"…Huh?" Alex blinked.
He tapped the side of the display again, as if refreshing it would magically shift the number higher. It didn't.
Sherry tilted her head. "Is… that not good?"
Alex didn't answer right away. He simply stared at the ranking—lips pressed in a thin line. Just last night, they'd been ranked 714, with barely a few hundred points to their name. Now, after surviving a relentless swarm of Killer Ants and fending off a flock of Skyripper Vultures—they'd only climbed 71 places?
It didn't add up.
Aurora flickered into view beside him, arms crossed, expression thoughtful. "I saw some of the other students moving through the Wilderness last night while I was on watch. Most of them stayed active after dark. Smart, honestly. Monsters are more aggressive at night—more spawns, more kills, more points."
Alex's brow furrowed. "…So they hunted all night?"
Aurora nodded. "While you were sleeping."
He scoffed. "Great."
Behind him, Gleam rumbled softly while Bello misted the last of the venom off the crystal seams in his arms. Sherry knelt beside her plush summon, gently inspecting a small nick in its plushy side with worried hands.
"So the competition's that fierce, huh…" Alex exhaled. "And it's only day two."
Sherry glanced up, brushing her bangs from her eyes. "I mean… most teams have four or six people. If they split up, they can cover more ground—multiply their efficiency."
Alex nodded grimly.
"If other teams are pulling all-nighters to stay ahead… we could too." Sherry offered quietly. "If you want."
Alex shook his head, brow furrowed.
"We'd get exhausted if we don't rest at all." he muttered. "Even with energy potions, fatigue builds up eventually."
Still, he didn't dismiss the idea completely. The thought lingered—settling in, taking root. Nighttime meant more monsters. More monsters meant more points.
"They're mostly active at night." he said under his breath. "We're hunting in off-hours."
Sherry blinked. "Reverse our schedule?"
Alex glanced at her, already running numbers in his head.
"It's not the worst idea. We'd need a safe spot to rest during the day—somewhere hidden, defensible, and close to a monster-heavy zone. If we can get rest down to six hours total..."
His voice trailed off as the plan began to take shape in his mind.
It wasn't perfect, but it was a way forward. If other teams were grinding non-stop, they couldn't afford to stay passive. Not if they wanted to stand out.
A quiet moment passed before Alex spoke again.
"I don't care about being first. But I'm not settling for the bottom half. If we want to make an impression, we aim for top fifty."
Sherry hesitated. "...Isn't that pretty high?"
He looked at her, eyes calm but clear. "We'll try our best."
Her lips pressed into a thin line—then she nodded. "...Then I'll do my best to keep up."
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
Just as expected, the perfect time for hunting came after nightfall.
During the day, they'd barely seen a single Grim Hound. But at night? Packs emerged from the shadows like wolves drawn to blood.
What began as a trial quickly turned into strategy.
With potion support and short, rotating bursts of rest, they pushed through the night without collapsing. So they kept going—hunting, striking, clearing out every monster that crossed their path.
By the next day, they weren't just surviving. They were purging.
Alex checked the map projection on his phone, the regional overlay glowing faintly. He zoomed out, noting the darkened spawn markers. Most of the nearby monster points were already dimming—proof they'd overhunted the area.
The ecosystem would take time to recover.
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
By the end of the second night, the results were undeniable.
In just two days, they had climbed over 200 places on the rankings board. From the 600s to the 400s—not bad for a two-person party of first years, especially given the fierce competition.
But it still wasn't enough.
'Not enough. C-rank monsters just aren't cutting it anymore.'
Tomorrow, they'd move—into B-rank monsters territory.
Alex tapped open the system shop, scanning through the options. It was time to spend some of his hard-earned points—anything to tilt the odds in their favor.
He started by selling off all the F-rank, E-rank, and D-rank monster cores, along with a handful of C-rank ones, converting them into SC. He had no immediate use for the cores—their mana density was too low to be of use to him anymore—so turning them into shop coins was the smarter play.
Once the trade was complete, Alex turned to the Skills tab and swiftly purchased the remaining D-rank skills—skipping Monster Cook, which he still had zero interest in.
With the skills out of the way, he navigated to the Magic and Physical categories, to boost their survivability and damage output in B-rank zones.
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[Magic]
-Awaken Random Magic Affinity: 5000 SP
-Improve Magic Affinity: ?
-Increase Mana Capacity: 75 SP
-Increase Magic Power: 500 SP
-Increase Mana Regeneration: 3000 SP
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[Physical]
-Increase Strength: 500 SP
-Increase Stamina: 500 SP
-Increase Agility: 500 SP
-Increase Vitality: 1500 SP
-Increase Health Regeneration: 5000 SP
----------------------------------------------------
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[Purchase Successful]
[The Host's mana capacity, magic power, mana regeneration has increased significantly.]
[MP: 3800→7200]
[Mana Regeneration: 100 MP/sec]
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
[Purchase Successful]
[The Host's strength, stamina, agility, vitality and health regeneration has increased significantly.]
[Health Regeneration: 2.5 HP/min]
----------------------------------------------------
With that, Alex ended up spending over 11,500 SP—an impressive haul, considering nearly 90% of it had been earned over just the past few days of Wilderness Survival Training. And in his mind, every point was well spent.
The upgrades didn't feel overwhelming—not like they had before. After enduring Alicia's hellish training regimen, his physical capabilities had already grown exponentially. Compared to that, the system's enhancements this time felt... modest. Tangible, yes, but not transformative. He moved a little faster, hit a little harder, reacted a little quicker—but there were no drastic leaps like before.
His magic, however, was a different story.
He felt the difference almost immediately. The increase in his total mana capacity was decent—not game-changing, especially with the Soulessence Nexus Ring already helping manage his mana load—but it was the regeneration rate that truly stood out.
It was astonishing. Like opening a dam and finding the reservoir full. From now on, he didn't have to worry about running dry. He could cast without a care.
Mana now flowed through him in a near-constant stream, refilling fast enough that he could cast spells at will—almost recklessly. He could unleash rapid barrages of high-tier magic without fear of running dry.
That's when he thought of Aurora.
He was already supplying her with 20 MP per second—a heavy draw for most—but she'd mentioned more than once that it wasn't enough.
As if summoned by thought, Aurora appeared beside him, her form semi-transparent and softly flickering.
"You've gotten stronger." she said, her eyes gleaming as she studied him. "I can feel it in the flow."
He nodded and gave a quick rundown of the upgrades—especially his dramatically improved mana regeneration. "I can supply you with a lot more now." he added.
Her expression lit up—somewhere between excitement and anticipation. "If you can give me more, I'll take it. Fifty per second, maybe?"
He didn't hesitate. "Done."