The Second Gate
Thud-craaang.
“Huh? Thud-craaang?”
POOF!
“Uwaaaaaah—!!”
Blanser, who had just stepped on something, suddenly rocketed into the air like an explosion, then began plummeting toward the cliff below.
Blanser flailed helplessly in mid-air, but fortunately, one of his abilities allowed him to freely control the earth. Thanks to that, he didn’t fall all the way down.
“….”
Junior, watching intently, caught a glimpse of Blanser crawling up the cliff unharmed, then completely ignored him and walked over to me.
“Haru-ssi.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“You’ve been carrying Teraden-ssi all by yourself since earlier. Aren’t you tired? You should have been conserving your stamina. If you’re fine with it, I’ll take over from now on.”
“Huu… Huff! No, senior! I’ll do it! Please entrust it to me!”
Suddenly, Blanser, who had almost reached the top of the cliff, poked just his face over the edge and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead while shouting.
“I’m grateful for your words, but I’m fine. The halfway point isn’t far. You can rest there for a bit.”
“Yes, understood. But if you need any help, please let me know anytime.”
“Alright.”
After the brief regrouping, we reached a clearing prepared in the middle of the mountain before long.
The mountain grew narrower as it approached the peak, so encounters with other groups became inevitable as the terrain narrowed further.
Even with a short rest at the clearing, we couldn’t afford any gaps in our vigilance. And sure enough, one by one, faint presences began to appear around us.
Soon, about ten figures emerged from the bushes at the edge of the clearing.
Their faces were all grim. It was clear they had no friendly intentions toward us.
The numbers kept growing, and before we knew it, the group had swelled to twenty.
Could it be… that they were waiting for us?
I hadn’t expected such a situation, but the scale of the ambush far exceeded my expectations.
Just the number of people gathered here now amounted to seven full groups.
No, at least one member from each group would have to reach the peak. It was certain that a minimum of ten groups had united.
They were probably trying to eliminate the standout individuals from this alliance.
Teraden, still unconscious on my back, showed no signs of waking, and I had also expended quite a bit of stamina climbing this treacherous mountain while carrying him.
Of course, since the others were still alive, it wasn’t impossible to defeat them all, but…
Those who had passed the first gate of the Danju Selection and reached the second were no pushovers.
If I had to fight them one by one, it would be impossible to reach the peak on time. I couldn’t say that for sure.
“Haru-ssi, leave this place to me. Please go on ahead.”
At that moment, Junior stepped forward.
“It’s a test where only one of the three needs to reach the peak. I’ll stay here and act as bait.”
“….”
“I’ll stay too, senior. As the saying goes, only one of the three needs to cross the finish line. I’ll stay as well.”
“Don’t push yourselves. If the situation turns dire, hide immediately. We’ll come back after passing the test.”
“I’ll follow right behind. Don’t worry.”
“That’s right, senior! We’re your juniors!”
I couldn’t let their determination go to waste.
The first priority was to safely pass the second gate. I decided to leave the two of them here and move on.
After Haru and the rest of the group left, the force facing the clearing was about twenty, and at most two.
Numerically, that was a tenfold difference. With that overwhelming superiority, a few of them on my shoulders sneered.
“To catch these two, you’d normally need to deal with their escorts first. Thanks for leaving them behind.”
“What? You bastards? What crazy people. Are you the seniors’ friends?”
Blanser, who no longer had to hold back his savage nature now that Haru was gone, rolled up his sleeves and bared his eyes.
“I agree. We can’t just let this pass silently.”
“If we can’t let it pass silently, what do we do? After all, there are still plenty of allied groups left, so just holding you two here fulfills our duty.”
“A…”
A sudden chill ran through Blanser at the mention of even more people still waiting in the background, and he let out a faint sigh.
“Puhahahaha! Now that the situation is clear, huh? You all are going to be…!”
I thought Blanser’s sigh meant his fighting spirit had been crushed, but the laughter that followed was even harsher. It was a mistake to underestimate Blanser even slightly.
“Hey. Just knocking you out is boring, and I don’t have the motivation. Let’s make a bet instead.”
Blanser, who had completely transformed into a wild beast, turned his head slightly sideways.
“What bet?”
Junior’s head also turned toward Blanser, who was staring at him.
“Who will knock out more of them.”
“…Hah, that’s definitely a tempting bet. Let’s do it.”
“Before that, you won’t show any cowardly behavior like falling miserably, right?”
“Hehe,”
“Haven’t you said that before? If I cause trouble for those people again, you won’t forgive me… I have no intention of falling like this.”
Junior smiled lightly and turned his gaze back to the front, where the enemies were waiting.
“These guys… I wonder if they’ll stay this relaxed for long.”
The participants watching the two calmly chatting in an otherwise desperate situation felt a strange sense of displeasure.
“Smash them all!!”
““Uwaaaaaaaaah—!!””
Finally, a shout from one of them marked the start. The twenty people stationed on one side began charging across the clearing with battle cries.
*___*___*
Out of several thousand applicants for the Danju Selection, only four hundred had passed the document screening and taken the first gate.
Of those, about one hundred and fifty had cleared the first gate, resulting in more than eighty groups.
Currently, the eighty or so groups participating in the second gate were divided into six major factions.
“Junior was handling the front line defense. Could you take over that role?”
“No problem. Leave it to me.”
“Oppa, what do we do now?”
“Even though the two of them are together, I don’t think we can beat them, but just in case, let’s pass as quickly as possible and come back.”
“Yes, oppa!”
“They might still have more enemies left, so don’t lower your guard while patrolling.”
Two groups that included Haru and Teraden, along with the other members of the party.
“They’re coming soon. Everyone get ready. If those guys only take out a couple of them, it’ll be worth it.”
“Who the hell are you giving orders like that? I’ll handle it myself, so don’t worry about me, you just do your thing.”
“Is this the time to fight over small things? We’ll settle this between us after we pass this gate and go on to the next one.”
“Yeah, there are more important things right now. Hold it in.”
About thirty groups that had temporarily formed an alliance to knock out Haru and Teraden.
“Ugh… What do we do? Even if it’s that family, maybe it’s better to team up with them?”
“Are you crazy? No matter which family it is, how can we beat a hundred of them? Let’s just watch quietly first. When the balance shifts, we’ll join the winning side.”
“Still, they’re part of that family… Plus, the people in there are really flashy. The one who controls Hwigwang, the disciples of the Grand Duke, the son of the Machine Duke who’s being evaluated as the next generation’s The One, and Hyeondo from the National Academy…”
“Crap. Saying that made me suddenly confused too. What should we do?”
Groups of relatively weak opponents who were still waiting to see which side to support for the upcoming gate, or who had already been eliminated.
“We’re staying out of both sides. Let’s just do what we need to do and ignore it.”
“When so many are gathered, cooperating to eliminate them early would be better, right? We might have a hard time later if we run into them.”
“If we end up on the wrong side, it could be bad. Especially since we don’t know what might happen against that family.”
“Still, it feels like the best timing right now…”
“Even if those dogs bark loudly, a tiger won’t miss its chance. Just watch. Probably some meddlesome fools will ally with that family, and most of the guys over there will be eliminated.”
Groups that had zero interest in the battles of Haru and his allies and simply marched quietly toward the peak.
“Hey, those guys… They’re from the National Academy, right? So, we’re talking about our juniors? Hey, we’re the same clan, aren’t we? How about lending a hand? There are some pretty dangerous ones mixed in over there.”
“Hah, we can handle them easily without any help. No, it’s better to scout their strength first. We might run into them again when we go higher.”
“Hey… Senior Cho?”
“No! It’s Senior Gojo, not Cho! I’ve been saying that over and over!”
“You two look exactly the same, so it’s hard to tell apart… Anyway, watching a fight is one thing, but isn’t it time we got a move on? There’s not much time left, and if we don’t reach the peak on time…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. No problem.”
“Yeah, yeah. The peak is right around the corner. It won’t take long.”
“…Really?”
“Of course! We’re the top-ranked first-years and second-years combined at the National Academy!”
“There seem to be a few groups watching our side too. We should watch them as well. Those guys are the most dangerous.”
“Ah, yes… Understood.”
The last group, composed of the strongest individuals who had gathered to watch Blanser’s battle with interest while Haru’s party analyzed their power.
These three factions were each conducting the second gate test with their own agendas.
“Mom, what should we do?”
Meanwhile, the last group, who were watching the battle unfold from a position not too far from the fighting, was intently observing the scene.
In terms of watching the fight, it was similar to the fifth group, but unlike them, they weren’t just curious—they were showing unusual kindness toward Haru’s party.
Two of them were wearing masks, and the remaining one was a silver-haired boy with glossy hair. All three were the ones Haru had been watching closely since right after the first gate ended.
The two wearing masks looked vaguely familiar, but they were the princess of the Ahrirang clan from the Floating Continent and her escort, whom they had visited not long ago.