Chapter 112: Final Exam (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 112: Final Exam (8)
The Elimination Zone was silent. There was no conversation.
No one tried to speak first, and there was no particular reason to say anything.
A small sigh broke the silence.
“…Ah?”
Beyond the screen, a scene of Jung Hae-in emerging from the Hidden Point was displayed.
The door opened, and he crossed the threshold.
At that moment, someone let out a soft gasp.
It was a space you couldn't re-enter once you left.
Yet, not a single one of the eliminated students had been able to return to the exam.
In other words, Jung Hae-in had given up on revival.
Yu Hana sat with her hands placed neatly on her knees.
It was her own way of waiting for her revival.
But that posture no longer held any meaning.
“Guess you can just keep sitting like that.”
Ha Sion, sitting beside her, said with a twisted smile.
Her tone was mocking, yet tinged with a certain bitterness.
After all, she hadn't been chosen either.
“Ah…”
The trip after the final exam.
That was the only comfort she had left.
*
[Offense-Defense Switch initiated.]
[Current Personnel]
[Blue Team: 77] VS [White Team: 101]
[Score Status]
[4200 points] vs [3010 points]
[Switching in 5 minutes.]
[This is the final switch.]
The status of the eliminated students was displayed on the left side of my Watch.
[Ranking 1: Kang A-rin]
[Ranking 5: Yu Hana]
[Ranking 4: Cheon Yeo-wool]
[Ranking 19: Ha Sion]
[No Ranking: Yoon Chae-ha]
“Wow…”
I glanced down at my Watch and let out a short, impressed sigh.
It was a total shitshow.
Once this switch was over, the entire exam would end.
This meant that from now on, it was the final battle, the final defense.
Normally, the defending team should have been ahead in points at this stage.
It should have been a situation where they held a massive advantage, needing only to block the opponent's attacks to win…
But despite being the ones who had to defend, we were behind on points.
Blue Team: 4200 points.
White Team: 3010 points.
The difference was over 1000 points.
It made sense, though.
An unexpectedly large number of high-ranking students had been eliminated.
Kang A-rin and Ha Sion had also been eliminated while challenging a boss.
Both the Blue and White teams had lost a lot of their strength, but the difference lay in the ‘quality’ of the remaining members.
Only one key player remained on the White Team.
Ranking 2, Yohan.
In contrast, the Blue Team still had Ranking 3, Shin Hyeon-woo, and Joo Seo-jun going strong.
The Blue Team, led by those two, had been diligently racking up points even while on defense.
And by successfully defeating the Golden Bell boss, they had secured a massive number of points.
As a result, the White Team was now behind in score, despite being the ones who had to defend.
The only option we had left was obvious.
‘Defeat a boss.’
It was the only way to turn the tables.
Defense was a turn where you had to assume you’d lose people.
Many would be eliminated, no matter what.
The same would be true even if we took down a boss.
A Silver Bell wouldn't be enough.
Even if we managed to defeat the Golden boss, a comeback wasn't guaranteed.
Effectively, there was only one target left.
The Black Bell, Yu Serin.
“Ah… I’m tired.”
She was a target I absolutely did not want to face.
What’s more, I didn’t have any teammates I could count on.
“You two are in for it later.”
I was really starting to resent a certain Miss Cheon Yeo-wool and Miss Yoon Chae-ha for ignoring me and challenging Yu Serin.
I took out my Watch and opened the map.
Yu Serin would move clockwise around the Cave.
No matter how I looked at it… a frontal assault was impossible.
Given Yu Serin’s characteristics, she could defend from all directions—up, down, left, and right.
She was the perfect counter to Catenaccio.
Except, that is, for the perfect blind spot behind her back.
“If only I had a team…”
I would have had my teammates draw her attention from the front while I attacked from behind.
But it was too late.
I had no team.
I let out a quiet sigh and scanned the entry routes on the map.
“…Huh?”
Wait a minute.
It doesn't necessarily have to be a teammate, does it?
If someone could initiate the fight, draw her attention, and create chaos…
If someone could play that role for me.
There was someone.
No, there had to be.
Someone who wanted to be the protagonist, who wanted to be a hero.
And right now, someone who would charge in without a second thought to turn the tide for their disadvantaged team.
I’m going to need you to pull your weight.
‘Yohan.’
All I had to do was use him.
A faint smile touched my lips.
*
In a forest, hidden from the eyes of the attacking team.
A short, heavy conversation took place between them.
“…Do we really have to do this?” a trembling voice asked.
“Of course.”
Yohan replied without even turning his head.
His voice was firm.
There were no other options in this situation.
Yohan and his Crusaders.
The team members had gathered in the forest to discuss their strategy.
Unlike Joo Seo-jun of the Blue Team, who moved with all the students as a single group, Yohan only teamed up with people who tried to get on his good side or those who met his standards.
[4200 points] VS [3010 points]
The score on their Watches cruelly displayed the reality of their situation.
They, too, had reached the conclusion that they had to defeat Yu Serin.
They figured Gaon wouldn't have included a boss that was impossible to defeat.
They should be more than capable of taking her down.
The maximum number of people who could challenge her at once was five.
It would be a disaster if Joo Seo-jun or another Blue Team member found them.
The moment the offense and defense switched, they’d strike before she left the Cave.
That was their strategy.
Beyond the forest, black smoke was slowly rising from the ground.
It was a sign that Yu Serin was beginning to move.
“Get in formation.”
“Flashbang as soon as we enter.”
“Yohan’s on point.”
One by one, they discussed their plan.
Yohan quietly drew his sword.
“I’ll take the lead.”
With that, five shadows slowly disappeared into the black mist.
Sensing their movement, Yu Serin stopped walking.
She quietly opened her eyes.
As she lightly raised her arm, chains materialized in the air, intertwining before scattering and falling.
The number of chains was clearly fewer than before.
This time, her opponents were the defending team.
“…Hmph.”
She muttered to herself as she lightly stretched.
“Looks like another round is coming, huh?”
She had already fought twice.
And with her limits released, no less.
She had expected to fight twice at most, maybe just once.
But the students’ competitive spirit was far fiercer than she had anticipated.
Cheon Yeo-wool and Yoon Chae-ha.
Kang A-rin and Ha Sion.
They weren't opponents she could dismiss lightly.
Even with her limits released, they were stronger than she’d expected and had lasted longer than she’d anticipated.
Her body felt a little heavy.
A fatigue she normally wouldn't even notice was slowly seeping in from the tips of her limbs.
“I’m a little tired.”
She gently stroked the back of her hand.
Black chains once again coiled around her wrist.
A steady interval.
Synchronized footsteps.
“Five of them?”
It was a team with a solid formation.
Yu Serin’s eyes narrowed.
Just then.
“Flashbang!!”
A frantic voice cried out.
As she focused her senses, the black smoke flowing along the ground rose up her body and lifted her into the air.
The first flashbang went off.
A brilliant light erupted, bathing the center of the Cave in white.
However, she had already risen higher, avoiding the flash.
Within the light.
A black shadow passed over their heads.
“Above—!”
Before Yohan could even shout, chains whipped down from the sky.
CRASH!
CRASH! CRASH!
Two of them.
They were instantly slammed to the ground, losing their grip on their swords.
Yu Serin landed lightly on both feet.
As if it were a game, she spun around on the tips of her toes.
“Nice to meet you?… Huh, a famous face?”
Her eyes looked down.
Three remained.
Her gaze met that of Yohan, who stood in the center, sword in hand.
For a moment, the corners of Yu Serin’s mouth lifted.
Yohan charged forward and swung his sword, but… it was completely blocked by Yu Serin’s chains.
CLANG!
A sharp pain shot through his wrist.
In the blink of an eye, a chain twisted his wrist and launched a counterattack.
WHOOSH!
CLANK!
His sword couldn't block Yu Serin’s chain and was sent flying.
‘Dammit…’
Yohan grimaced.
His teammates were completely useless.
They were all being held back by just a few strands of chain emerging from beneath Yu Serin’s feet.
Of course, the same was true for Yohan…
His only thought was to replace these bastards as soon as the exam was over.
Conversely, Yu Serin felt something was off.
‘What is this…?’
She paused for a moment to think.
Yohan’s resistance.
It was certainly at the level she had predicted for Gaon’s top rankers before the exam.
His strength wasn't far off from her expectations.
However, the students she had fought before were on a completely different level from this one.
They had been far more difficult to handle, even with her limits released.
That’s why she had revised her assessment of Gaon’s top-ranking students upward…
“Huh?”
But now, he was back at the level she had originally expected.
‘Is the gap really this big?’
Yu Serin was lost in thought for a moment.
She hadn't realized the difference in skill would be this vast.
“Ghk, Grrrgh!”
His pained screams echoed one after another.
A few more clashes followed.
Each time Yohan’s sword failed to pierce Yu Serin’s chains, his body grew weaker.
It wasn't that Yohan was weak…
It was just that Yu Serin was too strong.
Her chains overwhelmed all of Yohan’s attacks, defending by pushing him back again and again.
THWACK!
THUD!
His teammates had already been knocked out.
Finally, Yohan’s body fell to the floor.
He coughed up blood, collapsing in a state of utter exhaustion.
It was Mana Depletion, a side effect of pushing his mana to its limit.
He closed his eyes, gasping for breath.
Yu Serin watched him with a bitter expression.
“…You worked hard.”
There wasn't much Yu Serin could say either.
The score was shared with her as well.
So she knew that the White Team’s final challenge would come.
But she hadn't expected it to be over so quickly.
In the end, she couldn't meet Jung Hae-in.
Her chain lightly tapped Yohan’s Watch.
[Challenge Failed]
Since he had challenged the boss as part of the defending team, it wasn't an elimination.
However.
Just then.
The moment she pressed the button on the Watch.
Yu Serin felt a colossal presence approaching from behind.
As if it had been waiting for this very moment.
‘Too late…’
She couldn't turn around.
KRA-KOOOOOM!!!!
Chains wrapped around her back in a desperate attempt to block the attack, but it wasn't enough.
BOOM!
She was thrown to the ground and slammed straight into the wall of a building.
‘What the—!’
Yohan’s eyes shot open in momentary shock.
A massive spear had flown in a straight line right before his eyes.
He hadn't noticed it at all until he saw it.
And he had clearly seen it strike Yu Serin dead-on.
The moment he saw that attack, Yohan realized just how powerless he was.
The density of the mana, its size, its speed.
It was already beyond the level of a student.
‘Who is it?’
A shadow fell over Yohan’s vision.
A man who looked utterly exhausted.
His shoulders heaved slightly, and his sweat-soaked shirt clung to his skin.
“God… I’m beat.”
The moment he heard that voice, a shudder ran down Yohan’s back.
He staggered as he lifted his head.
And in that instant, the person he never wanted to see was standing right before him.
Jung Hae-in.
He was the person Yohan hated most.
No, to be precise.
He was the person he feared the most.
Yohan flinched instinctively.
And then came Jung Hae-in’s next words.
“Hey, man… why are you so weak?”
It wasn't a sneer, nor was it mockery.
It sounded like a genuine question, devoid of any emotion, asked out of pure curiosity.
And that, somehow,
sounded all the more cruel to Yohan.