Ch.2424 – Critical Matters of the Second Gateway

<24 – Critical Information for the Second Gate>

Oknodie had been eating poisoned candy.

She seemed perfectly fine.

That’s what made it more concerning.

“Let me try one too.”

Isabelle broke a candy into small pieces and dissolved it in her saliva, then spat it out.

She threw away the remaining candy in her hand and spoke in a serious tone with a lowered voice.

“This candy contains psychotropic substances.”

Giselle also tried tasting a few and spoke with a hardened expression.

“There’s also poison that causes respiratory distress and paralysis. Each candy color contains different toxic components.”

“Hey, is this really okay? These candies, no matter how you look at it, they’re suspicious.”

Son Ocheon was still bothered by the tingling sensation on the tip of his tongue.

If a child with a weak body had been eating these candies, wouldn’t the burden and pain be even greater than what he felt?

“My candy! If you’re not going to eat it, why take it all and throw it away!”

Oknodie tightened the string on her candy pouch and shouted with narrowed eyes.

“Little mouse. Who gave you these?”

“The maid gave them to me. She told me to eat them sparingly.”

You broke them without even eating them.

No one felt guilty under that accusatory gaze.

The person who should feel guilty wasn’t them, but the maid who had handed over these candies.

“Should I kill her?”

“Please stop, Mr. Son Ocheon. This isn’t a problem that can be solved that way.”

“Employer, haven’t you been concerned about saving this child all this time?”

“The maid is merely a low-level executor. Someone else is giving the orders. Unless we directly confront the family that has been educating Miss Oknodie, this won’t end.”

“I’m angry. It’s been a long time since I’ve genuinely wanted to kill someone.”

Son Ocheon’s eyes flickered bright yellow with rage.

“Should we at least take away that candy pouch?”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Isabelle asserted her adventurer’s knowledge.

“This child has resistance to poison. Just look at how she’s been fine after eating these candies all this time, and how minimal her reactions are.”

“Poison resistance isn’t a cure-all.”

“It’s fine if you take separate detoxifying components that can neutralize the toxic elements without burdening the body. That’s what poison specialist adventurers do.”

Giselle’s expression softened slightly.

“Even so, this is quite dangerous.”

“Are you telling us to be reassured or worried?”

“The candy colors, how many were there?”

When Giselle looked at the pouch, Oknodie hid it in her bosom and bared her teeth.

‘…Is she going to bite me?’

Momentarily taken aback by the wild animal-like response, Isabelle turned to Son Ocheon.

Son Ocheon, who had directly seen inside the pouch, frowned as he tried to recall.

“Quite a lot. More than ten types.”

“Usually poison resistance training progresses from weak poisons to stronger ones. So she must have completed training for all poisons weaker than those candies.”

“…How potent are those poisons?”

“I can count at least 40 types of weak poisons. Even gaining resistance to one per day would take 40 days, and typically it would be a 40-week training process spanning 10 months.”

“That long?”

That means she’s been repeatedly poisoned for at least a year, with her body creating antibodies to overcome the toxins every week.

“For reference, these 40 types are just for psychotropic categories. For other categories, she would have consumed at least 20 to 30 different poisons depending on progress.”

Snake venom. Bee venom. Jellyfish poison, spider venom, and more.

There are countless poisonous creatures, and when you add plant, mineral, mana, and corpse poisons, the variety becomes truly enormous.

“Then Miss Oknodie… how many types of poison has she consumed?”

“If I had to guess… probably over 300 types.”

It’s no exaggeration to say she was poisoned almost daily for an entire year.

Even on a weekly cycle, that’s easily 6 years.

A child who seems barely 10 years old has been poisoned since she was about 4.

The calculation results were mind-numbing.

Unaware of everyone’s shock, Oknodie urged them in a blunt tone.

“Other applicants are all moving ahead. How long are you going to stand there?”

In that innocent voice, I wanted to ask.

How could someone who went through all that still speak with such a bright voice?

* *

Suddenly I felt spiteful.

“Uncle Ocheon. Carry me.”

“What? What are your legs for?”

“I’m too frail to use my strength.”

“…Frail? What? FRAAAAIL?”

Son Ocheon stared at me with a face that seemed to ask if all the patients in the country had died.

Hmph.

Looking at me like that won’t help you know?

This spite won’t be easily resolved.

Someone stayed behind for your sake—mostly for the chef’s sake, but still.

Breaking my candy.

Falling behind in the procession.

These guys can’t even imagine how angry I am.

Noticing my sincere look about food, Son Ocheon clicked his tongue and offered his back.

“Get on, little mouse. I’ll show you the height that adults have, which small things like you can’t see.”

Already showing off again. Before I became this body, I used to game with you at the same eye level, you know?

Despite grumbling, I climbed onto his back and my field of vision expanded dramatically.

It wasn’t just a feeling of regaining my original viewpoint, but truly feeling like the world had become wider.

“Pfft pfft”

“Gack gack”

Until branches and leaves at face level started smacking me in the face.

“Put me down, put me down!”

“This is the piggyback ride you chose. Endure it with grit.”

I got my face smashed up until we arrived at the second gate test site.

* *

Monk Myungho escorted the students to the second gate and then entered the staff dining hall.

“Attention, everyone!”

The second examiner who appeared in place of Monk Myungho.

She was a ranger wearing a cape, cloak, and leather armor that accentuated her figure.

“What’s with her voice.”

“So husky.”

“The ranger mask covering her nose is cool too.”

The applicants’ evaluations were all positive!

My veteran player evaluation was the worst!

‘Ugh. We got stuck with someone I really dislike.’

She’s one of the TOP 3 examiners you don’t want to meet in the entrance exam.

“I’m Minerva, the examiner in charge of the second gate, <Hunter’s Forest>.”

“Minerva is so cool!”

“Too bad. From now on, you’re going to hate me.”

“?!”

“This exam’s theme is a combination of <Search and Point> and <Marathon Completion>. The test is to move with me to the end of the forest and reach the exit. The top scorer who completes the supplementary tasks along the way will be granted immediate admission privileges.”

Just hearing about it makes it sound difficult.

But that’s not all.

“The first examiner, Monk Myungho, tends to be soft on applicants. I’m different. Fifty points. Anyone scoring below 50 points in this gate will fail even if they complete the course.”

“Also, while applicants are working on supplementary tasks, I will not stop moving toward the exit.”

Only then did the applicants realize the seriousness of the situation, their faces turning pale.

“So we need to complete supplementary tasks while moving toward the exit, and also catch up with your procession when we fall behind?”

“Correct. You summarize well. State your name.”

“Silver-plate adventurer Rockpell.”

“Silver plate, eh? One bonus point for you.”

“Thank you!”

“For reference, you can also tear other applicants’ ticket watches to steal their points.”

The applicant who received the bonus point made a sad face.

He must have realized he’d received a poisoned chalice.

This is one of the reasons why Minerva is called “Hateminerva” or “SadoMinerva” among players.

The names that NPCs call her are equally terrifying.

Vicious examiner.

Sadistic ranger.

Mass elimination course.

Hell difficulty gate.

Examiner Minerva is one of the TOP 3 worst nightmares an applicant can face in the entrance exam.

‘I should have gone for immediate admission…’

It’s too late to regret now.

The exam has already begun.

“We’ll start now.”

“Ah, Examiner! What about meals?!”

“Caring about the examiner’s health, what a kind applicant. State your name.”

“I’m Michelle!”

“I’ll give you one bonus point.”

An exam where the more bonus points you receive, the more likely you become a target for others.

The fact that she distributes points knowing this proves she’s truly malicious.

“This examiner has already eaten while you were taking the test. So there’s no need to worry.”

“No, that’s not what I… hehe. What about us?”

“Why should the examiner care about that?”

“Pardon?”

“We’re going into the forest.”

“Yes.”

“There’s plenty to eat in the forest.”

“What?”

“Figure it out yourselves as we move.”

Even the charismatic eastern swordsman Sing and the northern archduchess Irene, who had shown tremendous firepower, hardened their expressions.

“W-when does the exam start?”

“Now.”

“Whaaaat?!”

“We take no responsibility for the fate of missing persons who lose their ticket watches, and applicants who commit murder will receive severe penalties. That concludes the announcements. The second gate exam begins now.”

“Gasp, she’s fast!!”

At their feet were arbitrarily grown tree roots and vines, at body height were dense bushes and branches, and above their heads was a dark forest blocking even the sunlight.

The worst field, the worst gate, and the worst examiner combined—the second gate had begun.

“Little mouse. Want me to keep carrying you?”

“No thanks!”

Who are you trying to use as a helmet!

The applicants quickly moved their feet, following the examiner who was striding into the forest.

We also moved among those applicants.

“This examiner moves quickly, like a true ranger.”

She’s clearly walking at the front, but those behind have to jog lightly to keep up.

“But at this speed, wouldn’t we lose her if we go do even one supplementary task?”

“That’s precisely the situation this exam anticipates from the start.”

As expected of someone who passed the ticket exam with brainpower alone, Giselle had figured out the trap in this exam.

“If you leave the procession to complete a task, you’ll lose the main group and have to track them down.”

“What an annoying exam.”

“That’s not all. Those who earn points this way will become prime targets for those hunting for points.”

Isabelle clicked her tongue.

“You mean stealing points?”

“We don’t know how many points we can earn just by running, but if we leave to get points, we distance ourselves from the main group, and if we take that risk, enemies will pounce on us.”

Leaving means guaranteed loss.

The risks you have to take increase.

But if you don’t take any risks, you might fail due to insufficient points.

“We need to make a decision too.”

Whether to become a point-farming team that takes risks.

Or a hunting team that targets the farmers.

A dangerous exam has begun where task-point hunters and applicant hunters coexist.

“Oh my. Poor thing. Are you worried about Miss Oknodie too?”

You’ve got it wrong, Miss Giselle.

That’s not what I’m worried about.

“Miss Isabelle.”

“Hmm? Want me to carry you this time? I don’t mind.”

“Do you happen to have any insect repellent spray?”

I don’t care about being carried.

Mosquito repellent is the critical issue here.