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"Why\'s it gotta be so scorching hot, seriously… Ugh."

Though I couldn\'t pinpoint this island\'s exact location, it felt like we were near the equator. The sunlight was scorching, and the humid weather was far from pleasant.

"I\'m hungry. Should I eat something?"

In addition to regular meals, I had brought plenty of snacks with me. I sat down on a large rock nearby and cracked open a bag of potato chips. It was a good idea to bring snacks, after all.

"Hmm… what\'s that over there?" As I munched away, I spotted something golden in the corner of my eye. On closer inspection, a blonde girl was drifting downstream along the river.

"Wait a sec… could that be Alice?"

I couldn\'t make out her face since it was submerged, but her familiar figure and hair length gave her away. Without missing a beat, I sprang to my feet, ditched the potato chips, and took a dive into the river. I wasn\'t sure what had happened, but an unconscious person in the water was far from ordinary; it could be a life-threatening situation.

I managed to fish Alice out of the water, and the good news was that not too much time had passed. She was still breathing, and people with a status window aren\'t the type to kick the bucket that easily. Once they awakened and improved their attributes, they became quite different from regular folks. Of course, I was lucky to have found her. While getting wet wouldn\'t necessarily lead to death, it didn\'t grant invincibility either. If she had been in that state for another 30 minutes, her life could have been at risk.

"I should set up camp here for now…"

With Alice wet as a fish and out cold, I decided to stay in this spot instead of wandering around. Just to be safe, I used my mana to check on her condition, and there appeared to be no internal issues. The main concern was getting her clothes dried to ward off hypothermia. Even if it wasn\'t hypothermia, wet clothes were far from comfortable.

I gathered some wood for a fire, sparked it up, and got to work stripping Alice of her school uniform. Ideally, I should\'ve gone all the way and let everything air out, including her undies, but given her current disposition towards me, and the low affection stat, that might\'ve led to her actually trying to kill me.

Crackle Crackle

As I listened to the crackling fire, I spread out Alice\'s clothes on some nearby rocks, letting them soak up the rays.

"There\'s not much else to do but eat." My primary concern was keeping an eye on Alice until she fully regained consciousness.

I set the frying pan I\'d prepared onto the firewood and started grilling smoked duck. The enticing aroma of the sizzling, oily duck wafted through the air.

As expected, bringing all this food was a good idea. I wonder if anyone might be drawn in by this scent.

Well, if it\'s one of the heroines, I\'ll share, but if it\'s a stranger, I might as well take their points. These students probably haven\'t truly experienced hunger yet. Perhaps by tonight or tomorrow morning, they\'ll understand what survival truly means. Of course, I\'ll be cozy in my warm tent.

"This looks delicious." While I prepared the sizzling smoked duck, I heard a faint grumbling sound.

"Ugh… mmh…" Alice groaned, wriggling her body, gradually coming to her senses.

I\'d laid her down by the fire to help dry her clothes, and the warmth must have roused her. I kept an eye on her while continuing to prepare the food.

"Ugh… Haah…" After a moment, Alice took a deep breath and slowly raised her upper body. She felt around her own body, as if searching for something, and glanced around. It appeared the memory of falling into the water was still fresh in her mind.

"You okay?"

"Eek?!" Startled by my voice from behind, Alice turned around. I was eating reheated rice and savoring the smoked duck.

"You were drifting down the river, so I pulled you out. Your clothes are drying over there." I pointed to the rocks nearby with my finger to avoid any misunderstandings.

"Thanks. I\'ll be going, then." Alice hastily grabbed her not-yet-dried school uniform and attempted to leave.

"Your clothes aren\'t completely dry yet. Hang around and have some food, at least."

"You\'re sharing your rations with me?"

"It\'s no big deal. We\'re both in the PR department team, and I\'ve got plenty of supplies."

I\'d stocked up, thinking I\'d share with the heroines, so why\'s she turning it down?

"No, thanks." Alice briefly glanced at the meat and then turned away.

"If you get hungry, let me know. I\'ve shared my location with you."

On the deserted island, there was no communication network except for the professors. However, students who had encountered each other could communicate if they wanted. It seemed to be a feature for forming alliances and also allowed you to share your location. I\'d set it up while Alice was still unconscious.

"Why did you do that? What\'s your intention?"

"It\'s nothing, really. Like I said, we\'re both in the PR department team. And aren\'t we classmates?"

I couldn\'t say, "I\'m trying to get closer to you," so I simply blurted out whatever came to mind.

"Haa…" Alice let out a sigh, clearly uninterested in continuing the conversation, and left.

If she\'s that negative, I\'m guessing she\'s done some background checks on me… but I can\'t confront her without being certain of what she knows.

Anyway, even if the test is challenging, Alice won\'t give up. There are high expectations back home, what with her title as a promising young talent from France or being the Iris Guildmaster\'s daughter. Both titles come with quite the burden.

Especially because of her complex feelings toward her sister, I know she won\'t give up. If things get tough, she\'ll come looking for me. Sharing a bit of food and increasing her affection toward me would be a big win. If she doesn\'t come looking, there\'s nothing I can do. I\'ll just have to wait for the next opportunity.

Come to think of it, where did she hide those backup manastones? They weren\'t in the jacket pocket from earlier, so did she tuck them inside her clothes?

***

"…"

Alice trudged through the tropical rainforest, her expression twisted in discomfort. Her wet clothes clung to her skin, causing not only discomfort but also attracting irritating insects.

Even though the surroundings were gradually darkening, Alice couldn\'t find anything suitable to eat. The ground had sporadic mushrooms, but after suffering from stomach troubles due to eating what seemed to be edible mushrooms earlier, she didn\'t dare to touch them again.

Did I miss out on that meal earlier…

The smoked duck that Lee Hoyeon had been eating crossed her mind.

"No, absolutely not."

She was truly grateful for being rescued, but she understood that Lee Hoyeon\'s actions had ulterior motives. She knew about his daily encounters with different women, thanks to the reports from Sebastian. He even had an affair with an academy\'s professor.

The Saint and Professor Im Sol… Both of them, so disappointing.

To think that the two figures she had considered the most respectable in the academy turned out to be such individuals, Alice couldn\'t hide her disappointment. And her disappointment in Lee Hoyeon ran deep as well.

I really wanted to get close to him. Though we both have innate congenital mana deficiency, his efforts to overcome it have been incredibly admirable. I never imagined things would turn out this way.

In any case, she was thankful for Lee Hoyeon\'s help, and she kept her pride remained intact, but hunger was setting in. Moreover, with no manastones in sight, she was at a loss for what to do.

Alice discreetly checked Lee Hoyeon\'s location using her smartwatch. He was still in the same place.

"No… I\'d better look for treasure."

Although she wasn\'t exactly certain what this treasure might entail, she was confident it would be something beneficial for survival.

If I can somehow make it through the week, a place in the upper ranks is practically guaranteed.

"Awoooo…"

In the distance, the howling of wolves echoed.

"…"

Unable to use magic effectively, Alice chose to find a hiding spot for now. She had lost her sword when she fell into the river. While she could handle weaker monsters with her bare hands, her energy was limited, so running away was the wisest choice.

Alice spent the night traversing the forest while being pursued by monsters. She couldn\'t help but feel resentful about being chased by such inferior creatures.

Thud

"Ouch."

In the limited visibility of the night, Alice stumbled over a tree root but quickly regained her footing.

There\'s no time to rest, even if it hurts.

Thankfully, after a bit more walking, a cave appeared. Alice entered the cave to take cover.

Scuttle-scuttle, scuttle-scuttle…

The unpleasant sound of insects crawling on the ground tormented her ears, but the threat from the monsters was considerably reduced, bringing her some relief.

In the cave, Alice eventually drifted off to sleep.

***

"Ugh…" Alice stirred from her slumber, her entire body throbbing with pain. After a full day of wandering without food, falling asleep in an uncomfortable position had left her in agony.

"…"

No matter how she looked at it, this couldn\'t continue. Alice powered up her smartwatch and checked Lee Hoyeon\'s location. He wasn\'t exactly in the same place as yesterday, but he was still close to the riverbank, seemingly fast asleep.

"At the very least, I need to get some manastones."

Considering he also deals with mana deficiency, he\'s likely carrying a surplus of manastones.

I should\'ve paid closer attention during the belongings inspection.

Alice regretted her inattentiveness, but there was no turning back. Hoyeon had managed to carry all that equipment with his subspace pouch, which meant there had to be a good number of manastones.

Gurgle…

My pride will only take a temporary hit, but as long as he\'s not after my body, I\'ll be fine.

Alice reasoned with herself as she headed towards the glowing coordinates on her smartwatch.

***

In the special test app, you could also keep track of how many survivors were left.

"Oh, we\'ve got some dropouts."

The special test app did its midnight update on the remaining participants. Out of over 200 students, around 40 had already waved the white flag.

"Just preserving can land you in the top half. People are so clueless."

All you had to do was hide out until the last day to secure a decent ranking. With a whopping one-fifth of the pack vanishing on day one, just surviving that initial day already catapulted you out of the lower ranks.

"But where are the others? Did I not roam enough?"

Obviously, not all of those 40 were eliminated in battles. Most were likely students who bailed voluntarily. Trying to survive in this environment without any prep isn\'t a walk in the park. Some students might choose to tap out early, unconcerned about their scores.

Starting today, it\'s a showdown among the industrious bunch. It\'s a no-brainer that they\'ll have to wrestle fiercely for those supply boxes raining from the sky, well-hidden treasures, and boss monsters worth a lot of points.

While conserving their energy and observing those students who work hard to accumulate points, there will also be students who ambush the ones who have diligently earned points. In the end, it\'s a game of wits. Make the first move and become a target, risking your life. Wait too long, and you might miss out.

"I don\'t know, do whatever you like."

Ultimately, the last one standing will be the winner.

Anyway, I\'d found a good spot. After Alice took off, I wrapped up my meal and rested until nightfall.

It wasn\'t a cave, but I had a mountain in the rear, a river on the side, and I was gearing up to erect a barrier for a peaceful night\'s sleep. That\'s when I heard a rustling sound, like the rustle of someone sneaking through the grass.

"Who\'s there?" Flames danced to life in my hand, and I kept my gaze fixed on that direction.

"Uh, Hoyeon…!" The person emerging from the thicket, trembling in response to my warning, was none other than… Lumi.