The Nameless Extra: I Proofread This World

Anyway, even after saying that, they still looked completely clueless about what he actually meant. Letting out an inward sigh, Ruvian decided to spare everyone, himself included, and explain it properly this time by being direct.

”What I mean is that I’m going to prepare for him if he really comes after me. Best case scenario, I catch his squad off guard and keep them occupied for a day. Worst case, I get eliminated.”

He shrugged lightly.

”But regardless of how it plays out... our squad is still in the test. So just let me settle this with him.” A faint, humorless smile tugged at the corner of his lips. ”Besides, I have a few things I’d like to say to that bastard myself.”

The conviction in his voice left little room for argument. They exchanged weary glances before, one by one, letting out quiet sighs of defeat.

”But Ruv—”

As Yerin was about to speak again, Arlok raised a hand to stop her. His gaze stayed fixed on Ruvian, his expression unusually serious.

”Yerin... let him.”

Everyone turned to look at him in surprise.

Even Ruvian, though only inwardly.

Then Arlok spoke.

”A man ought to stand by the words he chooses.” He folded his arms. ”Back in the dining hall, he said he’d take responsibility for what he did. If this is the path he’s decided to take, then the least we can do is respect that decision.”

Ruvian blinked.

’...What?’

A second ago, Arlok had been peppering him with questions, picking apart every flaw in his plan. But now he had suddenly switched sides and was defending him.

’That was... rather unexpected.’

Though, anyway, Ruvian certainly wasn’t about to complain.

Shima let out a sigh. ”But regardless... our squad is going to slow down after this, especially when it comes to our points.”

No one answered her right away, because deep down, they all knew Shima was right.

Ruvian heard every word, but he chose to keep his mouth shut. Trying to reassure them now would only lead to more questions, and answering those questions would only make everything far more complicated. Some things were simply better left unsaid.

Still, one thing never changed.

The Top 10 placement.

No matter what happened over the next few days, and no matter how many plans he had to throw away along the way, Ruvian still intended to drag Squad 69 into the Top Ten.

Even if he had to do it from the other side of the island.

And more importantly, after taking today’s events into account, he found it hard to believe their squad wouldn’t climb the rankings. After all, Calyra and Rosalin had been tied down for nearly half the day, while the relentless rain had dragged the pace of every other squad.

’If my calculations are correct... we should be sitting comfortably in second place by now.’

Then hours later, midnight eventually came.

And it turned out he had been right.

===============

[Top 10 Current Squad Rankings — Day 3]

{1} Squad 5 (Silvena D’Elvoire) - 3810 Pts

{2} Squad 69 (Yerin Solder) - 3220 Pts

{3} Squad 2 (Calyra Arcanis) -2810 Pts

{4} Squad 1 (Julian Rozenberg) -2620 Pts

{5} Squad 4 (Rosalin Varion) -2570 Pts

{6} Squad 6 (Irene) - 2430 Pts

{7} Squad 71 (Natalia Crystavos) - 2380 Pts

{8} Squad 3 (Loden Armand) - 2400 Pts

{9} Squad 34 (Ardyn Renhart) - 2270 Pts

{10} Squad 23 (Ben Donër) - 2150 Pts

===============

Silence settled over the shelter.

The rain had finally stopped, leaving only the oppressive darkness outside and the occasional drip of water from the cave ceiling.

Without the storm to drown everything else out, the stillness felt unnaturally heavy, enough to keep everyone on edge.

Arlok stared at the ranking window for a long moment before rubbing his face. ”...Am I seeing this right?”

He frowned.

”How the hell did we get second place? What the hell is happening!?”

Horren swallowed nervously.

”D-did the academy... miscalculate, perhaps?”

He was trying to lighten the mood, but no one laughed. Though, their disbelief was only natural. Anyone in their position would have questioned the rankings after seeing a squad like theirs suddenly leap into second place the next day.

Although, to be fair, today’s pace had not been bad at all.

Ruvian actually expected this.

Compared to the other 80 squads scattered across Vazrun Island, Squad 69 had actually performed better than most.

’But why are they so tense? Shouldn’t they be celebrating a result like this instead?’

Ruvian found the whole situation rather ironic.

A moment ago, they had been fretting over the fact that he would be leaving the squad tomorrow, yet now that they had somehow clawed their way into second place, they wore the expressions of people attending a funeral rather than celebrating a victory.

Only Yerin seemed remotely composed.

”What a surprise. I wasn’t expecting Calyra’s or Rosalin’s squad to slow down this much. I thought they’d keep earning points at a steady pace for each day.”

Shima let out a long sigh before joining the discussion.

”That’s just how unpredictable this island is. Something probably happened that forced both squads to ease off instead of chasing points today. Every squad has its own strategy, after all. Maybe they stumbled across a Gold-Rank Dungeon Prototype and decided it was smarter to rest first before attempting it tomorrow. Who knows?”

Ruvian quietly turned his gaze toward Shima, who absentmindedly poked at the campfire with a wooden stick.

’...Wow. That’s certainly an imaginative explanation.’

Then, Arlok grinned and eagerly threw in his own theory. ”Or maybe they already got knocked out of the test.”

Shima shot him a baffled look.

But in the end, she simply sighed and decided not to indulge what she had already classified as yet another one of Arlok’s spectacularly misguided conclusions.

Ruvian, however, considered the possibility plausible, even if he already knew the real reason. Either way, he could not allow such an outcome to happen.

’If neither of them makes it into the Top 10... that’s going to become a very serious problem.’

Just then, a notification flashed across his bracelet.

A message from Calyra had arrived through his [Farscribe].

—You were right, Ruvian. I may have underestimated far too many things. My judgment wasn’t as flawless as I believed. So today was a valuable lesson to me.”

A faint smile spread across Ruvian’s face as he began typing his reply.

—”I see. I’ll take that to mean everything went well?”

—”Yes. I defeated Rosalin without triggering her bracelet.”

—”That’s certainly good to hear. But that isn’t what I meant.”

Ruvian smiled fondly.

—”Did the two of you finally get the chance to talk?”

After sending the message, a long silence followed.

Calyra did not reply.

Then, just as he was beginning to suspect she had abandoned the conversation altogether, a reply finally arrived.

—”Yes. We did talk. I came to understand her far better than I ever had before. Because of that, I can’t help but wonder... was this your true objective all along? If it was, then you truly are something, Ruvian.”

Her message paused again.

Then another one arrived.

—”But still...” (+300PP)

Ruvian frowned as he read the final line.

The words were completely unintelligible, as though they had been written in an entirely different language.

He stared at them for several seconds before realization finally dawned on him; they were written in the Dead Runes Language.

Ruvian found it funny and shook his head.

Then silently, he translated the words in his mind before letting out a faint smile:

──────── ✦ ────────

[Chapter 266: ...Thank You For Giving Me Those Chances]

Plot Points= 42,500