Chapter 20

Cheonghwa Academy’s comprehensive examinations are held in different locations and formats each time.

However, having knowledge of the original work, I was naturally well-versed in its contents as well. The location for this first semester’s comprehensive examination is an island near the southern coast called Shining Moon Island.

From now on, all first and second-year students, excluding the graduating third-years, will go to the island and undergo a high-difficulty examination.

‘And the contents are varied too.’

Survival rounds with randomly assigned teams, head-to-head matches mixing first and second years, and so on. The exams are filled with challenges where survival is difficult without skill and wisdom.

‘Bihyeong moves during the latter part of the exam.’

Therefore, until then, it was necessary to appropriately secure grades in the exam while also preparing for the events to come.

‘It’s a headache indeed.’

Originally, Han Kangyoon loses his life here.

Naturally, for me, it’s a place that imposes considerable pressure.

On top of having many things to worry about, I also had to secure grades for future rank promotions and the Exorcist qualification exam.

‘But I must do it.’

From now on, every single action I take during the few days spent on Yeongwoldo will become a crucial turning point for my future.

‘If I can’t succeed here, it’s meaningless.’

I am different from the previous Han Kangyoon. I will live a different life.

Although there were still a few minor sticking points, almost all preparations were complete. I reaffirmed my resolve once more in my heart.

‘…….’

A massive island with rugged terrain began to come into view ahead of my tightly clenched fist.

It was Yeongwoldo.

“The first examination is scheduled to take place in one hour. Until then, you are free to rest or attend to personal preparations.”

A woman with a stern impression, her long hair meticulously braided and hanging down, opened her mouth. It was Professor Gwak Eun-jin, in charge of the second-year D-Rank class.

At Gwak Eun-jin’s words, the students predictably showed signs of resignation.

“I expected it, but starting right away…”

“What about accommodations… I guess there aren’t any?”

“Of course not. We’re not here on a trip.”

Cheonghwa Academy’s comprehensive examinations were particularly notorious. During the exam, you had to manage sleep and food on your own, and the exam continued even while doing so.

There was no time to rest comfortably, no place to feel at ease. In short, from now on, an environment extremely close to real combat would be created.

“Ha, I thought I was going to die in first year too.”

“This time the area is too vast. Is the entire place the examination ground?”

“Are they telling us to do a battle royale or something?”

While groaning, the students each began their preparations for the exam.

They checked their supplies, roughly grasped the surrounding terrain, and laid the foundation for their strategies.

I also summoned one Shikigami from the shadows to scout the area in advance.

“Black Bird.”

Flap!

A black bird larger than a crow but smaller than an eagle.

A Shikigami created during the vacation along with Fierce Wolf, Bone Bear, Earth Rat, and others, which I hadn’t brought out until now as there was no particular need.

‘But here, its utility is the highest.’

Fundamentally, the examination ground’s area is overwhelmingly vast. It was an indispensable Shikigami for grasping the surrounding situation.

“Go.”

Caw!

Flap!

The Black Bird vigorously flapped its wings and disappeared beyond the sky.

Although two more of the same entity remained in the shadows, one was enough for now.

While using an Art Formula to share its vision and scout the terrain, someone approached my side. It was Cheong Joohwa.

“That Art Formula is always fascinating. How many do you carry around inside there?”

Although I had shown it a few times during the one-on-one exchange classes, the Shikigami Art I used still seemed interesting to her.

“Just enough to use appropriately. It’s similar for everyone else, isn’t it?”

“After seeing it the first time, I was curious and looked it up, but there aren’t really any people who use shadows as a medium, are there?”

“There are.”

“I didn’t see any…”

If you looked hard enough, they probably existed. Of course, they likely weren’t cases that utilized it as extensively as I did.

Scanning the surroundings, I asked Cheong Joohwa.

“Your class is a bit further west from here, right?”

“Yes. If you walk for about five minutes, you’ll reach it.”

That essentially meant the starting lines were intentionally placed nearby.

Recalling the first assignment of the first semester’s comprehensive exam, I immediately stiffened my expression slightly.

‘We’ll clash with the first-year B-Rank class.’

The first exam is a team mission.

Its name is none other than the class head-to-head match.

For us in D-Rank, it could be considered a rather harsh exam.

“It’s about to start soon, wouldn’t it be better to go and prepare?”

“I don’t like the awkward atmosphere. I don’t particularly want to do anything with them either.”

Come to think of it, due to Cheong Haram’s influence, the first-year B-Rank class currently has weakened cohesion among themselves.

“They should just hurry up and go to A-Rank or something.”

Cheong Joohwa grumbled as she headed off towards her classmates.

Watching her, I thought.

‘Honestly, if it weren’t for her, it might be worth a try.’

B and D. If they were the same grade, they wouldn’t even be a match.

But since they are different grades, a one-year experience gap is not something to be ignored.

Moreover, the first-year B-Rank class is currently in a situation where their teamwork doesn’t mesh well compared to others.

At the very least, the probability of an overwhelmingly one-sided situation occurring was low.

‘In the original work, it progressed centered around the first-year A-Rank class, so I don’t remember well how this side turned out.’

Just as I was trying to recall the hazy memory, Gwak Eun-jin, our homeroom professor and also the exam supervisor, began explaining the contents of the upcoming exam.

“The first exam is the class head-to-head match. First, everyone, please look at this.”

As Gwak Eun-jin took something out from her pocket and scattered it on the ground, a small-scale Barrier unfolded from that spot.

There were four in total. Inside the Barriers, small ores floating in the air emitted light and asserted their presence.

“Simply put, from now on, these Barrier Stones are the second-year D-Rank class’s points.”

“Does that mean we have to protect those?”

“Exactly. At the same time, you must steal points from other classes. The method is simple. Find the base of another class somewhere and shatter the ore.”

“…Hmm.”

The students all wore troubled expressions. It wasn’t strange. We were essentially the weakest here.

“There’s no need to be too discouraged. Upper-rank classes have demerits, and conversely, you, the lower-rank class, have merits.”

“…What are they?”

“The number of ores given to your base is four in total. Other teams can only steal points by shattering all of them.”

“Then what about the upper-rank classes?”

“A-Rank has one, B-Rank has two, C-Rank has three. The higher you go, the less mistakes are allowed.”

It was certainly not a bad rule. Frankly, it meant that if we could somehow shatter just one ore, we could even steal points from the A-Rank class.

As an atmosphere of general understanding formed, Gwak Eun-jin began giving us additional explanations.

“You all received Identification Tags before boarding the island, right? If you receive damage above a certain threshold, a protective Art Formula and a Binding Spell Formula are deployed simultaneously. If that happens, that person is out.”

“Then how are points judged?”

“The class common points are 100 points. When shattering another class’s ore, 50 common points are added to that. Also, individual survival points are 30 points. 10 points each time you render another person combat-incapable. Lastly, an additional 50 points are awarded to the student who directly destroys the ore.”

In other words, you receive points just by protecting our ore or surviving, but additional points are also given if you take out other students or destroy another class’s ore.

“Personnel distribution will become important.”

“Still, it’s better for us to play it safe, right?”

“We also need to decide the order for keeping watch at night.”

The students began actively exchanging opinions and thinking of plans.

But I knew.

This exam wasn’t the kind that could be navigated through armchair theorizing.

Tick.

“Time’s up. The exam begins now. The exam will not end until only one final class remains or 48 hours have passed.”

The exam had begun. I said to the students huddled together, repeatedly discussing.

“Prepare for combat.”

“…Why?”

The one who answered that question was not me, but a male student who had been enthusiastically analyzing the terrain earlier.

“Ah! Come to think of it, the first-year B-Rank kids were right next to us.”

“Huh? Really? Then…”

The words that would follow were not hard for everyone to predict.

“Aren’t they going to come charging at us right from the start, thinking it’s a good opportunity?”

No sooner had those words ended than one of the frozen D-Rank students was pierced by something.

Thwip!

“Kuh!”

Zzzzt!

The Identification Tag turned red, and immediately, a Binding Spell Formula and protective Art Formula were deployed. A combat-incapable judgment had been rendered with just a single hit.

‘They’re here.’

Multiple students revealed themselves, pushing through the underbrush. It was the first-year B-Rank class. Judging by the numbers, it seemed slightly more than half the class had participated in the attack.

“Prepare for combat!”

Jeong Hansol, who was considered the de facto leader of the second-year D-Rank class, steadied the students’ morale.

Still, perhaps because they hadn’t slacked off for a year, the second-years also quickly formed ranks and began to respond.

“Don’t these guys have any sense of seniority?”

“They’re really crazy. We weren’t like this in our time.”

However, the first-year B-Rank class snorted contemptuously.

“Where is there seniority or juniority in an exam?”

“How many are these? We’ll be able to gather quite a few points.”

While this bloody standoff unfolded, I subtly slipped back and quickly hid myself.

‘Cheong Joohwa is on defense, it seems.’

More personnel were concentrated on the attack side than I thought.

In that case, I could execute the plan I had sufficiently considered.

Tap tap tap.*

Having escaped everyone’s line of sight, I immediately dashed towards the first-year B-Rank base I had checked earlier.

‘Black Bird.’

Simultaneously, I sent the Black Bird, which had been patrolling the surroundings, to the enemy base to share its vision.

As expected, Cheong Joohwa was there.

She was guarding the perimeter of the main base with a bored expression.

I arrived there alone and boldly revealed myself.

“What?”

“Who is it?”

“It’s a second-year senior? Did you come from the D-Rank class?”

The first-year students had an atmosphere of confusion. That was understandable, as a counterattack had come instantly from the location the attack team had assaulted.

“Prepare for combat!”

All the first-year students remaining at the main base entered a defensive posture. However, as no additional reinforcements appeared, they began to display question marks over their heads one by one.

“No one else is coming?”

“I just checked with a detection-type Cursed Technique; there’s no presence around except that person.”

“He came alone? Is he crazy?”

The students seemed so dumbfounded they couldn’t even think of attacking.

Since delaying was dangerous, I spoke towards Cheong Joohwa, who was also looking puzzled.

“I want to form an alliance.”

“Huh… I do owe you a favor, so I’d like to help, but I also need points to get promoted first, you know?”

Right. That’s why she was reluctantly cooperating with her disagreeable classmates.

But I knew the rules of this exam better than anyone.

“Those kids around you, it’s 10 points each time you take one out.”

Plus 10 points each time you render ‘another person’ combat-incapable.

You might wonder if that made sense in a class head-to-head match, but if you listened to the rules carefully, hints were clearly scattered about.

“Does it work like that…?”

I was certain. In the original work, Baek Eunseo also accidentally acquired points through team-killing.

I turned my head and asked the first-year B-Rank homeroom professor, who was of considerable age.

“Isn’t that correct?”

“…It certainly seems so.”

“Where does such a thing exist!”

Naturally, the students’ reaction was fierce. The homeroom professor sighed and rebuked them.

“I’m sure I said it was an environment with no difference from real combat. Who can definitively say that a comrade from just moments ago cannot become my enemy?”

In a world where there are Cursed Techniques that control others, or Specters with such abilities, similar things could happen plenty.

Only then did the B-Rank students recognize the situation and began to sneak glances at Cheong Joohwa’s expression.

After Cheong Haram’s checks disappeared, she had no hesitation in showing her true skills.

There was no one present who didn’t know that her skill was truly peerless, even though she hadn’t yet risen to A-Rank.

“…It seems it’s really true, doesn’t it?”

Cheong Joohwa came and stood next to me with a bright face, as if delighted by the current situation. Her eyes held a look of considerable pent-up frustration.

“Then, by any chance, do I get points if I shatter our ore?”

“You’d lose 100 points, but you could gain 50, I suppose.”

“Then I’ll shatter the ore. The rest, we’ll fill with them. Whatever.”

In short, it meant she would betray them. At those words, everyone looked at Cheong Joohwa with hollow expressions.

‘It’s done.’

It was the moment the tide of battle completely turned.