Rumors spread quickly through those who had fallen victim to Do Gyeonu.
The examinees who had lost their exam tickets to him all called in other examinees to reclaim their stolen tickets.
“The examinee from the Divine Sword Sect is the problem!”
“That bastard took all our exam tickets!”
“Do you know how much he’s collected by now!?”
“They say he’s got at least a whopping 1,000 points! 1,000 points!”
The examinees scattered throughout Honrim Island began flocking to one place.
Whether to reclaim stolen tickets or to reap the fisherman’s profit.
Their reasons for moving varied, but Do Gyeonu was at the center of that flow.
“Hmm, Do Gyeonu of the Divine Sword Sect….”
By the time evening fell, it would be no exaggeration to say that stories about him had spread across the entire island.
Yi Gahyeon could not have been unaware of this.
Having climbed a tall tree and observed the flow of examinees heading in one direction, she harbored curiosity about him.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t checked out the Divine Sword Sect examinee yet.”
Yi Gahyeon licked her lips.
According to the rumors, Do Gyeonu was being called by two contradictory nicknames.
One was Rabbit, meaning coward.
The other was Lion Cub, with a profound nuance.
Either way, her impression was the same.
“Cute.”
A rabbit? A baby lion?
For nicknames attached to someone from the Divine Sword Sect, they were incredibly cute.
It was impossible not to find it interesting.
Moreover, judging by the fact that Do Gyeonu was felling examinees left and right, he seemed to possess considerable skill.
That skill, combined with those nicknames.
It was impossible to imagine.
The contrast with his image was extreme.
“Shall we go see just how strong this rabbit is?”
What kind of child was Do Gyeonu?
Yi Gahyeon was intensely curious.
She followed the flow of examinees and went to find him.
As it happened, he was in the middle of battle with examinees on the clearing.
“….”
He was a handsome young man with black hair and delicate facial features.
He looked quite pretty and gentle-tempered.
By Yi Gahyeon’s standards, he was like a noble young lord who obeyed his parents, was diligent, and had never once deviated.
“He’d be worth seeing cry. There’d be satisfaction in teaching him one by one.”
It was a face that aroused sadism.
But with just a change in his eyes, he showed a completely opposite face.
Lion-like.
Despite being in a situation that was clearly disadvantageous in numbers.
Do Gyeonu fought against the examinees without a hint of fear.
No, he overwhelmed them.
His face, which dodged all their attacks, overflowed with confidence.
A face that looked as though it were enjoying sadism.
If one were bewitched by that face, one might unknowingly fall into masochism.
“…Sexy.”
To think that a face where sadism and masochism could coexist at the same time existed in this world.
Yi Gahyeon received a shock like being struck by lightning.
Crack!
She was actually being struck by lightning.
Every time Do Gyeonu performed his swordsmanship, blue currents burst from the surroundings and roared ferociously.
It was Wall Lightning.
From the fact that he, who had only recently turned seventeen, was already displaying Wall Lightning with such skill, there was no longer any need to verify his abilities.
“Pass, huge pass. He’s really my type. Even if it causes trouble later, I want to make him part of my collection.”
Yi Gahyeon, sitting astride a tree branch, kicked her feet in the air.
She licked her lips and swallowed.
It made her feel a desire to possess for the first time in a while.
But she had to endure.
Do Gyeonu was not yet complete.
Only after he had fully ripened could she make him into a doll and feel any real satisfaction, no?
She had to endure. She had to endure.
She struggled to cool her heart that was threatening to catch fire at any moment.
And compromised.
“I can’t just watch like this; I want to test his skills directly too… I should go greet him.”
Yi Gahyeon barely suppressed her excitement and rose from the branch she had been sitting on.
She too tried to jump into the chaotic battle where Wall Lightning surged violently.
But she quickly changed her mind.
“I can’t. I want to play alone with him, but like this we can’t enjoy ourselves together, can we?”
Yi Gahyeon looked up at the sky.
The sun was slowly setting.
Soon the sky would be dyed dark blue, and night would come.
When that time came, the monsters would grow ferocious, and the commotion below would temporarily subside.
So….
“I should aim for then.”
Yi Gahyeon giggled.
She looked forward to the night.
* * *
The examinees who had come without giving me a proper chance to rest retreated from the clearing as the day began to fade.
Around then, I felt my stamina depleted.
Even though I drank potions obtained from supplies and received treatment from Go Eunbi’s friend while fighting, there was a limit.
[Your body has broken through its limit.]
[Stamina has increased by 1.]
[Strength has increased by 1.]
[Endurance has increased by 1.]
[Mana has increased by 1.]
[Luck has increased by 1.]
How much must I have pushed myself for a message saying my stats had risen to appear after so long?
To the extent that all my stats except Agility, which had the highest growth threshold, had risen by 1.
Having abused my body to that degree, I decided to recover my stamina now.
That was how I came to the campsite predetermined with Go Eunbi.
“Gyeonu, you’re here? Good work….”
“…You too, Eunbi. Good work, everyone.”
Go Eunbi and her friends all had faces steeped in exhaustion.
Mine probably wasn’t much different.
We felt a sense of kinship with one another.
But after a simple dinner, when we checked today’s earnings, everyone was miraculously energized.
“Wow, these are all exam tickets!?”
“Even if five of us split them, how much is it per person?”
Besides the tickets I had pinned to my clothes, there were also many in my bag.
Among them were black and blue ones too.
So naturally, the others couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
I smirked.
“Eunbi, divide them up appropriately. Don’t forget to take my share too.”
“Calculating the value will be work too. Okay. But Gyeonu, are you really going to take the same share as us? You suffered the most.”
“It’s not like I was the only one who suffered; we all suffered together. The roles you and the others took on couldn’t be considered easy either.”
“If you say so… thanks! I’ll take them gratefully!”
“Gyeonu, thanks!”
Go Eunbi was overjoyed.
The others were the same.
I quietly nodded in lieu of a reply.
Then I fell into thought.
‘In the end, Yi Gahyeon didn’t appear.’
Having collected a certain number of exam tickets, my interest lay elsewhere.
The Puppet Witch Yi Gahyeon.
The reason I fought a battle of pillage on the clearing today was to draw her in.
But contrary to my expectations, she didn’t come to appraise me.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t appeared at all.
She had shown herself.
‘Surely… that was Yi Gahyeon.’
From a certain moment during the battle, I felt a piercing gaze from afar.
Someone was watching from a distance.
To confirm their identity, I strengthened my vision toward that spot and was able to make out a woman wearing yellow exam tickets.
She matched the appearance Go Eunbi had described.
It had undoubtedly been Yi Gahyeon.
Yet she only watched, and ultimately did not appear before me.
‘…Was it because she thought she couldn’t fight me properly in that situation?’
It was unfortunate for me.
But it was certain that Yi Gahyeon was interested in me.
If not, she wouldn’t have spied on me for so long.
Considering her personality, she would definitely appear again.
If I had to predict when….
‘There’s only tonight.’
The exam ends tomorrow.
If she were to come find me within that time, it could only be tonight.
Or perhaps dawn.
Meanwhile, the other examinees also had little time remaining.
Examinees who wanted to reclaim their tickets from me, who hadn’t yet met the passing conditions, or who wanted to raise their scores would target the final night.
The reason they had retreated from the clearing a short while ago could be said to be exactly that.
They were conserving strength to prepare for the battle that would occur at night.
Beep!
Then, the Gate Watch rang.
I checked the message.
[21:00:00]
[Displaying all exam tickets located within a 500m radius.]
A location notification given every three hours.
I checked the locations of the exam tickets and could only let out a bitter smile.
Go Eunbi gave voice to my feelings.
“Wow… we really collected a lot. Our position is covered in dots. And… around us too….”
“….”
From beyond the reach of our detection network.
The examinees were encamped on all sides, waiting for the second round.
In other words, enemies were strewn all around.
The second round would be fiercer than the battle fought on the clearing.
I had to abandon the very thought of sleeping.
It would truly be a noisy night.
‘Yi Gahyeon must be nearby too.’
Among the dots scattered around, there would be one pointing to her.
While preparing for the examinees’ night raid, I also had to keep her existence in mind.
To make matters worse, more bad news arrived.
Beep!
One hour had passed since the location notification was delivered.
10 PM.
The Gate Watch rang again.
[22:00:00]
[Announcing the location of the set Gate. The Gate will be available starting tomorrow at 9 AM.]
[Evaluators waiting in front of the Gate from 9 AM to 1 PM tomorrow will assess your scores. All examinees are asked to come to the Gate within the designated time.]
[The exam ends tomorrow at 9 AM. All examinees are asked to cease pillaging after 9 AM. Failure to do so may result in penalties to your exam.]
I scrolled down the message.
At the bottom, the location of the Gate was displayed along with a full map of Honrim Island.
I checked the Gate’s location and furrowed my brows.
“Gyeonu, the Gate’s location….”
“I checked it too.”
“What do we do?”
“…We have to do something somehow.”
“Gyeonu, I believe in you. I’m sure you’ll find a way.”
“Let’s prepare ourselves to fight like we’re ready to die.”
“Right… so there’s no way out.”
Of all things, the Gate was set at a location not far from the campsite.
In other words, it meant far more examinees could flock here than now.
To finish the exam, they ultimately had to head to the Gate, and the exam tickets would follow them there.
If that happened, there was a high probability the area around the Gate would become a battlefield.
“So everyone, don’t even dream of sleeping well today. If you’re going to sleep, do it outside.”
“So to summarize… people will flock around you in droves to aim for a last-minute reversal. Then there are people trying to get near the Gate, and people trying to hunt them… and moreover, people hunting those people in droves….”
“Simply put, think of every examinee on the island coming our way.”
“Yeah, we’re doomed! Doomed! We’re finished! Ah, what do we do? What is this….”
Go Eunbi made a tearful face.
Both she and the others looked dazed at the situation that had befallen us.
But being dazed solved nothing.
I encouraged them.
“What do you mean doomed. We aren’t doomed yet. We won’t be. We have to prepare.”
“Gyeonu, I was thinking—what if we secretly run away when we get the chance? If it gets darker than it is now, the other examinees won’t notice we’re gone.”
“And we can break through the surveillance net of people spread all around us?”
“…Should we dig into the ground and hide?”
“Stop giving up and accept it. We won’t be the only ones attacked; they’ll fight among themselves too. It’s no different for them with enemies positioned everywhere. So get a grip and sleep while you can.”
“But you just told us not to even dream.”
“That’s just an expression. How are we going to fight without sleeping? It’s best to have two people at a time take turns standing watch. And Eunbi, there’s something I need to ask you.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“Well….”
Since I didn’t know how the situation would unfold, I had to prepare for every eventuality.
I whispered to Go Eunbi.
And so.
The final night of the exam arrived.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss