I Became a Mythical-Tier Tamer Due To A System Error

Chapter 127

“…What the…?”

The ring gradually faded until it completely disappeared from sight.

“Huh?”

I was dumbfounded.

Not even a hollow laugh came out, and I stared above my head for a long time.

…But no matter how many times I rubbed my eyes, the ‘Ring’ was still gone.

Ruber’s spell was the foundation and the core system of this exam, yet it had vanished.

Without the ring, the cadets would not be protected from lethal attacks.

‘Could it be that only mine disappeared?’

I climbed up the ladder, cracked open the door of the Tree House, and peeked inside at Karin and Lapin, who were asleep in their sleeping bags.

Just like me, their rings had completely vanished.

‘…So it wasn’t only me.’

It was a series of events that were never supposed to happen.

‘Why on earth…?’

Just as my mind was tangled in confusion.

[Cadets, hear this.]

A majestic voice rang out from the sky.

Judging by the voice, it was unmistakably Professor Ruber.

[Due to some error, the protective spell has vanished. Until it is resolved, if you encounter monsters, you must flee immediately.]

Fortunately, it seemed the overseers were already aware of the problem.

Of course, the real issue was when it would be fixed.

[From this moment on, do not attack one another. Physical clashes between cadets are strictly forbidden.]

Hearing the voice, Lapin’s eyes shot open and she sat up.

At the same time, Karin stretched with a meaningless groan.

“Ugh, my sleep’s ruined. Why’s it so noisy… Huh? Villed?”

[Once again, I repeat. Due to some error, the protective spell…]

As Ruber’s announcement continued, Karin slowly raised her head to look above her.

Her face was drowsy from sleep, but it quickly turned to shock.

“…It’s gone?”

Karin’s complexion went pale as she blinked several times.

She even tried to press both hands against where the ring should have been above her head, but of course, there was nothing there.

“It’s really gone…? But without this… we can’t, right? What do we do, Villed…!”

“Don’t worry.”

Compared to Karin’s panic, my voice was remarkably calm.

“This is a safe zone. Monsters won’t attack here. And fighting between cadets is banned too.”

“Yeah, true. We haven’t seen a single monster nearby until today anyway…”

Her voice sounded like she was trying to reassure herself.

“Exactly. As long as we stay holed up here, it’ll be perfectly safe.”

“…Mm.”

Karin’s shoulders trembled noticeably.

Noticing it, Lapin looked into her eyes and spoke.

“Karin. This place is safe.”

“You trust Lapin’s intuition, right? We even found this spot thanks to her.”

When I added my words, Karin hugged Lapin tightly and exhaled.

“Really…? You promise I can trust this…?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, Karin.”

As Lapin patted her back, Karin’s expression softened a little.

Only after seeing that she had calmed down did I step outside the Tree House.

“I’ll be downstairs. Try not to leave and just stay hidden here.”

“Wait, don’t go. It’s dangerous outside.”

“…We still need at least one person keeping watch under the house. And if things get dangerous, the spirit beasts will let me know, so I won’t be in danger.”

If a monster appeared nearby, my ‘Danger Sense’ skill would activate, so it wasn’t a lie.

Since Karin already knew that I handled spirit beasts, she seemed convinced and let me go.

“Okay. But if it gets dangerous, you have to come up right away.”

I nodded and climbed down to the ground.

Then, like always, I lay down in the hammock.

…I didn’t feel tense at all.

It was only natural.

‘There’s no way monsters will come around here.’

Still, something nagged at me.

The injection mark I saw yesterday on the Minotaur’s neck.

‘…Is this all part of Lahan’s gang’s scheme?’

I couldn’t believe the destruction of the spell was just some error.

And Lahan certainly had the power to destroy it.

…But for what reason?

‘Just to threaten the cadets? No… They have a much bigger plan. They wouldn’t waste their strength on something so petty.’

Instead of causing one big incident, they were probably aiming to slowly corrupt the Academy from within—‘erosion.’

I sank deep into thought.

‘It feels like I’m just about to grasp a clue…’

The fact that Lahan helped Jed Rubin yet gave up easily.

The hatred and distrust sparked toward the refugee students because of that incident.

Kunking, who was dominating the exam in first place.

All of it pointed in one direction.

‘…Don’t tell me?’

Realizing it too late, I shot to my feet.

On this island, monsters did not multiply.

That was because their numbers were deliberately restricted.

“When monsters are hunted while the protective spell is gone, whether or not we get points… that doesn’t matter.”

When Elined replied, the cadets around her nodded in agreement.

“You’re right, Lady Elined.”

Sitting down and polishing his sword, Torono answered in turn.

“The professor didn’t forbid hunting monsters. He only told us to run away. Because he knows that if cornered, we’d have no choice but to fight. So if we go hunting first, we’re technically not breaking any rules.”

One of Elined’s supporters spoke up.

“If we wipe out all the monsters now… that means we can secure our current rankings.”

Currently, Elined was ranked 2nd, Torono was 8th, and the rest of her supporters were all within the top 30.

The number of students allowed into the higher departments was extremely limited.

Especially Alkymia, Hawkeye, and Finders, which only admitted ten students each.

But if they maintained their current standings until the exam ended, all of them would be guaranteed entry.

“As expected of Lady Elined. Perfect. Let’s wipe them out quickly.”

Ignoring Professor Ruber’s warning, they aggressively went hunting monsters.

For high-ranking but not top-tier cadets, the only way to gain points was through monster hunting.

But wiping out all the monsters was the same as kicking down the ladder for anyone who wanted to climb up later.

The top-ranking cadets hunted monsters relentlessly throughout the night.

That included the overwhelming 1st place cadet of this exam.

The western coastal area.

Thud—!

With his flaming fist, a red-haired boy smashed a monster into oblivion.

It was Kunking.

After obliterating the monster, Kunking snapped his fingers. At once, the surrounding monsters were sucked toward him as if into a black hole.

His eyes glinted sharply.

Boom—!

He struck down the enemy pulled toward him with his fist.

Nearby monsters were blown away in a single hit.

Then several more attacked at once…

Smash—!

Thud—!

Kunking’s fists, legs, his whole body, were nothing short of blazing weapons.

Each time a monster entered his sight, he ceaselessly hunted them down one after another.

Sweat poured from his entire body as proof.

Kunking alone had been carrying out something akin to a massacre.

Just as Kunking, who wanted to confirm whether he had cleared all nearby monsters, looked around and was about to run to another spot, he stopped.

It was because he felt a presence behind a rock.

Had a monster run away?

“Rats.”

Fharrrr—!

Kunking again wrapped his two fists in fierce flames and walked toward that place.

When he reached the backside of the rock and raised his fist toward the sky.

“Eeeek!”

That was not a monster’s cry.

…it was a human sound.

“P-please, spare me…!”

“I don’t want to die…!”

Three cadets were hiding behind the rock, clutching each other in terror as they looked up at Kunking.

Kunking’s expression twisted as he looked at them.

“You idiots… stop confusing me.”

The flames that had clung to Kunking’s body died out.

He spat on the ground with a smack and turned his steps.

…Most of the cadets he had met so far had formed teams like that.

They were weak, so they stuck together.

Kunking turned his head back toward them and shouted.

“Cowards, is now the time to hide?”

It was utterly pathetic.

Were these students really attending the world’s top academy?

Now that most had stopped hunting monsters, it was bleak that only a few understood this was an opportunity.

Kunking thought it would be disgraceful if he failed to take first place against such pathetic students.

After scanning the shoreline and confirming there were no monsters, he moved toward the forest.

He had exterminated the monsters throughout the west area by himself.

He must have racked up an enormous number of points.

But how many points that was, he had no way of knowing.

Kunking looked up.

…There was still no ring.

He already knew as well, since he had heard Ruber’s announcement across the island.

For some unknown reason the protective spell had been destroyed, and combat between cadets was forbidden.

That was why he had not attacked the three cadets a moment ago.

…Startled.

He felt another presence nearby again, but Kunking did not wrap flames around his arms.

He simply turned his gaze slowly in that direction, toward a large tree.

Under it stood Curio, a short-haired female, alone.

“…Hah.”

Kunking looked at Curio and belatedly let out a laugh.

“Sis, why did you show up in front of me. You told me not to act like you knew me before.”

“Just saying it for the sake of caution.”

Curio looked Kunking straight in the eyes and approached slowly.

“You’re in danger right now. Control yourself.”

“Ha, now even you think I’m crazy? What, scared I’ll go and smash the others to pieces?”

Curio’s eyebrows moved slightly.

Having drawn closer to Kunking, Curio spoke in a voice low enough that only he could hear.

“The Empire’s Honor Captain is here.”

“…Since when?”

“From the beginning.”

“…”

Kunking said nothing for a while at Curio’s answer.

“The fact that I’m telling you this means you’re especially in danger right now.”

“…If I say that he’s after me, do you think you can stop me?”

Kunking answered belatedly with a smile.

“Don’t worry. It’s none of your concern. I have no intention of beating anyone to death. I do keep a line.” Googlᴇ search novel⦿fire.net

He ground his teeth as he turned his steps and replied.

“I will never walk the same path as my brother.”

Hearing that, Curio fell silent and only watched him.

“That day. The day the forces were smashed, you went your way, my brother went his, and I said I would go my way, didn’t I?”

Curio briefly recalled the memory of the band of thieves being dismantled by the Empire.

Kunking did not look at Curio.

“Don’t worry about me anymore.”

“…”

Curio did not open her mouth again.

Thud—, thud—.

Kunking walked alone through the forest.

Kunking’s target was the exploration department called ‘Finders’, one of the three top departments.

He had enrolled in Yggdrasil to reclaim his homeland, Hetarion, which had been consumed by an unknown corruption.

The department that studied corrupted spaces, dimensions, and places was located in only one place in the world: the Yggdrasil Academy.

Moreover, admission to the exploration department granted a pass issued by the Empire.

With that pass, one could go anywhere in this world.

It was the only way to enter the forbidden zone designated as Hetarion.

Thus only ‘Finders’ had been Kunking’s goal.

But the exploration department was classified as a top department, so competition was fierce and high scores were necessary.

That was why he had been participating in the exam with cruel desperation until now.

“…”

Kunking looked up, but neither scores nor lifelines were visible.

With the lifelines frozen due to an error, now was precisely the time to exterminate monsters and firmly secure first place, he was sure.

And… Heidel.

The only person at this academy who had humiliated him.

He intended to overwhelmingly crush that Heidel in this exam.

Kunking was walking northward.

Thud—. Thud—.

…Footsteps came from behind.

They were not Kunking’s own.

They sounded as if someone had been tailing him for a while.

“Rats should hide like rats.”

Certain that someone was intentionally following him, Kunking glanced back.

A silver-haired female cadet wearing a Black Cat Mask stood under the moonlight.