episode_0210

Around that time, I was dozing off in a chair while holding Seoyeon’s hand.

A loud noise is heard outside the infirmary.

“Seo-yeon!”

A familiar voice booming hits me in the back of the head.

Someone told me they were sending another guardian… , there was Juyeon, indeed.

“Seoyeon… !”

Juyeon approaches with the sound of shoe heels clinking, and his round eyes look alternately at me and Seoyeon and then at the hand they are holding tightly.

A man sitting while holding the hand of a woman who is lying down in pain.

It ended up showing a scene that could be misunderstood by anyone.

… I hope there are no unnecessary misunderstandings.

I smile awkwardly and say hello to Juyeon.

“hello… ?”

“Uh, yes, yes.”

Finally, Juyeon takes his eyes off my hands and turns to me.

The eyes, beautifully curved into a half-moon shape, clearly show joy.

“I’ve been doing well so far… “Do you think so?”

“yes? ah… , yes, that’s right.”

What is this curveball?

“Have you been well, teacher?”

“Hehe… , well? Sometimes it seems like I’m doing well, sometimes I don’t… ?”

Words are pouring out that make it difficult to make sense of it.

Every time he speaks, his expression changes so quickly that it’s hard to tell whether he’s being serious or lying.

Was he this expressive? ?

“Anyway, how did Seoyeon fall?”

“Oh, that’s… .”

I recited to her exactly what I had heard from the doctor a moment ago, without adding or subtracting anything.

“I see… .”

Han Ju-yeon looks down at her pitifully, as if she can guess something.

Maybe she knows too.

Until I left for America, Jooyeon was the one who played with Seoyeon the most and slept with her, other than her mom and dad.

“actually… , Seoyeon hates being alone in the dark due to childhood trauma.”

“ah… , is that so.”

“huh. “I thought I had already overcome everything, but it seems that wasn’t the case.”

Juyeon pulls up the chair that was placed next to the other bed and sits down, reaches out his hand and gently strokes the head of Seoyeon, who is sleeping soundly.

“How difficult must it have been for our Seoyeon… .”

A soft light began to leak from her hand stroking her head.

At the same time, the magic around her turns pure white and seeps into Seo-yeon through her hands.

Every time that happens, Seoyeon’s magic power, which had been stabilizing at a slow pace, is quickly returning to its original flow.

“… It has increased again.”

It seems like Juyeon’s healing ability has grown even further.

He was already an A-level healer that was rarely seen in the healing world, but now I think he might be on the verge of reaching S-level.

If he gets to S-class, Korea will be turned upside down.

This is the first time in the world that two S-class hunters are produced from one family at the same time.

“Whew!”

With a short sigh, the magic power of pure white light is captured.

“Now take a deep breath and wake up, you’ll be fine.”

“thank god.”

“however… .”

Her gaze turns downward.

To be exact, toward the hands of Seoyeon and I, who are still holding on tightly.

Rather than being misunderstood, let’s play the game.

“ah! do not misunderstand. Senior Seoyeon kept talking in her sleep asking me to hold your hand while looking for you, so I held her.”

As the thief hastily excuses himself as if his foot was numb, a strange smile appears on her lips.

Han Joo-yeon slowly shakes her head.

“Ugh, don’t worry. “I don’t want to misunderstand you.”

“Then I’m glad… .”

What is this discomfort?

I heard what I wanted to hear, but it felt very strange.

“But you can let me go now.”

“uh… .”

She reaches out and drops the hands they are holding.

If this continues, you’ll be whining for my hand again.

Contrary to such concerns, Seoyeon is sleeping soundly, as if she didn’t even know that her hand had fallen.

“What do you think, am I right?”

It seems like her healing from a little while ago paid off.

“My hands are red from how tight I was holding them.”

As if she had no choice, she held my hand and raised her magic power again.

“You don’t have to do that… .”

“are you okay. Because I want to do it. So, let’s stay like this for a moment?”

“… yes.”

The light shimmering from our joined hands seeps into my hand.

A cool feeling spreads throughout the palm of your hand, as if you were receiving a massage from a professional.

The refreshing sensation brings a pleasant smile to my face, to the point where I wonder if I might become addicted to it.

But even for a moment.

The magic power flowing in is cut off.

I was about to pull my hand away with a bit of disappointment, wondering if the treatment was over.

“Seup… “The treatment isn’t over yet.”

“… yes?”

weird.

The magic flow has already stopped, but the treatment is not finished… ?

“That’s right. Just a little more, just a little more… “Yes, you are good.”

“… … .”

With my eyes closed, I feel a strange tickling sensation coming from my fingers as I press them all over my palm.

“Bird, the condition of your palm is a lot worse than I thought… . little bit more… .”

I hope the treatment is right.

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It has already been 70 hours since the fourth test began.

With only the last two hours remaining, eliminations are appearing in droves.

“It’s slowly reaching its limit.”

I couldn’t eat or sleep comfortably for 72 hours.

The thick darkness surrounding you makes you lose your sense of direction and drives you crazy, and the traps and golems that pop out of nowhere make you unable to let go of tension even for a moment.

As a result, the number of dropouts naturally increases.

To put it bluntly, there are probably more people eliminated in the last 20 hours than the number eliminated in the previous 48 hours.

“I hope one or two people stick around… .”

Fortunately, except for Seoyeon, the other team members are still holding up well.

It’s frustrating because I don’t know how far I’ve gone or what the current situation is, but is there anything I can do?

All I can do is wait quietly and pray that I pass.

For two hours, I paced around the entrance with an anxious mind, as if I was waiting for a child sent on an errand.

Finally, there is just one minute left until 72 hours until the exam ends.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds… , 58, 59, 60.

[The fourth test ends.]

[We express our utmost respect to the candidates who ran in the dark for 72 hours.]

[Candidates in the maze must follow the supervisors’ instructions to escape.]

Is it finally over?

It was really long and long.

How boring it was to wait alone for two days for the exam to be over.

The tightly closed entrance door opens, and beggar-looking candidates begin to walk out one by one.

“I did it… !”

“It’s outside!”

“Fuck you, fuck.”

Sadness, anger, joy.

A mix of three emotions fills the waiting room.

It’s worth it.

All the aspirants who took this qualification test can be seen as unlucky people.

That’s because when he took the test, the test that had been sealed for 10 years had been reopened.

“Let’s go soon.”

Grab the water you prepared in advance, a towel, and an energy bar that you can pop right into your mouth and head toward the entrance.

I wave my hand at the scruffy faces I see in the pouring crowd.

“Elena!”

She was walking with difficulty with her head down, then looked towards us and smiled brightly.

guy.

You must be happy to see you after 3 days.

“Dojin!”

Elena runs to me, loudly calling my name.

“The water in your hand, give it to me quickly!”

“Uh, okay… .”

They were happy to see the water, not me.

what… , it can happen.

Because I haven’t progressed to the level of being a teammate with Elena yet.

Soon, another face walks out with difficulty.

“Naeun!”

“Do, Dojin… !”

The guy whose eyes turn red as soon as he sees my face.

I stand with my arms outstretched to hug the guy running towards me with all my might.

“Huh… !”

The one in my arms, just as I ran, whined.

“I thought I was going to die… !”

“You had a hard time.”

“Sniff… , Paeng-!”

“… … .”

No, why are you suddenly sticking your nose into my clothes? .

“Oh, sorry! Hehehe… .”

It’s so cute that I can’t even criticize it.

I wipe away the runny nose that sticks to my clothes with one of the wet towels I brought with me.

My nose is black because I ate so much dust inside.

“Oh, there’s an oil well over there!”

Just as I was barely able to wipe off my runny nose, Naeun was waving his hand towards somewhere.

Shin Yu-jeong is seen trudging from afar.

The palms and knees of the equipment I was wearing were completely black.

Just looking at it, it looks like it was crawling on the floor to get to safety.

The guy who trudged forward, staring at me with wide eyes, stretched out his hand.

“water.”

When I handed him a water bottle, he ate the 1L bottle as if turning a blind eye to Maparam, then stretched out his hand again.

“Energy bar.”

I peel off the plastic cover of the energy bar and hand it to him, and he shoves the long piece into his mouth in one go.

He was so focused on fellatio every time we had sex, but now it seems like that length has become nothing.

The guy who was munching on an energy bar like an actor on a seaweed mukbang, one of the famous scenes from a popular movie in the past, sticks his face forward.

“Wipe me.”

“… Do you clean it yourself?”

“Oh, quickly.”

Was this a symptom of infantile regression that suddenly appeared in the dark? .

I had no choice but to carefully wipe away the dust covering my face with a wet towel.

Since you worked so hard, you should listen to a fool at least once.

After I wiped my palms cleanly, the white towel turned black.

“But what are you?”

The guy who got clean in exchange for a towel looks at me with a sullen expression.

“what?”

“… “What are you doing, waiting for us like that?”

“What is that… “Because I passed the maze two days ago.”

The eyes of three people spread out in a circle around where I was standing were all focused at once.

“You went through that crazy maze?”

“And that in one day… ?”

“Mijin, have you run away?”

The tone of voice is hard to believe.

[From now on, we will announce the successful candidates.]

Just then, the announcement of successful candidates follows.

A leaderboard appears on a beam projector mounted on one wall of the waiting room.

[1st. Kim Do-jin (Class B)]

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[252nd place. Shin Yu-jeong (eliminated)]

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[292nd place. Elena Mikhailova Dobreva (eliminated)]

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[301st place. Lim Na-eun (eliminated)]

“omg.”

As soon as I see the leaderboard, a sigh comes out of my mouth.

My ranking doesn’t matter.

I am the only one who passed the maze, so of course I am in first place.

Elena and Lim Na-eun’s elimination is also sad, but not bad.

Rather, the 292nd and 301st places they received, given that it has only been a year since they started learning about hunters in earnest, are enough to make them look forward to their future.

The problem is Shin Yu-jeong.

This person is similar to the previous two people.

“ah… .”

It’s only been a year since I learned it, and my talent is outstanding.

The ranking is also 252nd, the highest among the three.

If there is a problem, the cutoff point for those who pass this quarter’s hunter qualification exam is only 251st place.

In other words, he missed the opportunity to become an E-class hunter right before his eyes.

“Ahh, fuck!”

The anger of this guy is so intense that his angry swearing echoes throughout the waiting room.

It doesn’t matter though.

In a situation where there are already cries coming out here and there, that’s a bit of an insult.

“Yoojeong, it’s okay… ?”

“I’m very sorry, Yujeong… .”

Elena and Lim Na-eun, who are less shocked, approach Shin Yu-jeong and pat her on the shoulder and offer words of comfort.

I quietly backed away and left the place.

There are times when the consolation given by successful candidates feels like deception rather than comfort.

I was looking at the outside scenery through the window in the long hallway with the intention of waiting a little while for the guy’s anger to subside and then going again.

Jiying-

The smartphone in my pocket vibrates briefly and then stops.

It looks like a message has arrived.

I took out my smartphone and checked the messages.

《Han Joo-hee: April 5, noon, Magic Tower》

Finally she took the bait.