed," Cheon Hayeon offered.

"Splitting them equally is cleaner." In the end, Cheon Hayeon nodded silently.

It was about time to wrap up the Tamatoma hunting. Wiping them out completely would be possible with Cheon Hayeon's help, but our encounters with other students had grown more frequent. Stopping at a reasonable point was only polite. Honestly, beyond politeness, it just felt like a waste of time. The Tamatomas had become so weak they weren't even useful for practice anymore.

Rather than wandering the jungle until we were sick of it, training together as a group of three would be far better.

"But are you really okay not eating anything? Today's a bit of a special meal." I asked Cheon Hayeon, who was staring at us intently while we prepared the food. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Given our activity levels, she had to be quite hungry.

"...I understand."

"You're not going to—huh? You'll eat?"

"If it is offered, I shall gratefully accept."

"Oh, you can look forward to it."

We sat Cheon Hayeon down and busily began cooking together.

"Here." Han Yeoreum handed me the oil she'd saved. The wild bird meat had been horrendously bad, but our efforts hadn't been completely wasted. While the meat itself was awful, it produced a lot of fat, which we'd collected separately. We'd also gathered a few eggs from near where we'd caught the birds.

I placed the pre-boiled breadfruit onto a clean stone we used as a cutting board and began mashing it.

"Looks just like mashing potatoes," Han Yeoreum said, watching from the side as she flaked the grilled fish and passed it to me.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Tastes pretty similar too."

"Yeah. It's got hints of sweet potato and roasted chestnut mixed in. I really want to take some of this back with me." I agreed completely. Setting aside the lack of meat, both the fish and breadfruit were excellent ingredients. Fish this fresh would probably cost a fortune back in civilization.

"True. Is there any way to bring breadfruit back? It would make a perfect occasional treat."

I placed the mashed breadfruit and fish flakes into a bamboo bowl, cracked a wild bird egg over it, seasoned it with salt, mixed everything thoroughly, and rolled it into a ball.

"Here." The moment I handed her the ball, Han Yeoreum—who had already oiled the stone slab we used as a frying pan—tossed the fish ball onto it. While she fried the fish balls, I grilled the remaining fish and breadfruit as usual. Then I drizzled syrup—made by patiently boiling down the sap from coconut tree stems—over the grilled breadfruit.

The sweet aroma mixed with the rich scent of frying fish balls spread through the air. Even the peerless Cheon Hayeon couldn't tear her eyes away from the breadfruit drenched in syrup. When I broke off a piece and tasted it, the sweetness was so intense it felt like my tongue might melt.

"Try one." I offered a piece of the syrup-covered breadfruit to Cheon Hayeon. She took a dainty bite, and her eyes widened into perfect circles. Seeing that expression made all the effort worth it. Of course, Han Yeoreum had handled most of the ingredient preparation.

"All done." Han Yeoreum soon brought over a bowl filled with perfectly fried fish balls. We gathered around the massive stone slab we used as a table, picked up our bamboo chopsticks in perfect harmony, and were about to begin eating when—

"Someone approaches," Cheon Hayeon said, pointing her chopsticks toward the bushes. Soon after, accompanied by rustling sounds, a silver-haired, red-eyed woman stumbled out.

"...Yerin?" Han Yeoreum shot to her feet and rushed over. Her hair was dry and wildly disheveled, her face etched with exhaustion. She clearly hadn't been able to wash properly—her clothes were covered in all kinds of jungle debris. It seemed even the noble Seomun Yerin couldn't completely withstand the harsh environment of this uninhabited island.

Seomun Yerin glanced at us and our table, her expression shifting to one of pure disbelief.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere, right?" Han Yeoreum asked, her voice full of concern. Seomun Yerin pressed her lips together tightly and gave a small nod. Even so, her eyes kept darting toward the food. The reason was obvious.

I picked up an extra pair of wooden chopsticks and waved them at her.

"We're about to eat. Want to join us?"

Seomun Yerin's pupils shook violently.

In the end, Seomun Yerin was pulled over by Han Yeoreum's hand and joined us at the table.

...It looked like we had gained one more mouth to feed. Well, we were planning to leave the island soon anyway.

Since we'd prepared generous portions, there was more than enough for four people. It had definitely been worth the effort. Eating proper dessert and fried food after so long brought peace to both body and mind. As expected, humans really do live to eat.

"...Thank you." After the meal, Seomun Yerin returned from washing herself thoroughly at the stream. Once she was free of the grime, she really did look like a beautiful girl straight out of a painting.

"Do you have a shelter?"

"...I did."

"Huh?"

"After I went out to hunt Tamatoma, a rainstorm swept it all away."

So that's why she looked like that.

"The evaluation's ending soon anyway, so just stay here with us. There's plenty of room." I pointed to the house, which had grown large enough to comfortably fit four people thanks to our continuous expansion work. It now looked so impressive that it was almost a shame to leave it behind.

"I don't have anything to offer in return... Would you like my magic stones?" Seomun Yerin began fumbling through her backpack.

"It's fine. I have plenty of magic stones. Besides, why be so formal between friends? If you're Yeoreum's friend, you're my friend too."

"...Friend." Seomun Yerin froze, looking back and forth between me and Han Yeoreum before mumbling the word.

"So don't go anywhere. Just stay here. Yeoreum's here too, after all."

After a brief hesitation, Seomun Yerin gave a small nod.

"...Thank you."

"I'm not even the owner. We built it together."

"I see."

"Yeah. Don't feel burdened about it."

Nod.

Somehow, the persuasion had worked. I had no idea why only such peculiar girls kept gathering around me.

After such an eventful day, the four of us fell asleep together in harmony. I woke up alone at dawn and stepped outside.

This damn island wasn't particularly cool even at dawn. Still, morning air was morning air. Breathing it in calmly didn't feel entirely bad.

At least until I opened the 'file' that had just appeared.

I never expected a 'file' to pop up at this stage. Two of them, when the evaluation was nearly over.

I closed the file with trembling hands and opened the next one. The next file contained a single coordinate. When I compared it with the map, it clearly pointed to the center of the island.