Ch.3232 – Why Mosquito Control is a Critical Matter

by fnovelpia

<32 – Why Mosquito Repellent Is a Critical Matter>

I was trying to score points with Irene, the main character, by offering her candy, but my colleagues ruined my plan.

‘Tch. That was a good opportunity wasted.’

I was disappointed with Isabelle and Mr. Son Ocheon, but after hearing Giselle’s explanation, I understood.

“Won’t your teeth decay if you eat candy without brushing? It’s inconvenient to eat outdoors.”

“Ah! I’ve been eating so much!”

“I was actually thinking of giving you this sometime. Here, it’s a spare toothbrush I prepared for later use.”

Even looking after dental health—Giselle is truly the best!

“While we’re at it, let’s reapply the mosquito repellent spray.”

“Okay~”

“By the way, why do you hate mosquitoes so much? Is it because the bites are itchy?”

Since I kept expressing my hatred for mosquitoes at every opportunity, Giselle asked with a curious face.

“You’ll find out soon!”

* *

The time to demonstrate the importance of mosquito repellent was approaching.

More specifically, at the final three-way fork leading to the destination of the second gate.

Test Supervisor Minerva.

She spoke to the examinees who had followed her this far.

“Good job following me all this way!”

“Wow! Is this the finish line?”

“No. I’m just saying good job.”

“???”

“This instructor is going ahead. Follow whichever path you want.”

Beep.

Minerva stepped onto the magic circle alone.

With the sound of [10 points have been deducted], she disappeared with a whoosh through spatial teleportation.

The examinees who thought they just needed to follow the instructor to reach the finish line were completely blindsided.

“Is this for real? Seriously? Really?”

“She just leaves like this?”

“Hey, you awful woman! You trash!”

“Huh. Huh huh huh.”

“Do we really need points here?”

Some examinees were confused by the shock of abandonment, others burst into anger, and some even lost their minds.

Just then, a piece of bark fell from the tree at the center of the fork in the road.

“Mom, that scared me!”

“Huh? A light?”

“That’s not a tree!”

A fork-in-the-road shop disguised as a tree.

The green-hatted instructor inside poked his head out.

“I’ll sell mosquito medicine if you have points! If you have mosquito medicine, bites won’t hurt? The amount is small, but it’s better than dying from itchiness, right?”

“What about mosquito repellent spray?”

“Huh? If I sold that, I couldn’t sell mosquito medicine. Obviously I don’t sell it. Are you stupid? Hahaha.”

“……”

The examinees’ fists trembled.

Both the test supervisor and instructor were annoying people!

“Hmm? Can’t we just use that magic circle?”

“That’s right. We all have over 60 points.”

The minimum passing score of 50 points plus the 10-point transportation cost.

As long as they have over 60 points, they don’t need to risk taking the long detour or braving the mosquito-infested shortcut.

“What’s the big deal about mosquitoes! Let’s just take the shortcut.”

“That’s right. We’re examinees aiming for the world’s best academy.”

Some examinees confidently headed for the shortcut.

In less than 10 minutes, they returned covered in dirt, their pupils unfocused as if they’d seen hell.

“H-hell. That place is hell!”

“Mosquitoes… there were thousands of them!!”

“You’ll die. If you go in there, you’ll die from having all your blood sucked out!!”

“Oh my goodness!”

“How can such a terrible place exist!”

The mosquitoes were so numerous that they made the mosquito swamp from the 4th supplementary task look like nothing.

“So you disliked mosquitoes because you didn’t want to get bitten? Because if you get bitten first, you can’t pass through there?”

“That’s not it. Look over there.”

Zigoku, the Trigger Happy pirate woman who had just returned from point hunting.

She stepped onto the magic circle with a confident face.

“If you don’t like mosquitoes, just use the magic circle. Kuk kuk. Are you all idiots?”

Zigoku confidently held her ticket watch to the mana board next to the magic circle.

What greeted her wasn’t the blue effect indicating spatial teleportation.

[Mosquito venom detected.]

[Unable to use spatial teleportation magic circle.]

“!!”

Usage conditions that clearly showed malicious intent to make examinees spend their points!

“Isn’t that the rude redhead from before? Uhahah, it’s quite entertaining to see her humiliated.”

Zigoku’s face turned bright red from the humiliation.

“Mr. Ocheon. Your laughter is too loud.”

“Uhahah. How can I not laugh at that?”

Zigoku, who looked like he might pull out her revolver and attack at any moment, spotted me next to Son Ocheon and swallowed the anger that had risen to the top of her head.

“Monkey boy. Let’s have a showdown later when the kid isn’t around.”

“That’s what I want.”

Giselle couldn’t hide her bewilderment.

“I’ve heard of patients with sword or gun wounds being advised against using spatial teleportation magic circles to prevent their injuries from worsening, but this is the first time I’ve heard of mosquito venom preventing usage.”

“Even Mr. Giselle doesn’t know everything? If you’re in a poisoned state, the poison spreads more after spatial teleportation. Though mosquito venom isn’t that dangerous.”

It’s like a taste of education tailored to the level of entrance examinees.

They’re not just doing this to make us angry.

“Shall we go then?”

“Hey, didn’t you all see that? If you get bitten by mosquitoes, you can’t teleport!”

“Ah, it’s fine. We didn’t get bitten.”

You should have made an effort not to get bitten by mosquitoes.

[10 points have been deducted.]

[Using spatial teleportation magic circle.]

We conveniently arrived at the finish line.

Minerva welcomed us with eyes that seemed impressed.

“You have good skills. It must have been difficult not to get bitten by mosquitoes in this forest.”

“We could have bought mosquito medicine.”

“Do you think a Ranger can’t smell mosquito medicine? I know you didn’t buy any. Instead, you used mosquito repellent spray, right?”

Isabelle marveled.

“She really is a test supervisor.”

“What did you think of this supervisor? Anyway, congratulations. You’ve passed.”

“Yay!”

Giselle looked at her ticket watch with confusion.

“But why did our points increase?”

[Ticket Watch Points]

Our points had increased by 50 each, even though we spent 10 points on spatial teleportation.

Minerva explained with an indifferent face.

“It’s a completion reward. In the second gate, everyone who reaches the goal within the time limit gets 50 points.”

“Then why were there supplementary tasks?”

“To buy mosquito medicine?”

“……”

“I’m joking. Relax, examinee. You might not have realized it because your team balance was good, but in this second gate, there was demand for various items like food, water, wilderness survival kits, and so on.”

The point-spending shops that appeared here and there.

Usually, people use some of the points earned from supplementary tasks there.

Of course, most end up spending all their points on mosquito medicine to use the final magic circle.

“In long adventures, ignoring minor damage from insect bites can lead to gradual depletion of stamina or collapse from illness, like clothes getting wet in drizzling rain.”

“I believe the examinees have realized the importance of insect repellent through this gate.”

Giselle, Son Ocheon, and Isabelle accepted the lesson with faces that seemed to say, “So she really is a test supervisor after all.”

I already knew this from the beginning, of course.

Noticing my nonchalant attitude, Minerva suddenly asked:

“Did Oknodie examinee already know this?”

“Of course! I’m quite thorough when it comes to preparing for poisoning!”

My colleagues revealed their complicated feelings.

“Was the gifted education actually effective?”

“My goodness. How did that happen?”

“Poison candy training… perhaps we should introduce it to the adventure guild…”

While my colleagues were holding a reflection meeting, I excused myself to go to the bathroom.

After confirming with <Detection> that no one had followed me, I chuckled “Hehe” and took out an extra pouch from my chest.

A pouch I carry separately from the candy pouch.

Inside were three stat stones.

“Heheng.”

This is why I went around doing supplementary tasks that I didn’t really need to do.

You can never have enough stat stones, even if you collect them bit by bit!

<Lowest-grade Stat Stone (Increase limit 20)>

<Low-grade Stat Stone (Increase limit 40)>

<Mid-grade Stat Stone (Increase limit 60)>

<High-grade Stat Stone (Increase limit 80)>

<Highest-grade Stat Stone (Increase limit 100)>

Not all stat stones automatically increase your abilities when consumed.

Some stat stones stop working once all your abilities exceed 20, and higher-grade stat stones are more efficient if saved for later.

‘There’s no harm in eating them early on, but once I have some leeway, I should start saving them!’

For that reason, I had separately collected stat stones that seemed a bit too large to swallow in one bite.

This is the pouch of stat stones I’ve been saving to eat secretly someday.

“Collecting stones? I thought you were precocious, but you have childish sides too.”

“?!”

I closed the pouch in shock and jumped back with a start, only to meet eyes with the black-hatted instructor looking down at me from the branch right above.

It was Minerva’s voice transmitted through her summoned creature via <Sight Sharing> and <Voice Transmission> magic.

I never imagined she could perfectly track me while deceiving my <Detection>.

It was an experience that chilled me to the bone.

“I’ve seen examinees like you before.”

“You’ve seen people who collect stones like me?!”

“…Not that. I meant the poison resistance training.”

Test Supervisor Minerva spoke through her summoned creature.

“I found out after investigating because there were many similar examinees.”

“On the surface, they support talented individuals entering Gift Academy, but in reality, there’s an organization that trains agents and sends them to the academy.”

“Oknodie examinee. I believe you are also a scholarship student supported by the <Wiheomhae Foundation>. Am I wrong?”

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