The moment Genya-san gave the signal to start, we stepped toward the mountain and immediately leaped in opposite directions, splitting to the left and right in simultaneous sidesteps. Why?
The answer was obvious.
"Mhm. It seems you’ve truly taken the lessons from last time to heart..."
Genya-san nodded with satisfaction at our reaction. Beside him, Muroi-san stood with a paintball gun raised in his right hand, aimed directly at where we had been standing.
Red paint was currently splattered across the ground we’d just vacated.
"Indeed," Muroi-san noted. "By the time I reached for the gun at my waist, their centers of gravity were already shifting into evasive maneuvers."
"Their ability to sense malice directed their way has been well-honed, too," Genya-san added. "I suppose we have their extensive practical experience with monsters in the dungeons to thank for that?"
"There really is no substitute for the real thing."
Genya-san and Muroi-san were casually evaluating and dissecting our movements. I’d stayed on high alert for a surprise attack the second the clock started, just in case, but I really wished they’d give us a break.
And Muroi-san, please don’t just holster that paintball gun with such a nonchalant look on your face. I’m going to be constantly worried that you’re about to take another shot at us.
"...May we go now?" Yuji asked.
"Hmm? Oh, of course. Do your best."
Yuji’s eyes were narrowed with suspicion, but Genya-san just wore an expression that suggested he hadn't realized we were still standing there.
No, we were held up because you guys tried to ambush us...
"..."
We set off again, though we couldn't help but look back several times, our faces tight with dissatisfaction as we stayed wary of Genya-san and Muroi-san.
This training was definitely not going to be straightforward, just like the last time.
The moment we stepped onto the lower slopes of the mountain, we kept our faces forward but shifted our eyes toward a specific thicket to our front-left.
"...They're there, right?" I whispered.
"Yeah," Yuji replied. "They probably think they're hidden, but I can feel their gaze loud and clear. They’re practically vibrating with the intent to attack."
"They might as well be announcing their position," Hiiragi-san added.
The distance was roughly thirty meters. We were still nearly double the effective range of the paintball guns we'd been briefed on, which meant they wouldn't fire yet.
However, now that we knew an enemy was lying in wait, getting any closer would be a mistake.
"Let's try these out," Yuji said.
He pulled the light from his backpack's side pocket, aimed it at the bushes, and flipped the switch. Even with the sun still up, the day was fading, and the concentrated beam of light cut through the air like a laser.
The beam hit its mark perfectly, illuminating the foliage where the enemy was lurking.
"To the person hiding over there—we see you!" Yuji called out.
The bushes rustled, and a person in camouflage stepped out.
"Ah... you found me. And from that far away, too?"
"We felt you staring at us from deep inside the brush," Yuji explained.
"Hmm, a gaze, huh..."
The person in camouflage scratched the back of his head, his voice sounding more resigned than frustrated. In all likelihood, he wasn't actually upset. There was no way someone Genya-san handpicked for this would stare so blatantly at their target. This guy was almost certainly playing a tutorial role for the exercise.
"Well, anyway, congratulations on the find. But don't expect the others to be this easy to spot."
"Yes. Thank you for the warning."
"Good luck, then!"
With a casual wave, the person in camouflage disappeared back into the thickets.
"What was with him? He was surprisingly laid-back..."
"Who knows?" I answered. "But thanks to him, I think we've got the hang of how this works."
"True," Hiiragi-san agreed.
Still a bit perplexed by the departure of our eccentric opponent, we resumed our climb toward the summit. We needed to reach our goal before the sun vanished entirely.
After that first contact, we encountered hidden enemies roughly every five minutes. At first, I thought the density of the opposition was ridiculous, but as time passed, the intention behind the frequent encounters became clear.
"...I see. So this is the effect of the medicine."
"Most likely," Yuji agreed. "The sheer number of enemies directing the same kind of gaze at us is just a way to make us confirm the effect."
"The distance at which we're spotting them is getting shorter by the minute," Hiiragi-san noted. "The drug is definitely kicking in."
We shook our heads slightly, trying to clear the haze that had begun to settle over our minds as we continued our enemy search.
When we’d first spotted an enemy at the base of the mountain, we could sense them from thirty meters away. Now, we couldn't pinpoint their location until we were within twenty meters. Sensing the gaze itself was still easy—the intensity was about the same as the first person—but it was taking us significantly longer to actually locate the source.
The fading light was certainly a factor, but the primary cause was the fog in the corners of our minds, which was steadily eroding our concentration.
"I don't feel 'sleepy' in the traditional sense yet, but... this is nasty."
"To think that just having our thoughts dulled would have this much of an impact, even without any physical fatigue..."
"And this is only the first day, right after taking it," Hiiragi-san said with a sigh. "If we don't stay sharp, we're in real trouble."
We took stock of our situation and couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. We’d known this wouldn't be easy, but it was proving to be far more grueling than we’d imagined.
As we continued our wary ascent, we finally reached the breaking point just before the summit.
"..."
The instant a tiny sense of wrongness registered, I heard a sharp pop and the faint whistle of something cutting through the air. We instinctively threw ourselves out of the way. A heartbeat later, a blossom of red paint erupted against a tree trunk.
We had stepped into an enemy's firing range without even realizing they were there. For a split second, my mind went blank with shock. I was appalled that we hadn't noticed them until the trigger was pulled.
"Tch! There!"
I couldn't stay stunned forever. I whipped my light out of my side pocket and shone it at the source of the sound.
"Failing to notice me until I fired isn't a great look, but you did well to dodge."
A voice spoke as the mass of what I’d thought was just a thicket at the base of a tree began to move.
It was a person in a ghillie suit—a human completely covered in grass, leaves, and twigs.
"Hey, now, don't look at me like that. I'm not going to keep shooting, so you can relax."
Honestly, that was asking a lot. Even if they were just an opponent Genya-san had hired for training, seeing a ghillie-suited figure emerge like a cryptid from the mountain woods at twilight wasn't exactly a 'relaxing' experience.
"...Well, fine. Regardless, the sun is almost down. Once you get to the top, start your bivouac preparations immediately."
With that, the person in a ghillie suit vanished back into the dark woods. I couldn't believe they had people with that kind of gear participating in this.
Once the figure was gone, an awkward silence hung over us as we processed what had just happened.
"Hey... did either of you feel a gaze before the shot?" I asked.
"No, I didn't catch a thing," Yuji admitted.
"Neither did I," Hiiragi-san said. "But the moment he fired, I felt a surge of malice."
The enemies we’d faced until now had purposefully leaked their presence to let us find them. But the person in a ghillie suit had masked his gaze entirely, only letting his intent flare at the moment of the attack.
"Because everyone else had been so obvious about it, we just assumed the next one would be too," I said. "We let ourselves believe that without any evidence."
"Yeah... exactly. They conditioned us with repetitive, simple encounters to lead our thoughts where they wanted them."
"Normally, we wouldn't fall for such a basic trick," Hiiragi-san added. "But we were so hyper-focused on the enemy search that we stopped thinking about the bigger picture."
In our struggle to compensate for the medicine’s effects, we’d tunneled our vision, making us vulnerable to simple cognitive manipulation. The creeping fear of the encroaching darkness, the anxiety of potential raids, and the mental fog from the drug—it was a masterful exploitation of our weaknesses.
The only reason we’d dodged that last shot was because we weren't physically tired yet and the person in a ghillie suit had broadcast his intent on purpose.
"The simplification of thought caused by fatigue and drowsiness... We really have to watch out for that."
"Yeah. It’s frightening how much a little sleepiness can tank your performance."
"We’ve never actually spent enough time in a dungeon to get sleepy before," Hiiragi-san pointed out. "We always leave before the exhaustion gets that bad."
She was right. This was effectively our first time operating under these kinds of conditions.
"...Let's move. We need to survey the summit before it's completely dark."
"Right. If we know the layout, we can at least guess the likely approach paths for a raid."
Downtrodden by our own poor performance, we pushed on toward the summit.
The top of the mountain had been cleared into a reasonably large space. True to Genya-san’s word, there was a portable toilet and a shipping container filled with supplies.
"...It doesn't look like anyone can sneak right up on us through the brush here."
"True," Yuji said. "But we’re still well within paintball range of the tree line, so we can't let our guard down."
"Sniping from the edge of the clearing... I don't know if they'd hit anything at that range, but if we're standing still, it's possible," Hiiragi-san observed.
The visibility wasn't bad, which was a small mercy. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't have much to fear from a surprise attack if we kept watch properly.
Key phrase: 'under normal circumstances.'
"Let's get the bivouac ready before the light fails completely."
I looked at the sun as it began to dip behind the distant peaks and gestured for Yuji and Hiiragi-san to start. It hadn't rained recently, so the ground was dry, but the choice of where to lay our groundsheets was critical. We needed to avoid rocky patches, and finding those would be a nightmare once it was pitch black.
We scouted the clearing, debating the best spot.
"Okay, let's set up here. It’s the flattest area."
The spot I’d picked was in the very center of the summit. There were almost no rocks or roots, making it the most comfortable place to sleep.
Yuji, however, immediately objected.
"Wait, Daiki. If we stay there, we're wide open to attacks from every single direction. Wouldn't over there be better?"
"Where?"
He pointed to the shadow of the supply container.
"If we put our backs to the container, we can limit the number of directions we have to watch."
"I see your point..."
It was a logical tactical choice. Reducing the angles we had to cover would save a lot of energy.
But then Hiiragi-san spoke up.
"I disagree. I think Kokonoe-kun’s spot is actually better."
"Why’s that, Hiiragi-san? Narrowing the field of vision should make the watch easier, shouldn't it?" Yuji asked.
"It might reduce the directions we have to look, but... if they aim high-angle shots from the other side, the container will just create a blind spot that slows our reaction. Besides, Genya-san's team provided that container. They probably already know exactly what angles they need to hit us there. If we use the center like Kokonoe-kun suggested, the person on watch will have to look everywhere, but they'll have a clear line of sight in every direction."
"Hmm..."
Yuji and I weighed the pros and cons. Do we prioritize reducing the physical burden of the watch, or do we prioritize maximum visibility? It was a trade-off; neither option was without risk.
After several seconds of deliberation, we made our choice.
"So, the center of the clearing then?"
"Yeah," Yuji agreed. "It’ll be harder on the watch, but it's probably better not to have any blind spots."
And so, we established our bivouac site in the center of the summit.
I was worried about our dulled performance, but there was nothing for it. We just had to endure.