The Mock Battle and Lee Se-na

"Gib Byeong-seop, Park Byeong-gyu. You two carry two survivors each. Everyone else, run straight to the building as fast as you can. We don't have time to waste!"

By the time we reached the building at full speed, the survivors were showing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clear signs of motion sickness.

"Ugh, my stomach's churning..."

"Honey..."

"Daddyyyy..."

Their miserable expressions were obvious, but none of them were injured, and we couldn't afford to coddle every minor discomfort.

"Osada Saya, can your barrier protect these civilians if things go south?"

"Yes. It can. The power weakens if I spread it too thin, but even covering a hundred people should let them withstand dozens of Scavenger attacks."

"Then I'm counting on you. Stay here and keep protecting anyone else who arrives."

"Understood!"

After leaving Osada Saya and ten other ability users behind to shield the civilians, I took the remaining ten and moved out.

I'll keep Lee Se-na right beside me.

Even though this was virtual reality, it was powered by magic, so each person's real body was replicated and sent into the simulation as pure consciousness. That meant even hidden abilities the VR system couldn't normally detect transferred over intact, along with every minute detail of our physical data. Thanks to that, I could already feel the softness of Lee Se-na's touch and catch the faint scent of her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠presence.

Still, rather than dwell on those sensations, my priority right now was leaving a good impression on her.

"Next survivors are this way."

We kept sweeping through apartments, underground shopping districts, and every other likely hiding spot, ferrying survivors back and forth to the building. Before I knew it, nearly forty minutes had passed.

Sixty survivors left. We've rescued seventy-seven so far.

Rescuing sixty more in the remaining ten minutes seemed impossible. But the final sixty had all been gathered in one place, deliberately arranged so we could save them in a single operation.

At the National Hero Academy, instructors watched the mock battle unfolding in real time.

"Team 1 in Room 3 has rescued 37 survivors."

"Team 2 in Room 2 has rescued 98! They're making excellent progress."

They monitored every action through the screens, recording how the students performed inside the virtual world.

"Team 4 in Room 1 hasn't rescued a single survivor."

"Tsk. Those idiots think this is a game instead of a class."

With a thousand students split across five rooms, each room held two hundred students. Further divided into teams of twenty, that meant ten teams per room—and ten separate simulations to monitor simultaneously. Every instructor, professor, and assistant was fully engaged, scrutinizing the feeds without missing a detail. It showed just how seriously the academy took this particular lesson.

"Teams 2 and 4 in Room 2 are the ones drawing the most attention."

"Team 6 in Room 3 is also worth watching."

Room 2's Team 2 consisted of Seo Moon-hyun and Arian Liberin, while Team 4 was made up of Yoo Eun-chae and Yee Eun-chae. Their performances stood out clearly on the monitors.

"Seo Moon-hyun from Room 2's Team 2... wasn't he the second-ranked student?"

"That's right. If Seo Moon-jin hadn't been such an outlier, Seo Moon-hyun would've been the freshman representative."

Seo Moon-hyun and Arian Liberin's teamwork was impressive. Every time monsters appeared, Arian Liberin erased them with lasers and razor-sharp lightning spears, while Seo Moon-hyun cut them down with swift, precise strikes.

Room 2's Team 4, Yee Eun-chae and Yoo Eun-chae, had also performed solidly, rescuing 92 survivors. Their combination of overwhelming monster slaughter and efficient civilian extraction worked surprisingly well despite being paired for the first time.

"Yee Eun-chae seems to be putting a lot of effort into supporting Yoo Eun-chae."

"And Yoo Eun-chae is doing her best to assist in return. It's nice to see them cooperating instead of competing."

Their synergy looked exemplary to the watching faculty. Most talented freshmen would normally harbor rivalry, yet these two prioritized teamwork and consideration for each other.

"In contrast, the relationship between Seo Moon-hyun and Arian Liberin in Room 2's Team 2..."

"Seo Moon-hyun doesn't seem to notice, but he's openly showing interest. Arian Liberin, on the other hand, looks like she's observing him."

"She seems suspicious, almost wary."

The observers could sense it clearly, even if Seo Moon-hyun remained oblivious.

"So these two are currently in the lead?"

"No. Team 6 in Room 3, which includes Seo Moon-jin, is ahead. They've rescued 77 survivors so far."

"Seventy-seven and still leading?"

"Yes. Unlike the other top teams, they're about to extract sixty survivors who have all gathered in one location."

The female professor in charge of analysis spoke, and the burly male instructor with sharp features—the same one who had overseen the entrance exam—let out a low whistle.

"Hah. So they've already secured everyone?"

"Correct. Moreover, the bonus points are still available. They didn't complete this alone; they're coordinating with their teammates."

"I see. I'll have to review the footage in detail later."

Instructor Lee Deok-ho decided he needed to pay closer attention to Seo Moon-jin, the freshman representative. Given his status as Yucheon Group's heir and his overwhelming talent, Lee Deok-ho had half-expected arrogance, but the young man was proving far more level-headed than anticipated.

"Ah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Instructor Lee Deok-ho. Seo Moon-jin's Team 6 in Room 3 has just moved all sixty survivors to safety!"

"Is that so? Then I suppose we should give the freshman representative a special gift."

"A special gift?"

"Yes. The moment the survivors enter the building, spawn a Cyclops outside."

"...Pardon?"

The analyst stared at him, wondering if she'd misheard, but Lee Deok-ho simply repeated himself.

"Do it. Even if they fail to stop it, there won't be any penalty. If they succeed, they can earn extra points instead."

"Understood."

The analyst initiated the interference, summoning a Cyclops into the virtual world where Team 6 was operating.

"Uwooooooooh!"

A towering one-eyed giant over six meters tall let out a thunderous roar and charged toward the building where the survivors had taken shelter. I had just finished guiding the last of them inside when I drew my sword.

"I won't drag this out."

Infusing the blade with magic power, I swung it in a single, clean arc. That was all it took.

"Krrk?"

The Cyclops's head separated from its body, a massive fountain of blood spraying into the air as the colossal corpse collapsed.

In the original story, even the protagonist Seo Moon-hyun would have needed at least a minute to deal with this monster at this point in time. To me, who was deliberately holding back, it was nothing more than a trivial opponent.

"Whoa~"

"He one-shot a Cyclops?"

The other students' exclamations of awe had barely left their mouths when another special mission appeared in the sky.

"...This is a bit much."

Lee Se-na's involuntary murmur summed up what every student was feeling. A Wyvern on the very first class? Even active heroes struggled against its aerial mobility and powerful magic-infused flames.

The academy wants to test me specifically.

They were trying to measure the limits of the freshman representative. With only three minutes left in the lesson, my course of action was clear.

"Kaaaargh!"

The Wyvern's roar echoed from above. I raised my sword to strike it down, then froze.

"This is..."

The Wyvern wasn't targeting the building. Its true target was Lee Se-na, who had drifted slightly away from me after we killed the Cyclops.

So the Wyvern is programmed to kill not just the NPC survivors, but us as well.

Realizing that, I moved the instant the Wyvern spewed flames toward Lee Se-na. I positioned myself in front of her, swung my sword, and deployed a temporary magic barrier—commonly known as a sword screen, a technique many swordsmen relied on.

"Ah."

Even in virtual reality, the sudden torrent of flames had startled Lee Se-na into momentary paralysis. When she saw me step in to protect her, her eyes widened slightly as she stared at my back.

Even though it's just a simulation, he moved first to shield me. What exactly happened between this person and Hyun?

She had mistaken my instinctive action for deliberate protection, and that misunderstanding only deepened her curiosity about the relationship between Seo Moon-jin and Seo Moon-hyun.

"It's over."

After blocking the Wyvern's flames, I countered with two swift slashes. Blades of magic power tore through both of its wings. As the Wyvern screamed and plummeted, I struck it with a surge of magic power, sending it tumbling across the street. I sprinted after it and severed its neck with a single clean cut.

Blood from the creature splattered across me, but since this was virtual reality and the session was about to end anyway, I paid it no mind.

That should be enough to accomplish my goals.

I had planted the image of a model student in the academy's eyes and sown seeds of doubt in Lee Se-na's mind. For this lesson, that was more than sufficient.