The Trial of the Turtle Island
How did Seol-hwa manage to secure the cooperation of Akelon, the leader of the Turtle tribe?
In the original work, the process of gaining Akelon’s cooperation unfolded as follows:
Break through the trials that candidates must endure to become the leader of the Turtle tribe. The means and methods do not matter. Reach my home before the sun sets today. Only then will I acknowledge you and offer my aid.
Akelon had attached such conditions.
Seol-hwa had boldly challenged the trial, and though she nearly lost her life, she somehow succeeded in reaching Akelon’s dwelling. Impressed by the spirit of Seol-hwa, who had not given up until the very end, Akelon was deeply moved and swore to assist her with all her heart.
Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, Akelon lost her life to the pirate fleet of Grid, who had invaded the island.
The Turtle Island she had sought to protect was burned to the ground, leaving not even a trace behind.
Countless members of the Turtle tribe were massacred, with only a handful of survivors remaining.
Instead, her granddaughter became Seol-hwa’s right-hand woman, achieving great feats in the war against Grid. Later, alongside the second daughter of the Knight King—another strategist—the granddaughter drove Grid to his ruin. In a way, one could say she avenged her dead grandmother and her kin.
Now, Jung Kang-rim faced a situation where he had to challenge that very trial—a trial that might serve as another turning point, a chance to escape the ending where he meets his own destruction.
"Damn it..."
The clothes he wore were an old military uniform, its expiration date long passed.
In his hand, he held a stick as thick and long as his own height, given to him by a Turtle tribe soldier who remarked that it was better than going in empty-handed.
Other than these two things, Kang-rim had been given nothing.
In this state, Kang-rim had to cross the forest before him—a dangerous zone where no one knew what perils lurked—all on his own.
'To think I’d actually be forced to take this trial.'
Could he really break through this trial, which even the protagonist Seol-hwa had detested?
Surely, he wouldn’t meet a bad ending here, dying without even clearing the trial, would he?
Kang-rim cursed inwardly, asking why such things were happening and why everything was so twisted.
Despite the cursing, he had no choice but to challenge it.
'You rotten turtle bastard. How dare you take my women hostage?'
Immediately after arriving at Turtle Island, Kang-rim had been separated from his party. He had been dragged in the opposite direction of where his group was headed. He had a rough idea of where he was being taken, but he prayed it wasn't so.
He prayed, but the moment he saw the entrance, his head went numb.
To think he would face a development where he had to take the challenge instead of Seol-hwa. Where the hell did that bastard Seol-hwa run off to? Why isn't he doing this? Isn't a protagonist supposed to breeze through trials like this? Where did he hide himself? If he could, Kang-rim wanted to drag Seol-hwa here right now.
He wanted to do that because he hated challenging this trial that much. He knew all too well from the game how difficult the trial was. He had been unable to clear it on his own and had been forced to spend money, only managing to pass it after equipping high-quality gear.
It goes without saying that players had clamored for the developers to make it easier because the trial was too difficult.
And our proud development team had never adjusted the difficulty until the dissenting voices were silenced.
At this point, he was genuinely curious about what kind of audacity kept them going.
'I’ll show you what happens when you take my people hostage.'
Kang-rim had to clear that trial. Without good equipment or allies. He had thought about running away to rescue his companions and escaping the island, but—
-Grid, look at this.
After seeing the video Akelon sent, Kang-rim abandoned that thought.
-What you are holding is one of the ancient artifacts we salvaged from the sea. It allows me to show you our appearance in real-time. Conversely, we can see you as well.
A crystal ball with two-way communication functionality. Kang-rim had been puzzled when a Turtle tribe warrior suddenly handed it to him.
The moment he saw the contents, Kang-rim realized why the orb had been given to him.
-Your subordinates are inside that cauldron over there.
Inside a large black cauldron with boiling water, Captain Cardian and the survivors were trapped.
They were boiling so hot that everyone was turning bright red.
A bonfire was lit beneath the cauldron, and turtles were diligently fanning the flames to keep them burning bright.
-We’ve set it to a temperature suitable for bathing for now, but if you refuse the trial, we will turn it up higher.
Akelon warned.
-And when the sun sets, we will increase the heat even further.
-....
-If you truly value your subordinates, you won't be able to ignore this, right?
She hadn't imposed such harsh conditions on Seol-hwa, so why was she doing this to him?
Was it because he was Grid? Was it because he was the heinous villain Grid, and she wanted to see how that Grid would react?
-I want to see if you have truly changed.
Akelon added.
-If you have truly changed, please do not disappoint my expectations.
-....
-I hope that my intuition was not wrong.
-....
Intuition? What was that supposed to mean? Did she know something? Kang-rim tried to ask urgently, but before he could, someone snatched the crystal ball away.
-Time is up. Hurry and challenge the trial.
It was the Turtle soldier who had dragged Kang-rim here.
Her body was wrapped in a shell, so her figure was hidden, but judging by her appearance and voice, he could immediately tell she was a woman.
The Turtle woman pointed her spear toward the entrance of the forest.
-If you do not challenge it, the safety of your subordinates cannot be guaranteed.
-....
-Do it quickly. The sun sets early here. If you are late, you will lose everything.
-...Damn it.
He had no choice but to challenge it. If he didn't, his women would be in danger. The resolution to walk a different path than the original Grid would all go to waste.
And, in any case, the Turtle tribe were people he needed to get his hands on. If he could clear this trial and acquire them, it would be a reward beyond compare. He didn't know why Seol-hwa had given them up, but Kang-rim didn't want to throw away a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
So, let's do it. Let's absolutely do it. Even if it's annoying, let's do it. Let's definitely clear this trial.
'And I’m going to ravage that damn turtle, too.'
Vowing that the first thing he would do after clearing it was to take Akelon, Kang-rim stepped boldly into the entrance of the forest.
About two hours later.
"D, damn it..."
Kang-rim was currently in the middle of a swamp.
"How far does this rotten mud swamp go!"
After holding it in for so long, Kang-rim’s temper finally exploded.
It was only natural for him to explode, as he had been wandering endlessly in a swamp that seemed to have no end. His clothes were already so dirty that he couldn't distinguish if they were a military uniform or made of mud.
'It was mentioned in the game that it was incredibly long, but...'
To think it would be this long. It was no wonder Seol-hwa had declared, "I can't do this anymore, I give up, I give up!"
Walking was difficult enough because of the mud, and to make matters worse, annoying insects were swarming him from all sides. Among them were mosquitoes, and Kang-rim felt like he was going to die from the itching all over his body.
But the most annoying thing of all was...
"Ugh?"
The traps that threatened his life at every turn, like the giant boulders currently flying toward his head. Kang-rim barely managed to twist his body to the side to avoid the trap.
Of course, avoiding them wasn't the end of it.
-Rummmble
"D, don't tell me, again..."
Suddenly, the ground shook. Kang-rim looked forward to see what was happening, and his face turned pale.
"Y, you crazy..."
A massive wave of mud was rushing toward him, threatening to swallow him whole.
"Even if it is an ancient artifact, this is too..."
Before he could even finish his sentence, Kang-rim was swept away by the wave.
"Waaaaaah!"
Jung Kang-rim was tossed around like a small sailboat adrift at sea. Just before losing consciousness, he barely grabbed onto a tree he saw in front of him with one hand. He couldn't move a muscle until the waves subsided.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
The waves had stopped, but he had returned to the starting point. Kang-rim was placed in a situation where he had to walk again from the point where the swamp began.
"Rotten turtle bastard. What kind of trial is this?"
It was no different from training pigs! Kang-rim knew the reason why traps flew out of nowhere and waves suddenly surged.
'Is it even possible to manipulate something like this with an ancient artifact?'
The Forest of Trials was an artificially created testing ground.
Under normal circumstances, there shouldn't be a swamp, traps shouldn't be flying around at all times, and waves shouldn't be crashing over him when he wasn't even near the sea. It should have been a normal forest.
The Turtle tribe had used ancient artifacts to turn such a forest into the Forest of Trials.
He didn't know what principle they used to create it, but seeing as they had created a swamp with extreme difficulty, it couldn't be a simple artifact.
'How did that turtle bastard pass this?'
The previous Turtle tribe leader had gone to all sorts of lengths to prevent a successor from emerging in order to maintain power.
He had manipulated the Forest of Trials at will to ensure no winner could emerge.
Akelon had put an end to that tyranny.
She had broken through all the traps and passed the Forest of Trials with nothing but her will and persistence.
In the end, the previous leader had no choice but to step down.
And now, Akelon was doing the exact same atrocities that the previous leader had committed.
The reason she did such things was simple.
-I passed it, so shouldn't you be able to pass it too?
It was a truly irresponsible statement, assuming that because she had passed it, others could too. Kang-rim was genuinely curious about whose head that arrogant thought—that because she could do it, others could too—had popped out of. There was no guarantee anywhere in this world that just because you followed in someone else's footsteps, you would succeed.
'I have to clear the swamp somehow.'
In the original work, Seol-hwa had also been so fed up with Akelon’s vicious acts that she had tried to give up halfway.
However, she had used a certain method to find a way to bypass the forest.
However, that method was so extreme that she had to fight Akelon, and thanks to winning that fight, she had barely managed to gain the cooperation of the Turtle tribe.
Kang-rim intended to use that same method as Seol-hwa, and to use that method, he had to cross the swamp again. Only after getting out of the swamp would he find the opportunity to use that method.
In other words, he had to pass the swamp to do anything.
"Alright, let's try again."
After cooling his head for a moment, Kang-rim took a step forward once more.
'Just wait a little longer.'
I will definitely save you.
Kang-rim vowed as he headed toward the swamp...
-Rummmble-rumble-rumble
The moment he stepped in, a wave of immense size engulfed Kang-rim.
"You rotten turtle bastard! Why would you trigger a wave the moment I start..."
Kang-rim was swallowed by the waves once again.