36. Magic Survival (6)
Boom, rrrrumble…….
At the explosive noise coming from nearby, I lifted my head for a moment.
I was hidden behind a pile of ruined stones, and I was also covered by the artifact ‘Stealth Robe,’ so there was no chance of my position being exposed, but I still felt a little uneasy.
“Hoo……”
Fortunately, it seemed they were fighting each other, because they didn’t appear to have noticed this place.
[27/100]
Before I knew it, the number of people left was down to around thirty.
We were already in the latter half of the match, and the match area had grown cramped, yet I still hadn’t been able to run into the main villain of this episode.
“Is this guide totally full of crap or what?”
I’d heard that if I went around drawing aggro, Berunkal would come looking for me on his own.
[17 KILL]
At some point, my kill count had gone over seventeen.
Part of that was because I fought well, sure, but from the start, it had also been possible because there was an absolutely insurmountable gap in skill when it came to handling ‘artifacts.’
Since there was no way to spend ten years enjoying nothing but one-on-one PvP, I had also played all sorts of content like tournaments and battle royales, and in order to win with ‘the character Baek Yuseol’—a squishy build with no ranged attack options whatsoever—I’d had no choice but to learn all sorts of strategies and ways to use artifacts.
That know-how was proving pretty useful here too, and even among all these formidable competitors who were each called elites in their own right, I had managed to survive this long with a ‘Lu Bu meta’ playstyle.
‘Whew, when those Jeremy faction bastards jumped me, I really thought I was dead.’
No matter what, if three people gang up on you at once, you die.
I only survived because a natural disaster happened at just the right moment, to the point that it would be fair to call it unbelievable luck.
If you crafted a robe using fabric made by processing and synthesizing special materials, you could move while slightly ignoring the lightning-based natural disaster, and using that, I dealt with the three of them one by one and took them all down.
They were all second-years, so I only barely scraped out a win…… but well, anyway, thank goodness I won.
‘Berunkal still hasn’t been eliminated, so where the hell is he?’
The reason I was using this Lu Bu meta in the first place was to make sure Berunkal got aggroed onto me before any more victims appeared.
But the fact that he still hadn’t come this far into the match meant he might have created other victims instead, and that made me a little uneasy.
Victims are inevitable.
Yeah, I know that.
Even so…… the thought that I might have failed to stop damage that maybe could have been prevented still left an ache in my chest.
“Hoo……”
When I checked my Life Points, they had climbed back to over half.
I had plenty of potions left because I’d been collecting them after taking down other players, but my mental stamina had been worn down badly by the nonstop fighting.
‘Still, if only I knew where Berunkal was……’
And the moment I thought that—
—Ahem, ah, can you hear me?
“Huh?”
Someone’s voice suddenly rang inside my head.
—Seems like you can hear me. Student Baek Yuseol, it’s me, the principal. Looks like the match has been going well for you.
“Principal……?”
I hadn’t expected someone from outside to suddenly speak to me, so I was a little taken aback.
—Yes. Normally, I strictly forbid contacting people from outside like this…… but given the circumstances, it can’t be helped. Student Baek Yuseol, a rather serious problem has occurred in the tournament.
The instant I heard that, I knew.
No matter how they had found out, Eltman Eltwin had realized that a dark mage had infiltrated Magic Survival.
—As Stella’s principal, it is disgraceful to admit…… but one little rat has entered Magic Survival.
Grind.
It almost felt as though I could hear him gnashing his teeth all the way from here.
Even though that made no sense, since we were communicating via telepathy.
—So…… I would like to ask for your help, Student Baek Yuseol.
“What kind of help?”
—I’ll tell you where the dark mage is. Can you find him and deal with him?
I had never expected to receive help like this.
Without hesitating, I nodded right away.
“If you tell me, I’ll go immediately.”
—There’s no need. One of our school’s students bought us time, so the bastard is currently outside the match area. It seems he’s hurrying to rejoin the inside of the match area, but……
Someone had bought us time?
There weren’t many Stella participants to begin with, so I immediately knew who that had to be.
‘Dok Cheolgwang.’
One of the characters I had liked the most since back in my gaming days.
Of course. There was no way he would have just walked past after seeing a dark mage.
—This is the location.
A map appeared before my eyes, and Berunkal’s location was marked on it.
He was still outside the match area, but he was charging toward this place at tremendous speed.
Outside the barrier, Life Points would be drained at an enormous rate, so it looked like he had quite a stockpile of potions.
Then I spotted something else.
The map also showed the locations of the other survivors, and in the straight-line direction Berunkal was heading, of all people, ‘Zeliel’ was sitting there plain as day.
“This…… looks like I’ll have to go myself.”
Zeliel was a villainess.
An even more vicious villainess than Hong Biyeon.
She had probably committed countless wrongs up to now, and she would probably commit countless more in the future……
but I couldn’t just leave her to die here.
Was it because I was worried the future would become twisted?
That was part of it, sure, but I had also seen the possibility of redemption in her.
If she could repent for her sins, and if that brilliant mind, that wealth, and that magical talent of hers could all be turned toward helping save the world……
then she would be a tremendous help on the same level as the three main heroines.
And more than anything, I simply didn’t want someone I knew to die.
—…Please. I’m truly ashamed that I have to entrust something like this to a student.
“It’s fine. This is what a magic warrior is supposed to do.”
I didn’t have a magic warrior’s sense of duty at all, but I was still trying to do something good anyway, so wasn’t it better to wrap it up in smooth, convincing words like that?
Once I’d decided, I moved immediately.
I gripped the Level 3 ‘Big, Sturdy Iron Club’ I had found in the supplies earlier and got to my feet.
“I’m going right now.”
Shaaah…….
A sudden shower poured down.
In the field of Magic Survival, the weather changed frequently in addition to the natural disasters, and when showers like this came down, sound was almost completely blocked out, making it difficult to notice enemies approaching nearby.
Zeliel blankly stared into the air, hiding beneath the roof of a crumbling ruin.
[3 KILL!]
On her way here, she had already taken down three enemies.
It wasn’t that she had much interest in the tournament or any desire to win, but since she had entered it in the first place, she felt more strongly that she ought to at least move.
And……
if she happened to win, it might become something impressive to boast about to her father.
‘What would be the point of that.’
She wouldn’t be able to see her father for three years now.
The more she thought about it, the less she could understand it.
A magical vow contract was absolute.
There was a reason hardly any mage signed such a contract lightly.
Which meant Baek Yuseol, through that vow contract…… could have demanded far better terms and taken many things from her.
As the daughter of the head of the Starcloud Trading Company, and a high elf blessed by the World Tree, she was useful in many ways.
If he wanted land, she could have given him land.
If he wanted a mine, she could have given him that too.
If he wanted a noble title, or wished to meet the elders of the high elves, she could have arranged that as much as he liked.
She had no particular concept of sexuality, but through the way the world looked at her, she knew perfectly well that she was considered extremely beautiful.
Because Zeliel was quick-witted, she knew well enough how men usually looked at her.
So if he had been an ordinary person, he might very well have included conditions like that……
but Baek Yuseol had wanted nothing.
All he wanted was a clause that would change Zeliel’s heart.
Why?
She had agonized over it all night long, and then agonized over it some more, but no answer had come.
‘If I come to hate Father, is there some benefit in that for Baek Yuseol?’
At first, she had tried approaching it from that angle.
She was extremely intelligent, so she had considered all sorts of possibilities for what Baek Yuseol might gain socially, or in business terms……
but……
‘There’s nothing.’
There wasn’t a single benefit Baek Yuseol would gain from her coming to hate her father.
If anything, it would only be a loss for him.
“Ha……”
She had always thought she didn’t understand why humans sighed, yet now she was doing it herself.
[The match area is shrinking.]
Since it was about time to move, she gathered up her staff and belongings and stood.
If she wanted victory, the best option was to take up a position in the center beforehand.
The problem was that everyone thought the same way.
She had had the bad luck of being dropped on the outskirts of the match area, and there was nowhere near enough time for her to secure a position in the center.
So she intended to circle the edge of the match area and then cut into the center all at once.
If she engaged in frequent skirmishes on the outskirts, she would surely attract attention, and there was always the risk she could lose.
When a shower fell, visibility was drastically reduced, so one had to be especially careful when moving.
She slipped carefully out of the ruins and climbed the hill.
[Weather: Shower]
[Time: 21:43]
Inside the stage, day and night changed at a rapid pace, so by the latter half of the match, the sky had already grown dark.
Even in a situation where she could barely see directly ahead, Zeliel swiftly threaded her way between trees and up the hill with a high elf’s exceptional eyesight and footwork.
And then—
Rumble…… flash!
The sky flashed white, and lightning struck.
“Uht……!”
A thousand-year-old ancient tree standing at the top of the hill burst into flames.
Even though the shower was pouring down hard, the flames showed no sign of going out, and Zeliel realized that this was the ‘Event’ she had only heard about by name.
If you experienced one of the special Events that occurred inside the stage, you could obtain artifacts that normally couldn’t be found.
“……Lucky.”
The other players nearby would have noticed it as well, but Zeliel was the closest, so all she had to do was grab it quickly and leave.
As she approached the blazing ancient tree, something shaped like a staff dropped out with a clunk.
[Lv.4 Staff of the Lightning-Struck Thousand-Year Tree]
It was one of the highest-grade artifacts obtainable inside the stage.
Thinking this had brought her one step closer to victory, Zeliel took it into her hand—
but at that moment, sensing a presence behind her, she spun around in a hurry and leveled the newly acquired staff.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice you creeping up on me like that?”
Trying to deceive an elf’s ears.
What a joke.
The other person was wearing a robe, but it was ripped up in places, as though they had gone through considerable combat already.
Their Defense Points were presumably quite low.
‘I can win this easily.’
A mage’s personal skill mattered, of course, but since Magic Survival was a game where the outcome could also be decided by artifacts and equipment, Zeliel was certain of victory.
And then, suddenly—
the unknown opponent abruptly tore the robe open and threw it aside.
“Huh……?”
For a moment, Zeliel could not properly understand what she was seeing.
A pair of small protruding horns.
The whites of the eyes stained dark crimson.
Even pointed fangs.
It was…… unmistakably the appearance of a dark mage.
‘Is this also…… an Event?’
No.
There was no such thing as an Event where a dark mage appeared.
This was a match whose purpose was purely for mages to compete against one another and survive—why would some random dark mage Event suddenly exist?
And on top of that, wasn’t the other person wearing the system-assist bracelet on his wrist, the one only players could wear?
The other person was a player.
And yet—
a dark mage.
Even Zeliel’s mind could not easily comprehend that chain of cause and effect.
“You…… what are you……?”
She asked carefully, but without answering, he bared his fangs in a grin and ignited dark crimson flames in both hands.
“Ah……?”
That dark power came through vividly.
She realized at once.
That was a ‘real dark mage.’
Which meant, if she was hit by that magic……
she might really die.
‘I need to run.’
It took only three seconds at most to make that judgment.
But by the time she had made it, the dark mage had already hurled a sinister black flame toward her.
……Fwoosh!!
