‘In particular, more players died in the extreme difficulty level than the normal difficulty level. That’s because of the risk… Once they give up, they will never be able to re-enter.’ 

It wasn't that Yu-Seong couldn't understand Jin Yu-Ri's worries. It was just that he also wanted to enter the extreme difficulty level and obtain the best results.

"You really know that, right?” asked Yu-Ri.

"Trust me. I’m a person who values my life the most.”

"It doesn’t sound like something that the person repeatedly throwing his life away would say."

What happened in the past was just Yu-Seong acting in a show. Just by looking at Yu-Ri’s expression, folded arms, and rigid posture, it seemed like she wouldn’t believe it even if Yu-Seong told her that he never intended to throw his life away.

Therefore, Yu-Seong cleared his throat with a dry cough and quietly looked elsewhere. "Hmm..."

"Do-Yoon oppa hasn't been coming home for a few days because he's reaching his promotion level soon. It's a shame since if we were together, he would be nagging you with me."

"I won’t overdo it, so no need to worry about me," said Yu-Seong.

Listening to Yu-Seong’s determined words, Yu-Ri glanced over at him and loosened her arms. She said, "Actually, even if I speak harshly…I do believe in you. And I'm rooting for you. There's nothing else I can do besides this.”

"Thank you."

"Oh, and there’s an important thing. This is about Yoo Jin-Hyuk, who you mentioned at the time."

Yu-Seong's head jerked back toward Yu-Ri. Paying greater attention to her, he asked, "Did you find him?"

Yoo Jin-Hyuk, the so-called demonic beast tamer, was a very important figure in Yu-Seong’s future plans along with Chae Ye-Ryeong. In this world, the ability to summon, tame, and handle the demonic beast was rare and had high versatility. Along with such an ability, Yoo Jin-Hyuk even had the ability of the Barrier Master—which was very rare. In the original novel, he appeared as a villain and died miserably. However, if he could be a supporter of Yu-Seong, he would truly be a rare and unique talented player.

"Yes. As you said, he was reported dead."

The news could be discouraging, but Choi Yu-Seong didn’t seem to be so. He asked, "That's not all, is it?"

"Yes. He was reported dead alongside both his parents. The unusual thing is that his brother Yoo Jin-Hwan is alive,” replied Yu-Ri.

"That's Yoo Jin-Hyuk.”

"You seem to be so sure about that."

"Yes, you know I have the skill.”

Actually, Yu-Seong knew it from the original novel. Yoo Jin-Hyuk, the Villain, had used the pseudonym Yoo Jin-Hwan in his early appearances. Yu-Seong didn't know that it was the name of Jin-Hyuk’s brother, but this was enough for him to piece the puzzle together in his head.

"Anyway, please investigate where Yoo Jin-Hyuk, I mean, Yoo Jin-Hwan, is currently at. If possible, find out all about the accident his family had. I'm going to visit you right after the promotion evaluation. So I’m hoping you can find out as soon as possible..." Yu-Seong said.

"Don't worry. It's already in progress."

"You’re the best, thanks Yu-Ri. You are our Ace.."

"Don't just say empty words. I’d rather you reward me with a vacation soon. I feel like I'm the only one who's falling behind because Do-Yoon oppa is working hard to raise his level."

"Isn't it meaningless when you go on a dungeon hunt as a vacation?"

"It depends on how you think. So my morning report and your training is all over now, right?” Yu-Ri asked.

"Yes, that's it for today. I'm going to wash up, have a light meal, and start the promotion evaluation right away.”

"Make sure you eat well. There were people who couldn't come out for a month once they entered the examination room.”

“That won't be my case. I'm lucky in this way," Yu-Seong casually answered.

And after exactly three hours, Yu-Seong blamed the standard that he had set.

***

《Choi Yu-Seong, the E-rank MAX level player, is entering the extreme difficulty level D-rank promotion evaluation.

Good luck.》

As soon as he accepted the promotion evaluation, Choi Yu-Seong's view was covered with darkness after a short message. He felt moisture enveloping his whole body, as if he had been swallowed by a whale. It made him rather anxious.

A light flashed in front of his eyes, and a rabbit with longer legs than a decent human adult—that looked to be about 190cm tall—appeared in a tuxedo.

"Ta-da-!"

Literally, the rabbit appeared like ‘ta-da’.

"Nice to meet you, player Choi Yu-Seong. I'm your judge, Mr. Nice Guy. You can call me Mr. Guy for short."

In fact, the rabbit looked like a cliché character that Yu-Seong had previously seen a lot of. However, for some reason, the rabbit’s smiley expression and wide open arms felt strange.

‘Don’t such tuxedo dolls have a rather serious vibe in general?’ 

Yu-Seong's eyes momentarily sparkled in anticipation. He hoped that Mr. Nice Guy would show some magic trick with a hat or black cane in his hand. However, the so-called Mr. Guy made the mistake of dropping his hat while returning to an attentive position with open arms.

"Oh no! This hat is new. What a waste." Mr. Guy urgently picked up his fallen hat and gave Yu-Seong an embarrassed look. He lightly swept his long mustache into place. For some reason, some of his white fur had been stained red. He commented, "Hong hong! It seems like you are the type of person who doesn't enjoy talking. Usually, when people come here for the first time, they express a lot of curiosity."

"Because I knew about it already."

Upon entering the promotion evaluation, the player would meet the judges assigned to them. This assignment of judges was similar to the promotion evaluation, since there were no specific rules or information. It was simply a random assignment. Depending on the judges’ characteristics, the aspects of the promotion evaluations varied. However, Yu-Seong had no idea what Mr. Guy in front of him would be like.

"Usually, the players I have met so far always questioned me even if they had some information… By the way, Choi Yu-Seong, you are such an interesting person. For example, don’t you have any questions like where I came from, who created the system, why this happened to the planet?”

There was no way that Yu-Seong would question such a thing. With a subtle smile, he shook his head.

The existence of the judges were conclusive evidence that an absolute being intervened and artificially made the Awakening system. Therefore, those who meet the judges for the first time would ask even the smallest of questions. They all wanted answers, but would in fact get none.

“I’ll just tell you right now that I don't know anything. There's just a very, very, very important man up there, and below him is a slightly less important man. I’m just doing whatever that slightly less important man told me to do a very long time ago. Hong hong hong!" Mr. Guy said.

Thanks to this, Choi Yu-Seong could know one thing for sure.

‘I was wondering what that mushy sound was, and it’s a laugh.’ 

Yu-Seong encountered a pretty talkative judge after all. After a while, he asked, "What's my promotion test?"

Mr.Guy, who had been giving an excited monologue, had a subtle change in his expression. Having heard Yu-Seong's first question, he made a clear smile without a flutter of laughter. "That's a very good and wonderful question, player Choi Yu-Seong. But rather than just listen to what I have to say, why not just see it with your own eyes and experience it?”

Not noticing how creeped out Yu-Seong was from his answer, Mr. Guy once again stretched out his arms. Then, except for their surroundings, the overwhelming darkness slowly retreated to make way for a colorful light.

Yu-Seong felt quite dizzy when he saw the light. As if hypnotized, his mind was getting hazy and everything in front of him was getting very far away.

"Choi Yu-Seong. If you fall asleep and wake up, a very bad thief would have stolen your very precious thing. Did you ask what that means? Yes, that's right. Player Choi Yu-Seong's first promotion evaluation is... Ta-da! It’s Catch the Thief-!"

Mr. Guy's voice—which resonated within the hallucination—echoed in Yu-Seong’s mind. As Yu-Seong relaxed, his eyes began to close.

"By the way, player Choi Yu-Seong, your promotion evaluation is very special! I put a lot of effort into it, since the Joke-loving Prankster god asked me to pay attention to it. I hope you get good results," said Mr.Guy. He was referring to Loki when he said ‘the Joke-loving Prankster’.

‘Loki, all of a sudden?’

In fact, it was not surprising that a god—who was interested in his sponsoring player—would intervene in the promotion evaluation. This was mentioned several times in the original novel. However, if that happened, the level of difficulty would rise by a level.

Therefore, even Kim Do-Jin, the main character of the original novel, encountered this situation in the promotion evaluation after his D rank. Of course, he would receive better rewards after achieving success.

‘But still, isn’t this too fast?’ 

At the same time, complaints could not escape from Yu-Seong, who quickly fell unconscious.

***

When Choi Yu-Seong opened his eyes again, he felt rather heavy and weighed down. It was like a heavy bear had landed on his shoulder, or someone had sandbags tied to both his arms and legs. Thanks to this, he took a considerable amount of time to wake up.

"Whoa...did I say I’m lucky? Are you kidding me? Damn, Loki." With a deep sigh, Yu-Seong forced himself to lift himself up. He regretted speaking too soon with Yu-Ri earlier on. At the same time, he aired all of the grievances he couldn’t say before falling unconscious just now.

-A Joke-loving Prankster laughs mischievously. He wishes you good luck.

"You bad-tempered dude."

Come to think of it, even in Nordic mythology, the character Loki was unpredictable and could hardly be said to have a good personality.

‘There’s no point being frustrated about what has already happened... I should figure out the situation first.’ 

Yu-Seong was standing alone in a rather bright room. It was just one room, but it was square-shaped and not narrow at all. It seemed to be more than 50 pyeong[1].

The ceiling was also rather high, high enough for several tens of vigorous men to stand upright like an adult long pole and still not reach it. The need for such a high ceiling was because of the huge doors at the front, left, and right of the room, centering on Yu-Seong who was in the center of the room.

'The height of the doors alone would be at least 30 meters.’ 

The doors’ width could barely be covered even with five or six open-armed adult men stuck together. Anyway, they were huge and probably led elsewhere. If Yu-Seong had to pick something more unusual here, it was an intaglio engraved on each door.

‘There’s a star on the left, a sun in the center, and a moon on the right.’

Yu-Seong smiled and recited to himself. "Then I could call each room the Star room, the Sun room, and the Moon room.”

The second thing Yu-Seong had to do after getting up to speed was to understand his health condition.

《Currently, player Choi Yu-Seong is in the process of the extreme difficulty level of the promotion evaluation.

As a result, you will receive a penalty for reducing your ability.

Mana becomes extremely low.

Physical strength and strength become extremely low.

The movement gets slower.

Player Choi Yu-Seong can declare a 'waiver' on the promotion evaluation at any time.》

After Yu-Seong turned on the system message window and checked his current state, he unwittingly gave out rave reviews.

1. 50 pyeong is about 165 square meters ☜