If my calculations are still correct, this is the last day.
Day 36 in the simulation, or 6 hours in the real world.
I sat on the highest branch of a dead tree towering over the edge of a cliff. Above, an artificial full moon shone down on an endless sea of fog.
The night wind blows strongly, shaking my hair. My black sensor suit is covered in scratches and dried mud. My body feels light, the effect of poor nutrition management and extreme calorie burning for weeks.
"Hah..." I take a long breath, white vapor coming out of my mouth.
I wonder, how many students have failed? Has half of the participants already dropped out?
Since the incident with the surveillance camera being shot down two weeks ago, I feel much freer. Without eyes watching me, I can experiment. I no longer need to act. I fight in my own style: efficient, brutal, and calculated.
To fill this boring void, I have made the Mist Forest my playground.
Looking back, what I have experienced over the past two weeks has gone beyond the academy's curriculum.
On the 20th day, I faced the Stone Golem. The five-meter-tall creature had physical defenses that were impossible for a beginner's magic to penetrate. In the original script, the player had to run away. But me? I repeatedly struck its weak point at the knee with a specific mana vibration frequency until its leg cracked on its own.
On the 28th day, I encountered the White Monkey King. That furry bastard was a real pain. He wasn't strong, but his speed was incredible. He threw giant bananas that exploded like grenades. It took me three days to defeat him.
And just yesterday, I almost died eaten by the Void Worm. The monster emerged from the ground silently, its mouth full of teeth ready to swallow me whole. It was a pure reflex test. I survived only because my instincts sensed the vibration half a second before it appeared.
"What a fun vacation," I muttered sarcastically.
I leaned my back against a tree trunk and closed my eyes.
Only a few more hours to go. If I survive until sunrise, this simulation will end. I'll pass. I'll be able to eat delicious food in the cafeteria, sleep on a soft mattress, and forget all the damn monsters in this simulated world.
But somehow, the atmosphere was so quiet and peaceful.
Crack.
That sound wasn't a broken branch. It was the sound of something much bigger. Like a giant tree trunk being crushed by massive claws.
My eyes opened.
The air temperature suddenly rose drastically. The cold white mist around me evaporated in seconds, replaced by scorching heat that burned my skin.
I looked up.
The dark night sky was now blood red.
From behind the clouds, a giant silhouette descended slowly. Its wingspan was as wide as a football field, creating a hot windstorm every time it flapped. Its eyes... the reptile's eyes stared at me menacingly.
The Fire Dragon.
My jaw clenched. My brain worked hard to recall memories from the past.
"I never wrote this. I never put the Fire Dragon in the Mist Forest map! This monster should be in the 90th Floor Dungeon!"
Did the professor put it there to kill me? Or has this system evolved on its own to eliminate me?
"GRAAAAAWRRRRRR!"
The dragon's roar shook the entire forest. The tree I was sitting on trembled violently, nearly toppling over.
Without warning, the dragon opened its mouth. A bright orange light gathered in its throat.
Fire Breath.
"Damn it!"
I didn't jump down. I jumped to the side, using another tree branch as a foothold.
BOOM!
A burst of fire hit the tree I had been sitting on. In an instant, the giant tree was reduced to ashes. The heat wave hit my back, causing the sensors in my suit to flash red and sending a sensation of blistered skin to my brain.
"Argh!" I gritted my teeth, enduring the pain.
The dragon didn't stop. It knew I was still alive.
Its long neck swept and spewed fire in all directions.
I ran.
I activated my secret ability, "Jumper." I jumped from one tree trunk to another, moving in a zigzag pattern to avoid the flames.
But it was useless. The dragon was too big. Its attack range was too wide.
The forest was destroyed. There was nowhere to hide. The oxygen was thinning due to the fire. If I kept running, I would die from suffocation or being roasted.
The dragon landed on the ground. Its spiked tail swung, sweeping an area twenty meters wide.
I jumped high into the air to avoid the tail.
As I float in the air, the dragon's eyes lock onto me. He grins. He's been waiting for this moment. The moment when I have no foothold.
He takes another breath. Ready to spew fire right at me, floating defenselessly.
Time slows down.
I stare into the dragon's fiery maw.
"Running won't help," I whispered. "The only way to survive is to kill this damn dragon."
I had no weapons. My sword had broken while fighting the Golem. I had long since discarded my staff.
All I had was this body and my understanding of magic.
When the dragon breathed fire, I didn't dodge.
I stretched my right hand forward.
I didn't use water element magic to extinguish the fire. That would be foolish. My mana would be wasted fighting the dragon's fire.
Instead, I used Mana Disruption. My teacher had taught me this technique when fighting enemies far stronger than us. This magic works to disrupt the enemy's magical attacks.
I fired a shockwave right into the fireball that was about to come out of its mouth.
The structure of the fire magic was unstable. When my magic wave hit it, the fire exploded inside the dragon's own mouth.
"GROOAAARRRRR!"
The dragon screamed in pain, its head jerking back. Black smoke billowed from its jaws.
That was my chance. I landed right on top of the dragon's still-smoking snout.
The heat was intense. The pain sensors in my feet screamed for me to let go.
I ran up the dragon's face, toward a spot between its eyes. The spot where the weakness of dragon-type monsters usually lies.
The dragon shook its head wildly.
I grabbed the hard scales on its forehead with my left hand, my nails breaking and bleeding. I held on for dear life.
"You..." I growled.
Blue mana gathered in my hand. It wasn't in the shape of a bullet. It wasn't in the shape of a shield.
This time, I condensed all my mana into an unstable blade of light.
I thrust my right hand into the dragon's forehead repeatedly.
CRAAAAAAAK!
The hard scales shattered. My hand pierced through flesh and bone, directly into its brain.
I released an explosion of mana inside.
The dragon froze instantly.
Its glowing red eyes dimmed. Its raging giant body suddenly stopped moving.
Silence.
Then, blue cracks began to appear all over the dragon's body.
In a blinding flash of light, the giant dragon's body was destroyed. It didn't turn into dust or blood, but into thousands of blue particles in the air.
I fell freely from a height of ten meters.
THUD.
I landed hard on the scorched ground.
My body couldn't move anymore. The indicator on my chest flashed red and white alternately—a critical sign, but not yet dead.
I lay on my back staring at the artificial sky that was beginning to collapse with the aftermath of the battle against the Fire Dragon.
The simulation ended. I won.
"It's over..." I whispered hoarsely. "Finally..."
I closed my eyes. Preparing to return to the real world.
However, outside. To be precise, in the real world, something was happening.
The hall was silent. Several students, professors, and seniors stared at the black screen that had died four hours ago after being shot by Leon.
They could only wait, wondering if the participant named Leon was still alive or had died foolishly.
Suddenly...
BZZZZZTTT!
The giant screen in the middle of the hall lit up again. White static filled the screen for a moment before the image became clear.
"He's still alive!" someone shouted.
Seraphina, who was standing in the back row, leaned forward, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Leon.
However, what they saw on the screen made everyone swallow hard. They were shocked by the aftermath of the battle Leon had fought. The forest was devastated by something, with fire scattered everywhere.
And they saw Leon, whose indicator on his chest was blinking.
*****
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