Chapter 208: Hunter Qualification Exam (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 208: Hunter Qualification Exam (5)
About a thousand people entered the maze, each heading in a different direction.
“Good luck.”
The supervisor’s dry words were followed by the closing of the door, and then, darkness fell.
A pitch-black darkness where you couldn’t see an inch in front of you.
There was no exaggeration or falsehood in that statement.
The darkness before me was, quite literally, designed to prevent the very act of seeing.
“Not much has changed.”
Was it about ten years ago?
There was a time when shocking news splashed across the headlines: in a newly unveiled exam, all 400 applicants who had made it to the final stage had declared their withdrawal.
Back then, I was still young enough to be driven by a curiosity for the unknown.
What kind of test could have possibly made those applicants, who so desperately wished to become Hunters, cry forfeit at the final hurdle?
“It was definitely… a test worth giving up on.”
That was the one thought I had after I personally requested to experience the ‘Maze of Darkness’ at the Association.
This test wasn't designed to be passed.
A vast maze of indeterminable size, filled with all sorts of traps.
If that were all, there might have been some applicants who could have made it through.
But there was a bigger problem.
“The real issue is having to pass through all this with your vision completely blocked.”
The darkness that filled the maze narrowed one’s vision to an extreme degree.
You could literally only see an inch in front of your face. The biggest problem was that a single misstep could lead to an irreversible mistake.
And one more thing.
“Aaaargh…!”
The desperate scream of an applicant echoed from somewhere far away.
Every time I heard it, my heart would clench.
The vague fear that I might be the next one to scream would wash over me.
“But it’s certainly effective at weeding people out.”
As terrifying and difficult as it was, it was undeniably effective at determining superiority.
Mental fortitude, physical strength, judgment, crisis management skills, and more.
Only by demonstrating a balanced set of skills required of a Hunter could one hope to pass through this place.
“…Though that doesn’t apply to me.”
Even in Son Si-woo’s S-rank Hunter body, I couldn’t see through the darkness filling this maze.
I was so curious about what it was made of that I even asked.
Of course, I never got an answer.
The creator insisted it was a trade secret and refused to tell even the Association staff.
But this body could see through that secret.
I could see both the principle behind the vision-blocking darkness and the landscape of the maze beyond it. All of it.
Goosebumps prickled all over my skin.
“What in the world kind of eyes are these?”
To so naturally overcome a darkness that even an S-rank Hunter’s eyes couldn’t penetrate, as easily as breathing.
The bleak landscape of the maze, which I hadn’t been able to see back then, came into view.
It was as if a giant medieval maze had been recreated; the crude and rough structures paradoxically added to the sense of realism.
“…Agh, what a letdown.”
Before I entered, my heart had been pounding for the first time in a while.
Although I had passed through it easily in Son Si-woo’s body, it was undoubtedly an interesting place.
I thought that with a weaker body, I might be able to enjoy this maze even more…
“I can’t believe I’d solve the puzzle this easily.”
I had even figured out the true nature of the darkness filling the maze.
As I had roughly expected, it was an artificial darkness created by a magic circle.
To be precise, a massive magic circle was drawn right on the ceiling. It was a modified version of the spell formula for ‘Blind,’ a curse magic that blocks a target’s vision, but this one designated the entire space as the target instead of a person.
Of course, everyone who entered here would have their vision blocked, so the only ones who knew this were likely the maze’s creator and me.
“Hmm.”
The exam would last for a total of three days.
Within those three days, you either had to pass through the entire maze or be one of the 100 people closest to the exit to earn a license.
The latter was a new condition added to this year’s exam, and frankly, it was the right call.
As I said before, this test wasn’t on a level that applicants could pass.
The hope that they could become Hunters just by being close to the exit would be a lifeline, preventing them from giving up as easily as the applicants from ten years ago.
“Can’t be helped.”
I couldn’t just stand here disappointed by the diminished challenge.
Nor did I want to breeze through the maze like drinking a flat soda.
If the maze’s darkness couldn’t blind me, then I had no choice.
“I’ll just have to cover them myself.”
Even these overpowered eyes couldn’t see through my own eyelids.
As I closed my eyes, the conditions were finally the same as the other applicants.
No, wait. The others can at least see an inch ahead, so am I at more of a disadvantage?
Not bad.
“A handicap like this is nothing.”
I sharpened all my senses and took a step forward.
* * *
What was a terrifying ordeal for the applicants was nothing more than an interesting spectacle for the audience watching.
“Wow… he dodged that?”
The scouters from various guilds.
With intrigued eyes, they were glued to the monitors that filled one entire wall.
The worst exam, resumed after a ten-year hiatus.
Anyone who distinguished themselves here would be a prize that guilds would be desperate to acquire.
“How much time has passed?”
“Twenty-three hours and forty-two minutes.”
“…You’ve been counting all this time?”
“You’re probably the only one here who can’t see the timer displayed at the bottom of the monitor.”
“Ahem…! I’m just tired, that’s all.”
Nearly twenty-four hours had passed since the applicants began wandering the dark maze.
Three hundred had been eliminated, unable to overcome the traps that triggered without warning in the pitch-blackness. Another two hundred had fled from the terror of the oppressive darkness and the continuous screams.
In just one day, nearly half the participants had already been eliminated.
“At this rate, no one’s going to make it through the maze.”
“You’d probably have to be an active B-rank or higher to get through that maze safely, I’d think.”
“It really is… a vicious place.”
In the top-left corner, a monitor showing the area around the maze’s exit sat alone.
But no one even glanced in its direction.
They were all certain that no applicant would ever reach it.
That’s what they thought.
But the gaze of a scouter, who had tilted his head back to take a sip of water, happened to fall upon it.
“Pfft—!?”
The water he was about to drink sprayed out, drenching his surroundings.
“What are you doing!”
“I don’t have a change of clothes…!”
Despite the protests around him, the man stared blankly at the monitor and pointed a finger at what he was seeing.
“Look over there…”
The other scouters’ attention was drawn, and their eyes all turned in the direction he was pointing.
“What’s there to see… huh, huh?”
There was something.
A long, dark shadow was cast within the CCTV’s range.
As they stared, dumbfounded, at the human figure that had appeared out of nowhere…
A man suddenly emerged, making them doubt their own eyes.
It was a familiar face.
A man who had been trending on SNS and had firmly caught the scouters’ attention with his unbelievable skills throughout the qualification exam.
“K-Kim Do-jin…?”
Twenty-three hours and forty-eight minutes after the fourth exam began.
Shattering the scouters’ confident declarations that no applicant would ever pass through the exit…
Clank!
Kim Do-jin pushed the exit door open.
* * *
Sight plays a huge role in combat.
Of course, none of the five senses are unimportant, but it’s an undeniable fact that the less skilled you are, the more you rely on your vision.
However, when clearing dungeons, moments often arise when you have to doubt your own eyes.
Like now, when your vision is completely blocked, or when the truth is buried within an illusion.
In situations like these, where what you see is the only truth, yet it isn’t real, how are you supposed to find the answer?
The answer is simple.
If you can’t see, you have no choice but to listen, smell, taste, and feel.
To be precise, you have to mobilize all your remaining senses to overcome the situation.
“Whoops.”
By reading the flow of mana churning around me, I sidestepped a magic trap that would have erupted in flames if I’d stepped on it.
A sour, musty smell allowed me to avoid a swamp that would have swallowed me whole the moment I stepped in.
CRASH!
I dodged the fist of a golem hurtling toward me, guided by the sound of it tearing through the air, and countered.
Broadly speaking, there are two ways to get through this maze.
Either rely on your other senses instead of sight to disable traps and find your way, like I’m doing now.
Or, rely on that mere inch of vision to move slowly but cautiously.
“Either way is difficult. Especially for Hunter aspirants.”
Neither path is easy.
Mastering all five senses was a skill so complex that even I only managed to learn it when I was on the verge of advancing from B-rank to A-rank. There was no way these chicks could do it.
As for advancing by relying on an inch of sight… well.
In the silent darkness, one second feels like ten.
Could they maintain their focus for three whole days while time crawled by so slowly?
I doubt it.
“I wonder if my kids are doing okay.”
For my team, this test was the absolute worst matchup.
Why?
Because despite their outstanding abilities, their bodies and minds were still those of fresh twenty-year-olds.
They were legally adults, but still a bit immature to be considered fully grown. It’s a time of life that is brilliant and beautiful, but also mentally volatile.
I wondered if they could display their true skills in a test that required such strong mental fortitude.
“…They’ll probably be fine.”
For a brief moment.
I considered helping them, but I decided against it.
As members of my team, they have to become the best in the industry. I can’t let them step into the world of professional Hunters without being able to overcome something like this on their own.
If they fail, they’ll just have to train harder and aim for the next chance.
“Ah.”
Lost in thought as I walked, I reached the end before I knew it.
How much time had passed?
“Has it been about a day?”
I didn’t know for sure, but that seemed about right.
I finally opened my closed eyes and grasped the doorknob hanging on the crude wall.
Clank!
A stream of light poured in from beyond the stiffly opening door.
“Whoa.”
My vision flashed as if I’d been hit by a flashbang, then gradually recovered.
A small waiting room.
Two supervisors stared at me, their mouths agape, with expressions of disbelief.
“This is the exit, right?”
My playful question finally snapped them out of it, and they hastily composed their slackened expressions.
“…Ahem! That is correct.”
“Congratulations on passing the exam, Applicant Kim Do-jin.”
The supervisors fumbled, whispering into the radios clipped to their ears.
Well, I couldn’t blame them for reacting that way.
They probably never imagined an applicant would actually make it through that door.
“I’d like to go to my room and get some rest. Is that okay?”
“Yes.”
I walked past the flustered supervisors, through the waiting room where we had received our emergency rescue devices before entering.
As I waited for the elevator to go up, the area near the maze entrance grew noisy.
Wondering what was going on, I turned my head to see an applicant being carried out on a stretcher.
“Must have gotten caught in a trap…”
The supervisors holding the stretcher approached me.
My gaze naturally shifted to the stretcher as it came to a stop beside me.
Through the transparent oxygen mask covering her face, I could see features twisted in agony.
At the sight of that incredibly familiar face, my heart, which hadn’t beaten fast once inside the maze, began to pound.
As if in disbelief, my trembling lips called her name on their own.
“…Seo-yeon?”