episode_0002

* * *

“Out of 53 people, no one gave up and all took the test. As announced at the beginning, we will not accept any dropouts. We will judge you as passing, failing, or finally dying.”

Pass or fail. Those who die while taking the test will be treated as dead.

It was a brutal hiring method that made me wonder if they were from a notorious family of assassins, but I was confident.

I too was raised as an assassin from a young age.

Since I’ve seen the webtoon, I know better than anyone how cruel and violent the people in this family are and how psychotic their way of thinking is.

They are the only villains in this webtoon, so the author may have portrayed them in a more bizarre way. However, what I felt while reading the webtoon was not that my fate was better. It was that I was worse.

The reality was actually more brutal than the original cartoon.

I grew up in a worse environment than them.

There was no need to say anything after I awakened as an assassin.

I was brainwashed into thinking that I wasn’t a human being, but rather a literal plaything.

Compared to that, the life-or-death test wasn’t particularly difficult.

I had a rough idea of how the exam would proceed because I had seen the webtoon.

I looked at the face of the woman wearing the cotton swab.

The maid in charge of the servants. Luan.

Now, his profession has changed to that of a butler loyal to the Jack family. He was once a successful assassin.

“I will move to the first test. Please follow me.”

Luan moved. People followed Luan, walking tensely. I was the last one to follow them and explore.

Judging from their gait and actions, they all seemed to have received basic training.

Well, I guess they came to the interview where their lives were at stake. I’m one of them. Come to think of it, I haven’t even looked in the mirror once.

The clothes look different, but has the appearance changed as well? It seems a little harder…

It didn’t matter. As long as I could use my powers, what did it matter what I looked like?

While I was lost in thought, I arrived at the first testing location.

‘If it’s the first test, then definitely….’

“Okay, this is the first test room. Everyone, please sit in an empty seat.”

The place Luan brought me to had an atmosphere similar to a school classroom.

Desks and chairs for individual use were displayed at regular intervals. Everyone sat down in the empty seats, hesitantly.

Since the exam was different every year, everyone had a nervous look on their face because they didn’t know what kind of exam it was.

I also sat in an empty seat in the corner.

“If you are a test taker, you should have basic knowledge about the kind of workplace you will be working at. The test will be 100 questions in total and you will be given 1 hour. Passing score is 50 points or higher. Let’s start the test.”

As soon as Luan finished speaking, the attendants dressed in black like before handed out test papers one by one.

Everyone seemed flustered by the sudden test, but they all quickly started solving the problems with serious expressions on their faces as if nothing had happened.

‘1 hour for 100 questions…’

Isn’t it harder than the college entrance exam?

It was a difficult time to even look at all the problems. I guess that was to select people with proper knowledge, not just people who are half-assed.

How much do I know?

I opened the test paper.

[What is the most used murder weapon in the Jack family?]

[What are three of the Jack family’s favorite torture methods?]

[What are the 5 rules you must follow to survive in the Jack family?]

‘….Hmm, it’s easier than I thought?’

Fortunately, the webtoon had a lot to say about the villainous Jack family, and I read it so well that I memorized it.

For me, solving the problem related to the Jack family was not difficult.

What’s a little confusing is that I filled it in based on my experience as an assassin.

Anyway, the Jack family is an assassin, and I am an assassin. Our basic knowledge of assassination would be the same.

After solving the first 100 problems without any problems, I stopped when I realized that there were no more problems to solve.

My wrist feels a little sore after using the pen without stopping. I glanced around and saw that everyone else was still struggling to solve the problem.

At that time, Bella, who was supposed to be selected as a servant in the original webtoon, was seen diligently solving a problem while wearing glasses.

Still, he had a rather bright face, as if the problem wasn’t difficult.

Well, that’s only natural. He was the servant of the future. But now he’s become the servant of the past…

Sorry, but I have to take your role.

After taking in the sight, I slowly lay down.

I was planning to rest for a while until the exam was over. My mind, unbrainwashed, was clearer than ever.

I thought about the next test in my head and slowly started to organize my course of action for the future.

* * *

Luan, the butler of the Jack family, a great elite family of assassins, frowned.

‘….Lying down and sleeping during the sacred time of testing?’

While the others were glaring and trying to solve one more problem, Luan was filled with anger at the attitude of one examiner who seemed to be stirring something and then just lying down.

Her appearance was similar to that of someone wearing stolen adult clothes, her face was covered with messy hair, and her movements were laid-back and listless.

I didn’t like him at all when I first saw him, but as expected, he was just like that.

Luan clicked her tongue and gestured to the attendant next to her. The quick-witted attendant seemed to be looking through some documents, then brought out a piece of paper with the personal information of the examinee lying down.

‘Name’s Jodell, age 15? Still a child. Lives far away from here. Family relationship is an orphan… Well, that’s obvious.’

This type of personal information is common in the Jack family, where anyone with the ability to choose is either a murderer, a criminal, an orphan, or a child.

But I didn’t like the fact that he gave up without even trying since he had risked his life to come this far.

No, I guess it’s better to just give up here.

Luan changed his mind. If he gave up here, he wouldn’t die.

The remaining tests were all dangerous enough to risk one’s life. It would be better for the idiots to fail this test. It would be a hassle to dispose of the corpses.

Luan decided that there was nothing more to see and turned off her interest in Jodelle.

Luan walked slowly.

Everyone was working hard to solve the problem, but few people wrote the correct answer.

I was passing by thinking that the interviewees’ skills this year were worse than last year’s, but one person stood out.

‘…..You’re already on your 70th problem? And you’re even writing down the correct answer.’

While everyone else was struggling with questions 20 to 30, I was solving question 70 on my own.

A bespectacled woman groans and shakes her head, frowning and wrinkling her nose.

Although he looked a bit sloppy, it seemed like he had studied hard.

It seemed likely that the top candidate for this exam would be that woman.

Perhaps because Luan was watching with interest, a quick-witted servant brought the woman’s personal information.

‘The name is Bella. She is 25 years old. She is the daughter of the head of this estate.’

The sons all failed their exams one after another, but it looks like they made the daughter study quite hard.

At that moment, the bell signaling the end of the exam rang loudly.

The examinees who were lying down and sleeping, the examinees who were diligently solving the test, and the examinees who were pulling out their hair in frustration over a difficult problem all raised their heads at the sound of the bell and looked at Luan.

Luan looked them over coldly through the cotton and said.

“It’s time. We’ll start grading right away. You can leave here as soon as you fail.”

“…Huh? Already?”

“This is how you grade right away!”

“Okay, just one more question…! Just this one more question!”

As soon as Luan finished speaking, urgent voices could be heard here and there.

This is because the attendants who were waiting in front of the test takers quickly snatched the test papers and started grading them.

The results came out right away.

“28 points. You fail.”

“52 points. You pass.”

One by one, each person was judged to have passed or failed.

Those who passed cheered in joy, while those who narrowly failed were left in despair, clutching their faces with both hands.

As the number of those who fell away increased compared to those who stuck together, it was Bella’s turn that Luan had been keeping an eye on.

Bella had a confident look on her face, unlike the others.

“….85 points passed.”

As expected, it was a high score. Luan nodded to the attendant’s words. Still, there was at least one person who was useful. He was satisfied with the score that was better than he had expected.

“22 points fail.”

“45 points fail.”

Bella’s high scores were followed by a series of failed tests.

Those who passed thought this was the end, but before we knew it, it was the last turn.

The last turn was Jodell’s, who gave up and lay down shortly after the test began.

‘Well, of course I would fail.’

It’ll probably drop to the lowest score.

“…..This is….”

The eyes of the attendant who checked the score at that moment shook violently.

Unlike the other attendants who immediately told the score, his eyes were filled with embarrassment.

You’ve been a servant for quite some time, yet you’re showing your emotions…

I was looking at him with displeasure, wondering how bad his score had to be for him to react like that, when the attendant came to his senses and hardened his face and said.

“…..100 points. Full marks.”