Chapter 289: The Most Wanted Scholar on the Island (1) [GT Bonus]
[Yerin’s POV]
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[Top 10 Current Squad Rankings — Day 5]
{1} Squad 5 (Silvena D’Elvoire) - 7230 Pts
{2} Squad 69 (Yerin Solder) - 6940 Pts
{3} Squad 71 (Natalia Crystavos) - 6020 Pts
{4} Squad 1 (Julian Rozenberg) - 5800 Pts
{5} Squad 6 (Irene) - 5400 Pts
{6} Squad 2 (Calyra Arcanis) - 5280 Pts
{7} Squad 4 (Rosalin Varion) - 5090 Pts
{8} Squad 3 (Loden Armand) - 4780 Pts
{9} Squad 34 (Ardyn Renhart) - 4480 Pts
{10} Squad 80 (Hector Bedira) - 3950 Pts
===============
The fire crackled softly at the center of the shelter. The silence between the four scholars was almost suffocating.
None of them spoke.
They simply stared at the translucent screen floating above their bracelets, flabbergasted and dumbfounded.
"How the hell are we still at second?" Shima finally broke the silence.
Yet nobody answered her.
They too, were wondering the exact same thing.
Calmly, Yerin took some time to figure it out on her own.
’We only cleared a Bronze Dungeon today, so most of these points must have come from the flags.’
They now had two flags in their possession, and every one of them was hidden beneath Ruvian’s [Shroudcloth]. As long as the cloth remained in place, no other squad could find the flags, much less steal them.
’But how? Unless... Ruvian found another flag...’
Her eyes widened.
That would explain why their calculation was a bit off yesterday, as well.
Realizing this, Yerin suddenly recalled the discussion they had on the ship before the test began.
To be exact, what Ruvian had said to them...
—"Acting aggressively throughout this test does not always mean you will earn more points. The smarter move is to claim as many flags as we can and let them earn points for us. The more flags we hold, the more the score grows while doing nothing. However, securing one is never easy. But if we managed to get 3 or 4, we would definitely top the rank."
Having recalled that conversation, Yerin breathed a sigh of relief. She then turned toward her squadmates. "I think the most likely explanation is that Ruvian found another flag yesterday."
"I see... Well, that makes much more sense," Shima replied with a slow nod.
Horren swallowed nervously before speaking in a faint, hesitant voice. "I-I can’t believe it was this easy... W–we might actually have a chance of reaching the top five."
"Top five? Is that all you’re aiming for?" Arlok scoffed, puffing out his chest. "Just look at the gap! We’re soaring ahead! No one is going to catch us! Hahahaha!"
Arlok threw his head back and laughed with loud, shameless confidence.
Meanwhile, Shima frowned at him with the most disgusted look she could manage. "Hey, muscle freak. Can you stop trying to jinx us?"
"What? I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?" Arlok placed both hands on his waist, looking genuinely confused.
Yerin slowly shook her head. "We shouldn’t get too confident yet."
She then turned her gaze toward Arlok. "Remember what Ruvian said. Once the seventh day begins, everything will be shuffled, and the rankings might change drastically."
Arlok clearly did not like hearing that. He opened his mouth to argue, but no proper response came to mind. In the end, he merely clicked his tongue and looked away.
"But did he ever explain why, though?"
Shima let out a tired sigh, as though she could not believe Arlok had already forgotten something so important. "He already did. Don’t forget about the {Mystery Card} and {Special Cards}. Those are the real game changers of this test."
Yerin nodded in agreement.
Their current position might have looked secure, but she knew it was only because everything had gone according to plan so far.
"Yeah. The main reason we’re doing this well is because the strategy we followed worked exactly as Ruvian expected," she said. "He understood how this test operated from the start, while squads like Julian’s, Calyra’s, and Rosalin’s may have focused on the wrong methods."
"Exactly," Shima added. "And those cards could give them a chance to correct their mistakes."
Yerin raised one finger, her expression turning more serious. "We also shouldn’t forget what happens once the seventh day begins. From that point onward, we’ll be allowed to eliminate other players and a portion of their points as a reward."
She paused for a moment before glancing at the others. "And also, as things stand, none of us has an {Executioner} card. There are only four of us as well, so trying to gather points by hunting down other squads would put us at a major disadvantage."
In other words, their lead was impressive, but it was far from safe. Once the seventh day arrived, the entire test could change in a matter of hours.
Just as Arlok was about to offer another senseless rebuttal, all four of their bracelets suddenly chimed with a new notification.
It was an announcement from the academy.
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Additional Information:
–As today marks the sixth day of the examination, the academy has decided to provide advance information regarding the {Bounty Card}.
–Once the card is used on a scholar, the academy will place a base reward of 500 Points on that individual. The cardholder may also add any number of their own points to increase the bounty.
–Most importantly, once a scholar’s bounty reaches 3,000 Points, every squad within a 500-meter radius of that scholar will have its location revealed on the map. This map will become accessible to all scholars once the seventh day begins. And whoever eliminated the scholar with that bounty will claim all the points.
That is all.
==========
After reading the announcement, Yerin’s expression changed completely. The color slowly drained from her face as a terrible possibility entered her mind.
"This..."
"...is really, really bad," Shima finished for her, her voice unusually grave.
Arlok looked between them with a deep frown. "What’s so bad about it?"
Horren had already gone pale. His hands trembled as he tightly gripped his own fingers, as though trying to stop himself from shaking.
"It means that once someone has a bounty on their head, every nearby squad will come rushing toward them," he said nervously. "And because everyone can see the map, they’ll know exactly where the target is, who is attacking them, and where the battle is taking place."
In other words, the target would become a piece of meat thrown into a den of starving beasts.
There would be no time to rest, no safe place to hide, and no end to the attacks. Squad after squad would keep coming from every direction, all desperate to eliminate the target and seize the bounty for themselves.
Yerin’s expression grew increasingly grim.
There was no doubt about it. If Julian possessed a {Bounty Card}, then Ruvian would be the first person he used it on.
She sighed.
’Hopefully, Julian didn’t have that card with him yet.’
*****
Unfortunately, it seemed the squad 69 leader’s fears had not been misplaced after all.
The moment noon arrived on the sixth day, every scholar’s bracelet suddenly released a sharp chime. Before anyone could even process it, a crimson notification appeared across their screens.
The first {Bounty Card} had been used.
[Scholar ’Julian Rozenberg’ has activated a {Bounty Card}.]
[A bounty has been placed on ’Ruvian Castelor’.]
[Current Bounty: 1,000 Points.]
For a brief moment, the entire island seemed to fall silent. Then, every scholar turned toward the same name displayed there.
And from that moment onwards, Ruvian Castelor had just become....
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[Chapter 289: The Most Wanted Scholar on the Island (1)]