Chapter 53
Rabbit Hunt
The day of the 3rd practical exam dawned.
We left the hotel on time and headed to the bus stop.
The bus was waiting in front of us.
“Wow… there are so many people, can we even get on?”
“If only we had left 10 minutes earlier.”
“It feels like we should’ve left an hour earlier, not 10 minutes.”
“Well, we can’t change that now. Let’s just get on.”
The bus heading to the academy grounds was packed with exam takers for the 3rd practical exam.
We couldn’t find a seat and had to squeeze through the students.
Luckily, there was one handle nearby to grab onto.
I held onto the handle to avoid being swept away by the inertia.
“Ugh….”
The problem was that there was no available handle for Yeonha to hold onto nearby.
She was being pushed around by people, struggling to maintain her balance.
I said to her, “Yeonha, lean on me.”
“What?”
“It’s dangerous if you don’t. I’ll support you from behind, so lean on me comfortably.”
“But… then you’ll have a hard time.”
“I’m not an ordinary person, and I’m an examiner, what’s hard about it? Your weight is nothing, I can handle it without breaking a sweat…”
“Just one verse will do, do you really have to go all the way to the second verse? I’m not heavy at all, you know?”
“Who said you’re heavy?”
“That’s what that sounds like.”
“That’s not what it sounds like.”
“Anyway! Let me take the burden.”
Yeonha cautiously leans on me.
She gently places one hand on the midpoint between my chest and stomach, gripping the edge of my clothes.
Then, the bus suddenly came to a stop.
Kki-eek!
“Ahh!”
My body leans forward.
I quickly grip the handle tightly, supporting my body to prevent my feet from slipping off the ground.
At the same time, I hold the young Haneul with my other hand to prevent her from falling.
She, who was staggering, was led into my arms.
“Haneul, are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah… Thank you….”
Unlike a moment ago.
Haneul, who was clutching my chest with both hands in shock from the sudden stop of the bus.
Because she was so close to me, I couldn’t check on her condition.
Long rabbit ears swayed before my eyes, and I could only see the top of her head.
“Is something happening up front? You almost got hurt.”
“Uh, yeah….”
“Why are you just saying ‘uh, yeah….’? Are you really okay?”
“I’m fine, so….”
“Why?”
“Don’t whisper in my ear…. It tickles because your breath keeps reaching me, sounding like a whisper.”
“Hey, your ear is right in front of me, what can I do?”
“Because my ear is sensitive, that’s why, don’t….”
“Okay, okay.”
“Uh, yeah….”
Haneul’s ears twitch.
As she presses closer, she almost buries her face in my chest.
“But am I ticklish too?”
It’s not just Haneul whose breath is close.
Her breath was tickling my neck, almost teasingly.
It wasn’t unbearable, but it felt strange.
“Is it because it’s my neck?”
The neck is a vulnerable spot for any creature.
If the neck is bitten, one can’t move, and if the neck is broken, one dies.
Humans are no different.
So, I might be feeling a sense of vigilance about giving my vulnerable neck.
Yet, my instinctual reflex to dodge is absent.
“Maybe Haneul knows there’s no intention to harm me.”
I speculate.
To shake off the strange feeling, I looked out the window.
“Huh?”
It was then that I heard the test-takers inside the bus grumbling.
“It’s annoying from the morning, damn….”
“If you’re going to date, you should do it where no one can see you…”
“I’ll definitely make them fail.”
“Did you come to take the test or to date?”
“Where do students find time to date…”
“But we’re students too.”
“Let’s pass. If we pass, something will come out of it…”
Sounds of lamenting life, cursing someone, or suppressing tears sadly resonated.
Judging by their whispers, it seemed like someone was having a romantic rendezvous inside the bus.
“Whoever they are, they better break up.”
Those kinds of students couldn’t focus on studying.
Oh, tsk tsk.
Instead of voicing it out loud, I silently shared a sense of camaraderie with them.
—
The bus entered the academy grounds.
Having disembarked at the final stop, we decided to head towards the Dimension Hall where the 3rd round practical exam would take place.
Then, someone called us from behind.
“Haneul! Gyunwoo!”
“Oh, Eunbi.”
It was Go Eunbi.
She appeared as if she had just gotten off the bus stop, waving her arms vigorously.
She had a bright face even early in the morning.
“…Do you like her?”
“Why do you suddenly ask that?”
“Just… because I think you’re close. You haven’t even met her a few times… You usually don’t show much interest in others.”
“Did I do that?”
“Yeah, you did. So, it’s a bit surprising.”
Yeona nodded with a look of suspicion.
As someone unaware of the existence of the game, it might have seemed strange for me to be friendly with Go Eunbi, whom I had barely seen. Unable to tell the truth, I decided to deflect the question skillfully.
“She seems like a good person at first glance. So, I thought it’d be fine to get to know her. Don’t you think the same way?”
“…She doesn’t seem like a bad person. She seems to care because she knows I’m reserved.”
“Is that so?”
Even though she looked puzzled.
Yeona half-heartedly agreed, possibly finding some common ground.
She no longer probed further and averted her gaze from me.
Around that time, Go Eunbi approached us.
“Hi! You guys being here means you did well on the test yesterday, right? Are you going to take the 3rd round exam?”
At a peculiar hour, not even 9 a.m., feeling tired from taking exams the day before.
Go Eun-bi, with a lively face, approached, speaking cheerfully.
“Hello….”
It seemed difficult to respond to her.
Quietly, Yeon-ha, who had hidden behind me, greeted in an awkward tone.
Becoming an obstacle to her, I forced a bitter smile.
“Hello, are you going to take the exam too? They said we’d have it at the Dimension Hall. Where are you taking yours?”
“I’m also at the Dimension Hall. From what I know, those who applied for the combat system seem to take it at the Dimension Hall. Which room are you in?”
“We’re in room 206.”
“Oh, really? I’m in 206 too!”
“We’ll be taking the exam together.”
“Yeah, that’s great! If anything, help me out a lot.”
“Aren’t you quite capable too?”
“Well, still, it’s incomparable with you guys who have the black admission ticket. Oh, by the way, when you saw me earlier, you seemed to be talking about something, was it about me?”
“Yes, we were talking about you. You seem friendly. Even the sky acknowledged it. Right?”
“What should I say to that….”
“Huh? Really? Thank you for the compliment! You both look like a perfect couple too!”
“You seem to have many friends.”
“Me? Oh, what are you talking about? I don’t have many friends!”
Go Eun-bi waved her hand as if what was said was absurd.
Anticipating her reaction, I shrugged lightly.
Indeed, Go Eun-bi was undoubtedly a flatterer.
We continued conversing in this manner as we found the exam venue for the 3rd practical test.
“After confirming your exam number, candidates may enter the gate.”
Dimension Hall 206.
Following the guidance of the assistants, we completed the procedures to participate in the exam.
Then, we stood in front of the artificial gate.
The dimension radiating a yellow light filled the gate.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yeah.”
“…Sure.”
I stepped into the gate.
Yeon-ha followed, and lastly, Go Eun-bi entered.
The sight was engulfed in a yellow hue.
[Entered the gate.]
[Yellow: Hotel of Fantasia IV]
[Strategy conditions are being delivered.]
[This is a gate that has already been conquered.]
When that message popped up,
I was standing in a clearing in the forest, surrounded by test-takers.
“The Hotel of Dreams?”
Clearing the message that came to mind, I tried to find Yeonha and Goeun who were following after.
Although the area was bustling with test-takers, finding Yeonha wasn’t difficult.
Because her rabbit ears stood out.
“There she is.”
Just then, near where I was standing, I saw rabbit ears poking out above the heads of the test-takers.
I pushed through the crowd of test-takers and went out.
“Haenul, Eunbi.”
“Oh, Gyenwoo.”
“I was just looking for you, did you find your way here okay?”
“Haeni stood out.”
The two greeted me.
Especially Yeonha seemed relieved when she saw me.
As if afraid of getting swept away in the crowd, she cautiously grabbed onto my sleeve.
At that moment, Goeunbi spoke up.
“Oh, it’s moving!”
The test-takers around us began to move somewhere.
It seemed like the proctors up ahead were guiding the way.
“Let’s follow.”
We decided to join the procession.
After walking along the path in the forest for a while,
“What’s that?”
I caught sight of a roof beyond the trees in the forest.
The building that had been obscured by the roof was gradually revealing itself.
The proctors seemed to be leading toward that building.
Soon, as we emerged from the forest, we could fully see the building.
“A hotel?”
It was a building that involuntarily brought such a thought to mind, appearing quite old.
The evaluators were waiting in front of the building by the dried-up fountain.
Among them, the evaluator at the front checked the time and spoke.
“As it is the appointed time, I will now explain the third test.”
Upon hearing this, the murmurs of the test-takers quieted down, and they listened attentively to the evaluator’s explanation.
“In the forest surrounding the Hotel of Dreams, monsters ranging from Rank 1 to Rank 2 reside. Among them is a monster called the Ghost Rabbit. Instructors, please show the Ghost Rabbit to the test-takers.”
“Yes.”
One of the evaluators pulled out a brown rabbit from the cage on the floor. With its ears caught and hanging in mid-air, the rabbit had a long horn sprouting from its forehead.
Following suit, other evaluators each picked up rabbits of different colors, one after another.
At that moment, a message appeared before my eyes as I observed them.
[Encountered a Monster.]
[Ghost Rabbit (Rank. 01) x 1]
[Red Ghost Rabbit (Rank. 01) x 1]
[Yellow Ghost Rabbit (Rank. 01) x 1]
[Blue Ghost Rabbit (Rank. 01) x 1]
“Those are Ghost Rabbits. Other than the horn you see now, they appear as ordinary rabbits,” explained the evaluator, signaling.
As he spoke, the evaluators who were holding the ears of the Ghost Rabbits let go. As soon as the rabbits’ ears were freed, their bodies turned semi-transparent and disappeared.
“In this manner…”
“…,”
“They can use protective colors that are difficult to confirm with the naked eye. In that case, ‘normal’ attacks won’t work. Without using protective colors, ‘other’ attacks won’t work.”
A Rank 1 monster, the Ghost Rabbit. It was a monster I was familiar with.
“Whether in games or in evaluation battles of the Divine Sword Guild, I’ve faced these enemies before.”
Naturally, I knew that depending on the rabbits’ state, either physical or magical attacks would be effective.
I could also understand from the evaluator’s explanation what ‘normal’ and ‘other’ meant.
A ‘normal’ attack referred to physical attacks, while ‘other’ attacks meant magical attacks.
Nevertheless…
“Seiun’s prediction was correct.”
It was a test to see if one could freely switch the manifestation state of internal mana.
However, listening to the evaluator’s explanation, it seemed like they were asking more than just that.
“Students, you are to hunt the Ghost Rabbits residing in the forest and bring their Mana Stones to the fountain. We will…”
The evaluator headed towards a large scale.
It was an artifact used to measure the energy contained in Mana Stones.
Placing the stone on it, the evaluator measured the mana within, displaying the value on the scale.
“In this manner.”
[3Gg]
“We will measure the value of the marbles based on various criteria such as weight, size, damage ratio, energy, etc. The marble I measured now is assessed as 3Gg according to our standards. By the way, ‘Gg’ stands for the initials of ‘Geumgang’.”
“….”
“Every examinee can receive one chip for every 10Gg.”
The evaluator showed the chips.
They looked like chips you would see in a casino.
“The 3rd practical exam and the 4th practical exam will be conducted at the same gate. The venue for the 4th practical exam is the Illusion Hotel behind me.”
“….”
“At 7 p.m. tonight, there will be a banquet for you at the Illusion Hotel. Collect the required chips by then and book a room for the night.”
The room grades based on the number of chips are as follows.
Saying so, the evaluator sent a message to our enchanted gate watch.
[Illusion Hotel Room Grades]
―Standard: 10 chips
―Superior: 20 chips
―Deluxe: 30 chips
―Premier: 40 chips
―Suite: 50 chips