Chapter 39
The Trial Tower’s examination room was dominated by monitors covering one entire wall.
Each screen showed a different section of the gate, split into separate feeds at different sizes.
A man was studying those screens intently.
The man with the staff badge hanging around his neck, which read Gong Cheol, was checking off the people in view and nodding to himself.
He was marking down anyone who showed exceptional skill so he wouldn’t forget them.
“This one’s a lost cause...”
As he muttered, he turned off one of the monitor feeds.
He’d decided the person wasn’t worth watching any longer.
Unaware of that fact, the people on the split screens were busily hunting monsters.
On their wrists, ankles, and chests were pieces of armor in matching colors and shapes.
They were devices designed to read basic information about mana and muscle output.
While the hunters were at work, the machines measured the wearers’ physical abilities and sent the data to the examination room.
The transmitted information was currently being spat out in paper form by a printer.
Gong Cheol reached out, set the printouts in front of him, and scanned through them.
“Hey, Gong Cheol. You checking things properly?”
Just then, a man opened the door and came in.
Gong Cheol only turned his head back far enough to identify the newcomer.
The man was holding two cans of soda in one hand.
“Oh, Team Leader. What brings you here?”
“Came to look around. Woo Chae-yeon’s here, right?”
As he spoke, the man set the sodas down on the desk.
The staff badge hanging around the man Gong Cheol had called Team Leader read Kang In-jae.
Kang In-jae looked at the monitors, his eyes moving quickly.
Just as he’d said, he was looking for Woo Chae-yeon to see her for himself.
Gong Cheol popped open one of the sodas and pointed to the upper left of the monitor wall.
“Top left corner.”
“Ah, found her.”
Following Kang In-jae’s gaze, Gong Cheol looked to the upper-left corner as well.
In the largest split screen there, Woo Chae-yeon was hunting monsters with ice magic.
The B-rank Red Manticores had no answer for the huge spears of ice that came raining down on them at terrifying speed.
The two men watching forgot they were supposed to be evaluating her and simply stared in awe.
“Wow, did you see that casting speed just now?”
“I did. That’s insane. At that size, shouldn’t it take forever just to draw out the mana?”
“It should. You think people say mages can’t solo for no reason?”
“Looks like she could solo just fine on her own to me.”
“Exactly. They said that once her Jeolmaek-jeung was cured, she’d become a genius who could turn the world upside down...”
“If her physical capabilities come out good, she’ll get promoted to A-rank right away.”
Gong Cheol looked through the printouts until he found Woo Chae-yeon’s page and said, “If you ask me, she’d have jumped there even faster if her body hadn’t been held back by that illness.”
Kang In-jae listened and watched the screen, then let out a dry laugh.
Woo Chae-yeon had just struck down a Red Wyvern that had been flying swiftly overhead with a burst of ice magic.
A single Red Wyvern was already a pain to hunt, and they were classified as A-rank monsters because they flew in packs through the air.
“Seventeen years old, and the world still insists on being disgusting and unfair.”
“Yeah. Now that her Jeolmaek-jeung is cured, she’s even more terrifying than before.”
“Of course she is. Before, every time she used a skill, there was probably a penalty that froze up her body more and more...”
Not anymore.
He had been praising her when he lost the rest of his sentence.
Gong Cheol swallowed hard too, watching her instantly kill another wyvern.
Kang In-jae snorted when he saw Gong Cheol flinch at the sound of his own swallow.
“Well, that’s a relief. Watching her suffer every time she used a skill was pretty hard to look at.”
“What, Team Leader, were you a Woo Chae-yeon fan too? A middle-aged fan?”
“What fan? I just felt bad for her. She’s a kid, and she was having a hard time.”
Gong Cheol nodded in agreement with Kang In-jae’s answer.
Then he asked the question that had been bothering him.
“But how on earth did they get the Udamhwa? There’s nobody in our country who can gather that stuff.”
“Exactly. There’s so little known about this expedition that it feels like the information’s been deliberately controlled.”
“You don’t know either, Team Leader? Even though you’re Team 2 in Hunter Management?”
“...A team leader isn’t that big a deal.”
Seeing Gong Cheol’s disappointed expression, Kang In-jae looked exasperated.
So the title of team leader must carry some enormous fantasy in his head.
With that thought, he shook his head.
Gong Cheol was just a regular employee, so maybe a team leader did seem impressive to him, but in truth the work wasn’t all that different.
They were both just cogs in the machine that kept the association running.
His was only a little bigger.
“So you really don’t know anything?”
“...I’ve got one guy in the National Intelligence Service I’m on good terms with.”
Kang In-jae pulled Gong Cheol’s attention back to him.
Gong Cheol’s eyes lit up.
Am I raising a subordinate, or a kid?
“I asked him about it.”
“And?”
“He said he couldn’t tell me.”
“Huh?”
“He does know, but it’s classified, so he can’t say.”
“Ah.”
That still amounted to not knowing, but Gong Cheol’s face looked a little better than before.
His expression, which had been full of disappointment, softened as if to say, Well, of course Team Leader would know something.
Kang In-jae sighed and looked back at the screen.
Near Woo Chae-yeon, he spotted a man with a ponytail hunting Red Manticores.
“...Who’s that ponytail guy? Why is he with Woo Chae-yeon?”
As far as he knew, Woo Chae-yeon had always gone through the Trial Tower examination alone.
He remembered how she’d ignored any hunters who recognized her and tried to speak to her.
Her attitude had been a wall of iron.
Association employees had gone out of their way to greet her too, only to be ignored and come back empty-handed.
Because of that, an official notice had even been circulated telling staff not to go over and introduce themselves, so they wouldn’t end up humiliated.
“Oh, you’re only noticing him now? That’s Baek Do-woon.”
“Baek Do-woon? He looks familiar... Ah. Baek Do-hee’s older brother, Baek Do-woon?”
“Yes.”
“Why is he with Woo Chae-yeon?”
“How would I know? Woo Chae-yeon was the one who approached him first.”
“Woo Chae-yeon?”
She’d never done anything like that before.
Kang In-jae looked surprised and studied Baek Do-woon more closely on the screen.
Baek Do-woon extended his left hand and grabbed the Red Manticore’s crimson mane so it couldn’t thrash around.
Then, with his right index finger, he started smacking the monster’s head.
Each time he did, the skull caved in and blood burst out in a spray.
“......”
“...What is that? Why is that working?”
They were both speechless at the bizarre sight, something neither of them had ever seen before.
The monsters that appeared in the Trial Tower were artificial beings that spawned according to the level of the people who entered.
But even so, how could beating one in the head with a finger make sense?
They must be seeing it wrong.
Kang In-jae rubbed his eyes.
After blinking several times, he looked back at the monitor.
“......”
There was no satisfaction in checking again.
On the screen, Baek Do-woon was hunting Red Manticores the same way as before.
There was one difference, though.
This time he’d grabbed the red mane with his right hand and was using his left index finger to batter the Manticore’s snout.
An A-rank monster, beaten to death with a single finger...
“...That’s terrifying. Just terrifying.”
“Huh? What is?”
“That means he’s been hiding that level of strength all this time. Until guys like Jeon Myeong-hwan came marching in.”
“Now that you mention it...”
At Kang In-jae’s words, Gong Cheol nodded.
According to the article, Baek Do-woon had acted incompetent on purpose so he could prepare for interference from other guilds.
He’d hidden his abilities for two years, just in case enemies attacked.
Even the people who’d dismissed the story as impossible had no choice but to believe it after two Baekwooncheon Guild members, who had been in the same place that day, testified to it.
“He’s insane.”
“Yeah, he’s not right in the head. Which is why he’d be friends with that lunatic Lee Tae-cheon.”
“You’re still not over it?”
“Still not over it? You think I’d be over it after that? The bastard came charging in and said that if we didn’t reveal the people who’d hired the Scales Guild, he’d wipe out one A-rank guild after another.”
“He was on a whole different level when it came to throwing a fit.”
“I’m telling you, Baek Do-woon there can’t be normal either if he’s friends with that kind of guy.”
As he said that, Kang In-jae pointed at Baek Do-woon on the screen.
He was still doing something deranged.
He was alternating between his index and middle finger to smash the Manticore’s skull, and it looked almost like he was playing a clicker-style smartphone game.
Gong Cheol shook his head as if in disgust.
“By the way, was it ever found out who hired the Scales Guild?”
“No. They narrowed it down to two places, but even that isn’t certain.”
“Two places?”
“Mine and Aigaion.”
The two guilds were well-known A-rank guilds in Korea.
In particular, Mine Guild was known as the largest guild in Korea.
But neither of them were the sort of guild that inspired admiration the way Baekwooncheon Guild did.
They were notorious for ruthless abuse of power and for never taking pity on the smaller guilds they subcontracted work to.
“Now that you mention it, I guess it does sound like them.”
“All they really know is that one of those two might’ve had contact with the Scales Guild, so it could still be someone else.”
“Then—”
“Hold on.”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t that Ji Sang-wook? Why is he there?”
“Ji Sang-wook?”
Gong Cheol stared at the screen Kang In-jae was pointing at.
There were Baek Do-woon and Woo Chae-yeon hunting Red Wyverns and Red Manticores.
Not far away, Ji Sang-wook was watching them.
World Tree Sapling reports that it feels a cheap, petty stare.
It warns Manager Baek Do-woon to be careful.
After reading the warning message sent by Sapling, I looked at Woo Chae-yeon.
“I’m a little worried since this is my first time going through an examination in a while. Could you help me?”
She’d said that before we entered the Trial Tower, asking me to team up with her...
That worried look was nowhere to be seen now. She was skillfully hunting wyverns and manticores with ice magic.
What a liar.
Still, I could understand it. Someone who’d been lying in a hospital bed the whole time would naturally want to stretch out and move after so long.
And if she was focused on hunting to that extent, she wouldn’t even have the time to pay attention to me.
“This actually works out better.”
She wouldn’t even notice if I slipped away...
I should get rid of this cheap, petty stare I’d been feeling from the start.
I quietly moved away from Woo Chae-yeon.
World Tree Sapling reports that the cheap, petty stare is following you.
Yep, just as expected, Ji Sang-wook was following nicely.
After walking at a fast pace for about five minutes, I looked around.
I couldn’t feel a single presence.
All I could see were the ice spells attacking wyverns in the distance.
“Come out.”
“...You knew?”
Ji Sang-wook slowly walked out from behind a rock.
The face I’d once thought was fairly decent now only looked petty to me.
I reached out and pointed to the camera filming Ji Sang-wook and me.
He looked up at the camera I’d indicated.
Unlike other gates, the Trial Tower allowed equipment like that to be installed.
There was no mana pressure at all, so the machines didn’t wear down or break.
The government and the association had worked together to form an investigation team, but they still hadn’t been able to explain why.
They didn’t know the reason, they just used it because they could and because it worked.
“You know you’re being filmed, right?”
“I know. Is that a problem?”
“What?”
“I just came to say hello. And while I was at it, I figured I’d loosen up a little.”
“And I agreed to that little warm-up?”
“Of course you did.”
Shrugging, Ji Sang-wook flashed a grin.
What a spectacular load of nonsense. That guy wasn’t normal either.
Still, petty stare was almost cute by comparison.
At least he wouldn’t suddenly twist into some insect-like monster just because he was a follower of the Demon Race.
“Fine. But in return...”
I pulled out the smartphone I’d tucked into my pocket.
Then I asked Sapling to send me a stone.
World Tree Sapling happily transmits a stone!
“You started this.”
After that, I held the smartphone screen out toward him.
On the display was Sapling, with its three leaves looking almost like a head and arms.
Ji Sang-wook, who had just drawn a huge double-edged battleaxe, tilted his head at the smartphone in my hand.
Watching him, I remembered the dirt fountain from before.
The dirt that had shot high into the air and fallen in a dome...
Whenever Sapling sent something, it threw everything it had into the delivery.
Ji Sang-wook couldn’t hold it in any longer and shouted, “What kind of trick are you pullin-!”
Bang!
The sound of something cracking drowned out his voice.
And of course, what had cracked wasn’t the stone that had just popped out of the smartphone.
It was Ji Sang-wook’s head, which was less durable than a pebble.
The blood pouring down from his split forehead split into two streams around his nose.
This feels like I’m at a batting cage.
“You bastard! You sneaky little- ngh!”
Bang! Bang!
The stones Sapling had sent for me weren’t just one.
The pebbles shooting out of the smartphone kept smacking the bastard in the forehead and nose.
Now he widened his eyes and tried to dodge them, but the stones came with spin on them and suddenly dropped downward, slamming into his body instead of his head.
He’d thought they were straight pitches, but they were perfect breaking balls.
“Wow, our Sapling could pitch if it wanted to.”