Chapter 6. Survival

"Ah, my back hurts."

After the second test ended, I immediately headed to the waiting room for the third test, having finished first place ahead of Karen.

In this situation, there were two main issues.

One of them was none other than the back pain from the fall.

Although the pain wasn't too severe, the throbbing was quite bothersome.

'But if I had just fallen, it could have been really bad.'

A direct fall from a height of over 10m.

This was an act that could be classified as a direct attack rather than just a fall.

If I had gone straight for Karen in that state, it was clear that something terrible would have happened.

Karen's body was weaker than one might imagine.

I don't know why she didn't use defensive magic.

If I had hit her directly, she definitely wouldn't have been unscathed.

That's why I grabbed her waist and turned towards myself as we fell, but it seems even a body enhanced by Fire Body found it a bit painful.

'Should I be grateful that this wasn't considered an attack and made into an issue?'

Well, anyway, Karen wasn't harmed, and there wasn't a big problem with the rankings, so it seemed to have been overlooked.

And as for the second issue...

"Does it hurt?"

It was Karen, sitting next to me and staring at me intently.

"Why have you been following me since earlier?"

"Because I like you."

"No, I mean, what exactly does that mean?"

I like you.

It was a phrase with a lot of room for interpretation.

If used in a romantic sense, it would be a confession...

But it didn't seem like Karen would use it in that sense towards me.

I kept asking about the meaning, but Karen wasn't answering.

"My lord, if a young lady courts you so earnestly, perhaps you should accept..."

"No, that's definitely not it, okay? And you call yourself a concubine, so why are you trying to set this up?"

"In my time, it was natural for a capable man to be with many women!"

"I'm telling you, that's anachronistic..."

I wasn't assuming that Karen was saying such things in a romantic, loving sense.

Karen, who didn't know even the first letter of love or romance in the original work?

That's nonsense.

It was on the same level as saying that Yoon Kang-woo was a villain.

"This conversation now. Is it with your familiar spirit?"

"Huh? Oh, right. You can't hear it, can you? Do you want to join the conversation too?"

After pondering my question for a moment, Karen soon opened her mouth again.

"No, conversation can wait until we have more time later."

Saying that, she suddenly moved her hand and placed it on my waist.

It was exactly where I had been feeling pain.

"I'll heal you. It's my responsibility."

Saying that, Karen brought blue flames to my waist area.

The energy of the blue flames, just cool enough as if she had adjusted the temperature.

That energy soon began to heal the pain in my body.

"Recure."

With her simple magic, the pain in my waist area disappeared instantly.

No, beyond that, my body felt invigorated.

It must be the power of one of the few healing magics Karen possessed.

It's also the power of blue flames, which falls under the category of 'flame' that carries the meaning of life.

As I was being treated by her power...

The examiner for the final third test shouted through a loudspeaker, as if the second test had finally ended completely.

"We will now move to the third test site!"

The much-anticipated third test.

The time had come to take the final test before admission.

***

The third test, Survival.

Its content was a siege battle... pretending to be a battle royale.

If the first test was about high scores and the second test about balance,

The third test was the most important test that evaluated practical skills.

It was a test that clearly revealed skill differences while being definitive.

"The test period is 24 hours. During this time, applicants cannot leave the test site."

The test period was 24 hours.

This was the main reason why the academy entrance exam was rumored to be long.

So what was the goal for students during this long time?

"The goal is to capture strongholds. Do you see the locations marked on this map?"

The examiner spoke while showing the students a map made of magic.

A test site about the size of a moderately large village.

There were a total of 3 strongholds prominently marked on it.

"The strongholds are located in the northeast, center, and southwest."

"At the center of each stronghold is a flag. When you infuse it with magic power, points start to be counted from that moment."

"Up to 4 people can siege. If more people infuse magic power, points will stop increasing."

That wasn't all that was in the strongholds.

Food, rest areas, plenty of water...

There were many things essential for continuing the battle in this limited space.

It was truly a siege battle.

Applicants who secured a stronghold would struggle to protect it.

Students outside the strongholds would use every method to try and secure them.

Of course, this wasn't the only way to earn points.

'Otherwise, there would be almost no successful applicants.'

If only certain people occupied the strongholds, there would only be 12 admissions that year.

That's why there were additional bonus points given by professors monitoring the test.

Most students end up being admitted to the academy through these bonus points.

So the process during the test was important.

"A barrier will be placed on your bodies. And if you receive a certain amount of damage, you'll be immediately returned, so don't worry about injuries."

This was a safety measure because it was a test, not actual combat.

Of course, anyone who triggered this would be immediately disqualified, regardless of additional points.

'The atmosphere is completely different.'

The atmosphere among the applicants listening to this explanation was clearly divided into two types.

Applicants who were relaxed, and those who weren't.

In other words...

'Upper ranks' and 'lower ranks'.

'I can hear the sound of gears turning in their heads from here.'

By this point, most applicants must have realized.

The most important things in this game were 'team play' and moving as quickly as possible.

And unlike the upper ranks who had other students directly approaching them,

The lower ranks had to find team members themselves.

This was the difference in relaxation.

"Then, I wish you all the best of luck."

With the examiner's final words,

A huge mass of light enveloped our bodies and our vision inverted.

***

"Is it starting?"

"Do your best until the end, my lord!"

In the third test, Survival, the beginning of the test was the most important.

Who would be the first to find a stronghold and successfully occupy it?

If one could just occupy a stronghold, defending it was much easier than attacking.

Most students would likely have this as their primary goal.

'But the team is more important than that.'

Stronghold? That's something that can be overwhelmed with sheer firepower.

There was that much of a difference between the upper and lower ranks of this year's academy applicants.

A difference that could nullify the advantage of defense over offense in a siege.

That's why the first thing I needed to do was find team members.

And fortunately, I roughly knew where the main characters were located.

Because it was mentioned in the novel like "~ was at...".

I couldn't remember everything, but I did remember a few really important ones.

"Let's take a look at the map."

Woong-

I turned on the magic map provided by the academy.

The map from earlier immediately unfolded.

Looking at my position on it, I was in the southeast part of the test site.

"...Huh? Here?"

Who was the nearest protagonist from here?

Before I could think about that, I realized one thing.

Something to consider before thinking about the protagonists.

"Isn't this the protagonist's spawn location?"

It wasn't about the protagonists.

This was the protagonist's spawn location.

Exactly southeast. Yoon Kang-woo would probably be right around here.

That's when it happened.

"Hey, hey! Wait a minute!"

When I heard the voice of another applicant.

A voice that sounded confused, or rather closer to urgent, was heard nearby.

"Hwa-ryeon. Which direction was it?"

"Umm... I think it was to the east. Follow me."

Since Hwa-ryeon, who made no sound and was invisible, was much better at sneaking than me,

I followed behind Hwa-ryeon who took the lead, and soon I could see.

One applicant who seemed to be the owner of that voice from earlier, and

The figure of Yoon Kang-woo pointing a sword at him.

"Wait a minute, wouldn't it be better to t-team up rather than eliminating me?"

"You swung your sword at me first. I consider this self-defense."

Ah, I see.

'Of all things, he made the worst choice.'

Yoon Kang-woo was kinder than anyone else.

But that didn't mean he was a pushover.

He was someone who could see reality and understand the importance of things.

The only times he became foolishly kind were when it involved people's lives or his own beliefs.

For everything else...

He was just ordinarily kind.

That's why in a relatively light test from his perspective, where lives weren't at stake,

He wasn't kind enough to just let go of someone who targeted him first.

'If he had just approached and asked to team up, he would have gladly accepted.'

Instead, he attacked and ended up in this situation.

Shaking my head at the foolish judgment of one applicant, I revealed myself at their location.

Looking at the current situation, it didn't seem necessary to hide myself anymore.

"Wouldn't it be better to just accept elimination quietly?"

"Who, who are you?"

"Well, that's not important, and you won't pass anyway even if you run away."

The chances of this guy occupying a stronghold were almost zero.

All strongholds would have owners within the next 10 minutes.

And as for passing with examiner points...

He failed by not recognizing the difference between his opponent and himself from the start.

And just due to his own lack of ability, it would be difficult to receive a high score.

So...

"Go back and rest first."

Pak-

I swung my sword at the guy myself.

Along with the sensation of being blocked by the barrier, the teleportation magic activated.

"You, you bastard! It's really all luck!"

With that final cry, he disappeared from this place.

In the silence that followed,

Surprisingly, it was Yoon Kang-woo who spoke first, not me.

"You're... Ah! That shaman, right?"

"You know me?"

"Of course. You're quite famous, aren't you? The legendary guy two-timing with Abeno Rin and Karen..."

"Wait, stop, where did you hear such a rumor?"

"Haha, just kidding. I made it up."

Saying that, Yoon Kang-woo extended his hand to me as if asking for a handshake.

"I'm Yoon Kang-woo."

"Kang Shin-woo. Well, before we talk about anything else, there's something I'd like to ask."

Before doing anything else with him in this place,

There was something I absolutely needed to get a clear answer to.

"Do you want to team up with me?"

Will you be my comrade?