[Viera's POV]
The following day, the academy students set sail for the island that would serve as the grounds for the first stage of the survival exam.
"Hey, Viera, where's, Captain? I haven't seen him all day," asked Eric, one of my colleagues on the Disciplinary Committee.
"He's sleeping in his cabin."
Last night, the Captain had dragged me along to demolish a pirate fleet at Rocky Island. I still couldn't believe he'd actually done it. He had effortlessly wiped out half of those hundreds of pirates and defeated their boss—who looked significantly stronger than him—without breaking a sweat. It made me wonder: how on earth did he lose to Brian, who was just another academy student?
"Is that so? Well... Instructor Torun is looking for him to discuss security protocols with the Student Council," Eric said, gesturing toward the instructor standing near the bow with several Council members.
"I'll handle them."
I walked over to the group. One of the Student Council members, a young man, had his brow furrowed in clear dissatisfaction.
"Where is your Leader? we need to discuss the security arrangements for this trip with him," the man demanded.
"Captain Raul is resting. I will be representing him in this discussion."
At my words, they exchanged skeptical glances. The man who had spoken first began to look genuinely annoyed.
"Tch. As a Leader, how can he be slacking off at a time like this? We're in open waters, and there were reports of piracy in this area just a few days ago!" he complained. If I remembered correctly, his name was Senior Ian.
Well... those concerns of yours aren't going to happen today, I thought. The Captain and I had turned their fleet to scrap metal last night. But why had he forbidden me from mentioning our achievement to them?
"You needn't worry about pirate attacks; we can easily handle them if they strike," I said, despite knowing full well the journey would be perfectly safe.
"Don't be ridiculous! How can you be a hundred percent certain we won't be attacked? Those pirates have claimed countless victims! Given that we're such a large convoy, we're an irresistible target," the Senior retorted. He was quite stubborn. "President, I told you that appointing a rotten noble like him as the Leader of Disciplinary Committee was a huge mistake! He only recruits useless people like this!"
Hearing him insult the Captain and the rest of us made my blood boil. I wanted to wipe that look off his face. I knew our group used to be full of "problem students," but we were trying to change. Under the Captain's guidance, we had grown far beyond what we once were.
We... were not trash.
"Failure students like you should—"
Before he could finish his sentence, a crumpled piece of paper suddenly flew through the air and smacked him right in the face. I turned around to see Captain Raul strolling toward us.
"Damn it! Who dares throw something at me!?" the Senior barked, irritably pulling the paper off his face.
I did my best to stifle a laugh as I watched the Captain treat the Senior like a complete fool.
"You might want to update your intel, Senior," the Captain said, gesturing to the paper in the man's hand.
"Huh? What are you—" The Senior's voice caught in his throat as he read the contents of the paper, which turned out to be a news bulletin.
"The pirate fleet of 'Zack the Brown Beard' was annihilated last night by an unknown party... Hey, Raul, is the information in this paper actually true!?" the Senior demanded.
"You can see the publisher yourself. That's the Aragon Times, the most credible newspaper in the Empire. Doesn't your family work there?" the Captain replied, nonchalantly confirming the source.
The Senior fell silent, gritting his teeth in frustration. It was obvious he had been looking for any excuse to tear down the Disciplinary Committee. With the "security threat" debunked, the discussion shifted toward preparations for the three-day survival exam on the uninhabited island.
***
[Raul's POV]
After a seven-hour voyage, the fleet carrying the students finally arrived at the island.
"Isn't the beach beautiful!"
"Look, the water is crystal clear! You can see all the way to the bottom!"
Some students were buzzing with excitement; it seemed many had never been to a beach before. Well... if you manage to pass this stage, I'm sure the academy will let you play here for a day or two.
"Attention!"
The students fell silent at the sound of the Instructor's voice.
"You are about to begin the first stage of the survival exam," the Instructor began, outlining the rules.
In this stage, students would form three-person teams. They were to search the island for crystal stones called Veremith over the course of seven days to earn exam points. The twenty teams with the lowest scores would be disqualified.
Students were permitted to fight one another to seize crystals. Everyone would be fitted with a magical bracelet called a Limiter. This artifact would automatically teleport a student back to the ship if it detected their body had reached its physical limit that mean near death condition. This ensured that no one would die, even if they fought with their full strength.
"Are the rules clear?" the Instructor asked. "Yes, you—the redhead."
The Instructor pointed to a red-haired young man standing solitary at the back of the crowd.
"Are we permitted to bring swords or other artifacts onto the island?" he asked.
That was Geralt de Jimena—son of Duke Vasco de Jimena, the most powerful noble house in the Southern Empire. Geralt was the rival of Brian, the Hero, in the game Path of Destiny. Players could even control him during certain quests.
"Students are not permitted to bring anything onto the island," the Instructor replied. "Any other questions?"
This time, a girl with glasses raised her hand.
"Are we allowed to cooperate or form alliances with other teams?"
That character... Ugh, I forgot her name. I think she's one of the NPCs players can summon for a fee to help with mob grinding or boss fights.
"You may, though it is up to you to decide how to split the crystals you find," the Instructor answered. "Anything else?"
Silence followed.
"If there are no further questions, proceed to draw a number from the box," the Instructor said, pointing to a box covered in black cloth. "Students with the same number will be teammates."
There were 200 second-year students in total. That meant there would be 66 three-person teams, with one remaining team of two.
The students began lining up to draw their numbers. After a while, it was finally my turn. I reached into the box and pulled out a slip of paper.
Number 24.
"Well... here's hoping I don't end up with anyone too weird."