“Ignite!”
-Whoosh!
A crimson tentacle, writhing as it crawled towards Fay, instantly charred and rolled across the ground.
The nauseating stench of burning flesh permeated the air.
“Ugh.”
It was a truly horrific sight in every conceivable way.
Under normal circumstances, Fay might have cried out and abandoned the test, perhaps even fleeing like the other participants who had long given up.
“It’s truly fortunate… that I have this.”
Fay idly touched the mucous creature attached beneath her ear.
It was the black, viscous substance Regen had given her.
Once the goo was affixed to her ear, the pulsating stench that had permeated the surroundings miraculously subsided.
‘This seems to be part of a leech’s tissue… Could it be inducing a slight numbing effect on my senses?’
Leeches secrete an anesthetic fluid to prevent their hosts from noticing them while they feed.
Judging by its form, it appeared to be an isolated organ that secreted paralyzing fluid, attached to dull the senses and strengthen one’s tolerance for unpleasantness.
Truly, it was a technique only a seasoned veteran could devise.
‘Even with this, my eyes are still somewhat tormented by the horrific spectacle…’
Nevertheless, it was sufficiently bearable.
“Good, then I should also hurry and complete my mission—”
Just then.
-Flick!
‘…An enemy?’
An anomaly was detected in the faint magic she had spread around.
Something alien, not of nature.
Focusing her gaze in the direction where it was felt, she discerned movement amidst the bushes, whose leaves stretched long and black like strands of human hair.
“…If you’re human, shout and come out; if you’re a monster, retreat.”
As Fay tensely aimed her wand at the bushes,
“…You caught on quickly. So the ‘elite’ talk wasn’t just bluff.”
Regen emerged, a look of disbelief on her face.
She appeared remarkably sober, an unbelievable feat considering they had been drinking together just yesterday.
“Regen? Did you follow me? Why are you here…?”
“…I received a request to find a corpse.”
“…A request?”
“Yes. I usually wouldn’t have bothered, but the reward was quite substantial.”
This was an exceptionally, remarkably, extraordinarily coincidental turn of events.
Could it be that,
“You’re worried about us going while still drunk—”
“…It’s for work.”
For some reason, she avoided eye contact.
“I haven’t finished speaking yet…”
“Why ask if you already know? Try drinking until last night and then dying the next day. Would I, who provided the drinks, feel good about that?”
“Pfft.”
“Look at you, laughing. If you think about it, it’s your fault.”
“Mph.”
As it was undeniably true, Fay sealed her lips.
“Anyway, where’s your boyfriend? Didn’t he join you?”
“Hah, Mr. Will is… Wait, my-my-my… boyfriend?”
“Yeah. You two are always together. Aren’t you a couple?”
“Of course not!!! If we were, would I have stayed silent when you called me pretty in the first place?!”
“No, you wouldn’t seriously call this face pretty, would you? Logically speaking.”
“That’s… Uh, no! I think it’s perfectly fine…!”
Realizing her slip of the tongue, Fay stammered.
“Heh heh, enough. We both know the story. He’s just peculiar.”
Regen chuckled, dismissing it as if it were of no concern.
“Anyway, you should find him quickly. Unlike you, that man is too frail for this place.”
“Frail… you say?”
“Yes. Judging by his movements, his skills aren’t great, and seeing him get drunk, he’s probably just a skilled ordinary person at best.”
A skilled ordinary person? Him?
Doubt spread across Fay’s face—
“Aha.”
After a brief pause, she soon broke into her characteristic triumphant smile.
“Huhu, by the way, for a veteran like Regen to not notice, that man must be truly exceptional. Though, so am I for realizing it.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Normally I wouldn’t tell you, but I’ll make an exception just for you. Mr. Will, I believe he’s hiding his strength. He’s a fearsome powerhouse.”
Fay then succinctly explained all the suspicious behaviors she had observed from Mr. Will.
To summarize: he was concealing his power, and that power was likely beyond imagination.
“…It just seems like coincidence to me. He didn’t seem strong at all in my eyes. Doesn’t he even use mana?”
“That’s all a disguise! I can tell. He’s hiding his strength!”
Fay declared with unwavering conviction.
‘She’s fallen for an act of bravado.’
Regen clicked her tongue inwardly.
Even with a rotting body and missing teeth, she had reached the pinnacle of this field.
Had he truly been concealing his power, there was no way she wouldn’t have noticed.
‘A good-natured young man. Nothing more, nothing less.’
Having scraped by for ten years and encountered every conceivable type of person, she knew.
If she had detected even a hint of deceit, she would have twisted his wrist long ago.
‘She said that man saved her, didn’t she?’
According to Fay, she had been rescued from a desperate situation, which seemed to have led to an overestimation of his abilities.
‘These kids are hopeless, after all.’
A good-natured ordinary person and a naive pushover with poor judgment.
It was the perfect combination for dying in a dungeon.
‘Moreover, this place has recently become… dangerous in many ways.’
The heart of the forest, a ruin where entry was strictly forbidden to anyone except authorized personnel.
For unsettling signs had recently been observed at a place known as the ‘Altar.’
The Association seemed to have proceeded with this test, dismissing the signs as nothing significant, but Regen, a veteran explorer, held a different view.
‘The monster habitats have shifted, the foul stench engulfing the entire forest has intensified. And most importantly…’
-Twitch.
Her left face, twisted by a curse, was twitching uncontrollably.
As if welcoming the current predicament.
‘Could it be… like ten years ago… that bastard…’
Regardless, the situation was clearly not good.
“Anyway, hurry and join up with him. Do you two have a separate signal or something—”
Just then,
-Rumble!
An earthquake erupted, shaking the entire forest.
“Huh? An earthquake?”
Fay, with a bewildered expression, tried to comprehend the situation.
“…”
In stark contrast, Regen’s expression had frozen solid.
This tremor, and the direction from which it originated, were unforgettable.
For it was the creation of the very culprit who had left her in this state.
“The seal… has been broken.”
Regen’s face contorted.
****
At that moment, at the Altar of the Crimson Moon.
“What the, how frightening.”
A probationary member of ‘World Tree’s Blade,’ Illian of the Eastern Forest.
Mr. Will had dubbed him ‘Alpha Elf.’
He was currently stuffing a skeletal corpse into a moderately supplied duffel bag.
“All in. Irwin, how about your side…?”
“Uweaagh- The smell, the smell…”
“Hah, has he just been retching ever since he got here? He’s no help, no help at all.”
The trio from ‘World Tree’s Blade’ who had fought Regen were now retrieving corpses from the ruins, which the overseer had forbidden entry to.
“This is why it’s forbidden. It’s a field of corpses, a veritable field.”
Fallen marble pillars stood in stark contrast to the altar, which was crafted from black obsidian.
Corpses encircled the altar.
Judging by their indigenous attire, distinct from the explorers’ garb found at the ‘Threshold’, they appeared to be the original inhabitants of this forest.
These corpses hunched around the altar.
As if in prayer.
“…W-will it be okay…? We’ll be disqualified if we’re caught.”
The slender elf, nicknamed ‘Second-in-Command Elf,’ spoke with worry.
“Then what are you going to do, wander this forest suffering to find a single corpse? Besides, all the seniors did it this way. This is the honey pot for a free pass on the test.”
They had come here following the ‘cheat sheet’ (TL Note: A slang term referring to a guide or insider information, often illicitly obtained) provided by their guild seniors.
The forbidden ruins, where a multitude of black-robed corpses lay.
Normally, the barrier created by the Association’s mages made passage impossible, but a recent fissure allowed for easy entry and exit with just a touch.
By stealthily taking one, stripping it, and submitting it, they could pass the test far more quickly than by searching for an unknown corpse elsewhere.
To these individuals, considered promising prospects within the guild, their seniors had naturally passed on this secret method…
“Good, three of them. All in.”
And so, the three elves set foot on the altar.
“With this, the top score is ours.”
Alpha Elf smiled with satisfaction.
“Unless someone brings a Blood Rafflesia (TL Note: A fictional, extremely valuable item, likely a rare and powerful magical plant or artifact), of course.”
There was no way anyone using normal methods could possibly catch up to their illicit strategy, armed with the guild’s ‘cheat sheet’.
With light steps, the three elves prepared to depart from the altar.
“Then, over here~ I’ll install a mana stone to reopen the hole~”
However,
“Huh? The barrier…”
It was gone.
The colossal barrier through which they had snuck in.
Without a trace.
“Hey, what happened? Why is it gone?”
Had they tampered with something?
The ominous turn of events sent shivers down their spines.
“You, son of a…”
Something was terribly wrong.
And it was highly probable that they were to blame.
“Let’s just run. We run, and then we play dumb.”
Concluding that they should evade responsibility, the three elves began to sprint towards the examiner’s location.
However,
-Stumble.
“Huh?”
A sudden, inexplicable sensation of weightlessness enveloped him,
-Thud!
And his face collided directly with the ground.
“Aargh…! What, what happened—”
Alpha Elf, startled by the sudden anomalous phenomenon, panicked.
Then,
“Uh… Uh… Illian… You… you…!”
“Aaaahhhh!!!”
Screams from his comrades echoed behind him.
‘Why are they making such a fuss?’
‘More importantly, why did I suddenly fall?’
His surging questions were immediately answered as he turned his head to look down at his legs.
“Huh?”
His legs were gone.
More precisely, his lower body, including his legs, had been severed from his upper body.
As if his lower half had been neatly snipped off by colossal shears.
“Oh… ah…”
His comrades screamed, abandoning him as they fled.
Blood gushed forth.
His consciousness faded.
Beyond him, as he looked back, a colossal figure stood upon the altar.
“Mo… monster…”
Resembling an ape, it sat cross-legged on the altar, an incongruous posture.
A crown of bone thorns rested upon its head, and behind it, bizarrely writhing tentacles obscured the sunlight, serving as a grotesque halo.
Its appearance was as if the concept of a saint had been inverted and brought to life.
–I receive nourishment, rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and give glory to me. The lambs exult, and his wife and children prepare themselves.
In a low, solemn male voice, utterly unfitting its hideous form, it chanted a strange prayer.
“S-save… Please…”
He pleaded for mercy from the terrifying entity, but,
–I shall cleave them asunder and be satiated with their flesh.
By the time its words concluded, his body was already nothing more than finely minced meat.
–So it shall be.
The entity, having just gained a body capable of movement, finished its grotesquely twisted human prayer and slowly rose.
Beneath a sky stained crimson, screams echoed through the entire forest like hymns of praise.
****
I had a dream.
A dream of becoming a million-subscriber YouTuber and receiving an entertainment award from Elon Musk.
The details were somewhat odd, but dwelling on them would be a loss.
Delicious food.
Thunderous applause.
For some reason, it was Fay who was presenting me with the trophy.
What did it matter?
As I reveled in the sudden deluge of praise and affection (TL Note: ‘Nadenade’ is a Korean onomatopoeia for petting or showering with affection), then,
-Blink.
I awoke from my sleep.
“Ugh, I slept well.”
This was the waiting room for examinees, where those who had failed gathered for their return.
As the sole successful candidate there, I had sought sleep in a secluded corner, far from prying eyes, to alleviate my hangover, and had just now woken up.
“I feel much refreshed now.”
My headache was gone, and my queasy stomach had settled.
Still, I was craving some hangover soup (TL Note: A Korean dish typically eaten after drinking alcohol).
“Huh? But why is no one here?”
The waiting room, which had been bustling with sobbing examinees when I fell asleep, was now completely empty.
‘Oh, wait, could it be…’
Could the test have already concluded?
And I was left behind?
‘Was it a mistake to sleep in the furthest corner, just to avoid attracting attention from the failed candidates?’
How was I supposed to get back?
As I pondered this, looking around the waiting room for anyone remaining,
“Mew!”
“Huh?”
A sudden dog bark.
“This sound…”
Turning my head towards the familiar sound, which I had heard several times before—
*Pant, pant, pant*
“Oh, you’re… Myangmyang?”
Myangmyang, whom I had met in the Black Forest, had appeared out of nowhere and was wagging its tail at me.
“How remarkable.”
How on earth did it keep following me?
