Episode 124. Survival Exam (17)

Day 6 Lunch.

“No, why on earth?”

The large clusters of dots on the minimap were converging towards the center of the island.

“It looks like they’re coming towards us.”

“Should we run?!”

“Ho, Hoyeon-ssi….”

“Wait for now. Haa. These stupid bastards.”

It seems Kim Young-han isn’t controlling the Kim Young-han team as much as I thought.

The fact that he’s charging straight at me, even after overtaking Alice to reach 3rd place, is proof of that.

That cunning bastard wouldn’t do something this stupid. There’s no benefit for us top ranks to fight each other.

“For now, let’s maintain a reasonable distance and fall back.”

The plan to head to the island’s center is scrapped.

If we continue like this, we’ll run into the Kim Young-han team before Day 7 dawns.

“Lucy, Lumi. What are your points?”

“I have 180 points.”

“I’ve got 210!”

“That’s enough.”

We need to maintain 200 points before Day 7.

That’s the condition for survival. Lumi is only short about 20 points, which I can cover, so there’s no problem.

Anyway, it’s too late to catch up to Nam Daeun, so it doesn’t matter if we share points a bit. The gap is too wide to close even if we catch the final boss.

“What do you want to achieve by maintaining this distance?”

“… Just wait for now.”

I wish Alice would just follow my words unconditionally like Lucy or Lumi, but trying to convince her requires logic, which is so exhausting.

“I thought there was something at the center of the island. See the empty clearing and the large tree in the middle of the island?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought it might be some kind of marker, which is why I wanted to be at the island’s center. For now, let’s retreat.”

“It would be nice if you shared that kind of insight earlier. Okay, I get it.”

Phew.

I let out a sigh of relief inwardly as we walked in the opposite direction of the Kim Young-han team.

*

Kim Young-han was leading the way, following Lee Hoyeon’s trail ahead of the cadets.

‘If we keep going like this, we’ll meet him soon.’

The Kim Young-han team had defeated numerous boss monsters, found treasures, and hunted monsters.

As a result, they naturally acquired a tremendous number of artifacts.

Among them were artifacts that increased movement speed within a small area, and others that enhanced buffs.

At first, a few cadets touched the artifacts as a joke.

Then, suddenly, the synergy between these two artifacts activated, making the entire Kim Young-han team faster.

“Let’s go catch Lee Hoyeon!”

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

Excited by the increased pursuit speed, the cadets raised their hands and followed Kim Young-han.

‘Why are those crazy bastards cheering like that….’

The ones who get this excited always die first.

Hoo….

Since Kim Young-han receives points from over 80 cadets, he can’t just opt out even if he doesn’t want to go.

He had no choice but to lead the pursuit of Lee Hoyeon.

“Captain, what’s wrong?”

“Stop calling me that.”

Right. Let’s think positively.

It’s better for them to target Lee Hoyeon than come after me.

The moment someone points out, ‘Why are you the only one in 3rd place in the point rankings when we’re all working together?’ it’s over.

Of course, Kim Young-han monopolized the codes for treasures and boss monsters, so the other cadets couldn’t check the point rankings, but with their locations revealed, there was a possibility the rankings would be exposed too.

“Let’s go! Let’s go catch the enemy of all men, the handsome Lee Hoyeon!”

‘Sorry, handsome guy….’

Kim Young-han diligently incited the cadets as he chased Lee Hoyeon.

“Let’s go!”

“Enemy of men! Kill him!”

“Men are so simple. Still, Daeun will handle everything, right?”

“Of course. Daeun is incredibly strong.”

The Kim Young-han team chased Lee Hoyeon with their own objectives.

*

“…They’re too fast?”

The Kim Young-han team’s speed increased, so we sped up too.

But as if matching us, the Kim Young-han team got even faster.

We sped up, but they chased us at more than three times our speed, as if they were riding airplanes.

“They must have gotten some kind of artifact.”

“If this continues, we’re definitely going to get caught.”

….

Alice, our team’s strategist, and I put our heads together.

‘Should we turn off our location coordinates right now?’

I experimented just in case and realized that the Rune Barrier could also disable the location coordinates provided by the battle royale.

But the problem is how the Academy side would react to this.

It’s a cadet’s skill, so they should allow it, but other cadets might complain.

If the reaction is ‘A cadet broke the rules of the exam,’ it’s fine.

But if they get evaluated as ‘The Academy can’t even overcome one cadet’s skill,’ it’ll be troublesome.

I’ve already experienced how incompetent the Victoria Academy folks are, so I didn’t want to get involved again.

If I turn off the coordinates, I should save it as an emergency measure for when we can no longer evade.

I’ll just have to insist it wasn’t intentional, what else can I do?

“For now, let’s evade as much as we can. Then, I’ll buy us some time.”

“…Why you?”

“I’m the only one who can escape, aren’t I?”

It’s the natural course of action.

No matter how fast they chase us, if I decide to combine ‘Acceleration’ and the ‘Rune Barrier’ while hiding my location, they can never catch me.

While I buy us time, Alice, Lucy, or Lumi just need to hold out until Day 7.

Then, we win.

Alice looked at me as if surprised.

I don’t know why she’s acting like this when there’s no one as kind as me.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Alice]

• [ Affection: 42 ]

• [ Lust: 38 ]

• [ Appetite: 25 ]

• [ Fatigue: 45 ]

Current Status: Is she pretending to be good… or is she actually good? I still don’t know.

“How long has our Alice lived with bad people to not trust people like this?”

“I understand because I know about her difficult past.”

“You’ll understand my pure heart soon too.”

“You know my barrier, right?”

“I know.”

“With it, I can temporarily hide your location coordinates. Once you move away from me, the barrier will be released and they’ll reappear. Stay hidden until then. Got it? Let’s meet at the center point connecting the four of us when Day 7 begins.”

I made eye contact with Lucy and Lumi, who were listening beside me.

The two were worried when I said I’d buy us time, but they nodded once I reassured them it was okay.

Alice couldn’t hide her surprise at the fact that the barrier could block location coordinates.

But there wasn’t time for further explanation.

Even while we were talking, the Kim Young-han team was getting closer.

“I’ll head this way. Hide well and let’s regroup.”

The Kim Young-han team still needed time to catch up to us, but our women needed time to hide too.

To buy them that time, I had to face the Kim Young-han team first.

“Hoyeon-ssi….”

“Make sure you come back alive!”

“…Okay. Thanks.”

Lucy and Lumi were seeing me off like wives sending their husbands off to war.

“We’ll meet again soon.”

Alice looked at me with a reluctant expression.

I waved casually and ran towards the Kim Young-han team.

*

“…What is it?”

Naturally, Kim Young-han was the first to sense something was wrong.

He had been following Lee Hoyeon’s coordinates for hours from the front.

“Captain. What’s wrong?”

“Lee Hoyeon… is approaching this way?”

Lee Hoyeon’s coordinates suddenly made a U-turn and were heading towards us.

‘What is he thinking?’

Even for Lee Hoyeon, charging alone at 80 people doesn’t make sense.

Even if there are low-level cadets among the 80, he’s definitely not at a level to lose to a single cadet.

“The coordinates of the other three women are still there… Huh?”

The coordinates of the three women from Lee Hoyeon’s team, which had been blinking on the minimap just moments ago, disappeared.

‘No way, did he take care of them himself?’

Kim Young-han quickly checked the point rankings.

But Alice’s name hadn’t disappeared. The same went for Lucy and Lumi, who were ranked lower.

“…Is he high on the runner-up high from the 1v1 duel?”

The disappearance of the three women’s location coordinates most likely means they obtained an artifact that hides their location.

It’s questionable whether such a broken artifact exists, but otherwise, there’s no explanation.

“Hey. Lee Hoyeon is running this way alone?”

“He’s going to take on 1 versus 80?”

“Is that the kind of guts you need to get a girl?…”

The other cadets started to notice too.

“Captain. What do we do?”

….

“Is there a variable?”

Even after thinking hard, there was nothing to lose.

We were going to run into Lee Hoyeon anyway while tracking their coordinates.

If a fight broke out, we could definitely handle it. Even if no fight occurred, from the Kim Young-han team’s perspective, they would just continue on their path, so there was no loss.

“…Split into 4 teams and surround him! Lee Hoyeon is coming!”

“The Captain orders us to surround him!”

Kim Young-han took the best possible immediate action.

The teams split into four, approaching in a formation to encircle Lee Hoyeon.

Lee Hoyeon didn’t run, even though he must have seen all these movements.

‘The encirclement is already complete. There’s no escape.’

Kim Young-han awaited Lee Hoyeon, confident of victory.

Maybe he wasn’t surviving alone but camping; his complexion was good.

“Yo, Kim Young-han. Are you getting revenge for your loss in the 1v1 duel here?”

“It’s been a while. Mr. Handsome Lee Hoyeon.”

80 cadets surrounded Lee Hoyeon, forming a large circle.

Yet, Lee Hoyeon looked relaxed.

“Wow. That’s a lot. Gathering this many is quite a feat.”

“…What are you thinking? You’re completely surrounded. This isn’t the time to be so relaxed.”

Kim Young-han couldn’t understand the situation at all.

“Why is he so relaxed? What’s his hidden agenda?”

“Tsk. Relax. This isn’t a war. You don’t die if you lose.”

Lee Hoyeon shrugged and quipped, and Kim Young-han let out a hollow laugh upon hearing that.

“It’s always just me who’s serious.”

Shaking his head, Kim Young-han relaxed his stern expression and smirked.

“It was obvious he came to buy time to protect the women.”

Of course, Kim Young-han didn’t need to understand the circumstances.

“Everyone! Charge all at once-!”

“Lee Hoyeon is mine to handle, remember?”

Thump thump.

A woman who cut off Kim Young-han stepped out from the crowd.

She was a girl with sculpted features and long, straight hair reaching her waist, exuding charm.

“…Nam Daeun?”

Seeing that surprised face, it seemed Kim Young-han hadn’t been informed beforehand either.

“Nam Daeun? What is this…”

“I said I’d handle Lee Hoyeon. You agreed to that too.”

“That was when we were supposed to meet all four members of Lee Hoyeon’s team at once… Nam Daeun. Hey, Ms. Nam Daeun?”

Nam Daeun approached me, completely ignoring Kim Young-han’s words.

….

Lee Hoyeon was also quite flustered by the sudden appearance of Nam Daeun.

‘I just planned to draw aggro for a bit and escape using acceleration, why is she suddenly doing this?’

Lee Hoyeon checked Nam Daeun’s status window.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Nam Daeun]

• [ Affection: 51 ]

• [ Lust: 17 ]

• [ Appetite: 34 ]

• [ Fatigue: 26 ]

Current Status: I prepared hard for you… A sparring match or two should be fine, right?

Nam Daeun was adorned with artifacts obtainable from the island, hanging all over her.

‘Did she prepare artifacts to spar with me?’

“It’s been a while. Thanks for back then.”

Nam Daeun thanked me and drew her sword.

“What grudge could she possibly hold against me?”

Gulp.

Lee Hoyeon began to tense up, swallowing hard.

Thump.

At the same time, Lee Hoyeon’s heart pounded faster, and his mana began to accelerate.