[PHASE 1] - 96:00:00
Upon entering , the first things to greet the students were huge letters and a timer floating in midair.
Phase 1.
They continued forward, mulling over those strangely ominous words.
-Loading configured battlefield.
Once all the students had entered, the surrounding scenery shattered apart, revealing the forest that would serve as the battlefield for this Survival Mode practical training.
Since this was the first time most of the students had experienced itself, exclamations of admiration naturally escaped them.
But they soon remembered the true nature of this practical training.
Five days of sleepless survival.
Tension naturally set in.
SQUEAK? SQUEAK!
At that moment,
“Aagh! What is that?!”
Someone recoiled at the sight of a rat appearing at their feet.
An instinctive stomp followed.
-Team C eliminated.
Then Professor Lucas’s cold voice rang out.
What had they even done to be eliminated already?
-I believe I told you that the wearer of the gold name tag cannot participate in combat.
That was right.
The practical training had begun the moment they entered . Even this rat was a monster and therefore a combat target.
It was the fault of those who had let their guard down.
But it still felt terribly unfair. At the very least, should there not have been a signal announcing the start?
-Would you expect a starting signal in real combat too?
“B-But······”
-There are no second chances.
Only that cold reply came back.
***
‘Oh? You’re not nervous, are you?’
Just as expected, one team was eliminated the moment the training began.
Everything had gone exactly according to my plan.
Though I had never imagined it would be Deyan’s team.
From the start, the point of this practical training was not to wreck them with powerful monsters, but to place them in a brutal environment and raise their ability to survive.
Teamwork was just as important as each individual’s ability.
No matter how skilled one person was, if a teammate trolled, everyone would be eliminated.
I had placed one such factor into every phase.
The instant they let their guard down, they were out.
Anyway, after the first elimination, I could see that the students’ tension had risen to the extreme.
Every single movement was now cautious.
That was the true essence of Phase 1 that I wanted.
So-called ‘nerves on edge.’
If they kept their nerves sharpened over every tiny thing, their fatigue would double.
And if they had to survive for five days without sleeping in that state?
They would truly be driven to the limit.
The level of the monsters appearing in this practical training was fundamentally adjusted to the student with the weakest combat ability.
The monsters were not the problem.
This was a system that required flexible responses to the surrounding environment.
Because a real battlefield would torment them with an environment far more miserable than this.
And they would have to protect me in the middle of it.
“Now then, this is where it really begins······.”
The practical training had only just begun.
***
“For five days inside ?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“I see······ Very well. Good work. For now, go rest until your next order comes.”
“Yes.”
After receiving Ritt’s report, the man stroked his chin.
A practical training session lasting five days.
And inside , a space isolated from reality at that.
‘If something terrible were to happen in there······ it would be difficult for Professor Lucas to remain at Grasco.’
For example—
They might become trapped inside and be unable to escape, the system of might malfunction, or perhaps Demons might appear inside.
“An investment worth making.”
He smiled and headed somewhere.
***
[A new notification has arrived.]
[Habaek. donated 1,000G.]
[Habaek. donated 3,000G.]
[Mubalgisajeong donated 1,000G.]
The donations were coming in at a suspicious rate.
Enough to make me wonder whether this was some hidden-camera prank.
That’s how unbelievable it is~
Anyway, I finally had enough nerve to at least window-shop through the Gold Shop’s killer prices.
I opened the Gold Shop and looked through the items.
.
.
.
-Teleport Scroll(Single-Use) 5,600G
-Vision Enhancement (Stage 2) 7,000G
-Hair Growth Tonic(6 Months) 8,300G
.
.
.
It was still full of items whose uses were a mystery.
Still, among all the crap I could not understand why they charged several thousand Gold for, there were a few things that caught my eye.
A Teleport Scroll seemed useful for escaping in a crisis, and as for Vision Enhancement, I had experienced tremendous benefits from Stage 1, so naturally I had expectations for Stage 2.
And······ the Hair Growth Tonic caught my eye too.
No, it was not like I was losing my hair or anything. Just saying. You never know.
‘I’m tempted······ but later.’
For now, it was still time to save more Gold.
I closed the Gold Shop with lingering regret.
***
[PHASE 2] - 71 : 36 : 22
The eventful first day passed.
Aside from Team C, which had been eliminated right at the beginning, no one else had dropped out yet.
The summoned monsters were not strong enough to be a serious concern either, so they were manageable.
The problem was fatigue.
‘Was my stamina always this bad?’
Even those who had considered themselves confident in their stamina were feeling extreme exhaustion.
Just as Lucas intended, those whose nerves had been sharpened were tiring much more easily.
“If we keep going like this, we’ll hit a wall on the third day. Let’s assign watch shifts. When someone has the gold name tag, they should at least get a little sleep.”
They even came up with plausible solutions.
But,
BUZZZZ!
“What kind of mosquito swarm is······”
“Don’t move! Those are monsters too!”
Things were not going to be that easy.
Small, troublesome elements that were difficult to deal with—and that would inevitably count as attacks if they reacted carelessly—continued to wear them down and exhaust them.
[PHASE 3] - 46:56:24
Now monsters that actually looked like monsters began to be summoned.
But they were still manageable.
Team B, which Eilon belonged to, was performing especially well.
Eilon’s Magical Weapons did not feel fatigue.
That did not mean Team B had no difficulties.
Whenever Eilon’s name tag turned gold, everyone had to sharpen their nerves to the extreme and protect him.
Otherwise, Eilon’s Magical Weapons would automatically activate to protect their owner.
“Hey, can’t you turn that thing off?”
Impossible.
The defenses against anything approaching Eilon at point-blank range had been designed so they could not be manually controlled in the first place.
Those who saw Eilon’s physical condition could only accept it.
With a body several times more frail-looking than theirs, was he not enduring even better than they were?
Besides, whenever Eilon did not have the gold name tag, his Magical Weapons allowed the rest of them to rest much more comfortably.
[PHASE 4] - 20 : 48 : 16
‘Stay awake. Stay awake!’
For four days, they had been unable to get proper rest, much less eat properly.
In every sense, they were reaching their limits.
On top of that, the orcs summoned in Phase 4 were so intelligent that they tormented the students through guerrilla tactics.
They relentlessly and intelligently harassed the exhausted students, driving them to the brink.
Many were now almost at their limit.
Yet not a single one of them considered quitting midway.
‘Just one more day. Just hold out one more day······.’
But their consciousness was gradually growing hazy and numb.
“Stop!”
“Huff!”
By now, even their awareness of the gold name tag had grown blurry, and the threat of elimination was looming.
-Team A eliminated.
“Ah······.”
In the end, a stray attack struck a monster, and another team was eliminated.
Only two teams remained now: Team B and Team D.
If Team B was managing to hold on thanks to Eilon’s performance, then Luina’s performance stood out in Team D.
As befitted a scion of the Magic Tower, Luina was surviving on the strength of tremendous mental fortitude.
Her excellent magical ability was a bonus, but that was not all.
But even these two teams were gradually reaching their limits.
The magic power of Magical Weapons was not infinite but rechargeable.
It was beginning to run low, so they had to ration it strategically.
Luina was in the same position as their mental endurance began to reach its limit, causing their reactions to slow little by little.
[PHASE 5] - 7 :06 : 41
‘Finally······.’
The long-awaited final day.
Fatigue washed over them until they felt dizzy, but in just a few more hours, this entire ordeal would be over.
The moment they let their guard down, they fell asleep.
Their posture collapsed, only for them to jerk awake in surprise.
The faces of the remaining students were turning dark and ashen.
But they could not show weakness.
Lucas was up there, looking down at them.
He, too, had stayed awake and watched them for ninety-six hours.
He did not even look tired.
‘Monster······.’
They had clearly seen him training vigorously without sleeping, yet he showed no signs of fatigue at all.
He truly was a monster.
As though declaring with his entire body that one needed to reach that level to survive on the battlefield, he watched over them aloofly.
Fortunately, the monsters attacked only rarely during Phase 5.
Was he showing consideration because it was the final day?
[PHASE 5] - 00:59:59
At last, less than an hour remained.
Just as hope appeared in the eyes of those still standing—
“Ah, fuck······.”
The monsters that appeared forced them into despair.
“It’s the complete gift set.”
Every monster that had tormented them until now had gathered together and was surging toward them like an enormous flood.
The remaining students tightened their grips on their weapons and began preparing to face the massive wave.
***
Professor Lucas’s ‘practical training’ was being broadcast live outside.
The eliminated students watched the training just like those still inside , without sleeping or eating.
And the ‘darkness’ that had infiltrated Grasco was watching it all as well.
To put Lucas in a difficult situation.
After spending a full eighty hours on it, they had managed to hack the system of .
Now they would trap everyone inside and give them a wonderful present.
“Farewell, Professor Lucas.”
Exhausted to the bone, the figure smiled darkly and manipulated the system.
***
‘They’re holding out better than I expected.’
I had expected at most one team to remain by Phase 5.
But two teams had survived, far exceeding my expectations.
I had even referenced UDT-style training to push them to the limit. Was it because I had left out physical conditioning?
I watched them while entertaining the devilish thought that I should add physical conditioning next time too.
Still, these guys really were incredible.
I had super recovery, so I could endure without sleeping, but they were enduring all of this with no such advantages at all.
‘That’s right. You need to become even stronger. You need to be honed even sharper.’
I felt satisfied.
Nothing pleased me more than the growth of my meat shields.
Now the finale of this practical training would begin.
The Monster Wave.
Those two remaining teams would have to endure against that enormous tide.
I could already see their expressions crumpling and hear their mental fortitude cracking.
CRUNCH!
Yeah, like that.
·····Huh? Why is there an actual sound effect?
Does someone’s mind breaking normally come with sound effects?
CRACK, CRAAACK!
Ah, no.
That was not the sound of their minds breaking.
·····It was the sound of space itself cracking apart.
‘Why the hell is that breaking?’
I was startled by the completely unexpected variable, but only for a moment.
The hulking beings that emerged from between the shattered cracks left me even more horrified.
Monsters with bodies wrapped entirely in hard scales and enormous horns that overwhelmed the eye.
Lowest-Ranking Demons, Nunu.
They were lacking in reason, but possessed enough brute strength to crush an ogre with ease.
‘I’m fucked.’
The exhausted students could not handle those things.
“The practical training is over.”
I hurried to deactivate ’s system and leave.
But,
-Unable to exit.
What?
I tried again, but the answer was the same.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Just as my pupils shook wildly,
[A new notification has arrived.]
[Tomat donated 500G.]
[Sogogigukbap donated 100G.]
[jd110hsh donated 300G.]
[jd110hsh donated 100G.]
[jd110hsh donated 100G.]
[jd110hsh donated 100G.]
Another flood of donation notifications filled my vision.
But that was not the end.
[Your Gold balance has surpassed 10,000G. To celebrate, a Gold Shop Discount Coupon(X1) has been awarded.]
‘A Gold Shop Discount Coupon? Wait······.’
At that moment, one item suddenly flashed through my mind.