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.

said before, Professor Thibaut's goal was to further divide the line between the 'competent' and 'incompetent' students. This was so that he could exploit the feeble mentality

lure students into making a pact with

goal was to turn this test into a hunting

Thibaut could fabricate a couple of scenarios where some talented

was building a grudge

them to build a grudge against Kevin, not because he was strong,

individuals would of course not accept their defeat

and Kevin's overwhelming talent, they

would finally

offer a make a pact would be made,

test was full of

I was trying to get a

and thus knew

by trees...I should be on the east side

while Emma is 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

of the main character's locations, I started to formulate a plan regarding my

main characters was not because I was obsessed with them, no, rather it's

not what will happen to me, as I have never written anything outside of

I could make a rough estimate on the timing

excluding the high-ranking students, strong simulations of beasts will be roaming

was another thing that

the test, they would've never expected that the creature that was hunting them could perceive their location through

wouldn't only focus on hiding, but actually try to develop survival skills for situations where they were being hunted by an unknown

20 minutes trying to get a good grasp of his surroundings before making his way

with Jin, but they then decide to work together when

is thus to make my way towards the center where

I

were definitely going to gather at the center, that's where the

go there, the only options I had were to

only left me with

task so that even if I die I will have

pisses me off. Moreover just

towards the center, and if I follow him there, he won't kill me, but he'll definitely find

As for the rest?

the slightest idea

me with

Complete the hidden task.

general, there were five hidden tasks placed on the map. One in the

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

that is if I was really

1750, I decided to

where I

a clue as

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 somewhere around this area, I really had no clue with regards

harden myself and aimlessly walk to where I

I had a general idea of where the hidden tasks

William K. Johnson has died - Team points:

the hidden task was located, I saw a notification once again emerge on

you were ignoring me because of my

this way, I don't really see our team having more

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

be honest, I really don't

things that could come as a consequence of my actions. Moreover, if he really

if that

I knew many ways to get rid of some stray dogs that didn't know their place. Though, at