The Second Gate Beckons
“Since time has passed and the promise we made is nearly fulfilled, let us begin explaining the second gate of the Danju Selection.”
A full hour had passed, and Feygal appeared once more with the other Danjus, exactly as agreed.
“The second gate evaluates the participants’ teamwork and trust, along with their physical strength and endurance, in a comprehensive manner. What do you say? Just thinking about it sounds incredibly fun, doesn’t it?”
““…”
Feygal spoke with a carefree air, yet no one rushed to agree with his playful remark.
“Isn’t it? Well, if not… Then there’s nothing to be done about it. Here, could you open the door for me?”
On Feygal’s instruction, the guides waiting near the entrance pushed open the enormous doors that had been blocking the building from both inside and out.
The exterior was pitch black, with nothing visible at all. Only the occasional flickering lights on the distant mountain peaks dimly illuminated the mountain’s shape.
“The second gate is simple. See that blinking light atop the peak over there? Just reach it with your team, and you’re done. However, if even one of the three among you reaches it, the entire team passes.”
Without any further elaboration, he simply declared that reaching the peak was all that was required. If one were to listen only to Feygal’s words, the difficulty of this second gate did not seem particularly high.
In theory, if all participants simply ran silently toward the mountain, even the first-gate passers could have all passed. But the other participants would never obey so obediently.
Even if they laughed and ran toward the peak without any competition, the Danjus would never allow them to do so in peace. Immediately after Feygal finished speaking, several participants’ bodies twitched, their eyes shifting with subtle changes, as if something was up to no good.
“The deadline is determined by the time you see the sun rising over that mountain peak. Since it’s winter and sunrise is late, and the goal is right in front of you, this should be a piece of cake for everyone, right?”
“Right in front of you? Who has such a long nose that they call something so close?”
Murmuring among themselves as they formed teams, Feygal crossed his arms with a relaxed expression.
“Hm, with only three jins left until the test ends, do you really have time to chat?”
Hearing Feygal’s words, the participants nodded solemnly with their teammates, then rushed out of the building in a surge.
“So the real beginning of the Danju Selection has finally arrived…”
Watching the departing participants, Sixth Danju Cheongseol smiled faintly.
“This time, quite a few promising ones were seen. How did everyone do?”
“I’m seeing someone eat more than me for the first time. Ugh—! Still full. I can’t eat anymore.”
“I’m personally curious about the person who deciphered my Ineung.”
“You say you deciphered Eper’s Ineung? Hm, are you from the same family?”
With his burly frame, Sixth Danju Junggyeong, alongside Mangho, cleverly deduced Eper’s circumstances.
“I had a really fun kid too! An extremely bright blond-haired child. I bet you’d understand what I say in one try, and in twenty tries you’d get it instantly. What about you, Sixth Danju Cheongseol?”
A woman of petite build, similar to Cheongseol, asked her quietly.
“I… I enjoyed it. To directly meet the successor of that person who owns the Oparts…”
“Kyahaha! That child truly must have been impressive!”
“N-no, that’s not it. Don’t tease me, Mari. Sixth Danju.”
Mari, floating lazily in the air on something fluffy-looking, blushed shyly as she watched Cheongseol and waved her hand.
“It’s fine. Dwarfs can’t use their legs if they’re machines, right? By the way, I heard a few Chimera participated this time. I don’t mind, but is Sixth Danju Cheongseol okay with it?”
“Yes… it’s fine. The conflict between Dwarfs and Chimera is something that only concerns the Floating Continent, so it can’t be an issue here on the main continent…”
“Ugh… What? Chimera? Why are the Chimera that should be on the Floating Continent participating here?”
Sixth Danju Cheoyong, shaking a bell on a branch, turned his head toward Mari.
“The Regent, the Dean, and the Ambassador gave strong recommendations. And if you think about it that way, Sixth Danju Cheongseol and Mari are also from the Floating Continent, aren’t they?”
Feygal pointed out to Cheoyong the point he had overlooked, instead of Mari.
“Even the Ambassador and Dean, sure. But what about the Regent? Is a royal family member involved? Then there’s nothing to be done.”
“…”
“Speaking of which, how about stopping shaking that bell? I can’t sleep because of the sound because of you! You’re driving me insane.”
With a glare, Feygal grumbled to Cheoyong, then pulled a small box from his pocket.
“Sixth Danju Feygal, how did you do? Did you have any particularly memorable participants?”
Flick, flick.
Feygal struck flint against flint to make a fire and lit a long cigar from the box with the flame.
“I had some too.”
“Oh? Who was that?”
Junggyeong let out a soft exclamation and lit up with sparkling eyes.
“He was a cocky guy from the same family as you. Unlike the other participants who were just trying to survive, he fought desperately to win until the end. If he had continued, he might have taken a hit.”
“Since the topic of the test has come up, didn’t you set the passing criteria too high for this test?”
“You were talking about the completed test. Why are you bringing it up again now?”
Eper spoke in a soothing tone as if scolding him, and Feygal erupted.
“In other Danjus’ tests, the average passing rate is just under 70 percent, but in your test center it barely exceeded 20 percent. Isn’t that too strict?”
“That’s actually what I’d say. The overall passing rate for the first gate is just over 60 percent, yet everyone thinks it was too lenient? And your passing rate isn’t exactly low either. It’s below half, same as the others.”
“Among the participants you eliminated, there were strong ones who reached even the third gate. I feel sorry for those with such talent to be dropped right at the first gate.”
“If they couldn’t even pass your test, they were bound to fail the second gate anyway.”
Feygal narrowed his eyes slightly and continued his rebuttal, exhaling smoke.
“The evaluation method for each test is up to the individual test administrator’s discretion, isn’t it? Just as you evaluated the mental aspect, I only evaluated the physical aspect.”
“It wasn’t the method, but the criteria that was the problem. The first gate should have had criteria suitable for the first gate. Moreover, having the tired ones take the second gate right after isn’t fair, is it?”
“Luck is also a factor. Besides, I passed those who would easily reach at least the third or fourth gate, so even if they took the second gate immediately, there shouldn’t be any issue.”
“No… first, both of you should calm down…”
“Yes. Both of you seem too excited…”
Junggyeong and Cheongseol tried to interject between them, but the two with lit cigars refused to stop despite their colleagues’ warnings.
“Isn’t it the right time to break through the difficulties and fully awaken one’s latent potential?”
“Even potential has its own nature. A participant who barely scraped through the first gate becomes so strong that they reach the final gate? That’s nonsense. If anything, it’s better to drop them early rather than pushing them hard on my side.”
“…”
“Do you have a complaint about my method? Then, shall we re-evaluate who among the Sixth Danjus is the strongest?”
Eper and Feygal clashed over vastly different philosophies, but none of it was anyone’s fault.
It was merely a difference in thinking.
The optimistic view advocated broadening opportunities and waiting a little for latent potential to bloom.
The realistic view advocated looking at the situation coldly, preventing pointless expectations, and preventing mistakes in advance.
The other Danjus, knowing this could not be resolved by right or wrong, quickly stepped in to mediate their argument.
“Whoa! You people! Why are you going in that direction! Stop it. There’s a mountain of work to do even in this gate, so don’t hurry. Everyone, get ready.”
“Yeah, enough already. Why do you two fight like it’s every day? Don’t you get tired of it?”
Tsk.
Feygal clicked his tongue, flicked the extinguished cigar to the ground, and left first.
“Mari! Where are you going alone! Come with me, Mandy!”
Jingle, jingle!
Cheoyong shook his bell and chased after Feygal.
***
Nearly one jinn had passed since the second gate began.
Teraden and Blanser, who were the most competitive and battle-hungry among everyone, insisted on breaking through head-on, but the majority vote leaned toward taking a safe approach.
In such a situation, avoiding contact and competition with other teams as much as possible was the best course, and to pass, choosing the safe path was the wisest decision.
Therefore, after leaving the starting point, we decided not to climb the mountain directly but to go back to the opposite side and climb the rough mountainous region instead.
“Hah, haack…”
Teraden, climbing the mountain, panted heavily.
The terrain was extremely steep.
Besides the impossible slope, the ground was covered in darkness, making it hard to distinguish objects even with eyes adapted to the dark.
Even considering that speed could increase after sunrise, the mountain was so high and treacherous that one had to run without a break for three jins to pass.
Clearly, there was a reason this gate required teamwork, physical strength, and endurance.
“Aaaah!”
“Kyo-oooh!!”
Hearing screams echoing from quite a distance, it seemed the Danjus had put in a lot of effort for this second gate.
“Huh? What kind of sound is th— Hyung! That’s a ghost!”
Blanser suddenly pointed toward a thick grove and shouted at the top of his lungs.
In the place Blanser pointed, there was a figure wearing white cloth head-to-toe, with holes only at the positions of the eyes, nose, and mouth, which was creepy enough.
But that… No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t a ghost; it was someone in a disguise. Were they really going to fall for that?
“Seriously. What kind of ghost? There’s no such thing as a ghost in this world…”
Laughing, Teraden turned to look where Blanser had pointed and suddenly froze stiff.
“Teraden? Did you faint standing up?”
“Hyung—!!”
“Snap out of it!”
“Nheek…”
Teraden, who had fainted standing, was luckily able to regain his senses quickly thanks to Blanser shaking him around.
Teraden, who suddenly came to his senses, shouted toward the direction of the supposed ghost.
“Eh? O-oi, don’t come closer! I clearly warned you! You’re dead, for real!!”
“Ki-ki-ki-kik!”
However, the one in ghost disguise swelled up his body in defiance of Teraden’s threats and walked boldly toward him.
“Hwooo…”
Thud.
Teraden, facing the approaching ghost-disguised guide, rolled his eyes and fainted again.
“Teraden? What is this…”
Was Teraden really that scared of this? He was foaming at the mouth too? Ah, now this is troublesome…
“Blanser.”
“Yes, Hyung!”
Blanser lifted the slumped Teraden onto his back and called him.
“This won’t do. You go and drive it away instead.”
“Understood, Hyung!”
“Just drive it away lightly and come right back. Don’t try any other route.”
“Leave it to me, Hyung!”
Blanser answered loudly and soon charged at the ghost-disguised person with a roar.
“Kiyoooooot-!!”
“…”
Watching the chaos unfold before his eyes, Hyeondo let out a deep sigh.
“…Um, honestly, you all seem to need quite a bit of caution, or rather, a very large amount of it.”
“I agree.”