Chapter 386
Chapter 386
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 386
Chapter Title: One-Man Team (2)
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Before they knew it, the senior class schedule had entered its sixth week.
The competition grew fiercer by the day, and rank fluctuations between sections occurred frequently.
However, no student had yet changed classes.
The instructors were astonished, saying it had been five years since such a thing had happened. The problem was that the normally fluid rankings of Class Two had frozen.
Class One was dominating Class Two, while Class Three was desperately chasing them.
In other words, the overall level of the senior class was higher than in any other year.
An unprecedented situation occurred where a staggering fifteen students earned 20 points in the survival evaluation, but since most of them were from Class Three, it resulted in little change—another contributing factor.
Today was the day that fierce competition for ranks would truly shine.
The Strategy and Tactics evaluation, where teams were formed based on rankings, awaited the senior class.
“Hmm, so I’ll be in Team 5.”
Shirone knew without even looking at the chart.
The ranks of all thirty students were already perfectly recorded in his mind.
Team 5 consisted of students ranked 21st to 25th. Naturally, the 21st-ranked student would be the team leader, and Shirone, at 23rd, was part of the team.
Since Dante (21st) and Iruki (22nd) always earned the same scores as Shirone, their rankings hadn't changed from the first week.
The 24th and 25th spots were held by Canis and Kloser. Looking at the members alone, it was a squad fully capable of achieving a high score.
On the other hand, some teams were grim-faced due to ranking troubles.
Team 4 was a prime example.
A group belonging to the lower ranks of Class Two, its members, in order of rank, were Screamer, Amy, Suavi, Maya, and Eider.
Most of them had managed to maintain their status, but Screamer had plummeted from 11th to 16th in just six weeks.
‘This is driving me crazy. When will I ever get out of this slump?’
As a magic fist fighter, the event where Screamer could most easily earn points was, by far, interpersonal combat.
But this year, the matchups were unfavorable, and the skilled students of Class One were concentrated in the early rounds, which was the root of the problem.
This was because some students' draw strategies had worked, twice turning a 3-point victory into a 1-point draw.
Of course, the fundamental reason for such a steep drop was the 20 points lost to the Red Team in the survival evaluation.
“Hey, everyone gather ‘round. Let’s decide on positions first.”
At Screamer's gesture, the members of Team 4 assembled. A sigh escaped Screamer's lips as he watched them.
‘The balance is a real mess.’
There's a metric used by scouts called 'Party Contribution.'
It assesses the contribution of each member. For a five-person party, the total score is 5, which is then distributed based on contribution.
Since it evaluates party organization, it can't perfectly assess individual ability, but it's unparalleled for determining accountability.
A contribution of 1 point means you've done your part. If it's 2 points, it means you've done the work of two people.
In that case, you'd attract the attention of scouts, but it also means someone else didn't even pull their own weight, indicating poor balance.
The most ideal ratio within a party is 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, where everyone properly fulfills their role, but the team Screamer was on couldn't even dream of such a golden balance.
The reason was Maya.
In his opinion, Maya's party contribution in Team 4 would be 0.5 at best.
Ultimately, this meant the remaining four members had to pull an extra 0.5 points to be competitive.
‘If Maya is 0.5, Eider is 0.8, Suavi is 1.1, Amy is 1.2, then I have to be... 1.4? That's insane.’
A 0.4 point difference in party contribution was an enormous figure.
It meant he alone had to increase the combat power of a five-person party by 8 percent.
‘Hmm, is it possible? We have two utility members.’
Although Suavi and Maya had different majors, their specialization was utility.
Normally, a five-person party wouldn't include two utility members, but with Screamer, it was a different story.
If all the buffs were concentrated on a magic fist fighter, who possessed both magic and physical abilities, he could exhibit performance far superior to other mages.
‘It's a relief Amy is here, at least. I'll stir things up, and Amy can pour it on. In the end, I'll just have to carry them all by the scruff of their necks.’
Having sorted out his thoughts, Screamer clapped his hands uncharacteristically, trying to boost their morale. After all, as the leader of Team 4, he needed to unite the team.
“Alright, alright. We’re going to decide positions now, so listen up. If we strategize well, we can definitely get a high score.”
Screamer pointed to himself first.
“First, I’m the main damage dealer. And that’s it. You know what I mean, right?”
“The Magic Fist Fighter's Sure-Kill Strategy?”
At Amy's words, Screamer nodded.
“Exactly. So, Suavi, you put all your buffs on me, no exceptions. Haste, Concentrate, Healing—don't hold back, pour everything you have into it. It's only week six, so we won't face anyone too strong. Let's settle this decisively at the start. Got it?”
“Uh, okay. I’ll do my best.”
Suavi replied in a dying voice. There wasn't an ounce of fighting spirit in her, but Screamer ignored it.
Despite her indecisiveness and terrible social skills, she was a versatile talent who could link over twenty different buff spells; she would pull her own weight.
“Amy, you'll be the sub-damage dealer. Well, with you, I don't really need to give any specific instructions. And Maya... what spells can you cast? I think it’d be best to go with area-of-effect buffs.”
The advantage of sound magic was its effect over a wide radius.
“Huh? My most confident spell is Aria of the Battlefield. It amplifies magic power through resonance.”
“Hmm...”
Aria of the Battlefield was a spell with considerable effect in actual combat.
But with Maya as the caster, it was a different story.
Her buff efficiency was far below average.
Screamer made a slight modification to the Magic Fist Fighter's Sure-Kill Strategy.
“Then let’s go with debuffs. Do you have anything you can cast on enemies?”
“Rhapsody of Turmoil. It amplifies anxiety.”
“Good, cast that unconditionally. It's more effective to cast it on hundreds than on just five.”
“Okay. I’ll do my very best.”
Maya nodded deeply, steeling her resolve.
“Bro, what do I do?”
Eider asked, propping his head up with his hand.
Being younger, he seemed to feel less pressure about graduation, lacking the tension Maya had.
“Multi-player. I’ll be carving a path through the big ones, so you handle the clean-up. Finish them off for sure. It’s common for the whole thing to fall apart because of one missed kill.”
“Got it. That’s easy enough.”
“Alright! Let’s do this! Let’s show them what we’ve got.”
Amy, who knew Screamer's personality, got goosebumps from his uncharacteristic display of fighting spirit.
‘He must be really desperate to get out of this rank.’
Still, she doubted whether the Magic Fist Fighter's Sure-Kill Strategy would work.
He used to be a famous fighter that even gangsters feared, so she couldn't rule out the possibility that he was just planning to handle everything himself.
‘Well, my current rank is lower than his. Let's just go with this for now.’
Even as a team member, she could offer an opinion, but it would only be effective if she considered the leader's temperament.
Meanwhile, Shirone's Team 5 was also waiting for the evaluation, but unlike Team 4, no particular strategy was discussed.
Dante hung out with Kloser, and Shirone with Iruki, while Canis alone enjoyed his solitude from a distance.
Of course, in his mental channel, he wasn't alone.
-This is quite boring. This place called a school.
It was Harvest, who had cut off all communication with the outside world for a full six months to finish deciphering the 'Book of Light and Darkness.'
However, the mental games among the senior class were so intense that he still hadn't revealed himself.
-Be patient. If we endure for just one year, we can do what we want.
-Is that so? Well, we are much stronger now. Graduating should be simple enough.
The 'Book of Light and Darkness,' obtained from Heaven's Akashic Records, was a theory about using the power of an avatar to amplify the power of darkness.
In essence, its core principle was that light strengthens darkness.
He hadn't yet reached an understanding profound enough to manifest specific spells, but just from grasping its true meaning, Canis's magic power had become much stronger than before.
-Graduation isn't the problem. This time, I will finally surpass Shirone and uphold our master's will.
-Kekeke, that sounds like a lot of fun.
The instructor, having finished the inspection of the Icheonbeon, spoke.
“The event begins in five minutes. The week six mission is ‘Annihilation.’”
All thirty students entered the Icheonbeon.
The teams would be ranked based on who cleared the monsters first, so the evaluation had to proceed simultaneously for everyone.
The massive Icheonbeon training ground was divided into six sectors, and Shirone entered the evaluation area for Team 5.
As the team members gathered, Dante spoke briefly, true to his personality.
“Well, since we’re teamed up, let’s do our best.”
Shirone asked.
“What about strategy or tactics? You’re the team leader and your major is information processing, so it would be good if you decided.”
“Tactics? Hmm…”
Dante rested his chin on his hand and surveyed the members. Iruki of Explosions, Shirone of the Flash, Kloser of the Shadow Strike, Canis of Darkness.
“Just kill them as fast as possible.”
“Okay.”
The five of them turned simultaneously and headed toward the center of the sector.
After about three minutes of warming up, the evaluating instructor spoke.
“The Strategy and Tactics evaluation will now begin.”
By the sixth week, no explanation was needed.
The green, yellow, and red lights on the display board lit up in sequence, and a large number of identical monsters appeared in all six sectors.
‘It's starting.’
Shirone entered the Spirit Zone.
The first thing to do was to identify the species and number of monsters.
Zargol bats were flying in the sky.
As expected of monsters, each one was about the size of an eagle.
On the ground were the bipedal monsters, Werewolves.
And starting this week, one more species was added: the giant earthworm, Earthwurm, which tunneled and moved underground.
‘This week is also 9th-tier.’
Looking at the species alone, they were manageable. The problem, however, was that there were over three hundred of them.
Kuaaaang!
The Werewolves let out wolfish howls and charged.
The Zargols swooped in, emitting ultrasonic waves, while the Earthwurms spat acid from dozens of holes that had opened up in the ground.
Everyone in Team 5 instinctively took their positions.
Shirone and Iruki unleashed a barrage of magic on the Zargols. Photon Cannons and Atomic Bombs quickly blew the bats to bits.
The ground was Dante and Kloser's joint masterpiece.
Dante, having set up a spatial transfer magic circle ten meters ahead, scattered instant magic circles in all directions.
The Werewolves caught in the instant magic circles were automatically transported to the main magic circle in the center.
Once about twenty of them were gathered, Kloser cast his spell.
“Eruption!”
As the ground heated up from friction, the Werewolves looked down. Simultaneously, a small volcanic eruption occurred, blowing away the entire main magic circle.
“Kuhahaha! More, send me more, Dante!”
“Oh, really?”
As Dante laid down even more magic circles on the ground, enemies began pouring into the main magic circle at a rate of three per second.
Kloser, like a fish in water, unleashed all sorts of magic.
When targeting wasn't a concern, earth-based magic was considered the strongest in terms of physical force; the monsters stood no chance.
Rock and Roll, which grew like a snowball as it rolled up the ground, slammed into the Werewolves.
Giant Heavy Stones dropped from the air, crushing the enemies.
Following that, a triple combo of Eruption, Eruption, Eruption annihilated all the monsters on the ground.
Canis stood with his hands in his pockets.
The Earthwurms' acid flew at him from all directions, but it couldn't penetrate his Dark Skin.
Of course, he wasn't doing nothing.
His Spirit Zone had pinpointed the location of every monster underground.
And finally, his right hand came out of his pocket.
‘If the sky is the world of light…’
His index and middle fingers stood straight.
“Then the ground below is the world of darkness.”
Canis's specialty, a saw-toothed authority of darkness, raced through the underground, slicing through the Earthwurms.
Kieek! Kik!
The vertically poised Earthwurms all went limp without exception, vomiting green saliva.
-328 monsters annihilated. Mission time: 3 minutes and 28 seconds.
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