Kim Hajin's POV
Some time had passed and today was the day of the Final Exams. I had gotten used to my new powers a little more. Thankfully, there weren't a lot of people on the training grounds at night, so I could train freely. I hadn't become a professional, which should be obvious. But I still had made a lot of progress. One had to think if I actually had these powers from the beginning or if I had just acquired them a few days ago.
I woke up as usual. Today, instead of the usual routine of going to classes, we had to go somewhere else. Every cadet and gotten notifications on their smartwatches of the change. The reason was simple, it meant that the exam was not inside of cube, but somewhere else.
Some had cracked the code and gotten a few hints of how the exams were going to be. Since I knew, I had packed quite a bit. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that I had everything planned out. I was also expecting quite some changes in the exams aside from the ones that I would cause directly. Since I had helped Rachel by giving her a few hints, there was a big possibility of a huge change in the ranking of the cadets, which could either a small or a really big impact on the original storyline. But all of that would be possible only if Rachel did what I told her to. And although the chances were low, there was still a possibility of her not believing what I told her. I mean who would? If I were her, I actually wouldn't and just ignore it.
Now, leaving that thought process aside for some time later, I began to go my way toward the cruise ship. Once there, I could see other cadets getting their equipment checked by the instructor. It was to ensure that no Djin can or will be able to enter undercover. Although that wasn't a success since there would be an incident related to Djins in this part of the story as well.
All that aside, I walked forward as the instructor began to check my bag for anything suspicious. Actually, he was quite surprised when he saw what was in my back pack.
"Oh... Why did you bring so much stuff for the exams?" The instructor asked. I maintained my poker face to avoid any suspicion and answered, "I just had a guess of what the exams were gonna be about, is there a problem?"
He answered, "No... I wish others were as smart as you though" And let me though.
After that, we began our way toward the island. Once we were quite the distance from cube and were near the island, the instructor explained some details about the exams.
"Attention Cadets! I will be explaining the rules for the exams. The rules are simple, Survival to the Fittest. The purpose is to get you ready for the future where you will be becoming heroes or mercenaries and will have to find a job for your living. After arriving, you will be given a half-day worth or food. After you have eaten that, you have to survive on your own. There will be two types of things to hunt on the island. One would be monsters. You can kill monsters to collect points that will be determining your overall ranking in the exams. The other one is wild animals, which are obviously there for you to hunt and eat. You cannot fight among each other till the first 24 hours. After that, you are free to fight and collect points from winning. All the records would be saved in your watches, so keep them safe. They can be stolen, and if that happens, you will be eliminated and the one who successfully stole the watch will receive all the points you have collected"
When cadets thought the explanation was over, the instructor paused and said something.
"Also, there will be professional heroes with big tags on their chest or back with their names on it. Each one is worth 200 points, but that's if you can catch one."
While the instructor was explaining all the rules, we arrived at the Island. I didn't pay much attention to the explanation since I already knew what it would be. Once we got off the ship, we were given half a day worth of food as explained. After that, cadets began to go their way on the island. Some even started forming teams, I could see Yoo Yeonha forming a team as if she was collecting items in a game.
While I was analyzing her team, I suddenly froze. Oh No... I wish I hadn't seen that. Why is Boss in her team disguised?! I began to think of all the possibilities that could make this happen but none of them made sense. I could see clearly that it was Boss since I had [Observation and Reading], a gift that allowed me to see though disguises, which was Jain's Gift.
In the end, I decided to let it be. How bad could it get... ? A-anyways, leaving that aside(Or actually not), I started to look around for people who could potentially help me in this exam. I saw Rachel. I thought I should try to form a team, so I approached her and asked.
"Hello Rachel-sii, would you like to form a team with me?"
Some of the boys switched their attention towards me, as if giving me a surprise look "What are you doing". There were rumors going along the lines that I liked Rachel. I mean what? Sure she's beautiful, but I don't think just talking to someone would give that impression. Surely, the ones who spread these rumors must be the ones that got rejected. Although even than, I didn't care much about the rumors. I ignored stares from some cadets and waited for Rachel to answer.
"Umm, Sorry Hajin-sii, but I would like to go alone on this exam..."
"Oh, that's OK with me. I just wanted to go with someone I can trust"
The boys gave me looks of pity as if I just got rejected proposing. Ignoring that, I was about to leave but suddenly, Rachel said something that got me a lot of glares from the boys.
"No that's fine. Although if you would like, we could team up once some time has passed since the start of the exams. And we could always meet if there was some problem that one of us alone couldn't handle"
"Sure. Here, I'll share my location with you just in case something like that happens"
"I'll gladly take it. Than, bye~"
"Bye..."
After that, I began my way towards the forest. I knew all the hidden places and other things, but those would be too boring. I decided to go hunt some monsters in the meantime while others were forming their teams and still communicating.
**
???'S POV
Some hours had passed since the exam started.
I started to become hungry. I already ate the food that cube provided us with before the exam started. Right after the exam started, instead of forming a team, I ran toward the forest with the thought of hunting some monsters to secure some food.
I hunted some monsters to collect some points. Fighting with other cadets was still a locked option, and I was waiting for that to be unlocked. And while I had still hunted some monsters and collected some points, I had also wasted a lot of stamina already. And I was short on food. So I was desperately looking for some wild animals.
While I was doing that, I came across a river. When I was about to go further in the way I came, I thought something. Aren't wild animals supposed to drink water from the river? While thinking so, I began following the path of the river along the flow of water.
After some walking, I could smell meat being cooked. I ran faster towards the direction. Once there, I saw a grill with meat of top. There was also a camp right beside the grill, I could see a shadow of someone. Who could it be? And they must be well prepared for them have a camp in an exam like this. As I tried to reach closer slowly, I stepped on something. Something got stuck to my cloths and I fell face down on the ground.
As was about to get up, I heard noise. Someone was coming toward me. But before I could lift my head to see who it was, I heard a familiar voice.
"Huh? What are you doing here"
The voice didn't have much emotions, as if it already knew I was gonna come here. I turned my head up to confirm my suspicion. But what I saw was, even though I already knew somewhat from the voice, surprising.
"What...?"
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