Chapter 95: Final Exams (4)
"Hmm, let’s see."
It was evening, and the sun was beginning to set.
I checked the ti using the function on the na tag strapped to my wrist. It was 8:00 PM. Twelve hours had already passed since the exam began.
"It really is sumr."
The sun was only just setting at 8:00 PM. While it was not yet the height of sumr, it was certainly the right season to be called such. At any rate, now that the sun was going down, it was ti to set up camp. Since we were on an island, it was not a good idea to move around at night when we could see nothing.
With that thought in mind, I threw a question to my companion.
"I think it would be best to start preparing for camp. What do you think?"
"...I think that would be a good idea."
Ju Ha-yeon agreed without offering any counterargunt. Looking at her, I briefly recalled the events from earlier that day.
'To be honest, I was half-doubting myself, so I did not expect that to actually work.'
It had been ntioned before that Ju Ha-yeon preferred a confident personality over an indecisive one. That was why I had asked her a question back when she asked if there was a reason she should choose ...
'Rather than looking confident, I probably seed like a complete lunatic...'
It felt a bit strange after I said it. I had worried that Ju Ha-yeon might reject , so it was a huge relief.
'But why did she actually accept?'
Suddenly, I beca curious. Why did Ju Ha-yeon accept my suggestion? While it turned out well in the end, I could not help being curious. Since there was nothing else to do at night anyway, I decided to ask her.
"Why did you accept my suggestion? To be honest, it is a bit awkward for
to say this myself, but it is not like we are particularly close."
"Do I really have to tell you?"
"No, well... if you do not want to say, you do not have to. It is just a personal curiosity."
There was no need to force her to answer if she did not want to. While I would have preferred it if she told , I did not want to ruin this relationship for no reason. Just as I was keeping quiet...
"...There were things I was curious about."
Ju Ha-yeon spoke up when I was not even expecting an answer. Not wanting to miss the chance, I quickly responded to her words.
"Yeah?"
"I accepted because I wanted to see if I could satisfy my curiosity about the kind of person you are."
What did that an? Was there sothing about
that Ju Ha-yeon would be curious about?
"What were you so curious about?"
"The reason why the other kids are showing interest in you. I do not know if you are aware, but my goal is not to beco a famous Player; my goal is to inherit the family business."
I knew. But since we were not close enough to say we knew each other well, I could not just say that. Therefore, I asked her back as if it were the first ti I had heard it.
"Is that so? But is it okay for you to just say things like that?"
"Yes. It is not exactly a secret I have to hide."
She continued speaking.
"That is why I was curious. The reason why the kids around you are so interested in you."
"..."
"How about it? Is that a sufficient answer?"
She did not explain exactly why she was curious about that, but I nodded. This was a small test of her own.
'She ans if I cannot even figure this much out, there is no reason for her to work with .'
She was telling
to figure out for myself why she was curious about the interest others showed in . In truth, she had basically given
the answer.
'She wants to see if I am truly worth that much, and if I am, she will form a connection with
as a business client.'
It was not bad. In fact, I had already thought that if I were to win over Ju Ha-yeon, this approach would be better. A business relationship rather than a friendship. It might seem like there was no romance in it, but it had the potential to be a very solid relationship.
Therefore, I gave a bright smile and spoke to Ju Ha-yeon.
"Then let's do our best, partner."
"...Our interests simply aligned."
"That is what you call a partner. I will take the first watch, so you should go to sleep first."
I decided to wrap the situation up quickly in case she tried to nitpick again. In truth, it did not matter if I did not sleep, but managing one's condition was important. Ju Ha-yeon seed to realize that as well, as she did not say anything more and leaned against a tree to close her eyes.
Seeing that, I nodded with satisfaction.
'Things are going smoothly.'
It ant she did not particularly distrust , which was as good as it could be. Considering Ju Ha-yeon’s poisonous deanor in the original work, this was an excellent flow. Or perhaps she still had so innocence left since it was only the beginning of the first year?
'Whatever it is, it is a good thing.'
Yes. I could consider myself halfway there. They do say that starting is half the battle.
"Then I should get so rest too."
I did not intend to let my guard down, but taking a break was fine. The night was still long. Therefore, I spent the long night quietly thinking about what would happen tomorrow.
***
"Ugh! How frustrating!!"
It was the second day of the exam. My cooperation with Ju Ha-yeon was going very smoothly, just as I had expected. Only a few hours had passed since we started working together properly, but we had already obtained twenty-five na tags. I was satisfied with the result and spoke to her.
"I think you and I have great chemistry. Don't you think so?"
"Do not say things that others might misunderstand."
"Is that so? Then let's call it teamwork."
Looking at her expression, it seed Ju Ha-yeon was also satisfied with the results... She really was a prickly one when she could just be happy. But that prickliness was part of Ju Ha-yeon’s charm, so I just had to accept it.
"At any rate, we are cruising along at this rate. Aren't we?"
"I suppose so. But..."
"But?"
"The plan you explained to
this morning... can you really pull it off?"
Ju Ha-yeon asked with a hint of anxiety. To be honest, it was understandable. The plan I had explained this morning probably seed full of holes to her.
'If I were in Ju Ha-yeon’s position, I would not be able to trust it easily either.'
The plan I told Ju Ha-yeon was this: we would draw in Kim Su-hyeok and Ryu Jin-oh to form an alliance and then herd the other students like a hunting party. It might sound easy in words, but the reality was different.
'Because I have to figure out the locations of the other two.'
And it did not end there. Did Kim Su-hyeok and Ryu Jin-oh even have any intention of joining? If those two refused, the plan could not even be ford to begin with.
'Of course, the latter should not be a problem.'
Ju Ha-yeon had also easily agreed on that part. We just had to use their personalities to draw them in. I could appeal to Kim Su-hyeok’s sense of cooperation and convince Ryu Jin-oh by telling him that we could not do it without him. The part Ju Ha-yeon was skeptical about was the forr.
'How to find out their locations.'
This island where the final exams were being held was not small. Since it was an island created to accommodate a thousand people, there was no way it would be small. Therefore, finding a specific cadet was by no ans an easy task.
'Of course, I did not bring it up without thinking about that.'
I was not just moving blindly based on the directions revealed in the novel. Since it was the second day, everyone would have moved a considerable distance. In other words, the information I had at the beginning was no longer very useful.
'But it does not really matter.'
The thod I had was not like that. It was currently the second day of the exam. According to what was described in the original work, it was about to appear. The hidden rule of this exam that had not been revealed at the start.
And as if to prove my thoughts were correct, an announcent ca from the drone overhead before long.
[The hidden rules of the exam are being revealed.]
[I repeat. The hidden rules of the exam are being revealed.]
The voice of the drone announced that the hidden rule was being revealed. At that sound, Ju Ha-yeon looked up at the sky in surprise.
"A hidden rule? What does that an?"
"I don't know. I'm not sure myself. I suppose we will find out if we wait."
Actually, I knew everything. But it would be a bit strange to tell the truth, right? Therefore, I kept quiet and waited for the next notification.
[In five minutes, the locations of the top 10 cadets with the most na tags will be permanently revealed.]
I smiled inwardly at the notification that followed. Fortunately, there were no differences from the information I knew. Therefore, I spoke to Ju Ha-yeon with a pleasant mood.
"I bet both Kim Su-hyeok and Ryu Jin-oh will be on that list. What do you think?"
"Probably. Did you happen to know this would happen too?"
Of course. Would I have made such a plan if I didn't? ...I could not say that, of course.
"No way. How would I know that? I am not the Principal."
I denied Ju Ha-yeon’s words with a brazen face. It would not make sense for
to know sothing that even Ju Ha-yeon’s information network did not know. Therefore, my answer was already decided.
"...I see. I suppose that is true."
Ju Ha-yeon also accepted my words. Looking at her expression, it seed she felt sothing was off, but what could she do? There was no evidence. So, I continued the conversation comfortably without feeling guilty.
"Then shall we wait for a bit until it is revealed?"
"All right. Since it says it will be permanently revealed, there is no need to move in a hurry."
With that, we stopped moving and waited for a mont. As Ju Ha-yeon said, there was no need to rush. After waiting for a short ti...
[The locations of the top 10 cadets are being revealed.]
[1st Place: Kim Su-hyeok - 80 tags]
[2nd Place: Ryu Jin-oh - 72 tags]
[3rd Place: Hwang Ji-ho - 46 tags]
[...]
The nas of the top 10 began to appear in a list on the na tag. As expected, Kim Su-hyeok and Ryu Jin-oh were leading the pack. Third place had forty-six, yet those two combined had over a hundred and fifty. They really were monsters.
'But this...'
There was a difference from the novel. Among the top 10, a na different from the one I rembered was listed. And it was soone I knew.
[7th Place: Oh Jin-eon - 31 tags]
Oh Jin-eon. He was soone who originally was not recorded in the initial top 10 list. I expressed a bit of surprise at that na.
'I can't believe Oh Jin-eon’s na is on there.'
I knew he was working incredibly hard to prepare for the exam, but I did not expect him to make it into the top 10. Considering Oh Jin-eon’s personality, he would not have gathered them through cooperation. Thinking that made
feel oddly good.
'The kid's hard work really paid off.'
It ant the future I knew had changed, but that was fine. The future would eventually change the more I intervened anyway. What mattered more was that the comrade I was with was developing.
'This actually works out well.'
I had been thinking it would be good if I could join up with Oh Jin-eon. The more people I had for the plan I had ford, the better. I had explained it to Ju Ha-yeon as if it were a plan solely for the exam...
'But that is absolutely not the case.'
Had I not said it at the beginning? I did not particularly care about the results of the exam. What mattered to
was successfully stopping the villain attack.
'To do that, it is essential to gather the kids in one place.'
Everyone probably didn't know this, but being eliminated did not an you left the island. You were moved to a waiting area in the center of the island to wait until the end. Because of that, I needed to herd the kids and have them gather toward the center of the island.
'Furthermore, the waiting area in the center of the island is terrain suitable for fighting defensively.'
Thanks to that, in the original work, the cadets who were eliminated early did not suffer as much damage as one might expect. Instead, it was the talented cadets who had not been eliminated who suffered severe damage. In short, this exam was the catalyst for losing the talents who would be of great help in the future.
'Well, it will probably be impossible to eliminate everyone or herd them all to the center.'
But should I not try as much as I can? It would be much more effective than doing nothing. And this plan would be several tis more effective the more people we had. Therefore, I quickly scanned Oh Jin-eon’s location.
"He is closer than I thought?"
I was able to confirm that he was at a distance closer than I had expected. If that was the case, things would move quickly.
"I want to have Oh Jin-eon join us as well. What do you think?"
"Is this not too sudden a change of plans?"
"I think soone of Oh Jin-eon’s level would be a sufficient addition to our force. Plus, he is close by."
"That is true... I think I am fine with it."
After a few seconds of hesitation, Ju Ha-yeon said she was fine with it. She must have finished calculating the gains and losses in her head during that short interval. I was glad the conclusion was in favor of gain, but she was a terrifying woman.
"Good. Then I will take care of Oh Jin-eon and Ryu Jin-oh."
"All right. Then I will go toward Kim Su-hyeok."
"Then let's et here afterwards. We will have to et again to decide which direction to move."
I pointed exactly to the center of Ryu Jin-oh and Kim Su-hyeok’s locations, and Ju Ha-yeon nodded in agreent. What more was there to say? The conversation ended there.
[SWISH!]
As if by agreent, we imdiately began to run in our respective directions. She headed toward Kim Su-hyeok, and I headed toward where Oh Jin-eon and Ryu Jin-oh would be.
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