The Practical Exam (1)
The moment they passed through the dungeon gate, what appeared before their eyes was a place that looked like a lush forest blended into jungle.
In the original story, the candidates had also been dropped into a forest, so it seemed the exam location hadn't changed after all.
There was a slight dizziness upon passing through the gate, but that was probably just a characteristic of transfer-type gates.
"Ahh, uuuuh…."
"You okay, Cha Eunju?"
"U-uuhyeah… I'm a little dizzy, but…."
Still gripping my hand tightly, she wobbled for a moment before regaining her composure and looking around. Once she confirmed that we'd been dumped smack in the middle of a forest, a clear trace of nervousness showed on her face.
"I-it's really inside a dungeon…. We really made it in…."
"Let me put a buff on you first. If a monster suddenly pops up while we're wandering around, I might not have time to cast it."
"Ah, okay…!"
Cha Eunju reflexively stuck her head out toward me, and I granted her the Potion of Courage before we began a purposeless exploration of the forest. According to the original story, Kim Isabel would probably pass through her gate near the very end, so until then I needed to scope out as much of the surrounding terrain as I could.
-Rustle.
"…!"
"…."
After we'd walked for a few minutes, something rustled behind the trees, and two goblins wielding wooden clubs in one hand each leapt out right in front of Cha Eunju.
'Kerruk!'
'Kehek, keheeek!'
"R-real monsters…."
"Don't panic. Just do what you've always done."
"…Okay."
I could see she was frightened that these were the real thing and not hologram monsters, but when I grabbed her shoulder, her nerves settled somewhat. The instant the creatures lunged at us, the dark magic Cha Eunju conjured flew toward the monsters.
"Sh-Shadow Ball!"
-THUD, thud!
'Kehek….'
Hit square in the face by the Shadow Balls, the pair of goblins coughed up little more than a shallow death rattle and collapsed. Even though today was probably her first time facing real monsters, Cha Eunju overcame her fear and hunted them down cleanly.
"Haah, haah, haah…."
"Good work, Eunju."
"D-did I really kill them…? Real monsters…?"
"Yep. You did great."
"N-no, it wasn't me…. If it weren't for the buff you gave me, it would've been really hard…."
Well, sure, that's technically true. But I'd only given her a single dose of 'courage,' and the fact that she wielded her magic this skillfully on top of it was purely a testament to how good Cha Eunju's ability actually was.
With the mediocre extra-types, you'd have to layer a few extra suggestions onto the Potion of Courage just to get one person's worth of performance out of them.
"Honestly, having you next to me puts my mind at ease, Eunju."
"L-leave it to me! No matter what kind of monster shows up, I'll protect you, Seonho! Wh-whether it's goblins or orcs, o-or even a troll…."
Going by looks alone, she was the type who ought to be the one getting protected — and here she was declaring she'd do the protecting. Still, her ability was one thing I could genuinely rely on, so at this point in time she was my most dependable ally.
"Where should we go now…? The forest is dangerous with monsters popping up out of nowhere, so shouldn't we head for the edge first…?"
"That's a fair point, but let's take care of these first before we go."
"…Huh?"
Leaving Cha Eunju to puzzle over my approach as I walked toward the fallen monsters' corpses, I pulled out the Monster Material Pouch and the self-defense pocketknife we'd received before entering the dungeon.
This practical exam's evaluation criteria weren't limited to simply 'hunting monsters.' Facing real monsters without freezing up, and then harvesting the most valuable parts of each kill to earn income as a 'professional hunter' — all of it counted toward the score.
The official announcement hadn't spelled any of that out; it had merely said 'hunt real monsters.' But the moment they handed out pocketknives and Monster Material Pouches, any student with a quick eye had already figured out the real grading scheme of this exam.
"Judging by how the Academy went out of its way to give us Monster Material Pouches too, material collection after the hunt is probably part of the evaluation."
"Aah, s-so that's it…!"
"Give me your pouch too, Eunju. I'll do the harvesting and pack it for you."
"Th-then I should do it myse—"
"Just hand it over. I can't hunt the monsters myself, so I at least have to do this much."
"…."
At the words at least this much, a flicker of something almost like protest crossed her face — but since the words had come straight out of my mouth, apparently she didn't quite feel like snapping at me the way she had earlier. With that ambiguous expression, she handed over her pouch, and I stored the goblins' hearts inside.
[1/10]
The moment a material went in, the counter printed on the outside of the pouch ticked up by one.
Not only each individual's contribution to the hunt, but also the total value of all the materials collected from monsters defeated inside this dungeon had an enormous impact on a candidate's final ranking in the practical exam.
[1/10]
After storing a goblin's heart in my own pouch alongside Cha Eunju's share, I stood up from where the corpses lay. I didn't bother harvesting the leftover ears, teeth, or hides.
"Let's go. We should go looking for other monsters."
"The, the ears…? I heard that when you hunt goblins, the ears count as proof of the kill, so you're supposed to take them…."
"We took the hearts, so that's proof enough. Besides, the pouch only has ten slots, remember?"
"Uhhyeah…?"
"If you're going to farm goblins for materials anyway, collecting nothing but hearts scores way higher than gathering all sorts of junk parts. Don't think of it as 'I have to somehow fill all ten slots' — think of it as 'I only have ten slots, period.' You know the heart is the most valuable material you can get off a goblin corpse, right, Eunju?"
"Yeah, I know."
"I think my partner is more than capable of taking down twenty goblins or so — or am I asking too much of you?"
"Aah, no! O-of course I can do it! Yes!"
"That's what I thought. That's my Eunju."
She'd already had days where she took down up to thirty hologram monsters in a single session, so a mere twenty wasn't going to wear her down into the dirt.
Though, as it turned out, hunting goblins and nothing but goblins was probably not in the cards.
"Why would you say something like that and ruin the whole mood? Seo Woojin, you're honestly an idiot."
"…I didn't say anything wrong, though."
"Did anyone ask whether you were right or wrong?! There are things you say in front of people and things you don't!"
"…."
"You might be seeing these people constantly once you get into the Academy, and you're already wrecking the atmosphere like this? Hm?"
"…Don't know. I never wanted to talk to them in the first place — she's the one who came up and started chatting me up."
"Haah, seriously…."
Han Sora and Seo Woojin had entered the dungeon shortly after Lee Seonho and Cha Eunju passed through their gate — and Han Sora was berating Seo Woojin with unusual sharpness, perhaps because of what had happened in the waiting room a little while ago.
"S-Sora, honestly, wouldn't you feel suffocated hanging around Support Department kids too? If you're nice to them for no reason, they just start climbing all over you thinking they're actually being useful…."
"You haven't even gotten into the Academy yet. How would you know?"
"E-everyone on the internet says so. That Support Department kids get a little friendly with you and then start acting like they pull their own weight and looking down on you, so the best thing is to just never get close in the first place…."
"Haah, that internet nonsense again? Get a grip, Seo Woojin, please!"
"…."
"And what, exactly, makes you think you pull your own weight? Yesterday you spent a whole hour at the Training Grounds barely killing five goblins. You're in no position to trash-talk anyone else."
"W-well, my ability just hasn't started showing its real effects yet…. And even so, I still fight better than the Support Department kids, don't I…?"
"You always hide behind that same excuse — 'my ability hasn't kicked in yet.' What even is your ability, anyway? Tell me and I'll actually try to help you. Stop clamming up and playing ignorant for years on end."
"N-no…. I can't tell you…."
"…Haah, this is suffocating. I could die."
Why on earth was this person her childhood friend? She'd always thought that even if he lacked ability, at least he was kind at heart — but watching him spew that nonsense at people he'd met for the first time today, Han Sora found herself a little disappointed in Seo Woojin.
His never once revealing his awakened ability — presumed to be a Physical Enhancement Type — and his habit of strangely reciting stories from the internet as if he'd lived through them himself — none of it made any sense to her.
"…."
…But she couldn't just coldly ditch him, either; there were too many years of history between them for that. Torn this way and that, she ended up dragging the dead-weight Seo Woojin around out of nothing more than childhood-friend sentiment.
"Enough — just hurry up and come on. First we need to figure out where we even are."
"B-but what if a monster shows up while we're wandering around blind…?"
"Then we kill it! That's literally why we came in here in the first place! You're the vanguard — how would you feel showing up later than me, the rear guard?"
"W-well, you're stronger than I am anyway, Sora…."
"You're supposed to buy me time so I can actually shoot my bow! Ugh, just hurry up, Seo Woojin!"
"…Fine. Stop yelling…."
They had made it into the dungeon together, one way or another — but the pair was already sputtering and grinding their gears from the very start.
As most of the candidates chose either to enter the dungeon gate or to forfeit, the practical exam waiting room slowly emptied out.
The last two female students remaining in the room stood before the dungeon gate, cautiously exchanging words about whether they should go in at all.
"Will you be okay, Yewon? Real monsters, no matter how you slice it…."
"I'm going in with you anyway, so what's the problem. With my spear and your healing, Isabel, any monster goes down in one hit."
"But what if we get separated inside the dungeon…?"
"Why would I ever get separated and leave you behind, Isabel? Honestly, you worry too much."
"…."
Min Yewon, a Spear Department applicant, and Kim Isabel, a Recovery Department applicant.
Their pair's entry order had been pushed back precisely because they'd spent so long debating whether to step through the gate.
Kim Isabel, of the Recovery Department, had no means of protecting herself whatsoever if the worst happened and she got separated from Min Yewon inside the dungeon. It was true that her healing ability outclassed that of other students her age, but healing alone could never bring down a monster.
Yet her partner Min Yewon kept pressing her to enter together, and in the end Isabel steeled herself and resolved to go through the gate with her.
After all, if she gave up on the 'first-round practical exam' here, it would amount to throwing her partner Min Yewon under the bus as well. They'd known each other for barely three days, but that was hardly a license to be a burden.
"Okay, Yewon. Let's go in."
"Good. Glad you came around."
Some fear still lingered, but with a combat-type comrade at her side, surely they could manage somehow.
Carrying that thought — and a knot of dread alongside it — Kim Isabel stepped into the dungeon gate. And then:
-Tuk.
'…Huh?'
The instant she passed through the gate, she found Min Yewon's hand abruptly let go of hers, and panic seized her.
-Pwack!
The moment she sensed something was wrong and tried to back out again, the dungeon gate swallowed Kim Isabel's body whole.
"Kyaaaah! I-Isabel!"
"…Please stay calm, applicant. If you enter the gate right away, you will most likely not be placed too far from her…."
"Wh-what do I do?! Isabel's a Recovery Type — she can't do anything against monsters by herself! Wh-what am I supposed to do?!"
"It will be fine. The interior of the dungeon is managed by Cheonmu Hunter Academy — no, in any case, a Recovery Type being isolated on her own will not cause any problems."
"Wh-what should I do…? Sh-should I go in right now…? B-but I don't trust myself to handle a monster alone…."
"…Whew."
Before the gate attendant, who let out a troubled sigh, Min Yewon collapsed to the ground with her head clutched in both hands.
…And on the lips of the girl muttering to herself in apparent confusion, an inexplicable smile had softly taken shape.