I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 129 : Five-Person Survival (1)

In the afternoon, the second-year preliminary matches were held.

Second-year cadets who knew each other too well after a year and a half together.

They fought using more refined and precise tactics compared to the first-years, clearly demonstrating to the first-years that their experience level was different.

"Woooow."

"Experience really can't be ignored, huh."

"We'll be able to do that much next year too."

The first-years were watching the matches while having such conversations.

"Hey, look over there."

"Senior Min Hae-na is truly in a different class."

Unlike other groups where fierce battles were taking place, only Group A was quickly concluding with Min Hae-na's overwhelming victory.

"Amazing. So that's Senior Min Hae-na."

Lee Yu-jin expressed her amazement.

"As expected of my role model senior."

Even Hwang Ji-su with her lofty pride had no choice but to acknowledge Min Hae-na's existence.

"...Hae-na noona has gotten stronger. She's monstrous."

Seo Jun-seong, who had suffered being dragged around by neighborhood boss Min Hae-na since childhood, sighed.

'She's quite suppressing her power.'

Su-hyeon thought quietly as he watched Min Hae-na's fight.

'I wonder if I could defeat Min Hae-na right now.'

An opponent even he couldn't guarantee victory against.

That was the second-year's strongest, Min Hae-na.

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For the ten finalists who survived the preliminaries, an even more grueling test awaited the next day.

"Wow, don't they usually do 1 vs 1 tournaments for this kind of thing?"

The cadets who had been cleanly eliminated in the preliminaries exchanged various conversations about tomorrow's main tournament.

"That's what I'm saying."

"Randomly throwing them into a wide mountain for a 5-person survival. Maybe it's fortunate we were eliminated in the preliminaries."

"What are you talking about? How could you possibly beat Yu-jin?"

"Hmm. Lee Yu-jin was really strong."

"I'm more afraid of Kim A-yun. Lightning striking down, really..."

"By the way, ultimately 9 out of the final 10 are from Class 1."

"Instructor Choi Seung-wook must be upset again."

"I heard he's taking blood pressure medication because of losing at the sports day."

"Still, it's amazing that Jin-un caught Park Chang-jun and advanced to the main tournament."

Baek Jin-un.

The strongest in Class 2 and the cadet showing the most prominent growth compared to before enrollment.

He successfully secured the only Class 2 ticket to the main tournament by sending Park Chang-jun out of bounds after a fierce fight.

"Jin-un is our hope."

"That's right. I hope he gives those Class 1 guys a taste of their own medicine."

But whether their wishes could come true remained to be seen.

On the morning of the second day of the final exams.

The main tournament qualifiers were moving on a dedicated helicopter to a remote mountain range that was academy property, with their eyes covered by blindfolds.

"You are currently flying over the eastern mountain range of the academy."

The five Group A cadets—Su-hyeon, Lee Yu-jin, Nam Tae-hoon, Kim A-yun, and Class 2's Baek Jin-un—listened silently to Instructor Kim Cheol-han's words.

"The radar issued to you is the only indicator that shows each of your positions, so make sure it doesn't get separated from your body. Any cadet who deliberately discards or hides their radar for deception will be immediately disqualified."

"Understood!"

"This survival doesn't end until the final winner is determined. However, actions like hiding and waiting for opportunities are not tolerated either. Combat must begin immediately upon encounter, and intentional escape is grounds for disqualification. Do you understand up to this point?"

"Yes, we do!"

"Good."

As Instructor Kim Cheol-han nodded, the helicopter door opened.

"!"

Whoooosh!

The cadets flinched in surprise at the strong wind felt outside their blindfolds.

"Jeong Su-hyeon."

"Yes."

"Remove your blindfold."

Before Su-hyeon's eyes after removing the blindfold was a mountain filled with dense trees.

"Begin your descent."

"Understood."

Without hesitation, Su-hyeon jumped out of the helicopter and skillfully deployed his parachute.

"The remaining personnel will descend one by one at 10-minute intervals."

"...!"

Gulp.

Baek Jin-un swallowed with tension.

"Baek Jin-un."

"Yes!"

"You're next. Get ready."

"Understood!"

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"This way."

Hwang Ji-su, who had executed the third descent in Group B, cut through the dense forest while looking at the blinking dot on her radar.

'It's either Seo Jun-seong or Seung-yeon.'

Seo Jun-seong and Kwon Seung-yeon, along with Hong In-hyeon and Choi Mina.

Among them, Hong In-hyeon and Choi Mina were still waiting for their turn in the helicopter.

'I don't mind which one it is, but it wouldn't be bad to face Seo Jun-seong at our best condition right away.'

Hwang Ji-su grinned as she watched the radar rapidly approaching her.

'Good, you're also itching for a fight, aren't you?'

Shortly after.

"...So it was you."

"Wow, it turned out like this."

Hwang Ji-su and Kwon Seung-yeon.

The two roommates smiled as if they had planned this.

"How ironic."

"Well, it's not bad, right? Getting to properly face off once."

"Sure."

Hwang Ji-su cracked her wrists.

"You secretly ate my pudding last time, didn't you?"

"You also secretly ate the salad lunch box I made to eat with Su-hyeon, thinking I wouldn't know?"

Spark!

The two's gazes shot sparks.

"Give me back my pudding!"

"If you want to eat, pay for it!"

"How petty!"

"What are you saying, you're the one!"

Boom!

The first engagement counting both Groups A and B had just begun.

"Hmm."

Instructor Gu Hyeong-min, who was monitoring the combat zones with ultra-high-resolution cameras, focused on the scene of Seo Jun-seong being jointly attacked by Hong In-hyeon and Choi Mina.

"Damn it!"

Hong In-hyeon, caught by telekinesis that penetrated through the turbulence, was thrown mercilessly to the ground.

Whoosh! Thud!

He gritted his teeth and glared at Seo Jun-seong as he minimized the damage by using wind as a cushion.

"That bastard!"

"In-hyeon, get a grip."

After Choi Mina created black fog to block Seo Jun-seong's vision.

Whoosh!

She fired a Fire Blast from his blind spot.

Choi Mina's power, shooting flames with firepower no less than a flame-type awakened through high-speed incantation, was truly formidable, but.

"Huup!!"

Seo Jun-seong surrounded himself with a gravity field, distorting the trajectory of the Fire Blast and making it miss by a wide margin.

'Fog, a shallow stopgap measure.'

As Seo Jun-seong clenched his fist, the thick fog burst away as if hit by a bomb, restoring clear vision.

Boooom!

Hong In-hyeon's whirlwind, which came flying after precisely calculating that timing, was simply avoided by Seo Jun-seong merely raising his altitude.

"Hey, Choi Mina."

"Speak."

Hong In-hyeon sighed.

"How the hell do we beat that bastard?"

"To be honest?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know either."

"He's leisurely handling their joint attack alone."

Instructor Lim Young-jin strongly agreed with Instructor Gu Hyeong-min's words.

"Though I think Jeong Su-hyeon is also truly remarkable."

"Yes, Seo Jun-seong was also not showing all his power yet."

"It feels like seeing Min Hae-na from last year."

"To put it simply."

Instructor Kang Jun-man's words best represented their feelings.

"A tiger has raised another tiger."

Whoosh!

Nam Tae-hoon, who had barely avoided a sharp yet flexible sword strike, hid in the shadows and clutched his startled chest.

'What the hell! Why has Lee Yu-jin's fighting style changed like this?'

Especially her method of detecting ambushes through her keen sense was completely countering his specialty.

'It feels similar to when I fought that Ma-in called Won Jeong-gu.'

Even then, hadn't he needed to use his hidden technique to finally catch him?

'Even though I ambushed her suddenly in the forest, which should have been far more advantageous for me, she just doesn't show any openings.'

She seemed to have maintained the same solidity but became much more agile and flexible.

'As expected, she's tricky.'

Nam Tae-hoon sighed and once again moved endlessly between tree shadows to disturb Lee Yu-jin, and then.

'Now!'

He dived in, not missing the moment when Lee Yu-jin's concentration wavered.

But at that very moment.

Boom!

Lee Yu-jin, stomping her foot hard in stance, momentarily made Nam Tae-hoon's attack from the shadows hesitate, and.

Clang!

She made him parry her sword as she struck down at him.

"Kuk!"

As Nam Tae-hoon gritted his teeth from the damage of the penetrating scene that seemed to stab his heart directly, her sword lightly sliced his thigh.

'No!'

Nam Tae-hoon, who hid in the shadows just before the follow-up attack came, temporarily concealed himself far enough that Lee Yu-jin couldn't follow.

"Ow ow ow, that was close."

Nam Tae-hoon sighed as he tore his clothes to staunch his bleeding thigh.

"Sigh."

'Fortunately, it's not a deep cut.'

But having been injured, his situation had become even more disadvantageous.

'Well, I can't help it. Everyone's growing day by day, so I should also bring out at least one of my weapons.'

"Tae-hoon, aren't you going to attack?"

Nam Tae-hoon grinned at Lee Yu-jin's shout that echoed through the mountain.

"No way!"

Swish!

The shadows of the trees began to stealthily move and crawl toward Lee Yu-jin's legs.

"Let's end this quickly."

While tensing at the changed energy, Lee Yu-jin adjusted her grip on her sword and answered.

"Yes, let's finish this quickly."

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Baek Jin-un.

He was Class 2's best talent who had succeeded in upsetting and defeating Park Chang-jun.

Though his initial rank at enrollment was 31st, he had quietly built up his skills while Class 1 shone, and was considered the most likely candidate for promotion to Class 1 next year.

'He's a type who's good at fighting and quite intelligent.'

"Jeong Su-hyeon."

Baek Jin-un, confronting me with a pole weapon that had a blade at a right angle to the long shaft, said.

"I admire you."

"...?"

At this unexpected statement, I felt a slight chill.

"Ahem."

Seeming to realize his mistake, Baek Jin-un cleared his throat and corrected himself.

"That's not what I meant."

"That's a relief."

"Anyway, I consider it an honor to have this opportunity to fight you one-on-one."

"Is that so."

He didn't say anything more than that.

"Here I come!"

As Baek Jin-un closed the distance.

'Eye Power activated.'

Keeeeeng!

I met him with sword energy blooming in a state of extreme concentration.

Clang clang clang! Kaang!

A pole arm is quite a unique weapon.

Baek Jin-un's offensive was quite sharp, being proficient in both thrusting and cutting, and actively utilizing the pole shaft, and.

Whoosh!

His technique of thrusting toward a single point, then changing to a cut by bending the end along an irregular trajectory, was almost like a beast's claws.

Clang!

I easily deflected the pole arm by leaning my body backward, and.

Baek Jin-un used the rebounding momentum, spinning once to strike with the pole shaft and then swept the floor with his foot from a blind angle.

I jumped to avoid that kick and tried to deliver a front kick, but.

'Afterimage!'

I ended up hitting nothing as Baek Jin-un's evasive maneuver left an afterimage and moved sideways.

Tap!

I performed a back handspring to retreat and avoid the pursuing attack.

'This is Baek Jin-un's characteristic.'

Baek Jin-un's ability to momentarily create afterimages for attacks was quite tricky in this kind of close combat.

Because it was so precise, it was nearly impossible to visually distinguish which one was real.

'Left or right.'

Of course, with keen instinct, one could distinguish them, but humans fundamentally rely heavily on vision.

Therefore, as the fight lengthened and the techniques became more intricate, it would inevitably become more difficult to respond.

'Moreover, along with Jeremy McGarr, he's one of the best at handling long weapons among first-years.'

In other words, Baek Jin-un could be described as a typical late-blooming talent.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

I thought while retreating to avoid attacks from two afterimages.

'He's targeted me this time too.'

In the early iterations, he was a guy who targeted Lee Yu-jin rather than me, but at some point, he often began to take me as his role model.

'He's studied my tactics well.'

Afterimages are precisely the characteristic that makes it difficult for the extreme body vision, which is the advantage of Eye Power, to be fully effective.

Therefore.

"Impressive."

I honestly praised him.

"That's an honor!"

'But I'm gradually beginning to distinguish them.'

My instinct isn't yet as sharp as Lee Yu-jin's keen sense, but it's still quite well-trained, and.

'This one!'

After observing a few times, I was able to distinguish between illusions and afterimages.

Kaang!

"Huh?!"

I created a Mana Shield to block the real attack while simultaneously jumping toward where the illusion was.

"No!"

And then delivered an ultra-high-speed thrust in a state of relaxed muscles.

"Kuk!"

Baek Jin-un got stabbed in the shoulder joint from an attack coming from an unexpected direction.

'This should be the end.'

Clang clang clang! Kaang!

I immediately changed my stance and pressed Baek Jin-un with continuous sword strikes.

"Urgh!"

Due to his arm lacking strength, he had no choice but to gradually retreat.

"You're really amazing!"

Baek Jin-un laughed, saying he hadn't expected his characteristic to be countered so easily.

"Huup!"

However, as if unwilling to give in so easily, he momentarily retreated to create distance, then grabbed the end of the pole with his left hand and attempted a sharp attack.

But that was as far as he got.

Kaang!

I caught the blade of the pole arm with my sword while simultaneously using my wrist to knock his weapon out of his grip, and.

"No!"

Immediately closed the distance and planted a left backspin blow on his chin.

"Kuk..."

That single pinpoint punch that shook his brain sent Baek Jin-un's consciousness to a distant place.

Thud!

Looking at the falling Baek Jin-un, I sheathed my hwando.

"Quite sharp. I'll give you that."

Subjugation complete.

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And at that time.

Kim A-yun was running toward where Su-hyeon was.

'The one over there is probably Su-hyeon.'

Kim A-yun swallowed with tension.

'Let's have a proper fight once.'