14. Uncharted (3)

“Team 38, this is an emergency situation. Stand by for immediate deployment.”

“We have 30 personnel on standby. I’ll contact them immediately to form teams.”

“Team 47, we’ve confirmed the additional task! Closer observation seems necessary from now on.”

Since the first-year students began their practical evaluation, the faculty of Arvadellin had been busier than ever.

Even with constant vigilance and preparation for unforeseen accidents, unexpected events could still occur in real-world situations.

As always, the professors’ duty was to monitor the students’ conditions before they sustained severe injuries and to have rescue personnel on standby.

With the thought that ‘evaluating the students’ actions is important, but their safety must also be revered,’ they had entered the second day, and everyone was staring at the screens with fiery eyes, checking for any overlooked areas.

Siana Plata was particularly focused on one screen among the many.

It featured a student from her class, someone who had become more than just a teacher-student relationship.

She stared intently at the figure on the low-resolution screen provided by the Eye of Observation.

She could see a pair of men and women chatting quietly, but since she couldn’t hear the audio, she could only guess from their lip movements.

“Jihoo-gun always ends up meeting women, even when stranded on a deserted island…”

Siana lamented as she watched the purple-haired female student lean her head slightly on the man’s shoulder.

It was fortunate that she was the one watching the screen; if they had progressed any further, she might have had to turn off the screen.

How many scenes of secret rendezvous had she witnessed? She pondered.

From blatant flirting in the classroom to evening dates, and recently, she had even accidentally seen him talking closely with a female student from another class.

Accident… could she call it that?

It was just that she had been trying to find Lee Jihoo and happened to stumble upon his secret meeting with another woman.

It’s just something a teacher should do, of course.

She was worried because she couldn’t see where her student was.

“Just how many people is he seeing…? Hooo…”

Frankly, Siana didn’t have a big problem with Lee Jihoo dating other women.

Their serious relationship had practically started with the incident in the principal’s office that day.

Whether Lee Jihoo dated Lee Hayul or Yoo Seol-ah, Siana thought that as long as he gave her a little attention, that would be enough.

…Of course, even with these thoughts, she would probably cling to him, kissing and sucking, when they actually had sex.

“When he gets back, I’ll definitely have to do a diaper play with him…”

She had grown up in a strict family and was still shy about sex, but if Lee Jihoo asked, she would be willing to do it.

Is this what they call love…?

Imagining her sweet and pleasant sex with Jihoo, the corners of her lips naturally curled up.

She hadn’t seen him properly lately because of exam preparations, so she had to ask him to have sex with her when he got back.

Should she invite him to her house? Would that seem too forward…?

She would serve him a carefully prepared meal, sip wine in a soft atmosphere, and if their eyes met, they would naturally head to the bedroom.

Lee Jihoo’s gentle touch would caress her body, and his sweet voice would tickle her ears, melting her body…

“I, I need to concentrate… Why is it so hot…?”

“If you’re hot, should I turn on the air conditioner a little?”

“Ah, no… It’s not that bad…!”

She had a lewd fantasy during important work.

Siana cautiously looked around to see if anyone had noticed her delusion.

Just then, the door burst open, and a familiar voice came from behind her.

She was startled and froze for a moment, but she managed to regain her composure and turned her head to see a silver-haired woman standing there.

“I’m glad to see everyone working hard. But I came to deliver some news that requires attention.”

Sanya Dominas. The principal of Arvadellin Academy.

The strongest esper of the psychokinesis type, known as the ‘Ruler of Sound Waves,’ had finally returned home after a business trip that lasted over a month.

Unlike her usual playful expression, she spoke with a rather serious face, so the professors paused their work and listened attentively to her words.

“Professor Lumen made an automatic analysis function when he created the Eye of Observation this time, right? If there are any spare screens, bring it up. Those who are busy with urgent tasks can continue their work; I’ll make another announcement later, so if you’re busy, you can check that.”

The professor who had been casually observing the screen was singled out and manipulated a few panels, soon displaying a screen filled with numbers.

Below the words ‘Observation Statistics Analysis System’ in large letters were various detailed statistics about the practical evaluation.

[Observation Statistics Analysis System 관찰 통계 분석 시스템]

• Number of Personnel: Total 500 (Currently 451 alive, 49 eliminated)

Specific data on personnel

• Number of Islands: Total 50

Specific data on the location and type of islands

• Number of Teams: Total 148

• Elimination Status: 15 teams incapacitated or forfeited

Specific data on the reasons for elimination

“It’s definitely gotten a lot better. Even 10 years ago, we didn’t have these functions, so we had to stare at the screen until our eyes fell out and then rotate every 12 hours… Anyway, skip the people and move on to the monsters.”

[Data on Monster Composition and Elimination Status]

• Island 1 [Team 3, Team 8, Team 76]

Monster Survival Status: 13 / 111

• Monster Elimination Status by Time

First Day, First Half: 85 monsters eliminated

First Day, Second Half: 9 monsters eliminated

Second Day, First Half (Current): 4 monsters eliminated

…

“Look. Doesn’t something seem strange? There’s no way they could catch that many monsters in the first half of the first day when they just arrived on the island. Not only in terms of stamina, but also because we put in some pretty strong monsters that the government caught, so they should be at a disadvantage in terms of power. The fact that they eliminated 85 monsters means there’s definitely something going on. For example… a secretly infiltrated group.”

The trend didn’t change even when looking at the statistics for the second island, the third island… and finally the last island.

About 80% of the total monsters disappeared all at once in the first half of the first day, and after that, the students only had to deal with a few remaining small fry monsters.

Siana was finally able to recognize the awkwardness of the screen she had been watching for over a day.

The island was too peaceful.

The forest, which should have been filled with the red eyes of monsters constantly looking for enemies, had become a place where men and women could leisurely stroll hand in hand.

‘Why didn’t I notice…’

Was she too focused on watching Lee Jihoo?

No, even if she thought so, that wasn’t a reason for her fellow professors not to raise questions.

Even if not many teams went straight into the forest, there were still teams that explored the forest, so it was unreasonable that the professors who were constantly watching the screen didn’t know.

Once she reached that point, Siana was certain.

The existence, or some group, that had secretly slaughtered the monsters had extended their reach to the professors of Arvadellin.

“Is it important who did this, or is it important why they did this? If it’s why, it wouldn’t be for a ridiculous reason like ‘wanting to lower the difficulty of the exam,’ would it?”

Could there be a spy in the school?

Except for the connection to receive monsters from the government, the practical evaluation was always kept strictly confidential, so there was almost no element for external intervention.

An informant among the professors secretly passed on the secrets…

For now, that was the most likely inference.

But why, why would they do such a thing?

The fact that the magic power reaction automatically recognized by the Eye of Observation had disappeared meant that life had completely ceased or that it had moved to a distant place that the Eye could not recognize.

In the end, unless it was an esper who could move monsters all at once from 50 islands, it was right to assume that the monsters were dead, but even an esper of Sanya’s level couldn’t do that much at the same time.

In other words, the circumstances indicated that the monsters had been killed by a large number of people.

Then what was the motive? It certainly wasn’t a reason like ‘lowering the exam difficulty,’ like Sanya’s silly joke.

“Actually, with the tentacle demon incident recently, it seems like the demons’ movements have been unusual lately, so I’d like to put more weight on the demons’ actions. The business trip I went on this time was also to find out more about the recent trends of the demons. Well, it’s not certain, so it’s right to judge for yourself, but at least you should be careful.”

With those words, Sanya immediately left the room.

Siana stared blankly at her figure slowly disappearing out the door.

It was information that she would never have known if it hadn’t been for Sanya.

Why didn’t they have any doubts about such awkwardness?

Could they have been [hypnotized]?

“…I need to focus more from now on.”

Siana muttered to herself as she watched the screen of Lee Jihoo now even fondling the female student’s chest.

She hoped that everything would pass without incident.

If she could just hold on a little longer, she wouldn’t have to feel the anxiety of just watching Lee Jihoo anymore.

Two more days.