Chapter 56

“You guys don’t know what survival is? It’s about staying alive! So why are you headed for self-destruction? I just don’t get it.”

Marlboro, the professor in charge, nodded internally as he watched Kara’s words on the screen.

The forest where the training was taking place was equipped with special devices, one of which was real-time video broadcasting.

With equipment installed all around the trees, they could see what was happening in the woods and observe the students.

Although tracking location was automatically possible through bracelets, they were pursuing this method for more careful judgment.

“Better to live alongside a tiger than fight it. It seems Kara understands the meaning of this training well.”

Yunhwa, who had been watching the screen with Marlboro, spoke up. She seemed pleased with Kara as she smiled contentedly.

Sara and Godin, who were watching beside them, expressed their satisfaction in their own ways.

“These students nowadays are way too competitive. Back in my day, it wasn’t this intense. We used to gather around the campfire together.”

Marlboro crossed his thick arms and said with a hint of nostalgia. It was a classic old-man remark, but no one disagreed.

When he was a student—about 10 years ago—United Academy was relatively less competitive.

There were frictions between countries, but students acted their age. They cared little for grades and focused more on human relationships.

However, in recent times, as national conflicts escalated, the repercussions reached the academy.

This meant many students were forgetting the essence of education, solely chasing grades.

“In the end, only bad feelings will remain. If only animosity persists, cooperation will be a dream.”

“It’s just a cycle repeating itself. Students, who will be the strength of their countries in the future, are already like this.”

Sara remarked coldly, while Godin expressed concern in his voice. They both feared the academy’s essence was vanishing.

However, they could not undermine the assessment, as Antonio was also pursuing cooperation.

The idea was to unite and gather strength against a great power, which is in a way the essence that the academy seeks.

Thus, it was hard to judge too harshly. Sivar had an overwhelmingly significant presence.

“It’s unfair, but nobody said you have to be first at all costs. Why are they already obsessing over being number one?”

“Won’t they complain later?”

“They will. I’ve clearly told them survival is the most important. They’re competing on their own.” Huh?”

Marlboro’s speech was interrupted as he looked at the screen with widened eyes. The other professors had similar reactions.

Kara, who initially dismissed Antonio’s proposal, appeared to be in a heated argument with her teammates, perhaps persuaded by him.

[Hey. Think logically. Do you really think you can win against her if you all swarm her?]

[We just have to take off her bracelet, right? We’re not suicidal, and we don’t think we can win at all.]

[Good luck getting it off. Why don’t you try taking mine off first?]

[Ugh… You just don’t get it.]

Survival has a tendency to fracture easily, especially when differences in opinions arise.

However, that’s mostly related to issues of food and water, and situations like these are quite rare.

Conflicts between those pursuing survival and those seeking competition have become frequent nowadays.

[Were all the Tartar people cowards? To be scared after just one fight is disappointing.]

[Did you finish saying your piece? What of it?]

[Then just help us eliminate Sivar. I don’t get why you’re being so stubborn.]

[No…! Ugh. Seriously. Don’t you all understand what’s most important in this exercise? The odds are stacked against you regardless!]

Kara vented her frustration. She was not the only one stuck in a hellish group project; Grace was also suffering.

Fortunately, Grace was struggling due to a particularly strong-willed team member, and there were no signs of division like Kara was experiencing.

[And you too, Luna. Everything about you is great, but why are your calculating skills so lacking? You said there’s hardly a difference between first and joint first, right? If that’s the case, why not get along with everyone instead of trying to eliminate someone?]

[…Is it because I like being first?]

[Ugh! Luna, seriously! I’m about to lose my mind here!!]

This was truly a rare situation. Sivar’s behavior was clearly infuriating for Grace, who came from a civilization considered less developed.

In the process of civilization, the most important factor is cooperation. Competition is a story that arises when different civilizations meet.

The professors observed the situation, chuckling or smirking with intrigue.

“Luna may be the top student but seems a bit clueless.”

“To be precise, she’s got a tendency to get swept away by her surroundings. She doesn’t seem to have much of a strong opinion.”

“Does that mean she lacks leadership qualities?”

At Sara’s question, Marlboro shook his head. That meant no.

“Not really. She also has a subtle stubbornness. She’s just severely lacking in experience, but she’ll improve over time. I can vouch for that.”

“If that’s Marlboro’s word, it sounds trustworthy. Oh, looks like they’re falling behind.”

Yunhwa pointed to the screen. Kara’s team, which was in conflict due to differing opinions, had eventually splintered and separated.

Of course, Kara frowned as she watched the team member join Luna’s group. But there was nothing she could do about it.

[Sigh. Even if they swarm together, it won’t work. I hope nobody gets hurt.]

Her kind heart made her worry at least. In due time, they broadcasted her setting off to follow her own path.

The professors appeared unaffected by what they were witnessing, holding expressions as if everything was as expected. It felt like they were watching something finally explode.

“Kara looks like she’ll survive a long time.”

“She might even aim for first place. Considering her talk about befriending a tiger, the chances seem high.”

“The culture of the Tartar people probably played a part too. They always look after their own.”

The professors offered positive assessments even in such a perilous situation. Hector, known as the Destruction King, seemed completely unfazed.

He was just giving objective remarks about the students. He didn’t care about inter-country matters at all.

“Now, what about Sivar’s side…”

Marlboro turned his head. As he did, the other professors also shifted their gaze in that direction.

The screen was not showing just one scene but broadcasting multiple situations simultaneously.

One of those was the Sivar team. The last time they saw him, he was busy butchering a boar.

What on earth is he doing now, they wondered. They were watching that team the closest, so they were especially concerned.

“What… is he eating right now?”

“Um…”

Like Marlboro’s surprised question, the other professors looked baffled. At first, it seemed like he was butchering well.

He was using a small dagger instead of a butchering knife and cutting in a haphazard manner, but it did look decent enough. So far, so good.

The issue arose with Sivar’s next actions. He had drained all the blood and removed the insides, which was good.

“That looks like… liver?”

“…He’s a real beast, isn’t he?”

The problem was that Sivar was consuming the boar’s liver raw. As a result, his mouth was covered in blood.

While his teammates were cooking the boar meat he had butchered over fire, Sivar was alone eating the insides raw.

That was an appetite truly characteristic of a savage. Marlboro looked sideways with a grim face at the sight, which was sickening to behold.

“…Don’t the Hwan Empire or the Frozen Principality also eat liver raw?”

This was directed at Yunhwa from the Hwan Empire and Sara from the Frozen Principality.

He believed both nations had a culture of consuming animal innards.

“They do, but… the Hwan Empire wouldn’t eat it like that. Lately, there are a lot of talks about parasite issues.”

“He’s asking for trouble like that. More than anything, it drastically lowers his chances of survival. The nutrients in the liver can actually be harmful.”

The startled Yunhwa and Sara explained coolly. In reality, eating raw liver decreases survival chances immensely.

The nutrients contained can lead to respiratory distress or rapid poisoning. It could be lethal.

“Wild animals find it hard to obtain nutrients, hence they derive them from the liver. I suppose Sivar is just like that.”

“What about the parasite issue?”

“From what I heard from the principal, there are no parasites and it’s really clean?”

“Hmm…”

At Godin’s response, Marlboro concentrated on the screen with a troubled expression. Grace was throwing up what she had just eaten, all due to Sivar’s antics.

Lee Yeon-joo was patting her back, but judging by her pale complexion, she too seemed to be struggling to hold it down.

Sivar, of course, had a completely blank expression of incomprehension, making for a disastrous combination with Kara’s team in a different sense.

“How should we assess Sivar? In terms of wild animals, isn’t that the correct behavior?”

“As a civilized person, he absolutely should not have done that. At least if he had cooked it, it would have been better.”

“Really? Then let’s do a half-and-half assessment. Just in case, I’ll tell him to take dewormers after the exercise.”

Marlboro wrote an evaluation note based on Yunhwa’s suggestion.

[Point deducted for not cooking. However, it’s presumed that his body is optimized for survival.]

This assessment was very fitting for the theme of ‘survival.’

******

You can only put three animal innards in your mouth: heart, lungs, and liver.

There’s no way I’m eating intestines or stomach. I can’t even imagine what’s inside them.

But to Grace, a civilized person, it might seem like whatever he eats makes him a savage. There’s no helping that.

[Go wash up immediately! Either find a stream nearby or something to clean up with!]

And so, he was chased away. It seemed he couldn’t stand even the blood splattered on him, whether it was livers or hearts.

He wasn’t completely chased away though; they moved away for a bit to look for running water. The meeting point would be where they had butchered the boar earlier.

Having entered a safe zone, it wouldn’t be a problem to separate, and it was decided fishing would be better than hunting.

If he were to hunt, he’d have to butcher again, and then perhaps he’d end up munching on guts again.

‘Wouldn’t it have been better if I had cooked it?’

Thinking it over, that might have been better. I no longer live in the wild, and there are plenty of places to replenish nutrients.

But habits die hard, and I seem to have unconsciously put it in my mouth after such a long time since my last meal.

Just to clarify, it wasn’t that Grace overreacted; it’s just me who’s the weird one.

I can recognize the situation myself, so I can’t blame her.

‘I don’t really know how to cook fish. I just have to make sure to remove the insides well.’

I concentrated my magic power in my ears to look for a stream. The sounds typical of the forest flooded my ears.

The chirping of birds, buzzing of insects, and the distant roar of beasts, among others.

Last but not least, the sound of flowing stream water. Luckily, there was a stream nearby.

There, I could roughly clean off the blood and check if there were any fish to catch.

Whoosh!

As I walked toward the direction of the sound, I soon came face to face with the stream. The current was quite strong.

I leaned forward and carefully assessed the condition of the stream. Seeing the minnows swimming around, it was clean enough to use as drinking water.

‘It sure is tough to wash off blood.’

In that short time, the blood had dried up, making it difficult to clean off. I had to rub it with my hands until it faintly faded.

I recall having a hard time cleaning blood when I lived in the forest too. Back then, I used animal fat to wash it off.

After living like that, at some point, it had all washed away, and I didn’t pay much attention to it.

‘Other survivors will likely come by too.’

Teams that hadn’t secured drinking water would likely find their way here. Maybe there would be a game of wits or confrontations between powers.

I lightly finished washing my face and stood up. Now all that was left was to head back to the meeting point and bring others back.

I was calm as I walked back since I already knew the way.

Just as I exited the stream and re-entered the forest.

“…?”

I stopped dead in my tracks, sensing something odd in the air around me.

As I had heightened my hearing earlier, there are usually various sounds in the forest.

But look now; it’s eerily quiet. In cases like this, there’s only one reason.

‘Someone’s here?’

People can deceive senses easily, but they can’t fool the sharper instincts of animals.

It’s a person. Someone is hiding nearby. Unless they’ve maxed out their ambush skills, they can’t completely conceal their presence.

Just like I mentioned, it’s easy to fool a human sense. But animals are extremely sensitive to presence and react dramatically to the slightest movements.

‘Looks like it’s not a reconnaissance operation…’

I had a rough idea of where they might be hiding. Plus, the numbers were quite large.

Estimating, there might be around ten of them. With a max of four per team, that means at least three teams.

It’s surprising how such a sizeable team could have hidden themselves unnoticed. Truly the skills of academy students.

I pondered on what to do and picked up a large, heavy stone that was lying on the ground.

Seeing as they were entirely hiding to ambush, it was all a fruitless effort. The forest had already alerted me to their presence.

Crunch! Crack!

I tightened my grip on the stone and smashed it to pieces in my hand. It was a simple task for me.

Once the stone was crushed, I firmly held the smaller bits and…

Thwack!

I hurled them at the hidden figures. The pebbles spread out like shotgun pellets.

If they don’t come out from their hiding, then I’ll go out and get them first.

With hostility radiating from me, I had no intention of ignoring them.

“Damn it! Block it!”

“How did he know?!”

How did I know?

‘I could hear you swallowing in your panic.’

If they were going to ambush, they should have acted sooner.

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