The final exam, which would run for three and a half hours,
Choi Minsu smiled as he watched the examinees
moving busily inside the virtual space.
“Looks like we’ve got plenty of promising talent this time too, don’t we?”
The examinees began working in sync with one another, rescuing civilians and fighting the enemies surging toward them.
“By the way, you put in some pretty strong data for this exam. Do you think they’ll be able to handle it?”
“We’ll find out if we keep watching. If they become Tigers, they’ll have to deal with bastards like those until they’re sick of it.”
***
Meanwhile, inside the virtual space, the examinees were moving quickly.
“Slaaash!”
“Slaaash!”
“Injured person found over here!”
“Hurry and rescue them!”
The examinees fought the monsters with the weapons and abilities they had been provided,
rescuing civilians trapped beneath the rubble while maintaining their teamwork.
“Fwoosh.”
And when the smaller entities came swarming in, I used my ability and took them down one by one.
The experience of having fought them before was a great help, and I continued moving with my teammates.
“Dadadadat!”
“Enemy spotted up ahead!”
“I’ll handle that one, so the three of you please rescue the civilians nearby!”
The man issued his orders with quick judgment and headed toward the monster,
while we listened carefully and began rescuing the civilians nearby.
“Please save me!”
A civilian trapped beneath the rubble. In truth, it was a fake made of data,
and yet the voice and actions felt real.
For a moment, I wondered if this really was a virtual space, but I shook off the idle thought
and focused only on the exam, moving my hands quickly.
“We’ll get you out right away!”
After hurriedly clearing away the debris, we rescued the injured civilian.
The civilian thanked us, then vanished in a glow of light,
and I saw the number on the device on my wrist change to 1.
It seemed to display the number of civilians rescued and entities defeated,
and after immediately checking whether there were any more civilians nearby in need of help,
we moved again to assist the man who was dealing with the entity.
“We’ll help too!”
“Boom!”
But the man had already taken the monster down on his own.
Wiping away the sweat running down his face, he said it hadn’t been easy,
and we began moving again to head for the next area.
“Target confirmed.”
“Slaaash.”
“Slaaash.”
“Oho~ That guy’s pretty skilled, isn’t he?”
Choi Minsu smiled as he watched the silver-haired man.
“Judging from his appearance, I thought he’d act alone, but he’s maintaining teamwork quite well.”
“Teamwork is the key to this exam, after all.”
“If he wants a high score, he can’t move on his own.”
When a large entity appeared in front of the man, he began using not his weapon, but his own ability.
“Kwaaang!!”
“Oh~ It’s incredible even seeing it again.”
Seeing the silver-haired man’s ability, Choi Minsu smiled even wider, saying it was interesting.
Then, saying that if that guy passed, he would take him into his own unit, he moved his pen busily.
***
“Everyone, let’s eat dinner.”
The shelter was quiet.
At the teacher’s call to eat dinner, the kids came out of their rooms one by one and sat at the table.
“Huh? Suhan still isn’t back?”
The teacher said the exam was very long, so he probably wouldn’t be back today
and would return tomorrow, as she filled bowls with rice.
“Ah... It’s boring without Suhan. I wonder if he’s taking the exam seriously right about now?”
“I’m sure he is. Suhan hyung isn’t the type to give up halfway.”
“That’s true.”
***
Time passed, and an hour and a half remained until the end of the exam.
The examinees were beginning to grow exhausted one by one.
“Hoo... hoo... Everyone, hydrate, and then let’s set out again.”
It was a little strange that we could drink water even though this was a virtual space.
Honestly, I was starting to feel a little confused about whether this place was virtual or real.
“If this situation were real, we wouldn’t even have time to rest.”
Since this was an exam, a brief rest was guaranteed,
but in actual combat, there wouldn’t even be time to catch our breath.
So far, we had rescued a total of twenty civilians and dealt with six entities.
Thanks to our good teamwork, we had earned a stable score,
and just as we were about to catch our breath and head to the next location, a radio transmission came in.
“Chhk.”
“This is Area A-21! An A-rank entity has appeared! Requesting immediate support!!”
They’d said the entities that appeared would be C to B-rank, but now, hearing that an A-rank entity had suddenly appeared,
my heart began pounding even harder.
“Let’s hurry to A-21!”
As soon as the transmission ended, the examinees nearby began moving at once with tense expressions.
We also hurriedly rose from our spots and headed toward the area,
and when I asked my teammates if they had any information about A-rank entities,
the man who had been giving orders answered with cold sweat running down his face.
“A-rank entities are classified by the Tigers as extremely dangerous monsters.”
“They’re on a level where even dozens of ordinary members might barely be able to subdue one if they all rushed it together.”
The team leader had told me that the one I fought before was B-rank.
This one would definitely be stronger than that entity, and even if we joined forces with the examinees here, we might not be able to win.
“Rumble rumble rumble.”
“!!”
As we drew closer and closer to the area, an enormous vibration began shaking the ground.
Soon after, the buildings up ahead collapsed in an instant,
and an A-rank entity with a massive body and a beast-like appearance appeared before our eyes.
“Boom.”
“Boom.”
“Kraaaaaaagh!!!”
“Ugh...!”
Its roar was powerful enough to shake the air.
Could we really subdue this thing?
Just as I swallowed nervously and adjusted my grip on my weapon,
the silver-haired man pushed through the examinees and charged at the entity.
“W-wait a second...!”
Before anyone had a chance to stop him, he rushed at the entity with a sharp look in his eyes,
and when he kicked off the ground hard and used his ability, the surrounding space began to ripple.
Then, as the man’s fist landed squarely in the entity’s face,
the surroundings shook with a sound like the air itself bursting.
“Kwaaang!”
But the thing was only pushed back slightly and did not fall,
and the silver-haired man clicked his tongue as he landed on the ground.
“Tch...”
He hadn’t taken it down, but that attack must have dealt some damage.
“I can’t lose...”
From now on, everyone here had to join forces.
The people who seemed to be the leaders of each team began issuing orders and moving,
and our team also began moving according to our respective roles.
***
“They’re all figuring things out on their own pretty well.”
Choi Minsu said it wasn’t bad, but as he checked the time remaining,
he expressed doubt over whether the examinees would be able to finish within the time limit.
“If you saw that attack just now, there’s no need to worry.”
“Hmm... I see. Did you put in that data too, by any chance?”
“Of course. Holding on to one’s mind is an important part of it as well.”
“Huh... If that goes wrong, it could leave some serious trauma...”
Choi Minsu worried about who would get caught by that data,
while inside the virtual space, the examinees were engaged in a fierce life-and-death struggle against the A-rank entity.
“Kwa-gagagaga!”
“Ugh...!!”
As the monster attacked fiercely, we couldn’t approach easily.
We had to focus on defense and attack from a distance, and the silver-haired man
also tried to look for another opportunity, but an opening did not appear so easily.
“Boom!!”
“Swaaaaaa!”
Thirty minutes remained. What kind of attack would it take to defeat that entity?
As I racked my brain and even added in knowledge from comics,
a somewhat insane idea came to mind, though it also seemed like it might work.
“Kwaaang!”
“Gaaagh...!!”
While I was thinking of a method, other examinees were struck by its attack and crashed into a building.
“Beep-beep.”
[Left arm fracture.]
[Full-body contusions detected.]
The injured examinees could no longer move,
and thinking that we might be wiped out if this continued, I decided to put it into action.
Unless that entity had an incredibly strong regenerative ability or something like a second phase, this method should definitely work.
Of course, it was a method that made me feel so much resistance I wondered, “Do I really have to do this?”
but if this were actual combat, I wouldn’t even have time to hesitate like this.
“I’ll try to end this with one strike!!!”
When I shouted with all my strength toward all the examinees and asked them to help,
they all looked at me at once and nodded.
“Ta-at!”
As I began running toward the entity, they used their abilities to block the attacks flying at me
and began drawing its attention so I could approach easily.
“There isn’t much time left. We’ll probably only get one chance.”
The silver-haired man running beside me said that,
then asked what I needed him to do.
I answered that I needed him to help open the thing’s mouth a little.
He said he understood, then overtook me and got ready,
while I also began gathering firepower in order to prepare a powerful blow.
“Fwoosh.”
The silver-haired man and I began climbing up the thing’s leg and heading toward the top.
Then he used his ability to strike the entity’s face once more, and its mouth opened slightly.
“Now...!”
I quickly ran and entered the entity’s mouth.
“Swoooooosh.”
“Grrrgh...!”
After traveling down its throat and reaching its stomach, I began concentrating my ability.
“Fwoosh!”
“With this, it’ll definitely go down.”
I gathered the firepower into one point and detonated it all at once,
delivering the strongest attack I could unleash right now.
「Flare Burst」
“Kwaaaaang!!!!”
The flames exploding from the inside instantly began burning through the monster’s body,
and as fire leaked out from its body, it exploded and turned to ash.
“Rumble...”
The other examinees used their abilities to block the aftermath of the explosion,
and after taking down the A-rank entity with that insane method, I rose from the ashes with a cough.
“Ugh... My body’s completely wrecked...”
But as soon as I stood up, I heard someone crying sorrowfully.
I immediately focused on the sound and began searching the area,
and inside a narrow alley, I saw a woman in her forties clutching her daughter in her arms.
“Are you all right?!”
I hurried over to the woman and tried to check her condition,
but the woman slapped my hand away and shouted at me to get lost,
then burst into tears, saying her daughter had died because of me.
“Why did you only come now...?”
“If you had come sooner, my daughter wouldn’t have died!!”
In her arms, I could see a twelve-year-old girl bleeding from the head.
But she had already stopped breathing, and the woman kept raging at me, saying it was my fault she had died.
The only thing I could say was that I was sorry. Other than that, I couldn’t do anything.
Of course, this situation was fake, but it felt far too real,
and the thought that it might truly become reality someday slowly broke my heart.
If I lacked strength, I couldn’t protect anything, and I couldn’t save anyone.
“Chhk.”
“The exam has ended.”
Along with the radio transmission announcing the end of the exam, we began returning to reality,
and the twelve-year-old girl who had died with blood flowing from her head, as well as the woman holding her, vanished from before me.
“...........”
“Everyone, thank you for your hard work taking the exam!”
“Dinner will be provided in thirty minutes, so please rest until then!”
When the exam ended, the others seemed to relax as they took off their suits and sat down,
but I remained sitting still, unable to forget the situation I had faced moments ago.
“Um... are you all right?”
When one of the people from my team asked me, I answered in an exhausted voice.
“Yes... I’m fine...”
The long, long exam had ended, and though I changed my clothes, an unforgettable memory remained in my mind.