I'm a Villain in My Own Game?

[Elena POV]

We won...

Somehow, despite everything that had happened, we had actually won.

"Brian!"

"Brian!"

The participants were currently tossing the blond-haired man into the air, celebrating their victory thanks to his final attack.

I watched him carefully. The sheer amount of mana Brian had unleashed was something that should have been impossible for a student who was still attending the academy.

So it was true.

He possessed the Codex of Pendragon.

A Codex granted only to chosen Heroes once every hundred years.

I would have to report my discovery to Father after the examination.

I suspected that the spell Brian had used earlier was one of his Profound Codices, just like my own Almerio del Relampago.

With this, it was practically certain that Brian would become one of the strongest Knights in the academy.

I needed to return to my Soul Room and continue training. It had probably been two months since the last time I spoke with the Guider who helped me develop my own Profound Codex.

My gaze shifted toward Valeria, who was standing where the giant monster had fallen after Brian's attack.

She seemed to be investigating something.

I approached her.

"What are you doing, Valeria? Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Ah, Elena."

Valeria shifted her attention toward me.

"I'm just analyzing why Brian's attack was able to kill that monster when none of ours could."

Hmm...

Hearing her say that made me think back to the battle.

She was right.

Not a single one of our attacks had been enough to completely bring that monster down.

We had tried powerful magical explosions, severing its vital body parts, and even attacking it from within.

Yet none of them had worked.

So why had Brian's attack succeeded?

"Let's think about it later, Valeria. We should leave this place and get back to the competition."

"You're right. Let's get out of here."

We walked back toward the other participants.

Tomorrow was the final day, and we needed to travel as far as possible if we wanted enough time to reach the finish line.

"By the way, Valeria."

I suddenly remembered something.

"Where's your teammate? Has he already been eliminated?"

I was somewhat curious about who Valeria had been taking the examination with.

"Ah, no. I think he's still alive," Valeria replied casually. "We were separated when everything descended into chaos because of that monster. He chose to leave the city instead, while I stayed behind to help everyone else fight."

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"I see..."

So Valeria had a selfish teammate who wasn't particularly useful to her.

I would bet that throughout this examination, Valeria had always been the backbone of their team whenever they encountered monsters.

"That must have been difficult for you, huh?" I said sympathetically.

At least my teammate, Geralt, was somewhat useful whenever we fought monsters.

"Well... actually, it's the opposite. I think I've learned a lot from him."

The corners of her lips rose into a beautiful smile.

Huh?

What was going on with Valeria?

That was the first time I'd ever seen her smile like that while talking about someone.

I wanted to know what had caused such a change in her.

However, asking about something so personal didn't seem appropriate considering that our relationship wasn't particularly close.

Perhaps I would ask her another time.

---

[Ariel POV]

Brian really was incredible.

I watched his imposing figure as he swung his sword, unleashing a tremendous wave of magic against that evil monster.

It seemed the gap between our strengths had grown wider once again.

Just when I thought I had changed and finally left my old mindset behind, Brian had already raced even farther ahead of me.

I...

I wanted to become stronger too.

"Hey, we've been here for too long."

Suddenly, I heard a man's voice from behind me.

I turned around and saw my teammate approaching.

"How long are we planning to wait here? We need to reach the finish line if we want to earn more points," the man said impatiently.

"But I still need to heal some of the participants who were injured during the battle with the monsters."

I refused his suggestion.

As a Priestess, abandoning injured people was one of the things that weighed most heavily on my conscience.

"But we're in a competition!" the man shouted as he stepped closer to me. "Everyone here will become our enemy soon enough!"

He grabbed my arm and tried to force me to follow him.

**—Bam!**

A sudden impact rang out.

The man's grip immediately loosened as his body was sent flying after a blond-haired man punched him squarely in the face.

"B-Brian?"

I was stunned by what had just happened.

"Touch Ariel again, and your life at this academy will be over."

Brian's voice was ice-cold as he glared at the man.

The man slowly got back on his feet, clutching his bruised cheek.

"What the hell is your problem, Brian?! She's my teammate! You have no right to tell us what to do!"

Hearing those words, Brian's face flushed with anger.

Golden particles began gathering around his hand.

Just as he was about to cast another spell, I hurriedly stopped him by wrapping my arms around his.

"Stop, Brian! Don't dirty your hands over something this trivial!" I pleaded.

Everyone here had agreed to a temporary ceasefire.

I didn't want Brian to break it over something like this.

Hearing my plea, Brian looked into my eyes.

"Ariel, what if you spend the rest of the second-stage examination with me?"

Huh?

With Brian?

Did he mean forming an alliance?

I glanced toward Scarlett, who was standing not far away.

The red-haired girl merely nodded, indicating that she didn't mind if I joined them.

"All right, Brian. Let's finish this examination together."

---

[Raul POV]

That afternoon, I was resting at a fairly large oasis.

After refreshing myself with a bath, I sat beneath a palm tree, leaning my back against its trunk.

If we weren't in the middle of an examination, this would have been the perfect place for the participants to spend their vacation.

After this, we would have to traverse an underground labyrinth before reaching the finish line and completing the second-stage examination.

Tomorrow was the final day of the examination.

I estimated that we would reach the finish line sometime at night after making our way through the labyrinth.

There would be several troublesome monsters waiting for us inside.

Still, I doubted they would be as dangerous as the Neracion we had encountered earlier.

As far as I remembered, I hadn't placed any traps inside the labyrinth.

That reminded me of something.

I still hadn't activated my Blessing or checked how far my Profound Codex had progressed.

I supposed that after the examination, I would visit my Soul Room and see who my Guider would be.

As I gazed toward the horizon, I noticed a green-haired woman waving her hand at me.

It seemed Valeria had finally arrived.

I stood up as she approached.

"So, how did the battle in the city center go?" I asked, even though I already knew the outcome.

Valeria smiled before answering.

"Well... we managed to win the battle."

She then sat beneath another palm tree, leaning against its trunk as she rested her exhausted body.

She was drenched in sweat.

"Thanks to Brian defeating that monster with his powerful spell, we managed to survive until now," Valeria said as she closed her eyes.

Brian?

Had he already learned how to use his Profound Codex?

That meant he had entered his Soul Room and met his Guider—Pendragon.

Then Valeria noticed something.

"Where's your uniform? Why are you only wearing your undershirt?"

"My uniform was damaged by the monster's attack while I was leaving the city," I answered, partially lying.

Valeria didn't question me any further.

I handed her a pouch of drinking water from the supplies we had obtained earlier.

"Drink and get some rest. Tomorrow is the final day."

Valeria caught the pouch and drank it all in one go.

"Thank you. I'm going to take a bath first before resting. My body feels absolutely disgusting after going four days without soaking in clean water, you know."

Tomorrow would determine who would advance to the final stage of the examination.

An examination where, without fail, some of the participants would lose their lives.

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