Chapter 76: Episode 76

Erzebet, leading the corpse spiders, went to retrieve the Nuthlug bodies as planned. Simon, meanwhile, stepped onto a teleportation circle that warped him near Hongfeng’s cabin.

“Simon!” Kamibarez greeted him with a radiant smile. She had been growing worried about his tardiness and kept glancing toward the magic circle.

“Sorry, am I late?” he asked.

She rushed to his side, her gaze full of concern. “Did something happen with the assistant instructor?”

Simon’s mind raced. He could brush it off, but dealing with Dick and Meirin’s questions later would be a hassle. A plausible excuse was the best route. “Actually, on my way back, I remembered the Nuthlug corpses. I grabbed a few for undead research.”

“Oh, I see! Spoken like a true Summoning major!” Kamibarez believed him without a hint of doubt.

Just then, Meirin’s irritated voice cut through the air. “What are you two doing? Stop fooling around and help out!”

“Okay…” Kamibarez called back.

“Alright,” Simon replied.

Everyone was busy preparing a fire. Dick was laying down straw and stacking firewood, while Meirin struggled to carry a heavy load of logs from behind the cabin.

“Dick! Where should I put this—Whoa!” Looking ahead as she walked, she stumbled and lost her balance.

“You okay?” Simon shot over in a flash and caught the falling logs. “I’ll carry this.” He effortlessly lifted the wood that Meirin had been struggling with and hoisted it onto his shoulder. “You can help with something else.”

“Uh…? Oh. Thanks.” Meirin fiddled with her hair, embarrassed, then spun around and walked away.

Simon set the firewood down near Dick. Seeing they would need a lot more, he headed back behind the cabin. ’Damn.’ They were out of chopped wood. Fortunately, a chopping axe and a tree stump were nearby. Simon grabbed a thick log, set it on the stump, and raised the axe.

The log split cleanly in two. ’Nice. Still got the old touch.’ As he savored the familiar satisfaction, he noticed Kamibarez staring at him. She quickly picked up another log and placed it on the stump for him.

“I’ll help!” she declared.

“…Ah, thanks. It’s dangerous, so stand back,” he advised.

Kamibarez retreated, and Simon raised the axe again. With another solid crack, the log split. She clapped enthusiastically. “You’re amazing! Do you do this often?”

“Yeah,” Simon said, wiping sweat from his brow. “Before I came to Kizen, this was one of my main jobs.”

While Kamibarez brought the next log, Simon examined the cut. ’Not as clean as it could be.’ He must have put too much force into it with her watching. He gave a wry smile as Kamibarez placed a new log on the stump, scurried back, and waited with sparkling eyes.

“It’s just chopping wood,” he chuckled. “Is it really that interesting?”

“Yes!”

With Kamibarez’s help, he soon had a generous pile of firewood. He gathered an armful and carried it toward the others.

“Wow, this is bigger than I thought,” Simon said, admiring the tall stack of wood.

Dick chuckled, gesturing to the Nuthlug corpse. “Well, the Nuthlug we caught was huge. We need at least this much.”

“Good point.” Simon joined in, helping to build the fire. They laid straw, dry leaves, and twigs at the base, then stacked the firewood in a pyramid above it. Once they lit the kindling, the flames slowly licked their way up the logs.

“Interesting,” Meirin mused, crouching nearby with her chin in her hands. “Do you have to stack it like that?”

“Not necessarily, but it’s the most common way,” Simon explained, tending to the flames.

Dick, who was fanning the fire, snickered. “A girl who commands fire doesn’t even know how to build a bonfire?”

“Oh, shut up,” Meirin retorted. “Is this fire the same as the kind I use?”

“Your temper is fiery enough.”

“And your mouth is like firewood,” she shot back. “I could split it in half and toss it in. I bet it would burn real nice.”

“Ooh, harsh.”

As Dick and Meirin continued their usual bickering, the fire caught and stabilized. Simon and his skeleton gathered some large stones and arranged them in a circle around the bonfire, giving it the look of a proper campsite.

“Is everyone here?” a voice called from behind them. They all jumped to their feet.

“Professor Hongfeng!”

“Hello!” She was barefoot, carrying various tools on her back and a bucket with a few fish sloshing inside. “Oh! You’ve made a good fire. Shall we get ztarted?”

“Yes!”

The survival class began immediately. She heaved the Nuthlug corpse onto a large wooden cutting board. “Monsters come in all shapez and sizes, but the butchering prozezz is almozt alwayz the zame, zo pay attention.”

Her hands moved with practiced ease. She skinned the creature, sliced open its belly to remove the organs, and drained the blood. At the sight of the viscera, Kamibarez had to cover her eyes.

“They zay monster meat has a gamey zmell, right?” Hongfeng explained. “That odor comes from the decay of the meat and blood. To eliminate it, you have to work quickly. Now, we’ll remove the front leg and the tendons. Like thiz!”

After the butchering lesson, they were left with chunks of meat that were finally ready for the grill. Hongfeng beamed. “Zee? Easy, right?”

Meirin and Kamibarez forced smiles and nodded.

“Alright, nexzt!”

She then demonstrated how to prepare a fish, which was a much simpler task. “There are rivers and fish almozt everywhere. Fishing is a good way to find food.” She chopped off the fish’s head, scraped off the scales, removed the organs, and rinsed it. In moments, the fish was ready for the fire. “Now, let’z grill.”

“Grill coming through!” Dick brought over a large grate and secured it over the bonfire. Hongfeng placed the Nuthlug meat on top, and it began to sizzle, its juices dripping into the flames.

“Amazing,” Meirin remarked. “Once it’s prepared, it looks just like pork.”

“It looks delicious!” Kamibarez exclaimed.

As the meat cooked, Hongfeng sprinkled it with spices from several small containers. “You should be able to bring thiz amount of zeazoning with you.” A fragrant aroma, like pepper and seeds, filled the air. “And monster meat can have parazitez or pathogens. It’z important to cook it thoroughly over high heat.”

“Got it!”

Once the meat was done, they moved it to a platter. Dick rolled over an oak barrel of wine, and Kamibarez set out tableware. The preparations were complete.

“Cheers!”

What began as a survival class had turned into an outdoor barbecue. The atmosphere was boisterous as they all ate, drank, and enjoyed themselves.

“This is so delicious!” Kamibarez sighed, her expression blissful.

Dick nodded in agreement. “Wow, this is insane. How can something so grotesque taste this good?”

“Hey! I’m trying to enjoy my food. Don’t remind me!” Meirin shot him a glare.

“Ah, Zimon!” Hongfeng called out to Simon. “Where did Azziztant Brad go? I told him to at least have a tazte zinze he helped with the teleportation.”

“Ah…” A pang of guilt hit Simon, but he forced a smile. “I offered, but he said he wasn’t feeling well and headed back early.”

“Hmm… Well, can’t be helped then.”

As darkness fell, the party grew more lively. The large bonfire gave the gathering a celebratory feel, and since it was the same group as last time, everyone was comfortable. Even Kamibarez, who had been wary of alcohol before, was sipping her wine happily.

“Ah, this is the life…” Dick slurred, swaying slightly. He enjoyed drinking but was a lightweight.

“Dick, you okay?” Simon asked.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine. Just gotta take a leak.” He staggered to his feet and wandered off toward a nearby bush, where he began fumbling with his pants.

Meirin shrieked in horror. “Aaaah! You psycho! Go do that somewhere further away!” A moment later, an unmistakable trickling sound filled the air. Disgusted, she covered her ears and turned away. “Ugh! Commoners have no sense of decency!”

Simon and Hongfeng chuckled at her outburst. Just then, a head rested softly on Simon’s arm. “…Kami?”

Her cheeks flushed from the wine, Kamibarez had fallen asleep against him. “Uuungh… Simoooon…”

“Professor, I’ll take her to the cabin,” Simon said.

“Sure, go ahead,” Hongfeng replied, raising her glass. “Then Meirin and I will have another toazt!”

“P-Professor, I think you’re going a bit too hard tonight…” Meirin stammered.

“Me too! I’ll toast with you!” Dick shouted, running back toward them.

Meirin scrambled away. “Ah! You psycho! Zip up your pants!”

Simon smiled and started to get up, but Kamibarez’s hand shot out and gripped his shirt. “Kami?”

“…Don’t leave meeee…” she mumbled.

“I’m not leaving you,” he said gently, lifting her into his arms. She snuggled against his chest.

“Hey, Simon,” Meirin called, her eyes narrowed. “If you try anything funny with my bestie Kami, I’ll kill you. Seriously.”

“…What are you even talking about?”

“Just put her to bed and get back out here!”

Simon carried Kamibarez into the cabin. She was dead to the world. He gently laid her on the bed, and she immediately curled into a comfortable ball. “Sleep well, Kami.” He stroked her hair and pulled the blanket over her.

As he turned to leave, a hand shot out and grabbed the back of his shirt.

He was yanked back toward the bed with unbelievable strength. He fell across it as Kamibarez’s mouth opened wide.

In that instant, she was a completely different person. An intimidating pressure radiated from her, turning Simon’s face pale. Every cell in his body screamed danger. Just as her sharp fangs angled toward his neck, she slammed her hands over her own mouth.

She pressed her forehead against his shoulder. “Nooo… Not Simon…” And just like that, she was asleep again, breathing softly.

Simon was so shaken that sweat beaded on his brow. Her face was so peaceful it was hard to tell if what had just happened was a drunken hallucination or terrifyingly real. ’Kami… did you hold back because of me?’

“Mhmm,” she murmured in her sleep.

He gently repositioned her on the bed and pulled the blanket back over her. He didn’t understand what had just happened, but he felt a strange sense of gratitude. Letting out a shaky breath, he smiled softly. “Sleep well, Kami.”

—

With midterms over, a new week began.

“I have an important announcement,” Jane said, her gaze sweeping across Class A. The students, now familiar with this prelude, braced themselves. Jane took a document from her assistant. “In two days, you will participate in the Island Survival Evaluation.”

The official announcement had finally come. The Island Survival, a massive program involving the entire first year. A murmur rippled through the classroom like a shockwave, but the members of Group 7 merely exchanged knowing smiles.

’How am I supposed to wait two days for this?’ Simon thought, his arms crossed as a grin threatened to split his face.

“One per person!” an assistant called, moving quickly through the aisles to distribute the evaluation guidebooks.

“I will provide a brief overview,” Jane announced, opening her copy. The students followed suit. “From Class A to Class N, all 961 surviving first-year students will be teleported to an island.”

She picked up a piece of chalk and drew a large circle on the blackboard. She marked the center with a triangle and dotted the perimeter. “You will start at random locations on the island’s outskirts. The core rule is simple: survive for four days.” The students nodded, their faces tense.

“However, mere zurvival iz inzuficient for a proper evaluation. Thiz tezt will uze a point zyztem. Your final gradez and rankingz will be determined by the pointz you accumulate.”

She drew small X’s across the island map. “You can acquire pointz by hunting monzterz. They range from the weakezt Grade 1 to Grade 4. Depending on the monzter, you can earn anywhere from one to over twenty pointz.”

Jamie Victoria’s hand shot up.

“Your queztion iz undoubtedly about how pointz are tallied, Jamie Victoria,” Jane said flatly.

Jamie blushed and quickly lowered her arm, drawing a few quiet chuckles from her classmates.

“You will be uzing thiz devize.” Jane held up a bracelet. It had a round, flat body shaped like a monster’s maw, with a strap attached. “It iz a bio-artifact called a ’Tonguepad’. When you bring it to a dezeazed monzter…”

’Splat!’

A long tongue shot out from the bracelet, startling the students. It licked a sample corpse prepared by an assistant before retracting.

“The artifact will automatically ab-zorb and prozezz the corpze’z magic,” Jane explained, showing them the increased value displayed on the Tonguepad. “A number will appear in mana-zcript within ten zecondz. Therefore, hunting iz not an option but a necezzity, if for no other reazon than to eat.”

At this, the faces of several students hardened. Jane went on to detail the Tonguepad’s functions. Not only could it convert a monster’s magic into points, but it could also transfer those points to another student’s device.

“Returning to the rulez, combat between Kizen ztudentz iz, of courze, permitted. If you reduze an opponent’z barrier gauge to zero, they will be conzidered ’dead’. Their evaluation endz, and they will be teleported to a zafe zone. When thiz happenz, their Tonguepad will eject all of itz ztored magic az a zingle cryztal.”

In other words, taking down another student meant you could steal all their points. Jane didn’t need to elaborate; everyone understood this was the heart of the evaluation.

“And one more important tip,” she said, pointing her chalk to the center of the island. “At the very zenter of the izland iz a manzion built by Kizen. It iz indeztructible. The interior iz the only no-combat zone on the izland. If you zet foot inzide even onze…” She scanned the room. “You will be awarded a flat two hundred pointz at the end of the evaluation.”

The volume of chatter in the room exploded.

“You will begin on the outzkirtz, but your objective zhould be to advanze toward the zenter. The differenze between reaching the manzion and not iz immenze.”

Simon nodded. A guaranteed 200 points would likely secure a spot in the middle ranks.

“That coverz the major rulez,” Jane said, putting down the chalk. “Thiz evaluation will comprehenzively azzezz your zurvival zkillz, combat prowezz, and adaptability in an unfamiliar environment. While the main rulez are ztraightforward, there are many intricate zecondary rulez. How you utilize them will be a meazure of your zkill. I expect you to have the guidebook memorized within the next two dayz.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“For the remaining time…” Jane glanced at her wristwatch. The students’ eyes lit up. ’Free time?’

“We will have a lecture from a guezt inztructor.”

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