Inside the monitoring room, four screens displayed four different locations across the island at the same time.
Ryo sat quietly in the corner.
His back rested against the wall, his hands clasped together in front of him. He watched the screens with the same calm expression he wore in every situation.
Saya stood before the displays with her arms folded.
A woman in her forties, her short black hair was tied back with immaculate precision. Her face possessed a sharp, unyielding beauty, while her hazel eyes remained fixed on the screen showing Shina and Iris.
"Absolute Zero… in a fully developed forest environment."
"The level of control that requires…"
She didn't finish.
She simply shook her head.
Kuro spoke.
"It was one strike."
"Yes."
"One strike…"
"Against a Level Seven monster."
He said nothing more.
He didn't need to.
The sentence spoke for itself.
"Shina," Seiji said without lifting his pen.
"Fifty percent."
"A verbal contract made in the middle of an exam."
"And the opposing team accepted it while feeling grateful."
Saya nodded.
"That wasn't kindness."
"Definitely not."
"It was a long-term investment."
"If that team survives and transfers the agreed share, it'll set a precedent."
"Other teams will learn that Shina and Iris help people."
"They'll come asking for assistance."
"And every rescue…"
"…will have a price."
"A network of relationships," Seiji murmured.
"Inside the exam itself."
"And enemies at the same time."
Saya continued.
"The teams that eventually realize fifty percent of their score is gone…"
"…won't be happy."
Silence settled over the room.
Ryo hadn't spoken once throughout the conversation.
He simply watched.
"And the third member of their team?" Seiji asked.
"Still inside the cave."
"Since this morning?"
"Yes."
Kuro turned his head.
"Ryo."
Everyone looked toward him.
Ryo didn't move.
His expression didn't change.
"Wait."
He offered no explanation.
Inside the cave, Uzuki sat motionless.
Beyond the entrance, the forest breathed with its countless sounds.
The light shifted little by little as time passed.
He wasn't thinking about anything.
Yet his senses remained active.
Recording.
Observing.
Building a picture of his surroundings that his conscious mind couldn't see…
But his body somehow understood.
Movement.
Far away.
Heavy.
Stopping.
Starting again.
Another movement.
Closer.
Light.
Fast.
Human.
Then…
Something else.
Not movement.
Not sound.
Something in the air changed in a way he couldn't describe.
As though the place itself became different for a brief instant…
Then returned to normal.
His grip tightened around his staff.
Then…
He remained silent.
An hour later, Shina and Iris returned to the cave.
"Where's Uzuki?" Iris asked.
"I left him here."
"He can't keep up with us."
They stepped inside.
Uzuki was exactly where they had left him.
He hadn't moved.
"I noticed something today."
Shina looked toward him.
"Before Aiko's team appeared…"
"The forest went quiet."
She narrowed her eyes slightly.
"His hand moved before either of us heard anything."
Iris looked at Uzuki.
"He's sensitive to his surroundings in a way that's difficult to describe."
"He may be useful in ways we didn't expect."
Uzuki said nothing.
Yet something about the way he sat shifted…
So slightly that it was almost impossible to notice.
"Shall we continue?" Iris asked.
Shina nodded.
"We continue."
"The same approach."
The rest of the day unfolded in an unexpected rhythm.
Without intending to, Shina and Iris had created something neither of them had planned.
Iris hunted monsters with quiet precision.
She waited for the perfect moment.
Absolute Zero left almost no room for resistance.
One strike was enough.
Most of the time.
A second-year team—Yusuf, with his dark brown hair and a wound across his arm, alongside his two teammates—had become trapped between two monsters in an open area.
They saw the ice spreading between the trees before they ever saw Iris herself.
The monsters froze.
Then shattered.
Iris appeared.
Shina followed a moment later.
"Are you all right?"
Yusuf nodded.
"Excellent."
"We have a proposal."
And so the scene repeated itself.
Team after team.
Monster after monster.
Some accepted the agreement gratefully.
Others accepted through clenched teeth.
One team refused.
A tall girl with brown hair narrowed her eyes at Shina.
"Mira."
"Fifty percent?"
"That's extortion."
"It's a fair price," Shina replied calmly.
"For saving your team from a Level Seven monster."
"We'll handle it ourselves."
"Very well."
She turned and walked away.
Iris followed without another word.
Behind them came the sounds of battle.
Then silence.
Then the automated announcement of mandatory withdrawal.
Iris glanced sideways.
"You knew they would lose."
"It was their choice."
In the northern region of the island…
Zekro's team moved in a completely different manner.
Zekro led from the front.
His faint blue aura remained subdued.
He refused to waste energy unnecessarily.
Every step was calculated.
Vily walked behind him, her device open.
Her fingers moved constantly across the screen.
Her green hair was tied away from her face, while her brown eyes rarely left the display except to briefly scan their surroundings.
Neon walked along the side.
His neatly styled black hair somehow remained immaculate despite everything.
His orange eyes wandered with an ease that concealed genuine vigilance.
"A team of four."
"To the left."
"Two hundred and fifty meters."
"They're heading toward the high-density zone."
"The monsters there?"
"Two confirmed."
"Possibly three."
"We let them enter first."
Neon looked at him.
"That's a little cold."
"This is the exam."
Neon closed his mouth.
His smile never quite reached his eyes.
Zekro broke away from the group, taking another route.
He arrived first.
Finding higher ground behind a cluster of dense trees, he waited.
The other team entered the area.
Two monsters emerged from the forest.
Huge.
Their hides cracked like dried stone.
The team scattered.
Their attacks lacked coordination.
One student fell.
Another retreated.
Zekro watched.
The team stood on the verge of collapse.
"Now."
He moved.
His blue aura exploded outward at full strength.
His left dagger pierced the first monster's wing joint with surgical precision.
His sword struck from the opposite side at the exact same instant.
The monster never even understood where the attack had come from before collapsing.
The second monster turned.
Neon was already there.
A rapid assault wrapped in blazing orange aura slowed it down just enough.
Zekro ended everything with a single decisive strike.
Seconds.
It was over.
The rescued team stared at Zekro.
Some with gratitude.
Others with embarrassment.
He walked past them without so much as a glance.
"The points have been recorded," Vily said.
"The next one."
Neon fell into step beside her.
"We didn't even ask if they were okay."
"That's not our job."
"Right."
He paused briefly.
"Of course."
Vily looked at him for a moment.
Then lowered her eyes back to her device.
End of Part 2