Breaking Up With the Heroine in an Otome Game

54 – Battle Survival (1)

054.

This year can be called the so-called golden age.

Because numerous geniuses from around the world have flocked to Union.

Lee Siwoon, the giraffe of SL Group.

Baek Yurin, the granddaughter of the master of the 10th-ranked sword.

Kang Daehan, the bloodline of the legendary hero Steel Cloud.

Yoo Seolhyun, the granddaughter of the creative genius Yu Gapryeong.

Yuriya Troianova, the disciple of the great wizard, and more…

As countless geniuses gathered like a swarm of ants, the attention on this midterm exam was inevitably hotter than before.

Moreover, it was a place where the leaders of large corporations that could dominate South Korea, the owners of giant clans, and the bloodlines of legendary heroes were all evaluated in one place.

It was clear that the competition was fierce.

This midterm exam was a good opportunity for the students to prove their worth and abilities to the people of South Korea.

There was a distinct difference between making a name for oneself in a small town during middle school and making a name in Union.

If you could confidently stand out among the geniuses, everyone would have to acknowledge you.

Those who had been watching the midterm exam process for weeks were curious about who would stand out.

Many people engaged in heated debates, mentioning names like Siwoon, Daehan, Yurin, Seolhyun, Hancheol, Kim Jun, and others.

They were all aspiring heroes who had been outstanding since childhood.

Some were making bets on who would claim the higher rank, while others engaged in betting like sports lottery.

But what is this unexpected turn of events?

Wouldn’t it be someone completely unexpected who would reveal their prominence?

It was none other than Lee Jinhyuk.

Author: novel***

Title: Lee Jinhyuk, what’s up with this guy? Why is his comprehensive score so high?

└ Didn’t he almost enter as the last in rankings?

└ For real?

└ My friend went to Union and knows about it.

└ Union? Seriously? Then I must be at Seoul National University, LOL.

└ Oh, right. Isn’t he one of those guys from the academy who caught the black-handed long-armed monkey? I heard he even got a commendation.

Author: munp***

Title: Breaking News – Hostage Rescue Test, Lee Jinhyuk’s Team Renews High Score LOL

└ ??? Really?

└ Higher score than Lee Siwon’s team?

└ Isn’t that guy a superhuman?

└ Mediocre people catching up with the talented! Catching up, LOL.

Author: joa***

Title: Is Lee Jinhyuk a team fanboy?

└ After the team test ends, he’s going to be stripped clean in the individual test, right?

└ Isn’t today’s test a battle survival? Then Lee Jinhyuk is definitely going to be stripped clean, LOL.

└ Yeah, since battle survival emphasizes individual abilities.

└ You never know. He might score high again, LOL.

└ Let’s go, underdog!

The online community was buzzing with Lee Jinhyuk’s story.

No wonder, as an education trainee who was close to being a bottom-tier student, no one expected him to score so high from the first mid-term exam, surpassing well-known geniuses.

Among the geniuses who had been famous for a long time, cases of ordinary individuals like Lee Jinhyuk standing out to this extent were almost nonexistent.

After all, Lee Jinhyuk had poor combat abilities, and he was even a defective product who hadn’t awakened any extraordinary abilities.

Except for a somewhat decent theoretical score, he was not worth much.

Moreover, he was an inferior student who had entered Union Academy almost as the last in rankings, implying a lack of qualifications as a hero.

However, how did this happen?

He excelled in dungeon conquests, hostage rescues, and hero-villain exams.

In dungeon conquests, he set astonishing records in the shortest possible time. During hostage rescue exams, he devised meticulous strategies and tactics, manipulating the opposing team as if toying with them. In hero-villain exams, he relentlessly exploited the weaknesses of his opponents, securing numerous victories.

While he didn’t achieve victory solely with his own strength, the fact that he actively utilized team battles, coupled with his subtle tactics and commanding abilities, attracted the attention of many.

In typical scenarios, the outcome was determined by the overpowering abilities of a single superpowered individual.

However, Jinhyuk compensated for his lack of brute force through tactics and strategy, boldly outsmarting geniuses who had ruled as winners since childhood.

Jinhyuk, who had been somewhat close to being a clever ordinary person, inevitably became a subject of heated discussion among some people.

To the aspiring heroes who had been subtly dismissed as incompetent until now, Jinhyuk’s actions became a breath of fresh air.

“Ah, that Jinhyuk kid, he’s quite famous these days, huh?”

However, gaining fame is not always a good thing.

“He seems intelligent too.”

Because not only ordinary people and heroes but even villains began to take an interest.

Up to the worst villain targeting Hosh*tam Union students.

“What do you think, Seongyura?”

Yudahee, with her bleached hair swept back, sat on the sofa and scanned the hero community site with a solemn expression.

Currently, she was alongside Seongyura, serving as the leader of the villain group Rebellion.

Her talents and strength were truly extraordinary.

If Yudahee had chosen the path of a hero, people like Ishiwoon, Kangdaehan, and Yuseolhyeon wouldn’t have stood a chance.

She was already much stronger than typical instructors.

“Why? Including Jinhyuk in your prey ranking?”

“Hmm… Well.”

In response to Seongyura’s question, Yudahee shrugged her shoulders.

Although Jinhyuk showed promising results in team exams, he was a non-superpowered individual.

The limitations of such individuals as heroes were clear.

They couldn’t do anything without a team.

Therefore, Yudahee wasn’t particularly interested.

“Not really. I’m not interested because he’s a non-powered individual.”

“Oh, really?”

It’s better to focus on other aspiring heroes than someone like Jinhyuk.

Those with trample-worthy abilities and talents.

Isiwoon, Kang Daehan, Ju Jiyeon, Gu Hanchul, and well… there are quite a few, right?

“By the way, Seong Yura, are you ready? It’s today, the day we planned to stir things up at the academy.”

“And what about you?”

“Me? Well, I’ve done my preparations.”

Yudahee chuckled softly.

“Some discontented riffraff who can’t adapt to society decided to join as mercenaries.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. Unlike our Rebellion guys, they’re just third-rate villains, but since we have a fair number, they can play the roles of decoys to delay the security agents and act as hunting dogs to find the kids we’re after. That’s the plan.”

Acting as decoys to delay the approach of security agents and serving as hunting dogs to locate the target children and inform Yudahee, that is.

“People who can’t adapt to society and just complain about everything are trash, but at times like this, they can be surprisingly useful.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. That’s the way these third-rate lives are. There’s no future, no way back.”

Because it’s a life that’s irreversibly beyond salvation.

“There’s a lot of dissatisfaction in their hearts, and they want to vent their anger right away, but doing it alone is a bit scary, isn’t it? That’s why I gave them the opportunity to join me.”

“But still, to participate in such a plan. I really can’t understand.”

“Heh. Those third-rate lives just want to see the world burn. Stomping on people laughing happily, ha ha ho ho.”

Yudahee lifted her head with a swift motion.

“Of course, since words alone don’t work well, I enlisted the help of a self-proclaimed hero maniac.”

“Oh, the man who’s always smiling? I haven’t seen him much.”

Seong Yura suddenly thought of the face of a man.

A man who strangely had a favor towards heroes in the villain organization Rebellion.

Of course, it was by no means a normal favor; it was a twisted form of interest and affection, but in its own way, it seemed sincere.

Well… the fate of the heroes who received his attention wasn’t very good.

“Was that man’s extraordinary ability… some kind of brainwashing?”

“To be precise, it’s not brainwashing, but well, you could say it’s similar.”

It’s not exactly brainwashing, but it’s an extraordinary ability that stimulates human emotions.

Stimulating and inflating negative emotions such as inferiority, desire, anger, and resentment makes it very easy to manipulate people.

Especially if they’re trashy third-rate punks roaming the back alleys with discontent towards heroes and society.

“Anyway, I’m glad the preparations seem to be in order, Yudahee.”

“It would have been nice if other kids had joined, but they don’t seem interested at all.”

Yudahee, as if regretful, savored the taste.

“I was planning not to move until the final exams or the training camp, but since Sung Yura, you moved first, I decided to join in. It’s just a coincidence that we’re doing it together. You don’t really hate that nun, do you?”

“It’s not like I hate her. And this time, I’m not just tormenting her, but trying something different.”

“Oh, is that so?”

She chuckles, her red eyes rolling playfully.

“Well, fine. Let’s both work hard for our respective goals.”

“Yeah, Yudahee. Because what you want and what I want are different.”

Their own purposes.

Yudahee was trampling on academy students and spreading chaos through the media, while Sung Yura was attacking Roxanne and her surroundings to uncover any possible hidden background.

The two are only cooperating for their own purposes.

“Today’s test is the Battle Survival, right? Kick. It’ll really be a survival.”

A third-rate wannabe hero participating in a survival with numerous villains, wouldn’t it be a good experience for an aspiring hero?

Of course, the kids caught by Yudahee would have the worst experience, but kick.

***

Battle Survival.

“Haah, haah, haah.”

“Hey, heyy! Lee Jinhyuk! Are you not here?”

The test outside the academy evaluates students’ survival skills, combat abilities, adaptability, interpersonal combat skills, giant monster combat skills, tactical abilities, and more.

They must survive in the vast mountains for a total of 5 days.

The forest is truly a world of survival of the fittest.

Numerous traps, items, and artificial monsters are placed, and the person who earns the most points through competition among students receives a high score.

There are two main ways to earn points.

The first is defeating artificial monsters.

The second is fighting and looting other students.

Through the smartwatch supplied to each student, points can be taken or traded.

The smartwatch also has a rough map function and a surrender function, so if a student wants to quit the test, they just need to press a button.

Then the standby security agent will come and safely take the student outside. At the cost of test elimination.

Of course, the surrender button requires fingerprint recognition, so it’s useless if not pressed by the person themselves.

Well, unless you make them faint or threaten them to press it.

“Ha, haah, haaack, damn, Lee Jinhyuk, you really make it exhausting.”

“You guys are persistent too… I didn’t expect you to follow me this far.”

I glanced at the kids who had been chasing me, taking a moment to catch my breath.

Kim Yuseong and two extras were panting, glaring at me with ominous intent. Wow, their gaze is quite intimidating.

“Hey, kids, isn’t teaming up from the first day a bit much?”

Teaming up.

It means forming a cooperative alliance.

Like those three.

“If you don’t like it, you can join too.”

“Huh? Then, would you let me join too?”

“No.”

“Ah, come on, that’s too much. There’s no loyalty even among classmates, geez. We’ve known each other since middle school, right? Let’s take it easy on the first day, what do you think?”

“No, I don’t like it.”

Kim Yuseong flashed a determined smile.

It was truly a sinister smile, like the eyes of a predator looking at its captured prey.

From Noble mtl dot com

While I had performed well in exams so far, it was all thanks to strategically using my teammates. My individual combat skills were at the bottom tier.

Kim Yuseong was well aware of that fact.

To him, I was nothing more than a rat in a trap.

“Hmm. Yuseong, can’t we settle this through conversation?”

“All I can do with you is a fistfight.”

“Anyway, it seems like talking won’t work. That explains your poor theoretical scores.”

“Well, you…”

Kim Yuseong got visibly irritated.

It seemed like he knew he had a hot temper.

In the game, he wasn’t exactly fond of my character. Originally, he played the role of secretly tormenting me to get revenge for Ishiwoon’s humiliation.

Now, our relationship wasn’t good or bad, unlike the original.

I’ve maintained a normal relationship with Ishiwoon, and I’ve paired up well with someone like Yuseolhyun, so there might be no need to stir things up.

‘Kim Yoo-sung’s ranking among the freshmen is in the upper-middle range, but… it was mentioned in the setup that his close combat abilities rival those in the upper echelon.’

The other two, excluding Kim Yoo-sung, were unknown in terms of their strength, but they weren’t opponents I needed to worry about anyway.

Considering my combat abilities are truly dismal.

Assuming a fair one-on-one fight, no one over there would be able to defeat me.

“Then brace yourself, Lee Jin-hyuk.”

But it’s okay.

Why?

Well, as mentioned earlier, this forest is filled with numerous traps and items.

“Don’t hold too much resentment.”

Oh, of course, the exact locations of traps and items are unknown.

In the game, the interior of the forest appeared greatly condensed, so many things were different compared to reality.

It’s not like I have data acquired from the Mt. Yeongdeung Dungeon, and the location is not restricted like a dungeon either.

Finding the precise locations of traps and items in this vast forest is quite a challenging task.

But it doesn’t really matter.

Because things like traps are easy to handle.

It’s just a matter of me setting them up, right?

Through the spatial ring, I secretly brought in all sorts of traps and items.

So, I can easily set up simple traps.

Um.

For example, mines?

“All right, then…?”

As a male student who looked like an extra took a step forward, there was a clicking sound, and with a bang, the ground exploded.

It was the explosive bubble trap that I had set up.

Ah, caught you with that.

“Uh, ah, agh?!”

“W-What the hell!”

“Trap! Did that bastard intentionally lure us into a place with traps?!”

Since the Academy had publicly announced the presence of traps, items, and monsters, the kids seemed unaware that these traps might have been set up by me.

Just in case, I set up traps similar to those installed by the Academy.

To prepare for any unnecessary trouble later on.

Of course, the location where the trap was originally set up is a bit different, but I can’t meticulously compare everything like that.

Oh, there’s still a chance of getting caught by the security agent who was waiting, but this forest is truly vast.

It means that monitoring everything individually is impossible.

Originally, it takes quite a bit of time even after pressing the abandon button on the smartwatch until the security agent arrives.

And, well… I’ve set up traps after searching for places where there are no security agents.

“Hey, hey! Wake up, deal with that guy first…!”

Swish!

I immediately shot a training arrow.

The target was the guy who stepped on the tripwire.

Normally, he could have easily dodged or blocked it.

But because of the tripwire, he couldn’t regain his composure, and he quickly took a hit from my arrow and tumbled to the ground.

Ouch, if he rolls over there…

“Argh! Th-this guy… Ah, ugh?!”

Boom!

Unfortunately, he rolled towards where the landmine was.

With a satisfying explosion, the male student hit his head on a tree with a thud.

He seemed to be a hero aspirant, so it shouldn’t be a big problem, but he probably fainted from getting hit on the back of his head.

Oh, good.

One down.

“Ka-Kang Jihoon!”

Ah, that guy’s name is Kang Jihoon?

I didn’t know.

I can’t memorize the names of every insignificant student from the other class in the game.

“Damn, how many traps are there in this place?!”

Yeah, there are a lot.

This place is a complete minefield.

I’ve set up a ton of traps, not just landmines.

Just in case there are people like you trying to dig around, I’ve prepared quite a few entertaining traps, you know?