Yein closed the distance on Jo Inhoo in a blink, even using a movement skill to accelerate.

Is he insane?

That was the first thought that flashed through Inhoo’s mind.

Nam Yein’s aptitude stats were F/F/C.

His own stamina stat was A—he was Crystal’s tank.

There was no way Yein could beat him head-on.

Inhoo had already judged Yein’s pitiful physical ability during the duel with Iris.

In his mind, Iris had lost because of two reasons: first, she had been careless, and second, Yein had blindsided her with items no one had seen before.

That’s it!

His eyes widened.

Yein must be carrying a close-range item—like that swamp trap or the thorn bramble from before. That had to be why he was rushing in.

But I won’t make the mistake of letting my guard down!

Inhoo raised his shield.

I’ll smash him before he does anything.

His role was to protect Toby and Muimi from Yein at all costs.

A weakling with F/F in stamina and energy—one hit from his shield bash would flatten him.

Even if Yein tried to use that barrier item from the Iris duel, shield charge inflicted stagger regardless of defense. After that, Yein would be at his mercy.

Inhoo activated his Shield Charge. His body blasted forward like a fired cannonball.

“No! Inhoo!!”

Toby’s shout echoed across the arena.

“You lost Lumina!”

!

Inhoo’s eyes went wide.

Focused entirely on Yein’s reckless rush, his vision had narrowed. Only now did he realize the enemy formation had shifted.

Seo Yui stood before Meiling with her shield raised, while a black aura was spreading outward around Meiling.

And at Gwangcheon’s starting position, scorch marks and traces of the area spells Toby and Muimi had cast were all that remained.

If their spells had hit, Lumina should have been visible.

But she was nowhere to be found.

Inhoo grit his teeth.

Then at the very least, I’ll take Nam Yein down!

Yein’s charge met his Shield Charge. They were less than a meter apart now.

Yein had already used a movement skill—dodging was impossible.

But before Inhoo could even blink, Yein vanished from right in front of him.

“!!?”

Inhoo’s eyes snapped to their starting position. Yein was standing there again.

At his feet glowed a hexagonal platform.

A teleport item…!!

His heart sank.

He baited me from the start…

His Shield Charge couldn’t be canceled. He kept barreling toward Yein’s new position—

Ssschhk!!

A red flash. Inhoo collapsed to the floor.

“Haaah…”

Beside his fallen body, Lumina appeared, exhaling a trembling sigh of relief.

She flicked blood from her dagger, crimson droplets scattering across the tiles.

Toby’s face hardened at the sight.

His plan had been to eliminate either Meiling or Lumina first.

But Yein had rushed Inhoo, luring him away, and set up the perfect ambush for Lumina’s strike.

Now, Iris was locked in combat with Seo Yui, who wore her half-blue mask.

Seo Yui had stuck to Meiling from the very start, never leaving her side.

Toby’s strategy—to force Seo Yui into choosing between protecting Meiling or Lumina—hadn’t even had the chance to unfold.

It was as if Yein had known the plan all along.

Nam Yein… you…

His grip tightened on his staff.

“…Muimi. You take Yein. I’ll handle Lumina.”

He reached into his inventory. In one hand, he gripped a staff; in the other, a one-handed sword.

Lumina had already used her stealth. With its cooldown active, she wouldn’t be able to disappear again anytime soon.

Against her, a stamina-A fighter like Toby had a better chance than Muimi, a mage.

“Got it…!”

Muimi began casting at once, while Toby charged Lumina.

She froze for a moment, then clenched her dagger tightly and sprang forward.

Toby fired a mana bolt straight at her head.

“Hrk!”

With a sharp cry that sounded almost like a sob, Lumina slashed upward, splitting the bolt.

The blue orb dissipated into smoke.

As I thought… mana bolts can only stall her.

Perhaps Flame Barrage could hurt her, but casting against a melee fighter at this range was suicide.

He stowed his staff and drew an item instead.

“!”

Lumina’s eyes darted back.

Toby had blinked behind her with a movement skill.

Clang!!

Her dagger met his sword.

She reacted that fast? To a sudden acceleration?

He couldn’t believe it. Her reflexes were inhuman. Whether it was level difference or experience, he didn’t know—but grappling her after a teleport wasn’t going to work.

Sssht!

He jerked his head back instinctively—just in time to avoid the second dagger in her off-hand, grazing his neck.

He stared into her face.

Lumina’s expression was pale and taut with tension, her eyes wide.

Cold sweat ran down Toby’s back.

He realized just how foolish he had been.

This girl… she’s not fighting a spar.

Her dagger slashed for his throat again.

Panicking, Toby used an item.

A blue barrier sprang up, deflecting the blade.

The same one-use shield Yein had used against Iris.

Lumina pressed her lips tightly, her face drained of blood, and stepped in.

She slid to Toby’s unguarded side, stabbing low for his ribs.

He reflexively conjured a mana shield.

But without his staff, it shattered like glass.

Her dagger punched through, aiming for his side.

Toby collapsed, going limp on the floor, barely dodging the thrust.

But Lumina immediately drove her other dagger downward at his stomach.

He blocked with his sword, sparks flying.

Planting his hand on the ground, he lashed out with his leg, kicking her shin hard.

Her foot lifted, throwing her balance off.

Finally… an opening.

His sword arced toward her torso.

Clang! Thunk!

Hot blood sprayed across the arena tiles.

Crystal Academy’s auditorium.

The students who had been watching their academy’s representatives face Gwangcheon wore dark, grim faces.

The hologram replay showed Crystal’s tank collapsing barely ten seconds into the match.

Then came the clash: Toby, sword in hand, against Gwangcheon’s green-haired dagger wielder.

The Crystal trainees gasped in admiration. Their strategist, known only as a mage, was actually holding his own in melee combat.

But when he deployed a shield item, groans rippled through the audience.

A Crystal third-year had resorted to an item against a Gwangcheon first-year.

Even if Toby managed to win, his pride was already in shreds.

Yet they couldn’t fully condemn him either.

Gwangcheon’s strength had transcended class rankings and grade levels altogether.

If Toby hadn’t used an item, he wouldn’t have stood a chance.

That was the kind of team Gwangcheon had revealed themselves to be at HAUT.

Whack!

“Ah!”

“Ohhh!”

The auditorium erupted.

Flat on his back, Toby swept his leg, hooking it behind his opponent’s.

His kick connected cleanly, sending the green-haired girl spinning up into the air.

His sword followed, thrusting straight for her.

For a moment, everyone believed it was over.

Clang! Thud!

Still airborne, Lumina twisted her body, deflecting Toby’s blade with one dagger—while the other slashed his arm open.

Blood sprayed across the dueling floor.

[Aaaah…!]

A chorus of cries rang out across the auditorium.

Toby fumbled for his teleport item, but his opponent was faster.

The girl rammed her dagger’s hilt into his gut.

He choked, blood spraying from his lips.

She gave him no space to recover. Another brutal strike to the stomach with the dagger’s hilt.

Toby, Crystal’s mastermind, collapsed without ever activating the healing ability of his own power. Eliminated.

The hall fell into stunned silence.

The footage continued.

Gwangcheon’s item-user had blanketed the field with smoke bombs, vanishing into the haze to prevent Muimi from targeting him.

Unable to lock on, Muimi blasted the smokescreen with area magic.

But no matter how many spells he fired, the item-user’s HP bar stayed green.

And then—Lumina, fresh from defeating Toby, closed in.

Moments later, Muimi was down.

Meanwhile, Iris—who had activated Blade of the Conqueror

at the start—was being devoured by Meiling’s Death Domain.

As the effect ended, Iris lost the immunity that had been shielding her. She tried to retreat.

But Seo Yui slammed into her with a Shield Charge, staggering her in place.

And so, the greatest talent in Crystal’s history, the strongest hunter trainee of them all, collapsed in the arena without resistance.

“No way…”

“Ahh…”

Groans and laments echoed from all corners of the auditorium.

[Crystal team eliminated! The final winner of the team battle is Gwangcheon!]

Abel’s voice thundered through the holographic projection.

With the team battle over, our squad was awarded 70 merit points for the victory.

Afterward came the final theory lecture of HAUT.

Just the written exam and survival left… then HAUT is over.

The long journey was finally reaching its end.

“After dinner, there will be an orientation for tomorrow afternoon’s dungeon survival,” Abel said, gathering us outside the cafeteria.

“Teams will enter one by one, starting from the left.”

Ucheon Academy went first.

Soon, all twenty-four students were seated inside for dinner.

Yet the hall was eerily quiet.

It had been the same at lunch.

With only two days left, the overall rankings were nearly decided. The silence made sense.

Our squad—the reason for that silence—ate in near silence as well.

“Well this sucks. Fish for both lunch and dinner? Forget this, Lumina, let’s just ditch and hit the store. Even if the match was a breeze, we should still celebrate our win.”

Correction: most of us were quiet.

Meiling, as always, was the exception.

Was she oblivious to the mood, or just ignoring it? Or maybe she just enjoyed making things worse.

“Uh… I don’t mind fish, actually,” Lumina said nervously, picking bones out of her grilled mackerel.

I glanced around.

No one was watching us. Everyone else had their heads down, eating silently.

We didn’t get time to slip away afterward.

The moment dinner ended, Abel gathered us again and led us straight to the main hall.

The air prickled as we approached the entrance.

Inside, as expected, stood HAUT’s executive chairman, Riyu Homar, at the podium.

“Take your seats,” Abel instructed.

We sat. Abel whispered briefly with Riyu, then left.

“Hmph.”

Riyu stroked his beard, gazing down at us.

“Pathetic. I gathered the most spirited students here, and in ten days you’ve all become broken stragglers. Get a grip!”

His voice cracked like thunder, rattling my bones.

The students, heads bowed, snapped upright, eyes wide.

“Better.” Riyu smirked.

“As you know, tomorrow morning is the theory exam. In the afternoon—the dungeon survival.”

He grinned.

“It won’t be easy. Every year, multiple teams drop out of survival.”

The students’ faces stiffened.

“Survival is your best chance to earn points. Last twenty-four hours and your team will earn 100 points.”

At that number, the mood shifted instantly.

“And throughout the survival, each of you will receive individual missions. Succeed, and you’ll earn more points. To put it bluntly…”

Riyu’s staff lifted—pointing directly at me.

“…depending on your performance, you could even surpass Gwangcheon, who currently sit in first place.”

All eyes turned toward me.

That damn old man…

I cursed under my breath.

The scenario had already begun to veer away from the game.

(End of Chapter)