A week before the final written exams. Tiiriing— Tiiriing— I received two messages on my smartwatch while playing a VR game.

[Hajin, do you have plans to sell a study guide?]

[Hajin, this is Yeonji. Can you lend me your notes? ㅜㅜ I’ll pay you back with ranking points when we become heroes ㅜㅜㅜㅜ Pleaaaaase? ㅜㅜㅜㅜ]

Cadets started acting desperate as strangers messaged me. They spoke behind my back, calling me a delinquent, so I didn’t intend to help anyone. Who was Yeonji anyway?

“Yeah, no.”

I blocked them, but another message came.

“What now…”

My frown immediately disappeared. It came from Rachel.

[Um, can you perhaps help me with this problem ㅠ.ㅠ? It’s a calculation problem, but it’s too hard… :’( ]

Rachel sent a picture of the problem.

“…”

I quietly worked on it.

***

Four days before the written exams, Yoo Yeonha worked on a talent report late into the night. She wore round glasses with a spelling checker and increased recovery for her eyes.

[Kim Hajin] [Physical] ★★★☆☆ – ★★★★☆ [Intelligence] ★★★★★ [Utility] ★★★★★ [Potential] ★★★★★ [Gift] ???

Evaluation – Grade 1 — He is hiding his power for some reason, but his strength surpasses the level of cadets. — His gift has yet to be revealed, but is estimated to be at least four stars.

[Kim Suho] [Physical] ★★★★☆ [Intelligence] ★★★☆☆ [Utility] ★★★★☆ [Potential] ★★★★★ [Gift] ★★★★★

Evaluation – Grade 1 — His gift, Sword Saint, is more than enough to give him full points. — His elegant swordsmanship is well known among cadets. — Although not as much as Kim Hajin, he has the potential to reach the pinnacle of heroes…

“Auuuu, I’m exhausted.”

Yoo Yeonha set her glasses down. She spent five hours writing this report that quantified the ability of seven cadets, including Kim Hajin and Kim Suho. It provided around 200 pages of data and contained secret information. She sent the top-secret document to Essence of the Strait’s guild leader, Yoo Jinwoong.

Yoo Yeonha prioritized the report over her grades. Of course, good grades weren’t bad, but Yoo Yeonha didn’t aim to become the greatest hero. She knew her limits and understood that a hero was only one individual. No matter how strong, they would never win against society. However, Yoo Yeonha wanted to cultivate a new society in Korea. She entered Cube solely to obtain a hero status and make connections.

“Is he going to continue ignoring me?”

Yoo Yeonha grumbled as she picked up her smartwatch. Yoo Jinhyuk hadn’t replied back.

***

The Chameleon Troupe’s Boss collected her breath in front of an unfamiliar door three days before the written exams on Friday.

— Boss, no one will notice your disguise, so don’t worry. Remember, your name is Seo Ijin. Find me in the infirmary if anything happens.

Jain’s voice sounded in her ears. Her disguise looked perfect. The cadet named Seo Ijin had a similar build and hair color, so her disguise didn’t take much magic power either.

— Go in.

Boss nodded and opened the door. Cadets filled the room because the class would begin soon. She had already memorized everyone’s faces. Then she walked to the group that Seo Ijin often hung out with. Suddenly…

“Hey! Seo Ijin!”

Someone struck her head. She didn’t suffer any injury, but fell in a daze. She thought about what just happened and stiffly turned. A boy she didn’t recognize spoke to her.

“Did you study well?”

He looked down at her. She replied just as she had practiced.

“… Un, I did.”

“What were you doing yesterday? You weren’t respon—”

She sat at her seat before the boy could say anything else.

“Ijin.”

A pair of arms wrapped around her neck. It slightly startled her, but she wasn’t as shocked as before. She calmly looked at the girl who clung to her back like a huge cicada. A single fist could also kill the girl, just like a cicada.

Drrrrk—

The door opened, and Boss saw the reason she infiltrated this class. She stared at Kim Hajin, who walked in while yawning and made eye contact. Immediately, he froze.

***

… The hell.

I looked at a girl I usually didn’t notice. I didn’t know her name, but she was in my class. The way she interacted with her friends looked completely normal. However, I could see through her disguise. My gift, Observation and Reading, perfectly unmasked Jain’s gift.

That girl wasn’t an ordinary cadet, but the Chameleon Troupe’s Boss. She probably came here to observe Kim Suho. Still, this never occurred in the original story.

“Hey, why did you stop using social media? Did you find a boyfriend?”

Cadets who didn’t know her true identity touched her here and there. The girl she disguised as was a bit of a pushover.

“Hoho, boyfriend? What do you mean? I just slept because I was tired.”

Boss awkwardly responded, and I broke out into a cold sweat. I felt like their limbs and bones could break with one wrong move.

“Ah, Ijin, your cheeks are chubbier than usual. Did you eat ramen before sleeping?”

One of the girls pinched Boss’ cheeks, and her face immediately stiffened. I opened my mouth almost instinctively.

“Hey. Hey.”

They didn’t hear me as Boss’s cheeks extended. I could see her fists clenching.

“HEY!”

I shouted and went overboard with my volume. The classroom instantly fell silent, and everyone looked at me. I didn’t care.

“Can you shut up!? I’m trying to study!”

I yelled as I pointed at my notebook on my desk. If Boss exploded, everyone in this room could die.

“… What, you think you can tell us what to do just because you’re smart?”

They grumbled unhappily, but stopped messing with Boss. Afterward, Boss gave me an odd look and buried her face into the desk. The rest spoke behind my back.

***

I carefully observed Boss disguised as Seo Ijin for the entire week. I didn’t just watch her. I even talked to her like a friend, hoping to obtain some SP. She spoke like a generic high school girl trying to sound cute, which didn’t suit her, and she even bought me ice cream. I didn’t eat it and left it in my refrigerator.

The written exams ended without much trouble. The weekend after felt desolate as cadets who pulled all-nighters focused on returning to their peak physical condition. The weekend went by like a breeze.

“Now, focus!”

Monday finally arrived. The final exam would begin as 1300 first year cadets went to a harbor in Busan, and every class took a different ship.

“We will now inspect your baggage.”

The instructors inspected the cadets as soon as they boarded the ship. Three instructors called for us as I entered a room with one of them and handed him my magic pouch.

“Weight?”

“10kg.”

“What’s inside?”

“Food, tent, frying pan, torch, grill… things like that.”

“I’m opening it.”

Why ask what’s inside if you’re going to open it? I grumbled inwardly as the instructor pulled everything out. He stared in disbelief at the assortment of items.

“Why did you prepare so much?”

“Well, the announcements said that a single exam would last an entire week, so I had a general idea. I prepared accordingly.”

“Clever.”

The instructor grinned, but still carefully checked everything. Then he sent me back. Thankfully, he didn’t find out about Evandel’s seed. I brought it with me since it could hatch at any time. He probably thought it was a slightly big almond or something.

“Hua.”

After the inspection, I sat down on a bench near the ship’s bow. I could see an island coming into view. Countless drones flew around like seagulls.

“I’m feeling nervous.”

This exam would be difficult since I couldn’t use my Desert Eagle.

No, I could use it. I just had to avoid those drones by hacking them.

“Now, I will explain how this exam will work.”

An instructor came out to explain after the inspection.

“In 30 minutes, you will split into groups of 10 and land in different areas of that island. You will stay there for five days and survive on your own. We will, however, provide half a day’s worth of food.”

The food had decreased in half from the original story. The ship grew noisy at the instructor’s shocking announcement.

“The exam is rather simple. The number of points you gain will be your grade. Obtaining points is rather simple. Plenty of wild animals and monsters live on that island. You can hunt the wild animals for food, and you will gain points for hunting the monsters. You can gain 1 to 10 points depending on their rank and grade. You should have all received special smartwatches for this exam. Scan their corpses to see how many points they’re worth.”

The instructor continued explaining. In summary, cadets could steal, sell, and buy points from each other. In addition, they could eliminate other cadets and gain an additional 5 points along with all the points the eliminated cadet had obtained. However, cadets could only fight each other after the first 12 hours.

“In addition, exam overseers will carry name tags on their chests. Although I doubt anyone will succeed, you can steal these nametags for 200 points each.”

No one seemed interested despite the huge amount of points.

“Finally, you see that tower in the middle? If your smartwatch is stolen, you will be eliminated. Head to that tower and wait for the exam to end.”

A heavy tension filled the ship after the instructor’s explanation. No one spoke to each other. Soon, the instructors brought out boats. Cadets would now arrive on the island in groups of ten.

“Chae Nayun, Jin Yooyun, Selen, Haize…”

The starting group would determine our potential teammates or enemies.

“Kim Hajin, Jin Seoha, Yoojoong, Wang Shifu, Blen… Rachel, Tara.”

I got on the boat and exchanged awkward looks with the nine other cadets. Rachel was also in my group. Soon, the boat set off. I gazed at the island in thought. Rachel would face the greatest danger in this exam. Lancaster, who already resented her, had become a bigger threat in this world.

“Here’s your stop.”

The boat arrived before I could carefully plan. I spoke to Rachel the moment we landed.

“Rachel, would you like to team up?”

I didn’t expect her to agree as Rachel shook her head.

“I’m more comfortable alone.”

However, I didn’t back down. I gave her my smartwatch’s live coordinates. The exam smartwatch had three functionalities: scanning monsters, trading points, and location sharing. The latter two functions encouraged teams.

“Just in case you change your mind.”

I spoke as I pointed at my watch. Then Rachel smiled and left. Meanwhile, the remaining cadets murmured to themselves about me being rejected. Since these guys didn’t seem useful, I left and ran into the forest.

I opened my laptop after leaning against a random tree and paid a reasonable amount of SP to hack the drones’ servers. The laptop screen split into 60 smaller screens. I could analyze all of them simultaneously, thanks to my gift.

Most of the important cadets acted alone. Chae Nayun was already lost, Kim Suho fought a monster, and Yoo Yeonha was the only one who formed a team. If I recalled, the girl she teamed up with was ranked 15. She already won over a skilled cadet. However, I wasn’t interested in them.

“There.”

I discovered a group of five cadets from the repeating class. I had already looked up the faces of potential threats. Only two of those five were djinns in the original story, but all five could be djinns in this world. However, I still had some time before they would act. After all, cadets couldn’t fight each other for the next 12 hours. Before then…

“I guess I should find a camping spot.”