Chapter 167: Promotion Exam (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 167: Promotion Exam (6)
"I'll fight however you want. We just have to win, right?"
I flashed a smile.
"No, you don't have to fight just because of me."
Ah... why is she raining on my parade?
Baek Seo-yeon shook her head, clearly not wanting to cause trouble for us on her account.
The fact that she always wore a poker face and maintained such a stiff attitude was likely because of the immense pressure she’d faced from those around her. Though it was hard to imagine looking at her now, the young Baek Seo-yeon might have once been a bright, cheerful child.
"Even if it's a virtual world, dying still takes a bit of a toll on the physical body. And if you help me and end up getting on the Association's bad side..."
"Why would we? We're just working hard to pass our exam," I replied with a brazen grin, and Eom Soo-hyun, standing beside me, laughed brightly as well.
"Exactly! We're just fighting our best as instructed. It's not like we're specifically taking Hero Baek Seo-yeon's side or anything."
Despite our support, Baek Seo-yeon continued to hesitate. Just how much had people criticized her for her to be this discouraged? Seeing her looking down despite her expressionless face, I leaned down to meet her eyes.
"Seo-yeon Noona, your skill is Hive Mind, isn't it?"
"..."
"Give the order. Tell us to win. Your number one slave will crush them all for you."
"Slave..."
Why are you the one reacting and blushing, Soo-hyun?
Ignoring Eom Soo-hyun, who was clutching her cheeks with dazed eyes, I kept my gaze on Baek Seo-yeon. A small light flickered in her dead eyes. Shifting her gaze as if embarrassed, she spoke in a small voice.
"Okay... let's fight."
Good. That’s the spirit.
As long as the Association wasn't openly hostile toward her, there was nothing to hold us back. Everyone here was a party leader. Since the leader is usually the strongest or the core hero of a party, they often wait for their teammates to be ready before taking the promotion exam together, even if they qualify earlier.
...Well, in my case, it was the opposite.
Usually, once you clear up to C-10, your stats fill up almost automatically, so there's no strict need to wait. Regardless, both Eom Soo-hyun and Baek Seo-yeon possessed guaranteed talent, evidenced by their hair color naturally changing upon awakening.
In the previous stages of the exam, everyone had fought politely without going all out. It would be an awkward situation if I, being "overpowered," just pulverized the B-rank heroes who came to help with the test. So, everyone usually adjusted their intensity to a level that simply tested whether the candidates were fit to be B-ranks. The heroes also ramped up their gears slowly, fighting as if they were enjoying themselves.
It was, in essence, a friendly match.
But now, since the opponents had no intention of taking it easy, we could just go ahead and crush them with everything we had.
"If the tactical meeting is over, we shall begin."
The supervisor started to walk away, then stopped, frowned slightly, and turned back.
"I couldn't stop this petty nonsense with my authority alone. I'm sorry. If they cross the line, I will use my supervisor's authority to put a stop to it. Don't worry about anything and fight to your heart's content."
The supervisor gave us a polite bow before returning to her cold expression and leaving the area.
I see. This world is even scarier than I thought.
It was a place where torture was possible if the situation called for it. Even under the guise of combat, tearing someone apart limb by limb was permitted. One might wonder if they’d really go that far, but these were people who had lost family or friends. Since this wasn't reality, I couldn't expect them to make rational judgments.
Looking at the heroes glaring murderously at Baek Seo-yeon, I pulled out my gun.
"Leader, give the order."
"Call me Noona."
...She’s really fixated on that.
"If that's your command. Seo-yeon Noona, what should we do?"
"Let's win."
"Understood."
"Me too! I'm here too! Why are you leaving me out?!"
Eom Soo-hyun raised her hand high, shouting not to be forgotten. Looking at her cute display, I pointed my muzzle at the ground and pulled the trigger.
Phwaang—!
Gray smoke billowed out, concealing us, just as I felt the momentum of the heroes charging in.
Phwang! Phwang!
To create a distraction, I even deployed soundproofing magic and set off smoke screens in different locations. However, the charging heroes only diverted their gaze for a moment before continuing in a straight line toward me.
Hmm... they aren't falling for it at all. They're more experienced than I thought.
As discussed during the tactical meeting, Eom Soo-hyun and Baek Seo-yeon had already moved away from their positions. One of the heroes swung a massive spear, the wind pressure scattering the smoke and revealing my hidden form.
As soon as they saw me alone, the heroes immediately veered off and ran elsewhere.
They didn't care about me at all.
Their hatred was so deep that they ignored me entirely to hunt for Baek Seo-yeon. This actually made things easier. They must have been out of their minds with rage; if they had any reason left, they should have dealt with a nuisance like me first.
Even as I chased and fired at them, the heroes ignored the bullets and kept searching for Baek Seo-yeon. The bullets hitting their bodies couldn't pierce their mana barriers and simply bounced off.
Hey, I know there isn't much mana in these bullets, but isn't this a bit too much disrespect?
Being treated like I didn't exist put me in a bad mood. I sheathed my sword, gripped Astra in both hands, and began spamming magic.
Dozens of shots poured out at once, embedding themselves into the buildings and the ground, and then tentacles erupted. Hundreds of tentacles per shot began flailing like an octopus in a boiling pot. The heroes couldn't ignore this and stopped to hack away at the tentacles.
"Don't interfere if it doesn't concern you."
"Aren't you the ones interfering? This is an exam site; we should be taking the exam."
A sharp-eyed woman stayed behind to glare at me while sending the other heroes ahead.
"You have no idea what kind of pain we've suffered."
"I don't. But shouldn't your venting be directed at Baek Seo-woo? Or at least at The Hero? I don't think it's right to torment a child who isn't even resisting."
The woman didn't listen and lunged at me. I shifted my right hand to a blade and parried her spear. She was clearly a veteran, using the spear's reach effectively to pressure me.
But my gun had a longer reach.
Bang— Bang!
Flames erupted from the bullets embedded at her feet. However, she spun her spear with a scoff, blowing the flames away with wind pressure, and charged straight at me.
She gathered mana at the tip of her spear, creating a massive shroud for a lance charge. I fired bullets into the ground as I retreated. A moment later, as the shroud at her spear tip passed over the embedded bullets, the magic triggered, attacking her while she was vulnerable.
Tough...
Whether it was water, stone, or lightning, she reinforced her mana barrier against every spell and continued her charge. I put Astra away, gripped my sword with both hands, and focused.
It was a simple downward strike, devoid of any fancy name. However, the path of a sword swung hundreds of millions of times was simple yet more powerful than any technique.
Kaaang—!
Meeting the lance charge head-on, I was sent flying, tumbling across the ground before slamming into a wall.
Okay, to be fair, I haven't actually swung it hundreds of millions of times. How could a human do that? Even at ten thousand swings a day, it would take thirty years. Still, it was a downward strike I was quite confident in, but the physical performance of this body was just too lacking.
"Cough, cough— Ow, you've got some serious strength."
"Even veterans have trouble blocking my charge head-on, but you didn't just block it—you deflected the force?"
The woman approached me, looking at her hands as if she’d felt something strange.
"You have a lot of experience fighting people. Where did you get it?"
"Here and there. Including from The Hero you hate so much."
Though The Hero mostly fought with his mouth.
"You have a bright future. You might even reach S-rank, like Clan Leader Lee Ru-da of your Square Garden."
"Yes, I have a promise to keep, so I plan on becoming an S-rank if possible."
"Then don't take Baek Seo-yeon's side."
How does the conversation even lead there? Is this a "don't hang out with the crows" kind of thing?
"She acts like a victim, but there's circumstantial evidence that she's involved with Baek Seo-woo."
"If the evidence were solid, she would have been arrested already."
"...You trust that woman more than me."
"For now, because there's no clear proof she's committed a crime."
When I replied with a smile, the woman swung her spear as if she had nothing more to say. I parried her spear with my sword and kicked up a stone from the ground.
"Cheap tricks."
The woman simply tilted her head to dodge the stone and unleashed a flurry of rapid thrusts. I desperately parried the repeated thrusts and retreated, firing bullets into the ground.
The woman, who had been ignoring my gun attacks from the start, tried to charge again, protecting her body with a thick mana barrier.
"You seemed a bit weak against the lightning attribute earlier."
"So?"
"I'm saying you should watch the sky."
I gave her a thin smile and pointed a finger upward.
Kwakwakwakwang!
With a thunderous roar, a bolt of lightning fell and struck her directly.
"Aaaargh!"
The hero, emitting white electricity in all directions so intensely I didn't even want to get close, grimaced in pain. She released a burst of mana all at once to blow the magic away.
"Huff... huff... Where did that...?"
"I laid down magic on the ground to interfere with your mana detection."
As I explained, the woman looked down at the ground, which was riddled with holes from the bullets. And once again, the sky showed signs of another lightning strike.
Determined not to fall for the same trick twice, the woman quickly moved from her spot. However, before the lightning from the sky could hit the ground, it changed direction and flew toward her.
She wrapped herself in a thick mana barrier again, but Eom Soo-hyun's magic was no joke. Buffed by the Blessing of the Spirits, Eom Soo-hyun could only enhance one attribute at a time depending on the spirit, but once enhanced, her magic reached a power level comparable to an actual skill.
Having taken a direct hit from the first lightning strike, the woman couldn't resist the second attack and fell to one knee.
"Ugh... that downward strike... you placed a mana tracker on my spear..."
"Yep. It's a bit cheap, but it's the easiest way."
"Cheap... haha... You're impressive. Truly impressive... unlike someone like me..."
Ah... don't do that, it makes me feel bad.
I didn't know what she had suffered because of Baek Seo-woo, but if her rage was such that she felt compelled to act even while knowing it was wrong, she must have endured no small amount of pain herself. Looking up at me as I held my sword, the woman wore a bitter smile.
"Kill me."
"Even if I do, it's just a virtual world. Besides, a hero's goal should be subduing the target first, not killing them. We aren't villains, after all."
Rumble—
The sky showed signs of another lightning strike. Looking up, the woman gave a wry smile.
"I'd rather have my throat slit and leave this virtual world without pain than get hit by that again."
"I'm sorry. I'll see you in reality."
Kwakakangkakang!
As the lightning struck, the woman lost consciousness.
I’d handled her relatively easily, but two more opponents remained. Through our shared vision, I could see Baek Seo-yeon struggling against the other two, so we had to move there immediately. However, since one person had already been subdued, the numbers were now in our favor.
"Kept you waiting, didn't I, Noona?"
Seeing me suddenly appear and join the fray, the heroes' eyes widened as they began a fierce assault. I spammed magic to figure out their elemental weaknesses, and then Eom Soo-hyun took them down one by one with her sniping.
One lost consciousness and left the virtual world, while the other remained, exhausted and staggering as she leaned on her weapon.
"Huff... huff... I won't forgive you..."
With the situation settled, Eom Soo-hyun, who had been far away, approached and looked pityingly at the woman with madness in her eyes.
Baek Seo-yeon, who was a mess after facing two opponents alone, wiped the blood trickling down her forehead and walked toward the woman. Eom Soo-hyun tried to stop her in surprise, but Baek Seo-yeon raised a hand to signal she was fine and slowly knelt before the woman.
"I am sorry. My brother... I will make sure to kill Baek Seo-woo with my own hands."
"..."
Meeting Baek Seo-yeon's unwavering eyes, the woman grimaced.
"The reason I became a hero and the reason I'm honing my skills is all to catch Baek Seo-woo."
"Heh, hehe... don't talk nonsense..."
"I won't ask you to believe me. I cannot forgive Baek Seo-woo either. Please, just know that."
The woman stared at Baek Seo-yeon with eyes that still held disbelief until she finally collapsed.
It wasn't exactly a... satisfying conclusion.
It was a battle that left nothing behind except the fact that Baek Seo-woo was a piece of shit. In the silence of a situation where victims had fought each other and left only scars, Baek Seo-yeon bowed to the unconscious woman before standing up.
"Thank you for your help. Truly."
Seeing Baek Seo-yeon say thanks with a bitter face, Eom Soo-hyun smiled and hugged her.
"Don't be depressed. You didn't do anything wrong."
Baek Seo-yeon stared down at Eom Soo-hyun, who was clinging to her chest.
"Let's be friends. We're the same age, right? Contact me if you need help, or if you want to hang out. And... contact me if you're bored."
"Okay. Let's be friends."
She's surprisingly cool about accepting things like that.
Anyway, she made a friend, and the situation was resolved. Well—if the Association was determined to fail her, they could just mark her as "unfit" during the psychological evaluation, but since the test records remain, they wouldn't be able to mess with her too recklessly.
The supervisor announced the end of the exam, and we exited the virtual world.