We walked for about 3 minutes following the arrows on the floor until we reached a hallway with exam room number four, where two men in neatly tailored suits, just like the staff that guided us in the first-floor lobby, greeted us.
“Please wait a moment. The promotion exam will start within 10 minutes.”
“Yes.”
– Wow… I wondered why there was such a commotion outside.
– Right? It’s enough to cause a stir.
They glanced at me and whispered among themselves, but soon turned their attention back to the door where the test was taking place.
We sat on a long brown wooden bench in front of the door, waiting for our turn.
– Bang! Bang! Bang!
Though we couldn’t see inside the exam room, it was clear something was happening beyond the door.
‘Room four… It has to be that guy.’
I had never been caught in such a situation before, but room four was where the examiner Yeon-hee mentioned in the elevator was located.
“Ugh… Why does it have to be room four… Am I going to have to come back in a month?”
A man who was already waiting in front of us sighed heavily.
Come to think of it, the trash that fell earlier was caught here as well.
“It seems like room four is definitely a bad place, Il-wol.”
I nodded.
Since it was a test, there must naturally be variations in difficulty between rooms, but I knew that the evaluation standards were supposed to be the same. However, whether one could display their true skills depended solely on their own luck based on who the examiner was. And that was similar to life-or-death situations in dungeons.
– Huwaaa!
– Aaaah!
The examiner inside the exam room yelled loudly, shaking the building.
‘He’s huge.’
The silhouette of the examiner I sensed was clearly one of the martial artist types.
He had a build so robust that even if he wore the guise of an Orc Warrior, he would still be convincing, muscles bulging and all on display.
‘Do you really have to be so bare-chested? Definitely not normal.’
Well, if a human could reduce someone to a state of lifelong disability during an exam, then it’s hard to imagine they’d stay sane all day, every day judging promotion tests.
‘Wait, shouldn’t we check the fact that someone that big was bullied in the first place?’
If he was the one doing the bullying, then it definitely wouldn’t make sense.
“Ugh…”
Yeon-hee showed an unusually tense expression at the low screams coming from the exam room, but by now, Ran and the summoned creatures were already being summoned one by one.
“H-Hey, are you planning to use all your summons?”
“Y-Yeah? I-Is that not okay?”
The staff member who was standing at the entrance whispered that it wasn’t necessary to take the D-rank promotion that seriously.
“The examiner gets kind of excited when the other party goes all out, so sometimes accidents happen. It’s not uncommon to have an arm or leg broken.”
“Ah-… I see…”
Yeon-hee seemed a bit embarrassed and scratched the back of her head.
‘Why are you saying stuff about breaking arms and legs?’
“When you registered earlier, didn’t you sign a contract? It probably mentioned that the association won’t take responsibility for injuries during the exam. To monopolize the promotion test and not take responsibility for safety? That’s quite a terrible organization, right? Hehehe.”
“Uh… Is that so…”
‘Is he trying to scare Yeon-hee on purpose? Seriously, can’t anyone be normal here?’
I felt like today just wasn’t going well, but I couldn’t agree with what that staff member said about being moderate.
That examiner was at least a strong figure between the end of B-rank and A-rank.
‘I can’t let such a good opportunity slip away. It’s not every day you get to spar comfortably with someone like that.’
Breaking an arm or a leg would make for a decent tutoring fee.
I told the summoned Ran to do their best, and quick-witted Ran conveyed my intentions to Yeon-hee.
-!!
“I get it! So, Il-wol, here’s our strategy—”
Nodding.
Yeon-hee whispered a simple strategy to deal with the examiner, then summoned her creatures until the waiting room corridor was filled. The people waiting with us backed away, one by one drawing weapons.
‘Haha— This is somewhat inconsiderate. Hold on just a bit.’
It wasn’t possible to summon endlessly once we entered the exam room.
Puff puff!
– Cough! Wait! I-I surrender! I surrender!
– Surrender? Are you going to pull that in front of a monster, Hunter?
The staff members waiting by the door shook their heads vigorously in response to the voice coming from inside. To declare forfeiture while casually walking out like that meant he surely wasn’t your average person. But…
‘This is actually great.’
At this point, it was almost like my abilities were becoming widely known.
Noh Ha-yoon, Bae Joo-ah, and the Helen combo probably wouldn’t spread rumors about me on purpose, but rumors tend to spread like wings on a bird.
Various variables emerged, and my growth rate had long surpassed my expectations.
Given that I had no sense of how my actions would cause a butterfly effect in the future, I thought I should give my best effort moment by moment.
In other words, it was the end of hiding my capabilities while fighting.
‘Of course, it would be better to hide them if I could. I’m just glad Jo Gi-man is quiet…’
“477, Lee Yeon-hee. Please enter. The exam time is 5 minutes.”
After the previous candidates were roughly beaten and carried away on stretchers with barely a moment’s rest, it was now our turn.
“Um? A Summoner? Ahahaha— You’re the main dish today!! My name is Maeng Seong-yong!!”
“Ugh… I-I’m… Lee Yeon-hee… Nice to meet you.”
‘Ugh… What kind of examiner is this?’
The 2-meter tall man who looked like he could eat us for breakfast laughed heartily while Yeon-hee shook like a rabbit before a predator.
– The exam will start in 10 seconds. Candidates, please give it your all, and Examiner, please… do try to control yourself a bit.
“Um? How else should I control myself?! Those worm-like guys should have been prevented from walking the Hunter’s path in the first place!!”
– …….
‘…Just let a lunatic like that roam free at the scene.’
Maeng Seong-yong wiped his mouth with his hand before glancing at the summoned creatures Yeon-hee had called forth, licking his lips. Then suddenly, he turned his eyes toward me, wide awake with a big smile.
‘He caught me. He really has a good sense for things. He figured out who the strongest was right away without leaving any openings… What to do about that?’
If faced with such a monster, what should one do? That was what I planned to consider as I moved.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep-!
As the signal to start sounded, the examiner’s figure disappeared, and Yeon-hee wrapped herself in a slime while spreading her summons in a fan shape.
The Lizard Squad only came out partially, aiming to fight primarily with new summons.
Flap—
First, the Neos Harpy soared into the sky, and my field of vision rose with it.
Following Yeon-hee’s gesture, Lizard 2 and 3 charged forward, carrying Ddak-ddak-i and Screaming Mushroom.
Chirrurur—!!
Kyaaaaah—!!
As the two monsters unleashed their provocations simultaneously, the examiner, who had vanished from our sight, revealed himself.
“Kwahahaha! Where did you find such interesting things!”
Despite his words, the examiner’s face showed annoyance. The provocation from the Screaming Mushroom was enough to even irritate high-rank hunters.
Crunch! Boom-!
As soon as the examiner revealed himself, he swiftly dispatched the Iron Beetle and Screaming Mushroom with bare fists.
-!
Even though I witnessed his terrifying power, I wouldn’t go easy on him. Lizard 2’s and 3’s machetes aimed at the examiner’s neck in harmony.
Clang clang!!
Surprisingly, the examiner didn’t dodge or block the attacks; he took them head-on with his thick neck.
Drip—
Red blood streamed down from the examiner’s collarbone, but it was us who felt the fear.
‘Pure Tanker.’
“Kwahaha! This is fun!”
“Wow… Unbelievable.”
Yeon-hee was also astonished, but the coordinated play from the summoned creatures didn’t stop. An Orc Warrior, Dotti, and ten members of the Lizard Squad charged at the examiner together.
“Uwaaaah!!”
But the examiner spun like a top, sending all the summoned creatures surrounding him flying far away.
Bwehhh!
The slow-moving Zombie 1 and 2 couldn’t even approach and had their heads severed by the examiner’s blade hand, while the previously launched Lizard Squad and Orcs rushed in again, but it was insufficient.
Whish—!
“Hoh, young lady, your archery skills are just so-so?”
Though Yeon-hee occasionally drew her bow, the examiner casually defended against it with the summoned creatures serving as shields.
‘This isn’t good.’
If I managed to land a proper blow even once, I’d have enough material to brag about for applause elsewhere.
As the summoned creatures that had charged continued to have their necks severed from their torsos, the Neos Harpy plummeted from the sky, claws outstretched for the attack.
Thwack-!
But did he have eyes in the back of his head? The Harpy’s ambush was effortlessly neutralized.
He grabbed the Harpy and ripped her in half as he shook his head, his eyes filled with regret.
“Oh dear, just hitting the things you control won’t work—”
Just as the examiner’s tedious lecture was about to begin.
“Hm?!”
I, who had landed behind the examiner while riding the Neos Harpy in a stealth state, launched a decisive blow aimed at his back.
It was a perfect little opening created by using most of the summoned creatures summoned by Yeon-hee.
[Flame Cut]
Swoosh—!
“Umm!!”
– Leave a Flame Mark on the Enemy!
At that moment, small flames ignited sequentially, painting a red line across his back when a giant fist, faster than I had noticed, slammed into my left shoulder.
Bang—!!
I flew for quite a distance and crashed into the outer wall of the exam room. It was a familiar sensation that made me grind my teeth.
‘Ah, crap— got hit again in the same spot as in the canyon!’
“Ah! Il-wol!!”
“This is no time to let your guard down, young lady!”
“Ahhh!”
Before I could react, the examiner had already approached and slapped Yeon-hee lightly on the back.
Bam bam bam—
Hit, Yeon-hee flew quite a distance, but it seemed the Slime cushioned her fall, so she wasn’t too badly hurt. At that moment.
Chaaang!!
“Umm?! This is, Specter?!”
Yeon-hee entered the exam room with 99% of the Specter spell memorized, and as the examiner approached, she summoned the Specter.
The moment the examiner swung his hand at her, the Specter swiftly attacked his flank with its sharpened hands.
Splash-!
It inflicted quite a deep wound, enough to see the blood, but that level of injury wouldn’t even require a band-aid for the examiner.
“Huh? Hahahaha! This is a masterpiece!!”
As the examiner laughed heartily at the Specter, he suddenly charged up his hand, glowing red, and swept through the Specter’s head.
[Whaaaaaa—!!]
After Maeng Seong-yong’s hand passed, the Specter vanished like smoke wafting in the air.
Nodding happily, Maeng Seong-yong felt a warm heat approaching from the left.
Bang!!
He stayed put, but a deformed fireball landed some distance away from him and flared up.
Swoosh—
When he turned his left, he saw the skeleton that had attacked his back earlier.
“…You did that?”
As Maeng Seong-yong had been teasingly testing the boundaries, for the first time, his expression hardened as he brushed his hands down over his back.
His fingers trailed down along a shallow cut about 20 centimeters long.
With that single cut, his skin was notably torn, and warm blood trickled down, soaking his gray training pants.
For a naturally recovered Maeng Seong-yong, it was a wound comparable to a fire ant bite, but it felt oddly troublesome.
‘Is my recovery not functioning normally?’
The bleeding that should have already stopped was still ongoing. It was strange. Even more so, a message appeared that he had never seen before.
– ???’s flame leaves a mark on you!
‘Huh?! This isn’t an ordinary skeleton, is it? What kind of effect does the mark by flame have?’
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