---
Steven frowned and answered firmly,
"No."
Nathan ignored Steven's refusal and asked with curiosity,
"What's your name?"
"Where do you live?"
"And what are you hiding?"
Steven froze at the last question and replied coldly,
"I'm not hiding anything. Stay away from me—I need to collect points."
Nathan frowned, feigning offense,
"What? I just want to be your friend."
Steven wasn't polite in his reply and said coldly,
"I don't want that."
He turned and started walking through the forest.
Nathan's expression became filled with interest. He followed Steven, speaking with slight boredom,
"Hey… at least tell me your name."
Steven pondered suspiciously,
*What's with this Nathan? He's acting strange since he lifted that black patch from his eye. Does his eye have a skill that sees something I don't? No wonder he looked so shocked at that moment.*
*I don't know what's up with his eye, but I need to stay away from him.*
Steven decided to ignore Nathan's question about his name.
Seeing that Steven ignored him, Nathan thought for a moment and then said,
"Hey… if you tell me your name, I'll leave you alone for now. And I won't tell anyone you brought food."
Steven frowned.
*For now?*
*That means he'll come back later.*
Steven wanted to bang his head against a wall because of his bad luck.
*I planned everything to stay unnoticed and avoided all annoying situations. What did I do wrong to make Nathan suddenly care about me?*
*Sigh… as long as he's leaving me alone for now, it's fine.*
He looked at Nathan coldly.
"Are you really going to leave me?"
Nathan noticed Steven's attention and smiled,
"Yes, really."
Steven scrutinized Nathan's smiling face and finally surrendered, telling him,
"Steven."
Then he walked away from Nathan and into the forest.
Nathan stood still for a moment, then laughed loudly,
"Hahaha!"
He put his hands behind his head and began walking in the opposite direction from Steven.
*Interesting… I want to get close to him to see why his eyes show him that way.*
*And if what I saw is true, maybe I should intervene and destroy some things I don't like.*
Nathan smiled enthusiastically.
*From what I observed, he's cold and doesn't want to get close to anyone. I need to approach him when the academy begins, but I won't make it boring.*
As he walked, he heard the sound of a nearby battle. It seemed to be between humans.
Nathan's eyes gleamed with madness, and he smiled,
*Looks like it's time to hunt.*
He rushed eagerly toward the sound.
---
Elsewhere, inside the open forest area:
Students were divided into several groups: some were fighting, some stood cautiously observing their surroundings, and some had killed monsters and were trying to light fires to cook the meat.
Another group with greedy eyes watched them, planning to attack and complete their work.
Some had pale faces and were eating herbs and grass from the ground.
The scene was chaotic.
Kai, who had just entered the area, looked around in amazement at the chaos and said to his companion,
"What is this mess? It's only the second day, and why do they look so hungry?"
His teammate replied,
"Perhaps the forest contains various herbs that can be used as food ingredients."
Kai looked at him with a helpless expression.
"Most of them come from wealthy families and haven't faced any real hardships. They don't even know what is edible or not. I think many died from eating something poisonous, which is why no one approached the herbs, fearing they might fail."
"And ordinary families might not have much money, but they care for their children, so most kids don't know how to survive without their family."
He looked at Kai.
"They aren't talented or strong enough to explore a forest with strong monsters, so they prefer to fight among themselves. It seems the monsters avoid this area for some reason."
Kai seemed to understand.
"Hmm… that makes sense."
Then he said excitedly,
"Then we need to gather as many blue-card holders as possible and form a very large team."
He exited the open area again.
His teammate sighed and followed him. Kai wanted to collect points from hunting monsters because he found it more enjoyable than fighting weaker students. But if someone attacked him first, he would have no choice but to fight.
---
Steven spent the first four days collecting points from monsters.
He met some students with the same card color and others with different colors.
He thought some of the girls he encountered were extremely foolish and hadn't noticed his card color for some reason. Steven exploited this and killed them, gaining their points relatively easily.
The boys weren't as foolish; their battles were fair, and Steven won.
He also met students with the same card color who invited him to join their group, but Steven coldly refused.
---
It was the fifth day.
Most students had failed the test—either killed for points, starved, or killed by monsters.
During this period, Steven was the only student whose situation had gone smoothly.
[You gained 10 points from killing a monster. Your total points are now 200.]
*Good. I need to get enough points tomorrow, as things will be a bit chaotic.*
*Even though killing weak monsters is boring, it's the only way if I want to enter the academy unnoticed.*
Steven looked at the dead imp in front of him, then at his clothes stained green with its blood.
Steven valued cleanliness, so he felt disgusted by his blood-stained clothes.
He hadn't bathed for five days? His tolerance for dirt had run out. He had to clean himself.
Steven had some OCD regarding personal hygiene.
Even though he was in VR, the realistic simulation and senses made it impossible for him to remain unclean.
He had found herbs in the forest with pleasant scents that could be used instead of cleaning powders.
The only problem was that bathing would show him on the monitoring screens outside.
He didn't think he would attract much attention; as an average-strength student, viewers wouldn't care much. But Steven needed to be careful, especially since Mark might watch the test. He didn't want anyone to see his scars.
So he decided to bathe fully clothed.
Steven entered the pond he had found a few days ago, using the herbs to clean his body and clothes.
He bathed in comfort, unaware that outside, he had already attracted attention—not just any attention, but the attention of all the girls watching.
Most of these girls were either students who had failed or academy students curious about the new students' test.
One of them, looking at Steven bathing, said,
"How can he be this beautiful?"
"Yes, he's very handsome. Even with other attractive examinees, none are as beautiful as him. Even with some dirt, his radiance isn't hidden."
"Yes, and although he's cold and merciless—he killed girls who were enchanted and even boys—he still appeals to me."
"Yes, even though his power level is average."
One girl shouted,
"It doesn't matter. From now on, he'll be my child, and I'll protect him!"
Another shouted,
"No, he'll be my child!"
A girl wearing glasses intervened,
"No, don't shout. He'll be all of our child."
All the girls agreed,
"Yes, yes, that's better."
---
Poor Steven, unaware of what was happening outside, had just finished bathing and began searching for a safe place to stay for the night.
The next mission would start six hours after sunrise.
He planned to enter the empty area one hour before the mission began.
Steven finally found a suitable spot and spent the night comfortably.
---
At sunrise the next day, Steven had finished resting.
He sat in the tree, watching the sun rise over the horizon. The orange sunlight reflected on his cold, expressionless face.
Steven, sitting on the tree, looked like a beautiful painting created by a famous artist.
He jumped from the tree to the ground and began collecting branches to start a fire.
He had killed some monsters suitable for eating and took their meat.
Although monster meat didn't taste as good as regular meat, Steven thought it was fine as long as it was edible.
He lit the fire, placed the meat on it, sprinkled some herbs he had prepared to add flavor, and added a bit of salt from his storage ring.
He cooked it, then quickly ate it to avoid encountering students who might try to take the food.
After finishing, he immediately headed toward the open area.
The distance was long, so Steven had to start shortly after sunrise.
He wasn't worried about facing Rank D or C students.
Rank D students were some characters from the story who were friends of Kai, while Rank C was only Kai.
Steven's path toward the open area was smooth. Hours passed, and he was nearing the area when he suddenly saw a beautiful girl approaching from the side.
Her hair was a silvery-blond, and her eyes were blue like the clear sea. Her clothes bore a red card with the number 33.
She walked toward Steven calmly, as if noticing him but not alarmed.
Steven, observing her state through the Author's Skill, widened his eyes in shock.
*Impossible!! Elisa Theodore?! The villain?*
*What is she doing in the academy test? This wasn't in the story.*
*She was supposed to rage from the experiments, destroy the lab, go to the demon world, and join them.*
*What changed?*
Suddenly, he remembered something.
*Impossible… three and a half years ago, Mark told me he saved a girl who closely matched the description of the villain Elisa.*
*I didn't think it was really her at the time.*
Steven sighed,
*Well, that's good. She won't join the demons.*
Suddenly, Steven realized the problem he faced now.
*Damn!! Her card is red. I can't defeat her like this. She's Rank C. I must escape unless I want to reveal my strength.*
---
Steven started running toward the open area.
Elisa didn't seem worried about Steven fleeing.
She raised her hand, about to act.
Steven thought,
*Damn, I must avoid it.*
He quickly changed direction, and Elisa lowered her hand, releasing several lightning strands that struck the spot where Steven had been.
Elisa frowned but raised her hand again, ready to strike Steven.
Suddenly, Steven and Elisa heard a voice from the side:
"I've finally met you again!"
A boy with red hair and red eyes emerged from the trees—it was Kai, the hero of the story.
Elisa frowned and quickly redirected her hand, striking lightning toward Kai.
Kai dodged swiftly and, once standing firmly, suddenly laughed,
"Haha, your welcome is amazing! Do you want to face me again?"
"This time, it won't be a tie."
Elisa didn't reply but raised her hand, launching a series of attacks.
Kai dodged them all and raised his hand toward Elisa. A tornado of fire appeared before her.
Seeing the fire tornado, Elisa clasped both hands together and formed a thick ball of lightning, throwing it into the tornado.
*Boom!*
The tornado dissipated, and the lightning ball vanished.
When it disappeared, both Kai and Elisa rushed at each other at high speed.
They collided.
Meanwhile, Steven, who had ignored their battle, had moved away and continued toward his path, unconcerned with what happened between them.
*What lucky timing. Things would have been annoying if Kai hadn't arrived.*
*Only one hour remains until the mission begins.*
---
If you want, I can continue translating the next sequence, where Steven navigates the open area, faces monsters, and interacts with other students, keeping all the tension and strategy intact.
Do you want me to continue?