Chapter 70
) [Illustration]
All examinees entered the gate.
Scattered across the island, they were all watching for opportunities to snatch each other’s exam tickets.
In such a situation, there were only two types of people conspicuously moving around.
Those who were confident enough in their abilities not to fall prey.
Or those who failed to grasp the essence of the test.
“Bothersome.”
The top spirit magic school in the country.
Cha Eun-sol of the Circulating Tea Pavilion belonged, strictly speaking, to the former.
She didn’t have absolute confidence in her abilities, but she didn’t think she was weak enough to be taken advantage of by examinees.
Above all, she didn’t want to use her brain and found it bothersome.
Sugar crash.
Calorie consumption.
“I must cherish my sugar and fat.”
She had to spend three days on this island.
In situations where getting food was difficult, it was best to minimize energy consumption.
Cha Eun-sol gently stroked her growling stomach, indicating hunger.
Then, to check her condition, she grabbed her belly.
“My belly… can’t grab it.”
Cha Eun-sol’s voice trembled.
The thickness of her increasing belly fat was too thin.
It wasn’t expanding as well as usual.
It seemed like it had decreased by 1mm.
For her, who had a body that didn’t gain weight easily even when eating, 1mm was a significant number.
Of course, it might just be her perception, and she might not have actually lost weight.
But the fact that she felt it was the problem itself.
“To protect my precious belly fat.”
To fill the void in her heart.
Cha Eun-sol took out a sausage from her pocket and put it in her mouth.
“Yum yum.”
The sausage was dark in color.
It tasted like chocolate.
As the sweet flavor spread in her mouth, Cha Eun-sol’s face softened.
Whenever she felt a lack of sweetness, she enjoyed eating this sausage.
In addition, the sausages she always carried had various flavors.
They were perfect snacks, rich in calories and nutrients.
“I should have one more.”
This time, it was cheddar cheese flavor.
Cha Eun-sol nibbled on another sausage in place.
“Seems like more people are targeting me.”
Meanwhile, Cha Eun-sol was identifying test-takers lurking around her.
The spirits informed her even when she did nothing.
“….”
Their gender, appearance, numbers, weapons, and even the color of their test admission tickets.
Cha Eun-sol knew and felt it all.
Crash!
Hence, when they launched a surprise attack,
Cha Eun-sol remained unfazed.
“One white, three yellow, one green.”
Total score: 100 points.
If she could just snatch their test admission tickets, she could meet the passing criteria.
Cha Eun-sol stirred up the wind.
Whoosh!
“…What!?”
The wind spirit responded to her call.
The wind swirled around Cha Eun-sol, deflecting the flying attacks.
Not stopping there, she lifted the test-takers hiding in the trees into the sky.
Helpless against the wind, they let out startled cries.
She paid no heed to their cries.
“You, too, lend a hand.”
Meanwhile, some test-takers stood on the ground.
One tried to flee when his situation turned dire.
To prevent his escape, Cha Eun-sol borrowed the power of the earth spirit.
Swoosh!
As she raised her hand to the sky, a hand emerged from the ground.
The test-taker who found himself on that hand didn’t know what to do.
He tried to jump off belatedly, but it was a moment when the spirit of the wind was moving.
Floating in the air, he struggled to get away somehow.
But it was no use.
Without a second thought, the wind snatched away the exam papers of the students.
“I’ve got them all.”
He spread his hands towards the sky.
Exam papers fell heavily onto Cha Eun-sol’s palm.
She sent them far away so they wouldn’t be chased.
Then she spoke towards a certain place.
“You won’t come?”
The student who was watching Cha Eun-sol noticed not only those who were carried away by the wind, but one more person.
Naturally, she was aware of the remaining person as well.
Realizing that he had been discovered, the person walked out from behind the tree obediently.
“You were so pretty, so I was watching you, but you’re a user of the circulation charm, huh? No wonder your skill in handling spirits is quite remarkable…”
“….”
It was a woman with a yellow exam paper.
She approached as if to strike up a friendly conversation.
Cha Eun-sol didn’t respond.
She could tell that despite the outwardly friendly attitude, it wasn’t genuine.
Her heart was not pure.
That’s how special her eyes were.
Above all…
‘Is her body and soul not in harmony?’
That was the moment.
The woman drew her twin swords.
She rushed at her suddenly.
“Shall we see for ourselves how good you really are?”
The woman grins.
Cha Eun-sol raised the wind as she had done a little while ago.
The wind tried to grab hold of her.
Thump!
But the woman dodged the wind’s touch with agile movements.
She also created a barrier around her body.
‘Lend me your strength.’
Cha Eun-sol waved her hand.
The earth spirit responded.
Rocks resembling wedges emerged behind her.
She expelled all of them.
Crack! Thud!
The woman protected her face with her twin swords and deflected the rocks.
I avoided being kicked away.
Some of them brushed past my legs and waist, causing shallow cuts.
Blood flowed from the wounds.
“Is that all right?”
As if numb to the pain.
The woman praised Cha Eun-sol without showing any sign of pain.
Meanwhile, she had approached close to Cha Eun-sol’s face.
‘…strong.’
For the first time, Cha Eun-sol stepped back.
Emotions crossed the woman’s face, which had been consistently expressionless.
She summoned the power of the earth spirit to make rock pillars rise from the ground.
Whoosh!
The rock pillar blocked the woman.
The woman, who had been running towards Cha Eun-sol, hesitated for a moment.
But that was short-lived.
Her eyes narrowed, and a smile played on her lips.
The mana-infused twin swords emitted light.
Clang!
“…!”
The woman’s twin swords pierced through the pillar.
The pillar crumbled down.
She could now face Cha Eun-sol, who had been protected within the rock pillar.
Cha Eun-sol’s green eyes widened, allowing a close distance.
‘Didn’t expect this?’
The woman, Lee Ga-hyun, observed Cha Eun-sol’s reaction.
She thought Cha Eun-sol would be flustered.
But she quickly composed herself and asked with an unwavering gaze.
“Who are you?”
“….”
Cha Eun-sol’s gaze was fixed on Lee Ga-hyun’s eyes.
No, not her eyes.
Her gaze was looking at her own soul within this body.
Lee Ga-hyun instinctively realized it.
Right at that moment.
Whoosh!
“…!”
From behind Cha Eun-sol.
A fireball was wavering.
Anticipating her breakthrough, she had prepared it in advance.
Surprise flickered on Lee Ga-hyun’s face as she belatedly noticed the fireball.
Swiftly!
Cha Eun-sol dodges the blade of Yi Ga-hyun and twists her body.
The fireball behind her hits Yi Ga-hyun directly.
A pillar of fire shoots up.
In that moment, she widened the distance.
“Those eyes.”
“….”
Yi Ga-hyun emerges from the pillar of fire.
Having just blocked the attack to minimize the damage, she looks into Cha Eun-sol’s green eyes and says, in a tone that seems intrigued,
“They’re not ordinary eyes, huh?”
“….”
“Eyes that see what can’t be seen… Beautiful and valuable. I like it. It’s to my taste. I’d want to make it part of my collection right away.”
Yi Ga-hyun licks her lips with her tongue.
Cha Eun-sol feels uneasy meeting her gaze.
“But I can’t cause any trouble, and being a person of the Circulating Tea House, I can’t rashly make you mine. There might be potential for further development, but to eliminate that potential is also…”
I don’t understand what she’s saying.
Cha Eun-sol doesn’t let her guard down.
Then, Yi Ga-hyun claps her hands.
“For now, you pass.”
“…Huh?”
“I expect great things from you.”
Yi Ga-hyun unexpectedly turns around and leaves her place.
Cha Eun-sol stands still, watching her back.
“….”
If she wanted to follow, she could.
She’s suspicious.
Would it be okay to let the author go like this?
Cha Eun-sol pondered.
Soon, she made a decision.
“Too much trouble, really.”
She has already gathered the necessary points anyway.
She doesn’t want to exert herself further.
It’s just draining her energy.
Cha Eun-sol decides to forget about women as she eats a chocolate-flavored sausage.
—
After obtaining Nam Yoo-ri’s exam ticket.
I openly wandered around the island, facing the exam-takers.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any news about Lee Gahyun.
“Will this be worth 350 points?”
In the end, the only income I had from knocking down exam-takers was the exam ticket I obtained.
I pinned the newly acquired exam ticket to my clothes and looked up at the sky.
“I guess I should stop here for today.”
Unknowingly, the day was fading.
Monsters become ferocious at night.
Moving any further was dangerous.
If one had a mind, by now they would stop hunting and start preparing to stay up all night.
I decided to do the same.
“Let’s go find a place to rest.”
I didn’t seek a comfortable place.
Such places were bound to be crowded with exam-takers, so I had to stay alert all night.
Therefore, I decided to find a place where I could hide my body adequately and where no one’s footsteps would reach.
“It’s unlikely for monsters to come to their territory. But if I go too deep, I might also be in danger… It’s better to catch them near the boundary.”
I stepped into the forest.
The forest was very dark.
As the sky gradually turned blue, the darkness in the forest deepened.
It was difficult to see into the distance.
Crunch!
“…”
It was then that I sensed a presence.
Something was circling around me.
“…A person, perhaps.”
It wasn’t the presence of a monster.
It seemed like exam-takers who had entered the forest before me were targeting me.
“They’re not visible here.”
They were on the trees.
In the darkness, I could only sense their movements, swift and seamless, but their forms remained unseen.
Likely, they were in the same situation.
＜Light＞
To illuminate the darkness around me,
I unfolded a 1st-rank light elemental magic, creating a sphere made of light.
A sphere, the size of a clenched fist, floated above my palm, illuminating the dark forest.
It was a magic distinct from simply concentrating mana to glow, it was different from Radiation magic.
“I can’t see them.”
Then, I raised my palm higher.
A sphere the size of a clenched fist floated above my palm, illuminating the dark forest that concealed it.
Unfortunately, the light didn’t reach where they were.
So, they could only know my location.
But that was fine.
I decided not to turn off the light.
“Just lure them in like this.”
They weren’t just one, but several.
It was more efficient to take them all out at once rather than dealing with them individually.
I decided to lure them in and kept walking.
Crunch!
They were coming after me.
Now, they were openly revealing their presence.
Trying to instill fear.
On the other hand, they were cunning.
“…Three of them, huh.”
Alternating in revealing their presence.
They were driving me into a corner.
Guiding me to turn in response to their presence.
Of course, it was possible because I was playing along.
Finally, they seemed to have cornered me and let out a laugh.
The sound echoed.
“You’ve fallen into our trap!”
“You didn’t even realize you were being lured!?”
“How foolish!”
…It was a sound that seemed familiar.
At that moment, I could anticipate who they were.
Sure enough.
“If you don’t want to die!”
“Hand over the admission ticket!”
“Then we’ll spare your life!”
The three who leaped down from the trees were triplets.
My comrades.
From Noble mtl dot com
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it. But what are these guys up to?”
I chuckled in disbelief.