Chapter 84
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Survival (3)
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The upgraded terminals detection function was quite useful.
[Displaying the location of the nearest cadet.]
Although it had the penalty of only being usable once every two hours, being able to pinpoint the exact location of a cadet was a huge advantage.
It was now the night between the second and third day of the exam.
About 30 hours had passed since the test began. In that time, I had successfully dealt with a total of eight cadets.
Forget fifteen, I could probably get twenty.
The exam was six days and five nights in total.
There were still four days left.
At this rate, it seemed entirely possible.
I slipped into my sleeping bag and lay down.
I wonder how many are left.
It was almost midnight.
How many were eliminated today?
A short flash of light blinked on the terminal. I quickly checked the notification.
[Day 2 Survivors: 263]
More people survived today than I expected.
A total of 235 had been eliminated.
Since 160 were eliminated yesterday, that meant 75 were eliminated today.
Of those, I had eliminated eight, so that left 67.
Compared to yesterday, the number of dropouts was a pittance.
Hmm.
Was it because yesterdays numbers were inflated by the random attacks of those who gave up on the exam?
Or maybe it was because more cadets had formed alliances.
It was only natural that the more people acted in groups, the fewer skirmishes there would be.
The more they move in groups, the more of a pain it becomes for me.
Just dealing with the 87th and 98th ranked cadets at the same time earlier was a bit tough.
If two were that difficult, how much harder would three or four be?
And what if some single-digit rankers were mixed in there? Ugh.
Imagine if Ha Siyeon and Kim Cheoljin had teamed up.
Thats too horrifying to think about.
I shuddered.
Facing those two at the same time without an Ancient Relic was, no matter how I thought about it, impossible.
I could only pray that wasnt the case.
Finally, I used the Cadet Location Detection function, which had just become available again.
I wasnt planning on moving right away since I was about to sleep, but there was always a chance cadets were nearby.
I didnt want to get ambushed, so I decided to use it just in case before sleeping.
[Displaying the location of the nearest cadet.]
[2.2km Southwest]
Thats far enough.
It seemed unlikely Id be attacked.
I tucked the terminal into my clothes and closed my eyes.
Ill just sleep for two hours.
* * *
Morning of the third day of the practical exam.
Ha Siyeon woke up.
There was no one around.
So sleepy.
Ha Siyeon was acting alone.
She had received offers to team up from a few people shed met, but she had refused them all.
Not only were they hard to trust, but she didnt feel the need to act together and split points.
Haaam.
Ha Siyeon let out a small yawn.
She was tired.
Acting alone was fine for the most part, but sleeping at night was the problem.
She slept half-awake so she could get up at a moments notice, which meant her fatigue never fully dissipated.
Ha Siyeon rubbed her eyes, got up, and crouched by the riverbank.
She washed her face with cold water to wake herself up. It was instantly effective.
She was about to wipe the water off when she suddenly realized she didnt have a towel.
Hmm. Should work.
Ha Siyeon drew up her mana and froze only the water on her skin.
*Crack-k-k-*
Tiny ice particles formed on her skin, and at her will, they gathered in one spot.
There.
With a much more refreshed expression, she stood up.
She stretched her arms wide and did some light stretches. The fatigue was still there. If only she could have slept soundly for just three hours, it would have all vanished.
She needed a trustworthy companion.
At that thought, her three closest friends came to mind.
I miss Seoyul, Jihoon, and Cheoljin.
She could trust those three.
Besides, after being alone for three days, she was starting to get bored and lonely.
She wanted to see them, even if they turned out to be villains.
I wonder if Ill see them today
Ha Siyeon sighed as she packed up her sleeping bag.
Who? Seoyul?
It was then that a voice spoke from right behind her.
Ha Siyeon dropped the sleeping bag she was folding and immediately entered a combat stance.
In an instant, she drew her sword and pointed it in the direction of the voice.
Ah.
The moment she saw who it was, the wariness on her face melted away like snow, replaced by a bright smile.
Hi.
Cheoljin!
The owner of the voice was Kim Cheoljin.
With a look of pure delight, Ha Siyeon smiled and ran to him.
How did you know I was here?
What do you mean, how? It was a coincidence.
He had just been moving along the riverbank and happened to run into her.
By the way, Siyeon. What would you do if I were a villain? Youve let your guard down completely.
Kim Cheoljin smirked.
There wasnt a hint of tension in Ha Siyeons posture.
Are you a villain?
Ha Siyeon tilted her head cutely.
Could be. Could not be, right?
Kim Cheoljin smiled meaningfully.
Nah. Youre not.
Seeing him joke around like that, she was sure he wasnt a villain.
Kim Cheoljin grinned, showing his teeth.
And youre not a villain either, Siyeon.
Yeah. Im not, but how did you know?
Well, for one, its written all over your face.
And?
Kim Cheoljin suddenly took out his terminal.
After fiddling with it for a moment, he held it out so Ha Siyeon could see the screen clearly.
For another, I have the list of villains.
Kim Cheoljin smiled playfully.
Ha Siyeons eyes widened.
[List of 30 Villains]
Something like this exists?
Surprising, right? I was shocked when I found it yesterday, too. Its a terminal upgrade chip
Kim Cheoljin explained excitedly.
How he got it, what functions it had, and why he chose the function to check the villain list.
He explained everything.
Oh, right. Did you know Jihoon is a villain too?
Really?
Yeah. And hes already been eliminated.
Kim Cheoljin chuckled and operated his terminal. He showed it to Ha Siyeon again.
Here. See Jihoons name?
Oh, youre right. But why is it grayed out?
It seems eliminated villains show up like this.
Ah, I see.
Ha Siyeon nodded in understanding.
Poor Jihoon. He got eliminated really fast.
We should go tease him after the exams over.
Kim Cheoljin grinned wickedly.
Watching him, Ha Siyeon smiled wryly. Those two were going to have another huge fight.
But how did he get eliminated?
Choi Jihoons skills had improved drastically recently. If he had wrapped his entire body in mana armor to protect his brooch, he shouldnt have been eliminated so easily.
Ah, but Jihoons not the problem right now.
Kim Cheoljins words snapped Ha Siyeon out of her thoughts.
Look at this. This is the real problem.
Kim Cheoljin operated his terminal again and showed it to Ha Siyeon.
Huh? Seoyul?
[Kang Seoyul]
Yeah. Seoyuls a villain too. Scary, right?
* * *
The third day of the practical exam.
I actively used my terminals tracking function to hunt down cadets. I managed to take out three more that way.
The current time was 2 PM.
And for the first time, I faced a crisis.
Id come to the location indicated by the terminal just like before, but I never expected to run into a four-man team.
And a four-man team composed of high-rankers from Class 2, at that.
At first, I tried to act like it was a chance encounter and part ways peacefully, but that was a pipe dream.
Kill him!
Face the wrath of men!
Ive hated your guts for a while now!
Accept my feelings! Give a guy a chance, damn it!
It was clear they had no intention of letting me go, whether I was a villain or not.
More importantly, the last guy needed to get on his knees.
What did I ever do to you guys!
I yelled as I desperately fled.
You have to ask!?
As if Shin Jia wasnt enough, you got Ha Siyeon too!
And youre a dual-attribute wielder!
You bastard who has everything!
Im so jealous I could die!
Ah. So thats what this was about.
Ill eliminate you right now and tank your grade into the ground!
Face the fury of the first-year male students!
Was it my imagination?
I thought I saw tears of blood streaming from their eyes.
So this is what happens when people go mad with jealousy.
Its kind of pathetic.
Ugh!
I threw my body aside with all my might.
Tch!
So close!
Whether they were pathetic or not, their skills were outstanding.
I couldnt even find an opening to counterattack.
The Path of the Wind wasnt even suggesting counters, only a continuous string of escape routes.
Come on!
Give me a break!
I twisted my upper body to dodge an incoming arrow.
The coordination of the sword, spear, bow, and whip was too seamless.
Have these guys been practicing together?
There were no openings.
Die!
A whip snaked through the air like a serpent, aiming for my brooch.
Two melee fighters were already waiting at my potential escape routes.
And a rain of arrows was pouring down from the sky.
This is insane.
Was 1-on-4 too much to handle after all?
I suppose so.
Without my Ancient Relic, I was just a D-rank nobody who was pretty good with weapons and could counterattack a bit.
Outnumbered, counterattacking was difficult, and outpaced, escape was tough.
To hell with it.
It had come to this. I had no choice but to take a gamble.
Dont blame me if you get burned!
I shouted as I radiated my mana in all directions.
*Fwoosh-!*
Flames flickered to life, spreading out wide with me at the center.
Whoa!
Dodge, for now!
Overwhelmed by the fierce display, the two melee fighters who had been pressuring me backed away.
Hey! Thats nothing to!
The cadet wielding the whip in the rear shouted urgently.
He was probably trying to say that this fire was nothing to worry about.
Is he one of those guys who can read mana?
In reality, the flame burst I just unleashed was an indiscriminate emission with almost no power.
A completely useless discharge that just ate up a ton of mana!
The flames were probably weaker than a lighters.
In fact, they werent even burning the falling arrows.
Too late!
But it was already too late.
The two melee fighters had retreated, and their encirclement was broken.
I quickly kicked off the ground.
My target was the whip user in the middle, coordinating their movements!
As I kicked off, I threw a dagger.
*Whoosh-*
The moment the dagger left my hand, the Path of the Wind dissipated.
A red aura flickered around the dagger.
It was the same kind of finite aura I imbued into my arrows.
Tch!
The whip user immediately moved to evade. A quick reaction, indeed.
I said, its too late.
But he couldnt dodge it.
At that moment, my dagger curved at a right angle. It shot toward the direction he had jumped.
It was an application of aura.
!
His surprised expression was quite a sight to see.
He wouldnt be able to dodge, even if he wanted to.
His feet were already off the ground. Lets see him dodge now!
A fraction of a second passed.
Thats one down!
*Pshk-*
My dagger precisely sliced his brooch in two.
He threw his weapon!
Youre dead now!
The problem started now.
To create that momentary opening, I had poured an immense amount of mana into the flame burst.
I had even thrown my only weapon, the dagger.
All I had left was the bow on my back.
That made me defenseless.
Or so they would think.
But they were dead wrong.
I made a motion as if reaching for my hip.
Of course, there was no dagger there, but
*Shing! Kaga-gak!*
I had the Artisan's Simple Forge.
What?
A second dagger!?
With the spare training dagger Id stored in the forge, I perfectly deflected the sword and spear.
*Piiing-*
Simultaneously, I used Predator's Killing Intent on the spearman, who had impatiently moved a little closer.
*Flinch.*
The spearmans body froze for an instant.
I didnt miss that moment.
*Shing-!*
My dagger precisely split the spearmans brooch in half.
Thats two!
If the whip user had still been around, his whip would have flown in to block my dagger.
Thats why I dealt with him first.
Now, all that remained was a swordsman and an archer.
F-fall back for now!
Its still two-on-one!
The swordsman positioned himself in front of the archer, as if to protect him.
It seemed their plan was to drag this into a long-range battle using the bow.
It was certainly a valid strategy against me, a dagger user.
But, you know.
Did you guys forget what I have on my back?
!
I took out the bow slung over my back.
Then, I quickly nocked an arrow and fired.
*Twang- Twang-*
Forward, upward, downward, diagonally.
A total of four arrows flew off in absurd directions.
Immediately after shooting, I threw myself to the ground.
*Thud, thud, thud!*
At the same time, three arrows embedded themselves in the spot where I had just been standing.
As I rolled, I fired two more arrows.
*Shwoooosh!*
The arrows shot up as if to pierce the heavens.
Where in the world is he shooting?
The swordsmans eyes darted around, scanning the area. Then, his pupils dilated wide.
Dont tell me!
It seemed he remembered my dagger curving.
I used my rolling momentum to get back on my feet.
Havent you heard? A master archer who can control their aura can curve their shots.
Guardian of the Bow.
Arrow of the Wind.
Master of the Weapon.
I had no less than three traits that boosted my archery.
My archery skills were top-tier.
The six arrows I had fired all curved from their respective directions and converged on the archer.
As meticulously as a snake hunting its prey.
As nimbly as a hawk hunting its prey.
*Clang, Kang!*
Three shots.
The swordsman managed to block them.
Dodge!
But that was his limit.
It was impossible to block all the aura-infused arrows that were coming from every conceivable angle.
Kuh!
The archer desperately threw himself aside, but he couldn't protect his brooch.
*Pik-*
My last arrow precisely split the brooch in half.
Thats three.
I took a deep breath and looked at the last remaining swordsman.
Now its one-on-one, isnt it?
I slung the bow back over my shoulder.
And drew my dagger.
Shit!
The swordsman, as if giving up, charged at me.
*Whoosh-*
In that instant, the Path of the Wind opened. The red wind of counterattack, which hadn't appeared during the 4-on-1, was now visible.
Acknowledging the path, I moved forward exactly half a step.
The sword grazed past my head, stirring up a fierce wind.
Feeling that wind, I swung my dagger diagonally.
*Pik-*
My dagger precisely split the swordsmans brooch in half.
Last one.
I looked at the four cadets standing there blankly and curled my lips into a smirk.
Looks like I win, huh?
The four didnt answer.
They just stood there, biting their lips in frustration.
Serves them right.
Well, good work. Head on back and get some rest.
I gave a casual wave and turned away.
See? Wouldn't it have been better if youd just let me go when I wanted to leave?
Yes. That makes fifteen.
At this point, first place was pretty much guaranteed, right?
*Vmm- Vmm-*
Hm?
At that moment, an alarm blared from my terminal.
Whats this?
It wasnt just mine; the same alarm was going off on the terminals of the four eliminated cadets.
An announcement?
I stopped in my tracks and checked my terminal.
[Notice. A villain who has eliminated a total of 15 people has appeared.]
[This villain is now designated as the A-Rank Villain Joker. A bounty is now in effect.]
[The A-Rank Villain Joker is Kang Seoyul!]
[Any cadet who eliminates Joker will be awarded 10 times the points!]
What now?
My pupils trembled violently.
There was something like this?