Though the examinees did not seem to have realized it,
in truth, monsters were hiding in every guest room of the Hotel of Dreams, the foundation of this Gate.
Monsters belonging to the dream demon line.
Those creatures, which mainly appeared in the mindscapes of living beings, concealed their presence within the paintings in each room and became active between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Guests who fell asleep during that time became their prey.
“Are all the examinees in their rooms?”
“We’ve placed alarm magic in the corridors, so if any examinee comes out of their room, we’ll know immediately.”
“We’re checking with Screen Eye as well, and so far there are none!”
“The assistants stationed in the corridors on each floor have reported the same.”
“They must all be sound asleep, having eaten their fill at the banquet.”
“Yes, they should be deep in dreams right about now.”
They had not told the examinees, but the fourth practical exam was to subjugate the monsters hiding in the guest rooms.
And to do so within their own mindscapes.
To induce that situation, the evaluators had mixed sleep-inducing drugs into the food the examinees ate at the hotel.
The amount was so minuscule that it was difficult to detect, and the drug’s effects were only faint, but once it accumulated in the body, it would result in intoxication.
Furthermore, the evaluators had used delicious food, loud and cheerful music, and games to lower the examinees’ guard, scatter their focus and suspicion, and draw out their carelessness.
All of it was to create the conditions for the monsters to slip into the openings in their minds.
“But… is it really all right to do this? Holding a surprise exam without telling the examinees anything…”
“I know.”
“Didn’t the examinees agree to it when they submitted their pledges? That explanations regarding the exam may be insufficient, that Geumgang Academy bears no responsibility for any problems arising from that, and that all responsibility lies solely with the individual.”
“Who reads all of that?”
“It’s a pledge stating they’ll take responsibility for their own lives. Of course they should read it all. How can they sign a pledge without thinking?”
“That’s true. If they’re going to become hunters, they need to be prepared for the fact that they could die at any time. That’s part of the exam too.”
“Still, we won’t be able to avoid objections about the exam…”
“There will be some who raise objections. But did we really not tell them anything about the exam? I think we scattered a fair number of clues.”
“How many of them would have noticed?”
“It seemed like only the examinee from the Yeonseong Nam family had some idea.”
“And we even lied and told them they’d pass the fourth practical exam if they spent a day at the hotel.”
“Lied, you say… We will receive objections, I suppose.”
The fourth practical exam had enough room for controversy if it were revealed to the outside world.
As a result, quite a few evaluators voiced concerns about the exam.
At that moment, the proctor in charge of the exam opened his mouth.
“When did we ever lie?”
“…”
“An examinee who spends a day at the hotel will indeed pass the practical exam. Though there is, of course, the condition that they spend that day ‘safely.’ In any case, stop chattering and focus on the exam. The way you’re behaving is more likely to become controversial.”
“Yes, sir!”
An exam that tested the examinees’ mental fortitude.
Because the fourth practical exam took place within the mindscape, the evaluators’ role could not help but be greatly reduced.
However, their role was more important than ever.
The proctor reminded them of that fact and pressed the evaluators.
“Those creatures that enter people’s dreams show them dreams they would hate, break down their minds, and steal their bodies. You are to patrol your assigned areas and rescue any examinees who end up like that.”
“Yes, understood!”
The academy claimed it would not take responsibility for the examinees’ deaths, but even so, those who could be saved had to be saved.
From now until 6 a.m.
The proctor and evaluators had to stay up all night and monitor the examinees’ conditions.
It would be an extremely grueling day, both for the examinees and for them.
The proctor sent the evaluators out.
Then he muttered as if complaining.
“Why did the chairwoman design an exam like this…”
In truth, the proctor harbored the same doubts as the evaluators.
If they wanted to assess the examinees’ mental fortitude, they could have done so in other ways.
There was no need to go this far.
The exam’s difficulty was too high.
At this rate, it was almost as if…
‘It feels like she’s telling them to prepare because they’ll be experiencing something like this in the future.’
It was an absurd assumption.
However, if the person who had designed the exam was the chairwoman of Geumgang Academy, the Star Witch So Hyeyul, then it was difficult to dismiss.
The proctor sank into thought.
* * *
Yeon Haneuls—no, Calamity Witches—were swarming toward me.
They were attacking me from everywhere, front, back, left, and right.
Shwaaa… Whoosh!
“Urgh!”
Some even fell from above.
Because of the sound of the rain, I noticed too late and hurriedly brushed past her attack as I moved out of the way.
At that moment, the ones nearby rushed at me.
‘There really is no end to them.’
Their attacks did not stop.
I had no time to properly catch my breath.
Frantically, I blocked, deflected, and dodged the swords they swung.
“Gyeonu.” “Gyeonu.” “Gyeonu.”
“…”
In the meantime, more of her had appeared.
They had emerged from somewhere and were surrounding me from a distance.
As if they were determined not to let me escape, or as if they were waiting for their turn to fight.
“Gyeonu.” “Gyeonu.”
“…Stop calling me already.”
There were more again.
When I looked around once more, the density with which they occupied the space had increased.
They were filling every gap around me.
“Gyeonu.”
Black hair clinging to their cheeks.
Drenched from the rain, they flashed crimson eyes.
Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands… perhaps an infinite number of gazes pierced down at me.
Immediately after, bows appeared in their hands.
As they drew their bowstrings…
‘What kind of ridiculous dream is this?’
Arrows of flame were nocked on the strings.
Every arrow they drew was aimed at me.
For me, the situation could only be described as dreamlike.
‘Though I really am dreaming.’
But that did not mean I could ignore it.
I had no idea how the pain I suffered in the dream would affect me.
Death in the dream might even lead to death in reality.
Piyung!
“…”
Arrows of flame came flying.
I had to dodge.
But there was nowhere to dodge.
She was everywhere.
Then I had no choice but to block.
However, with my skill, I had no way of blocking arrows flying endlessly from every direction.
If this world truly were reality, that is.
Whoosh!
‘I can do it.’
This place was inside my dream.
A world based on my unconscious.
It would become whatever I imagined.
Whiiiiing!
Just as magic originates from the consciousness that is certain the impossible is possible,
I held that certainty with the mindset of casting magic and spun.
The Ultramarine Sword howled fiercely.
The wind rising from the Ultramarine Sword instantly became a colossal whirlwind large enough to tear a hole in the black sky, and upon meeting the rain, it was reborn as a typhoon.
“…So it really does work.”
It would have been impossible in the game.
The arrows of flame were blocked by the wall of the typhoon and could not enter.
The Yeon Haneuls were also caught up in the typhoon, so they were no longer visible around me.
Only after I entered the eye of the storm could I let out a sigh of relief.
‘But I can’t stay here forever.’
I had only bought myself a brief moment to rest.
The situation had not changed.
I had to find and kill the thing that had thrown me into this horrible nightmare, the thing hiding somewhere in this world.
Meanwhile, it was surely looking for an opportunity to kill me as well.
So if I was right…
‘It must be mixed in among the Haneuls, waiting for its chance. …Though saying Haneuls feels awkward.’
There was a high possibility of that.
Only then would it be able to watch for a chance to kill me from among them.
The problem was that finding it among the endlessly multiplying versions of her was nearly impossible.
‘Killing them one by one to find it… doesn’t really sit right with me.’
Even if it was something happening in a dream, I still did not want to kill her with my own hands.
No, I couldn’t kill her.
I could not kill her.
The reason I had kept switching the Ultramarine Sword into a reverse-bladed sword while fighting them was because I could not bring myself to do it.
Even though I knew it was foolish, I simply could not.
‘Even if I killed Haneul in the first place, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the rate at which they split. Even if I used the fact that this is my dream to unleash a wide-area attack… as long as even one remains alive, they’ll multiply exponentially from there again. Killing the Haneuls is inefficient.’
I was a coward.
So, as a coward, I decided to break through the situation in my own way.
There was a method.
‘I’ll use Evasion Instinct.’
It was strange.
Even while facing them as they attacked from every direction, my Gift only activated intermittently and did not continue activating nonstop.
I was clearly in danger, and yet Evasion Instinct, unlike what I perceived, did not judge it as danger.
Judging from that…
‘Evasion Instinct can perceive whether the attacks occurring in the dream actually affect me or not.’
It was probably the same principle as when it distinguished illusion from reality during the second practical exam.
Even so, the fact that it had activated intermittently meant it had perceived something as a danger that could actually affect my life.
And the only danger that could actually affect me was that thing.
In other words…
‘The Haneul who attacks in a way that triggers my Evasion Instinct is that thing.’
I was certain.
As long as I paid attention to the activation of my Gift, I would be able to find the monster without killing them.
Since there were so many of them, it would likely take quite some time.
‘No, there’s a way around that too.’
At that moment, an idea suddenly came to mind.
If this too went according to my thoughts, I might be able to shorten the time.
Whiiiing…
After finishing my thoughts, I slipped out of the typhoon as it began to disperse.
Outside, the versions of her, seemingly even more numerous than before, were waiting for me.
“Gyeonu.” “Gyeonu.” “Gyeonu.”
“Gyeonu.” “Gyeonu.” “Gyeon…”
“Hey, Yeon Haneul.”
“…”
Unlike the Yeon Haneul I knew, these versions of her had dyed their hair black.
Their skin was tanned as well.
There was something I really wanted to say to them.
I opened my mouth.
“Aren’t you being way too much?”
“…?”
“You told me not to dye my hair and not to tan my skin, so why are you doing it? Isn’t this exactly the kind of hypocrisy you’re always accusing me of?”
“Gyeonu.” “Gyeonu.” “Gyeon…”
“So since you did it, I’m going to do it too.”
“…What?” “…What?” “…What?” “…?”
“I’m going to dye my hair and tan my skin too.”
What couldn’t I do inside my own dream?
I swept my hair up with my hand.
Unfortunately, I could not see it for myself, but I could feel that my hair had turned yellow.
And the eyes of the girls in front of me also widened.
Next, I would do my skin too…
“No.” “Don’t.” “Gyeonu.”
“Black hair.” “Protect it.” “Don’t.”
“I don’t want to. I’m doing it.”
It was my dream, and my body.
Unless they were going to take responsibility for my life, no one had the right to interfere.
After tanning my skin like theirs, I took the opportunity to put piercings in my ears too.
I even got a tattoo on my forearm.
When I rolled up my sleeve, a delinquent-looking rabbit was engraved on my tanned skin.
“No, don’t…” “Gyeonu…” “Sob…”
“Come back.” “Don’t do this.”
“You think you’re the only one who gets to go dark? I can go dark too.”
“It doesn’t suit you.” “Please…”
“Think of your mother.”
“Then now, muscles too…”
“No!” “Over our dead bodies!” “We object!” “Stop!”
“…Damn it.”
I couldn’t do as I pleased even in my own dream.
As they all rushed at me at once, I had to give up on imagining myself becoming a hulking, muscular man.
Instead, there was one thing I could not give up.
I imagined it.
And imagination became reality.
“Haneul.” “This is inside my dream.”
“Splitting isn’t your exclusive privilege.” “Did you think you were the only one who could split?” “I can split too, you know?”
One, two, three, four, five, six…
I multiplied exponentially.
“…!”
Agitation rose on their faces.
I lifted the corners of my mouth.
“Now the numbers finally look about right.”
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss