Carried on Seo Yui’s back for about two minutes, we arrived at the place where the rainbow originated.

“Wow…”

Lumina gaped, staring at the monster before us.

If one were to describe the Cloud Island’s boss monster in a single word, it would be: horse.

A horse the size of a house.

Its coat was white, and on its head was a horn shaped like a lightning bolt, reminiscent of a unicorn.

But its most striking feature was its rainbow-colored tail. From the massive tail flowed radiant light that stretched into the air, forming a rainbow.

The sight was so mystical that it looked less like a monster and more like a divine beast from myth or legend.

So it was no wonder that, after Lumina, both Meiling and Seo Yui also stood there in awe, momentarily entranced.

But make no mistake—that was indeed a monster.

The boss of the fourth floor of Cloud Island, known as the “Beast That Devours Lightning.”

As its name suggested, it wielded lightning-based attacks.

Surrounding it were smaller horses—identical to the boss save for their lack of rainbow tails. They, too, were elite monsters capable of using lightning attacks.

“Senior, snap out of it. Meiling, Lumina, you too.”

I raised my voice.

“I said earlier that the others would likely go after the normal and magic-grade materials first, but there’s always a chance someone might have the same idea as me—”

I didn’t even finish before a cheerful, childish voice rang out.

“Wooow!”

My head throbbed at the sound.

It was Zen.

Turning my head, I saw Magica running down from a nearby hill.

“There they are!”

Another excited, energetic voice called out.

Rio.

The four from Ucheon Academy were rushing toward us.

“Toby! Over there!”

“What?”

I spun around sharply.

A male student holding a shield came into view.

“What the—? Isn’t that Crystal’s tank?” Meiling muttered in disbelief.

Sure enough, Jo Inhu was leading Crystal’s team right to this very spot.

“I thought everyone was going for the easy ones first.”

Meiling narrowed her eyes at me.

‘So they either had the same idea by coincidence… or they followed after us once they saw us move.’

Whichever it was, our course of action was clear.

We had to defeat the boss before the others got here.

This wasn’t a multiplayer game. There were no rules about loot priority based on contribution or damage dealt.

Here in reality, it came down to first come, first served—whoever killed the monster first and grabbed the drops kept them.

“Let’s go! Senior, draw the boss’s attention!”

“Got it.”

Seo Yui raised her shield and charged forward.

“Lumina, Meiling! Focus on the boss with everything you’ve got.”

“Understood!”

Lumina replied tensely, then vanished—stealth.

Meiling gripped her wand and began casting.

Meanwhile, I prepared buffs and debuffs in each hand, keeping a sharp eye on the others’ movements.

“…Damn.”

The groups that had scattered were converging toward Crystal’s side.

At that moment, my gaze locked with Toby’s—he held a wand in his hand.

‘So. You’re the one who orchestrated this.’

As expected. Toby wasn’t going to be easy.

He must have already figured out the hidden rules of this assignment.

The moment the assignment began, Toby noticed Gwangcheon Squad climbing the hill.

On the list Abel had given them, there was nothing that could be gathered from an ordinary hill.

So why had Gwangcheon climbed up there right at the start?

‘The reason you climb higher ground is for visibility. Nam Yein must be looking for something.’

But what?

Gathering points for materials? Or… monsters?

‘The fastest and most efficient way to gather a lot of materials is by killing elite monsters. Which means what Nam Yein is after is the boss monster.’

Coming to that conclusion, Toby immediately formed a plan.

“Everyone, listen to me for a second.”

He raised his voice, and those still nearby turned their attention to him.

That included Magica’s group and the Ucheon Academy team.

The Martial God and Dai squad had already taken off and weren’t there.

“What’s up? We don’t have much time,” Rio asked impatiently.

Rune also fixed her gaze on Toby, urging him to get to the point.

“There’s a sure way for us to place in the top ranks for this assignment.”

That made both of their eyes widen slightly.

“If we work together to suppress Gwangcheon, that’s all it’ll take.”

“Suppress… them?”

Rio tilted his head.

“We can’t attack the other candidates, or we’ll get disqualified. What are you talking about?” Rune demanded.

“You’re right, direct attacks mean expulsion. But beyond that, there were no rules. In fact, they even said a certain amount of competition was inevitable. Which means forming alliances, or snatching the items others are aiming for—it’s all fair game.”

“You mean, take the materials Gwangcheon is after?”

Toby’s sharp gaze turned to Rune.

“Right now, Gwangcheon is after the boss monster.”

Her eyes widened.

“…I see.”

With that single sentence, she realized her strategy had been wrong.

‘The most efficient method wasn’t to gather the easy materials first. It was to target the elite monsters—the boss especially—to guarantee normal and magic-grade drops, and then secure the rare ones worth higher points. That’s the real answer.’

“Gwangcheon will almost certainly succeed in taking down the boss and gathering its drops. But if we unite, we can bring down the boss before they do.”

“I’m in,” Rune declared.

“Hmmmm…”

Rio crossed his arms, cocking his head. But soon, a wide grin spread across his face.

“Sounds fun. Count us in too.”

“Are you sure about this?” Maria asked.

“Gwangcheon’s competition too. Yesterday’s allies are today’s enemies. Isn’t that what HAUT’s all about?”

“Fair enough. If that’s what our leader says.”

“Then let’s move out. Melee fighters to the front, everyone else follow close behind.”

At Toby’s orders, the students rushed into formation.

Only one person remained standing still, her face vacant.

“Iris.”

Toby approached her.

“Come on. If we stay put, Gwangcheon will take first place again.”

“…Alright.”

Iris answered weakly and joined the vanguard.

Watching her back, Toby clicked his tongue quietly.

The allied team of three academies trailed after Gwangcheon.

Just as Toby predicted, Gwangcheon was aiming straight for the boss.

“Let’s go! Senior, draw the boss’s attention! Lumina, Meiling—focus everything on the boss!”

Seeing Yein issue commands the moment he spotted them, Toby raised his wand high.

“Everyone, attack the boss! Monsters target the ones who deal the most frequent and heaviest damage! Pull it this way, then we’ll rain everything down and finish it off!”

At his words, the melee specialists charged the boss while the magic users began casting in unison.

‘We already know from the programs we’ve been through together that Gwangcheon Squad’s average level is way higher than ours,’ Toby thought from atop the hill as he looked down.

‘But this time… we can overturn that difference.’

Four versus twelve.

And if you discounted Yein, who wasn’t a true combatant, it was three versus twelve.

The alliance had four times the numbers.

‘Not even Gwangcheon can overcome this power gap.’

He knew well that this wasn’t a victory in the truest sense. He’d brushed past the issue earlier, but there were still problems to consider after defeating the boss—like how to divide the materials.

But for now, what mattered most was stopping Gwangcheon from taking first place.

Only then would Crystal and the other academies have a chance.

Then—KWAANG! A thunderous crash rang out.

Seo Yui had just slammed into the boss with Shield Charge.

The massive beast staggered, and Toby flinched.

The Lightning-Devouring Beast glared at Seo Yui, its horn flashing. Sparks erupted in every direction.

The alliance’s melee fighters froze mid-approach.

“Use magic!” Toby shouted.

At that very instant, a huge fireball roared toward the boss.

But it hadn’t come from the alliance.

Toby’s eyes darted sideways.

There, a twin-tailed girl had her wand aimed at the beast.

KWAAAAAANG!

Explosion. Roar.

Scorching heat blasted across the field, sweeping through the sparks.

The alliance’s melee fighters stumbled back. The magic users halted their chanting, staring blankly at the inferno.

Kkeeeeekkk!!!

The boss shrieked, engulfed in flames.

Moments later, as the fire receded, its form came back into view. A massive crater scarred the soft ground of Cloud Island.

Inside it lay the boss, unmistakably on the verge of death.

Then, in a flash, a small shadow appeared at its side.

With a sharp slash, a black-edged strike tore across the giant horse’s flank.

“…Ha.”

Even Toby, watching from the farthest distance, let out a breathless exclamation.

The boss dissolved into particles before their eyes.

“This is… too much,” he muttered without thinking.

“Yein!”

Lumina, who had landed the finishing blow, rushed over carrying the boss’s drops.

“A rare material dropped!”

“Perfect. Let’s move.”

So lucky—a rare drop right away. The goddess of fortune was smiling on us.

I quickly led the three of them away.

The elite monsters that had been trailing the boss remained, but their drops overlapped with other elites anyway.

And more importantly, leaving them behind would stall the alliance.

They’d missed the boss, so they’d be desperate to claw back lost time by hunting those.

“Kill the remaining monsters!”

“They can drop rares too!”

Just as I expected, the students lunged for the rampaging elites.

“Lumina, how long until stealth’s off cooldown?” I asked while still riding on Seo Yui’s back.

“About two minutes. Why?”

“We’re splitting up. Me, Senior, and Meiling will keep hunting bosses and elites. You, Lumina, will use stealth to gather materials.”

“What? But earlier you said the routes would overlap…”

“All three teams just chased after the boss. That means the collection points should be relatively empty now.”

“Oh.”

Lumina’s eyes lit up.

“Need me to explain Cloud Island’s gathering points again?”

“Mmm… No, I can manage with what I learned in Practical Material Studies.”

I smiled and nodded. As expected of Lumina—unlike some, she excelled in theory too.

“Then I’ll leave it to you. With your stealth, you’ll collect everything with ease.”

“Got it!” she replied brightly.

We split, three hunting and one gathering.

When the thirty-minute limit was up, everyone reconvened.

“Wow. Gwangcheon collected everything except for a single rare.”

Abel’s eyes widened at the sight of our submissions.

“But from midway on, Lumina’s activity wasn’t recorded…”

“Since she was using stealth, the drones probably couldn’t capture her, even if she was nearby,” I explained.

He nodded.

“True. I’ll report this so the committee can improve the recording system. This wasn’t your fault.”

After that, Abel checked the other academies’ materials.

“Alright, time for results.” He raised his tablet and faced us.

“First place: Gwangcheon. Second place: Dai. Everyone else is tied.”

“Yes!”

“We did it!”

The Dai Academy students cheered, high-fiving each other.

They’d been predicted to be strong in practice, but taking second place outright was impressive.

“First place, Gwangcheon, receives ten shop points. Second place, Dai, gets five. Now, let’s leave the dungeon.” Abel smiled.

As I walked toward the return portal, I glanced back.

The faces of the four academies that hadn’t placed were dark.

Toby, in particular, trudged alongside Iris, shoulders heavy.

‘I didn’t expect this outcome either.’

Even with our team’s higher levels, using level-30 magic gear meant the boss should have taken longer to bring down.

I’d figured Meiling would need three casts before Lumina could finish it with her stealth strike.

But the Lightning-Devouring Beast had collapsed after just one of Meiling’s spells and one of Lumina’s blows.

It must have been a critical hit from Meiling’s mid-tier skill, Flame Prison Orb.

I understood how Toby felt.

He’d rallied allies, only to accomplish nothing against just three of us. Anyone would be crushed.

Sorry, Toby.

But HAUT rewards aren’t something we can afford to lose.

You can’t get them anywhere else.

(End of Chapter)