Chapter 31: Joint Front Wait, why the hell is this guy suddenly coming at me?
Takeo, looking completely livid, tries to charge at me, and Chika's eyes go wide as she moves to strike him from behind.
"Stop—!!"
Chika was the only one who listened to my shout. Takeo kept coming, swinging his greatsword down toward my head.
Oh… is this the 'revolving lantern'? No, what do you call that thing where time seems to slow down right before you die? Does it even matter? It's not like time actually slowed down.
The greatsword stopped right above my head.
Beyond the blade, I could see Chika's face. She had paused at my command and now looked utterly shocked.
What, were you worried about me?
There was no need for that, though. We're under the No-Attack Rule.
"Takeo Inoue. It was announced beforehand that attacking students is strictly prohibited."
It wasn't that the thug had stopped on his own. August had appeared out of nowhere and was holding the greatsword by the blade.
I know we're in a virtual space and he's essentially invincible, but catching a blade with his bare hands looks cool as hell.
Takeo looked like he wanted to argue, but his body wouldn't move. He could do nothing but glare with murderous eyes.
"I will release your mouth. Do you have an excuse?"
"That bastard fucked Emma!"
"...That is not prohibited. Had it been rape, the No-Attack Rule would have been triggered."
Wow… that's cold, isn't it?
August spoke calmly, not even bothering to ask me if it was true.
It was clear he didn't care as long as the rules weren't broken—or rather, he had no intention of meddling in troublesome personal affairs.
"There's no way Emma would spread her legs for another guy and leave me! That bastard did something to her!"
Well—uh… this is awkward to say, but she spread them just fine for Akito…
And isn't his phrasing a bit cheap? 'Fucked,' 'spread her legs'—no wonder he lost her.
I had plenty I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut to avoid making the situation even more complicated.
"We do not monitor every single situation involving the students. Constant surveillance would be an invasion of privacy. However, we can detect clear intent to attack. Just like now."
"..."
"Takeo Inoue. You have broken the rules and are disqualified from this exam. Return to reality and prepare for the supplementary exam."
"You son of a bi—"
Takeo didn't get to finish his sentence before he vanished into thin air.
Well… it's a satisfying sight, but what happens to the scenario now?
Originally, Takeo was supposed to suspect Akito of sleeping with Emma, commit some atrocity, and then get kicked out.
Takeo was just a stepping stone for Akito anyway, so it's not a major event, but he was supposed to keep interfering with things later on… Am I the one who's going to be targeted now?
I don't want to be framed, and I don't want the story to get tangled, but should I have told him she was having an affair with Akito?
But then the fact that Chika was there would come to light.
And what about Chika and Akito's relationship?
She seems deeply troubled by the fact that Akito and Emma had sex, but Chika still seems to like Akito, so I'll just keep my mouth shut for now.
Chika needs to stay by Akito's side as much as possible. She wasn't made an initial party member for nothing.
I feel like everything I do is twisting the scenario.
I really need to lay low.
"Ha, what a loser. Serves him right."
If Chika hadn't slipped up, this wouldn't have happened… forget it. I shouldn't have gotten involved either, but seeing Masayoshi holding back tears just pissed me off too much.
As Chika gloated over Takeo's disappearance, August turned his gaze toward her.
"Chika Fraser."
"Yes?"
"You were also intending to attack Takeo Inoue, were you not?"
"No, that was…"
"No, she wasn't!"
If Chika gets disqualified too, I'm truly screwed, so I shouted out in a hurry.
"Anyone can want to attack. I felt the same way when Takeo trashed our base."
"But she was about to act on it."
"She might have intended to, but it didn't happen. It was… an attempted act, sure, but she actually stopped, and no attack took place. The rule is against attacking, not threatening. Takeo threatened us plenty of times before this, but he wasn't disqualified, which means threats are allowed, right?"
"..."
"And I was going to attack when Takeo broke through the barrier, so if you're going to penalize Chika, you have to penalize me too."
I rambled on with excuses, trying to clean up the mess Chika had made.
When I gave them a look, Rio and Masayoshi chimed in, stuttering that they were also planning to attack.
Please… don't let the story get any more twisted.
Why does the world keep messing with me?
August looked back and forth between me and the Comedy Duo before turning back to Chika.
"You have good teammates."
"...Yes…"
Miss Chika? Did you just hesitate to admit that? I'm out here performing a desperate clown show to save you, so that reaction is a bit hurtful.
August watched Chika as she looked away and fell silent, then continued.
"It is true… that no attack was made. You stopped when Seo Yeon-woo shouted for you to do so."
"Yes, I didn't attack."
"Chika Fraser. You should thank Seo Yeon-woo. If not for him, you would have been the second person disqualified."
"...Yes."
Teacher August—acting like a counselor for our little problem child—looked around at the rest of us.
A professional really is different.
She wouldn't listen to a word I said, but he's not a teacher for nothing.
"Seo Yeon-woo."
"Yes."
"Since I prohibited attacking, you came up with such a crude method. Your cunning is impressive."
"That's… a compliment, right?"
Is it?
The man's expression was always blank and his tone flat, making it hard to read his emotions.
The silence as he stared at me felt suffocating.
"I believe it is wisdom to achieve one's goals without breaking the given rules."
"Aw, it wasn't that big of a deal."
"However, seeing how you discovered a loophole and exploited it without a second thought for morality, I cannot help but question your character."
"..."
"You are a clever young man. To your eyes, social systems must look like they are full of holes."
I mean, I wouldn't go that far.
I stayed quiet, unsure if I was being insulted or praised.
"Of course, there is no need to suffer losses by acting like a saint. Finding and utilizing loopholes is fine. However—this is an exam. It must be fair and just for everyone. Correct?"
"Yes, that's right."
When I readily agreed, August let out a small sigh and shrugged.
Wait? Did he just smile?
It was faint, but I think he actually smirked for a split second.
"Consider this the grievance of a teacher who prepared an exam only to be outplayed by a student. Ideally, we teachers should have created more airtight rules. Thanks to you, we can now close those gaps. Thank you."
August bowed slightly to me.
Wow… so this is what a real adult looks like.
I've had my share of experience in society, but this is the first time I've met someone who points out a problem while genuinely admitting their own fault.
He's chic and cool as hell.
"A separate announcement will be made, but from now on, attacks will be permitted against magic that blocks paths, such as shields and barriers. And Team 6."
"Yes!"
"With Takeo Inoue disqualified, Team 6 will be at a significant disadvantage. However, do not think this is unfair. As his teammates, you failed to stop his actions and were merely dragged along by him."
At August's words, Louis, Mio, and Toby looked down, unable to say a word.
So Yggdrasil isn't just a school for losers… I used to look down on them because they were always late whenever trouble started, but there are some true teachers here.
And to think August is just an extra teacher whose name doesn't even appear in the game.
Once the true teacher finished his piece and vanished, I looked at Team 6.
"I know saying this doesn't help much… but I'm sorry…"
Louis, Mio, Toby. These three were in for a rough time now that Takeo was gone.
It's not like they were blameless, but even if the Comedy Duo had been in their place, wouldn't they have also yielded to Takeo?
Thinking about it only makes things more complicated and emotional, so I decided to stop.
Besides, without Takeo, they won't be bothering us anymore.
"We're taking our stuff. Don't get in the way."
"Oh, of course. Take it all. We'll help you."
The cold-hearted Chika didn't care about Team 6's heartfelt apology and started packing.
Team 6, despite having almost nothing left, even tried to help us pack the supplies they'd scavenged from the aircraft carrier.
If we take all this, how are you guys going to survive?
I thought about it for a moment, then grabbed the shoulder of Louis, who was busily packing items.
"Do you guys want to live with us?"
"Huh?"
"What? What are you doing?"
Team 6 is really in Chika's bad books.
Chika was the first to react to my suggestion, her face scowling.
"Attacking is forbidden, but cooperation isn't."
"So? You're going to take care of the people who were with that bastard Takeo and stole our stuff?"
"They didn't touch—"
"They didn't touch it? Whose water do you think you were drinking so comfortably? You knew it was ours, yet you gulped it all down, and now you're acting like victims?"
She had a point.
Regardless, they had to eat and sleep to take the exam.
But Chika, why are you being so rational now when you stayed quiet while Akito was playing the forced 'nice guy'?
However, these kids were nicer than I expected.
"We didn't eat it!"
As Chika pressured Louis, the quiet Mio practically screamed.
"We didn't eat it… At first, we thought it was just supplies, so we did… but you guys came yesterday and told us. Since then, we haven't touched a thing."
"..."
"It's true. We didn't touch a single thing. But… we're sorry we couldn't stop Takeo…"
At Mio and Toby's words, even the angry Chika went quiet.
The fact that they didn't touch the food in that situation is actually quite admirable.
If it were me, I would have been so hungry and thirsty that I would have eaten it while feeling sorry.
"So, no more complaints, right? If we take all the food now, they're really going to struggle."
"...What if the rules change?"
Chika mentioned that Yggdrasil would likely do something.
Have you played the game too? From the 5th day, this place turns into a battle royale where they stop giving out supplies and everyone fights to the death.
I guess everyone expects something is coming.
So what?
"They might do a deathmatch or something. But if the goal is to get points by taking others down, isn't it better to group up and attack together?"
Without mana barriers, numbers are power.
Akito… well, Akito is a natural disaster, so let's set him aside. Even against a strong opponent, if several people fire magic at once, one is bound to hit. And without a mana barrier, getting hit once makes it hard to dodge the follow-up because of the shock.
"Everyone seems to expect something is coming, and I agree. That's why I'm planning to form a joint front."
"A joint front?"
"Yeah. We unite all of Class A and hunt down the other classes one by one. That should give everyone enough points, right? Then the survivors can compete among themselves. We'll have already earned points from hunting the other classes."
"..."
"Well—maybe there won't be a deathmatch. I'm just preparing for the possibility. If a situation arises where having more people is a disadvantage, then we can just say a cool goodbye without any hard feelings."
Let's increase the number of allies (slaves) and earn my points!
This was my winning strategy for the battle royale starting on the 5th day.
Since I don't have a mana barrier, I'm just an extra filling out the numbers.
If it's the good-natured Akito, I can just say, 'Hey, we're in the same class, why don't we fight together?'
Then I can secure Akito, Angelica, Ailee, and Chika.
Emma… she's a gyaru character, so her initial stats are low unless you train her, so she's out of the question for now.
If Akito comes, Shiori and the Samurai will follow, and if Yukina joins, we'll be an unstoppable truck party.
Other classes might cooperate too, but there's bound to be a difference between a team thrown together on the 5th day and us, who are actively moving and preparing from now.
No one spoke after my explanation until Rio gave an awkward laugh.
"You… you have a nasty personality, but you're really smart."
"It's because I'm handsome."
"That has nothing to do with your looks."
"Anyway, that's why I want to bring Team 6 in now. Takeo, the problem child, is gone, so let's start the Class A joint front. No objections?"
I've revealed my grand plan; surely no one will oppose it now.
I grinned, and Chika scowled, turning her head away as if she had nothing more to say.
Great. Three more slaves… I mean, allies secured.
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