I Refuse the Tragic Ending

The forest had become unrecognizable. Under the crimson sky, the towering trees cast long shadows across the ground. Their leaves looked almost black, and the reddish light filtering through the canopy made the entire forest resemble a badly designed horror attraction.

Kael walked cautiously along a narrow path, his sword in his right hand.

Quinn clung to his shoulder, its eight tiny legs gripping his clothes. The little white spider occasionally turned its head toward the surrounding vegetation, its bluish lightning markings flickering whenever it sensed something unusual.

For once, neither of them had anything to say.

In his mind, Kael kept thinking about the sudden change.

The undead creatures roaming in the forest and the crimson sky were all signs that something had gone horribly wrong. And none of them had anything to do with the original Wilderness Survival Examination.

’Seriously, what is this? A surprise horror plot?’

Kael almost laughed at his own thought, but the humor disappeared as quickly as it came. This wasn’t a game anymore. Whatever happened next, people could actually die.

Kael scratched his cheek with his free hand. He had almost become accustomed to situations like this.

This diversion in the original story could no longer surprise him. In fact, he was beginning to think that believing the original storyline would follow the same path was like trusting a weather forecast made three months in advance.

Actually, the crimson sky incident also happened in the original story. But that was very late in the game.

And since it wasn’t the first time that two unrelated events happened at the same time, it best to assume that it would happen again at any time.

Still, he would have appreciated a little warning before the universe decided to combine two disasters into one.

Kael raised his head and examined the crimson sky through the gaps between the branches.

’Could it actually be that event?’

He remembered its name.

The Bloodlit Sky.

In Eclipse Hearts, it was an apocalyptic event that occurred much later in the story. A crimson sky appeared over one of the cities in the Republic of Arkan, and a massive barrier sealed the affected area, trapping everyone inside.

The players had to investigate an abandoned cult mansion and descend into its dark cellar, where the final boss awaited them.

A gigantic beast with three eyes, called Deformed Beast Alastor.

Kael remembered the creature’s grotesque appearance. Its enormous body was covered in dark, uneven growths, while its three pupils moved independently, allowing it to observe multiple targets simultaneously.

He remembered its backstory. He used to be a human, but after a failed summon, his body bore the consequence and turned like that.

Defeating Alastor was the key to ending the disaster. At least, that was how the event worked in the game.

Kael’s expression gradually stiffened.

’Please tell me it isn’t that event.’

The Bloodlit Sky was supposed to happen much later, when the academy’s students had grown considerably stronger and possessed better equipment. Even the instructors would have had more experience dealing with dangerous threats.

Here, they were still first-year students participating in a survival examination.

Some had barely mastered their abilities. Others were probably still figuring out how to use their Hero Cores efficiently and effectively. And now they might be trapped inside an apocalyptic event.

’Great. Absolutely fantastic.’

Kael felt a chill run down his spine.

’If this is the same event, then we’re trapped inside a large-scale barrier.’

He had no idea how large the affected area was or whether the barrier operated according to the same rules as the one in the game. For all he knew, the entire deeper section of Emerald Forest could have been enclosed within it.

Worse, he had no guarantee that the event would follow its original sequence. The undead creatures might have been an early manifestation of the disaster. Alternatively, they might have been unrelated to the main threat. And if Alastor was already involved, then the situation could be much worse than he imagined.

Kael tightened his grip around his sword. ’Okay. New plan. Avoid the giant three-eyed nightmare at all costs if it appeared.’

He wasn’t joking about that part.

Whatever benefits defeating Alastor might bring, he wasn’t interested in testing his current strength against a boss designed for a much later stage of the game.

He wasn’t the protagonist of some heroic tragedy who would charge toward an overwhelmingly powerful enemy just because the situation demanded it. He preferred living long enough to become stronger.

His current priority was finding the surviving students and bringing them to safety. If the instructors could break through the barrier, even better. If not, he would have to figure something else out.

His original goal was entering the catacombs and taking all the resources he could gather from there. But since the situation turned completely different from the original story, he had to think twice and plan carefully what he must do.

For now, dealing with one problem at a time was his better choice. He must save as many students as he can. Not because he wished to become a hero or he wanted recognition from it, but because they were essential pieces later.

’And hopefully, everyone is still safe at the moment.’

He pushed the thought aside and returned his attention to the path. Distraction wouldn’t help him. Neither would standing in the middle of the forest and imagining every possible way the situation could get worse.

Kael stopped beside a thick tree and examined the ground.

Several footprints crossed the narrow path ahead. Some belonged to ordinary boots, while others were too irregular to identify immediately.

He crouched and studied them. The boot prints were relatively fresh. Someone had passed through this area recently, and the direction of the tracks suggested they were heading deeper into the forest.

Kael looked toward the path.

”Well, that’s something.”

”Qiu?”

”I mean... someone had passed here a while ago.”

Quinn clicked its mandibles and climbed higher onto his shoulder. Kael stood and continued eastward.

He needed to find them as soon as possible.

It only took Kael a couple of steps when he heard some noise from his right.

Kael immediately glanced and saw three grotesque figures rushing toward him.

”Undead.”

Kael didn’t waste a single moment and drew his sword.

Shing!

Shing!

Shing!

The three undead were easily defeated.

As he sheathed back his sword, Kael glanced at the defeated undead.

His eyes grew slightly bigger when he realized something.

”They look exactly the same as the undead from the catacombs. Could it be...”

Kael finally had a general conclusion where this undead came from.

...

Back at the safe zone, the atmosphere was equally tense. The makeshift shelter that Team 37 had established earlier had become a temporary gathering point for the surviving students. Several injured students had been brought there, while others remained seated near the trees, trying to make sense of the disaster.

Everyone’s expression looked tense. Nobody had expected the examination to turn into a genuine struggle for survival.

Rinha sat near the edge of the shelter, one arm resting against her knee. Her expression remained composed, she just brought some survivors into camp after searching with the others.

Looking at the younger students, the tension in her shoulders deepened.

Mira approached her after finishing her examination of an injured student.

”Thanks for the help, Senior,” Mira said.

Rinha shook her head and told her, ”I should be the one thanking you guys.”

Mira smiled and said, ”By the way, Senior, can I ask you something?”

Rinha looked up.

”Of course.”

Mira hesitated before speaking.

”About the overseers...”

Her gaze briefly moved toward the surrounding forest.

”Didn’t the academy assign one or two overseers to each team? If that’s the case, why haven’t we seen ours?”

Rinha’s expression changed. For a moment, she remained silent. Mira noticed the hesitation immediately.

”Did something happen to them?”

”Not exactly.”

Rinha looked down at her hands.

She seemed reluctant to continue, as though she already knew that her explanation wouldn’t be well received.

Eventually, she released a quiet sigh.

”The academy didn’t assign an overseer to your team.”

Mira blinked.

”What?”

Rinha looked at her.

”Teams classified in the lowest tier were treated differently. In previous examinations, most of those teams stayed within the outer regions of the forest. They rarely ventured far enough to encounter monsters that posed a serious threat to their survival.”

She paused before continuing.

”The monsters in the outer region were considered manageable for first-year students. Even if a team encountered something dangerous, the academy believed its members could retreat before the situation became critical.”

Mira stared at her.

Rinha’s expression tightened.

”That’s why the academy decided that assigning overseers to those teams wasn’t necessary this time.”

For several seconds, Mira said nothing.

Then she nodded slightly, probably understanding the academy’s decision. However, looking at it now, with the forest transformed into a death trap, the decision seemed almost absurd.

”They really thought we wouldn’t need one?” Mira asked quietly.

Rinha did not answer immediately.

”I don’t know what they were thinking.”

There was no attempt to defend the academy’s decision in her voice.

Mira lowered her gaze. She could understand why the academy had made its decision, but that didn’t make her feel any better.

If their team did not survive the battle they encountered in recent days, they would be in serious trouble.

Then Rinha looked at her. Then she glanced around and noticed none of the three members from Mira’s team had returned yet.

”Are your friends going to be all right?”

Mira’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

She turned toward the forest. Beyond the trees, the crimson sky cast its ominous light over the entire landscape.

Kael, Elias, and Darius had left the safe zone along with Rinha some time ago to search for other survivors. But Rinha already came back with some survivors but Kael and the others hadn’t returned yet.

Although Kael had assured everyone that they would return, Mira had been unable to shake the anxiety growing inside her chest.

She knew her teammates were capable despite having low rank core.

Darius possessed considerable strength, Elias was a skilled archer, and Kael had repeatedly demonstrated that he was far more competent than his official evaluation suggested.

Even so, none of those qualities guaranteed their safety, especially after hearing from Rinha the strange phenomena regarding those undead.

Mira pressed her lips together.

”They’ll be fine,” she answered.

She wanted to believe it. For now, she had no choice but to trust them.