10 p.m., a moonlit night.
The gate’s location had been set.
After receiving the message through her Gate Watch, Cha Eunsol immediately made her way through the darkness of Honrim Island.
Even if monsters lurked in the dark and the path was hard to see, it posed no problem for her.
She only had to receive the help of the spirits.
She was able to find the gate without encountering any particular danger.
“Ah, so it’s here.”
If she passed through this gate, she could return to the world she had originally come from.
If she had her way, she wanted to leave through the gate and roll around comfortably at the lodging.
But as long as the exam was still underway, she couldn’t do that.
Instead, Cha Eunsol decided to camp nearby and, once the exam ended, be the first to go outside.
She looked around.
‘That tree looks good.’
After choosing a place where she wouldn’t be attacked by monsters or examinees during the night,
Cha Eunsol decided to create an environment where she could sleep comfortably.
She awakened the spirits dwelling within the island’s ambient mana.
‘Please.’
The spirits responded.
The earth spirit made a cocoon of soil, with an opening large enough for her to crawl into if she curled up.
The wind spirit gathered leaves to use in place of a bed and spread them inside.
The fire spirit kindled embers to warm the surroundings cozily.
Besides them, other spirits also exerted their power for her sake.
“Thank you.”
Even the lowest-ranked spirits, who did not possess a clear sense of self, still had egos and could express their will, however faintly.
She could not take it for granted that they obeyed her commands.
Cha Eunsol thanked them and crawled into the cocoon.
She laid her body down on the soft floor covered in leaves.
Then she closed her eyes.
“Good night.”
She was tired and sleepy.
Thinking about what she would eat after going outside when the exam ended tomorrow,
Cha Eunsol fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
The night on Honrim Island was growing deeper.
The number of examinees in the forest had been gradually increasing ever since the gate’s location was set a short while ago.
To pass the exam, everyone had to go to where the gate was, so they were gathering there.
Because of that, the air was thick with the signs of impending battle.
“…”
To protect their own exam tickets.
To steal the exam tickets of others.
Having taken their positions while keeping a certain distance from one another, they were tense over the scramble that would soon break out—perhaps the final one.
With even the smallest trigger, the forest could turn into a battlefield.
And if a struggle capable of swallowing the entire forest broke out, there was only one person who would become their target then.
Do Gyeonwoo, the examinee from the Divine Sword Do Clan, who was currently rumored to have gathered the most exam tickets.
The battlefield that unfolded around him would surely be nothing but chaos.
“I can’t let that happen.”
For Lee Gahyeon, who wanted to confirm Do Gyeonwoo’s skills herself without interference from anyone, this was not a welcome situation at all.
“What should I do with those things…”
Looking down at the examinees from atop a tree, Lee Gahyeon narrowed her eyes.
Those people, who would interfere with her battle against Do Gyeonwoo, were no different from thorns in her side.
So she had to drive them into a situation where they wouldn’t even dare to face him.
“Ah, I can just do that.”
The corners of Lee Gahyeon’s mouth split into a wide grin.
Monsters lived in the forest, and as the examinees gathered, other monsters had mixed in after them as well.
At present, the forest was a mixture of monsters and examinees.
In addition, due to the mana they unconsciously emitted, the ambient mana was becoming rapidly unstable.
Bzzzt!
Grrr.
Dimensional rifts were being created.
Monsters emerged from those rifts, heightening the danger even further.
She decided to make use of the situation.
“I’ll need you all to put in some effort.”
Lee Gahyeon’s eyes were dyed red.
Her eyes emitted a crimson light.
Red eyes, a characteristic of demi-humans and demonkin, and reminiscent of monsters.
With those eyes, she pierced through the darkness and spoke to the monsters in the forest.
Grrrrr!
Kieeeek!
The coercive force of a demonkin activated.
The monsters who heard her voice let out cries all at once.
Their cries spread through the forest, and they rose from within the darkness.
“Kyaaaak!”
“M-Monsters! The monsters are… Guh!”
The monsters attacked the examinees.
The screams of those assaulted by them rang out from all directions.
In an instant, the forest became a battlefield, and a war where life and death were at stake broke out.
“Then I suppose I should get going too.”
Lee Gahyeon wore a satisfied expression.
Soon, she leaped down into the darkness where screams never ceased.
And so began a night in which no one could sleep.
* * *
Unexpectedly, there weren’t many examinee attacks under cover of night.
Because the ones camped around us were keeping one another in check, they couldn’t act rashly.
Thanks to that, the attacks could be counted on one hand.
We took turns standing watch and were able to recover from our fatigue.
But for me, who had to stay wary of Lee Gahyeon, I couldn’t sleep comfortably.
My eyes were closed, but my ears were open, ready to respond to any situation at any moment.
It was then that I sensed the commotion.
Grrrr!
Kieeeek!
The sounds of monsters rang out.
Their ferocity doubled by the night, they were howling savagely.
And it wasn’t just their sounds.
“Kyaaaaaak!”
“Supporter! S-someone, healing magic…”
“Aaaak! Go away! Go away! Go away!”
“These bastards, all at once…!”
The screams and shouts of the examinees mixed together, and the entire forest stirred noisily.
I could also hear the sounds of them fighting not far away.
The monsters that had been crouching in the darkness all this time had gone out hunting.
It was something I had expected to some extent.
There was no way creatures intoxicated by their instinct to covet the mana of living beings would leave people gathered in one place alone.
If anything, it was strange that they hadn’t moved until now.
Even so.
‘This is way too much, isn’t it?’
They were swarming from every direction.
As though every monster in the forest were moving at once.
It was hard to believe.
Monsters were driven strongly by instinct, and at times even turned that instinct on one another, not hesitating to cannibalize their own kind. It was rare for them to move on such a large scale like this.
At times like that, there were broadly three possibilities that came to mind.
The first was that the monsters were moving en masse to avoid a natural disaster.
The second was that the monsters had a habit of forming groups.
‘No. It’s neither.’
I denied both possibilities.
I had no idea what kind of natural disaster could suddenly occur inside the forest, and I hadn’t sensed any signs of one.
Also, monsters with the habit of forming groups belonged to the same species, but judging from the sounds coming from the forest, it didn’t seem like there was only one species of them.
So there was only one possibility I could think of in this situation.
The third.
‘This is Lee Gahyeon’s doing.’
A higher entity capable of exercising control over monsters had appeared.
Fundamentally, except for monsters with the habit of forming groups, monsters had a strong consciousness as independent entities.
If such creatures moved as a group, it could be judged that there was one among them who belonged to a higher entity.
Naturally, the larger the group, the more powerful the higher entity’s dominion had to be.
However, the highest-ranking entities that appeared on Honrim Island, a Yellow Gate, were Rank 3.
It was clearly impossible for one of them to control a scale of this level.
Impossible.
To explain this phenomenon, one had to assume the existence of an entity with a grade higher than Rank 3, but that contradicted the facts.
However, bringing up Lee Gahyeon’s existence resolved the issue.
As a demonkin rather than a human, she could control monsters.
She must have made her move.
There was no one else but her.
“Gyeonwoo! Hurry and get up! Monsters are everywhere right now…!”
“I know. Tell the others to quickly gather what they need.”
Just then, Go Eunbi came into the tent and spoke in an urgent tone.
I grabbed the Ultramarine Sword, rose from my seat, and gave her instructions.
When I came out of the tent and looked around, I saw flickering lights in the darkness.
They were where the examinees’ camps were.
“Kyaaaak!”
“N-nooooo!”
“R-run, hurry!”
From there came the sounds of examinees in a panic.
They must have been attacked by monsters.
Judging by how close the sounds were, it seemed the monsters would soon rush into the campsite where we were.
We couldn’t stay here any longer.
We had to leave.
“Gyeonwoo, everyone has packed their things.”
“Good. Then let’s evacuate somewhere safe too.”
Go Eunbi wore an anxious expression.
Her friends were the same.
They were frightened by the situation, surrounded by monsters on all sides.
Knowing full well how they felt, I spoke as calmly as possible.
For now, we decided to get out of the forest.
It was right then.
Thud!
Suddenly, I sensed a presence behind us, and immediately after, the ground shook violently.
Something had fallen.
“…”
We turned around.
In the place where moonlight had settled, dust was rising.
Within it, the silhouette of a large monster could be seen.
[You have encountered a monster.]
[Mauler Baboon (Rank. 02) x 1]
Mauler Baboon.
It was a monster with a face that looked like a mix between a baboon and a gorilla, and arms and hands so huge they seemed out of balance with its body.
In one hand, it was clutching an examinee whose upper body was all that remained visible.
“H-help me…”
“…”
The examinee, unable to escape from its grip and writhing in pain, pleaded desperately with us.
At that moment, the monster reacted first.
“Help… me…?”
“Ah… Aaaah…”
“How…?”
The monster, awkwardly imitating human speech, chuckled as its shoulders shook.
Immediately after, it raised the hand gripping the examinee above its head.
And just like that.
“Like… this…?”
Crunch!
It slammed the examinee into the ground.
The sound of something being crushed rang out.
When the monster lifted the hand gripping the examinee, the examinee’s teeth fell out with a clatter, and blood streamed down.
As if it wasn’t satisfied with that, the monster hurled him down again.
“Or… maybe…”
Crunch!
“Like… this…?”
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Crunch…!
It happened in an instant.
Before we could intervene in any way, the examinee died.
“He’s… dead…?”
The monster let go.
The examinee, his head smashed apart, collapsed to the ground with a wet thud.
The monster licked the blood from its fingers and burst into a giggling laugh.
Its gaze turned toward us.
“Next… is… you…?”
“G-Gyeonwoo…”
“Hiiik!”
“…”
Receiving its gaze, the people behind me flinched.
Go Eunbi’s friend let out a terrified sound at the atrocity that had unfolded before her eyes.
As if enjoying our reactions, the monster never lost its smile from beginning to end.
“Gyeonwoo, it’s Rank 2. It’s absolutely not a monster we can take lightly. And since it’s night right now…”
“I know. Don’t worry.”
Go Eunbi tried to stop me as I stepped toward the monster.
But I did not stop.
The fact that it was a monster corresponding to Rank 2, and that the current time was night, were not things that posed a threat to me.
It wasn’t something I couldn’t bring down.
“By… yourself…”
The moment the monster blinked, I kicked off the ground and charged.
The startled monster swung its fist.
Crackle!
Evasion Instinct activated.
Letting the enormous fist brush past me to the side, I immediately leaped toward it.
In the meantime, the Blue Lightning that had scraped against the ground and generated friction surged into the night sky.
Lion Shakes the Heavens
Kraaaaaak!
The slash containing Blue Lightning carved a deep wound into the monster’s right arm and chest.
The monster let out a cry filled with pain and hurriedly stepped back.
As I fell through the air, I launched my next attack at it.
Rumble!
The second strike of Lion Shakes the Heavens.
The Blue Lightning I had gathered pierced into the monster.
This attack was not deep.
The monster had raised its left arm and blocked it.
But what I had been aiming for was its eye.
Lion’s Claw Mark
Before it could catch me in its hand.
Landing on the monster’s shoulder, I quickly cut across its eye with the Ultramarine Sword.
Kraaaaaak!
The bastard had lost his sight.
With that, the outcome was as good as decided.
There was no way I, possessing the Gift called Evasion Instinct, would be caught by the attacks of someone blinded.
His fists only pounded the innocent ground and wounded himself.
And I, who had been waiting for an opening…
Lion’s Returning Needle
The instant he showed a gap, I drove my sword into the wound I had carved into him just moments ago.
“Help… me…”
“How? Like this?”
Gravely wounded, he could no longer move his body.
In that state, he pleaded with me pathetically.
Of course, there was no way I would listen.
“Or like this?”
Grrk…
“Like this?”
I stabbed him over and over with the Ultramarine Sword.
Only when death was imminent did he finally shut his mouth.
Then he turned into particles of mana, leaving behind a magic stone as he vanished.
“See? I told you not to worry.”
“Yeah…”
I tossed the magic stone to Go Eunbi.
Having reflexively caught it, she looked completely bewildered.
“You keep that safe. I…”
“You?”
“I’ve got someone else to deal with.”
Turning away from Go Eunbi, I looked up to one side.
From atop a tree veiled in night, I could feel a familiar presence.
“Stop hiding and come out already. I know you’re there.”
“Oh my, it seems I’ve been found out?”
Puppet Demoness Lee Gahyeon.
As soon as she realized I had noticed her, she revealed herself as though she had been waiting.
A female examinee wearing a yellow exam badge slid down along a thread.
When she landed on the ground and waved her hand, the threads connected to her fingertips snapped and dissolved into the ambient mana.
“Hello? Nice to meet you.”
Borrowing the examinee’s body,
Lee Gahyeon smiled with her eyes and greeted me.
“Won’t you play with me for a bit?”
“What do you mean, ‘me’? We’re the same age.”
“Ah, right. In this body, we are the same age. Hey, let’s have some fun—!”
Lee Gahyeon couldn’t finish her sentence.
Because I had charged at her right before that.
I couldn’t afford to take it easy against her.
I brought down the Ultramarine Sword.
She hurriedly crossed her twin swords and blocked the falling strike.
“Ugh! Now that I look at you, you’re rather impatient, aren’t you?”
“I am pretty impatient.”
“Then you won’t be popular with girls, you know.”
“…Yeah, I’m not popular. Fuck.”
* * *
For several people to gang up and bully one person was nothing short of cowardice.
It was not righteous at all.
It was not something a man should do.
Do Gyeon-u had become the target of the examinees and was currently surrounded by them.
When Yong Haerang heard the news, he could not ignore his plight.
“Hold out until I get there! Wait for me! Do Gyeon-u!”
To help his friend, Do Gyeon-u,
Yong Haerang followed the rumors and raced through the forest where he was said to be isolated.
Unfortunately, by the time he arrived in the forest, darkness had already fallen, and with so many examinees around, he could not pinpoint Gyeon-u’s presence.
“Hyaa! Where are you? Do Gyeon-u!”
He had no choice but to search the forest.
Even as night deepened and the monsters grew more ferocious, Yong Haerang never gave up his search.
Do Gyeon-u was in danger—what did his own danger matter?
He paid no mind to the risk.
He struck down every monster and examinee he encountered and set out to find Do Gyeon-u.
It was then that the monsters in the forest launched a large-scale assault.
“Why are these things suddenly…”
Cutting down the monsters that rushed at him,
and at the same time saving examinees,
Yong Haerang was swept up in the situation.
“…”
Something was happening.
Yong Haerang instinctively realized that an abnormality beyond his knowledge had occurred.
He clicked his tongue briefly.
With things like this, Do Gyeon-u must have fallen into even greater trouble.
His sparring friend was in danger.
“I’d better find him quickly. Move! You’re in my way! Hyaa!”
Smacking away a monster that sprang out,
Yong Haerang sprinted through the darkness.
As if to make sure Do Gyeon-u, wherever he was, could hear him, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
“I’m coming! Do Gyeon-u! I, Yong Haerang, as a man, cannot turn my back on a friend in trouble! Wait for me!”
Yong Haerang ran off somewhere.
He did not know where he was running.
He simply ran, relying on his instincts.
If he kept running like that, someday he would surely meet Do Gyeon-u.
Just as the Earth was round.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss