episode_0034

“Because I’m tired. Let’s take a break first. ”

What is this?

Gilbert, or Kang Do-jun, trembled as he watched his wingman bleeding profusely and dying in front of his eyes. I was fully aware that it was a reckless mission, but it didn’t feel real when I saw my close friend dying.

Although Kang Do-jun’s body was not normal, he tried his best not to cry in front of his partner who was joking until the moment he died.

“Stop talking nonsense and get up. I have to go.”

I knew there was no hope, but I suggested we go back together.

Kang Do-jun’s partner, who was lying down, burst into laughter.

Although he was sobbing and spitting out blood, Kang Do-jun also cried and cried as he still smiled heartily.

“Dojun.”

“Tell me. You bastard.”

My friend’s smile began to fade. I couldn’t tell whether my eyes were looking at him or into space.

As he gradually crossed the river of death, he grabbed Kang Do-jun’s hand and pulled him.

“Be sure to return alive. No matter what number you use.”

Although he continued to vomit blood, he only hoped for the well-being of his close friend and died in Kang Do-jun’s arms.

Kang Do-jun closed the eyes of his partner, who could not even close his eyes properly because he was worried about his friend until the moment of his death.

According to his friend’s will, he intended to return alive.

But I promised myself that that would happen after I had accomplished the purpose I came here for. I thought I couldn’t let my best friend’s death be in vain like this.

After a while, Kang Do-jun kept his promise. He completed the given mission perfectly and did the ridiculous thing of collecting his friend’s body and returning it.

Even though his body was half torn to pieces, he had no regrets.

My friend’s death wasn’t in vain, and I came back with him, so that’s it.

Even then and now, Dojun truly thought that way.

***

Gilbert, who had taken a nap at dawn, frowned and woke up. Maybe it was because I was sleeping on the street, but it brought back memories of my time in the military and made me feel bad. Now that it’s been quite a while, I might have forgotten it, but when I see it come up like this every now and then, I feel like I can’t help it.

If you’re going to think of the real world, you’ll at least think of women.

Gilbert, who grumbled that he was reminded of a black man, stamped his foot on the bonfire, which had only the remaining flames, and extinguished it.

There was no time to dawdle because we had to reach the southern coast even if we couldn’t do it today. Gilbert slung the remaining bundle of Kelney legs over his shoulder and shook the canteen. Perhaps because I shared it with Lily yesterday, my water was almost running out.

Thinking that he needed to replenish drinking water first, he started climbing up and down the trees to find a drinking water source, just like yesterday. However, as if I was not as lucky as yesterday, I was unable to find a suitable source of drinking water even after several hours had passed.

Gilbert, frustrated by the continued futile efforts, took a sip of the remaining water in his canteen and set out on the road again.

After drinking water and walking for about an hour, he heard the sound of someone grabbing his ankle.

Cry.

It was a harsh cry, as if it were very hungry. Along with the sound of tree branches being trampled, the cries began to get closer and closer.

Gilbert sighed and turned his head in the direction of the sound. As expected, there was a huge bear standing there, drooling and looking like it was about to pounce.

Gilbert briefly wondered what to do with that hungry bear. Even if the bear attacked, it wasn’t much of a problem for Gilbert, who could handle mana. But I thought that if I didn’t have to use force, it would be better not to use it.

He raised his mana and spread his momentum. Like a bear that survived in the wild, I was overwhelmed by his momentum and couldn’t attack him carelessly, so I started to look at him. If he hadn’t been extremely hungry, he would have run away at any moment.

Gilbert threw two of the bound Kelney legs at the bear. Even though the food had fallen right in front of him, the bear was unable to approach it because he was worried about Gilbert’s eyes. In the end, he was unable to overcome his hunger.

Gilbert, watching the bear greedily devouring meat, wondered why the big bear was so hungry. It was strange that a creature so large that it seemed like it would eat the king of the forest was unable to find food. Considering that even if I had run away from the cadets, it only lasted a day, I couldn’t understand why I was this hungry.

The bear, who had already eaten all of the Kelney meat, seemed to have become a little more docile and began to lick his appetite. This was because there was not enough food for its large body. After thinking for a moment, Gilbert picked up the remaining Kelney leg and carefully approached the bear.

“Stay calm.”

At first glance, it seemed funny to try to control the bear with Kelney’s legs, but the bear, already overwhelmed by Gilbert’s momentum, quietly bowed down like an obedient puppy and allowed Gilbert to approach. He handed over the remaining Kelney leg to the bear and checked its condition. And soon, I was able to figure out why this monarch-class bear was begging for food.

‘The wound is severe?’

It was not a cut from something sharp like a sword. There were scratches and bite wounds from claws everywhere, as if it were a territorial fight. Gilbert thought that just finding out that there was a monster in this forest that could show ruthless violence against such a monster would be a great harvest.

It might have been a problem if he had been given food to eat, but meat spoiled quickly in such a humid area. Since I was at a point where I had to find new food anyway, I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to just get some information.

“Then be careful. I go first.”

After tapping the bear’s body a few times, he left the bear and left to get water and food. This was followed by a growling sound as if the bear was grateful that it had eaten all of Kelney’s meat.

After parting ways with the bear, Gilbert scrambled to find drinking water and food as he headed toward the southern coast. Fortunately, I was able to obtain drinking water and edible fruit, as if I was being rewarded for saving the bear. After finishing his lunch of fruit on a tree, he went back to the shore.

I kept walking, and it was well past noon when I finally arrived at the beach I was aiming for.

After arriving at his first destination, the coast, Gilbert checked his location once again. He was roughly halfway along the southern coast and, as promised, began moving southwest along the coast. If we moved smoothly, we would probably be able to reach the end of the coast around noon tomorrow.

Stop.

Gilbert, who was wading through the grass, began to notice a few signs of people in front of him. Luckily, I haven’t encountered any cadets except Lily so far, but since it’s a coastal area where it’s easy to get food, it was natural that the chance of encountering one would increase.

“Huh!”

As expected, five cadets were seen gathered together and trying to start a fire. Looking at the sleeves on their uniforms, they seemed to be Class 3 personnel. Gilbert quickly looked at their belongings. I saw a pile of freshly caught fish and edible fruits.

Gilbert, who happened to be looking for dinner, smiled.

Gilbert rushed in before the Class 3 cadets could come to their senses and sent all five of them back to the comfort of the academy.

Of course, chabi was the fish and fruit they hunted hard.

Gilbert picked up a fruit, wiped it on his sleeve, and took a bite.

Of course, the most delicious food was the food that was stolen from others.

***

Ian had no idea that the comprehensive evaluation would take place on a deserted island. The original plan was to sabotage Gilbert during the comprehensive evaluation using the Cook-Cran card he had prepared in advance.

It was a very good method in that it used the hands of a third party without exposing oneself as much as possible, but the plan was aborted because the method of comprehensive evaluation was determined by survival on an uninhabited island. It was virtually impossible to find Cooke, the key card, and Gilbert, the target of the sabotage, on this large uninhabited island.

In the end, Ian decided to put aside the task of sabotaging Gilbert for another time and focus on the comprehensive evaluation first. Although he unexpectedly started living on a deserted island, it was no problem for him.

Before coming to the academy, that is, since he was in the family, he had been consistently trained by experts in the name of not knowing when or what situation he might encounter. The training included how to find drinking water, how to find food, and how to find directions in the forest.

And that training finally paid off in this comprehensive evaluation. As trained, we secured drinking water and food, and prepared a place to sleep. If it weren’t for his foresight, he might have been suffering like other cadets.

Having acquired all three elements necessary for survival, he thought about his future policy. Since his rival, Gilbert, had been at odds since the beginning of the semester, the thought crossed his mind that he needed to step up this time. No matter how much it is said that the protagonist blooms after adversity, that does not mean that he will be trampled on forever.

Nothing like cancer.

Thinking very rationally, Ian decided to end this comprehensive evaluation with an overwhelming performance. The idea of the method was completed in an instant. Although almost no information was given about the island where the comprehensive evaluation was conducted, one thing was clear to the cadets.

That is, giant soldiers and magic weapons are hidden all over the island.

That’s exactly what Ian was aiming for. If I were to get my hands on the Giant God Soldier, it would be no problem to finish the comprehensive evaluation with flying colours.

Ian, who quickly completed planning, promised the next day and welcomed the second day. On the second day, according to the plan we had made the previous day, we started exploring the island, focusing on searching for giant spirits. In the meantime, there were cadets attacking him, but he easily dealt with them and continued his search.

I checked from time to time to see if there were any clues to finding the Giant God Soldier, but it wasn’t easy to find. Although he described it as a search, in reality, Ian was looking for the Giant God Soldier by relying on his senses.

After wandering through the forest for about half a day, he sat down near a large tree for a late lunch and a rest. I took out the fruits that I had cut into bite-sized pieces and the grilled meat and started chewing them.

I didn’t think it would be easy to find the Giant God Soldier, but it felt more difficult than I thought.

He took a deep breath and took out a canteen to drink water. However, my hands became slippery due to the sweat on my hands and the moisture on the surface of the canteen. I urgently stretched out my hand, but to my horror, the canteen fell to the ground.

‘Write… .’He was impressed by the thought of needing water again and hurriedly grabbed the canteen, but more than half of the water had been spilled. Ian, who was drinking water from the canteen thinking that there was still about half left, looked at the area where the water had been spilled and noticed something. It was seen that the water that had spilled near the dry leaves had seeped into the ground in a strange form.

Ian closed the canteen and quickly began digging the ground around it.

Pop!

As soon as I started digging, I felt something solid caught on me. When I dug up the dirt in that area, I saw something flat and solid in the shape of a doorway.

Ian was able to intuitively realize what he had found.

He grinned, found the handle buried in the dirt, and opened the door. Inside, there was a space where you could go down somewhere via a ladder. Thanks to the luminescent magic stone, it wasn’t dark and I could see the end.

Ian immediately climbed down the ladder and closed the door to the passage. It was a bit surprising to learn that there was a deeper space under the uninhabited island than I thought, but it was understandable given that it was prepared by Demeia Academy.

As he walked through the underground space, he was soon able to reach the hangar.

As he expected, the general-purpose giant weapon used at the academy was sitting there.

Of course, being the protagonist is different.

Ian nodded as he looked at the hangar prepared for him. I felt like there was no need to compete with Gilbert at this level.

Feeling much more at ease, he laid down in a suitable place. I was planning to make up for the sleep I lost last night due to the vigil.

I am ranked 1st in the overall evaluation.

He smiled until he fell asleep and naturally fell asleep.