Chapter 66: Exam Hall (3)
Ability scores fixed at 100.
‘This means I can’t benefit from title effects either.’
I looked at Idrick.
[‘Law of Victory’ activates!]
[All ability scores increase by 30%.]
[All damage increases by 30%.]
‘Roughly a 300-level difference.’
Idrick was at least in the 400s.
I checked my status window.
Sure enough.
Even with the ability score increase message, everything was fixed at 100.
‘Three minutes.’
Not impossible to endure.
I’d fought enemies with even greater stat gaps before.
Mutakta, the one I faced at level 1.
That guy was a real monster.
Yet I survived.
And now, my stats were even higher than back then.
‘This is doable.’
At that moment.
Idrick began advancing.
[Remaining time: 03:00]
[Curse of Fatigue applies!]
[Curse of Endurance applies!]
An unpleasant itch spread through my entire body.
That wasn’t the only bad news.
Like a bad flu, my vision blurred.
My sword felt much heavier.
I could see black energy swirling around Idrick’s blade.
An antique-looking sword at a glance.
Mine was just a basic starter sword handed out to newbies.
‘Can’t clash head-on.’
Strength and speed.
Plus weapon quality.
I had to deflect and disperse the force. Otherwise, my sword would shatter before I could even exchange a proper blow.
Idrick closed in instantly and thrust his sword at my face.
I twisted my neck to dodge.
Immediately, a downward slash from above.
I bent my waist low.
A straight vertical slice.
I rolled on the ground to evade.
While rolling, Idrick’s sword was suddenly right in front of my nose.
‘Can’t dodge this one.’
I could have normally.
The curses weighing on my body were the problem.
My reactions were slowed.
A razor-thin difference, but it accumulated. Even predicting the enemy’s moves, there comes a moment you can’t evade.
Like right now.
I twisted my blade to deflect Idrick’s sword.
Clang!
The moment they clashed, my sword let out ominous noises. My grip tore open, blood streaming down.
‘Ten times?’
Instinct calculated it.
No matter how well I deflected, about ten clashes and my sword would shatter.
That’s why I’d been dodging.
‘No choice.’
Just taking hits won’t work.
I twisted my wrist and swung low.
Idrick countered with an aggressive strike. His sword flew at my head. Superior stats meant first strike advantage.
He must have been confident.
‘Knew it.’
I arched my back sharply.
The dark blade grazed over my head.
Then it plunged straight down like lightning.
While my back was bent, I drove strength into my heels and spun like a top.
Slash!
Blood sprayed from Idrick’s waist.
He clutched it and staggered back two steps.
The eyes behind the mask furrowed in disbelief.
‘At least that’s a relief.’
Black Knight.
High level, high stats, spams skills.
‘But skills are lacking.’
At best, a prominent city knight?
If he were knight commander level, I’d have lost a limb in that exchange.
‘And… inexperienced.’
Stats inflated for the first time, his mind couldn’t keep up with his body’s performance.
This makes it easy.
Worst case, I’d prepared to lose all limbs and pull off a Tearful Anus Show via Indomitable Soul. This exchange gauged him.
‘Just the arms then.’
Sword will break eventually. Moments where I must deflect are inevitable. Without a sword, arms are useless in a holdout.
Remaining time: 2 minutes 45 seconds.
After a two-second pause, Idrick bared his teeth and charged again.
[01:45]
Cracks began forming on my sword.
[01:00]
Could take maybe three more.
[00:30]
Gave up my left arm.
In return, saved my neck. Huge gain.
[0:15]
Sword shattered into pieces.
[0:02]
Gave another arm while dodging. Should’ve been at 1 second, but curses interfered.
[0:01]
Aimed for neck, dodged to heart strike. Twisted side slightly to avoid instant death.
The moment it pierced.
[‘Beginner - Murderous’ difficulty exam ends.]
[Body fully restored!]
[Settlement begins.]
Time froze.
[Challenge Difficulty: Murderous]
[Achievement Grade: Highest]
[Title acquired: ‘Monster of the Entry Realm’!]
[Beginner exam passed!]
[Level insufficient! Cannot challenge Practitioner exam! (Minimum required level: 300)]
[Celestial City Travel Pass acquired.]
[New entry added to ‘Legend’s Beginning – Upper Volume’!]
[‘Murderous’ difficulty. Special reward acquired.]
[‘Achievement Vending Machine’ acquired.]
“…?”
Achievement Vending Machine?
On my newly regenerated hand sat a tiny toy vending machine.
I checked its info.
[Achievement Vending Machine]
[Grade: Special]
[A cute vending machine.]
[Effect: Doubles achievement points upon acquisition.]
“…?”
I rubbed my eyes.
Looked again.
‘Doubles achievement points?’
What could you do with achievement points?
Raise level caps, buy skillbooks, gear—countless things.
A resource hundreds of times more precious than money.
An item that duplicates it?
And not consumable.
‘Insane.’
Kim Minwoo pocketed the cute vending machine in his inventory, then took out the Celestial City Travel Pass.
[Celestial City Travel Pass]
[Grade: Special]
[Item given to those who pass Beginner exam. Allows travel to Celestial City for exams. Activates once every six months.]
[Effect 1: Teleports to Celestial City upon use.]
[Effect 2: Grants one month of activity time per teleport.]
‘Celestial City…’
Zephael’s face came to mind.
A city where angels like that live?
* * *
Seo Yerim.
She was taking her exam too. PoPo snapped his fingers, and a bow appeared on her hand.
―Now for the re-evaluation. One subject: ‘Balloon Popping.’
“Where are the balloons?”
The moment she asked, balloons filled the white space like bubbles rising through boiling water. Tens of thousands floated everywhere.
―Do you see the balloons ahead?
“Yes.”
Seo Yerim narrowed her eyes.
Most were red, then orange, green, yellow, blue…
‘Rainbow?’
The colors mimicked a rainbow.
―Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Violet balloons: only five. Indigo: two hundred. Blue: one thousand. And so on. Red naturally most numerous.
“So?”
―Five arrows provided. Pop balloons. Preferably the scarcer colors.
[Re-evaluation, ‘Rainbow Balloons’ begins!]
[Your average ability score fixed at 10!]
[Skills unusable!]
[Cannot move beyond 10m radius!]
Whoosh…!
With the messages, fierce winds blew, whipping her hair. Balloons shook and mixed chaotically.
[Rules explained.]
[Start at 100 points.]
[Must use all five arrows to pop balloons.]
[Popping any but violet deducts points.]
[Lower tier colors deduct more.]
[Miss entirely deducts massively!]
Seo Yerim nodded after reading, eyes narrowed.
Got the gist.
“Pop only the five violets cleanly with five shots for perfect score?”
―Yes. But not easy. In a millennium of observation, no archer scored perfect.
Looked that way.
Finding violets among tens of thousands was hard.
Even finding them, wind caused overlaps and shifts constantly.
Even aiming violet, path balloons would pop too.
‘Plus wind calculations…’
Tricky exam.
“Then, highest score?”
―99. So close—popped violet and indigo together. Minus 1.
“Achievement grade?”
―SS-grade, I recall.
“… S-grade or higher exists?”
―World is vast, grades varied. SS, SSS… even beyond, I’ve heard.
“… Beyond?”
―Yes. Never seen, but… Zephael-senior said so, probably true.
‘… I was a frog in a well.’
Suspected S+ existed.
Kim Minwoo’s strength in that last gate was beyond imagination. But no certainty. Now confirmed.
Worlds beyond exist.
Maybe all Earth’s Awakeners were frogs in wells.
Never dreamed of S+ achievements.
‘This isn’t some average isekai level. Completely different league…’
How did Kim Minwoo connect to a place like this?
Truly an onion of a man.
“PoPo.”
―Yes.
“If I pop them all, could I get SSS or higher?”
―Heard aiming beyond requires world-altering feats. Beyond this exam hall’s stages.
PoPo was proud of his role.
Even he said impossible, so it was.
Regrettable, but unavoidable.
She nodded, eyeing the balloons.
“No time limit, right?”
―Correct.
Seo Yerim observed the balloons.
‘… Explains the indigo mistake.’
Vicious setup.
Red balloons large.
Violets tiny—tangerine-sized.
Indigo balloons clung to violets like tumors. Slight gaps.
Had to thread the needle for violet-only pops.
Found all five violets, she closed her eyes and exhaled.
“Whew.”
Stats fixed at 10.
No skills.
Only her talent.
‘I can do this.’
Realms her sword couldn’t reach.
With bow…
Twang!
First arrow flew.
Sliced through countless balloons.
Pop!
One burst.
Without breathing, she loosed three more.
Three balloons burst.
‘One left.’
The violet most clustered with indigos.
―In my view, destined for archery greatness.
Hospital words resurfaced.
‘Yeah. I…’
… am fated for archery greatness.
Final arrow flew.
Pop!
Only one balloon burst. PoPo, swallowing hard, clapped like a seal.
―W-Wow! Perfect score! Congratulations!
[Evaluation ends.]
[Your score: 100 points.]
[SSS-grade Archer Skillbook granted!]
‘SSS-grade…’
Seo Yerim clenched her fist.
Kim Minwoo was right.
She was fated to wield the bow.