The Heavenly Demon Tests Them (4)

Sul-ah hated horror games. A certified scaredy-cat who had once fainted inside the haunted house at an amusement park, she was the type of person who would shake her head and refuse to play any game the moment even a hint of horror elements appeared.

To someone like her, the thick fog blocking her path right now felt like an insurmountable wall.

What exactly is the Flame Dragon trying to test with this? Mental strength? The courage to endure fear? Boldness? No matter which one it was, Sul-ah’s face crumpled at the thought that she wouldn’t be able to show whatever the Flame Dragon was hoping for.

But she couldn’t turn back.

Normally, the moment a situation like this unfolded, Sul-ah would have spun around without hesitation. She was the kind of person who avoided anything that looked even remotely scary. Yet this place was the very spot that would decide whether she could receive the Flame Dragon’s teachings or not. She couldn’t retreat just because the fog inside looked frightening.

Sul-ah took a slow, deep breath and steadied her mind.

It’s fine. No matter what happens in there, I can handle it. This wasn’t a horror game—it was a martial arts game. And she was a ranker in Hwaryong Muin. There was nothing here ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that could actually threaten her.

After lightly slapping her own cheeks a couple of times, she stepped into the fog. The moment she did, she realized it was far thicker than it had looked from the outside. Although her pure physical specs placed her among the top tier of Hwaryong Muin players, even she couldn’t secure any visibility here.

That was why she spread her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠qi sense around her. Sul-ah wasn’t particularly skilled at handling qi sense, but in a situation like this, even a clumsy technique was better than nothing.

The qi sense she extended told her there were no living creatures moving inside the fog. Still, she didn’t let her guard down. In horror games, the classic cliché was to lull the player into a false sense of security before striking from behind.

As she cautiously moved forward, a chilling presence suddenly rose from behind her. Sul-ah whipped her head around in a panic.

There was something. There had definitely been something there. It hadn’t registered on her qi sense, but she was certain of it!

Yet what entered her field of vision was nothing but more fog.

Was it my imagination? Maybe she was so scared that she was sensing ghosts that weren’t even there. That could be it. She was being ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠overly sensitive.

There’s no way ghosts actually exist.

Just as she was calming herself with that thought, something suddenly appeared in her qi sense.

It was a person. From the way they had wrapped inner energy around their body, it was highly likely they were a fairly skilled player. The moment she confirmed that, Sul-ah adjusted her stance.

Ghosts were scary, but players weren’t. Players were beings she could defeat with her own two hands.

The fact that they weren’t hiding their footsteps suggested they weren’t trying to ambush her. Were they being chased by something? But what could be chasing them? There was nothing behind that player.

While Sul-ah was feeling puzzled, the player burst out of the fog. The moment he saw her face, instead of attacking, he staggered backward, tripped over his own feet, and fell flat on the ground.

It was a massive opening that practically screamed “please kill me,” but Sul-ah didn’t attack him. His face was twisted with pure terror.

What on earth is happening inside this forest?

The man who had burst from the fog stared at her for a moment before asking that.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Are you really a player? You’re actually a player, right?”

“This is an entrance exam. Who else would be here besides players?”

“Ghosts. There are ghosts! I’m telling you, there are ghosts! I never heard anything about something like this in the entrance exam!”

“Huh? Ghosts? But that’s—”

“Shut up! I don’t care about Plum Blossom Swordplay or whatever anymore. I’m quitting!”

The player scrambled to his feet and dashed past her, plunging back into the fog.

Left alone once more, Sul-ah found herself unable to take another step forward.

Ghosts?! Why would there be ghosts in an entrance exam of all places?!

She wanted to believe it was a joke, but the player from earlier had been trembling with genuine, bone-deep terror. He had looked like he might faint if anyone so much as touched him. That couldn’t have been acting.

What should I do?

All sorts of thoughts swirled through her head, but she quickly made up her mind.

Let’s keep going forward. Whether she went back or forward, she could still get out of the forest. Was she really going to give up on receiving the Flame Dragon’s teachings just because she was scared of some VR ghosts? That was impossible.

While she was steeling herself and taking another step forward, her instincts screamed a warning. Without the slightest hesitation, Sul-ah leaped upward exactly as her instincts commanded. A tree root whipped across the ground like a lash right where her feet had been.

…Taoist magic? Is this Taoist magic? It had to be. The Flame Dragon traveled with a divine spirit who could use all kinds of Taoist magic. That spirit must have set something up in this forest. Come to think of it, creating fog like this was also a form of Taoist magic.

Aha. So this entire forest is some kind of maze created through Taoist magic.

The moment she realized that, Sul-ah felt her heart grow much lighter. When you didn’t know the cause of a phenomenon, everything felt terrifying. But once you understood the reason, you couldn’t help but wonder why you had been so scared in the first place. That was how ghost stories usually worked, wasn’t it? When you heard them, you’d hide under the blanket and shiver. But once you learned the truth behind them, all you could do was laugh awkwardly.

This situation was the same. Ghosts and strange phenomena had been terrifying to Sul-ah, but Taoist magic was different. She had faced opponents who used Taoist magic so many times that she was sick of it.

I got scared for no reason. Why didn’t I think of this from the start? To think she had let fear get the better of her and acted like an idiot.

With a small laugh, Sul-ah took another step forward. At that exact moment, something translucent shot out of the fog.

It had the shape of a person. Half of its face had been peeled away, exposing raw bone. The single remaining eye was filled with such deep resentment that it looked like it might cry tears of blood. Its torn clothes and rotting body should have given off a terrible stench, yet there was no smell at all.

A ghost. It was a ghost.

What the—? What is this? Is this also Taoist magic? Can you actually summon ghosts with it?

Too stunned to move, Sul-ah froze in place as the ghost slowly approached her. Just as its hand reached out to touch her face, she spun around and began running in the opposite direction with all her might.

Where’s the exit? Which way do I need to go?! I don’t know! The fog is too thick—I can’t see anything! I can’t even find the path!

Then how the hell am I supposed to get out of this forest?!

That’s right. The arrows. I just need to follow the arrows. That’ll work. No matter what jumped out, if I didn’t look at it, it wouldn’t matter. Just look at the ground. Only look down. Just follow where the arrows are pointing. Sense everything around me with qi sense and keep my head glued to the floor!

The number of screams echoing through the forest gradually increased. Male and female voices alike rang out, adding an even more eerie atmosphere to the woods.

While the people taking Mount Hua’s exam were being toyed with by the spirits, what was I doing?

I was watching the terrified participants alongside the viewers.

I had felt the same thing when I watched Enry scream beside me before, but there really was something quite enjoyable about watching people shiver in fear. Maybe it was because we were on a mountain, but every time a scream rang out, the echoes that followed were oddly satisfying to listen to.

Wasn’t the fog supposed to block your view? There was a way around that. Baru had a Taoist spell that could see through fog, after all. By casting that spell, I could see clearly beyond the mist. Naturally, once my field of vision was secured, so was the viewers’.

Baru tugged on my collar and pointed excitedly.

“Puhaha! Min-ga! Look over there! That fully grown man is crying out for his mother!”

When I looked in the direction she indicated, I saw a man spewing every curse word imaginable as he fled from a spirit.

The reactions of the applicants who had entered the forest were mostly like that. Still, with five hundred people, I had thought at least one of them wouldn’t be scared even if a spirit appeared. But I was wrong. The moment they saw the spirits’ appearances, every single one of them froze in terror and couldn’t do anything.

“How are they all such cowards?”

“Hmm. Is that all there is to it?”

It was a bit gross-looking, sure, but that was about it. I could understand being startled the first time you saw one, but after seeing it two or three times, you should get used to it and stop reacting.

The viewers started chatting among themselves, but before long they had moved on to discussing how they could see me scream in terror. Me, screaming in fright… even I found it hard to imagine. Since I personally enjoyed the emotion of fear, if there was a game that could actually instill terror in me, I’d want to find it and play it.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

“Min-ga! Min-ga! Let’s go over there. That scream was especially wonderful!”

Our divine spirit seemed to be having the time of her life watching the players panic. At first she had asked what was so fun about scaring people, but now she was enjoying it the most.

Alright then. I’ll do as you wish. Since you’re the one who created this forest stage, you should be allowed to do whatever you want.

In the direction Baru had pointed, there was a woman sprinting forward with her gaze fixed firmly on the ground. At that speed she should have been crashing into things, yet she nimbly avoided obstacles like trees while running at full speed. Even when several of the Taoist spells Baru had set up attacked her, she evaded every single one with clean, precise movements.

Hmm. So she was using qi sense instead of eyesight to observe her surroundings. She didn’t seem very skilled at it—she was reacting after sensing things rather than predicting them in advance—but it wasn’t bad.

But why was she only looking at the ground? If she was focusing on qi sense, wouldn’t it be better to just close her eyes?

Right as I was thinking that, a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spirit that had been waiting in front of her suddenly sprang up from the ground and met her eyes. The woman looked utterly shocked. She tried to stop in a hurry, but she lost her footing and went flying forward at the same speed she had been running, smashing through several trees.

The sight was so spectacular that even the spirit who had tried to scare her simply stared blankly at the spot where she had flown off.

“Pffft. Puhahaha!”

Baru collapsed onto the floor, shoulders shaking as she burst into laughter.

The chat’s reaction wasn’t all that different from Baru’s. To be honest, while I was pretending to look solemn on the outside, I was laughing on the inside too. She seemed somewhat familiar with martial arts, so why had she made such a mistake? Was she just a kid who was weak to scary things? Still, the fact that she kept running toward Hakigi even while terrified showed she had some backbone.

While I was laughing and chatting with the viewers, a transmission came from the scouting dog. It seemed some people had already made it out of the forest. There weren’t many yet, but it looked like the frontrunners would soon be emerging.

Since I had enjoyed everything there was to enjoy here, it was time to head to the final location.