Chapter 36
The class president lay on the ground, completely motionless.
I recalled the barrier that had protected her body when we had sparred.
Her abilities should have been sufficient to block an attack from a low-level monster.
If she had been alone, she wouldn’t have lost to a low-level monster.
But she was dead.
She had died because she had sprinted to save me at a much faster speed than usual.
Maybe she had deactivated her barrier to move quicker, or perhaps she had just been unable to deploy it in the frantic situation.
Regardless, the conclusion was the same.
She died because of me.
I stood there in a daze, looking down at her lifeless body.
The things leaking from her body stained the ground a vivid red.
A feeling, the same color as the puddle on the ground, spread through my chest.
It was a dark and sticky emotion.
The girl who had been standing in the center rushed over, holding onto the fallen class president, crying out in anguish.
She was blaming herself, sobbing and wailing.
Reacting to her cries, the monsters charged at her, ignoring the boys’ attacks.
If this continued, she would die too.
That thought pushed me to move in front of the girl and unleash flames from my hands.
The flames burned a deep crimson, reminiscent of the emotions filling my chest.
The flames were hot.
So hot that they hurt my hands, but I ignored the pain and grabbed the heads of the charging monsters in mid-air.
The monsters caught in my fiery grip screamed in agony, but I didn’t loosen my hold.
Eventually, the monsters engulfed in flames turned completely black and crumbled to ash.
Releasing my grip, I extinguished the flames from my hands, but the red flames that clung to my arms refused to die out, even when I blocked the source.
The flames spread from my hands to my arms, then to my torso.
Hot, hot, hot—until it hurt.
A searing pain wrapped around my body, and I screamed.
My screams echoed eerily like those of the monsters earlier.
At that moment, a voice echoed in my mind.
[Let’s burn everything!]
The voice reverberated through my head.
I didn’t know. It hurt, it was hot,
[Don’t you hate the things that make you hurt? Isn’t it infuriating? So, let’s make everything hurt the same way. Burn it all. Everything you despise. The world you detest.]
The ominous voice whispered.
Burn, burn it all.
Because it hurt, because I was angry, because I couldn’t think clearly.
[If you burn the world with your rage, and keep burning, then the things that make you suffer will disappear.]
Would it not hurt anymore if I burned everything?
[Yes, burn everything. Leave nothing behind.]
Burn it all.
Start with what’s closest.
[Burn.]
I turned around.
[Everything.]
The cries, the girl, the body of the president.
[Burn.]
Burn…?
[Burn it all!]
…No.
.
..
…
When I came to, I felt Eve’s and the students’ eyes on me.
I couldn’t gather my thoughts, so I took a deep breath and recalled that we were in training.
Next to me were the sobbing girl and two boys, gritting their teeth.
Where was the president?
Looking around, I saw someone lying on a mattress on the gym floor.
I bolted towards the person sprawled out.
The president lay there, eyes closed, gasping for breath and looking haggard.
Her neck looked fine.
It seemed that what had happened inside hadn’t affected her physical body.
As I grasped her hand with trembling fingers, she slowly opened her eyes.
Seeing me, the president managed a weak smile despite her struggles.
“You’re safe… Thank goodness…”
Hearing her trembling voice made me want to scream.
What do you mean “thank goodness”?
It’s because of me that you ended up like this.
Just when I was about to shout at her, the girl who had been crying all this time ran to her and began to wail loudly.
“I’m so sorry… I couldn’t hold you properly… I’m so sorry.”
Seeing the girl sob uncontrollably, the president, flustered, tried to calm her down, saying, “It’s okay, Jessie… It’s not your fault… It’s alright…” but the girl’s cries only grew louder.
The three members of my group gathered around the president, watching as the other groups finished their training.
At Eve’s call, five members from each group advanced.
With a snap of her fingers, they disappeared, and sometimes they would reappear alone before the ten minutes were up, screaming.
These students who appeared early were as pale as ghosts, clutching some part of their bodies in pain, only to realize their bodies were fine and let out a sigh of relief.
Eve had them lie down on the mattress to rest, and we realized they were students who had just “died” during training due to illusion magic.
One from Group 4.
Two from Group 5.
One from Group 6.
Every time a student popped out early and struggled, the girl from our group burst into tears again, the sound of her sobs never ceasing until all the other groups finished.
Those who had witnessed the death of their comrades gathered around the resting students, looking somber.
Eventually, those who had sufficiently rested began to comfort the gloomy members of their groups, assuring them they were fine and telling them to cheer up.
These kids had come here to become heroes, and they were the ones who could be deeply saddened by the loss of another’s life more than their own.
They were undoubtedly kind-hearted individuals.
I surveyed the gymnasium.
It was as vast as a soccer field.
I recalled the description from the novel.
[The gymnasium was filled with blood.]
If this gym were to fill with blood, how many people would have to have died?
Surely more than half of the students here were included in that number.
Thinking of this made me feel nauseous.
At that moment, I felt the president grip my hand.
Her worried gaze asked silently if I was alright.
I wasn’t okay.
If these kids died, I would be incredibly saddened.
I could no longer allow them to die.
Perhaps I wasn’t managing my emotions properly, so I forced my face into an expressionless mask.
“If everyone’s calm now, let’s begin. I will point out the areas each group needs to improve on.”
With a snap of Eve’s fingers, a holographic screen appeared in the air.
On the screen, Yoon Si-woo was seen slicing through a horde of monsters with astonishing agility.
“Honestly, there’s not much to say about Group 1. Si-woo surpassed my expectations, so the other students never even had the chance to step in. If I had to give you one piece of advice, Si-woo, it would be: don’t try to do everything on your own. You were much stronger than the enemies today, which is why you could handle it this way, but that won’t always be the case.”
Yoon Si-woo sheepishly smiled at Eve’s comment.
The other students looked at Yoon Si-woo with jaws dropped in shock.
It was precisely what they had expected: the spectacular show of Yoon Si-woo.
The screen switched.
It showed Group 2, which included Sylvia.
Under Sylvia’s command, Group 2 faced the monsters quite steadily.
Even when other group members made mistakes, Sylvia’s spells quickly filled in the gaps.
Seeing as there were no major faults, Eve primarily praised Group 2, only mentioning minor improvements.
Then, when Group 3’s scene appeared on screen, Eve’s expression sharpened.
In the first battle, I appeared to fail to react to the unexpected movement of the monsters.
Luckily, the girl standing in the center managed to grab the monster with her telekinesis and neutralized it safely, but it seemed Eve wasn’t pleased.
“The movement you should have been able to respond to was something I had seen from Evande before. Your reaction was much slower. If Jessie hadn’t handled it, there could have been an accident. Since no significant damage was done, I’ll just briefly address this.”
The entire group fell into somber silence at her words.
Everyone knew what would happen next.
Hesitating to kill the monster, I faltered at the moment it broke free from my telekinesis and charged at me, resulting in the monster’s fangs sinking into the president’s neck.
Eve paused the video and said in a dry voice.
“Jessie, you failed to control your power. If you couldn’t restrain it perfectly, you should have at least informed your teammates in advance and attempted to restrain it with your weapon. If you freeze up when the enemy attacks a teammate, something like this will happen again.”
The pointed-out girl nodded, tears welling in her eyes.
“Mei, your judgment was immature. No matter how much a comrade is in danger, you should have acted within your capabilities. What do you think would happen if you turn your back on an enemy? You should have established some defensive measures with your powers. Your poor judgment caused you and your group members to have a bad experience. Reflect on that.”
“Understood…”
Eve’s admonishments were relentless, even towards students who had indirectly experienced death.
For her, this was just training.
She would push students to the brink during training to ensure they wouldn’t die in real battles.
The president bowed her head in response to Eve’s reasonable critique.
Eve then looked at me with a blend of emotions in her eyes.
After a brief moment of contemplation, she asked me,
“Evande, are you afraid of fighting monsters?”
I gulped at her question.
Until recently, I would have desperately denied it.
I had thrown myself into fights and training without holding back, trying to appear fearless, but now, with the gym door in place and my mindset altered, I no longer needed to act.
I nodded.
This would probably lead me to stay at school the following Monday, but… I felt it no longer mattered.
Seeing me nod, Eve added a little more.
“You’ll need to get used to it. Otherwise, you might face something far scarier. Understand?”
I grasped what she was implying.
I glanced at the president before nodding again.
The video that had briefly stopped resumed playing.
The girl was holding the downed president, wailing as monsters charged toward them.
I blocked their path and set the monsters ablaze.
The video concluded with me extinguishing the flames and turning back to look at the fallen president.
It was a direct replay of what had happened earlier.
So, it was supposed to be an account of something I already knew.
Yet, I felt a sense of unease while watching the video.
What was this feeling?
I was incredibly unsettled, but no matter how much I pondered, I couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong.
[■■■.]
At that moment, I felt a slight pain in the hand I had been resting on the floor.
Startled, I lifted my hand to check, but it seemed fine.
There was nothing unusual where my hand had been, except for a black mark that looked like it had always been there.
…Is it just my imagination?
Only the sound of Eve’s voice could be heard, scolding the boys in our group for letting a monster slip by, echoing throughout the gymnasium.
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