The Author's POV

Soon after the professor initiated the simulation, my surroundings started to change.

Thick lush trees started appearing from beneath my feet followed by soft and crumbly soil that caused my feet to slowly sink.

My visibility slowly started getting blocked by the towering trees that started sprouting from the ground at an incredible speed.

Extending my hand forward to touch a tree, I was immensely surprised by the realistic sensation that spread through my fingers. Running my hand along the tree trunk it felt like I was touching the lines and wrinkles of an old man's face. It had an uneven surface where I could feel the flaky nature of the dark exterior, that crumbled and peeled, with a crackling sound at the slightest pressure exerted by my fingers.

It almost felt like I was touching the real thing.

It didn't feel like I was touching a bunch of codes, but an actual tree.

"How intriguing..."

[Rank 1750 Ren Dover - Team points: 6]

As I was busy being mesmerized by how realistic the trees were, a notification popped up in front of me.

Seeing the notification, I quickly swiped left to discard it and fell into deep thought.

The game was simple.

Each student had one point, and every time a teammate died the team would lose a team point.

The teams that reached 0 points would then be automatically eliminated and hence lose the game.

The only way to gain points was through completing the hidden tasks available on the map.

At the end of the test, there will be a ranking list that ranks the teams in accordance with their performance.

Taking a good look at my surroundings, my teammates were nowhere in sight.

In fact, although the professor never mentioned this to us when briefing us on the rules, I already knew that everyone was going to be separated from each other.

Well, I was the one who created the scenario in the first place.

The main goal of this test was to survive for 1 hour.

Although it sounded easy, it was in fact not. If it were that easy what sort of test would this be?

The lack of information provided by the professor was intentional because this essentially meant that there was only 1 rule.

And that was to 'survive'

Each person was directly given a weapon, which was automatically given to them depending on the weapon that they had registered on the first day of the academy.

In my case, a sleek black katana rested on the side of my hips.

-Shua! -Shua!

Swinging it a couple of times to adjust myself to the weight of the sword, I nodded in satisfaction.

It feels identical to the katana provided to us by the academy.

Sheathing the katana back into the scabbard, I warily glanced towards my surroundings.

When telling us the rules, the professor never mentioned anything apart from the fact that you must survive, and the more teammates survive with you at the end of the test, the more points your team had.

He purposely left out the details in regards to killing, and because of this, the students automatically assumed that killing was allowed.

Which was his true purpose.

to further divide the line between the 'competent' and 'incompetent' students.

into making a pact with a demon,

was to turn this test into a

of scenarios

building a grudge against an incredibly talented

them to build a grudge

up right away, but certain prideful and arrogant individuals would of course

time slowly passes and they slowly realize the gap between themselves and Kevin's overwhelming talent, they fall

Thibaut would finally make his

a pact would be made, and a new

this test was

get a grasp

wasn't provided to us, because I was technically a cheat, and thus knew the general features of the surroundings, I

I am surrounded by trees...I should be on

I'm not wrong Kevin and Jin spawned on the north side on top of the mountains, while Emma is on the south side where the desert is located...Melissa and Amanda should both be on the

locations, I started to formulate a

was not because I was obsessed with them, no, rather it's because all the events that

but not what will happen to me, as I have

I managed to get a good grasp on what the protagonists were up to, I could make a rough estimate on the timing of the events, and

to survive for 1 hour, while it does sound easy, excluding the high-ranking students, strong simulations of beasts will be roaming the map

another thing that the professor didn't

creature that was hunting them could perceive their location through their acute sense of smell, resulting in many students dying without

was made so that students wouldn't only focus on hiding, but actually try to develop survival skills for situations where they were being

get a good grasp of his surroundings before making his way towards the middle of the map, where he

Jin, but they then decide to work together when they encounter

survive is thus to make my way towards the center where a

my head I quickly

gather at the center,

there, the only options I had were to either

me with

with my group, or complete a hidden task so that even if I die I will

first option. Just the thought of interacting with Arnold pisses me off. Moreover just because I know

his way towards the center, and if I follow him there, he won't kill me, but he'll definitely find ways to make things

As for the rest?

don't even have the slightest idea of

this leaves me with only one

Complete the hidden task.

One in the north, south, east, west, and center of

task differed from the other, in the sense that the goal of each task was different, moreover, the difficulty of the task should be something that a rank

if I

wasn't just your regular rank 1750, I decided to head to

where I thought it

I actually don't have a clue as to where the hidden

east side, where I currently was, I knew nothing about this place. Apart from the fact that this was a forest-type terrain and that there was a hidden task hidden

could only harden myself and aimlessly walk to where I

of where the hidden tasks could be located, allowing me to have some sort of

has died - Team points:

where I estimated the hidden task was located, I saw a notification once again emerge on the corner of my view, prompting me to bitterly

you were ignoring me because

this way, I don't really see our team having more than 2-3 points which would put us in the middle

means is not a bad score, but for someone like Arnold, this could be considered a humiliating

I really don't want to involve myself with him

the annoying things that could come as a consequence of my actions. Moreover, if he really wanted to, he could use some of his influence to directly affect

that were to

know their place. Though, at the expense of some dire consequence that I don't want to go