Midterms (2)
The 21st century is the information age. If you want to know something specific, you don’t have to visit a library or ask someone who might know. All you have to do is tap on the smartphone in your hand. But just as access to information has become easier, so too has the number of people who know only one thing and act like experts… and I never thought I’d become one of them.
The process was simple: Siwoo cut down trees, Aria trimmed them, and I built the house. I followed exactly what I’d seen on YouTube, yet somehow this was the result.
“Plea… is this right?”
“Even I can tell this isn’t it…”
“I already know that, so can you both please shut up…”
In the video, a beautiful cabin had popped up in no time. So why was the thing I built a half-collapsed wooden shack?
“W-well, it can at least keep the rain out, so isn’t that okay?”
Look, there’s a pile of wood we can use for the roof, and if we just throw a blanket over it like this…!
“Done! Base camp complete!”
Aria and Siwoo stared at me with ice-cold eyes.
“Could you not look at me like that…?”
I knew perfectly well how pathetic this so-called base camp was, okay!
“Well… as long as we can sleep, it’s fine, right?”
“At least the cover is solid…”
When I puffed out my cheeks in protest, they quickly averted their gazes and began listing the structure’s merits. It was the kind of desperate praise you give when you’re trying not to hurt someone’s feelings. Still, better than being cursed out while prostrating, I suppose. I decided to count my blessings and started unpacking our gear inside the building that was generously being called a base camp.
“Alright, now that we’ve unpacked, let me tell you what we need to do.”
“Don’t we just have to hunt monsters?”
“That works too, but… it’s going to be really tough if that’s all we do.”
Since we were only first-years, the difficulty of this survival test wasn’t as brutal as it was for the upperclassmen. That said, it was still very much a survival exam. We had been given exactly one week’s worth of food and water, along with various pieces of equipment. That might be enough if all we had to do was eat and survive, but that was assuming we stayed put.
“If we were just going to sit inside the house for a week, sure. But we have to roam all over this harsh uninhabited island hunting illusion demons. Do you really think the amount of water they gave us will be enough?”
The water supply was calculated for one person to last a week. But the three of us had to trek across this rugged island, fight illusion demons, sweat buckets, and—if anyone got hurt—clean the wounds with water before applying medicine. There was no way it would last.
“Water is the trap. They called it drinking water, but we obviously need it for more than just drinking, right?”
“Then what do we do? Is there a way?”
Of course there was. The first method was the plunder meta. In games, it was a common strategy in “total domination” playstyles—skipping the early base camp construction entirely to take out rival competitors during the midterms. Fewer competitors meant more illusion demons available for points, plus you could loot their water and spare food. It was an easy route, but definitely not something these two would approve of, so I discarded it.
The second method was…
“Finding a stream or a spring.”
“There’s something like that here?”
“Obviously. You think the professors wouldn’t prepare a way to get more water if they made it scarce on purpose?”
If they designed the test with limited drinking water, they would naturally include ways to obtain more. That meant streams and springs. Since they spawned in random locations, we couldn’t know exactly where they were, but in the midterm event, a water source was guaranteed to appear.
“So today, let’s start by exploring for a stream with drinking water.”
Normally, you were supposed to secure this on the first day, when the illusion demons were at their weakest. If you put it off and started searching on the second day when their points shot up, you’d end up regretting it and thinking, I should’ve done it earlier…
“Got it. Then I’ll search the east side. Aria, can you take the west?”
“Understood. Shall we meet back here in two hours?”
“Perfect. Let’s regroup here in two hours. Oh, and just in case, everyone take your personal weapons. If you run into any illusion demons on the way, take them out immediately.”
Even if the points were low right now, points were still points. It was best to collect as many as possible while we could. With that, the three of us grabbed our individual weapons and split up from the base camp to secure a water source.
“Let’s see… water source…”
As I wandered around looking for water, a low growl sounded and a dog-like illusion demon approached me.
“Ugh… I call for water and what shows up? A damn mutt.”
I pulled the trigger on my minigun and it spun with a brrrrt. The demon was shredded into tiny pieces of meat. Since it was still only the first day, it crumbled like soft tofu after just a few shots.
“Tsk… Anyway, it’s almost been two hours… why isn’t any water showing up?”
I had sent Siwoo east and Aria west, so I headed south. The north was the white sandy beach where we had first landed, so there was no need to search there.
Must be on Aria or Siwoo’s side…
This area seemed like a complete bust. Well, the chance was only one in three. No point getting depressed just because I didn’t find it. It was almost time to head back, so I turned to leave—when I heard the rustle of leaves behind me.
“Ah, another illusion demon? I’ve been running into them a lot today.”
Including the dog from earlier, I had already encountered five in two hours. This would make six. Clicking my tongue, I aimed the minigun toward the bushes where the sound had come from. Then a human voice called out from the thicket.
“W-wait! Plea! First, could you please lower that minigun? L-let’s talk first!”
With a hiccup, a person tumbled out of the bushes. It was Camilla, her beautiful golden hair disheveled, both hands raised high as she approached.
“Camilla? It’s been a while. What were you doing over there?”
When I lowered the barrel of the minigun, Camilla finally relaxed and lowered her hands. Her rifle was slung across her back, so there was no worry of a surprise attack. We could talk safely.
“I-I was looking for demons… After the plane landed, my team decided that once we locate a demon, we’d all rush it together and take it down…”
Camilla kept sneaking glances at me. She’d been doing that since last time too… Did something happen?
“I get the general idea. But more importantly, why do you always start shaking whenever you see me?”
“Hic! N-no I don’t! You must be mistaken…?”
“I’m not trying to pick a fight. I genuinely don’t know. What’s so scary about me?”
Her gaze slowly drifted downward until it landed on my minigun. Come to think of it, during the midterms last time, she had been nearly shredded by this very weapon… Had that left her with trauma?
“You don’t have to be that scared. We’re not even in a match right now. I’m not going to shoot you with this.”
“R-right…?”
I lifted the minigun slightly and gave her a bright smile. Camilla’s face turned deathly pale as she nodded frantically.
“Ah, sorry. That was inconsiderate of me. I should’ve put this away before talking.”
It was like waving a snake in front of a friend who was terrified of them and saying, “See? It’s not scary at all!” Realizing my mistake, I quickly hid the minigun behind my back. Unfortunately, it was so large that it still stuck out past my height, so Camilla’s complexion remained unchanged.
“Um… let’s just part ways for today. We both have things to do.”
“G-good idea, Plea! Then I’ll be going!”
Camilla looked like she was about to sprint away in a hurry, but then I remembered there was something I needed to tell her.
“Oh, right! Just in case—if you see an illusion demon with a black body and three faces, immediately fire three flame rounds into the sky.”
“Huh? Why would I…”
Why? Because that isn’t an illusion demon—it’s a real demon. In the game, there weren’t many casualties, but that was just game logic. If my character ran to the location, a cutscene would trigger where I saved a student on the verge of death, followed by a boss fight. There was no way I could time that perfectly in reality. Setting up a small safety measure like this was the only way to prevent the worst-case scenario of a student dying.
If a student actually got attacked and killed by a real demon during an academy exam, there was no way Wilhelm would stay quiet. He’d throw me back into that research lab even if it cost him his own life…
Camilla looked visibly displeased, as if wondering why she had to do that, but the way she kept watching my reaction was so irritating that I casually gripped the minigun again. She flinched violently and nodded her head so hard I thought it might fall off.
Good.
“We’ll keep seeing each other even after the exam is over. It’s better if we don’t make things awkward between us, don’t you think?”
“O-of course… absolutely…”
When I applied a bit more psychological pressure, cold sweat began dripping down Camilla’s face. In the game she had been a noble, elegant young lady… but the moment she saw me, she trembled and desperately tried to stay on my good side. It was honestly a pitiful sight, so I stopped the intimidation there and turned back toward the base camp.
It turned out Aria was the one who had found the water source.