Ch.2121 – Major Earthquakes Have Warning Signs

<21 – Big Earthquakes Have Warning Signs>

Do you know about Noah’s Ark?

The world was filled with sin, and God would judge it with a flood, so Noah cried out to build an ark and take refuge.

People ignored his warning, and Noah got cancer—truly a sad story.

“Miss Oknodie. Let’s take a break.”

“Uncle Giselle, really. How can you have less stamina than a frail girl like me?”

That’s the biggest lie any frail girl has ever told.

Giselle glared at me with that face and stubbornly continued walking.

“Mouse, why do we have to climb this mountain?”

“Think about it. The testing area is too large compared to the number of test-takers. There must be meaning behind such a large testing ground, I’m telling you!”

My feelings right now are quite complicated.

Half Noah’s cancer, half the tailor’s agony of wanting to shout that the emperor has donkey ears!

I’m certain no one in this testing ground carries a greater burden than I do.

“Those guys following us don’t seem to be thinking about any of that.”

Two hours into the exam.

The participants showed three main behaviors.

“We should have beaten up those guys who set up at the base and chased them away.”

The “Majority Alliance” and “Absolute Dominance” types who settled at the base of the mountain.

“Oh, they’re building, they’re building!”

“Are these guys crazy? What are they trying to do?”

“See, I threw a rock and it collapsed. Annoying, right? Want to fight? But we have more people and we’re stronger, right? Hahaha!”

“Damn, that’s irritating. Hey, let’s fight!”

The skill competition between the “Minority Alliance” who settled in the middle of the mountain and the “Troll Gang” who were openly trolling.

“That slit-eyed guy over there. Isn’t he the sword-wielding bastard who was acting up yesterday?”

“Let’s chase him.”

“That bastard’s looking for his grave site far away. Well, wherever he goes, he’s not going to survive after messing with the Southern Seven Stars Lords’ Alliance.”

The “Fugitive Group” who climbed deep into the mountains to hide from people or were driven away from below, and the “Tracker Group” trying to eliminate them and reduce competition.

That’s what people would think.

But in this game, there’s a fourth type that people haven’t realized yet.

“You crazy bastards! How far are you going to run?!”

“Just stop and fight, damn it!”

The “Hiking Group” who are so serious about mountain climbing that even the tracker group falls behind.

This refers to the group consisting of genius pretty girl Oknodie and her two minions.

“Mouse, aren’t we being underestimated too much?”

“Hmph. It’s because you’re a beastkin that you’re drawing aggro.”

“Now, now. Keeping your mouth open for too long will tire you out first. Let’s satisfy our hunger with this.”

[<Honey Butter Jerky> has been added to your Cooking Collection.]

This uncle eats good stuff.

This is why you should be friends with wealthy merchants!

[You’ve been hiking while watching out for trackers for a long time.]

[Hiking experience +3]

[Endurance experience +2]

[Breathing experience +2]

[Vigilance experience +1]

Skill experience rising steadily from the arduous hike.

Without the month of training to raise my stats and skill proficiency, I would have ended up like those tracker group members down there, panting and collapsing.

People with less stamina than me, a frail pretty girl, should seriously reflect on themselves.

“There’s plenty of time left before we need to build, so shall we just hike around and scout for a good spot?”

“This guy is so relaxed. Your courage isn’t that of a mouse but a Tyrannosaurus.”

For your information, there are dinosaurs deep in the continent in this game.

Tyrannosaurus tears ogres apart.

* *

As we wandered around the mountain, a tracker group with breath reaching their throats blocked our path.

“Huff, huff, finally, caught, huff, huff.”

“Y-y-you, bas, tards.”

“You’re, really, gonna, die…!”

These guys are about to pass out.

“So what? Want to fight?”

Son Ocheon, not tired at all, asked while twirling his staff with one hand.

The guys who had appeared so aggressively cowered at the threatening sound of the staff.

“Ha. To think these losers have the same Gold Ticket as me. Isn’t this fraud?”

Honestly, even I can see the difference in level.

Son Ocheon just had bad luck with his examiner.

If it had been a rock-breaking test or a sparring test instead of Superior Examiner Michael’s material collection test, he would have easily earned a Platinum Ticket with his physical abilities.

Compared to him, examiners other than the superior ones had more lenient evaluation criteria and test levels.

They probably handed out Gold Tickets quite easily.

“Don’t put us in the same category!”

“Oh. At least one of them has some spirit.”

Among the breathless tracker group, a woman wearing an explorer’s hat with goggles on top pointed at Son Ocheon and me.

“Our Esonia Adventure Guild always had to accept outsiders because we lacked enough members for long-term adventures.”

“And because of accidents caused by brats like you and beastkin, we failed an important adventure, and half our members, including our leader, died.”

“Do you know how miserable it is to be pushed to start a new life when the guild is finished, telling us young ones to move on?”

So she’s from a fallen adventure guild.

That’s quite a decent backstory for an extra.

“Revenge is better than carrying the burden forced upon us. Just like the brats and beastkin who destroyed our guild, this time we’ll destroy people like you!”

Well, her circumstances are understandable.

But why take it out on us?

“You should vent your anger on those who actually caused the trouble, why make a scene in the wrong place?”

“Those who caused the accident are already dead!”

“So an innocent mouse like this guy deserves to be caught up in your circumstances? Just like you guys who got screwed over by stupid outsiders?”

Beastkin possess both human appearance and animal instincts.

That’s why they often make statements that hit the mark.

Such direct speech often makes humans who try to hide their weaknesses feel uncomfortable.

“Then who are we supposed to take our anger out on?! We didn’t do anything wrong either!”

Watching her throw a tantrum like a child, I suddenly realized.

The academy entrance exam participation condition is under 20 years of age.

This human, despite being young enough to have been a member of an adventure guild, is still an immature child.

A child whose body is mature but mind is immature.

A person who is the opposite of me, who has an immature body but a mature mind.

“Catch.”

I threw her a rope.

The woman stood there blankly, not understanding the meaning.

Right after that, the ground began to rumble.

The foreshock that Oknodie’s sensitive body had felt for a while—the warning sign before a major earthquake.

The main shock that followed shook the mountain, sweeping the view up and down.

A rocky mountain with traces of animal habitats but no animals.

Nothing left but rocks and gravel.

The real test and trap of the first gate approaches, which those without attention will fail to notice.

<Landslide Event>

The trap of the first gate, an earthquake has occurred.

It’s no longer time to protect stone towers.

First, let’s survive the earthquake accompanied by a landslide!

Pouring soil.

Collapsing mountain.

I tied a rope to carefully selected safe terrain and gestured to Giselle and Son Ocheon as well.

Rumble rumble rumble!

Crash crash crash!

Down below the rocky mountain, the landslide growing larger as it descends engulfs the test-takers who relied only on brute strength or lazily depended on their numbers.

A disaster that nearly swept away the tracker group “Young Blood of Esonia Adventure Guild” who had followed us.

Patter.

Patter.

After the aftershocks that followed the main shock passed, the rocky mountain finally calmed down.

The remnants of the Esonia Adventure Guild who barely saved their lives by grabbing the rope climbed up to the ridge with pale faces and looked dazed.

“This is insane. These guys caused a landslide in the testing ground. It would have been instant death if we’d been swept away!”

“It’s the world’s best academy. And this is a test to select the most excellent talents from among the best. If anything, isn’t it naive to believe they would only have us stack stone towers?”

“Don’t give me that! Our guild leader also died in a landslide…!”

The leader’s gaze, her face covered in dirt, fixed on my hand as she tried to protest.

[You held onto the rope during the landslide and earthquake, saving people in danger.]

[Endurance experience +10]

[Tenacity experience +5]

[Struggle experience +1]

Ouch, that hurts.

My hand that held the rope is bleeding from friction, probably because too many people were hanging on.

“You… your hand… you held onto the rope until it got like that?”

The pupils of the young female leader, a former adventure guild member and current test-taker group leader, shook violently.

“I said such harsh things to you. I should have wanted to see you fail. Why did you help us?”

There are many reasons.

Characters with special circumstances are highly likely to be key figures in the current arc.

Even if they fail the academy test, they often return as villains later.

It’s futile to try to kill potential villains in the name of eradication.

Didn’t this woman already say?

They are the “young ones” of the Esonia Adventure Guild.

Outside, there are the “old ones” of the guild.

Who bear grudges against children and beastkin.

Who still cherish their young colleagues.

If they hear news of these humans’ deaths, is there any possibility they won’t become villains?

‘You can never be certain whether an earthquake is the main shock or just a foreshock warning of a bigger earthquake.’

In the entrance exam, it’s easy to think that the slight ground tremor was the foreshock and the landslide was the main shock.

But looking back in the distant future, the death of the young members of the Esonia Adventure Guild could be the foreshock, and the revenge of the old members could be the real major earthquake.

I prevented a future disaster with just one rope—something those who live only for today could never foresee!

“Just did it because I could.”

It’s too troublesome to explain all that.

As I brushed it off, the female leader’s face turned red with shame.