Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Chapter 2 Promotion Exam (1)
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“Kyaa!”
The moment I bellowed out the curse that had been cut off midway, my body jolted in shock.
Suddenly, a space thick with lush greenery came into view.
I could feel the humid air and the sweltering heat.
Just standing still made me feel like sweat was about to pour out.
「Entering the mission area.」
「This location is not a player protection zone.」
「Purification Agent (×3) provided.」
Taking advantage of my confusion, the system fired off its messages.
‘Not a protection zone?’
The wording had changed.
During the tutorial, it had always said it was designated as a protection zone.
Did that mean this place was different? In what way, exactly?
If I’d had the time, I might have pondered the question more deeply.
But before I could even chew it over properly, every hair on my body stood on end.
Beyond the newly appeared mission window, something unfamiliar was standing there.
Its build was about my size, but its visible physical features were completely different.
Its feet resembled a beast’s, while its hands looked human.
On top of that, black, fluffy fur.
Claws and nails as long as a polar bear’s.
Pointed ears like a fox’s.
A muzzle jutting forward like a dog or wolf.
Four fangs protruding downward.
And eyes that were solid red, with no distinction between whites and pupils.
“Kieek?”
Some kind of thing tilting its head as it observed me.
What the hell was I supposed to call that creature standing upright on two legs like a human?
I’d stake my life that I’d never seen anything like it since the day I was born.
My muscles tensed up as if they were terrified.
The thing stared right through me from beyond the mission window.
And when the window vanished, leaving nothing between us.
「Mission starting.」
“Kiaaaak!”
The moment the message appeared, the monster threw its muzzle wide open and roared.
I could see its tongue split into three prongs at the tip, and teeth filling its upper palate like porcupine quills.
My body twitched involuntarily.
‘Th-that mouth...’
When it opened its jaws, the flesh tore open along with it.
For a human, that would mean the corners of the lips ripping apart.
Yet when it closed its mouth again, it returned to normal.
It wasn’t an illusion. My body hair bristled, and goosebumps rose.
‘What the hell is that thing?’
What in the world was that monster?
The shocking encounter froze not just my body but my mind as well.
“Kiik?”
At that moment, it tilted its head again and shifted its steps sideways.
It began circling around me widely.
Then, in an instant—really, a split second.
The monster that had kicked off the ground was right in front of my face, jaws agape.
My rigid body thrust the spear I was gripping forward on pure survival instinct.
The spear shaft blocked its maw.
The monster then leaped back lightly.
And once more, it tilted its head and resumed circling me.
‘What the?’
The monster’s behavior right now was just like...
‘Sizing me up?’
Checking if I was strong or weak.
Realizing that made my cheek twitch.
‘Once it confirms?’
The moment it decides I’m an easy mark.
I swallowed hard, and it bared its teeth in a threatening posture.
I forced my stiff body to move.
Shifting my center of gravity forward as if I’d charge at it any second, taking one step ahead.
It flinched.
Was that the right move? The monster’s body trembled.
Then it lowered its stance. Ready to lunge at any moment.
It felt like a declaration that it wouldn’t back down from me.
A tense standoff hung in the air.
Neither it nor I moved a muscle, locked in a razor-sharp battle of nerves—until then.
“Aaaah!”
A scream unmistakably human echoed from afar.
That was the trigger.
The monster and I charged at each other simultaneously.
It was almost a reflexive response.
Backing off here would make it see me as prey.
To not lose the nerve war, I had to go too.
“——!”
Someone’s agonized screams continued, but I had no time to look back.
I activated mana operation and thrust the spear straight ahead.
In response, the monster twisted its body to dodge the blade.
But it didn’t end there.
It pushed past the spear into my space and swung its claws at my leg.
The instant I yanked the targeted leg back desperately.
It switched directions, going for the other leg.
‘Fuck this shit!’
I threw my whole body backward to evade its claws.
“Damn it!”
Mistake! As I lost balance and tumbled back, it kicked off the ground.
‘At this rate, it’ll rip me apart!’
I swung the spear shaft at the closing monster.
Thud.
Its head snapped to the side, and my body hit the dirt.
I tried to roll and stand, but the monster was a beat faster.
It had already whipped its head back toward me and gaped its maw.
I never imagined its tongue would shoot out.
“Ugh!”
I shrieked in horror at the unbelievable sight.
But the snake-like tongue had already coiled around my neck.
“Gah!”
As my throat was crushed, sharp claws dug into my shoulder.
If I hadn’t concentrated mana in time, they would’ve sunk deep.
I dropped the spear and drew a dagger from storage.
I jammed it into its eye without hesitation.
Squelch.
“Kieeeek!”
The monster clutched its head and leaped away.
I pulled out my longsword to stab its chest next—
“Huh...?”
I froze, letting out a dumb noise.
“What the...?”
The monster with the dagger in its eye was fleeing.
I stared blankly in the direction it ran for a moment.
“—!”
An agonized scream rang out, then silence fell around me.
I scrambled to my feet, eyes fixed on where the sound came from.
‘Definitely...’
If I hadn’t misheard, that was Japanese.
* * *
After the monster fled, I first stanched the bleeding from my shoulder.
Tearing my clothes and wrapping it wasn’t much, but...
‘Better than leaving it.’
Fortunately, the wound wasn’t deep.
No piercing, no severing.
Muscles intact.
Just a superficial tear in the skin.
It hurt, but I could still move my shoulder.
Thanks to wrapping it in mana quickly.
“Haah.”
What got to me was how I was treating this wound like no big deal.
I stood, sighing.
Then craned my neck up.
“...Gonna lose it.”
A white sky greeted me.
I’d noticed it while tending the wound.
I’d bet my neck that white expanse wasn’t clouds.
It barely qualified as sky, anyway—it was too close.
Plus, that artificial feel was familiar.
‘Like the tutorial space...’
Not just the color, but that distinct sensation matched the stark white void.
I lowered my gaze and wiped my face.
My palm came away slick with sweat.
“Fucking hot.”
I’d only been here a few minutes—generously, five.
Yet sweat was already pouring off me.
I clicked my tongue and glanced between two directions.
One where the monster fled, the other where the scream mixed with Japanese came from.
‘Which way?’
Heading toward the scream might let me link up with others.
This mission seemed to put all players except me in the same space.
Sticking together would reduce risk if we ran into another monster.
But...
‘Why’s it so damn quiet? Makes me uneasy.’
Nothing since that scream ended.
The silence fueled my worst assumptions.
‘They might already be done for over there.’
The scream sounded like the death cries of beasts I’d killed.
Going quiet right after didn’t bode well for survival.
If they’d slain the monster after a fight, its death cry would’ve rung out.
What I heard was clearly a human scream.
Thinking someone might really have died sent chills down my spine.
‘If I couldn’t use mana...’
I’d have screamed and wailed the moment I faced the monster.
Just like when those lions tore into me.
Recalling that brought the terror of death creeping back.
I swallowed dryly and muttered softly.
“Mission window.”
I’d clashed with the monster right after the area changed—no time to check details.
I needed to know how to clear this.
That’s how I’d get back to my room.
MISSION
[Promotion Exam (Beta Test)]
Eliminate enemies. (0/13)
[Rewards]
Rewards distributed differentially based on performance.
• Attribute Mana 10
• Promotion (differential based on performance)
• Attribute Stone (differential based on performance)
• Currency (equivalent to ₩10,000,000)
No time limit or start timer this time.
More details than before.
But only one phrase caught my eye.
‘Ten million won?’
Gulp.
My throat bobbed hard.
* * *
Ethan, born and raised in the UK, had just turned 20 this year and was a student.
Mild-mannered with a large build, he’d lived a fairly ordinary life otherwise.
But the game that started out of nowhere changed everything.
On the day the first mission began, he was with friends.
At a shopping center, of all places.
Vanishing abruptly only to return covered in blood—it was bound to cause a commotion.
He was arrested and questioned.
Fortunately or not, another mission hit while he was detained.
Repeated summonings, his accounts of the system.
Weapons materializing from thin air and vanishing, his physical abilities skyrocketing.
Before the third mission, the UK government acted.
They took him to MI5 (Military Intelligence, Section 5: UK’s domestic security service).
There, under protection, surveillance, and basic military training, he prepped for the third mission—but most of it was pointless.
When the mission started, all the firearms he’d stored were gone.
He faced the bear bare-handed.
‘Should’ve learned hand-to-hand.’
Over the past five days, he’d focused more on shooting.
The wrong choice led to injury.
He had to sacrifice an arm to kill the bear.
He could still hear the bones crunching in its jaws.
See his severed arm flying off.
But sadly, no time to recover from the shock of amputation.
The fourth mission started before he could.
“Guh!”
At 191 cm tall, his body sliced through the air light as paper.
Less than a minute since clashing with the monster oozing black fluid from its empty eye socket.
It charged before he could react, hurling him into this state with raw power.
Thud—!
His body crashed into a tree amid the woods, then tumbled to the ground.
The monster’s tongue, meters long, coiled around his neck and whipped him around.
‘What strength!’
He struggled to endure, but the power gap was vast.
Ethan was helplessly overpowered.
Sudden weightlessness as his body lifted, then slammed mercilessly into the dirt.
“Gah!”
The full-body impact drew a pained groan.
‘B-balance...’
Getting flung around like this was hopeless.
He needed to regain control and counter.
But the monster gave no such opening.
Thud, thud, thud.
With just its tongue, it swung him wildly.
Ethan couldn’t resist its strength.
The monster dominated him in every way.
Choked, his face had already turned blue.
“Kya aaak!”
It dragged him along roughly.
As if to finish him off.
Death loomed in an instant.
‘D-don’t wanna die!’
He flailed, but escape seemed impossible.
In that moment of despair.
As Ethan thrashed, gripping the tongue, a voice rang in his ear.
“I leon mi chin! Geu sa lam nea lyeo nwa!”
Unintelligible words.
At the same time—shrieeek!
A sharp whoosh cut the air.
“Kieeeek!”
A horrific death cry echoed as the tongue went slack.
“Huhk!”
Gasping in precious air, Ethan saw a black shadow flash overhead.
“Ya i sae kki ya, geo gi seo!”
Coughing violently, he strained to look up.
A shirtless East Asian man leaped onto the fleeing monster’s back.
“Cheon man won!”
With more incomprehensible words, black fluid sprayed into the air.
The monster that had just terrified him with death began crumbling slowly.