Chapter 185

Chapter 185

[Translator – Clara]

[Proofreader – Lucky]

Chapter 185 Random Defense in the Midterm Exam (7)

In the darkness, a child stood alone.

“Get out.”

The voice of a middle-aged man echoed.

It was a memory from a distant past, one the child couldn’t recall, and the voice was harsh and chilling.

Next came the sad sobbing of a mother.

“Where did this wretched creature come from?”

“Doesn’t even know their place.”

“Kick them out immediately.”

“...Get rid of them.”

The murmurs of the surrounding people followed the sobbing.

Afterward, the child’s view changed repeatedly.

Running mother, a forest and mountains, pursuers, steep cliffs, rushing river, hungry wolves, and the astonished faces of passing merchants and mercenaries.

Time passed, and so did memories.

A mother who had never smiled, always looking at the child with sadness.

Beside that mother, a stepfather who lavished comfort and love on the child, becoming the sturdy pillar of the family.

With the child’s diligent efforts, combined with the money the father had saved all his life, their cramped, dark, and repulsive house gradually expanded and brightened, becoming warm.

The food that was once coarse and malodorous gradually transformed into something delicious and warm.

This life, which had no reason to be envied, began anew.

The mother’s pride, the father’s hope.Th/e most uptodate novels are published on n0velbj)n(.)co/m

For the sake of the mother, who had been burdened with unhappiness, and to bring happiness to her, the child chose a path of challenge.

Enrolling in the Colosseo Academy.

Through the child’s tireless efforts and the savings the father had gathered over a lifetime, he achieved the result of entering this place known for gathering the Empire’s greatest talents.

The mother worried excessively about the child, for he had entered a place where only the Empire’s best were gathered.

The father was elated, handing over the money he had saved all his life, smiling every day.

The child thought they would adjust well to this place and wanted to make their parents happy.

However, things weren’t going smoothly.

Upon entering the school, the child faced bullying, thanks to his characteristic timid personality.

While at an ordinary school outside, the child had been a standout student with leadership, vitality, and outstanding athletic performance, but here in the Colosseo, which gathered only the Empire’s greatest talents, he was nothing more than an inferior student.

His intelligence was lacking compared to others, and he had difficulty with various exams, causing the child to feel extreme frustration.

At the moment, he was in a desperate situation, as even his life was at stake.

In this situation, the child’s mind kept replaying the earliest memory and sound he could recall.

“Get out. A wretch like you is not part of my bloodline.”

A hasty light.

In a situation where the mind and body were about to break down, the child barely held on to his ego.

And at that moment...

“Now it’s okay.”

A voice from somewhere sounded.

It had an effect more significant than any magic in this world, erasing all the pain in the child’s mind and body in an instant.

The agony of his birth, the guilt towards his parents, the sense of duty as a child, the burden of studying, the loneliness of not making friends, the pain in his body – all of it disappeared with one word.

It was the power of “friend’s comfort.”

“Ugh?”

The child opened his eyes, and the first thing they saw were three faces.

“Hey, Figgy! Are you all right, Figgy!? Breathe, Figgy! Breathe! Come on! Ugh! Don’t die!”

“Great! Figgy is breathing again! It must be because I gave him CPR...!”

“Sancho! Shut up and do mouth-to-mouth, quick! Bianca, You do the arms and legs!”

Tudor, Sancho, and Bianca. Friends were staring down at him, their faces smeared with tears and snot.

The monsters had taken advantage of the worker ants’ weaknesses and turned the tide of battle in an instant, perplexing the victorious Allied forces.

‘If you go down into the anthill, into the Catacombs, they scurry around like regular ants, though I’m not sure if they still exist today.’

The soldier ant is a dangerous creature and they swarm.

It’s so strong that even Peak Sword Experts can’t fight it 1 on 1.

But of course, even such a beast has its weaknesses.

Just as you can trap Cerberus or hounds with chocolate, you can trap a soldier ant with a trick.

“You just have to find the right point.”

Vikir focused his attention on the arrow.

He needed to concentrate even more since he only had to use the aura of a Mid-tier to High-Tier Sword Expert.

Of course, the gas aura used by an Expert and the gas aura used by a Graduator are on a different level in terms of their proficiency.

The same bread knife wielded by a child and an experienced chef will produce different results.

Shhh-

Vikir’s gas aura flies in a dark red trajectory, like a cherry at the end of an arrow.

And it goes.

peo-eog!

It pierced right through the center of the soldier ant’s head, instantly knocking the giant monster to the ground.

‘The soldier ants are so realistic.’

Vikir smiled faintly at the sight of his single arrow.

‘Their skull, which is broad and flat like a shield and specialized for headbutting, is their strength.

Everyone knows this.

But paradoxically, few realize that the creature’s weakness lies in its skull.

This sneaky ant hides its weaknesses in what should be its greatest strength.

“The powerful skull encloses the left and right brains, separately. The only weaknesses are the connecting hippocampus and the cartilage that covers it.

The skull of the soldier ant is divided into two pieces, with the connecting link at the bottom of the center.

That soft carapace, about half the size of your little fingernail, is the vital area.

When an ant is pierced in this location, the coordination system between the left and right brains collapses and the ant dies, literally splitting in half’.

The ant’s body is still intact, but the neural and sensory networks have been destroyed, and it now lies motionless.

Vikir continued to fire arrows at the dead soldier ants while stepping over them.

His appearance was that of a veteran soldier who had spent decades on the battlefield, and he was truly a military god, with the aura of a Sword Expert.

...Puck! ...Puck! ...Puck!

The ants continue to die from the flying arrows.

By now, far more were being crushed by their fellows than by Vikir’s arrows.

With their bio-compasses broken, the ants started to run backward, and the monster waves were stifled by the soldier ants.

Furthermore, the baby madam was inhaling the paralyzing poison spewed by the ants, so it’s no surprise that the poisonous fog was concentrated around Vikir.

Vikir used the soldier ant’s carcasses as a rampart, annihilating the ants in front of him, and when he ran out of arrows, he moved forward to retrieve the ones in front of him.

He’d then climb up a soldier ant’s body in front of him and kill another, and another, and another.

Tudor, Sancho, Figgy, and Bianca, who were watching from the rear, muttered in a daze.

“...This isn’t a dream, is it?”

The third phase, the one that even third-year seniors struggle with, had already passed.

...But.

[Map: Carnage Ant Colony ‘Impure Anthill’]

Join forces with your comrades to fend off the attacking Carnage Ants!

Time remaining until the end of Phase 3: 0 minutes, 0 seconds.

1. Vikir

HP: 100/100

Kill point: 968

Assist point: 5,321

Vikir didn’t just hold his own, he destroyed all the record ever created.

[Translator – Clara]

[Proofreader – Lucky]