The Scramble [Illustration]
The bed in the suite was more than wide enough for two people to sleep in.
But to me, it felt cramped.
Because Yeon Haneul had been closing the distance between us.
‘This is… a little too close, isn’t it?’
Even when we stayed at the hotel in Academy City, we hadn’t slept like this.
Yeon Haneul lay on her side with her head on the pillow, close enough that if she merely stretched out an arm, she could touch me.
The moonlight coming in from the terrace faintly revealed her face, which had been submerged in the darkness of the room.
Her hair, bearing the same color as her name, shimmered mysteriously, and her red eyes glowed.
‘There she goes again….’
Yeon Haneul edged a little closer.
Now she was close enough for her breath to reach me.
When I inhaled, a faint fragrance drifted in.
It was the scent coming from her after she had showered in my bathroom just a while ago.
“....”
A fresh yet sweet fragrance.
Each time that scent brushed the tip of my nose, I found myself becoming conscious of Yeon Haneul without meaning to.
‘This won’t do.’
My gaze kept going to Yeon Haneul.
I needed to close my eyes, but closing them only stirred up needless imagination even more.
At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
I tried to put some distance between us.
Just then, Yeon Haneul reached out with her fingers and tightly grabbed the hem of my clothes so I couldn’t move away.
“Don’t keep going far away.”
“....”
“Just stay there.”
“…Okay.”
A faintly trembling voice rang out from beyond the dim darkness.
There was no way I could refuse after hearing a voice like that.
I decided to stay where I was.
Then Yeon Haneul slowly came closer and carefully burrowed into my arms.
She buried her face against my chest and gently hugged me.
“…Stay like this, just for today.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Having unexpectedly offered one arm to Yeon Haneul, I awkwardly placed my remaining arm on her back.
Since we were sleeping inside a Gate, our clothes weren’t as thin as pajamas, but they were still thin.
I could feel the outline of her body.
If even I, with only an arm placed on her, could feel that much, then she, who was practically hugging me, must have been feeling my outline in even greater detail.
And yet she showed no sign of being embarrassed.
‘She’s not usually like this….’
It seemed the things she had experienced in her dream had been that mentally taxing for Yeon Haneul.
Considering her feelings, I patted her back.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here, so relax and get some good sleep.”
“…Thank you. Good night.”
Her grip grew even tighter.
Her knee and the tips of her feet brushed against my legs.
Gradually, our legs became tangled together.
Like that, she created a comfortable position while holding me.
Though for me, it was an uncomfortable position.
“....”
Groaning inwardly,
I subtly pulled my hips back.
That day, Yeon Haneul fell deeply asleep, and I couldn’t sleep comfortably.
‘Still, I’m glad she’s sleeping well.’
* * *
Day broke.
Perhaps thanks to sleeping through breakfast, Yeon Haneul’s condition had improved a lot.
Only then did she seem to realize what she had done the previous night.
“U-Um…. Did you sleep well, Gyeonu?”
“....”
After slipping out of my arms and putting some distance between us, Yeon Haneul greeted me in the morning with her face flushed red.
With one hand, she tightly gripped the blanket, and with the other, she kept smoothing down her hair.
To her, unable to properly meet my eyes and avoiding my gaze, I honestly confessed how I felt.
“Look me in the eye.”
“....”
“Do I look like I slept well?”
“You look… really tired….”
“And whose fault is that?”
“S-Sorry….”
It felt like I had only had my eyes closed.
My consciousness hadn’t fallen deeply enough, and I had only repeated sleeping and waking.
There was no way someone like me had slept well.
With what must have been a hollow-looking face, I looked at Yeon Haneul.
She seemed to know she was at fault and couldn’t raise her head, looking apologetic.
‘Still, she seems better now, so that’s enough.’
I fiddled with her rabbit ears, which were drooping as if dispirited.
Yeon Haneul flinched.
Watching her reaction, I laughed.
“Never mind. Let’s get ready to check out. We need to leave the Gate and go hear the explanation for the fifth exam. We didn’t even eat breakfast, so we need to fill our stomachs too. If we eat at this hour, is it lunch? Do you want to wash up first?”
“No, you wash first. I’ll go get something to eat.”
“Yeah? Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Starting today, the fifth practical exam would be held over three days.
We couldn’t just keep lazing around on the bed like this.
Yeon Haneul and I quickly finished getting ready and went down to the banquet hall.
In the banquet hall, a Gate that led outside was open.
We returned to the original world and headed for Room 305 of the Dimension Hall, where the explanation for the fifth practical exam would take place.
‘There are a ton of people.’
Room 305 of the Dimension Hall, where the desks were arranged in tiers.
Room 305 of the Dimension Hall was spacious, as if several lecture rooms had been connected, and the ceiling was high.
After entering, we could look down at the examinees who had arrived earlier and taken their seats.
Perhaps because there were also examinees from other testing sites, there seemed to be more people than the examinees we had seen at the Hotel of Dreams.
“Let’s find seats and wait too. At this rate, there won’t be anywhere left to sit.”
“Okay. It looks like there are empty seats over there. How about we sit there?”
Yeon Haneul found empty seats.
I sat there with her and decided to wait for the exam explanation.
A short while later, the appointed time passed.
“....”
The evaluators entered from below.
The examinees, who had been silently watching them, recognized the woman standing at the front and began to stir noisily.
‘That person is….’
She was a woman so short and young-looking that one could tell even from afar.
However, contrary to her outward appearance, she gave off a calm and mature air.
Dressed neatly in a suit, she strode confidently onto the stage with the click-clack of her heels, and there was not a single opening in her gait.
Since the evaluators followed behind as if attending her, she also gave the impression that she was not someone who could be treated carelessly.
There was a sense of authority about her.
In truth, she was fairly old, and she was absolutely not someone we could treat carelessly.
[Hello, examinees.]
Then, the woman took the microphone.
With striking yellow eyes, she smiled brightly and said,
[First, I would like to offer my sincere thanks and congratulations to the examinees who applied to Geumgang Academy and made it this far. Those who already know me will know, but I am So Hyeyul, the chairwoman of Geumgang Academy. The reason I am standing here today is… because I was curious what kind of gems in the rough applied this year. So I deliberately pestered the evaluators planning your exam until they let me come out. I look forward to seeing what you can do.]
“....”
The woman who introduced herself as the chairwoman.
There was no way the examinees gathered here to enter Geumgang Academy wouldn’t recognize her.
No, if someone lived in Academy City, then even if they had never seen her face, she was famous enough that they would have heard her name at least once.
‘Someone who looks that young is actually from the same generation as Grandpa. Even knowing it from playing the game, it’s still astonishing. She must be maintaining herself with mana, right? But why does Grandpa…. No, at that age, maybe aging in a dignified and impressive way is better than looking young.’
The Witch of the Stars, So Hyeyul.
Not only was she a member of the Contribution Council, which held strong influence over the operation of Academy City, she was also a globally recognized mage.
Above all, she was the original owner of Starlight Road, the artificial satellite drifting outside Academy City’s atmosphere—the one I had used in the dream to kill the monster.
‘That’s also why she became a member of the Contribution Council. It’s such a destructive power for one person to wield that the Council needed to monitor it.’
So Hyeyul had that much presence, and she appeared quite often in the game.
Her role was usually to subtly request that the protagonist, Gang Hanbyeol, resolve incidents, or to take care of the aftermath of the incidents Gang Hanbyeol caused.
However, there were ambiguous aspects that made it hard to completely regard her as an ally.
‘She hid way too many things.’
The reason So Hyeyul helped Gang Hanbyeol was only because there was something for her to gain, not because she became his helper out of simple goodwill.
If it meant achieving her own goals, she sometimes didn’t hesitate to throw Gang Hanbyeol into trials.
One could say she had a calculating personality.
Meanwhile, she too—
[Since I’ve come out here for once, I’ll personally explain the fifth practical exam.]
—was the owner of one of the bad endings.
A rather troublesome one, at that.
To the point that you absolutely had to watch it if you wanted to unlock a new story route.
That gave me a lot to think about.
‘For now, let’s focus on the exam.’
Putting aside my thoughts about the game,
I decided to listen to the explanation.
[For the fifth exam, the examinees will not be divided into groups. All examinees will take it in a single Gate. The reason I’m explaining it here is that, in this Gate, the location you are summoned to upon entry will be set at random. So because we needed to gather you in one place and explain, we had you assemble here. Now, examinees, please check your own examinee cards.]
When So Hyeyul gave an instruction to the evaluators, they each raised examinee cards of different colors.
[The gist of the fifth practical exam, which will run for three days, is very simple. After entering the Gate, you will spend three days in a scramble, taking one another’s examinee cards and having yours taken.]
“....”
[But if all the examinee cards have equal value, it lowers the tension, makes the exam too simple, and above all, it isn’t fun, is it?]
It isn’t fun.
The chairwoman said something that could become controversial in an official setting without the slightest concern.
However, no one objected.
That was how dangerous a person she was—someone who must not be carelessly provoked.
[So we have decided to differentiate the value of your examinee cards according to their color. Could someone over there put the screen up on the Gate Watches?]
I lowered my gaze to the Gate Watch on my wrist.
A message had arrived on the watch.
[Value Points by Examinee Card Color]
—White: 10 points
—Yellow: 20 points
—Green: 30 points
—Red: 50 points
—Blue: 70 points
—Black: 100 points
[The value points according to examinee card color are as shown on your Gate Watches right now. At this time, your own examinee card will be applied as 100 points regardless of its color. So all of you need to gather 200 or more value points, including your own examinee card. Also, at 10 p.m. on the second day after the exam begins, your Gate Watch will inform you of the location where the Gate has been set. The evaluators will be waiting for you there from 9 a.m. on the third day.]
The details of the fifth practical exam were also being sent to the Gate Watch.
While listening to So Hyeyul’s explanation, I scrolled down through the message.
Additional details were written there.
[The exam will proceed for three days from the moment you enter the Gate. The exam end time is 9 a.m.]
[Examinees in possession of examinee cards must wear at least one examinee card. At this time, the examinee card with the highest value to other examinees must be worn with priority.]
[Once per day, boxes containing supplies necessary for survival will be distributed. Distribution locations will be designated at random.]
[At 3:00, 6:00, 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, 21:00, and 24:00, at three-hour intervals, the locations of examinee cards around each examinee will be transmitted through the Gate Watch. At this time, value will not be reflected.]
[….]
As I read the message,
I could roughly get a sense of it.
It was just as So Hyeyul had said at the beginning.
‘So we’re supposed to survive in the Gate for three days while fighting a scramble where we steal and get our examinee cards stolen.’
Since losing your examinee card didn’t mean elimination, it seemed we couldn’t let our guard down for even a moment.
On the other hand, as long as I took good care of my own examinee card, it looked like I could pass by collecting only 100 points.
Of course, collecting 100 points wouldn’t be easy either.
“....”
There was no way examinees who had passed up to the fourth practical exam would go down easily.
Even so, I was confident in my skills.
‘The game’s Do Gyeonu must have collected them all, so there’s no way I can’t.’
There was no need to worry too much.
I decided to divert Yeon Haneul’s attention, as she already seemed to be thinking hard.
Quietly, I reached toward her examinee card.
At that, she flinched.
“Y-you, where are you touching right now…?”
“I’m borrowing your exam ticket for a sec.”
“Huh?”
The black exam ticket attached to Yeon Haneul’s left chest.
Ignoring her reaction, I peeled it off.
Then I attached it next to my own exam ticket.
“What… are you doing right now?”
“My exam ticket is 100 points, yours is 100 points. With this, I pass.”
“….”
“Haneul, you go gather 200 points on your own.”
“Is this fun?”
“Yeah!”
Yeon Haneul was dumbfounded.
I giggled and nodded.
“This time, I’ll attach one to you too.”
“Sigh, you really are such a child….”
“Stay still. It’s hard to attach.”
“And yet you’re secretly….”
“Secretly what?”
“Nothing. There’s no way you’d do something like that.”
“…For some reason, I feel weirdly offended.”
“You’ll get wrinkles if you frown. Just finish what you were doing, Do Gyeonu, you little kid—.”
“Tch. Here, you pass too.”
I peeled the exam tickets off my clothes and attached them to Yeon Haneul.
She looked at me, called me childish, and yet burst into a snicker.
It was then that So Hyeyul’s scolding voice rang out.
[You examinees over there! Don’t flirt here, go do it somewhere else, will you?]
Pathetic.
I guess someone was shamelessly putting on a display of affection while listening to the exam instructions.
‘Fail the exam miserably.’
It seemed the other examinees were thinking the same thing as me.
Occasionally, murmurs drifted over.
“I really hope they fail….”
“Aren’t those the kids we saw on the bus yesterday?”
“Wow… that’s insane. Really….”
“I’m envi— no, it’s so unsightly I could die.”
“Once I get in, I’m definitely going on a blind date first….”
“I’ll get one too once I’m in the Academy, right?”
* * *
[We will now have the examinees wearing black exam tickets enter first!]
All explanations had come to an end.
When So Hyeyul drew back the curtain covering the wall with the podium, a circular artificial gate was revealed.
Its center was glowing yellow.
Soon, the examinees wearing black exam tickets stood up and walked up onto the stage.
“Haneul, let’s go too.”
“Yeah. Once we enter the gate, we’ll probably be split up and have to act separately.”
“Why? You worried because I’m not there?”
“Shouldn’t you be the one who’s worried without me by your side?”
“It’s fine. That won’t happen.”
“Really?”
“Ouch.”
Yeon Haneul and I also got in line to pass through the artificial gate.
Then, she pouted and pinched my side.
It didn’t actually hurt, but I pretended it did anyway.
“Anyway, do your best in there. Don’t get hurt or anything. If by any chance someone tries to harm you….”
“If someone tries to harm me?”
“Kill them dead.”
“Really?”
“If you can’t kill them, just remember their face. I’ll find them later and kill them myself.”
“Alright, alright. Hearing that puts my mind at ease. You do your best too.”
“Of course.”
Before long, the line shrank, and it was our turn.
We stood in front of the artificial gate.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yeah.”
It’s the final exam.
Thinking about what I had to do from now on, I stepped into the gate.
If my prediction is right, surely….
‘I Gahyeon will be making her move in this exam.’
One of the Six Demons of the Demon Association.
The Doll Ghost Girl, I Gahyeon.
According to the game’s lore, having infiltrated the entrance exam, she passes herself off as an examiner while trying to assess the examinees’ abilities.
This is the only chance she has to do so.
‘It’s also my chance to hunt I Gahyeon.’
Soon, I was enveloped in light.
I Became the Middle Boss’s Childhood Friend