Chapter 82
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Survival (1)
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......This is a problem.
I was lost in thought, staring at the ancient artifact before me.
Geumho. What do you think I should do?
Geumho stopped grooming its fur and looked up at me.
Its face seemed to say, "Do whatever you want, Hyeong!"
Aw, you're so cute.
The sight was so adorable I couldn't help but stroke its head.
As Geumho purred at my touch, I turned my gaze back to the troublesome ancient artifact.
An artifact of the Demon race.
To be precise, I was reading the 'Ancient Artifact Performance Log' that came with it in the carrier.
Lucifer's Demonic Spear.
It was the favored spear of the archdemon Lucifer, an ancient artifact destined to be wielded by a demon of the same name who would appear later.
In terms of rank, it was the best of the best. You could call it an [Ancient Artifact/S-Rank].
In this world, the difference between A-Rank and S-Rank was as vast as that between heaven and earth.
The performance of Lucifer's spear was on a completely different level from any ancient artifact I'd used before.
One of Lucifer's traits was the ability to summon the spear from a distance.
......It was kind of like watching Thor and Mjolnir.
The day Lucifer first appeared.
I vividly remembered the scene of Lucifer's spear flying into his outstretched hand, radiating an immense aura.
Ah. This is driving me crazy.
Normally, I should be thrilled to have obtained such a top-tier ancient artifact.
But why did it have to be Lucifer's Demonic Spear?
This ancient artifact of the Demon race had a major problem.
The 'unique effect' attached to the spear itself was the issue.
It was a 'constantly active unique effect' that triggered the moment the weapon was held, and its name was 'Murderous Impulse'.
It was more of a penalty than a unique effecta curse that gnawed at the wielder's sanity.
Honestly, I was afraid to hold it for even a minute.
......Lucifer, that psycho.
Considering the origin story of the archdemon Lucifer, it was bound to be terrifying.
The 'Murderous Impulse' from the object that became the spear was the very reason Lucifer, originally an angel, fell.
If I hold this, will I go crazy too?
A shiver ran down my spine.
Of course, I might be fine.
It's only for a minute.
But the odds were fifty-fifty.
There was no need to take unnecessary risks.
For now, I'll pass on the high-risk item...
Lucifer's Demonic Spear was a dilemma.
...Ah, what a shame. If only this had been 'Gabriel's Holy Spear'.
With that thought, I checked the next carrier.
One is from the Dwarves.
A hammer-type artifact, said to be the most common among those of the Dwarf race.
As one would expect from a Dwarven hammer, its appearance was elegant.
And the other is...
I checked the other artifact as well.
A necklace of the Succubus race.
The official name of the race was Mongma.
Or in English, Succubus.
Fitting for an all-ages original novel, they'd been transformed into a rather wholesome race.
A race derived from demons, they sustained themselves by absorbing the 'mana' of men.
Which meant I had no qualms about acquiring their trait.
Besides, since they were one of the races that could solve my mana deficiency, it was cause for celebration.
Neither of these can be used as a weapon.
Neither was a combat-oriented ancient artifact. This meant it was more beneficial to acquire their traits right away.
......Alright.
I took a short, deep breath.
Strike while the iron is hot, as they say. I'll do it now.
And so, I placed my hand on the Dwarven hammer. I focused on the instructions for the ancient artifact flowing into my mind, feeling the pleasant texture of the well-gripped handle.
The minute passed in a flash.
*Crackle*
[Error!]
The moment I saw the error, I let go.
I stood before a full-length mirror to check my body.
I wondered where the tattoo would appear this time.
......Not too bad.
It appeared on my side.
A tattoo in a place like this...
I felt like I was becoming a walking canvas of tattoos.
Thankfully, it was in a spot I could hide with my clothes.
Now, it was time to check the most important partthe trait.
Please be something good.
I offered a silent prayer and read through the Dwarf trait section in the 'Encyclopedia'.
*Sting*
I quickly found the trait I had acquired.
......Whoa, no way! For real?
My pupils dilated in shock.
It was a joyous shock.
Artisan's Portable Forge...
Of all the Dwarven traits I'd wanted, this was my second choice.
I have to keep this momentum going.
I swallowed hard and immediately placed my hand on the Succubus's ancient artifact.
A minute later.
......Gasp!
I was stunned once again.
Yes! This is it!
Back-to-back home runs.
Spring had finally come to my life.
* * *
Time flew by.
It was Monday.
This is my first time in Australia.
Ah, I'm worried. What are we going to do about the survival test?
......Could we actually die? I heard a rumor that people die every year.
Nah, no way.
We had arrived at an international airport in Australia. We were now on our way to board the limousine bus prepared by the Australian academy.
So Jia couldn't make it after all. What a shame.
Yeah.
In the end, Jia couldn't come.
Her secretary and personal physician had been adamantly against it. They said that if she pushed herself now, she could be left with lifelong complications.
When Siyeon and I visited her in the hospital yesterday, she was practically crying tears of blood.
"Siyeon. Congratulations. On first place."
"Uh...? Oh."
It was pretty funny watching Siyeon flinch, overwhelmed by Jia's murderous aura.
Does she really hate losing the top spot that much?
She gets to skip the hellish six-day, five-night survival test, so maybe it's for the best.
Ah, you think so?
Personally, I was envious.
After about a three-minute walk, we reached the parking lot.
Alright, please board the limousines by your respective classes.
Yes, sir!
We boarded a luxury limousine and drove for quite some time.
Oh, look! A kangaroo!
Whoa, my first time seeing a kangaroo in the wild. I hear their punches are no joke. Jihoon, if one of those hit you, you'd be a goner, wouldn't you?
......Bullshit.
I was chatting with the trio of Ha Siyeon, Kim Cheoljin, and Choi Jihoon, and before I knew it, we had arrived at our destination.
We've arrived. Everyone, please disembark.
Wow, it looks just like the pictures.
The campus of the Australian Superhuman Academy had a rather stylish look.
They brought us straight here. You think the test is starting right away?
......That's rough.
Anxious murmurs rippled through the crowd. Hearing them, Instructor Pi Jinho grinned. I started to feel anxious too.
Welcome.
A man, followed by about a dozen others, approached our group.
Judging by their uniforms, they appeared to be instructors from the Australian academy.
Thank you for making the long journey.
He was an instructor who was quite fluent in Korean. The other instructors didn't seem to speak the language, wearing expressions of incomprehension.
Thank you for having us.
Instructor Pi Jinho gave a brief nod and extended his right hand.
I'm Pi Jinho.
Cain Roper.
The instructor, who introduced himself as Cain, extended his own right hand and shook it lightly.
"Thank you all for coming out to greet us."
He then greeted the instructors behind him in English.
"Haha. Of course."
It seemed everyone was happy to welcome us.
Shall we head inside, then? I'll give you a tour of the facilities.
Yes.
We followed Instructor Cain.
This is the main training ground.
Whoa.
Gasps of admiration echoed around us.
Maybe because they have so much land, but the training ground was enormous.
Normally, this place would be bustling with cadets hard at training. But today is a temporary school holiday, so it's empty.
You even scheduled a temporary holiday for us...
Not at all. Besides, we have a 'rest day' once a month where students get the entire day off. We simply moved it up a bit.
That's a great system.
The two lead instructors seemed to be getting along well.
It made sense. An instructor that fluent in Korean was unlikely to harbor any ill will toward Korea.
After all, Australia was a multi-species nation founded by various races.
The Elves were, of course, among them.
There was no reason for them to dislike Korea, a nation that revered Elves as its progenitors.
And those are the main facilities.
Instructor Cain finished his explanation.
Now that the brief tour is over, let's get straight to the point.
I saw a reflection of Instructor Pi Jinho's smile in Cain's. A very unsettling smile.
We will now move to the survival training grounds, the pride of the Australian Academy.
Don't tell me...
Are we really starting right now?
Watching the cadets, Instructor Pi Jinho flashed his signature demonic smile.
The practical exam will now begin.
Ah.
You've got to be kidding me.
Sighs of despair erupted from all around.
* * *
After being placed in my designated starting position, I scanned my surroundings.
This is basically the Amazon.
The Australian survival training ground was training in name only; it was a full-blown combat simulation.
An extreme combat drill set in a vast, fifty-kilometer-diameter wilderness, taking full advantage of Australia's massive landmass.
First and foremost, this test was about survival.
Points were awarded based on survival time, so just making it to the final day without being eliminated would earn a decent score.
Surviving for six days and five nights.
It sounded easy enough, but it was anything but.
For one, aside from the initial rations, we had to be completely self-sufficient.
Furthermore, no equipment was provided, not even accessories.
I can't believe they didn't even give us training weapons.
In other words, we had to survive for six days and five nights with nothing but the clothes on our backs.
And that wasn't all.
This survival test included 'plundering'.
Each cadet wore a brooch on their chest with an identification number. If that brooch was stolen or lost, they were eliminated.
The cadet who 'plundered' a brooch would receive bonus points.
In other words, the cadets were also enemies to each other.
Because of this, forming an alliance was impossible without absolute trust.
After all, you could form an alliance only to be betrayed.
You might think you could just team up with close friends who would never betray you.
Wrong.
This test wasn't that simple.
In this survival test, some cadets were assigned the role of 'Villain'.
These Villains couldn't earn points from survival or any other secondary objectives; they could only score by 'plundering'.
And the points they earned were doubled!
This meant that cadets assigned the Villain role had no choice but to hunt others if they wanted to pass.
Of course, any cadet who took down a Villain also received double points.
The existence of these Villains sowed seeds of doubt even among the closest of friends.
On top of that, a full 30 of the 498 participants were Villains.
With odds like that, no one could afford to cooperate without suspicion.
My score was too precious for that.
The lack of any psychological barrier to betrayal also played a part.
The 'game' was built on the premise of betrayal, so betrayal was to be expected.
It's like in a game of Mafia; it's only natural for the mafia to deceive the citizens.
Not many people would feel genuinely betrayed when the mafia deceives them in the game.
Of course, with points on the line, some hard feelings were bound to remain.
......A hellish test designed to ruin relationships.
The more I thought about it, the more vicious the test seemed.
Oh, a horned boar.
While scouting the terrain, I spotted a horned boar, perfect for a meal.
It was still a good distance away, grazing peacefully, completely unaware.
I suppressed my presence and crouched down.
Hmm.
Spotting the horned boar was a good start, but there was a problem.
The problem was that I was empty-handed.
With no dagger, I couldn't use [Path of the Wind].
Same for my bow.
The most serious issue was the absence of [Mastery of Arms].
Without it, my skill with weapons was no better than that of an ordinary person.
For me, someone who relied more on equipment than anything else, this was a desperate crisis!
...Or it should have been.
Nope. Not really.
I chuckled.
I smiled and drew upon my mana.
A stinging pain pricked my side, right where the Dwarven tattoo was.
I focused through the pain, closing my eyes.
The Dwarven trait I'd just acquired was called 'Artisan's Portable Forge'.
It was an overpowered trait that allowed a Dwarf to craft anytime and anywhere, with the added effect of being able to store all kinds of equipment.
In short, it was a 'pocket inventory'.
I had stored everything in this Artisan's Portable Forge[Mastery of Arms], [Mana's Blessing], my [Training Dagger], my [Training Bow], and even my combat gear.
So, what to use?
If I wanted to eat the horned boar, it would be best to take it down with minimal damage to the meat, right?
Alright. The bow it is.
The moment I made my decision.
The training bow was in my hand.
Perfect.
I smiled faintly and drew the bowstring.
< End of Chapter 82: Survival (1) >