I'm a Villain in My Own Game?

[3rd PoV]

The examination had been underway for approximately six hours.

On average, the participants had traveled around thirteen to fifteen kilometers by now. Several teams had already been eliminated after having the misfortune of encountering groups of particularly powerful monsters.

"Viera! How about we form an alliance with another team?" suggested a short, brown-haired young man.

His name was Piers, one of the members of the Disciplinary Committee.

"Have you seen those monsters? I don't think the two of us are going to last very long out here!"

Viera, the archer from the Disciplinary Committee, was resting inside the tent she had set up.

Sweat was pouring down her body. The scorching sunlight and her previous battles against numerous monsters had already left her utterly exhausted.

"Ugh... You're noisy, Piers," Viera complained, clearly annoyed by her companion's voice. "I don't feel like forming an alliance with just anyone. Who knows when they'll betray us?"

During the first stage of the examination, Viera had barely managed to qualify for the second stage.

That was because her team's alliance had betrayed them at the last moment.

They had stolen several of Viera's team's crystals and eliminated two of her companions.

"Well... You have a point," Piers admitted as he sat down inside his own tent. "Maybe we should form an alliance with the other members of the committee?"

This time, Viera didn't immediately dismiss Piers's suggestion.

"I think that's a good idea, but we don't know where they are right now."

Piers then pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and showed it to Viera.

"Look, Viera! I have a map of this desert!"

Viera immediately stood up and approached him.

"Huh? Where did you get that?" she asked while examining the map drawn on the paper.

"I bought it from one of the Caravan groups in the city," Piers replied. "They said their Caravan frequently travels through this desert and uses this map to avoid areas with high concentrations of monsters!"

"Hmm... Then which route should we take?" Viera asked.

She wasn't particularly good at reading maps.

"This map only tells us how to avoid areas with large numbers of monsters in the outer region of the desert," Piers explained. "However, we'll still have to enter the abandoned city to reach the finish line, and there will most likely be plenty of monsters waiting for us there."

After hearing Piers's explanation, Viera fell silent for a moment.

"I think we should hurry and reach the urban area first. Then we can look for the other members of our committee."

"Huh? Why don't we just head straight for the finish line once we've gotten that far?" Piers asked, confused.

"I don't know, Piers. I just have a bad feeling that we're going to encounter a lot of monsters in the urban area."

---

[Ariel POV]

Hot.

Exhausting.

Terrifying.

Those were the things I was feeling right now.

My companion and I had already run quite a long distance across this dry and barren land.

Earlier, we had been attacked by a terrifying pack of monsters.

Now, we were running from those very creatures.

"Hey! If we don't do something, those monsters are going to catch up with us sooner or later!" my companion shouted, already exhausted from running.

I felt the same way.

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I never imagined surviving without the friends who had always been there to protect me would be this difficult.

But I was different now.

I stopped running.

Then I turned around to face the monster pursuing us.

*Groarrr!*

The two-meter-tall monster roared, revealing its sharp claws and fangs.

"Hey, what are you doing?! Run! The two of us can't defeat that monster!" my companion shouted without stopping.

No...

I had already made a promise back then.

I would no longer become a burden to my team.

"Sealing Magic: Divine Chain!"

A magic circle appeared beside the monster's two feet.

Chains emerged from the circle and wrapped around its legs, forcing it to stop pursuing us.

"But simply restraining it won't be enough."

Yes...

I had to kill it.

I knew it was wrong.

But if I didn't do it, someone else would become its victim.

And if I simply ignored that possibility, I would be just as guilty.

I activated my magic once again.

The chains binding the monster's legs began spreading across its entire body.

"Crush..."

The chains tightened.

And tightened.

And tightened.

Until, eventually, they crushed the monster's body.

Blood spilled across the dry, barren ground.

"Huh? Why didn't you use your magic from the beginning?!" my companion shouted angrily. "We wouldn't have had to run until we were exhausted if you'd used it from the start!"

I ignored his words and continued walking.

He was right about one thing.

I couldn't always rely on my friends to protect me.

There would come a time when I had to be capable of protecting myself—and protecting others.

Just as I had done now.

---

[Valeria POV]

Ugh...

We had been walking for nearly nine hours, yet we had only managed to cover around twenty-seven kilometers.

Am I really going to be the first one to reach the finish line?

The sky was gradually growing darker.

The pocket watch I carried showed that it was almost six in the evening.

"Let's spend the night here, Valeria."

I stopped walking after hearing the man's words.

"Huh? Why? Isn't there still plenty of time before nightfall?"

Why stop now?

With the time we had left, we could still walk another two or three kilometers at least.

"We're getting deeper into the desert. We should use the remaining daylight to scout the surrounding area and make sure our resting place is safe from monster groups," the man explained.

"That's only a problem for you," I retorted as I continued walking. "I can create a barrier to prevent monsters from approaching within twenty meters of my tent."

Yes...

I had already learned a first-level barrier spell capable of preventing monsters up to Level 4 from entering my tent during the night.

The spell required fifteen minutes of preparation and would remain active until morning.

"I don't want to stop now. I want to finish this examination in first place."

I didn't want to end up near the bottom of the rankings again like I had during the first examination.

My score had been pathetic.

If this continued, my ranking within the academy would fall.

"I see. In that case, I'll catch up with you tomorrow," the man said.

His voice gradually became quieter as the distance between us increased.

I have to keep going.

At least until nightfall.

All I could see around me was barren land stretching as far as the eye could see.

Where exactly was that man planning to rest when he didn't have any camping equipment whatsoever?

But considering how skilled he had been at utilizing the terrain during our battle in the first stage of the examination, I suppose he somehow already knew the ins and outs of this place.

If I remembered correctly, I had heard that Caravan groups from the Kingdom of Kuwalid possessed maps showing safe routes through this desert.

I hadn't encountered any of them while we were still in Fort Raidel.

Could he have one?

If so, I wanted to see that map so I could choose the fastest route to the finish line.

However, I was reluctant to ask him for help during this examination.

I wanted to prove that I was better than him at something.

This was my revenge for destroying my team during the first stage.

After walking for quite some time, I turned around and looked toward the direction where I had left him.

There was nothing there.

Only a vast stretch of barren land and dust carried by the wind across the desolate silence.

"The sun is about to set," I muttered as I looked toward the horizon. "I should start setting up my tent."

I removed the backpack I was carrying and began setting up my tent on the barren ground.

Once everything was ready, I began drawing several runes on the ground using mana.

A greenish glow began to illuminate the barren earth.

After creating four magic formulas around the tent, I drew a circular line connecting them all.

"Four Shield Barrier..."

A hemispherical layer of energy emerged, sealing an area within twenty meters around my tent.

"Phew..."

"With this, I can sleep peacefully even if a group of monsters comes this way."

After finishing dinner, I immediately tried to sleep so I could recover my strength and continue the journey tomorrow.

"Today was exhausting..."

Hopefully, the weather in the urban area won't be this unbearably hot.

It didn't take long before sleep overwhelmed me, exhaustion from the day's journey finally taking its toll.

.

.

.

Ugh... What time is it?

I woke up and opened my eyes.

A glimmer of sunlight entering through a gap in the tent had awakened me.

I stretched both arms and noticed a small, adorable scorpion crawling across my left hand.

"Hello, Mr. Scorpion. How did you get in here?"

After taking a closer look, I noticed that the cute little scorpion had a tail with pink markings.

It also possessed a small horn, a distinctive feature resembling a creature I had once read about in a monster encyclopedia.

"..."

I immediately threw the scorpion outside after realizing what kind of creature it was.

That insect was one of the most dangerous creatures for mages.

I looked at my wrist again.

There was a small red mark there.

"This... This can't be happening, can it...?"

I hurried out of the tent and immediately activated several spells.

*Fire Ball!*

*Wind Blow!*

*Earth Missile!*

I tried several different spells.

But none of them worked.

Not even one.

"That was a Pinktail Scorpion! How did that insect manage to get through the barrier I created?!"

Only then did I notice several small holes scattered around the ground surrounding my tent.

The barrier I had created could only block objects entering from the surface.

"Oh, Goddess Diana... Why do I have to be this unlucky?"

The venom of a Pinktail Scorpion could paralyze a person's mana circuits, preventing them from using magic for an entire day.

"Ugh... How am I supposed to survive monster attacks without being able to use magic?"

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