[Entered the 4th floor.]
“Phew……”
It had been seven hours since entering the base.
I had passed the 2nd and 3rd floors and arrived at the 4th.
Normally, I would’ve been stuck in a complicated maze, wandering much longer than this, but thanks to the outsider’s privilege, I was able to get through much more easily.
Of course, it still took much more time compared to the 1st floor.
But that was only because I cleared the 1st floor too quickly, not because I was slower on the 2nd or 3rd floors.
I immediately checked the real-time status board on the smart student notebook.
[Real-Time Location]
[3rd Floor: Kim Chang-hyun, Jeon Min-gi, Choi Seo-yoon, Yoo Ara]
[4th Floor: Kim Sun-woo]
“Hm.”
Just as I expected, I was currently in first place.
It was an obvious result, so I didn’t feel particularly happy or anything.
“……Starting from the 4th floor, it gets pretty tough for me too.”
While the 1st to 3rd floors were centered around traps and mazes, the 4th floor focused mainly on battles against monsters.
I wasn’t outmatched in 1-on-1 combat compared to the other teams, but since I was alone in Team B while the others had two members, fighting the monsters by myself was a bit burdensome.
If they reached the 4th floor, I might get overtaken due to slower progression.
But I had already prepared a countermeasure for this.
“It should appear soon.”
I checked the time and waited.
And then—
[One minute until base surprise event, ‘Avatar Survival Game’, begins.]
“There it is.”
The base surprise event—Avatar Survival Game.
It’s a game where you survive as long as possible in a dangerous area filled with magical beasts, traps, illusions, and other hazards, all while controlling an avatar.
There’s an added rule: you can also kill the other team’s avatars.
For reference, even if the “captain” dies in this event, it doesn’t significantly affect the progress of the captain’s mission.
After all, it’s the avatar dying, not the actual person.
[The reward is a ‘Special Admission Ticket’ that allows you to enter the next floor at will!]
This is exactly why I had been waiting for this event.
If I win, I can skip this troublesome 4th floor entirely and go straight to the next floor where the base control room is located.
Capturing the base also brings a huge amount of personal points.
Since I need to earn massive personal points—not just win for the team—I had to take this event seriously, even risking everything.
[10 seconds until the event begins.]
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1……]
[‘Avatar Survival Game’ has begun!]
Flash!
A blinding light flashed before my eyes, and the scenery changed.
A dark area, and a complicated maze.
It resembled the 1st floor of the base, but this place was much more intricate.
Clatter!
Suddenly—
A loud noise erupted from behind.
When I turned around, I saw a magic-infused spear flying toward me.
I quickly launched a spell, intercepting the magic spear in mid air.
Boom!
The magic spear vanished in the air.
It happened right upon entry, so it caught me a little off guard.
“Pretty aggressive from the get-go.”
I glanced at the trap mechanism embedded in the wall.
There must be countless such magic traps all over this maze.
I’ll need to be cautious not to get caught.
“Where are the other teams?”
It’s a 2-on-1 situation. There’s no benefit in running into them, so I need to avoid them quietly.
About 10 minutes passed as I walked through the maze.
BOOM!
A loud noise rang out, followed by a powerful wave of magical energy from somewhere.
“This…”
It was definitely Yoo Ara’s magic.
No one else in the school could generate this level of magic. Then came another boom.
BOOM!
After hearing that, I could roughly figure out the situation.
It looked like Team A and Team C had already encountered each other.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be this succession of distinct magical signatures.
Using “Silent Steps,” I moved toward the direction of the magic.
There were traps along the way, but thanks to the outsider’s privilege, none posed a serious threat.
Eventually, I arrived at the source of the magical energy.
Boom! BOOM!
What was unusual was that this place was a large open area outside the maze.
But something unexpected caught my eye.
It wasn’t Kim Chang-hyun and Yoo Ara who were facing off—but Choi Seo-yoon and Jeon Min-gi.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a 1-on-1. I’ve wanted to get revenge for the last midterm.”
Jeon Min-gi, ranked 2nd among the first-years, said as he looked at Choi Seo-yoon.
Choi Seo-yoon stood still with a hardened expression, seemingly displeased with the situation.
If those two fought, Choi Seo-yoon would probably win.
But unlike the 1st and 2nd ranks in other years, the skill gap between these two was razor-thin—thin enough to say it was like the thickness of a piece of paper. So it wouldn’t be surprising if Jeon Min-gi won either.
That was exactly why Choi Seo-yoon clung so desperately to her top rank.
Because with such a narrow difference, Jeon Min-gi could take it from her at any moment.
‘……But where are Yoo Ara and Kim Chang-hyun?’
More important than those two were Yoo Ara and Kim Chang-hyun, the real aces of their teams.
I needed to find their location first.
I moved again in the direction of the magical energy.
Before long, through the smoke and explosions, I found a man and woman in a standoff.
A slim man with glasses—Kim Chang-hyun. And Yoo Ara.
Unlike Choi Seo-yoon and Jeon Min-gi, these two were the quiet type, silently confronting each other without speaking a word.
“Hm……”
If I had to watch a battle, I’d be more curious about Kim Chang-hyun versus Yoo Ara than the other pair.
Above all, I still didn’t know much about Kim Chang-hyun’s magical abilities.
He was a mysterious figure in many ways.
Even though he was ranked 1st among the 3rd years, he barely had any presence in the original story. Among readers, he was even dubbed “What is Kim Chang-hyun supposed to be? A MacGuffin?”—a character surrounded by questions until the end.
How would Kim Chang-hyun fare against Yoo Ara?
Just then, Yoo Ara conjured a sphere of flame.
Fwoosh!
The flaming sphere shot toward Kim Chang-hyun at high speed.
As if expecting it, Kim Chang-hyun deployed a magical barrier and blocked her attack.
He then quickly dispelled the barrier and stretched out his hand, conjuring five lightning spears and launching them at Yoo Ara.
Crackle!
The lightning spears shot toward Yoo Ara like bolts of lightning.
She also responded with a barrier of her own.
BOOM!
As magic collided with magic, a loud boom and shockwave followed.
True to his reputation as the textbook example of manifestation-type magic, Kim Chang-hyun’s fighting style showed a solid foundation that other manifestation-type mages could learn from.
Even though it was a brief exchange, the level of skill was astonishing for high school students.
I glanced at Kim Chang-hyun’s face and saw it was full of composure.
As expected of someone who ranked 1st—he’s clearly built different.
This situation was a green light for me.
The more they fought each other, the more opportunities I would have.
So I had to think about what I could do in this moment.
The answer came quickly.
I needed to wait and observe their battle, then intervene the moment an opening appeared and take them both out at once.
Thanks to “Silent Steps,” my presence would be barely noticeable, so they wouldn’t sense me.
With that, I silently hid myself somewhere out of sight to wait for my chance.
Time passed.
As the fight dragged on, I started to run low on mana to maintain “Silent Steps.”
While it didn’t consume much mana, enough time had passed for it to become an issue.
Since I’d need some mana left to intervene in the fight, I had no choice but to deactivate the skill.
Though the distance was close, I should be fine as long as I didn’t make a sound.
Just then—
In the midst of battle, Kim Chang-hyun suddenly stopped attacking and froze in place.
He made a gesture to Yoo Ara, signaling her to stop.
“Wait. Someone’s nearby.”
“……Huh?”
Yoo Ara stopped attacking and looked at Kim Chang-hyun. Kim Chang-hyun kept glancing around.
“How do you know if someone’s nearby?”
Kim Chang-hyun didn’t answer.
Yoo Ara stared at him for a moment, then opened her mouth as if she understood.
“You must have some kind of detection ability. No wonder you found us so quickly.”
Kim Chang-hyun didn’t deny it.
As she murmured to herself, Yoo Ara spoke again.
“Hmm. There’s only one person around here who’d be watching us.”
Kim Chang-hyun nodded and quickly swung his right arm, firing a barrage of electric spears.
But the direction they were fired at wasn’t Yoo Ara—it was me.
KWAANG!
The wall collapsed, revealing my presence, which had been hidden until now.
I forced a smile.
“……Didn’t expect you to have a detection ability.”
While the fierce battle to seize the base was unfolding inside,
A fierce competition was also taking place outside the base.
Besides the battle with the giant beast, numerous events were occurring, and thanks to the efforts of Lee Seo-jun and Jang Soo-yeon, Team B had practically monopolized the external events.
Teams A and C didn’t like the situation, but they couldn’t carelessly attack Team B.
That was because they had sent their two ace members to the base, weakening their forces significantly.
Meanwhile, both of Team B’s aces were still outside the base.
With top-tier combatants capable of overpowering dozens alone, it was an incredibly unfair fight.
“Hey, Team B’s been dominating the events since earlier. Are we just going to let them keep going like that?”
“Let them be. Our team will take the base anyway. Besides, once a major event starts, Team B will collapse on their own.”
“Yeah, but still… it’s Lee Seo-jun we’re dealing with.”
Then it happened.
WOOOOOOOOOM—!
A sudden surge of magical energy echoed from the base.
Everyone outside the base turned their eyes toward it in shock.
And in their ears, a ‘message’ was heard.
[The base now has a master!]
[The base master is awarded 1,000 individual points!]
“……The base is already captured? It’s only been 7 or 8 hours, hasn’t it?”
Someone outside the base muttered quietly.
And at that moment—
FWAAAAANG—!
A massive wave of magical energy swept outward from the base.
The event happened so suddenly that the students couldn’t react.
“What the hell?!”
Students who tumbled to the ground found themselves pushed far from the center of the base.
“……Why weren’t we swept away?”
Near the base, Lee Seo-jun looked around and muttered.
Three hundred students were caught in the magical field, but the remaining 150 were not.
Those 150 students were from Team B.
[The base protection system will activate for 5 minutes.]
[During the protection, all external attacks will be blocked.]
FWOOONG!
Another wave of magical energy spread from the base.
A hemispherical barrier formed, centering on the base and enveloping the students of Team B.
At that moment, four magic circles appeared on the ground outside the barrier.
From them emerged four students.
Kim Chang-hyun, Jeon Min-gi, Yoo Ara, and Choi Seo-yoon.
The students stared at them in surprise, then turned their attention back to the base.
“What? Team B took over the base?”
“Wasn’t it just Kim Sunwoo who went up?”
Yoo Ara looked at the base, then turned to Kim Chang-hyun.
“We’ll need a temporary alliance.”
Kim Chang-hyun didn’t reply but nodded.
It was an unspoken rule that teams who lost the base during the grand battle would temporarily ally, so the alliance was formed without hesitation.
Kim Chang-hyun and Choi Seo-yoon informed their team members of the alliance.
“What do we do? Five minutes until the protection ends. Do we attack right away, or take time to regroup first?”
“There’s no benefit in stalling.”
At Kim Chang-hyun’s reply, Yoo Ara nodded.
The test lasted up to three days, but there was no need to drag it out that long.
“That’s true.”
Just then, Shin Young-joon ran up to Yoo Ara.
“Hey. What happened? Why did you lose to just one person?”
“I let my guard down. Kim Sunwoo timed his move perfectly.”
Yoo Ara responded with a tinge of frustration.
Shin Young-joon couldn’t understand what she meant, but he also figured that it was only possible because it was Kim Sunwoo—so he didn’t press further.
What mattered now was the present.
A and C Team’s top priority was to retake the base.
“……I thought Team B gave up the base and was aiming to dominate external points. Guess not?”
“What do you mean?”
When Yoo Ara asked, Shin Young-joon shook his head.
“It’s just a hunch.”
He then spoke again.
“Still, even if Team B took the base, they won’t be able to hold it. Why take it?”
“It’s Kim Sunwoo. He must have a plan.”
It’s Kim Sunwoo.
It sounded like a ridiculous justification, but Shin Young-joon nodded in agreement.
[A blessing has been granted to Team B inside the base.]
[The mana of nature aids in recovering their mana.]
[Every 2 hours the base control grants Team B 3,000 team points.]
3,000 points every two hours.
Considering Team C had only gathered around 2,500 points total since the start of the test, it was an immense amount.
FWOOOOONG!
Just then, a new magic circle formed in the base’s field.
A flash of light erupted, and Kim Sunwoo appeared.
Having emerged from the base, Kim Sunwoo began talking to his teammates and issued some instructions.
Despite facing double their numbers without any wide-area magic, Kim Sunwoo remained composed.
“……He looks so confident. What kind of trick is he planning this time?”
Yoo Ara stared at Kim Sunwoo with a conflicted look and swallowed dryly.
[In 20 seconds, the base protection system will deactivate!]
[The base blessing will remain until another team captures the base.]
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1……]
The translucent magical barrier surrounding the base vanished.
[Base protection has ended!]
At the same time, Teams A and C charged toward Team B.
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