[I am glad to inform you that all beasts have been hunted in the second degree and first-degree regions.]

Kasen looked at Jessy to confirm he wasn't hallucinating. She was still in the process of calming down the boy who still hadn't shown any sign of returning to normal after his breakdown.

The voice didn't wait, continuing with an emotionless tone.

[Now that all beasts have been defeated, the next stage of the exam may commence]

Kasen sucked in a cold breath, 'So the exam isn't over.' He thought. Jessy was also alarmed as her opened mouth would indicate.

[In order to allow for a more immersive experience, the total amount of points possessed by candidates are now accessible to participants.

To view your points, say out loud "Score".

At the end of the exam, your score determines your rank in the school upon admission.]

Kasen blinked in surprise. That was a convenient mechanic. This would make it unnecessary to mentally track your score.

He sat down, intending to listen carefully to what the voice had to say.

And it was a good thing he did, because the voice's next words made Jessy recoil in shock. Her legs shaking as she processed what their new situation meant.

[Killing other participants is now permitted.

There are currently 700 participants alive.

Any points possessed by a participant will be transferred over to their killer.

The exam will continue until only 300 players remain.

The exam will not end until this requirement is met.

The barrier surrounding the third-degree monster zone will be lifted at an unspecified time, so please be careful.

The academy considers lives as manifestations of fate, if you die here, then that's as far as you were ever meant to go.

The academy will not take any responsibility for the deaths of any participants regardless of their background.

Please act as your truest selves would.

Let Soreus be with you!!]

With that statement, the voice went silent. The forest returned to its eerily calm state. With the sun starting to move across the sky, Kasen looked up to follow it.

'This... is certainly an interesting development.'

He looked to Jessy to see her on the grassy floor again. Her head was in her hands and she seemed to be panicking.

The boy who woke up first didn't seem to be any different. In fact, Kasen could swear he looked worse.

Who could blame him? Not only did he experience unimaginable pain, but the psychopath that caused that pain now had free rein to actually kill him if they ever crossed paths again.

Kasen shook his head, about to head over to Jessy, when he saw the boy pull out a dagger and point it at his own throat.

Kasen felt his heart drop into his stomach. He sprang from his sitting position, running towards the boy desperately trying to stop him from committing a grave mistake.

Luckily, he got there in time, placing his hands on the blade and grabbing it away from the boy in a swift motion.

Jessy, realizing what was going on quickly jumped to restrain the boy. She grabbed his legs and locked him in what looked like a judo grappling pose.

Kasen flung the knife away, its metal hitting the bark of a nearby tree with a sharp clang.

"Ah! Leave me alone!” He struggled to get out of Jessy's grip. "We're all gonna die, that guy is going to kill us all!!" He was hysterical.

His eyes were darting all over the place, his voice shrill and bleak. He kept writhing, and without their help he would have already gotten what he wanted.

Kasen made a decisive decision, hitting the boy on the chin with his fist. He fell unconscious in Jessy's grip allowing her some respite.

Kasen looked back towards the tree he was sitting at while running his hand through his hair. 'This… complicates things.'

Jessy wiped some sweat off the boy's forehead, her expression concealed by her blindfold.

Kasen was puzzled. And just when he assumed that they were protected by the exam rules. There was nothing stopping maniacs like Vincent from going on a rampage.

Kasen sighed, then looked at Jessy. She wasn't saying anything but it wasn't hard to tell she was processing what these new rules meant.

700 people were alive in this forest. That meant 200 had already died. It wouldn't be a surprise if Jessy felt like she couldn’t save them.

'Ughhh.' All this thinking was giving Kasen a headache. He hated anything that caused him stress.

He heard sobbing coming from nearby. He sighed, he never liked consoling people.

But when did life ever give him what he wanted?

Kasen walked over to Jessy and sat down beside her. "Can I ask why you're crying?"

Jessy turned her blindfolded eyes to face him. Her tears streamed down from her eye sockets soaking the blindfold.

She wiped her cheeks to get rid of her tears. Looking at him she said, "I know, pathetic right."

"How can I apply to a school with battle ingrained into its very essence and start bawling my eyes out when a couple hundred people die."

Kasen sat there without giving her a response. He was curious, after all, she hadn't known any of those people, to his knowledge at least.

Jessy shook her head, "I didn't expect the academy to be this frivolous with their students’ lives. To ask us to murder each other just to pass?"

"Isn't this wrong?" Jessy looked at Kasen as if asking for confirmation.

If she was looking for reassurance, he wasn't the best person to ask. "Not sure. Technically this is all perfectly fine."

"The academy has permission from all the royal families on this continent to carry out its tests however they see fit."

Jessy shook her head, "That still doesn't mean..."

She folded her arms in front of her. Kasen wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this situation.

His gaze fell on the sleeping students. Now that they knew more about the rules of the exam, the school would have allowed them to die.

Here, where nobody would know how they were killed.