Chapter 357: The Beginning Of The End [XIX]

Unlike the other exam, this one lasted less than forty-five minutes, with numerous students falling into a state of mindlessness.

The professor expected this and told Aestrea and Elijah to save them.

The process of saving the students was a little bit difficult since they needed to enter their dreamscape and pull them out of whatever they were going through.

This, because stabilizing the minds of a few students wasn’t enough.

Elijah tried to handle each case with patience. He spoke softly, reached out his hand, tried to calm the fear, and guided the trapped student toward the exit like a gentle guide.

But of course, Aestrea did not bother with such things.

The moment he stepped into a dream, he searched for the source of fear, found whatever monster or shadow was attacking the student, and destroyed it with pure force.

And just like that, after clearing out everyone, the only students that remained were three hundred out of the thousands of students that participated in the midterms.

“I guess that’s everyone…” The professor sighed deeply, furrowing his eyebrows, “It’s more than fifty percent less than the previous year.”

“Really?” Elijah raised an eyebrow. “I heard that this year had many ’prodigies’, how come it’s even less?”

“I guess those prodigies are all muscle-brained,” Aestrea added lightly, causing Elijah to shake his head with a small smile.

But then, the professor spoke.

“Most of those prodigies are already dead.”

He glanced toward the distant academy buildings.

“Most likely killed by the Fallen God… since they had the potential to be strong enough to defeat him if given time.”

A heavy silence followed.

Aestrea’s lips twitched, and a nerve pulsed near his jaw.

’The only fuckers that I killed are that damn football star and Clostro. And maybe a few soldiers… but I didn’t touch those fucking prodigies!’

He wanted to complain, but obviously, he couldn’t.

And just at that moment, before any of us could open our mouths again, the professor stepped forward, almost like he timed it on purpose.

His shoes made a sharp tapping sound that cut into everyone’s ears and immediately drew our attention to him.

His expression didn’t carry even a little emotion. It was calm, serious, and cold… almost like he was about to announce who was allowed to live or die.

“Now,” he began, loud and clear.

“It is finally time for the last phase of the midterms. And listen carefully because this part is what decides your actual grade. The previous exams were just to confirm if you were worthy enough to remain alive inside our academy.”

A wave of whispers exploded across the area.

“What?”

“Alive?”

“So the last test is the real thing…?”

“I knew it wasn’t over…”

He continued, raising one finger.

“And the final test is…”

The man paused, letting silence stretch long enough to make a few people flinch.

“…Tag.”

His voice echoed clearly, as if it punched everyone right in the forehead.

“…Tag?”

“Like… the children’s game?”

“Are you kidding…?”

“This must be a joke.”

The confusion spread like a damn disease.

Elijah blinked twice. He slowly turned his head toward the professor, then back at Aestrea, then back at the professor again.

“…Wait. Actual tag? As in running and touching someone?” he asked, completely stunned.

Even Aestrea couldn’t help frowning.

A few students even laughed nervously.

“No way the professor is serious.”

“Is he testing our reaction?”

“Maybe it’s a riddle?”

“Well… if indeed it’s tag, I’m actually kind of relieved—”

BOOOOOOOMM!

And before he could finish his stupid sentence, the professor slammed his staff into the ground, silencing everyone.

A faint shockwave trembled beneath our feet.

The professor slowly lifted his head, eyes sharp like he could slice our throats just by staring long enough.

“If any of you still think this final test is a childish game,” he spoke coldly in a serious tone, “then you truly have no idea where you are.”

A few students swallowed so loudly it echoed.

The professor turned slightly, tapping his staff twice against the ground.

“The rules are simple,” he continued. “All three hundred of you have already been accepted as worthy to continue so far. However, only one will finish this final event as the top. The rest of you will be ranked according to the order you are removed… like a long, painful ladder.”

A hand shot up.

“What do you mean by removed, sir?” a nervous girl asked.

The professor nodded, almost like he expected the question.

“When you are tagged, your exam ends instantly. You will be teleported outside the arena and placed in a resting zone. The moment your body disappears, your ranking is decided.”

He raised three fingers.

“Three.

Hundred.

Ranks.”

He let each word hang.

“So if you are the first to be tagged… congratulations.” His lips curled slightly, not a smile, not mockery, something in between.

“You are Rank Three Hundred.”

Some students flinched.

“That means… the second tagged is Rank 299?” someone whispered.

“Correct,” the professor replied, turning toward him. “And so on. Until only one student remains, untouched, undefeated, and untagged, that student will be Rank One.”

Someone from the back finally snapped.

“Sir… that means we’re basically running and hunting each other like animals?”

A few looked around in disbelief as if waiting for him to deny it.

He didn’t.

“Oh, no.”

He shook his head slowly.

“Not running like animals. Running like survivors trying to out-think, out-pace, and out-maneuver every other talented monster around them.”

That shut everyone up.

The professor rested one hand behind his back, speaking with unnerving calmness.

“You are allowed to form alliances.

You are allowed to deceive.

You are allowed to split into groups, trick others, hide, chase, stalk, ambush, or betray.

You may use physical abilities, divine powers, elemental skills, weapons, tools, or artifacts…”

The students’ eyes widened at the professor’s words, since it sounded much easier than they had ever thought.

That was… until he dropped the bomb.

“…but you may not inflict crippling damage, dismember, torture, or kill.”

Some groaned immediately.

Kael raised his hand.

“So basically, we can blast someone off a cliff but not stab them through the heart, right?”

“Bro, stop asking like a psycho!” Tyrian elbowed him.

The professor didn’t even blink.

“If the attack is non-lethal, indirect, or controlled, then yes — as long as the target can still walk. Permanent damage or obvious malicious intent will result in immediate disqualification.”

He looked at the students again.

“You will be fighting in a specially designed field where you can hide, chase, trap, and escape. Think of it as a battlefield mixed with a playground.”

He paused.

“And… none of you will know who it is…”

That got louder reactions than anything.

“What?”

“Wait, so who starts?”

“Is it random?”

The professor grinned faintly, too faint to be friendly.

“The system will choose one of you at random. Only the chosen student will feel the mark burning on their hand, and their job is to tag someone — physically touch them with either hand.”

He lifted his palm.

“When they succeed, the mark transfers immediately to the person they touched.”

Tyrian scratched his head.

“So… like an infection?”

“Correct,” the professor said without hesitation.

“A contagious threat. A constantly moving danger. The moment someone is tagged, they go from prey to hunter, desperately searching for someone else before time runs out.”

“Time?” a red-haired boy asked.

“Yes. If the chosen hunter fails to tag someone within the given time limit, they are automatically teleported out and become the next-ranked loser.”

The students’ hearts collectively dropped.

“So you either run…”

“…or you hunt.”

“…or you die metaphorically.”

No one was smiling anymore.

The professor stomped his staff lightly and added:

“You all have one minute to mentally prepare. Once you are transported into the trial field, the game begins — and it will not stop until two hundred ninety-nine tags are done.”

He turned slightly, voice dropping into a darker tone.

“And remember… in this test, hesitation is the same as failure.”

He finally looked up toward the sky.

“Good luck… You will all need it.”

Phew…

The wind blew lightly, and in just that moment, the students had already understood the meaning of the game as they had already formed groups.

“…This game is quite interesting,” Aestrea commented lightly.

“Really? I think it’s a little bit too psychological… isn’t it?” Elijah replied, looking at a group of students who were discussing their strategies.

They were probably so damn nervous that they forgot to place a barrier for the others not to hear them.

But surprisingly, the other students were committing the same mistake.

“It is… they don’t know if their teammates are going to betray or stab them in the back,” Aestrea nodded lightly.

’But that’s simply what it makes interesting…’

A minute passed quickly.

A few feet away, the professor slowly raised his staff again, and just like that, every murmur, every shaky breath, every tiny nervous giggle faded as if someone pressed mute on the world itself.

The air turned heavier, sharper, almost cold enough to crawl under the skin.

His voice came out calm… painfully calm.

“Since you all seem to have understood the basics… we will now begin.”

He glanced around the field one last time, like a hunter checking his prey numbers before the release.

“No backing out anymore. No pauses. No complaints. No crying. No excuses. Once it starts, it only ends when one student remains.”

The professor lifted his staff high into the air, letting a faint silver glow wrap around the tip.

“This test… begins now.”

BOOOOOOM—!

A pulse of light blasted across the area, not strong enough to throw anyone back, but strong enough to make every heartbeat feel like it skipped and crashed at once.

And then, the students were moved to a completely different place, having the form of a green labyrinth…

But of course… the labyrinth didn’t have an exit.

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