Chapter 44

Mousin was far from someone you would call 'talented.'

Within his family, he neither had an extraordinary mind like the second oldest sibling nor did have a high spirit affinity like the youngest sibling.

To put it in one word, he was incompetent.

Except for his background of being the eldest son of a prestigious family, it could be said that he was 'weak' and was worse than ordinary aspiring hero candidates.

However, if there was one thing that separated him from others, it was that he had a special talent, an excellent crisis detection ability to intuitively sense death.

'What the hell'

Mousin looked at the red portal swirling in front of his eyes.

He and his group had discovered this portal by accident after he had met up with the group a moment earlier.

At first, he thought it was just another secret behind the test, but the closer he looked at it, the more ominous he felt, and the more he looked at it, the more he thought he wasn't prepared for the test.

Suddenly, his superpower was activated.

An eerie feeling climbed up his spine and warned him of an impending death.

'H-huh? What's this sudden change?'

In general, herbivores' senses were keenly developed to have wider peripherals than carnivores.

And in that respect, the same was true for Mousin.

Having always lived while conscious of his family, he had naturally blossomed a keen perception because of it.

Thanks to this ability, he was able to survive in his tough family environment for nearly 35 years.

And now, that kind of intuition was raising an alarm.

'I-it's dangerous hereI need to get out of here quickly'

He didn't know what it was, but he was certain that there was a threat here that could kill him.

So he hurriedly looked around.

There was only the white snow field, and as far as he could see, there was no significant risk in sight.

But so far, his intuition has never been wrong. He believed in his judgment.

'This portal looks dangerous, so let's move as planned'

The moment he was talking to his group, suddenly, a boy appeared in his eyes.

A recent member who had joined them, the savior of this test, No. 13579.

For some reason, he could see the boy pulling out his sword as he looked at the portal.

And the moment he made eye contact with the boy, his intuition began to warn him more fiercely than ever.

That is, the boy was going to kill him.

'C-could it be that guy?'

They had only met for the first time in this exam. There should be no ill feelings between them.

'Wait, that's not true'

Perhaps one of his younger siblings seeking the successor position had hired the boy?

It seemed to make sense when he thought this far.

'Come to think of it, it was weird from the beginning.'

Is it a natural reaction for a person who is handed diarrhea medicine to ask to be friends first? Absolutely not.

Why hadn't he realized this small simple thing until now?

'Damn it!'

He was blinded by greed and had neglected his judgment. But regret was something he could do later.

Now, getting out of this situation was top priority.

While Mousin wracked his brain, the boy suddenly asked in a calm voice.

Ajeossi, how long has this been here?

I-I don't knowW-we've just arrived too.

HmmAjeossi, please come closer to me first. I think it's kind of dangerous right now.

The boy smiled brightly and took one step toward Mousin.

When Mousin measured their distance, he realized it was a distance that a sword could reach after another step or two.

Suddenly, he recalled what the boy had asked before the test when everyone was writing their release form.

[Ajeossi. What happens if a person dies inside?]

[Ahah, don't pay too much attention to that. Rather, a person dying or getting injured is more than expected in the 4th test. Unless you're in the vicinity of a supervisor, surprisingly, they don't care much whether you die or get hurt. This is the release form for that.]

[Aha, that's a relief.]

Looking back now, the hidden meaning behind the boy's question was that he would kill him.

Meanwhile, the boy took another step closer.

What's wrong, ajeossi? Are you okay?

An innocent expression where no killing intent could be felt. At the boy's appearance, he was unable to endure it any longer and cursed.

F-fuck!

Hmm?

Mousin immediately turned around and ran. The group that was usually with him knew that he was quick-witted.

So they followed him and began to run in a hurry.

Heuk, heuk!

White breath flowed out of Mousin's mouth as the blizzard hit the face. The cold air made his lungs hurt as if they were going to rip.

But he couldn't stop his legs. The warning of impending death hasn't vanished.

At that moment, a scream came from behind.

Aaak! S-save me!

It seemed that someone had been caught by the boy. He put strength in his legs without daring to look back.

'I have to use this chance to widen the distance.'

Screams followed one after another. And the footsteps were coming closer and closer.

It would soon be his turn.

'There's still one person left, so if I can run ahead'

As soon as he thought that, suddenly, the guy who had been running from behind pulled his shoulder. In an instant, he lost his balance and his steps twisted.

N-no!

Meanwhile, the guy behind him ran ahead with all his might.

Hey, you son of a bitch! How can you do that to me?

However, the guy pretended not to hear and ran forward.

But then robots appeared in the blurry landscape covered by the blizzard.

They were the robots that belonged to the supervisor, Dr. Jaegal, who was in charge of the 4th test.

'E-even if I fail the test, I better ask the supervisor for help.'

The one running in front of Mousin felt the same way, as he raised his hand and shouted loudly.

S-supervisor! Supervisor! Save me!

The robots turned their heads as they pulled out their orange-hot swords.

'I-it's here!'

Mousin ran the last distance, squeezing out his remaining strength. The robots will be able to protect him.

The moment he thought as such, one of the robots suddenly lifted back its sword and threw it.

Puk!

Keuk!

The sword stuck in the chest of the man who had been running ahead of Mousin. It slowly slid down the burnt man's body and melted the snow beneath.

And after that,

Swish!

Swish!

The swords thrown by the other robots split the man's neck and waist.

A normal person had quickly turned into chunks of meat. Red blood spread like syrup on the white snowy field.

Uh?

Mousin stopped in place.

What was going on? Why did the supervisor suddenly kill a candidate?

Meanwhile, the swords that had been thrown were sucked back like magnets and retrieved by the robots.

The robots lifted back their swords again.

W-why?

Many thoughts crossed his mind. Was the death predicted by this?

Swiik

A sword was thrown as he watched the clear shadow of death approaching.

'AhN-no!'

He closed his eyes tightly. At that moment,

Chang!

With a sharp sound of metal, the sword that was flying towards him became stuck in the ground as it was.

Before he knew it, he could see a boy approaching after the sword was stopped.

And then he saw him running toward the robots. The speed was so fast that it was hard to believe he was walking on snow. A red tail followed like a comet where he passed.

Swish!

The thick robot's body was instantly cut by the boy's sword.

And rather than aim for the joints, he had cut the robot in half from top to bottom.

Then like a wolf jumping between a flock of sheep, he cut down the other robots around him.

It all happened in an instant.

He had split all the robots that even combat specialists during the 3rd test found difficult.

The boy slowly looked back. He stared at Mousin with a frown as if he was annoyed.

Didn't I tell you to stay still, why are you running away?

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Mousin's hands and feet trembled. Was his death inevitable today?

In a last ditch effort, he grabbed his tonfas in both hands.

It was one of his family's treasures that allowed people like him who had low spirit affinity to handle the power of spirits.

The spirit of fire rose from the tonfas.

D-don't come!

Seeing his behavior, the boy frowned as if he found it to be very annoying.

Seriously, please stay still. Really.

The boy swung his sword like a toy. Then, with a dizzying shock, Mousin's body flew away and sank in the snow.

Boom!

Keuk!

What the boy had shown wasn't something a candidate should be capable of doing no matter how much he thought about it. Even former heroes in his family couldn't show that much power.

The boy continued to approach him.

Mousin hurriedly knelt down and begged.

I-it's all my fault! If it was my younger sibling who hired you, I'll double what they offered! OrIf it's because I was rude on the first day, I apologize for that, so please spare my life

Mousin desperately begged for mercy in a servile manner. However, the boy simply glanced down at him.

He felt a chill as if a blade would fall on his neck at any moment. The boy spoke.

I don't know what you're doing all of a sudden, but quickly get up. It's dangerous here.

H-Huh?

That's when Mousin heard a voice from behind.

Young master! Are you okay?!

As he slowly turned his head, those who he thought had died were seen running this way.

H-how are you guys alive?

That'sThe boy over there said it's dangerous if I move, so he just grabbed me

I don't know what happened, butThanks to you, my life was saved. Thank you so much.

The rest of the group bowed their heads toward the boy.

Soon, the boy pushed his sword back into its sheath. Then he ran past Mousin and clicked his tongue when he looked down at the body that had been cut into pieces.

Tskdidn't I say it was dangerous?

Was it because the boy had noticed that there was something wrong with the robots?

H-how did you notice that there was something wrong? No, why did you help us

Even if he had that kind of power, he wouldn't have risked his life on something that had nothing to do with his test score.

There was no benefit, so why?

The boy replied.

We're supposed to be on the same team. So please don't do anything unexpected from now on.

Ah

For that reason? Normally he would have cursed, calling it the hypocrisy of the strong.

But

Now, thanks to the boy, he was able to survive.

'Is this a real hero?'

Mousin felt as if his body was heating up at the growing shame. He was so ashamed of himself for having wanted to become a hero just for wealth and honor.

And he didn't recognize the boy's intentions, rather, he thought the boy had wanted to kill him.

'There are times when my intuition is wrong too'

He bowed his head to the boy and spoke.

My name isMousin Dayru, the eldest son of the Dayru family, one of Pyongyang's top 10 families. After this examI'd really like to thank you properly.

Is that so? Then I'm Choi Noah.

C-Choi Noah?

So it was the young hero he had heard so much about before he came to take the exam.

Only then could he understand.

Not only was the boy strong for his age, he even had such a noble spirit.

'This kidHe's a true hero.'

For the first time in his life, he was able to abandon his jealousy toward the strong.

*Summon

I used after the battle. A pair of bright red eggs emerged in the air.

The area of snow on the ground melted quickly wherever they floated.

Go and eat.

I pointed to the wreckage of broken robots and said. Then, Buldol and Alsoon shook their bodies as if they were excited and flew towards the robots.

CrunchCrunch

I had wondered if they could eat such things as robots because the materials w tough, but it seemed they weren't picky about food.

Watching them, I wished them a quick growth.

Generously giving love. Was this the heart of a parent raising a child?

When I thought of using these guys who will grow up big and imposing one day, I smiled without realizing it.

And it wasn't only them who were growing.

Since taking the Maryeongdan, all of my stats have now surpassed 4.0, and in the case of Mana, it has inched close to 5.0.

Considering that growth slows down the higher the stats are, the growth this time could be said to be tremendous.

It was unbelievable that defeating robots who were at least D-Rank could be so easy. I finally get to play with some of my old strength after a long time.

Honestly, at this level, I don't think I would be pushed back at all even if I fought a B-Rank head on.

I don't know why Cheon Eugene disappeared after feeding me the Maryeongdan, but anyway, I was very grateful. I won't take a friend's fee from him for a while.

In any casewhat should I do with this?

Earlier, a Challenge had suddenly appeared.

[Challenge Human Liberation Front]

Condition: Defeat the fallen robot army and evacuate the candidates safely.

Period: 1 week.

Reward: Reward varies depending on the number of survivors.

Something troublesome came out again.

These days, there are often quests of this kind to protect or save someone.

Compared to the intuitive Challenges such as and which were given in the first round, in the case of the second round, much more complex tasks like this seemed to appear frequently.

Hmmit seemed the Challenge's route was different in the second round.

Well, in fact, there wasn't much to complain about. As the level of difficulty has increased, the reward was much higher too.

But if there's one thing to be desired

Hey, why are you looking at me like that? Do you have something to say to me?

Originally, I was going to secretly farm the candidates here little by little while looking at an opportunity to complete the test, but it was unlikely to be easy now that the Challenge was at stake.

Looking at Mousin who had a servile expression, I spoke.

Ajeossi. You're not going to continue the test, are you?

T-that's right. The situation right now is weird no matter how much I think about it. I can't believe the supervisor killed a candidate.

Do you know how to get out of this place?

That'sYou can go to the base camp over there. It's where the supervisor and those who failed the test are staying. And if you go there, there's a portal to return.

He said and pointed to one side. There was a subtle pillar of light extending toward the sky that anyone could see.

WellSo in the end, in order to go back, we have to go into the tiger's den where the supervisor is waiting.

T-that's rightN-Noah! I beg you, so please help us somehow. If I get back safely, I'll talk to my house and have them listen to any of your requests.

As I listened to him, I realized that the difficulty has gone up much higher.

Not only will I have to rescue the candidates who were spread out on this wide map, I'll also have to run to the boss while carrying such baggage.

The boss must be that big-headed dwarf, right?

In yesterday's afternoon test, I had to use everything just to finish off one of his robots, but now, I'll be facing an army and will also have to deal with him who was as much as an Rank hero.

I don't know if he'll be helpless without his robots, but in any case, he was recognized as having transcended beyond human limits.

It won't be easy

Still, as long as a Challenge was at stake, I won't give up here.

I'll try my best for now, and if it doesn't work out, I'll just farm the items and set on escaping.

Thinking so, I manipulated the display on my watch that was given for the test.

Then, along with the number of candidates currently remaining, a minimap with the locations of candidates nearby were displayed.

It was a function that explicitly revealed the test's intention to make the candidates attack each other.

Well, thanks to that, the Challenge will proceed smoothly.

But then, the number 199, which marked the number of remaining candidates, began to fall at a high speed as if the watch was broken.

No!

The robots seemed to be attacking other candidates.

Looking at the minimap, the small dots around me were disappearing one by one.

I ran at full speed while circulating mana all over my body.

How dare youbastard

No one can touch my reward.

As long as I'm here, all those remaining will return home safely.

== Translator's Note ==

1. Please report any typos, grammatical/spelling errors, sentences you find weird, and other etcin the comment section .