Chapter 148
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 148: How to Get a License (3)
The Provisional Hunter License exam is a survival format. That's why the exam continues for several days.
'It's an exam to see if you can survive for a long time in a danger zone!'
Just as Yggdrasil said, scores are given based on how long all team members can survive on a dangerous island swarming with monsters, and how many monsters they hunt. We had to defeat a certain number of monsters over 3 days, and all team members had to avoid serious injury. The exam organizers transported the student teams to the island by boat. Thankfully, no one in our group got seasick, but we saw others who were vomiting.
"This looks tough…"
"I know. First, let's go somewhere high and look at the overall terrain."
At Na Yuhan's suggestion, we headed for the mountain in the center of the island. A few monsters attacked us on the way, but it wasn't a problem. As we walked, we occasionally ran into other examinees. They were all Academy students, of course. We had become quite famous, so we were met with a variety of reactions.
"Hi!"
"That's them…"
"That brown-haired, green-eyed one... Savior-nim?"
"Those blood-red eyes…! It's the Devil."
…The fact that the Tower God Cult kids' words were mixed in must be my imagination. It bothered me, but the exam was only a few days. I forced myself to look away. They can go their way, and we'll go ours. We probably won't get involved. That's what I thought.
"We're at the summit!"
Vast nature slowly revealed itself before Kang Yu, who was running excitedly. Once at the top, we could roughly see the island's terrain. To the east of the mountain, a large lake was spread out. From the lake, a large river and small streams flowed toward the south of the island. To the west of the mountain, a field, a savanna-like environment, was formed. The north was the direction we came from, which was a forest.
"It seems best to stay in the east or south. There's a water source, and we can probably get food from fish."
“Won't monsters frequently show up to drink water?”
"We just have to set up camp reasonably far from the water source. It'd be nice if there was a cave..."
I listened to Na Yuhan and Park Siwoo's conversation and scanned the island again. Through the dense forest, I could see various scenes of people fighting monsters and running away.
“Giving us only two combat rations means we have to find our own food, right? That's too much.”
"I'm good at catching fish!"
"Me too~ I even know how to smoke them."
Shin Baran, who was picky about food, as expected of a girl from a rich family, sighed and lamented. But Kang Yu and Choi Sujeong excitedly stepped up, saying they would go fishing. Maybe because she's a cat, Choi Sujeong looked excited at the thought of catching fish. Or not. Don't cats hate water?Kang Yu is a mermaid hybrid, so he likes water.…But a mermaid eating fish is, uh… um. I don't know. I gave up thinking about it.
“Then how about we go east? The calm water seems better for fishing. The river looks pretty narrow, and it seems like the lake is a better place for Hana-sunbae and Kang Yu to use their powers.”
"Yeah. Let's head down the mountain that way."
Lee Hana supported my opinion, and we decided to move east. We encountered a sheer cliff on the way down, but thanks to Choi Sujeong's wind ability, we were able to descend safely. Na Yuhan, in particular, let out a sigh of relief. After descending the cliff, we saw a small cave that had been hidden below.
"Isn't this place good? It's a good distance from the lake!"
“You're right. It must have been hidden by the cliff. We're lucky no one else has found it yet. Should we make this our hideout?”
Na Yuhan agreed with Min Jaeyun and asked us.
"As long as we explore the inside a bit more and it's safe, it should be fine."
"Exploration! I hope there's something interesting!!!"
“...Just don't go causing an incident.”
"Hey, what do you take us for?"
"The source of all incidents."
At the word 'exploration', Park Yul-ah and Kim Kang-ha's eyes lit up. I just smiled awkwardly as Na Yuri, terrified, hastily stopped them. She's going through a lot… Thankfully, the inside looked like a normal, empty cave.
"We didn't go all the way to the back... but at least as far as we explored, it looked like a normal cave."
"Aww..."
"Man..."
"That's a good thing!"
We were relieved at the words of Na Yuri, who had returned from exploring with the whining invention combo. It was a relief that she took that combo and no incident occurred.... We confirmed there were no problems inside, but just in case, Lee Hana put up a thick ice wall in the deeper part. I tapped the sturdy ice wall with my fingertip.
"It feels safe with the ice wall back there."
"Yeah. I made it pretty thick."
“This is great. When we sleep later, could I ask you to put one at the entrance, Sunbae?”
"Got it."
Lee Hana readily agreed to Na Yuhan's request. Na Yuhan grinned and clapped his hands lightly to get our attention.
"Alright, let's split into a team to guard the hideout and a team to go hunting!"
"Okay. Hunting as in, monster hunting?"
"Right. We have to hunt a certain number of monsters, too. Ah, and we'll be fishing at the lake, so Kang Yu is a required member of the Hunting Team."
It seemed Na Yuhan was planning to actively use Kang Yu's abilities. Kang Yu glared at Na Yuhan, as if he didn't want to listen to his orders, but he obediently nodded. Good boy.
"Then I'll join the Hunting Team."
"Yes. Hana-sunbae has synergy with Kang Yu…"
“Ah, then I'll stay at the hideout.”
"Right. Yuri is on the Hideout Team. The rest?"
"I'll..."
After discussing, the Hunting Team consisted of Na Yuhan, Lee Hana, Kang Yu, me, and Choi Sujeong. The Hideout Team was Kim Kang-ha, Na Yuri, Shin Baran, Min Jaeyun, Park Siwoo, and Park Yul-ah. I said goodbye to the Hideout Team and headed to the lake with the Hunting Team. On the way to the lake, monsters occasionally appeared. Each time, we hunted them, both to meet our quota and to clear out the area near our hideout. When we reached the lakeside, Choi Sujeong ran ahead, wagging her tail.
“We're here~”
“It’s huge!”
"Yeah. Bigger than I thought."
Kang Yu was amazed, and Lee Hana agreed. I also nodded in agreement. The lake was shining a beautiful blue, reflecting the sunlight. The water was very clear, but it looked so deep that it was impossible to gauge its depth. We could see schools of monsters swimming in the lake, and other teams fighting monster packs that had come to drink. The sound of combat mixed with the peaceful scenery. Na Yuhan pointed at another team that was easily defeating a monster pack.
"There's another team over there. Looks like they're hunting."
"You're right. They're good fighters!"
The battle seemed to be ending, so we didn't intervene. Na Yuhan gathered us and gave a simple briefing.
"We'll focus on hunting the monsters in the lake. First, Kang Yu binds them with water. Second, Hana-sunbae freezes them. Last, Sujeong-sunbae slices them with wind. Nahyun, you watch the process and stay alert for any variables or abnormalities."
“Okay!”
"Let's target that Turtle Shark swimming over there first. Turtle Sharks are—"
While listening to Na Yuhan's plan, I felt a hostile gaze. It was a chilling stare, as if someone was scanning us up and down. I shivered. It's not killing intent. Is it a monster? I lifted my head slightly to look, but over there, there were only monster corpses and people. The people who looked like another team were whispering amongst themselves, looking this way. But when our eyes met, they instantly sent a friendly gaze. Their appearance, smiling and waving, was not at all hostile. ...What was that?
“Nahyun? What's wrong?”
“Ah, nothing! I thought those people over there were looking at us!”
“Over there?”
The people who had been looking at me kindly immediately scowled or turned cold the moment Na Yuhan looked up. Na Yuhan frowned as he received their fierce glares.
“Are they wary of us? Let's be careful.”
“Uh, yeah…”
...What was that, really? I felt uneasy. But regardless, they seemed to have finished their conversation and left. …Well, it's probably fine. They're gone. I erased the ominous premonition. Let's focus on the hunt.
The hunt went smoothly.
“Kang Yu!”
“I know!”
Kang Yu, who seemed to have gotten much better at handling his mana, bound only the monster pack with water, just as Na Yuhan had directed. Then, Lee Hana froze the group, and Choi Sujeong shattered them with wind. As the last Turtle Shark pack in the lake was sliced apart, Na Yuhan let out a sound of triumph.
“Done!”
“That's the fifth one~ This is more than enough to meet the quota!”
"Yeah. Starting tomorrow, we should be fine if we just keep our guard up."
I agreed with Choi Sujeong's words. Lee Hana nodded in agreement and said.
“Now we just need to gather food.”
“Yes. Let's! The monsters around here seem to have fled, so everyone, drop your combat stance!”
The moment Na Yuhan grinned and dismissed his shield, Swiiish—!
“...!”
An arrow shot from somewhere, aimed at Na Yuhan's head. Choi Sujeong, reacting quickly, created a barrier of wind. Padeudeuk—! It was an arrow, snapped by the wind.
“...An arrow?”
And it was a 'tool' that a monster was unlikely to use. A person?Someone attacked us?
“Who's there!”
At Choi Sujeong's shout, I felt a presence quickly moving away. But we stood in silence for a while. Na Yuhan muttered. "Who on earth... why?"
Someone is targeting us. The moment I realized that, goosebumps rose on my skin. Who on earth is targeting us? Na Yuhan, his expression frighteningly hard, said.
“Let's return, for now. We don't know where another attack might come from.”
“Yeah. That sounds good.”
I tried my best to answer nonchalantly. Calm down.Think rationally.Who? What faction? The Wild Hunt?No, it could just be another team trying to get an edge….Damn it, I don't have enough information.Why were they aiming for Na Yuhan?
“Noona….”
I must have been showing how bad I felt while lost in thought, because I felt Kang Yu gently grab my arm. I snapped out of it and looked at Kang Yu, forcing a smile.
“What's wrong? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I'm fine. You?”
“Uh-huh…”
Kang Yu looked like he wanted to say something, but he just hesitated and then closed his mouth. I stroked his back.
"We're here. Let's go in."
Hearing Na Yuhan, I looked and saw our cave. We had arrived very quickly, probably thanks to Choi Sujeong's wind. The group that had stayed at the hideout greeted us cheerfully, but seeing our grim expressions, they seemed to realize something had happened.
“What's wrong?”
“We were ambushed.”
“Ambushed? By who?”
“We don't know.”
Park Siwoo asked, his face hardening. Na Yuhan answered him seriously, but as expected, he couldn't give a proper answer due to the lack of information.
“Umm… maybe it was just some nasty sunbaes?”
Shin Baran agreed with Park Yul-ah's sudden comment.
“That's probably the most likely. Or maybe they were hired by the researcher faction.”
“Researchers? Me?”
“It's a thing.”
At Shin Baran's words, the mood sank once more.
“Other teams might be targeting us, but it's also possible an outside force is targeting us, taking advantage of the fact that we're outside the Academy.”
“Yeah. This is the perfect environment to target us... and we're involved with so many factions.”
Na Yuhan nodded at my reply and said.
"In any case… let's be more careful with our defense. Should we set up a night watch? Hana-sunbae, could you freeze the entrance?"
“Okay.”
Lee Hana quickly blocked the entrance with thick ice. Na Yuhan, who let out a sigh of relief, said.
"We don't need to hunt any more monsters, so from now on, let's focus on securing food. We'll also need to be more careful of our surroundings. And avoid contact with other teams as much as possible…”
“You mean move stealthily~?”
“Yes. Which is why I think we'll need your help, Sunbae.”
“Hmm, well, my wind ability is helpful for moving stealthily!”
Na Yuhan nodded at Choi Sujeong's words.
"The away team will move stealthily with Sujeong-sunbae."
“Got it.”
“Then the rough plan is set… Should we rest for today? What about the night watch?”
“Let's leave Yuhan-ssi out. He's useless for anything else.”
“...That's so mean.”
Na Yuri's harsh assessment made Na Yuhan grumble, but it was true, so no one denied it. We decided to set up the night watch in a two-person rotation. The first team was Park Siwoo and Na Yuri. We could rest easy with them. I told them I was counting on them, then took out my sleeping bag and carefully settled in. Kang Yu immediately ran over and claimed the spot next to me, and Na Yuri quickly laid her sleeping bag down on my other side. She said she was definitely going to sleep there later, so don't move it. Cute.
“Good night!”
“Yeah. Wake me up later.”
I said a final good night to Na Yuri and went to sleep. …If only it had been a peaceful night. Unfortunately, it seemed our attackers had no intention of giving us a peaceful night.
Kung—! Kung—! I hear a heavy pounding on the ice wall. Reacting to the noise, I quickly opened my eyes and got out of my sleeping bag. It seemed to be the same for everyone except Na Yuhan. I saw Kang Yu angrily kicking Na Yuhan's sleeping bag to wake him up.
Thwack—! “Get up!” “Ugh…!”
The sleeping bag rolled, and Na Yuhan rolled with it. He groaned and tumbled out. "Wh-what's going on?"
"An ambush."
A very bold one, for an ambush.Kwajik, Clang—! The ice wall shattered. Na Yuhan immediately unfurled his flag and deployed a shield. A dagger, blocked by the shield, ricocheted off with a clang.
"Tch, Devil! A cheap trick…!"
"Who are you? Why are you attacking us?"
I shouted, and the attacker who looked at me smiled.
“Savior-nim! It's a pleasure to meet you! I am merely here to execute the devil. Please step aside!"