A collective sigh ripples through our group as we take in the sight of our new 'home'. The island seems to be a mix of sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, and dense forest, definitely a challenging environment for a group of pampered academy students.
"Goddamit, why is it a survival test!?" Rai groans, capturing the shared sentiment of the group. He clutches at his head, his usually cheerful face twisted in despair. This isn't a time for levity, but I can't help but chuckle at his overdramatic response. These guys consider something like this the most difficult test.
"Fuck! Dammit, why do I have to live in such a barbaric environment!?" Isabella's shrill voice breaks through the relative quiet, drawing everyone's attention. She points an accusing finger at me. "You! You seem like the most barbaric one here, hurry up and build me a house!"
I roll my eyes at her, feeling a surge of annoyance. This damn bitch, do you really have to rub my looks in!? This girl, the problem with this girl is that when Mason talked back she started behaving, does that mean I have to do that as well? "Listen here, you damn noble," I start, my voice low and dangerous. "Your authority doesn't mean shit here. You understand? Stop using your family name as no one here gives a fuck."
"YOU! YOU! HOW DAR-" Isabella starts, her face turning an unattractive shade of puce, but she's cut off by Aira.
"Alright, enough!" Aira's sharp command silences Isabella mid-tirade. She sighs heavily, signaling everyone to gather around. "It's not the time for us to fight, we need to work together. We are stuck on this island and if we want to survive, we can't be fighting each other. First, we need to choose a leader."
There are a few hesitant nods from the students, but most just exchange wary looks. Liam steps forward, a smug smile on his face. "Hmm, Sister, I guess you're not wrong. So, why don't I be the leader? Aren't I the most qualified?" Ooh, here we go with these two.
Aira shoots her brother a dry look. "If anyone is qualified, it's me. Don't delude yourself, brother." Although I created them, I can really never tell what they're thinking. Though they act childish, I made them both very sly and intelligent, as far as I know, they are simply acting.
I can't help but let out a sigh. We are moving in circles. "Stop fighting, you just said we shouldn't fight. There's no way we'll be able to decide on a leader so why don't we all decide who is responsible for what?"
Flora looks up, confusion apparent on her face. "Um... V, what do you mean?"
"First, we need to secure food and water, a place to sleep, and a place to take dumps. We can't forget someone needs to guard our supplies just in case some animals try to take them," I explain, trying to inject some sense into this mess.
Kaida breaks into giggles, her hand covering her mouth. "Hehe, I can't believe it, are you some countryside bumpkin? You seem to know what to do."
Her laughter catches on and soon enough, a few others join in. I shake my head, exasperated. These privileged kids don't even understand the basics of survival. Ignoring their laughter.
"As if, I'm just using my brain, so how should we do this?" I say looking at Aira.
Aira looks at me for a moment before sighing. "Why are you asking me?" she questions.
"Come on, princess, she will only listen to you or Liam," I say, indicating Isabella with a jerk of my head.
I sigh, again, and rub the back of my neck. These kids are going to drive me crazy. It would be easier if I had someone like Des, Eira.
"How about I go hunting, that sounds fun!" Rai calls over his shoulder, smirking.
"No way," I quickly retort. "You all forget that we don't have any proper weapons. This is an island specifically made to test us, there are bound to be some dangerous creatures in there," I say, pointing towards the jungle that stretches across much of the island.
Rai is quick to shoot back. "So what? Are you scared? We have to hunt eventually."
"That's right," I admit, "but right now, look around, we're on a beach. For now, we should settle down around here. There are some coconut trees, we can get water from them." Ugh, these damn kids, Mason was able to keep them together but I ain't the damn main character! Hey, system show me the window again, I couldn't see it earlier because of the professors.
[Sudden Tasks]
[Island of Aval]
[The Island of Aval is facing a crisis. Deep in the hidden ruins, an unnatural phenomenon is in the process of being created. Stop the phenomenon before it completes itself]
[The completion rate is at 47%]
[Reward]
[200 points]
Tsk, only 200 points? What sort of scammer are you!? Fuck you system, I'm doing it regardless but still, Fuck you. This is no easy situation, how can you give no skill as a reward?
[Cry about it ಠﭛಠ]
Rai tsks, but everyone else seems to agree. We roam around the beach until Oliver suddenly stops. "Hey, guys, look over here, there's no sand over here!" He's found a flat, open patch of dirt and grass.
"Hey, are we staying here?" Biana asks, already yawning.
"Yes, we're staying here," I confirm, and she promptly flops down and falls asleep. I'll let her sleep for now, I'll have her work later.
Oliver tries to shake her awake, "Don't you dare sleep, you damn cat!"
I wave him off. "Hey, don't worry about her for now. Rai, Arin, do you guys think you can climb those trees and get some coconuts?"
Arin ponders for a second, then shrugs. "Mmmh, I guess it's not that difficult."
Rai, however, is not so agreeable. "Tsk, why are you ordering us around? Why don't you do it?"
"If I do it," I point out, "will the rest of you know what to do?" Rai grudgingly accepts that.
I turn to Oliver next. "Do you think you can go look for dry wood? We'll need it to start a fire later." He agrees and wanders off, muttering about missing his portable brewing station.
"Hehe, you're quite a leader, you know," Aira notes, smirking at me.
"No way, there's no way I could boss you three," I retort, indicating Aira, Liam, and the still-angry Isabella.
"Haha, out of all the students you're probably the best one," Liam laughs, completely ignoring his sister's warning glance. "Say, are you sure you don't want to work for me?"
I shake my head, exasperated. "You guys, I need you to help me gather large pieces of long wood, please. We need them." They both look at each other and, after a tense moment of silence, Aira finally agrees and drags Liam away.
I turn to look at Isadora. I walk up to her and try to smile. "Hey... Isadora, could you just stay here for now? I need to do something real quick." She nods, her face unreadable as always, and takes a seat next to the sleeping Biana. Hahaha, feeding her really is the simplest method to get close to her.
With everyone else busy, I beckon Flora and Kaida to follow me. "Can you guys collect as many of these as possible?" I ask, picking up a clam from a nearby coral reef. "Feel free to try to catch anything else." I'm going to eat some seafood ~ Because of this stupid culture, the academy doesn't have many sea ingredients as it's considered cheap food. Seriously I never added that to my novel. Which dumbass made the culture like this?
"Don't worry, V, we got this. Are these things edible? well, whatever. You better make it up to us though," they reply in unison, and with that, they dive into the warm, clear water.
Another sigh escapes me as I walk back to where Biana and Isadora are. Isabella's words ring in my ears, "I might not be able to do anything to you during my time in the academy but aren't you afraid of what I'll do once I leave? Haha, you won't be able to hide then, I'll tell you what. Bow down to me and apologize and I'll forgive you for your insolence." She says this with a smirk, clearly looking down on me. Ugh, this girl, does she wish for me to talk back to her?
I shake my head at her childish antics. "You truly are crazy," I tell her, not bothering to hide my irritation, "you might be able to scare others but I couldn't care less. Did you learn your behavior from your siblings? I was planning on letting you off for disrespecting me but I've decided I won't. As of now, I won't give you anything that I make. Maybe you'll learn to behave this way."
Her laughter echoes behind me as I leave her there. "HAHA, How funny, I don't need your barbaric support, I can do anything with this," she retorts, coating her hand in flames with a nonchalant wave. Ignoring her, I continue my path to Biana and Isadora. Sooner or later she will change.
I arrive to see a pile of branches of varying sizes already collected. I nudge Biana awake. "Alright sleeping beast~ Time to work~" I pull her to her feet and guide her over to the collection of stones and sticks. She grumbles and yawns, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
I turn to Isadora, "Hey I'm going to take her to make some tools, at the moment you don't need to do anything, you can stay here with Isabella or run around doing whatever you want, just don't go in the forest yet," she just sits there and nods in agreement.
I turn to Biana, "Alright dude, this is when runes are useful," I say, picking up five stones from the ground.
Biana stretches lazily, a hint of complaint in her voice. "Come on, dude~ Why do you need me for this?"
I smirk at her and lay out the stones in front of us. "I need your help creating runes. First, let's enhance these stones by making them harder and sharper, show me how since you are the only one who knows here."
She sighs, already anticipating the next question. "And how exactly are we going to draw the runes," she asks, the edge of challenge in her voice.
"Haha, we don't have anything, so stop trying to get yourself out of this," I tease her, "You already know we need to carve them using other stones."
A loud groan escapes her, but she can't get out of this. Together, we carve runes onto the stones, enhancing their durability and sharpness. I then take a long branch and, using the rune-enhanced rocks, start to shape it into a sword.
"Alright, Biana, this is where things get exciting." My voice carries an undertone of excitement as I show her the rough outline of the sword. "I'll make the swords, and you carve runes on them, alright?" I could do it myself but Biana's runes are way more stable than mine.
Another groan from Biana. "V~ you're making me do too much, you know. Why can't you just do it yourself~."
I chuckle, "Tsk, all you do is sleep, you lazy beast. Stop complaining and get to work or else I won't feed you."