Chapter 76
As originally intended, Erzebet took the Corpse Spiders and went to retrieve the body of the Nuslucks, while Simon stepped onto the teleportation magic circle alone and transported to another location.
He arrived near Hongpeng’s cabin.
“Simon!”
Kamibarez greeted him with a bright smile. She had been glancing anxiously toward the magic circle, worried about Simon being late.
“Sorry. I’m late, huh?”
She ran over in a flash and looked him over with concern.
“Did something happen with the teaching assistant?”
Simon quickly racked his brain.
He could gloss over it and say it was nothing, but if Dick and Maelyn later asked the same thing and pressed for details, it would become a hassle.
It seemed best to give a reasonable explanation now.
“Actually, on my way back, I thought about the Nuslucks corpses. I brought a few to study for undead research.”
“Ah, I see! As expected of a Summonology student!”
Kamibarez didn’t question it and accepted it at face value. Just then, Maelyn shouted furiously from a distance.
“What are you two doing? Quit playing around and help with the work already!”
“Yes~”
“Got it.”
Everyone was busy getting the fire ready.
Dick was laying straw on the ground and stacking firewood. Maelyn was hauling firewood from behind the cabin with a grunt.
“Dick! Where should I put this… Whoa!”
She lost her balance for a moment as she walked forward.
“You okay?”
Simon darted in and caught the firewood.
“I’ll carry this.”
He lifted the firewood she had been struggling with and slung it over his shoulder.
“You help with something else.”
“Uh… Oh. Thanks.”
Looking a bit embarrassed, Maelyn fiddled with her hair and turned her back.
Simon placed the firewood near Dick. Thinking they might need more than expected, he headed behind the cabin again.
‘Ah, crap.’
They were out of pre-chopped wood. But there was an axe and a tree stump nearby.
Simon brought over a thick log, set it on the stump, and raised the axe.
Whack!
The log split cleanly in half.
‘Nice, nice. Guess I haven’t lost the old touch.’
As he chopped with satisfaction, Kamibarez was suddenly standing next to him, watching intently.
She quickly picked up a new log and placed it on the stump.
“I’ll help!”
“…Ah, thanks. But stand back, it’s dangerous.”
As Kamibarez stepped back, Simon raised the axe again. Another whack!—the log split in two.
She clapped.
“You’re really good at this! Do you do this often?”
“Yeah. Before I came to Keyzen, this was one of my main chores.”
Simon wiped the sweat from his forehead.
While Kamibarez went to get the next log, Simon glanced at the cut surface.
‘Not a clean split.’
Maybe he used too much force because someone was watching.
He gave a sheepish smile. Kamibarez quickly set the next log and stepped back with shining eyes.
“It’s just chopping firewood. Is it really that fun to watch?”
“Yes!”
With her help, Simon chopped a generous stack of firewood, cradled it in his arms, and headed back to the campfire.
“You made a big pile, huh?”
Simon admired the high stack. Dick chuckled and pointed at the Nusluck corpse.
“That Nusluck we caught was huge. We need at least this much.”
“Fair point.”
Simon began helping with the fire.
They laid straw, dry leaves, and twigs on the ground, and stacked the firewood above in a pyramid shape. When they lit the kindling below and fanned the flame, the fire began to spread upward.
“This is neat.”
Maelyn crouched nearby, resting her face on her hands.
“Do you always have to stack firewood like this?”
“There’s no rule, but this is the most common method.”
As Simon tended the fire, he slowly explained the principles of a campfire. Dick chuckled beside him as he fanned.
“You play with fire and don’t even know how to start a campfire?”
“Ah, shut it. You think this fire’s the same as the one I use?”
“You’ve got a fiery personality.”
“Well, your big mouth is like a log. I ought to split it in two and toss it in the fire, it’ll burn great.”
“Oof, savage.”
Listening to Dick and Maelyn bicker as usual, the fire quickly settled into a steady blaze.
Simon, with a skeleton’s help, brought some mid-sized stones and arranged them in a circle around the fire.
Now it looked more like a proper setup.
“Is everyone here?”
At the sound of a voice behind them, everyone stood up.
“Professor Hongpeng!”
“Hello!”
She was carrying all kinds of tools on her back, barefoot, and had a bucket with a few fish in her hand.
“Oh! The fire’s going well. Shall we begin right away?”
“Yes!”
Thus began the survival class.
She laid the Nusluck’s body Simon’s group had brought on a wooden cutting board.
“Monsters come in all shapes and sizes, but the dissection steps are mostly the same. Watch closely.”
Her hands moved with precision. She peeled off the pelt with a knife, sliced the belly, removed the organs, and drained the blood.
Kamibarez couldn’t bear to watch the organs part and covered her eyes.
“Monster meat is known for its gamey smell, right? That’s from blood and internal decay. To remove it, you want to dissect as quickly as possible. Now, pull off the forelegs and remove the tendons, like this!”
Once the dissection was done, proper cuts of meat were finally laid out, ready to be grilled.
Hongpeng smiled brightly.
“That’s all it takes. Easy, right?”
“……”
“……”
Maelyn and Kamibarez nodded with forced smiles.
“Alright, next!”
This time, she demonstrated how to clean a fish. It was much simpler.
“There’s always a river somewhere, and fish are a good food source.”
She chopped off the fish heads, scraped off the scales, gutted them, and washed them clean.
In no time, thanks to her expert hands, the fish were ready to be grilled.
“Let’s grill them now.”
“Grill coming in!”
Dick brought the grill plate and secured it over the fire. Hongpeng placed Nusluck’s meat on it. The meat sizzled and began dripping juice.
“That’s amazing. It just looks like pork now.”
“Looks delicious!”
As the meat cooked, Hongpeng brought out several spice containers and sprinkled them on top.
“These types of spices are probably allowed on-site.”
As she sprinkled what looked like a mix of pepper and seeds over the meat, a savory aroma spread in all directions.
“And since monster meat might have parasites or pathogens, make sure to grill it on high heat.”
“Yes!”
Once the meat was fully cooked, they moved it to plates.
Dick rolled over a barrel of wine, and Kamibarez brought out the tableware, completing all preparations.
“Cheers!”
In the end, it was a barbecue party under the guise of a survival class. Everyone ate, drank, and enjoyed the lively atmosphere.
“This is seriously good!”
Kamibarez held her cheeks in ecstasy. Dick nodded in agreement.
“Man, this is crazy good. How does something that gross tastes this amazing?”
“Hey! Don’t bring that image up while we’re eating!”
Maelyn snapped at him with a glare.
“Ah, Simon!”
Hongpeng looked at Simon.
“Where did TA Bred go? He helped with the teleport, told him to try the meat before heading out.”
“Ah…”
Simon flinched but forced a smile.
“I offered, but he said he wasn’t feeling well and left early.”
“Hmm~ well, not much we can do then.”
The sky had darkened, and the drinking party was in full swing. The fire was so large, it gave off a campfire feel.
More importantly, it was the same crew as the last time, so everyone felt comfortable. Even Kamibarez, who was once wary of alcohol, was sipping away happily today.
“Ah, this is nice~”
Dick swayed his head, reeking of wine.
He liked drinking, but he didn’t have much tolerance.
“Dick, you good?”
“Huh? Oh. I’m fine, fine. Gonna go pee real quick.”
He suddenly stood up and staggered away, his gait wobbly from the booze.
Then, he stopped abruptly near the bushes, fiddling with the front of his pants. Maelyn, seeing this, shrieked in horror.
“Eeeek! Aagh! You lunatic! Pee farther away, will you?!”
A short while later, the unmistakable sound of a trickle echoed out. Maelyn grimaced, quickly clamped her hands over her ears, and turned her head away.
“Ugh! Seriously, commoners are just…! They have no sense of shame, no class!”
As she shouted, both Simon and Hongpeng laughed.
Then, with a soft plop, someone rested their head against Simon’s forearm.
“…Kami?”
Kamibarez, her cheeks flushed from the alcohol, had dozed off while leaning against Simon’s arm, breathing gently.
“Uuung… Siiimooon…”
“Professor, I’ll take her to the cabin so she can sleep.”
“Mm, go ahead.”
Hongpeng raised her glass with a flourish.
“Then Maelyn dear, let’s toast again!”
“P-Professor, I think you might be going a little hard today…”
“Me too! I wanna toast too!”
Dick came running over. Maelyn yelped and scrambled to the side.
“Ah! You lunatic! Zip up your pants, for god’s sake!”
Simon chuckled and started to rise, but Kamibarez suddenly tugged on his clothes.
“Kami?”
“…Don’t leave me behiiiind…”
“I’m not leaving you.”
Simon spoke gently as he lifted her into his arms.
She nestled perfectly into his chest, rubbing her face against him.
“Hey, hey, Simon.”
Maelyn’s eyes were half-lidded as she mumbled,
“If you try anything weird with our Kami, I swear you’ll die.”
“…What are you even saying.”
“Tuck her in and get back out here!”
Simon carried Kamibarez into Hongpeng’s cabin.
She was completely out. As he laid her gently on the bed, she curled up immediately into a comfortable position.
“Sleep well, Kami.”
Simon stroked her hair and pulled the blanket over her. As he turned to head for the door—
Grab!
His shirt collar was suddenly yanked. With an almost unbelievable strength, Simon was pulled down onto the bed, and Kamibarez opened her mouth wide.
“…!”
At that moment, she seemed like an entirely different person. The pressure radiating from her was overwhelming, Simon’s face went pale. Every cell in his body was screaming in alarm.
Her sharp fangs were aiming straight for his neck.
Thunk!
She quickly clapped her hands over her mouth and buried her forehead in Simon’s shoulder.
“Nooo… Simon is… mmnya, mnya…”
And just like that, she fell asleep again, breathing softly.
Simon, startled beyond words, broke out into a cold sweat.
Her face looked so peaceful that he couldn’t tell if what just happened was real or a drunken hallucination.
‘Kami… did you seriously… hold yourself back because of me?’
“Mmm…”
Simon carefully adjusted her to lie flat on the bed and tucked the blanket around her once more. He still didn’t quite understand what was going on, but… for some reason, he felt grateful.
He let out a quiet sigh of relief and smiled softly.
“Good night, Kami.”
* * *
Midterms ended, and a new week began.
“Today, I have an important announcement.”
Professor Jane, homeroom teacher of Class A, looked around at the students.
By now, everyone had grown familiar with these kinds of patterns, and they braced themselves, waiting for her next words. Jane received an official document from the assistant and read it aloud.
“Yes, in two days, you will undergo the island survival evaluation.”
It was finally officially announced at Keyzen.
Island Survival. Also known as the island survival evaluation, a large-scale program involving all first-years.
The classroom exploded into murmurs as if a bomb had gone off, but Simon’s Group 7 shared knowing, meaningful smiles.
‘Ah, how am I supposed to wait two whole days?’
Simon, arms crossed, was grinning so wide it looked like the corners of his mouth might take off.
“One per person, please!”
The assistants moved quickly through the room, handing out guidebooks for the assessment.
“I’ll give a brief explanation.”
Jane opened her guidebook. The students followed suit and opened theirs.
“From Class A to Class N, all 961 surviving first-years will be teleported to the island.”
She picked up a piece of chalk and drew a large circle on the board, assumed to be the island. At the center, she marked a triangle, then dotted the outer edge with small points.
“You’ll start from a random point on the island’s perimeter. The core rule of this project is simple, survive for four days.”
The students nodded with serious faces.
“But mere survival alone isn’t enough to properly assess your capabilities. That’s why there will be a point system. At the end of the test, your grade and rank will depend on how many points you’ve accumulated.”
She added small X marks throughout the island diagram.
“You can earn points by hunting monsters that appear across the island. From the weakest Grade 1 to Grade 4 monsters. Depending on the monster type, you can earn from 1 point up to over 20 points.”
Jaime Victoria raised her hand high.
“I assume your question is about how the points are recorded, Jaime Victoria.”
Jaime’s face turned red, and she quickly lowered her hand. Light chuckles echoed around the room.
“We’ll use this equipment.”
Jane held up a bracelet. It had a round, flat body with a strap, resembling a monster’s mouth.
“This is a bio-artifact called the ‘Tongue Pad’. When you bring this artifact close to a monster that has stopped breathing—”
Slap!
A long tongue shot out from the mouth-like bracelet, startling the students. It licked over a practice dummy prepared beforehand, then snapped back into the device.
“This artifact absorbs and processes the corpse’s magical power. Within ten seconds, it will display a mana-based numeric score on the pad.”
Jane pointed at the Tongue Pad, showing that the displayed value had increased.
“So, hunting monsters isn’t optional, it’s mandatory. Especially if you want to eat.”
At that, several students’ faces turned grim.
Jane continued by explaining the Tongue Pad’s functions in detail. Aside from absorbing mana from hunted monsters and converting it into points, it could also transfer collected points to another person’s Tongue Pad.
“Back to the rules. Naturally, combat between Keyzen students is allowed. If you reduce another student’s barrier gauge to zero, they are considered ‘dead’. Their assessment ends, and they are teleported to a safe zone. At that moment, the eliminated student’s Tongue Pad will eject all their stored mana as a condensed core.”
“…!”
In other words, if you defeat another student, you could take all their points and boost your own score dramatically.
Jane didn’t spell it out further, but everyone understood, that was the real point.
“And one more important tip.”
She pointed her chalk at the center of the island.
“At the very center of the island stands a mansion built by Keyzen. It is an indestructible mansion, immune to any kind of attack. Inside, it’s the only designated no-combat zone on the island. If you step into it even once—”
She looked around at the students.
“—you’ll be awarded 200 points at the end of the test.”
The murmuring of the class grew thunderous.
“You’ll begin on the outskirts of the island, but your ultimate goal should be to reach the center. Whether or not you step into that mansion even once… makes a massive difference.”
Simon, listening to the explanation, nodded in agreement. With a guaranteed 200 points, he figured he could land somewhere in the mid-tier rankings.
“That’s the big picture.”
She set down the chalk and looked around at the students.
“This survival assessment will test your ability to survive in unfamiliar terrain, your combat skills, response strategies, and adaptability. The major rules are clear and straightforward, but there are many tricky details. Your skill lies in how well you utilize them. Make sure you thoroughly study the guidebook over the next two days.”
“Yes!”
“Then, for the remainder of the time…”
Jane glanced at her wristwatch.
The students’ eyes sparkled. Free time?
“We’ll proceed with a lecture by an external instructor.”
Superb.