The team was running toward the designated location.
The team consisted of: Nayun, who wielded a bow; Agnes, who used a bo staff; Demian, who wielded a Zweihänder; and Lucien, who wielded a katana.
It was a fairly balanced team, but there were still disparities in their ranks and skills.
"So that rhino is hard to defeat because its skin is very tough."
"Of course. Didn't you know that?"
"Let's just say I haven't read much about monsters."
Unlike the rest of the team, Lucien didn't know much about monsters since he wasn't from that world. But based on their explanation, that rhino would be hard to take down, as its tough hide was difficult to pierce.
"We'll need to hit its soft spots to hurt it, or attack it with something strong enough to break its armor."
When Agnes said that, she looked straight at Nayun, which made sense as she was the strongest on the team.
They kept running for a while until they stopped near a forest.
"It should be around here."
They checked the coordinates where the Ivory Rhino was supposed to be when they saw it appear among the trees in the forest.
"There it is. It's huge."
"What do we do?"
Nayun thought for a moment. She had been made the team leader since she had the highest rank and was the strongest.
"We have to take it down quickly if we want to beat Suho."
Nayun drew her bow to shoot, but she was stopped quickly.
"Wait, wait, wait! If you shoot, it'll come straight at us!"
"Wouldn't it be better if we distracted it so you can attack safely?"
Nayun stared at them, arrow already nocked.
"Fine. You guys grab its attention."
Lucien and Demian looked at each other. They were the main attackers and also the team's defense, so it was up to them to draw the rhino's attention.
"Let's go."
Lucien took the lead, followed closely by Demian.
"Don't stand in front of it—it'll charge!"
Agnes shouted as they approached the rhino.
"All right, so how do we do this? The pink-haired one told us to watch out for its charge."
"I don't know, I've never seen anything like this."
Lucien thought for a moment as he looked at the rhino's massive body, trying to figure out how to attack it. Piercing its hide would be tough—until he remembered his Gift.
"We could try attacking its legs and—"
Before he could finish, an arrow shot directly into the rhino's eye, causing it to roar and move erratically.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
Lucien looked over at Chae Nayun, who was firing more arrows at the rhino.
"T-The rhino..."
Lucien and Demian watched as the rhino locked its only eye onto them.
"RUN!"
The two of them took off running with the rhino charging after them. At one point, Demian leapt to the side to slash at it with his weapon, but was thrown back.
"It's too tough!"
"And that idiot made it angry!"
Nayun kept firing arrows, but they bounced off the rhino's thick hide.
Lucien remembered what Hajin said about her being too impatient to be a proper archer—and now he completely agreed.
Demian tried attacking again with no success, so Lucien seized the moment and slashed its belly, making it bleed.
"You're not that tough."
He landed more blows, further injuring its right side.
"Huh?"
The rhino was suddenly covered in a layer of light and charged at Lucien, who had to dodge quickly.
"That's why it's dangerous."
Once the rhino was covered in light, its strength and speed increased dramatically, tearing through the trees and sending them flying.
"Demian! Are you okay?!"
"Y-Yeah... it didn't hit me."
"Chae Nayun, why is she so impatient?"
As both of them got back up, Nayun fired again, drawing the rhino's attention now that the trees blocking its view had been destroyed.
"Nayun-ssi, we should move."
"We're fine here."
Nayun drew three arrows and fired them directly at the wounds Lucien had caused, making the rhino stagger.
Realizing where the attacks were coming from, the rhino prepared to charge again—but before it could, Nayun fired an arrow into its other eye, piercing through its head and finally bringing it down.
"We did it!"
As Nayun cheered, Lucien and Demian were both frustrated by what she had done, nearly getting them killed.
"She's a lunatic."
"I second that."
*****
[Team 2 - Total Time: 35 minutes 43 seconds. 4/100]
"That didn't change."
4th out of 100 teams.
It was the same rank as in the canon, so I wasn't worried, especially since I wasn't expecting too much without knowing how to fight properly. Still, I was annoyed by Nayun's stupidity for putting us in danger.
If I had been able to relax or learn how to fight real monsters, maybe I would've sliced that rhino in two before it could even charge.
"Still... it's kind of relaxing to watch her like that."
Even though most were happy with the result, there was one person who wasn't.
"No way… I ended up behind Rachel?!"
Chae Nayun was furious about not beating Suho, Jonghak, and Rachel.
"I should've attacked the moment I saw it!"
She kept complaining until she turned around and gave me a deadly stare.
"That was your fault."
I looked away from Chae Nayun—I didn't want to watch her trying to kill me with her eyes.
"I should try to control my magical power."
I had previously tried to create Mirage Edge without success. I couldn't even form a stable shape—it always self-destructed. So the first thing I needed to do was control my magical power.
I couldn't call myself a genius like some of the other characters in The Novel's Extra, but since I had Vergil's power, I had to be better than the rest—I just needed to learn how to use it.
First, I created a small sphere of light, although it came out bluish in color.
"I guess that's normal."
It disappeared the moment I lost focus.
"I should eat before the next class starts."
*****
After classes ended, I went to the training grounds and ended up completely exhausted.
"What a tough day. I'd love to know everything like Kim Hajin, but I guess it would be unfair to know everything when I already have an advantage."
When I got to my room, I tripped over the box containing my stuff and everything spilled onto the floor.
"I guess I can organize this before going to sleep."
I started picking up all the books and placing them on the shelves.
"I've read a lot of fantasy and history."
Lucien had several history books from this world, including one about the history of the Outcall.
"I could read that later."
I kept putting books away until I picked up a black one.
"That's a weird book. No title."
I opened it and saw a lot of text written in verse.
"He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy
He who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sunrise"
I closed the book and turned it around, seeing the letter "V" engraved on the back.
"This is really strange... Vergil's book?"