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.

further divide the line between the 'competent' and 'incompetent'

lure students into making

goal was to turn this test into

fabricate a couple of scenarios where some talented individuals

building a grudge against an incredibly talented

pride would cause them to build a grudge against Kevin, not because he was strong, but because

to give up right away, but certain prideful and arrogant individuals would of course not accept their defeat and seek revenge at every possible opportunity they

realize the gap between themselves and Kevin's overwhelming

point, professor Thibaut would finally make his move

a pact would

test was

forwards, I was trying to get a grasp of my current

thus knew the general features of

trees...I should be

on the south side where the desert is located...Melissa and Amanda should both be on the west side near the ocean, thus meaning that no

the main character's locations, I

I was trying to get a grasp of the main characters was not because I was

happen to me, as I have never written anything outside of the scope of the

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

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

another thing that the professor

expected that the creature that was hunting them could perceive their location through their acute sense of smell, resulting in

actually try to develop survival skills for situations where they were

the first 20 minutes trying to get a good grasp of his surroundings before making his way towards the middle of the map, where he eventually reunites

with Jin, but they then decide

my way towards the center where a large group

I quickly discard

at the center, that's

of my rank were to go there, the only options I had were to either directly get killed by one of them or

only left me

complete a hidden task so that even

interacting with Arnold pisses me off. Moreover just because I know what will happen, doesn't mean I know where the

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

As for the rest?

slightest idea of

leaves me

Complete the hidden task.

there were five hidden tasks placed on the map. One in the north, south, east, west, and center

the goal of each task was different, moreover, the difficulty of the task should be something that a rank 1750 like

if I

your regular rank 1750, I decided to head to where the hidden task

I

have a clue as to where the

about this place. Apart from the fact that this

only harden myself and aimlessly walk to where I thought

idea of where the hidden tasks could be located, allowing me

Johnson has died - Team

where I estimated the hidden task was located, I saw a notification

here you were ignoring me because of my

our team having more than 2-3 points which would put us in the middle

not a bad score, but for someone like Arnold, this could be considered a humiliating score, which will result in more troublesome situations where I would have to interact

to be honest, I really don't want

as a consequence of my actions. Moreover, if he really

if that

of some stray dogs that didn't know their place. Though, at the expense of some dire consequence that I don't want