episode_0035

The third night after the exam started. We continued to walk faster. The moonlight was revealed sparsely and was repeatedly hidden by clouds.

They said they were going to force a march, but the speed was not that fast.

This is due to the terrain within the basin being thrown into disarray due to the meteorite impact.

In front of the valley, a sheer cliff blocked the road, and I also witnessed a prairie spreading beyond the horizon.

I had to take a detour to see the huge, clear lake with reflections all the way to the bottom and the dark green wetlands stretching out endlessly.

Perhaps because the atmosphere circulated arbitrarily over the terrain, it was common for the sun to be bright and then suddenly drizzle.

Even considering that the Sky Basin was a fairly vast area, the internal environment was more diverse than that.

“Wow. Look at that.”

I was passing by a group of lignified mushrooms the size of a person. Muyoung, who was looking around, suddenly frowned.

A group of giant, plump, hairy larvae were happily eating the caps of mushrooms. The sound of something crunching and chewing echoed far away.

“I understand why the professor said it is a place closer to outer space. It looks like it would fall into hell and come out. What on earth are these guys? ”

“… It’s a Lypheus moth larva. You don’t even know that?”

“Ri… What?”

“Ha… Since demonic beasts are a small group of organisms, the professor told me to memorize all their scientific names if possible… I guess your hair isn’t that good even though you’re wearing glasses… ”

Yena grunted in a sharp tone. Muyoung laughed in bewilderment at that sharp reaction.

“I must have said I was sorry, right? It’s not because you have any ill feelings?”

“… If you’re going to say something like that, you should have removed that cloth from your face… !”

As he said, Muyoung tied a thick white cloth tightly around his face, covering his lower body. It’s not something I would say while wearing a mask, but it seems like I feel frustrated just by looking at it…

“I keep feeling nauseous. Is there anything I can do? Now, why don’t you understand? You’re much more narrow-minded than I thought.”

“Who is narrow-minded? !”

“You both stop now… ”

Although they managed to stop their argument, Muyoung and Yena now turned their gazes in opposite directions and did not even pretend to notice.

This was the same situation repeated several times since yesterday. For me, caught in the middle, it’s really embarrassing.

However, it is impossible to kick anyone out. I didn’t have the intention to do that in the first place, and we were already deep into the northern section. Increasingly powerful species of demonic beasts are appearing and blocking our path.

Both are excellent assistants, but Muyoung, let alone Yena, is not that good at fighting.

If even one person fails, it is a given that they will be eliminated and receive the lowest score.

In the end, we have no choice but to stay together somehow until the exam is over.

“Wait.”

We were moving forward in an inverted triangle formation. The vertex where Muyeong is at the very back. Yena and I each explored the left and right sides of the front line.

Suddenly, Muyoung suddenly stopped us.

“Why?”

“There is a crack in the ground at 11 o’clock. I don’t think it was created naturally. I can feel movement inside.”

I listened to Muyoung and looked at the floor. I lightly scraped the pile of fallen leaves with my finger, and soon caught a bunch of slightly shiny, translucent, sticky threads.

“… I think it’s Signata’s nest. Yes. Can you pull it out?”

“I’ll try.”

Yena fiddled with the particle array on her wrist. Soon, small dewdrops gathered in the air in front of her and formed huge water droplets.

Yena threw the water droplet that was created towards the crack in front.

-Kick!

After a short period of time, a gigantic creature, unable to hold its breath, jumped out of its hiding place on its own.

Its large double fangs and twelve legs are very intimidating. The body alone, excluding the legs, is almost the same size as Jena.

The magical beast, which looked like a giant spider, turned and ran away toward the shrubbery. What he wants now is not hunting, but escape from the threat. If so, dealing with them is easy.

I quickly approached the back of the fleeing beast. Then, he stuck the blade into his chest and cut it in a straight line all the way to his stomach, cutting it in half. The demonic beast’s green blood splattered all over the place.

“Ugh… ”

Yena grimaced when she saw the still twitching body of the demon beast.

“Now that we are outside the lupus zone, the species that inhabit it have become more diverse. I wouldn’t have been able to come in by myself.”

Muyoung muttered, taking the demon beast’s fangs as a token.

“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to come this fast on my own.”

“Humility is… ”

I didn’t say anything I didn’t particularly like. The difficulty itself wasn’t that difficult, but if exploration and support hadn’t been properly distributed like now, the speed would have been much slower.

I am in a position to conserve magic as much as possible.

I think I understand a little bit why Cradle gave Hapdong such a high score.

Even if my skills were much lower than now, my speed probably wouldn’t have been much different.

“Wow… go away… ”

“You… also… ! Hehe… Hyuna… ”

There was a commotion again in the back.

Yena’s face turned red and she looked very sad.

I think it would have been perfect if only the relationship between the two had been good…

“Guys. stop. If we go a little further, we’ll reach the halfway point, so let’s rest there today. And at this speed, I think we’ll be able to reach the center soon.”

“Already… ? Aren’t we really going to be first… ?”

Yena murmured in a voice full of joy.

We cleaned up the scene and walked again, following the moonlight. Today there was a strange silence around. Except for the one signata I encountered earlier, I couldn’t find a single squirrel around.

“Something strange… ”

Muyoung muttered in a suspicious voice.

“The spirits are agitated. For what reason? Ugh… !!”

Muyoung suddenly sat down in her seat, holding her head.

The pain is so painful that I have to get on all fours on the floor, so my reaction is clearly different from before.

“Heo Eok… !”

“Muyoung! Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know either… ! For a moment, the connection with the spirit was forcibly cut off and then restored… ! Ugh… What the hell is this… ”

Muyoung placed her head in her hands and muttered tiredly. We stopped for a while and waited for Muyoung to recover.

Unlike just before, when it was as quiet as dawn, now more and more unidentifiable noises could be heard from far away. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure something is wrong.

Muyoung, who was staggering and trying to recover, suddenly raised his hand and signaled.

“Wait… Captain, there’s something running from 3 o’clock. Two entities. It’s quite fast… ”

The reeds all around have grown up to their heads, making it difficult to see properly. I sent Muyoung and Yena back and prepared myself to deal with any enemy that might pop out at any time.

Soon a rustling sound began to be heard from afar. The direction was steadily heading towards us.

And after a while, what came out of the reed field was not a demonic beast, but the image of a person walking on two feet.

“Heeek!!”

Even though I wasn’t even wielding a blade, the person who appeared there saw me and screamed at me to leave this world. His voice is so good that it can make most demonic beasts go away.

Yena, who was watching this, suddenly called someone’s name.

“Sera… ?”

“Yena… ???”

The identity seemed to be Yena’s acquaintance. The female student seemed to have relaxed only after seeing Jena, and fell down in her seat with no strength left.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that the girl’s behavior was believable. A female student named Sarah was carrying someone on her back, and both of their protective clothing were cracked and torn in various places, leaving almost no intact parts.

The person on his back wasn’t even conscious.

The arm had marks that looked like something had been scratched by a sharp claw, and the bandage covering the wound was not only stained bright red, but blood was flowing down from it.

“Sera… What’s going on??”

In response to Yena’s question, the female student cried out in fear.

“This is not the time… We’re in big trouble… !”

“It’s a big deal… ”

“The separation wall in the southern section has been destroyed!! High-ranking demon beasts are pouring in that way… ! If this continues, some people may die… !”

“What… ?”

***

Dozens of Cradle’s second-year students were busily coming and going at the temporary camp set up on the grassland near the Sky Basin.

They were helping the professors with various chores. Numerous upperclassmen assimilated only the crows and their vision and looked around the northern section.

Their main task was to monitor illegal activities occurring during exams. Collisions and duels are commonplace in the cradle, and the cradle side doesn’t even pay attention to small disturbances.

But there will always be someone who crosses the line. Especially in situations like now, it’s perfect to feign confusion and get things done. What they were monitoring was the prevention of such situations.

Other than that, the purpose was to find those who stood out and gauge whether to add them to the faction in the future.

The gemstones always appear in these unpredictable real-life situations, not in the usual organized tests.

“True… It’s strange… ”

A female student lying down in the field with her eyes closed muttered. He has a cheerful appearance and a teardrop spot under his right eye that leaves a deep impression.

What Kwon Yuri was seeing was a trio made up of completely incompatible people.

Although she was a naturally blooming magician from the outskirts, she was a very popular female student thanks to her unique liveliness. Hey, yeah.

For some reason, the spirit priest is evaluated as being strangely unpleasant among female students… Shin Moo-young.

And even the rumored new student that needs no words.

What was strangest of all was the fact that they were the group closest to the center.

Although it appears that most of the physical work was done by Jinhyeon Yoo, the other two were also assisting him almost perfectly.

“Okay. This is what practice is like. Unexpected things always pop up from somewhere… ”

Kwon Yuri muttered. Her gaze was particularly focused on Yoo Jin-hyeon.

The fact that he showed strong antipathy toward his friend Baek Seo-yeon had already spread throughout the entire cradle.

“That’s strange… He didn’t seem like a junior with that kind of personality… ”

Kwon Yuri has already met Yoo Jin-hyeon once. She helped invite freshmen to a social gathering at the request of Baek Seo-yeon.

However, although his appearance was unique, he was polite and his manner of speaking was friendly, so it didn’t feel too bad.

Considering that he lives quietly without any social activities other than hanging out closely with Hayena, it doesn’t seem like he was trying to create any kind of political confrontation.

Kwon Yuri thought about a reasonable reason for a moment, but a funny joke just passed through her head.

“Perhaps it’s an ex-girlfriend I met by chance… Puheup.”

I said nonsense to myself and burst out laughing as if it was ridiculous.

Although she was close to Baek Seo-yeon, she kept her fiancé’s identity a complete secret.

However, it was not difficult to find out what Baek Seo-yeon thought of her fiancé. Baek Seo-yeon’s face was always filled with a bright smile as she told her story.

Did you say that there was no one else you loved in your life? A woman like that has no reason to have an ex-boyfriend.

On the other hand, I was also very curious. Even from the same woman’s perspective, Baek Seo-yeon was a perfect creature. Skills, appearance, background, personality. Nothing is missing.

What kind of a man would be who receives the absolute love of such a woman?

I don’t know… Also, I like a surprisingly simple and handsome country boy…

“Phuheup… Ah, I have to stop. Next time, I’ll definitely ask after giving him a drink.”

Kwon Yuri shook her head and dispelled the delusion. And it was just when I was trying to focus on my main job.

“Then it’s back to work… Ugh… !”

Suddenly, a severe shock hit her head. It was horrible, as if a bundle of nerves had been scraped off with a knife. The pain went down my head and burned my eyes.

“Queu… eww… What is this… ”

The pain finally disappeared after it was felt throughout every inch of her body. Kwon Yuri barely noticed that vision sharing with the crow had been forcibly canceled.

Only then did he stagger out of his seat and look around.

“Queu… !”

“What! What’s going on!”

“It hurts… my eyes… !”

Her surroundings were already in chaos. Like her, everyone who was watching the test site as a raven was rolling around in their seats in pain. It looked like a scene where an inexplicable group seizure had swept through.

“What on earth… ? Ugh… ”

Kwon Yuri muttered. It seemed like others, like him, were experiencing a rebound from losing connection with the Ravens.

However, cases where the connection was forcibly disconnected were extremely rare.

Unless there is an explosion of interference from powerful particle waves nearby, it is impossible for multiple people to experience the same symptoms.

And when such large-scale interference occurs… When a magical beast of minimum risk classification level 1 or higher appears.

-Pow!

The sound of something exploding in the air woke her from her thoughts. I could see a high-rising firecracker magic coloring the night sky red.

With the appearance of the first dropout, the personnel at the garrison immediately prepared to form a rescue team.

“Yuri, come here!! Quick!!”

Kwon Yuri also tried to start her work first, but soon she heard someone calling her from the entrance of the basin. The voice was full of confusion and urgency.

At the entrance to the basin, a group of freshmen who had returned covered in blood were just walking out. I lost my entire backpack and the protective clothing I was wearing was in tatters.

Some of them seemed to have been seriously injured and their entire bodies were covered in blood.

“You… ”

She then found a student who looked quite familiar. Guk Jae-ryong. He was a junior from the same Demonic Twenty-Seven tribe as me, but he seemed somewhat harsh and annoying, so I wasn’t that close to him.

The sight of a large group of 9 people being dragged in left quite an impression. It was a bit funny that the easiest route taken with that number of people was towards the center…

“Junior. What on earth is going on?”

To Kwon Yuri’s question, Guk Jae-ryong trembled and answered.

“Senior… This is not the time… The test must be stopped immediately… ”

“What?”

“As soon as possible… !”

“Junior. Take a deep breath and slowly… ”

I tried to calm him down somehow, but Guk Jae-ryong was trembling and spitting out words that I couldn’t even understand. His face was full of fear.

-Pow!

Suddenly, the sky became bright as if the sun had risen, so I naturally looked away. A sound similar to that of a large-diameter firearm exploding soon followed, loudly echoing everywhere.

“… What the hell is going on… ”

Kwon Yuri looked at the sky and muttered as if she were fascinated. What she saw reflected in her eyes were dozens of red fireworks exploding continuously in the air above the basin.