Chapter 292
Chapter 292
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 293
Chapter Title: 1st Place Villain
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I blankly stared at the villain poll results screen on my Smart Student Notebook.
68 votes out of 75.
I had expected to get a lot of votes, but I never imagined it would be nearly a unanimous sweep.
After all, Shin Young-jun from Group B was ranked higher overall than me.
I figured he'd snag at least 20 votes or so.
['Popularity Poll 1st Place' achievement unlocked.]
[You have obtained 3,000 points as a reward.]
"...What popularity? Screw popularity."
An achievement popped up out of nowhere, granting me 3,000 points. But given the circumstances, I wasn't happy at all.
Sometimes it felt like the system was doing this on purpose.
That's when an alarm appeared on my Smart Student Notebook.
[In 30 minutes, your location will be revealed to everyone for 10 minutes.]
[The probability of contracting the Jungle's Curse increases by 34%.]
[The Jungle's Curse is a mana disaster that takes the form of 'mist.']
[The base probability of contracting the curse is 10%, with an additional 34% applied to you, Kim Sunwoo, for a final probability of 44%.]
44%.
Nearly half.
That meant roughly one out of every two encounters would hit me with it.
"...Wow. Talk about a gut punch."
I thought Group B was a sweet deal, but who knew it'd backfire like this.
Group A had Lee Seo-jun, Yoo Ah-ra, and Lee Hyun-joo splitting the votes among themselves, so not having them in Group B turned out to be a mistake.
I should've suspected something when everyone was wary of me back in the waiting room.
"Tch."
What was done was done.
The situation was heavily stacked against me, but all I could do was struggle as best I could.
I opened my palm, then clenched it again.
The silver lining was that my strength was overflowing thanks to the Aura of the Unreal.
Even if I ran into the Jungle's Curse hiding like traps throughout the jungle, the Aura of the Unreal would offset it to some degree.
"Hmm!"
I stretched my arms wide, then slowly did some stretches.
First things first: grasp the overall layout of the jungle.
"Let's see..."
I slowly looked around.
Not far off, a massive tree towered upright.
Climbing that would give me a clear view of the terrain.
I channeled mana into my feet and dashed toward the tree.
Whoosh!
I bounded up the tree trunk, swiftly reaching the top.
With all my stats boosted by 30%, my jumping power had surged, letting me climb in no time.
"Whew!"
A cool breeze brushed my hair as I reached the summit. The air was fresh, befitting a jungle.
Scanning the ground below revealed the vast jungle expanse at a glance.
Students starting their exploration, students hunting monsters...
Some were already clashing with rivals in combat.
As I mentally mapped out my plans,
Something round and black swirled into view high in the sky.
Wait, that was...
"A cloud?"
It was a cloud.
Or more like mist than a proper cloud.
"...Ah, the Jungle's Curse."
Having experienced this exam in my previous life, I recognized it instantly. Touch that cloud, and you'd contract the curse with a certain probability.
Scanning the ground, I saw countless such clouds blanketing the jungle.
Some students were already afflicted, crouched on the ground in agony.
I'd have to watch out to avoid it.
Then.
Shwooooom—!
The Jungle's Curse overhead rocketed toward me at high speed.
I calmly unleashed a spell at the cloud.
Boom!
But the cloud passed right through the mana orb and enveloped me in an instant.
[A natural mana disaster has engulfed you!]
[44% chance to contract the 'Jungle's Curse' triggered!]
"Damn it."
Hit with the curse right from the start.
Once afflicted, there was no shaking it off on my own.
Unless I earned a special reward that resisted curses.
"...So what changed?"
I moved around, checking my body.
Afflicted, yet no changes.
Normally, there'd be debuffs like 'Weakness,' 'Exhaustion,' 'Paralysis,' 'Reduced Focus,' or something.
"What the?"
As I puzzled over it,
A long, thick thorny vine sprouted from the tree's top where I sat.
The vine scanned around like a snake with eyes, then froze upon spotting me.
A beat later, it lunged at me.
...!
Killing Intent Detection hadn't triggered, so I startled and leaped away.
Leap!
The thorny vine whipped like a lash, shattering the spot where I'd stood.
It packed destructive power like Gretel's tree trunk attack.
"Shoot..."
Looks like the curse I got amped up aggro from plant monsters.
Might be more annoying than a debuff.
Ssssslither!
The vine that wrecked the tree writhed snakelike again, shooting toward me.
Midair, I conjured mana orbs and rapid-fired at it.
Kablooey!
['Green Vine Monster' defeated.]
[10 points obtained.]
"Phew."
I landed and sighed in relief.
As a low-tier plant monster, its defense wasn't high, so it went down easy.
10 points as a bonus.
"Hmm. This might actually be good?"
If the curse kept pulling monster aggro like this, farming points could be easier than expected.
"But I can't go anywhere."
I recalled the black mists I'd seen from the tree.
The jungle was riddled with more curses than I'd thought.
With a 44% chance per encounter, wandering recklessly would load me up with all sorts.
That could spawn debuffs overpowering the Aura of the Unreal's buffs.
"What to do."
I couldn't just hunker down here to dodge curses.
As I pondered,
Footsteps echoed from afar.
A human presence at the same time.
I hurriedly gathered mana, entering combat stance.
That instant.
Rustle! Something from the ground bound my legs.
A vine from who-knows-where had snared my feet.
"Damn it."
Of all the timing!
I tugged my feet every which way, but it held firm. Then another vine surged from elsewhere, grabbing my arms.
In a flash, limbs bound, I was immobilized.
As I prepared to infuse mana and rip free,
Bushes parted ahead, revealing a male student.
"...Kim Sunwoo?"
A face I vaguely remembered passing in class.
Common features, the type who'd listen if handled right.
Name was... Kim Chung-beom?
Around 90th in my memory. Not exact.
"Damn... busted."
Spotting me, Kim Chung-beom freaked and moved to flee.
But he halted, whirling back.
Puzzled by my bound state.
"...Wait, why are you tied up?"
Kim Chung-beom asked.
"Caught a curse."
"...Curse? Oh, the Jungle's Curse?"
I didn't bother answering.
He grinned, channeling mana.
A long fiery lance manifested over his right palm.
He approached, smirking wickedly.
"Heh heh. Jackpot. This isn't a dream, right?"
Thrilled like he'd hit the lottery. Seeing me bound, he thought he had an easy mark.
As he took another step, I gathered mana in my limbs and tore the vines free.
Snap!
['Green Vine Monster' defeated.]
[10 points obtained.]
"Tougher than they look."
I rotated my wrists and ankles.
Kim Chung-beom looked flustered.
"...Uh, I was gonna help, but you freed yourself?"
What a blatant lie.
I stared in disbelief, wordless.
He spun around.
"W-Well, I'll be off then! Good luck!"
As Kim Chung-beom turned to bolt, I conjured a mana orb and fired it past his head.
Boom!
It grazed his head. His body froze stiff.
"Hey. Come here."
"...Me?"
Kim Chung-beom glanced around, pointing at himself.
"Who else is here?"
He shuffled over meekly. No trace of his earlier bravado.
I chuckled, slinging an arm around his shoulders.
He flinched hard.
"Hey, relax. No need to tense up, yeah?"
I grinned playfully.
He awkwardly mirrored me.
"Y-Yeah... uh, sure..."
"You're Kim Chung-beom, right? I remember you from class."
"Yang Chung-beom, actually..."
Oh, Yang Chung-beom?
"Sorry, mixed you up."
"Y-Yeah, no problem. Call me Kim if you want."
Yang Chung-beom smiled awkwardly again.
"Really? Cool?"
"Yeah, whatever's easy."
"Then, Kim Jung-beom. Do me a favor."
"...A favor?"
He eyed me warily.
"Curse makes it hard for me to move, so lure some people here for me."
"...Huh?"
He tilted his head, confused.
"You know the Jungle's Curse is everywhere, right? And I got almost all the votes, so my curse odds are 44%. Can't ignore that."
He nodded.
"Location reveal hits soon, wanna thin the herd first, but I can't move easy. You get it?"
"Y-Yeah. So how do I lure 'em?"
"Simple. Fire off some fireworks spells in the sky to draw aggro. Two or three times."
He smiled awkwardly again.
"...Couldn't you do that?"
"Needs a ton of mana to grab attention, and with everyone gunning for me, I gotta conserve. You know."
He gave a 'what about my mana?' look.
But didn't voice it.
"Friends help each other out, right?"
"Sorry, that's..."
He averted his gaze.
"Chung-beom."
...
"Who'd you vote for?"
He looked guilty.
"Not judging, just curious."
Then he said,
"...Just gather people with magic, right?"
"Nice, you're in? Thanks. I'll help you rack up 500—no, 300 points. Promise."
"...Okay, got it."
['Miracle Negotiator' achievement unlocked.]
[3,000 points obtained as a reward.]
Achievement unlocked.
3,000 points. Nice.
Then Yang Chung-beom turned to me.
"Now?"
"Yeah. Make it flashy. Like fireworks—boom."
He nodded, channeling mana.
A long fiery lance appeared over his head.
Loaded with way more mana—twice as big as before.
"Hya!"
The fiery lance streaked skyward, trailing flames.
Then,
Boom!
It burst spectacularly overhead like fireworks.
That'd snag plenty of eyes.
I smirked, activating Stealth Step.
Then told Yang Chung-beom,
"I'll hide in the trees, so act clueless, stand guard like a decoy. Got it?"