<24 - Major Concerns of the Second Gate>
Oknodie, who had been eating poisoned candy.
She looked perfectly fine.
That was even more concerning.
“I want to try one too.”
Isabel, on a whim, broke a piece of candy into bits and let it dissolve in her saliva before spitting it out with a pfft.
She discarded the candy remnants from her hand and lowered her voice, serious.
“This candy contains psychoactive ingredients.”
Jezel also tried a few and, with a stiffened expression, said, “There are poisons that can induce respiratory distress and paralysis. Each color of the candy has different poisonous components.”
“Hey, is this really okay? No matter how I think about it, these candies are suspicious.”
Son Ohchun still felt the tingling sensation on his tongue like a thorn in his side. If a child had been consuming such candies with a frail body, the burden and pain felt would likely exceed his own.
“My candy! Why are you taking it and throwing it away when you’re not even going to eat it?!”
Oknodie tightened the string of her candy pouch, her eyes narrowing into triangles as she shouted.
“Little rat. Who did you get this from?”
“A maid gave it to me. She said to save it.”
And you all just ate it and smashed it.
No one felt a pang of conscience at that reproachful gaze.
The one who should feel the pang of conscience wasn’t them but the maid who handed out the candy.
“Should I kill her?”
“Stop it, Son Ohchun. That’s not how this is going to be resolved.”
“Hey, aren’t you the employer? Haven’t you been trying to help this child in various ways?”
“The maid is just a low-tier executor. There must be someone else giving the orders. If we don’t negotiate directly with the family that has been educating Oknodie, this won’t go anywhere.”
“That’s frustrating. It’s been a while since I’ve genuinely wanted to kill someone.”
Son Ohchun’s eyes flickered with rage, turning a shade of yellow.
“What if we just took that candy pouch?”
“No need to go that far.”
Isabel brought out her knowledge as an adventurer.
“This child has a resistance to poison. Just look at how she has been eating these candies all this time and is still fine; it’s clearly noticeable from her minimal reactions.”
“Resistance to poison isn’t万能.”
“If she takes antidotes that can neutralize the toxic components without burdening her body, it should be fine. In fact, professional poison adventurers do that.”
Jezel’s expression softened a bit.
“That said, this still seems quite dangerous.”
“Are you telling me to be reassured or not?”
“How many colors of candy are there?”
As Jezel looked towards the pouch, Oknodie hurriedly hid it in her bosom, showing her teeth.
‘…Are you going to try biting it off?’
The wild animal-like reaction lasted for a moment before Isabel turned to look at Son Ohchun.
Son Ohchun, having taken a peek inside the pouch previously, grimaced as he racked his memory.
“There were quite a few. Over ten varieties.”
“Usually, poison resistance training starts from weak poison and moves to strong ones. So, it’s safe to say all poisons weaker than that candy would have been dealt with after the training.”
“…What kind of poisons were those just now?”
“There are at least 40 kinds of weak poison. Even if she takes one a day to build up her resistance, that would take around 40 days, and typically, it would be about 40 weeks at one weak poison per week, totaling 10 months of training.”
“That long?”
It implied that for at least a year, she had been intoxicating herself weekly, with her body constantly creating antibodies to withstand the poison.
“What’s more, those 40 types are only the psychoactive ones. Other types could easily reach 20 to 30 depending on the difficulty.”
Snake venom. Bee venom. Jellyfish venom, spider venom, and so forth.
With numerous poisonous creatures and extending to plant and mineral poisons, mana, and corpse poisons, the types of poison were truly staggering.
“So how many kinds of poison has Oknodie been exposed to?”
“From what I gather… at least over 300 kinds.”
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she had been exposed to toxins at least once a day for a whole year. Consuming poison weekly would equate to a solid six years.
A mere child of not even ten had been subjected to poisons since about four years old.
The realization left everyone stunned.
Did Oknodie even understand the magnitude? She pressed on in a blunt tone.
“Other examinees have already passed, so how long are you going to stand there?”
It made me want to ask that innocent voice.
How on earth can someone who has gone through such things maintain such a bright voice?
*
Suddenly feeling mischievous.
“Uncle Ohchun. Carry me.”
“What? Why would you want to leave your little legs behind?”
“I’m too weak to use them.”
“…Weak? What? Weak-”
Son Ohchun stared as if all the patients in the nation just perished.
Hmph.
No use with that look of yours?
This is not a petty grudge I can easily let go of.
I stayed behind because I thought of you—mostly the cook, but still.
You broke the candy.
Falling behind in line.
They can’t even begin to imagine how furious I am.
Noticing my serious expression regarding food, Son Ohchun clicked his tongue and turned his back.
“Get on, little rat. I’ll show you the height of an adult that you can’t see.”
He was strutting again. Until I became like this, I used to play at the same eye level as you, you know?
Grumbling, I hopped onto his back, and my field of view instantly widened.
It was not just reclaiming a perspective that was originally mine; it felt like the world genuinely broadened.
“Guffaw!”
“Choke choke!”
Until the branches and leaves at my face height smacked me hard.
“Put me down, put me down!”
“Whatever you chose for this height. Hang in there.”
I was repeatedly met with branches until we arrived at the Second Gate Exam Venue.
*
Myung So guided the students to the Second Gate and then entered the staff cafeteria.
“Now, pay attention!”
The second examiner appeared on behalf of Myung So.
She was a ranger dressed in a cape and leather armor highlighting her figure.
“What’s with that voice.”
“Totally husky.”
“That ranger mask covering her nose is cool too.”
The examinees’ evaluations were all positive!
But for a veteran like me, it was the worst!
Ugh. I’ve got someone I really don’t want to deal with.
I never wanted to meet examiners who rank in the top three of the entry exam.
“I am Examiner Minerva, in charge of the Second Gate [Hunter's Forest].”
“Minerva, you’re so amazing!”
“Too bad. You’re going to start to dislike me from now on.”
“?!”
“This exam’s theme is a combination of [Search and Points] and [Endurance Marathon]. It’s an exam where you must travel to the end of the forest with me. Participants must perform side quests along the way to achieve high scores, and the top scorer will immediately receive admission privileges.”
Just hearing about the exam felt challenging.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“The first examiner, Myung So, is lenient. This examiner is different. 50 points. Anything below 50 points in this gate results in disqualification, even if you complete the course.”
“Additionally, even while examinees are performing side quests, this examiner will not stop moving toward the exit.”
It was then that the examinees grasped the severity of the situation, their faces draining of color.
“So, you mean we have to move to the exit while also performing side quests and catching up to the examiner’s group if we fall behind?”
“Correct. You’re quick to catch on. State your name.”
“I’m Rockwell, a silver-tier adventurer.”
“A silver plate, eh? That’s one bonus point.”
“Thank you!”
“Also, points can be stolen by tearing apart other examinees’ ticket watches.”
The examinee who had gained bonus points looked distraught.
It seems he realized he received a poisoned deal.
This is one of the reasons Minerva is referred to as “Hate-Nerva,” “D-S-Roba,” and other names among players.
The names NPCs call her aren’t any less terrifying.
Malicious examiner.
D-S Ranger.
Mass drop route.
Hellish difficulty gate.
Examiner Minerva is ranked among the top three worst nightmares an examinee could face.
I should have just gotten immediate admission…
Too late for regrets now.
The exam has already begun.
“Then we shall depart now.”
“Ah! Examiner! What about lunch?!”
“How sweet of you to consider the health of the examiner; you are a good examinee. State your name.”
“Michelle!”
“Here’s one bonus point for you.”
As each bonus point is received, the risk of becoming prey increases in this exam.
That individual truly is a bona fide villain, giving out scores knowingly.
“The examiner has already finished eating while the examinees take their tests, so there’s no need for concern.”
“No, it’s not that… heh. What about us?”
“Why should the examiner care?”
“Excuse me?”
“We are going into the forest.”
“Yes?”
“There’s plenty to eat in the forest.”
“Yes?”
“Just figure it out while moving along.”
The charismatic Eastern Swordsman Sing and the incredibly powerful Northern Grand Duchess Irene also looked stiff-faced.
“Wh-when does the exam start?”
“Right now.”
“Eh?!”
“The examiner does not take responsibility for missing examinees who lose their ticket watches, and any examinee who commits murder will face severe penalties. That concludes the announcement. Commencing the Second Gate Exam.”
“Wah, that’s fast!!”
Roots and vines grew carelessly at their feet, dense foliage and branches rose to waist height, while the canopy overhead blocked even the sunlight, shrouding the area in darkness.
The worst field, the worst gate, the worst examiner combined—the Second Gate had commenced.
“Little rat. Should I keep carrying you?”
“I don’t want that!”
Who do you think you’re playing around with, using me as a helmet substitute!
The examinees quickly moved, tailing the examiner, stepping deeper into the forest.
“It seems this examiner is quick on her feet, like a ranger.”
She was walking at a leisurely pace in front while we had to sprint lightly just to keep up.
“But at this rate, if we go for a side quest, won’t we fall behind?”
“This exam likely assumes such situations from the start.”
Jezel, someone who had passed the ticket exam with sheer intellect, sensed the traps of this exam.
“If we detour to handle tasks, we have to track back to catch up.”
“Annoying exam.”
“Not only that. Those who earn points by doing so will become the prime targets for those who seek their points.”
Isabel clicked her tongue.
“Stealing points, huh?”
“We can’t know how much score we’ll earn just by running, so if we detour to earn points, we’ll distance ourselves from the main group, and if we take risks, enemies will rush at us.”
Detouring means certain loss.
The risks to be taken only increase during the exam.
But if we don’t take any risks, we could be eliminated due to lack of points, creating constant score pressure.
“We’ll have to make decisions too.”
Whether to become a reckless score-farming team or a hunting team aiming for those farming points.
A dangerous exam had begun, with score-hunters and examinee-hunters coexisting.
“Oh dear. How pitiful. Are you worried about Oknodie?”
You’ve missed the mark, Jezel.
That’s not the concern here.
“Isabel.”
“Huh? This time, do you want me to carry you? I don’t mind, really.”
“Do you happen to have some insect repellent spray?”
Carrying me is no issue.
Mosquito repellent is of utmost importance.
