The Inner World Test
"Alright. Then let's begin the test."
Jin Hyewon stood at the lectern as she spoke.
"Haze. You can go ahead and place the prepared items on the students' desks now."
Haze entered the classroom carrying a large sack from outside. From within it, she began pulling out black stones and setting one on each student's desk.
"What the heck is this?"
"What kind of test are we doing with these?"
All the students wore puzzled expressions.
Before long, a black stone sat on every desk.
"Okay. Everyone has received one black stone, right?"
"Yes."
"Those stones are enchanted with a special curse magic."
"What...?"
"If you touch them, you'll be pulled into the world of demons..."
"!!!"
The children's eyes widened in shock.
"Ah, of course, you won't actually be dragged into the real world of demons. It's all an illusion."
"Oh..."
"These stones carry a unique curse magic used by dark mages. So even though it's only an illusion, it will feel completely real."
"...."
"The test is simple. Defeat the ten monsters there, or find the door that leads back to the real world to clear it."
"....."
"Easy, right? Then we'll start the test immediately. Everyone, please place your hand on the black stone."
I placed my hand on the black stone. In an instant, my mind began to drift away.
Caw— Caw—
When I opened my eyes, barren ochre earth stretched out beneath a crimson moon hanging in the sky. I looked around, but there were no buildings in sight. This was the Demon Realm, currently separated from the human world. The environment here was far harsher than in the human realm.
Groooar—
While I was scanning my surroundings, a chilling sound reached my ears. It came from behind me. I turned my gaze in that direction.
"!!!"
There, I saw a pack of orcs. At a glance, there were more than ten of them. Their red eyes gleamed as they stared at me, poised to charge at any moment.
"..."
I swallowed hard. The monsters in the Demon Realm were incomparably more ferocious and violent than those in the human world. Unlike the human realm, demonic energy permeated every corner of this place, amplifying the monsters' combat power.
If an orc in the human world had a combat strength of 10, one in the Demon Realm would have around 100.
Boom— Boom—
The pack of orcs that had been glaring at me began charging straight toward me. The ground shook with their approach.
"...."
I watched the orc pack drawing closer and closer. Thinking coldly, I had no chance. After all, I could barely defeat a single orc from the human world. Yet these orcs rushing at me now were far stronger due to the Demon Realm's amplification. And there weren't just one or two—there were a full ten of them. There was no way I could win.
The fastest orc reached right in front of me. It swiftly raised the club it was holding high into the air.
Whoosh—
The club came hurtling down toward my head at terrifying speed. But I simply stood there without moving. I didn't even try to dodge.
Boom—
The orc's club smashed into my head. Yet no blood sprayed from my skull. In fact, it wasn't just that there was no blood—I was completely unharmed.
Urrgh—?
The orc stumbled backward in confusion. I grinned.
Just as I thought. This world was created by an illusion. In other words, it was my inner world. And within this inner world, I held absolute power.
Skill 4 - 'Mental Barrier' - Grants absolute power within the inner world.
I approached the retreating orc and lightly swung my fist. A massive hole punched straight through its stomach.
Boom—
The orc collapsed. I looked at the remaining orcs and smiled again.
Jin Hyewon scanned the students. It seemed all of them had safely entered the world of demons.
"Good. We can start now. Haze, from here on we'll enter the inner worlds the students are experiencing."
"Understood."
Jin Hyewon and Haze placed their hands on the black stone in front of the student at the very front. In an instant, both of them entered that student's inner world. Before their eyes, the Demon Realm unfolded once more.
"Haze, let's head into the air."
"Yes, understood."
Their bodies began to float upward. They looked down below.
Groooar—
A single orc had spotted a student and was charging toward them.
"An orc dares to rush in without fear?"
The student smirked and began gathering magic power in his hand.
Whoosh—
A fireball formed in the student's palm. He hurled it at the orc.
Boom—
The fireball struck the orc dead on. It was instantly engulfed in flames.
The student let out a small laugh.
"Orcs are easy. All I have to do is kill ten of them to pass the test, right?"
He turned around, intending to go hunt the other orcs. At that moment—
Groooar—
A horrifying sound came from behind him. The student turned to look.
Bang— Bang—
"!!!"
The orc that had been hit by the fireball was charging straight at him again. Its skin only had faint scorch marks.
"How is this possible?"
The student bit his lip hard. Then he turned and began to run. He couldn't understand the situation, but he clearly realized these orcs were nothing like the ones he usually saw.
"In that case, I have no choice but to run and look for the door."
He fled from the orc while searching for the exit.
Haze tilted her head as she watched the scene.
"Lady Hyewon."
"What is it?"
"Didn't you say that defeating ten monsters would clear the test?"
"I did."
"But in this Demon Realm, the monsters' combat power is massively amplified, isn't it?"
"That's right."
"When you said defeating ten monsters would pass the test, I assumed you'd placed something like goblins. Only something that weak would let the students actually defeat them."
Jin Hyewon gave a small laugh.
"The ten monsters were never meant to be defeated for a pass."
"What? Then what was the point...?"
"I wanted to teach the students something in this test. When you face monsters you absolutely cannot defeat, you need to quickly switch to the next strategy."
"Ah... I see."
"So the key to passing this test is how quickly they change course and start looking for the door."
"Oh. So that's how it is."
"In that regard, this student wasn't bad at all."
"I agree. Shall we move on to the next student?"
"The next one is someone I'm quite looking forward to."
"You mean that boy, Radeon?"
"Yeah. I'm expecting a lot from him."
They soon entered Radeon's inner world. The moment they stepped inside, loud impact sounds rang out.
Bang— Bang—
An orc was swinging its club at Radeon. He dodged the blow and slashed his sword at the orc.
Swoosh—
Groooar—
The orc's left ankle flew off. It lost its balance and collapsed instantly. Radeon didn't miss the opening.
Stab—
He drove his sword into the orc's neck. Its heartbeat stopped. Behind him, the corpses of six other orcs already lay piled up.
"Oh ho."
Jin Hyewon's eyes sparkled.
"Even if it's only six, killing orcs whose combat power is amplified in the Demon Realm is impressive, isn't it?"
"I'm quite surprised too. But that's all. Watch closely."
Jin Hyewon pointed at Radeon.
"Huff... Huff..."
Radeon was breathing heavily.
"He used up too much energy just killing six orcs. He probably won't be able to handle any more."
"Then in the end, Radeon will also switch to searching for the door."
"Of course. That was the evaluation's intention from the start. Still, he's definitely a student worth keeping an eye on."
"Shall we check on the next student?"
"Yes. Let's go."
They returned to the real world.
"The next student is Nam Doyun."
"Let's head in."
They entered Nam Doyun's inner world.
"What? Where is he?"
Even after entering the inner world, they couldn't see Nam Doyun anywhere.
"Where did this kid go? Haze, look around."
"Understood."
Haze began searching the area. Then, she reached a certain spot and froze with a look of utter shock.
"L-Lady Jin Hyewon. Please come here quickly."
"Why? Did you find him?"
"No, that's not it. I don't even know how to explain this."
"What is it?"
Jin Hyewon quickly ran over to Haze.
".....What the hell is this?"
When Jin Hyewon arrived at the spot, she muttered in disbelief.
"...I'm not seeing this wrong, am I?"
Before Jin Hyewon and Haze stood a mountain of corpses—ten orcs whose power had been amplified by demonic energy, all piled up like a bloody hill.