episode_0003

* * *

Did you do too well on the test? You should have gotten one or two questions wrong.

He received everyone’s attention and proudly took first place in the exam.

Luan’s attitude, which had been ignoring me like a stone on the roadside, changed as if he was looking at a shining stone.

Especially, the look of disbelief and shock from Bella, who was a potential candidate for this exam, still followed me, and sweat poured down my back.

‘I didn’t know I would get full marks….’

I felt like it was easy, but there were also some things I guessed by feeling…. I never thought I’d get them all right. I was lucky.

Contrary to my belief that it would be easy, more than half of the students failed the first test and less than 20 people remained.

Luan looked around at the successful candidates and said.

“To celebrate passing the first exam, we prepared a simple dinner since it is lunchtime. We will proceed with the second exam after the meal.”

The place where I’m interviewing even provides food?

I was already starting to feel hungry.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had a proper meal, so I followed Luan with anticipation.

The place Luan brought the test subjects to was a buffet filled with sumptuous food.

‘Wow… that’s amazing…’

Every single dish looks delicious.

“You can eat as much food as you want.”

After saying that, Luan looked at me for a moment.

Even though his face was covered with cotton, he wasn’t stupid enough not to notice the sharp gaze directed at him. However, he pretended not to notice the gaze and looked around, absorbed in looking at the food.

There was no need to appear so outstanding.

My goal is to live here as a useful servant, working moderately and having fun.

If you show any noticeable ability, you will be given difficult and troublesome tasks.

In the Jack family, where those with ability are given their own responsibilities and roles, it would be foolish to reveal all of my abilities.

I didn’t want to go around killing people again as an assassin, and I didn’t want to suffer alone while others were doing easy jobs for the same salary.

At that moment, my stomach started growling.

The only food I ate while living like a puppet were energy bars that I forced myself to eat just to keep me alive.

When I see proper food for the first time in a long time, I can’t help but swallow my saliva.

I quickly picked up the bowl and started putting the delicious-looking food into it one by one.

‘First of all, meat, unconditionally meat!’

I filled my plate with meat that looked delicious, even though I didn’t know what kind of animal it was.

I wanted to put more in, but there weren’t enough containers.

Although it was a shame, I decided to eat more and sat down at an empty table in a corner.

Just as I was about to pick up a piece of meat with my fork and put it in my mouth, with the intention of filling my stomach, I felt a presence and someone put down a bowl in front of me.

I looked up wondering what it was and it was Bella.

Bella said with a bright smile.

“Hello. If there’s an empty seat in front of you, would it be okay if I eat with you?”

“….Yes. Please sit down.”

Since it didn’t really matter who sat, I just nodded and put the fork I was holding into my mouth.

‘…and it melts in your mouth. It melts.’

If I become a servant in this house, will I be able to eat foods like these?

Since I knew from reading webtoons that the exam was difficult and that if I passed, I would be treated better than the servants of other families, I smiled happily.

I would die without any regrets knowing I could eat food like this every day.

“How does it taste?”

“…..It’s so delicious. This meat is especially excellent.”

I answered Bella’s question casually. Then Bella said in admiration.

“As expected…. I felt it from the moment I started solving the test paper, but you are truly amazing.”

Huh? What’s so great about it?

Bella took a big bite of food and put it in her mouth with a face full of determination at my words.

Before Bella could question his words, she quickly covered his mouth.

As I was looking at Bella’s pale face, wondering why, groans came out here and there.

“Ugh, ugh… ugh.”

“Coolook, coolook…. Gulp, gulp…..”

“Sa, save me…ugh…save me…!”

Those who were spitting out blood, those who were coughing incessantly, those who were lying on the floor in agony, begging for their lives.

I looked at them and realized belatedly that there was poison in the food.

Now that I think about it, there was such a setting.

The Jack family is a famous family of assassins, so they have a lot of resentment from people and are often attacked.

Therefore, in order to build up immunity to poison, it was set that a certain amount of poison should be consumed even during regular meals.

I had a passive skill called poison immunity. That’s why I was able to eat without any problems, and Bella was amazed at how I looked.

Bella’s face turned pale, as if she had consumed a strong poison. However, she bit her lips as if she would not give in and continued eating silently.

It looked like he was gritting his teeth and enduring it.

Even Bella, who was chosen as a servant, was in this situation, and the others were in an even worse situation.

“…..I guess there are some people who don’t like the food. This meal is a special banquet provided to the servants of the Jack family. If you don’t like the food, it will be difficult to hire you. Please leave.”

As soon as Luan, who had been watching while drinking tea elegantly, finished speaking, the servants started to move and quickly began to remove those who were vomiting blood and suffering from their seats.

Then, there were only five people left.

Their complexions were not good either, but they still stood firm in their seats. Of course, they could not continue eating any longer.

‘…..What a pity.’

I glanced at the remaining food.

I just ate a piece of meat, but if I keep going like this, I’ll probably finish my meal.

I had to eat everything I brought. It had been so long since I had a proper meal that I couldn’t give up just because it was poisoned.

I poked at the meat with a fork and put it in my mouth. The chewy texture of the meat was so good.

I felt the eyes of Luan and the examiners on me as I happily ate, but I decided to ignore them.

Because their gaze isn’t what feeds me.

He buried his nose in his plate and inhaled his food without stopping, as if to say, “Don’t touch me, I’m still eating.”

‘Ah, it’s sweet. It’s sweet.’

There was one more reason to become a servant. From now on, I would always be able to eat such delicious food. I found myself humming.

“…..monster.”

I heard Bella mumbling in a small voice.

She too put down her fork, as if she couldn’t eat any more.

‘It’s melting slowly. It’s melting.’

Luckily, everyone waited until I was finished eating, and after three more refills, I put my fork down when I felt somewhat full.

I could feel Luan’s gaze piercing through my face, but I pretended not to notice anything and wiped my lips with a tissue to signal that my meal was over.

Fortunately, either because she understood my gestures or because I was the only one eating, Luan got up from her seat as soon as I finished eating.

“…..I see you’ve finished eating. Then let’s move on to the second testing room.”

* * *

“The second test site is here.”

The place where Luan brought the five survivors, including me, a total of six test subjects, was different from the previous test sites.

It seemed like he was taking me underground, but he brought me to a cave with many paths branching out.

I had seen it in webtoons, but when I actually saw it, it was really big and wide. It was so big that I couldn’t even guess what was inside.

It’s amazing that there’s such a large cave underground.

“After you enter, you can exit. The first person to exit will be given the right to be a servant. Good luck to you all.”

Are you telling me to go into this cave and come out quickly?

Bella and the other test subjects hurried into the cave as soon as Luan finished speaking.

Since they said that the person who got out first would pass, everyone was in a hurry. In the end, I was the only one left outside the cave.

I too just had to take one of the remaining paths. After much deliberation, I chose the last path.

This cave was a training cave full of traps.

If you take the wrong path, you may encounter scary beasts or venomous snakes coiling around you. Also, if you touch the wall or the ground wrong, arrows or poisonous daggers may rain down.

But what can I do?

This test is so easy…

It was this type of trap that I was most confident in.

I thought of the webtoon content.

In the webtoon, when the main character, the crown prince, was first invited to the Jack family, he got involved in an incident and ended up entering this cave.

At that time, the women who were protecting the crown prince each risked their lives to save him.

In that scene, we could see a variety of things coming out of the cave, so we had a rough idea of where things were coming from.

Watching that scene, I once thought to myself that I really wanted to go to a place like that… but I never thought it would come true like this.

‘…..This will be so much fun.’

I strode into the cave, as fast as I could.

I don’t know how fast Bella will go, so I need to move quickly and not play around too much.

At that moment, I felt someone following me.

The faintest sign of presence was that of an assassin. It was also Luan’s sign that was constantly felt.

I narrowed my eyes and glanced behind me, as it was within my skill to detect someone’s presence.

‘…..I guess I got caught in the right picture?’

It was none other than my butler, Luan, who was chasing after me…

I guess he’s going to wait and see how I do on the test.

Did I stand out that much?

I thought I did fairly well on the test…

Well, there’s nothing we can do.

Since you have to become a servant, you have to show that you have ability. However, if you show that you are too outstanding, you may end up with a lot of work when you become a servant.

So, it would be better to hide your strength appropriately.

‘Let’s only use about 1/10 of the usual amount.’

To that extent, there shouldn’t be any major problems in becoming a servant.

I took a step forward.

It was the beginning of the second full-fledged test.