Here's the translation and some adjustments for flow, grammar, and clarity:
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[3rd Person POV]
Night had fallen, yet none of the participants had managed to obtain the crystal located at the center of the forest. They were still struggling against an endless onslaught of monsters.
At the western edge of the forest, a female mage could be seen running from a pack of five wolf monsters.
Her body was drenched in cold sweat, her breathing labored, and her vision blurred. She had exhausted all her mana fighting off the relentless monsters pursuing her.
"Hah… Hah… Please… Just let me get out of this forest…"
She wasn't running towards the forest's center; instead, she was heading back to the barrier, where she had first entered.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the five wolves still chasing her, their sharp, knife-like teeth glinting in the moonlight.
"I… I don't want to die here…"
Not long after, she spotted a reddish light in her line of sight. An instructor stood just beyond the barrier surrounding the forest.
"Instructor! Open the barrier, please!" the woman shouted.
The instructor noticed someone approaching from a distance, but he stood still, his expression unchanged.
"Please, Instructor, let me out!" she cried, banging on the barrier that blocked her way. "I beg you! There are so many monsters chasing me! I'm out of mana and can't fight anymore!"
Despite her desperate pleas, the instructor remained motionless, his face impassive, as though he saw nothing in front of him.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
The sound of the approaching wolves spurred her to pound harder on the barrier.
"INSTRUCTOR, PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE, PLEASE… PLEASE!"
Tears streamed down her face as she regretted not withdrawing when the instructor had given her the chance.
"Aagh! My leg! My leg! Instructor, these monsters are going to eat me alive!" she screamed as one of the wolves bit her leg.
She collapsed, desperately trying to hit the wolves biting her legs.
"Get off me, you filthy beasts! Die!" She tried to fight back, but her body was too weak to hurt them.
The wolves began dragging her body away from the barrier. She clawed at the ground and grabbed at stones, trying to avoid being pulled back into the forest.
"Instructor! Please, I don't want to die… Hic… Hic…"
But her hope faded as she saw the instructor turn away.
"Aghh! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
The wolves began devouring her while she was still alive, tearing her insides and spilling them onto the ground.
"Aghh! Aghhh! Help!"
Soon, all that was left of her body were bones with scraps of flesh clinging to them. Some of the wolves licked the remaining bits of meat from the bones.
The instructor, observing the scene, sighed.
"This is what happens when you can't distinguish between luck and skill," he muttered. "In the first two stages, you might have gotten by with the help of strong teammates. But here, you're on your own."
Many participants believed they had made it to this third stage purely through their own strength and skill. However, throughout the exam, it was clear they only survived by grouping together.
If Brian, Valeria, Elena, and other strong students hadn't held back the Neracion wave in the second stage, they wouldn't have advanced to this point. And Raul, who killed the real Neracion, enabled them to end the battle before they were overwhelmed.
Most of the participants had only made it this far through sheer luck, yet they mistakenly thought it was due to their own ability.
"Torun."
The instructor turned as his name was called. He saw a female mage walking toward him.
"What's wrong, Erina?"
"I detected an intruder breaching our barrier," Erina reported.
"What? How? How many intruders are there?" Instructor Torun asked in surprise.
"Only one, and they entered from the northern barrier," Erina replied.
"Alright, let's hurry and find this intruder!"
The two of them entered the forest after opening the red barrier. Their goal now was to eliminate the intruder before they could make contact with any of the participants.
.
.
.
A few minutes earlier…
In the light of the full moon, the shadows of four figures were clearly visible, standing in front of the red barrier that surrounded this Monster Forest.
The four assassins had arrived at the northern barrier. Their mage held a jug that appeared to be some kind of artifact.
"Alright, are you ready?" asked the mage holding the jug. "We're going to fool the instructors into thinking only one person has entered the barrier."
"Yes, after that, Foxy will go in a different direction to deal with the instructors," said Marlin, the swordsman.
"Let's do this, Zed," said Ape to the mage.
The mage began chanting, and soon, a rune appeared on the jug. All the assassins, except the mage, were sucked into the jug.
After securing his comrades within the jug, the mage opened the red barrier around the forest. Being a seasoned mage, he could manipulate it with ease.
He entered the forest with the jug in hand before the barrier closed again. Then, he used a Reversal spell to release his comrades from the jug.
"Alright, now they'll think only one person has infiltrated," said the mage. "Foxy, distract the instructors while we locate our mission target."
"Leave it to me," replied Foxy.
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[Ariel's POV]
Hah… Hah… Hah… Why?
Hah… Why are they chasing me instead of competing?
"Don't run, you wretched woman!"
I was being pursued by a man who had been my teammate in the second trial. What did I do to make him this angry?
"Agh!"
I tripped over a rock, causing me to fall.
I was already exhausted from running from the monsters earlier. As I tried to rest for the night, he suddenly started chasing me along with two of his friends.
"Hahaha! You can't escape, you wretched woman!" the man laughed. "This time, Brian isn't here to protect you!"
"Wh-why… are you doing this to me?"
Hearing my words, the man's expression twisted.
"Hehehe… Why?" He laughed maliciously. "Because we've admired your beauty for a long time, Ariel."
"We planned this back during the second trial if we ended up on the same team," said one of his friends. "But the monsters kept interrupting us."
"I don't understand what you're talking about," I said, bewildered.
"Well… You'll understand soon enough," the man said, beginning to unzip his pants.
No, no, no… Goddess Diana, please don't let them do this to me…
"We're going to enjoy you, then make it look like the monsters killed you, Ariel," the man said, advancing as he unbuttoned his shirt.
No, no, no!
I tried to get up and run again, but one of them grabbed my leg from behind.
"Hahaha~ Where do you think you're going? There's no way I'm letting you escape!"
My body trembled as his dirty hand touched my leg, slowly moving up my thigh.
If only I had enough mana left, I could have restrained them with my magic by now.
"No! Please, get away from me!" I screamed, pushing his hand away.
Bam!
My head throbbed as his friend struck me hard on the temple.
"Stop resisting, idiot! You'd better just enjoy this without the pain!"
The three of them began tearing off my uniform.
How can humans commit such vile acts? What do they gain from hurting others like this? I… I've always been surrounded by good people before…
I never knew there could be people so disgusting…
The three men had already removed their pants. I shut my eyes, not wanting to see their vile acts.
Is my life going to end like this? Dying, tainted by their depravity?
Thud!
I felt something fall onto my chest.
I opened my eyes slowly to find a severed head lying on my chest, its blood staining my shirt.
"W-what just happened?!"
I quickly shoved the head off, nausea welling up inside me at the sight.
"W-who are you?! What do you want?!"
The two remaining men who had tried to assault me were now trembling as three mysterious figures approached them.
"Sorry to interrupt your game," one of the men, clad in a mage's robe, said. "But we don't have time to explain."
"Did you see a blond-haired boy named Brian?" asked another mysterious figure wielding a sword.
"I-I don't know… Please don't hu—"
Before he could finish, the swordsman beheaded him in a swift motion.
"Aghh! Let me go! I'll pay you whatever you want!"
One of the mysterious men was gripping the last man by his head, effortlessly lifting him into the air.
"Let go! My head's going to explode! Aghhh, it hurts!"
"Answer the question, kid!" shouted the muscular man.
"I don't know anything about him! Just let me g—"
The man crushed his head with a firm grip, blood spilling over his hand as pieces of the victim's brain splattered on the ground.
They had killed the three who had tried to assault me like they were nothing. The brutality of the scene made me want to vomit.
"There's one girl left. Let's finish this quickly," the swordsman said, approaching me.
My whole body was shaking.
Please, help me, Brian… Someone, please…
Why do humans kill their neighbors so easily? I don't know, I'm just an ordinary girl who grew up around the temple. I didn't know the world was full of such cruelty...
"Do you know where the blond boy named Brian is?" the man asked as he pointed his sword at me.
Brian...? Why are they looking for him? I don't know, it's all very confusing. What exactly happened in this exam? Why did they kill the students who were taking the exam? Shouldn't the instructors be watching this place?
"I don't know..."
Closing my eyes, I could only pray to Goddess Diana to give me a good ending.
I'm scared... I'm scared... Brian... You promised to protect me... Brian... Save me... Please...
"Then die like the others!"
Brian... Hiks...
- Bam!
Hearing a crashing sound, I opened my eyes slowly.
I could see the back of a white-haired man wearing a black mask standing in front of me.
"You... were the one who saved me back then..."
How did that masked man get here?