Sneaking

Inside the small cave hole in the tree. Three days had passed, yet the bracelet remained unrepaired. I meticulously worked on the internal components, fixing and adjusting every part before the lid finally locked back into place.

[Avalon School]

As the bracelet switched on, displaying the school's logo, the battery showed a 15 percent charge.

"It's repaired!" I exclaimed joyfully, disregarding everything else—I was determined to teleport home.

[Home -> Teleport -> Capsule -> Password]

My happiness faded after I saw the password feature.

"I forgot! I'm such an idiot; I completely forgot about the security feature!" I lamented, pulling my hair in frustration.

"Better try something!" I attempted the fingerprint feature.

[We detected an unusual login attempt. Penalty of 30 seconds.]

"Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! "What the heck is happening? How do I log in?" I cried out in frustration.

I decided to change the fingerprint feature to a four-digit numerical password after the 30-second penalty expired. But the process was tedious.

"How many days until I figure this out?" I attempted various combinations—0000, 0001, 0002 (each resulting in a 30-second penalty)—feeling increasingly exasperated.

"I can't figure this out!" I tried several more combinations, enduring the penalties.

"Oh," I sighed in relief when the penalty duration remained consistent.

An hour and a half passed, and I kept attempting different combinations.

[0134]... It was a struggle, even for such a simple task. My finger throbbed with pain. I used to game for 12 hours without any discomfort, but now it hurts.

Glancing behind the tree, I spotted the same monster that had caused me trauma—an ogre with burnt skin and a single eye, wielding a club and searching the area.

"Ogre," I muttered. "Still looking for me?"

I know ogres are highly intelligent monsters; they are a race looking for revenge. I quickly hid in my cave.

"How can I fight that monster? "It was patrolling; I saw it a few days ago, but I did not expect the monster to still search for me in the forest.

I better create a weapon or something if I need to fight it.

"But isn't this too soon?" I wondered, surprised that the ogre was still actively hunting me after creating makeshift weapons.

The ogre's eye peered into the cave hole, unaware of my presence inside.

"I-I was so scared," I stuttered, seeing the massive eye. On instinct, I hurled sand at it, causing the ogre to lose balance and fall, wailing in pain. 

Then I pushed the wall and door; it was a really fragile wall, and I caused the ogre holding its eye to lose balance and lay on the ground. Then it began wailing. But I have a better idea. In my bag, there was a gasoline.

"This is my only chance! "Looking at the ogre, it was very, very vulnerable right now.

My legs are shaking, and I almost have no strength to run further and faster. I climb into the tree silently.

Then, pulling out one gallon of gasoline from the high ground, I pour the gasoline into the ogre. I made sure that the gasoline would go into the eye and inside the ear. Another gallon, another, another, another, and another. Then, on the last drop of gasoline, the ogre wailed the gasoline into its eye. Slamming its club's left and right sides while it was lying on the ground.

"Create fire." Then a small candle appeared in my hand. I poured the gasoline on the ogre and set it on fire, though it would have been better to confront it head-on instead of this method.

"I'll die if I can't even kill it now. Sooner or later, I was going to die anyway." With luck, I managed to do something now.

"Oh no!" I was sweating profusely; it was hot, and there was a lot of smoke around.

"Wait, what!" I was still on a very high branch, but before I realized it, the fire had spread to the trees and bushes, causing a massive blaze.

Then I realized I should jump in another direction where the air and fire couldn't reach me.

"It was survival instinct!" I believe in human abilities like adrenaline; it really helped me a lot.

"The farther, the better!" I started running, leaving the forest ablaze.

I heard a male voice and some female voices.

"Rapid fire!" I recognized this voice—it belonged to someone with the best accuracy, unable to see targets but unable to miss a normal one. That's why I could hear that skill well, and it triggered a trauma.

"MEL CARMIN!" I shouted her name in that voice.

Emerging from the bushes, I confronted Steve, Sonia, Elina, and Mel—they were all there! I was so happy. They had become a proper party group.

"My Prince!" Mel was the first to react upon hearing her name. She ran towards me, clinging to me like a cat, rubbing her chin on my body.

And everyone encircled me. I had managed to survive.

But I noticed they all had their own bags. Why on earth did they have so many bags?

"I'm not your prince! G-get out!" I said, pushing her aside. I hadn't taken a bath for two days. It wouldn't be good if rumours started about me having a bad odour or something.

"There he is!" Sonia remarked, seeing me as their group pet.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, concerned about my situation.

"I'm still alive!" I chuckled.

"Okay, let's go back," Steve said, not smiling but seemingly pitying me.

Then I felt a hug—on my back!

"Mel, stop clinging," I said to Mel, but... Mel is on my right side? Then who?

"Wah! Why did you do that?" It was Elina who was clinging to me, not letting me go. I didn't push her away roughly like I did with Mel, but I didn't want her to smell me.

I could only smile at her, face her, and pat her head.

"Ho-ho!" Sonia seemed amused by something.

"Oh, my bracelet!" I noticed my bracelet was in Elina's hand.

"Let's go back!" Steve urged, but before they could, I interrupted.

"Wait, do you smell something? Like burning?" I detected the smoke from the fire I had set earlier.

Her class is not just for show.

"Yeah, fought an ogre a while ago!" I said calmly.

"O-o-ogre!" Mel was shocked by what I said; she knew how challenging it was to fight one.

"Let's go back!" Elina, usually calm, started to act like a robot. She must have been terrified and traumatized. But if it's just a mental buff skill, they'll be able to recover.

"Okay, let's go!" I said. Then, first,

"I'll go first!" I hurriedly suggested.

"Then I'll be next," said Steve, moving as if he were finished.

"Wait!" I stopped Steve. Then I signaled for the girl to leave first. It's not just the hero; even normal boys know this. I hoped chivalry wasn't dead.

"Ahh, sorry!" Steve realized his mistake. What if he got out, but the girls got trapped? Like a bracelet error, there's no camera to monitor us, nor a drone, like an entrance exam; being trapped here is like staying in a needle hole.

Then Sonia went out, followed by Elina.

"Here!" Elina looked down at the ground and handed me my bracelet.

As I received the bracelet, I remembered it was mine. I drew a di** on the LCD that I can only recognize, but if other people saw it, it was a monkey, but to me, it was something different.

I attempted to take Elina's hand to configure her bracelet, but she dodged my grasp. How could she do that? I made several more attempts to catch it, but she eluded me each time.

"Better save the flirting for later; we need to leave now," Steve remarked, crossing his arms.

With a red face, I couldn't argue. Had I inadvertently flirted with her? The chances were high—about 99.99 percent, to be precise.

"See you later!" I waved to her as she configured her own bracelet.

"Alright, Steve! I'll catch up with you," I said to Steve, and he nodded in agreement.

We got out in all safety.

Soon enough, I found myself back at the same place as after the entrance exam: the Craftsman Health Facility. Visitors came by. Milo and Shakiro were crying inconsolably. Sonia heard news that the physical training instructor would be punished for negligence, causing a delay in the written exam. There were many more rumours floating around, but I paid them no mind.

Elina, always peeling an apple, left without saying a word. And Mel, eating the apple, also helped herself to my dessert.

"I have no class!" Mel declared, so I let her stay with me. It was good not to be alone.