*
Kang Min-ji gave Jeong Soo-ah, who suddenly appeared, a wary look.
It's not that she wasn't confident in winning against Jeong Soo-ah, but her shield was almost at its limit.
If Jeong Soo-ah rushed in with the intention of taking them both down here, could she handle it?
It was a disadvantageous situation, but it was necessary to remain calm. If she showed a relaxed demeanor, the other person wouldn't be able to approach easily.
"What. You wanna try something?"
She had heard that they were Da-eun's childhood friends, but they weren't that close.
They hadn't exactly fought before, but you could say they were awkward acquaintances who weren't very close?
Even though she was Da-eun's childhood friend, they were in the middle of an evaluation. Just as she raised her fist with the intention of blowing her away in one shot, Jeong Soo-ah started waving her hands with a flustered expression.
"W-Wait a minute! I don't want to fight!"
"..."
There wasn't much to gain from defeating Jeong Soo-ah right now.
She could hear students approaching from around them.
A landscape so shattered that anyone could tell there had been a battle, unless they had a problem with their body.
They must be hyenas coming this way, hoping that some crumbs might fall her way.
"If you have nothing to say, I'm leaving?"
Jeong Soo-ah's main abilities were healing and buffs. She had used divine abilities in the recent incident in the city center, but she was still inexperienced.
She had a shield to protect herself, but since she had no means of attack, it seemed disadvantageous for her to proceed with the evaluation alone.
Not all evaluations are based solely on points, but she had no way to accumulate points.
She had seen the explosion in the center and thought that Da-eun or Yoon Seung-ah might be fighting, so she came.
She came with the intention of teaming up if either of them were there, but it turned out that Park Hye-ji and Kang Min-ji were the ones who fought.
After hesitating, Jeong Soo-ah decided to join Kang Min-ji for the time being.
"L-Let's team up!"
"With you?"
Jeong Soo-ah, who had been hesitating, asked Kang Min-ji as if she had made a big decision.
Min-ji, who didn't expect Jeong Soo-ah to come out like this, wore an awkward expression.
"T-There was no rule saying we couldn't form an alliance, so it should be okay. Besides, I'm pretty confident in my buffs..."
She had heard that Jeong Soo-ah was a healer-type Hunter. It would be much more advantageous for survival to form a team with the healer Jeong Soo-ah than to go alone.
Kang Min-ji was briefly thinking about what she could gain and lose by teaming up with Jeong Soo-ah.
__Someone's over there!
"Let's get out of here for now."
"O-Okay... I guess we should?"
Kang Min-ji, approached Jeong Soo-ah, who seemed less fierce than before, and lifted Jeong Soo-ah up.
"W-What are you doing..."
"This will be faster. Hold on tight."
"W-Wait a minute!!"
Kang Min-ji, holding Jeong Soo-ah in her arms, caused an explosion and quickly left the spot.
Jeong Soo-ah had no choice but to hold on tight to Kang Min-ji every time the surrounding trees approached.
The huge breasts that she had thought were unpleasant gave her a sense of stability like an airbag.
When she raised her head, she saw her serious expression as she avoided the spot, and even she, as a woman, felt that she looked cool.
She had heard that she was popular among the female students, and she felt like she could understand why.
'What am I thinking right now...'
A sharp impression and a strong-looking face, Kang Min-ji definitely had the charisma that women talked about.
She had a somewhat difficult feeling because of her impression, but once she thought of her as a teammate, she felt somehow reliable.
'Still, she seemed close to Da-eun... She wouldn't suddenly betray me, would she?'
With that, Jeong Soo-ah hid her uneasy heart and grabbed Kang Min-ji tightly.
*
"Is that how they reveal it?"
A huge screen-like thing appeared in the center and began to reveal the names of the students who had risen to the top ranks.
Since it was still early, there were many names that seemed irrelevant to the rankings, but I couldn't help but give a dumbfounded smile when I saw it.
"Was that explosion earlier caused by Min-ji...?"
1st place Park Hye-ji, 2nd place Kang Min-ji.
The one who proudly put her name in 2nd place was none other than Min-ji. I heard a familiar explosion earlier, and it seems that Min-ji caused it.
"Did she throw a nuclear punch or something."
It would have been difficult to block the shield from Min-ji's explosive attack. How hard did our Min-ji work to minimize the preparation motion?
Seeing the results, I felt somewhat proud. Our Min-ji has already grown so much.
Judging from the sound of the explosion earlier, she must have used it quite strongly, but as expected, she couldn't withstand it.
She was hiding, and then suddenly a bomb exploded, so she must have fallen suddenly.
"1st place is Park Hye-ji..."
It was a name I had seen once in a while while passing by. That's because it was always the name after Seo-ah and Da-eun.
I didn't have much contact with her, so I wasn't paying much attention to her, but she definitely seems to have the skills to be in the rankings.
It's still the first day, so it's too early to say for sure, but there's a reason why she's in 3rd place.
"There are quite a few names I've never seen before."
The rankings were only revealed up to 30th place.
It wasn't easy to be in the top 30 out of hundreds of first-year students.
"Seo-ah and Da-eun's names aren't there?"
There were more unfamiliar names than familiar ones. Everyone must be playing it safe.
Da-eun might be like that, but with Seo-ah's image, I feel like she would be destroying everything.
They both look docile in front of me, but they're quite fierce when they go into battle.
'Well, it's not an exam that ends in one day...'
Right now, everyone has few points. Most of the guys I've faced so far were bums.
If I want to keep holding out here, I need to figure out the surrounding terrain first.
I need to find a place to sleep, and a route to get food and water.
I can hold out for a day without eating or sleeping, but can I hold out if it gets longer?
Besides, in a place where I have to fight and guard the surroundings?
Even if I'm a Hunter, it's difficult. I can hold out better than the average person, but I have to fight continuously.
After roughly checking the rankings, I checked to see if there were any hidden guys around and headed to my hideout.
"Where was it..."
It wasn't easy to find the entrance because there was snow all around.
When I checked the surroundings through Mana detection, I felt the magic stone of the Yeti I had caught earlier.
I checked the direction and dug out the snow, and the entrance appeared. It's good that I won't get caught, but it wasn't easy for me to find it either.
I went inside the cave and gave a small shock to the top, and snow fell and covered the entrance.
Unless someone has extremely good detection abilities, it didn't seem like I would get caught.
If they can detect what's inside here, they can detect me wherever I am, so it's better to rule that out.
It's an empty cave, but it felt somewhat cozy because the wind wasn't blowing.
Besides, there's a gift.
"I didn't know there would be supplies in the cave."
When I turned on the lantern I got as a supply, I could see the inside of the dark cave to some extent.
It was a little dark, but that would make it less likely to be discovered. Besides, it's an equipment that can be charged with Mana, so it seemed like I could continue to use it during the test.
'Honestly, I want to use the Creation skill...'
It goes without saying, but since I came in without any equipment, I would inevitably get caught if I used the skill.
I could use other skills, but Inventory or Creation are difficult to use because they are technologies that don't exist in reality.
'They must be monitoring me...'
I know they're constantly checking the students for the evaluation, but can they do it even in a place like this where all sides are blocked?
There doesn't seem to be a surveillance device around, but I thought it wasn't impossible given the place.
'I don't need to create problems unnecessarily.'
If I used the skill wrong, I could get caught for cheating and ruin the evaluation.
Still, the equipment I got was useful, so I didn't think I had to worry about it right now.
A lantern to light up the surroundings, a magic stone burner that can cook food, and even a pot.
To quench my thirst, I scooped up some clean-looking snow around me and put it in a pot.
"I want ramen..."
*
Day 2.
I could feel that there were fewer battles compared to the first day.
The sound of battle that I used to hear often in the central area felt almost half as loud compared to the first day.
It seemed like a natural phenomenon as the population density decreased as the number of eliminated students increased.
It was time to decide on a course of action.
Should I keep hiding like this and hunt down the students near the end, or should I accumulate points by hunting monsters?
The amount of points I have will increase as the days go by, so it would be better to hunt down the students to accumulate a lot of points, but.
There is always a risk.
'That is...?'
I heard the sound of an airplane engine in the distance, and when I raised my head, I saw a box hanging from a parachute falling along the path it had passed.
Supplies commonly called airdrops, with even red smoke rising so that they can be seen from anywhere.
I didn't expect to see that in reality. There must be useful items in there. At the same time, it is accompanied by a strong danger.
Supplies are limited, and if there are many people who want them, a battle will eventually break out.
The guys who were around to get that will flock to it.
'The problem is that I don't know what's inside.'
The problem was that I didn't know if there would be attractive items inside that were worth the risk.
If I go there and fight like crazy, and the items inside are useless, it's a real waste of effort.
Besides, there was the danger of having to fight the students who had gathered from all directions.
How many students would be willing to take that risk?
Should I go there or not? That is the question.
[ "..." ]
'What, why such a reaction all of a sudden...'
It makes me feel awkward for no reason.
Once I'm eliminated, the evaluation is over. I have to decide whether to go there in a situation where I don't even know what the reward is.
'On the contrary, now might be an opportunity.'
Everyone is playing it safe, so wouldn't it be safer to move now?
"Let's go."
I started walking towards the direction where the airdrop had fallen.