Episode 126. Survival Exam (19)

In this world setting, elves are not beautiful beings.

They are a type of monster, lunatics who feel pleasure from hunting humans.

They possess intelligence, but their languages are different, so communication is impossible.

Of course, that High Elf is likely being controlled by magic, so even if communication were possible, I couldn’t talk to it.

The High Elf is a device created by the Academy to deal with students who hide and do nothing until the last day.

If you properly hunted monsters and found treasures during the week of the Survival Exam, you could easily earn around 200 points.

The High Elf embodies the exam policy of not letting students who hide and run away without fighting survive until the end.

Of course, just surviving until the last day earns quite a few points. Hiding and surviving isn’t easy either.

Anyway, in the original work, it was a scenario where it dealt with only a few sneaky individuals before confronting the protagonist.

But things have changed a lot now.

“What the fuck is this?!”

“Aaggh!”

The Kim Young-han team, who were approaching me, were falling, hit by the High Elf’s arrows that could target the entire island.

In fact, forming a team of 80 people was the critical mistake.

Having a large number of people isn’t always a good thing.

If those members had competed against each other, stealing points, leaving only about 20 people, they wouldn’t have been targeted by the elf first.

Only the ones truly hiding and leeching off the benefits would have been targeted and eliminated.

But too many students survived.

The point supply is fixed, and if the number of people increases, it inevitably gets divided further.

Of course, it’s not Kim Young-han’s fault. Predicting this is unreasonable.

Actually, there was a hint.

The message that appeared on Day 6.

[The names and locations of all students will be displayed in real-time on the minimap. Students who have only been running away to survive, please be warned.]

This was the hint for the High Elf’s appearance.

I don’t know if it was put there for people to understand. I only found out later after seeing explanations circulating on the internet.

I turned on the point ranking, hoping no students would die accidentally.

---

Current Point Ranking within the island.

1. Lee Hoyeon. 1210p

2. Kim Young-han. 452p

3. Alice. 434p

4. Lucy. 210p

.

.

.

---

There were only exactly 5 students on the island with over 200 points.

Which means…

“Sweet deal?”

It means they’ll take care of everything automatically, even if I do nothing.

It can’t be this easy.

I shook off Kim Young-han’s team, who were thrown into chaos by the arrows, and headed towards the coordinates of Alice and the Lucy-Lumi twins, checking the map.

I need to go share points with Lumi.

*

The Academy’s conference room.

The professors were focused on watching the final day of the Survival Exam.

“… Shouldn’t we change this?”

A professor carefully brought up the situation of the exam, where one or two students were teleported each time the High Elf fired its bow.

“The 200-point threshold we initially calculated has changed so much now. If it continues like this, everyone except five will fail.”

“What difference does that make? Failing doesn’t mean disqualification, it’s relative evaluation, isn’t it? The order just changes.”

“That’s true, but… if a large number of students are eliminated due to the point limit suddenly on the last day, it could cause problems in terms of fairness.”

Another professor sighed.

Fairness. It’s always the newly arrived professors who bring up such things.

It’s because they haven’t adapted to Victoria Academy yet.

“Fairness? Since when did we care about that… You know the Academy’s policy. Cultivating that darn situational response ability.”

Situational response ability.

It’s about getting them accustomed in advance to the nature of professions where unexpected and sudden events occur frequently.

Victoria Academy emphasized situational response ability as an educational institution.

“Still, fairness…”

“If you’re going to harp on fairness, there’s no end to the complaints. It’s true that wizards have an advantage in survival. They can maintain minimal hygiene with simple ‘Clean’ magic, and some students even created sleeping spots with magic. Others grilled meat using fire magic. Aren’t these things pointed out?”

“No, it’s unavoidable for wizards to use magic. That’s not what I’m talking about. I think they should have stopped student Lee Hoyeon from taking food supplies in the first place.”

“Last year’s special exam, there was a student who brought an internal map of the Academy in preparation for potential exams held here. I hear a few first-years this year also brought maps after hearing about it. I see it as similar logic. Preparing is the student’s freedom, and we’ve done our part by announcing that there would be a special exam.”

“…I see.”

Debates about fairness frequently arose among the professors, but ultimately, they couldn’t overcome Victoria Academy’s policy.

How one prepares is the student’s freedom.

The Academy merely observes their situational response ability.

It doesn’t matter if the situation is advantageous or disadvantageous. Creating an advantageous situation is also a skill.

In fact, Kim Young-han is receiving good evaluations for his ability to persuade students to join his team, thereby creating advantageous situations.

“Stop thinking useless thoughts and monitor to prevent any casualties.”

An elderly professor glared at the monitor.

The professors who graduated from the Academy all knew that even if these experiences felt unreasonable now, they would build a solid foundation when accumulated through repeated exams.

“Student A-13 Drone looks like they’re in danger. We should proceed with forced teleportation.”

“Don’t ask, just do the forced teleportation. And focus your monitoring on Lee Hoyeon and Kim Young-han.”

The professors stared intently at the monitors, not wanting to miss anything as the exam drew to a close.

*

“Phew. That’s a relief. Lumi, scan quickly.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Hearing that students below 200 points were in danger, I tried to quickly share points, but Lucy’s points were also 210.

Even when I asked Alice to share, the sharing function itself was blocked.

It was a ploy by the Academy to prevent students from helping each other survive by sharing points, especially on the final day.

Fortunately, Lumi’s points were exactly 20 short, so she could earn them by dealing with a monster she found while passing by.

Lee Hoyeon had originally intended to share points, but he didn’t know because there was no opportunity to share points with others on Day 7 in the game.

Moreover, Nam Daeun’s appearance messed up the plan and shifted the timing slightly.

“She’s coming this way. Looks like she slipped away during the chaos.”

“Phew, that’s a relief.”

“Th-that’s a relief.”

Lucy and Lumi placed their hands on their chests and let out sighs of relief.

Watching them, Alice thought.

These twins are fascinating every time I see them.

Their hair colors are the only difference, blue and black, but they look identical, and their actions are so cute I just want to bite them hard…

“Ahem.”

What kind of thoughts am I having about someone my age.

Seeing Lee Hoyeon approaching rapidly, Alice thought this was her chance.

It was the last chance to ask these two for their opinions without Lee Hoyeon present.

“What do you guys think of Lee Hoyeon?”

“S-suddenly? Well, he’s a really great guy.”

“I-I also… think he’s a very good person.”

Lucy and Lumi tilted their heads at the sudden question but answered well.

“Don’t you think he’s hiding something?”

“…Hmm?”

“R-really? Is that so?”

Both of them seem to have something…

Alice couldn’t do anything about this frustrating feeling.

Should I really start investigating them myself?

“Hey guys!”

A man’s voice heard from afar.

It was Lee Hoyeon’s familiar voice.

Considering the distance, he seemed to have arrived already.

Alice managed her expression so it wouldn’t show.

*

‘Why do they look like that.’

Although they weren’t speaking to each other, an awkward atmosphere was flowing between them.

I checked the status windows of the three of them.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Lucy]

• [ Affection: 88 ]

• [ Lust: 40 ]

• [ Hunger: 60 ]

• [ Fatigue: 55 ]

Current State: He’s a good person… definitely.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Lumi]

• [ Affection: 92 ] (+0.3)

• [ Lust: 63 ]

• [ Hunger: 25 ]

• [ Fatigue: 39 ]

Current State: Being a secret friend is tough.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Alice]

• [ Affection: 42 ]

• [ Lust: 38 ]

• [ Hunger: 25 ]

• [ Fatigue: 45 ]

Current State: I don’t want to learn infiltration skills though….

Seeing their unpredictable thoughts made me even more confused.

No. This isn’t the time to worry about things like this.

“Lumi, where did you get the points?”

Looking at the point ranking, Lumi’s points had somehow reached 200. I had rushed here intending to share points.

“Ah, we caught monsters together.”

“Oh? That’s good.”

Well, if she got the points, the process isn’t that important.

“Let’s go right now.”

“Where to?”

“Where else? We have to go catch the elf.”

“…The elf? Why?”

“The message said they prioritize targeting students below 200 points, not that they wouldn’t target those above.”

It’s unreasonable to think anyone could withstand those long-range arrows for the entire 7 days.

In the original work, the protagonist happened to be located near the center of the island and dealt with it somehow. So, for the sake of the hidden piece, I have to handle it according to the original story.

Originally, the plan was for me to handle it alone. But after fighting Nam Daeun, I was low on mana now.

I refilled my mana as much as possible while running, but I didn’t want to take unnecessary risks.

Even if we catch it together, I can still claim the hidden piece alone.

I just need to set up the hidden piece for catching the High Elf. Alice and Lucy will handle the actual capture, I assume.

“Alright.”

“Okay. Let’s go quickly.”

If I persuade Alice, Lucy and Lumi following along is just a bonus.

We ran towards the center of the island.

The arrows, busy hunting Kim Young-han’s team of 80 people, didn’t pay attention to us.

Looking at the point ranking, only about 30 people were left now. I had to hurry before the cannon fodder dwindled further.

A large tree located in the center of the island.

The High Elf was shooting arrows from atop it.

I prepared a spell. ‘Flame Combustion’, cast with all my might. It’s a simple magic that shoots flames, but because it’s simple, it’s highly effective.

The target is that tree.

Burning the World Tree.

Whoosh-!

A magic circle was drawn at high speed from my hand, and the elf standing on the tree, along with the tree itself, burst into flames.

-Kiiyaaaak!-

The High Elf dropped its bow, clutching its head as it began to burn.

‘What the.’

Did I bring them here for nothing?

It seems I miscalculated my firepower.