Chapter 79
Keyzen Year 1, total students: 961. Teleportation of all students complete.
And with that, the Island Survival had officially begun.
"Kyaaaa! Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!"
"Why the hell would you poke a beehive, you lunatics?!"
"Can I eat this? Why am I breaking out in hives on my arm?"
It was chaos.
Seventy percent of the first-year students were ultra-high-ranking nobles. Not only had they never stepped foot in a jungle or on an island before, they barely even left their own manicured gardens.
Now those greenhouse flowers had been dropped into a tropical rainforest. Panic breaking out everywhere was only natural.
They had all, at least, mentally prepared themselves.
Prepared for sleeping outdoors.
Prepared for not being able to wash.
Prepared for eating monster meat.
But—
"Snake! It’s a snake!"
"I got bit by something!"
"The mushrooms are moving!"
Once they were actually dropped into the jungle, everything exceeded their imagination.
“…Haa.”
It had already been thirty minutes since the survival assessment began. Maelyn stood frozen with a tense expression.
Compared to the other students, she thought she was relatively better off. Thanks to Dick, she’d gotten the information early and even spent the weekend learning survival skills from Hongpeng. She’d prepared in her own way.
Sssk—
As she cautiously took a step forward, grass rustled beneath her feet and a swarm of ants came pouring out.
“Eeek!”
She screamed and staggered back in panic. As the ants appeared, centipedes with dozens of legs burst out and began sucking them up.
Maelyn’s body stiffened like a rock.
‘…I—I seriously can’t move a single step.’
The physiological limits rooted in her upbringing were something she couldn’t help.
And then, just five seconds before she would discover the fire ants climbing up her shoulder after she backed into a tree.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaa!”
It wasn’t just her, things weren’t looking good for the other students either.
Of course, it wasn’t that they hadn’t prepared at all.
The Island Survival was a well-known annual event at Keyzen, and most students had assumed the core focus of the test would be monster hunting and combat between Keyzen students.
So they’d focused solely on increasing their combat ability.
But it didn’t take long for them to realize that had been a mistake. And in these harsh conditions, there was one instinctive action the students took.
“Let’s work together!”
“We’re making it to the end, no matter what!”
The instinct to form groups. Too scared to be alone, they grouped up anyway.
Since everyone started with zero points, betrayal wasn’t a big concern at first.
And so multiple students clustered into groups, and began using collective intelligence to come up with solutions. Especially if a commoner was included in the group, they quickly became the best leader in this environment.
“…What are you all doing?”
Lorena from Class B, a commoner, stood with her hands on her hips, looking utterly unimpressed.
Behind her, fully grown noble boys were clinging to each other, pressed up against a tree.
In front of them, a single earthworm was wriggling past.
“S-Someone get rid of that thing already!”
“Nanny! Nanny!”
Some of the young masters were already calling for their nannies.
Unfamiliar surroundings, hot and humid weather, gross bugs, and threats from monsters, in the worst possible conditions, their stamina was quickly depleting.
Keyzen, well aware of this, began dropping supplies from the sky. A magical circle opened above them, and supply crates began to fall through.
“Over there!”
“Let’s go!”
Upon seeing the magic circle, students swarmed toward it in droves.
“Huff, huff, we made it!”
“We’re first…!”
But as they pushed through the dense foliage and climbed the open hill—
“…!”
Even at a glance, more than twenty students were already gathered on the hill, watching the falling supplies with wary eyes.
‘What the hell is this?!’
‘This competition is insane.’
“Get lost.”
That’s when it happened. A particularly large student was stomping up the hill.
“If you don’t want to die.”
It was Hector Moore from Class A.
At the appearance of the named elite, a few students hesitated and backed off.
Then a male student, leaning against a rock, let out a snort.
“Look at this punk, acting tough. What, are you the young master of the Moore family or something?”
The boy was thin, his yellow-dyed hair covering his left eye, and in his hand was a long staff of unclear use.
Hector’s expression soured.
“Special Admission Number 10. Malcolm Randolph.”
“Oh, give it a rest already. It’s been over a month since I enrolled and you’re still pulling that special admission crap?”
“A bug that snuck in last minute sure talks a lot.”
Malcolm’s eyebrow twitched.
Special Admission was limited to ten people. The tenth member was often mocked behind his back with terms like “last train” or “straggler”.
Of course, no one dared say that in front of Malcolm, normally.
“You’re Class A, right?”
Malcolm stood up, spitting on the ground.
“Don’t you guys have that famous ‘Number 1’? Guess he’s not keeping you in check, huh?”
This time, Hector’s eyebrow twitched.
“Screw the supplies, I’m going to wreck you first.”
“Oooh, scary~ Go ahead and try, tough guy.”
Both activated their Cores and charged at each other. With two named students clashing right from the start, the sound of their battle echoed across the island.
And this wasn’t the only place. Fights over the supplies were breaking out simultaneously all over the island.
Although the supplies sometimes contained random artifacts, the main reason for the skirmishes was food.
“I’m hungry.”
“…Should we actually try grilling a monster or something?”
Thus passed Day One of the Island Survival.
Amidst the general chaos consuming the students, one boy stood out.
Drag, drag, drag.
One shoulder burdened with vines, wood, herbs, and fruit. The other hand, dragging a monster leg behind him.
His face was smeared with crushed fennel to ward off bugs, and he wore boots on his feet.
‘W-Who is this guy? Is he a native?’
‘What kind of visual is this?!’
Every student who saw him wore the same stunned expression. It hadn’t even been a few hours, and he already looked like he’d completely adapted to the environment.
‘I heard there was nothing edible here.’
Simon smiled as he stored his ingredients into his subspace.
‘There’s tons! This place is a culinary paradise!’
Simon was moving all around, collecting fruits, herbs, edible beasts and monsters, sturdy branches, and other materials.
‘Does he actually know this jungle?’
‘Is he a former treasure hunter or something?’
They might not have known it when he was outside, but now, the sight of Simon laboring away stirred admiration among the students.
Some of them, as if hypnotized, approached and asked,
“Hey, want to join our team? We’ve got combat covered.”
“If you’re okay with it, how about teaming up with us…”
Simon shook his head with a smile.
“Sorry, but I plan to spend the first day alone.”
He refused every offer without hesitation. Then, gripping an axe, he lightly tapped the large plant in front of him.
Crack!
The plant split open, revealing a sweet, juicy fruit. Simon took it and continued on his way.
A few students, having watched what Simon did, approached the same plant. They tapped the body of it, and suddenly, like a carnivorous plant, the leaves split open and swallowed a student whole.
“Isn’t this how he did it?”
“Aaaargh! You psycho! Don’t just stand there, do something!”
Copying him only led to people getting hurt.
Simon’s movements didn’t slow down. He walked along with his skeletons, sweeping up all the useful resources the island had to offer.
“Oh, found this here.”
Simon scooped up a large amount of floating plants from a stream. They were called bladdergrass, and were so sturdy you could even step on them without them sinking.
He also collected high-sugar wild coconuts, full of moisture, and sorghum he could use as a spice.
But the most unusual thing about Simon’s actions was that, while the majority of students were heading toward the center of the island, Simon was walking toward the sea.
He was moving in the complete opposite direction.
[Hey, boy.]
Feer also noticed it and questioned him.
[Your desire to search Viccrum is admirable, but aren’t you straying too far from the center?]
“It’s fine.”
Simon grinned.
“I’ll catch up to everyone tomorrow in one go.”
[……?]
Maybe because he was going in the opposite direction, the number of students dwindled, and eventually, there were no traces of them at all. On the other hand, monster attacks grew more frequent.
Of course—
Thwack!
Slash!
The island’s monsters were no match for Simon’s summoned creatures.
Thanks to his training with Feer, Simon could now control four undead simultaneously.
‘This one’s a Class-2 monster—Lacker.’
A monster resembling a panther, with a long snout and six legs, came charging in.
Simon pointed his finger, and the shield-bearing skeleton ran forward, colliding with the beast.
“Leg.”
A spear-wielding skeleton thrust its weapon past the shield, stabbing deep into one of the Lacker’s supporting legs.
“Arrow.”
An arrow from the skeleton archer lodged into the monster’s eye.
Blood poured from its eye, blinding the Lacker’s vision.
“Flank.”
Another skeleton slipped in from the side and swung its sword.
The blade sank deep into the monster’s neck, and it collapsed.
“Nice work, everyone.”
Clack.
Clack.
The skeletons shook their weapons, celebrating their victory.
Simon walked over and crouched by the dead monster’s body. He held out a Tongue Pad, and its tongue shot out, absorbing the monster’s magical energy.
His score increased by 2 points.
“Not edible. Let’s move.”
Feer’s avatar, observing from nearby, grinned. Simon’s control over his skeletons was growing sharper by the day.
Simon left the jungle and reached the coast. There was a small dock. Servants were unloading cargo, and two instructors were stationed there.
“What the hell?”
One of the instructors happened to be someone with a history with Simon.
It was Bred, the Magical Combat assistant instructor, who scowled as he spoke.
“What are you doing here, student? This area is off-limits. Get lost.”
He waved his hand dismissively.
Simon gave a bitter smile and bowed slightly.
“Or what?”
Bred thumped his chest with his fist.
“Not satisfied with fighting students? You want a go at me now?”
“I’ll pass. Have a good one~”
Simon clearly declined and turned away. He left the beach and headed back toward the dense forest.
‘If he’s been here, it should be around this area.’
Simon scanned his surroundings until he spotted an area laced with spider webs, stretched out like a path.
He followed the webs, and at the end of the trail, a giant web came into view. On top of it rested a bracelet.
It was the Subspace Bracelet.
“It’s time for us to meet again, Feer.”
[Kehahaha!]
Simon carefully checked his surroundings, just in case.
High in the sky above the island, floating magical devices known as “Observers”—deployed by Keyzen Headquarters—were watching and monitoring the test.
Since the island survival assessment involved the entire first-year class, the exam was being conducted by Keyzen HQ directly, not by professors.
‘Okay.’
Because this area had almost no students, there didn’t appear to be any Observers nearby.
Confirming he was unobserved, Simon put the bracelet on his wrist.
Then he clenched and unclenched his fist three times, and the Subspace inside the bracelet opened up in midair.
[Kahahahaha! I've waited so long!]
And from inside—
Feer and a full legion of skeleton soldiers burst out.
The Legion had arrived on Kera Island.
Superb.