“Uh?”
“I’ve been thinking about it. The reason the passing condition is specifically seven or more.”
The essence of this trial isn’t about counting numbers.
At first glance, it seems you must strategically leave food to pass, but that’s not the reality.
“Golden eggs, raid bonuses, the wolf’s interference, monkey trades, and so on. There are just too many variables.”
Even the most brilliant person would find it hard to calculate and act on all of this.
Since food production is possible, the tide can turn depending on the challenger’s capabilities.
In that sense, the requirement of seven isn’t that significant.
It doesn’t seem like it was simply adjusted for balance…
“Seven, huh? The number that Bigon saved.”
“……”
The trial’s passer, Bigon, saved a total of seven chickens or chicks in the past.
Thus, the passing condition for this trial was fixed at seven or more.
…Could that be the answer?
Bigon fell silent and then nodded.
“…That’s an old memory. Right. On the eighth day, I saved two chickens and five chicks.”
“Aha…”
“I was quite emotional back then. Even though I could have saved more, there were fights and situations where I had to give up—”
“Seven is a bit low, isn’t it?”
“……”
[Hahahahahaha]
[Lily?]
[You can’t even do that.]
[You’re on the level of a noob lol]
[What’s the ‘violent’ thing?]
[Ah lol I saved 50 animals.]
[Great Lily.]
[Hmm lol]
[Seven really is a bit low, right?]
“It’s a joke.”
“…is it really a joke?”
“Of course. Saving seven is quite an achievement. A regular user might struggle to save even one or two, you know?”
“I didn’t save many. I won’t deny that.”
“There’s no need to deny it. It’s a fact.”
“……”
Twitching.
Bigon’s fists were trembling in frustration.
I joked again, but Bigon was sulking and nodded deeply.
I might have been light-hearted, but Bigon was indeed quite capable.
‘The wolf and the monkey.’
It wouldn’t have been easy for anyone to face these two races with limited strength and body.
Even if he managed to beat the wolf, he would have fallen for the monkey’s scheme.
And even if he outsmarted the monkey, he probably couldn’t overcome the wolf’s superior strength.
I shook my head.
“Achieving any meaningful results against both is no easy task. Lift your head up.”
“…It’s just that I only saved seven because I couldn’t achieve more.”
“You saved seven, which is impressive. You know that.”
Slowly.
I extended my hand to Bigon.
“You can’t save everyone, Bigon. No matter how hard you try, someone will always be sacrificed.”
The salvation of everyone is like a fantasy, a utopia.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t save everyone.
This is something I felt deeply, and this time, it was just that I was a bit stronger than the scripted game.
If it had been a game I couldn’t handle, I would have had to give someone up too.
“Get up. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“…Right. Yeah, um?”
“What is it?”
“Doesn’t it feel like the situation has flipped?”
“Isn’t this it?”
“Normally, I’m the one giving advice as a senior. And I was also going to pass along the reward.”
I see how it is.
[HAHAHAHAH]
[Right?]
[Seven against fifty is a bit much!]
[There’s no such thing as seniors and juniors in front of results.]
[Lily-senpai]
[Lily is the senior, mm-hmm.]
[What reward are we getting?]
[Reward?]
Somehow, it suddenly popped out.
No matter how much this is the original trial, the Administrator.
Administrators rarely appear in the process of Deoen, so this appearance was quite unusual.
“Then please give me advice as a senior. I will seriously listen.”
“…Well done.”
“Is that it?”
“Is there more to say? You were perfect.”
Bigon nodded bluntly.
Even if he said that, his face clearly showed the greatness and envy of saving everyone.
If he could go back to the past, he probably would have done the same… that must be the regret.
‘Going back to the past is impossible though.’
“Feel free to ask more questions before I give you the reward. These questions are also part of the reward.”
“Are questions about Deoen’s core system or about the chairman acceptable?”
“No.”
“Too bad.”
[LOL]
[Too bad ㅋㅋ]
[I’m curious though.]
[For real ㅋㅋ]
I never thought he’d just spill the beans easily.
Those kinds of things are probably known by the executives of Deoen, like Hwanggak or Cheongsu.
Bigon also holds a position since passing the trial, but it doesn’t seem like he’s in a high-ranking role.
“I’m curious about how Bigon-sensei cleared it.”
“Me? There’s nothing special. I was just diligently distributing feed when those wolf bastards invaded. So, after a fierce fight, I managed to push them out, giving up about a third of the chickens.”
“Oh.”
“I couldn’t defeat the wolf captain Buron, but we reached a reasonable agreement. He also feared taking more damage.”
“What about the monkeys?”
“The monkeys…”
Ugh!
“Those damn things ruined everything! Crazy merchants!”
Bigon slammed the table in anger.
As I listened more, it turned out that the forced dealings and price manipulation of the monkeys caused a lot of losses.
He thought about charging in, but he couldn’t dare to advance into the giant trap fields.
In the end, he was used by the monkey until the last day and barely saved seven.
I barely saved seven dogs…
“Thanks to you, I feel really clear now. Thank you.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re clear.”
“…Next question, please.”
Next question, huh…
“Is the trial of the Golden Sky currently only open here?”
“Not a chance. It’s already open in various dimensions. It’s just difficult to find.”
“Anyone can do it, right?”
“That’s right. But it’s definitely not an easy difficulty. I’m only two stars after all.”
“Hmm…”
[So other ones are harder.]
[Let’s also take a look at others.]
[Two stars is a bit easy, haha.]
[How hard is a six-star one?]
[Just a big Lily.]
I’m curious about the other trials too…
But there’s a bit of time shortage to go looking for them.
Because the top-tier Celestial Race and Demon Race, the disaster for next year, are right around the corner.
It’d be better to prepare gradually than to wander around looking for trials I don’t even know where they are.
“The trial can be considered later when I find it. So, what’s in the main area?”
“You’ll find out when you meet the requirements.”
“Did I not meet them?”
“There’s no way one trial could do it.”
Bigon said that to enter at least the main area, you must clear three trials.
Still, I thought I achieved a hidden achievement while saving everyone.
‘Is it because it’s only two stars?’
If I had perfectly cleared the four or five-star ones, it might have been possible.
I threw several other questions as well, but there weren’t any particularly meaningful ones.
I knew most of the information already, and important details like Deoen’s internal situations or future information had long been blocked.
“…Then it seems like I’m done with questions. Now, I shall give you your reward.”
“You seem to have said more things won’t be accepted.”
“That’s just part of the reward. This is the real deal.”
Bigon stood up from his seat.
As our spaces separated, I began to rise high.
Before I knew it, the fields below, the Bamboo Forest, and the pond had shrunk to the size of beans.
The broadcast…
[?]
[Huh?]
[Lily?]
[What’s with the buffer?]
[Why did it disappear again? Ugh ———.]
[Again?]
It got cut off for a moment.
The situation here isn’t being transmitted.
I guess the raccoon cut it intentionally.
“You must know the name of this trial.”
“I heard it’s called the dilemma of sacrifice and salvation.”
“Correct. This contradiction that to achieve salvation, someone must inevitably be sacrificed. The purpose of the trial is to overcome this as best as you can.”
You didn’t seem to need to overcome it, though.
Bigon said that with a bittersweet smile.
“The reward is not much different either. Sacrifice and salvation.”
“?”
Hmm…
A large box appeared in Bigon’s one hand.
A box tinged with golden light.
I felt a massive amount of power coming from inside the box.
“Even though it’s only two stars, you perfectly cleared the trial. And inside this is your reward.”
“Inside, there’s not much of a reward.”
“I bet there’s something amazing in there.”
“Yeah, there should be a transcendent-grade weapon and a significant amount of experience points meaningful even to your level. Plus, various other riches.”
“Even I would be tempted by such things now.”
“Ugh…”
In Bigon’s opposite hand, a small box appeared.
A shabby wooden box.
“There’s nothing special in here. No transcendent-grade weapon, no massive experience points, not even a single gold coin.”
“…?”
“Instead, there’s information about the next disaster inside.”
“That’s actually good, isn’t it?”
Information about a disaster is valuable.
No matter how precious the opponent’s treasures are, information is a treasure in itself in this era.
But Bigon shook his head and added more.
“It will be disclosed to everyone. The information.”
“……”
“If there’s information about the disaster, many will likely have a higher chance of survival. However, it won’t be a great reward for you.”
“……”
“You can do just fine without that information. In fact, you could instead gain power to save even more of your kind.”
“So that’s the dilemma?”
“Exactly.”
To achieve ‘salvation’, one must choose information over rewards.
But considering that getting anything at all is near nothing, I have to see this as a ‘sacrifice’.
Of course, if I get stronger, I can quickly suppress the disasters and manage the situation, so it can’t be entirely seen as sacrifice.
It’s truly a dilemma.
“A dilemma of ‘sacrifice and salvation’…”
“By the way, the information is more about how to resist and survive than the enemy’s weaknesses. It’s literally focused on ‘salvation’.”
“……”
“You must be troubled. Take your time in choosing. I’ve temporarily blinded external eyes to ensure you make the right choice. This choice itself won’t be made public.”
“I’ll take it.”
“Others don’t even have a choice…”
Ugh…
It lands lightly in my hand despite being a shabby box compared to the luxurious one.
The raccoon’s eyes widened as if they would burst looking at the box.
“Why?”
“If you can manage to survive on your own, that’s even better.”
It’s bound to be chaotic anyway, so there’s no need to go back and forth aimlessly.
I already have enough weapons, and to advance to the ‘next stage’, that amount of experience is nowhere near enough.
In that case, it’s much better for everyone to get the information.
After all, I intended to share whatever the information, whether secret or public.
“I actually prefer this. I’d rather at least one more person survive.”
“……”
“Of course, I’ll claim the credit… Why?”
“How unfortunate.”
“What?”
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