Hunt rabbits to gather magic stones, exchange the magic stones for chips, and get a room.
If one were to summarize the point of the third practical exam, that was it.
“The exam will begin now!”
Having finished explaining the exam, the evaluator shouted in a loud voice.
The examinees standing in front of the fountain immediately began running into the forest.
“Haneul, let’s go too.”
“Let’s. We’ll fall behind at this rate.”
“Eunbi, what are you going to do?”
“I’ll stick with you for now!”
We couldn’t just stay where we were either.
We entered the forest.
The examinees who had moved before us were already combing the area.
Just then, a Ghost Rabbit hiding beneath a hollow at the base of a tree sprang out.
“There’s a rabbit over there!”
“You idiot! Why would you say that!?”
“Move! I’m catching it first!”
“It’s running away!”
A brown rabbit with a horn growing from its head.
The Ghost Rabbit darted away with lightning speed.
The examinees rushed after it in a swarm, but before long, from somewhere deeper in the forest, we could hear them panting in frustration after losing it.
“How did it disappear in an instant?”
“What kind of rabbit is that fast?”
“It’s not a rabbit, it’s a monster.”
Similar complaints could be heard from all over the place.
Everyone seemed to be struggling.
That was how skilled a Ghost Rabbit was at hiding and concealing its presence.
‘And on top of that, it uses protective coloration.’
I turned my gaze to one side.
Several examinees were approaching a Ghost Rabbit silently nibbling on grass.
Nibble, nibble.
The rabbit didn’t seem to have realized yet that it was being surrounded.
Then, at that moment.
…Kyuu?
All of a sudden, the Ghost Rabbit’s ears perked up.
The creature, which had been absorbed in eating grass, had sensed their presence.
“It noticed us! Hurry up and catch it!”
“It’s running that way! Block it!”
The examinees also grasped its reaction.
They had been creeping forward without making a sound, but now they hurriedly rushed out.
However, the Ghost Rabbit used its protective coloration and melted into the surroundings.
Just like that, it vanished from sight.
‘Once a Ghost Rabbit uses protective coloration, you have to give up on finding it with the naked eye.’
The examinees tried to find it, but the creature had already slipped through their encirclement.
I could see the underbrush around the examinees shaking.
And it didn’t stop there….
Rustle!
The bushes in our direction began shaking one after another.
It was trying to pass through where we were.
‘It came right to us on its own.’
I spread out my sensory net.
Even if I couldn’t find the creature cloaked in protective coloration with my eyes, a sensory net that detected traces of mana could locate it easily enough.
‘Got you.’
It was right nearby.
Rustle!
Immediately after, the bushes in front of us shook, and a gap opened from the inside outward.
It had come out.
Having perceived it with my sensory net, I immediately gathered mana at the tip of my foot, timed it, and kicked the empty air.
Thud!
…Kyik!
I felt something strike the tip of my foot.
The Ghost Rabbit.
It seemed I had kicked it in the side.
Struck by an attack it hadn’t anticipated, the creature slammed into a tree trunk.
Kyuu….
[You have encountered a monster.]
[Ghost Rabbit (Rank. 01) x 1]
Its protective coloration came undone.
Now visible, it lay unconscious on the ground.
Stab!
I finished it off.
When I took out the magic stone, its corpse dissolved into particles of mana and disappeared.
“…It’s small.”
I checked the size of the magic stone.
The magic stone, tinged with blue light, looked to be only about two finger joints long at most.
‘I wonder how much this is worth.’
It was smaller than the magic stone the evaluator had shown as an example earlier.
Since that magic stone had been appraised at 3Gg, even a rough estimate told me this one wouldn’t be worth more than that.
Maybe around 1 or 2Gg.
‘Assuming the magic stone from one Ghost Rabbit is worth 2Gg, I’d have to hunt five of them to get one chip.’
And if I wanted to get a room with those chips, even the lowest-grade Standard Room would require catching fifty of them.
‘For the highest-grade Suite Room, I’d have to catch two hundred and fifty….’
Ghost Rabbits weren’t easy to find, and with examinees competing to hunt them, I wondered if it would even be possible to catch two hundred and fifty.
On top of that, if I included Yeon Haneul’s share, we’d have to hunt five hundred.
Of course, there was no need to go through the trouble of catching five hundred of them.
After all, the passing condition for the third exam was simply to get any room, whether it was a Standard or a Suite.
However….
‘If any room will do, why does each room grade require a different number of chips?’
There was only one thing I could think of.
The evaluator had explained that the fourth practical exam would be conducted in the hotel.
I didn’t know what kind of exam would take place, but perhaps in the fourth practical exam, the room grade would create distinctions or advantages among the examinees.
I couldn’t settle for a Standard Room just to pass comfortably right now.
Somehow, I had to gather enough chips to get a Suite Room.
And to do that….
‘I can’t be chasing after small rabbits like the other examinees.’
They were hard to find, and dealing with agile, quick-footed rabbits was inefficient in terms of return on investment.
I had to aim for a big score.
Either by taking other examinees’ chips, or….
‘By hunting the rabbits’ boss.’
The evaluator had definitely said it.
Monsters up to Rank 2 appeared in this forest.
If so, there was a high possibility that a higher variant of the Ghost Rabbit would appear as well.
‘Its magic stone should be different.’
A Rank 2 monster, the Boss Ghost Rabbit.
It was a field boss monster that had a chance of appearing when the number of Ghost Rabbits decreased.
If I could hunt it, the burden of gathering chips would be reduced.
The problem was….
‘Looks like I’m not the only one aiming for the boss.’
Several examinees seemed to have reached a similar conclusion as me.
They had stopped hunting rabbits and were quietly observing the situation.
They were waiting for the Boss Ghost Rabbit to appear.
“…”
It seemed I would have to compete with them to fight the Boss Ghost Rabbit.
Meanwhile, the trouble wouldn’t end after obtaining the magic stone.
Once the Boss Ghost Rabbit fell, I, the one holding its magic stone, would become their prey.
Even if I had no intention of being hunted, fighting while protecting the magic stone would be a burden.
I needed a plan.
“So close…. I could’ve hit it.”
At that moment, Go Eunbi caught my eye.
She had just fired an arrow at a Ghost Rabbit that had appeared in a nearby thicket.
But the Ghost Rabbit, sensitive to presence, dodged it lightly.
The creature hopped in place to avoid it, then continued nibbling grass as if nothing had happened.
“This time for sure… Hah!”
Go Eunbi seemed to have become stubborn at the Ghost Rabbit’s behavior.
She fired another arrow.
Whoosh!
It seemed she had calculated the direction it would flee and fired the arrow accordingly, but the creature was one step ahead.
It looked as if it would move to the right, then quickly twisted its body to the left.
The arrow made of mana struck the ground on the right.
“Ah, why won’t it work?”
Go Eunbi pouted.
She nocked another arrow on the bowstring and tried to aim at the creature that was leisurely eating grass.
I approached her.
“Don’t shoot while watching its feet.”
“Huh?”
Go Eunbi had been glaring at the Ghost Rabbit.
She looked up at me with an expression that seemed to ask what I meant.
I reached over her shoulder and pointed at the Ghost Rabbit.
“Just now, you shot the moment it turned its feet as if it were going to move right.”
“Yeah. But I guess it was quick-witted, because it looked like it was turning right, then went left….”
“It led you into aiming right. It was a fake.”
“Ah… It really is a clever monster.”
“So to prepare for creatures like that, it’s better to build the habit of reading their eyes before their feet.”
“Their eyes?”
“Yeah, their eyes.”
I pointed at my own eyes.
Go Eunbi looked back and blinked.
“Feet may lie, but eyes usually don’t. Whenever any being moves its body, even for the briefest instant, it looks in the direction it intends to move. Animals and monsters are no exception.”
“…”
“It was good that you fired while estimating the distance the Ghost Rabbit would run. But next time, don’t look at its feet. Watch its eyes closely. It’s still over there. Nock an arrow.”
“Huh? O-okay.”
Go Eunbi nodded, still a little dazed.
Drawing the bowstring, she glared at the Ghost Rabbit scratching its neck with its foot.
“Take a deep breath.”
“Hoo, hoo.”
“From now on, watch the Ghost Rabbit’s eyes.”
“Okay, I’m watching.”
“Where do you think it’ll move?”
“Mm… I wonder?”
“Don’t just try to shoot blindly. Keep watching it closely.”
“…”
“If you do, an opening will appear.”
“Okay.”
“It might be one second, or two. Even if only for a moment, it’ll put the direction it’s going to flee in its eyes. Aim for that moment and shoot.”
Go Eunbi was like a sponge.
With the highest potential for growth after Kang Hanbyeol, she understood and learned quickly.
So the advice I needed to give her was to provide a general direction.
Before long….
Whoosh!
Go Eunbi released the bowstring.
The arrow flew.
Hop!
At the same time, the Ghost Rabbit jumped.
The creature quickly wrapped itself in protective coloration and moved as if it would leap left, then changed direction to the right.
The arrow made of mana….
“Ah! I hit it! I hit it, Gyeonu!”
It pierced the Ghost Rabbit’s side.
It died instantly.
The Ghost Rabbit, struck by the arrow in midair, released its protective coloration and collapsed onto the ground with a splat.
“Good job. You’ve got sense.”
“Thanks! I feel like I learned something thanks to you!”
“Yeah. Don’t forget that feeling.”
Go Eunbi seemed delighted to have hit the Ghost Rabbit.
Without hesitation, she grabbed my arm and bounced up and down in place.
I looked at her and chuckled.
Then I made a proposal.
“I think there’s something I’ll need your bow for. Will you help me?”
“Yeah, yeah! Just tell me what to do!”
“Good. What we’re going to do is….”
“Um… guys? Could you not talk just between the two of you and leave me out?”
* * *
The magic stones of Rank 1 monster Ghost Rabbits were set at 1 to 5Gg.
For special variant Ghost Rabbits of the same rank but with different coloration, they were worth 5 to 10Gg.
So, calculated arithmetically, one could pass the exam by subjugating anywhere from as few as ten to as many as one hundred Ghost Rabbits.
That is, only in the case of a Standard Room.
“Are we getting a decent number of passers?”
“They’re coming out at a steady rate.”
“Most of them are Standard Rooms, though.”
“Superior Rooms appear only occasionally.”
Superior, Deluxe, Premier, Suite.
In order to obtain a higher-grade room, they had to hunt far more Ghost Rabbits.
For a Suite Room, at least fifty and as many as five hundred.
Naturally, with examinees competing over them, there were many difficulties in hunting that number.
That was why most chose the easy path rather than the difficult one.
“Hm… So most of them are only fulfilling the minimum requirement to pass.”
The passing condition for the third practical exam was, after all, obtaining a room.
If their goal was simply to pass, there was no need to get a high-grade room.
They could pass even by getting the lowest-grade room.
But in the end, that was tantamount to lowering their own value.
Anyone with a head on their shoulders would know.
“If they thought about it even a little, they’d realize the fourth exam is connected to the room grade….”
“They’re being shortsighted.”
“Or perhaps they know and are doing it anyway. It’s difficult to gather chips, after all.”
The fourth exam would take place in the Dreamlike Hotel, the foundation of this Gate.
The difficulty of the exam was set to vary according to room grade.
So in a sense, the third exam was also an exam in which the examinees personally decided the difficulty of the fourth exam.
No matter how well they performed in the fourth practical exam, they would not be able to make up for the difference in scores caused by difficulty level.
The examinees who obtained low-grade rooms had, with their own hands, lowered the evaluation they would receive in the fourth exam.
“This exam also evaluates ambition. At that rate, we can’t give them high scores.”
“That, too, is one of the qualities necessary for an outstanding Hunter.”
“Still, they’re not all like that.”
Of course, once in a very, very, very great while.
There were always oddballs.
Like Cha Eunsol of the Circulation Cha Clan.
[Give me a room. Standard.]
[…Candidate, you won’t regret this?]
[No. I want to rest already.]
[You really… won’t regret it?]
[Give me a room.]
Cha Eunsol was standing at the hotel desk, boldly holding out ten chips.
The evaluators clicked their tongues as they watched Cha Eunsol on the screen.
“That candidate… why is she like that? Even though she’s wearing a black exam ticket….”
“Exactly….”
“Does she have nothing to be disappointed about?”
“She looks like she finds everything in the world bothersome.”
Cha Eunsol was an exception.
The candidates who accurately grasped the true nature of the test were striving to obtain the highest-grade room possible.
At times, they did not even hesitate to plunder.
[Look at the mana stones that guy has!]
[D-don’t come any closer!]
[Just hand one over to each of us. Hm?]
A single mana stone was not small.
It was the size of something that could fit in a pocket.
However, to make one chip, 10 Gg worth of mana stones was required.
If one wanted to exchange more chips than that, one had to possess even more mana stones.
That made them difficult to store, and naturally, they became targets for other candidates.
Also….
[We know you exchanged them for chips.]
[Hand them over, if you don’t want to get hurt.]
Chips were small and light, making them easy to store.
The problem was that, in order to exchange for chips, one absolutely had to come to the fountain in front of the hotel.
In that process, there were also cases where candidates lying in ambush along the path launched attacks.
[That bastard took mine!]
[Don’t let that son of a bitch go!]
[Let’s take them back and split them one each!]
However, stealing another person’s chips could not simply be called a good move.
In the end, the candidates who obtained chips also had to enter the hotel if they wanted to get a room.
In that process, they could be retaliated against by candidates seething with resentment after having their chips stolen.
Therefore, the best method was to obtain mana stones through legitimate hunting, but realistically speaking, hunting hundreds upon hundreds of ghost rabbits was close to impossible.
At least, for Rank 1s.
“There are also candidates in the forest who aren’t hunting and are just watching.”
“They must be waiting for that thing.”
“Most of them seem to be from prestigious families.”
“And their exam tickets are green or higher.”
In the forest surrounding the Hotel of Illusions, monsters up to Rank 2 appeared.
Among them was a Rank 2 monster that was a superior variant of the ghost rabbit.
It appeared in areas where the mana left behind as ghost rabbits vanished had gathered densely.
Along with quite a number of subordinate individuals.
“The value set for its mana stone is at least 20 Gg or more.”
“Isn’t that set too high?”
“Life’s all about one big score!”
“Doesn’t an excellent Hunter naturally need luck as well?”
“…What are you people talking about? It’s because that thing is just that threatening.”
If they wanted to secure a suite room, the candidates’ best option was to hunt the boss ghost rabbit that appeared probabilistically.
Just then.
“It’s appeared.”
At last, the mana of the ghost rabbits that had accumulated and lingered in the air was stimulated, creating a crack in space.
From within that crack, the boss ghost rabbit walked out with its subordinate individuals.
[Kuaaaaang!]
“It’s terrifying no matter how many times I see it.”
“It’s a monster that destroys childhood innocence.”
A bipedal ghost rabbit incomparable to a Rank 1 ghost rabbit.
An upper body disproportionately large compared to its lower body, and a muscular physique.
And a scar crossing one eye, as if it had been through every hardship imaginable.
As if to avenge the grudges of its subordinates, it let out an enraged roar.
[Kuaaaaang!]
[Damn it! My body feels heavy…!]
[It’s pressure! Keep your head on straight!]
The candidates charged all at once to kill that creature.
However, it was Rank 2.
Even among Rank 2s, it belonged on the stronger side.
For candidates who had only just turned seventeen, it could not help but be a burdensome opponent.
For ordinary candidates, that is.
[Beast King Style, Offensive Form Seven]
Candidate number 1532.
Do Gyeonu of the Divine Sword Do Clan.
That did not apply to him.
[Lion’s Joy and Sorrow]
Do Gyeonu leaped down from a nearby tree, wreathed in blue lightning.
Then, over the boss ghost rabbit’s head, lightning swirling in a spiral came crashing down.
“…Impressive.”
“He handles Blue Thunder freely. The other candidate from the same Divine Sword Do Clan didn’t seem to be at that level….”
An attack that completely caught the creature off guard.
With a single blow, the boss ghost rabbit vanished.
[One acquired.]
Do Gyeonu was holding the creature’s mana stone amid the scattering Blue Thunder.
“However, he’s drawn aggro.”
“That he has.”
“The candidates who were frightened by the boss have come to their senses too.”
“This is where the problem starts.”
Obtaining the mana stone was not the end.
He had to be able to protect it from the swarm of candidates so it would not be taken from him.
The evaluators focused on how Do Gyeonu would break through that encirclement.
At that, Do Gyeonu….
“…What?”
The evaluators’ eyes widened.
* * *
I had obtained the boss ghost rabbit’s mana stone.
At that, the candidates were closing their encirclement to steal the mana stone.
I had to fight while holding in my hand a mana stone that wouldn’t fit in my pocket.
In many ways, it could only be a burden.
That was why….
“Go Eunbi!”
“Yeah!”
While the candidates were focused on me, I called out to Go Eunbi, who had been secretly approaching.
To announce her position, she waved the hand holding her bow high.
Toward her….
“Catch!”
“What!?”
“…!”
I threw the mana stone in my hand.
The candidates who had been closing the distance to me were flustered by the unexpected situation.
“Chase her, hurry!”
“The mana stone’s over there!”
The candidates hurriedly turned around and tried to catch Go Eunbi.
But by then, it was already too late.
“Haneul! Catch it! It’s my heart!”
“…!”
Because Go Eunbi had tied the mana stone to an arrow and suddenly shot it into the air.
Fweeeeng!
The arrow bearing the mana stone flew through the sky, leaving the area at high speed.
The arrow, soaring in an arc, fell beneath a certain tree.
‘Haneul must have caught it well.’
I chuckled as I watched the sight.
There was no need to worry.
Yeon Haneul would live up to my expectations.
So I….
“Shall we gather some chips, then?”
“….”
“We need to collect quite a lot, you see. So hand over your chips.”
I would avenge the ghost rabbits.
From now on, I was the boss rabbit.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss