10. The Crucible (1)
“…Governor. Why did you receive a rebirth during the ‘trial of flames’?”
Late at night, a rugged man named Choji visited the head monk.
The chief monk was admiring the pond behind the ordeal.
Choji unknowingly tried to argue, but he didn’t regret it.
‘It clearly violated the rules of the ordeal.’
The “trial of flames” is a month-long period between July and August.
During that period, the ordealer strictly prohibited the entry of sentient beings who came to undergo trials.
It was a tradition and discipline that had been handed down since the ordeal was created.
However, the chief monk broke that rule and during the ‘trial of flames’…
It also accepted an uninvited guest who suddenly came in the middle of the night as a middle school student.
As a middle school student who had been in the ordeal history for a long time, and as Choji who valued the discipline of the ordeal history, this was impossible.
“…Are the space magic circles coming to the ordeal now turned on?”
The head monk, looking at the lotus flowers in the pond, said.
His gaze was still on the lotus flower, but Choji knew it was talking to himself.
“If it’s a magic circle that connects the foot of the mountain and the ordeal, don’t you turn it off as soon as the ordeal of the flame starts? It was part of the event, too.”
The “Trial of Fire” happens once a year.
During that time, the sentient beings of the Ordeal Temple endure fire-related ordeals and perform rituals.
Those who endure all the trials divided into stages 1 to 10 are given the ‘imprint of flame’, and glory and praise appropriate to them are given.
Of course, no one has ever survived all 10 trials.
Nevertheless, the ordealer performs a solemn ceremony every year at the beginning of the period in which trials are permitted.
While everyone is watching, the magic circle that connects the ordeal and the ground is turned off for a while.
It was to create a lofty environment where no one could easily leave or enter.
The moment he remembered this, a spark flew in Choji’s mind.
‘-But how did he come up?’
The temple is located on top of a mountain high enough to reach the clouds.
There are stairs between them, but no one tries to climb them.
‘The stairway of the ordeal opens the way to those who have been chosen.’
As can be seen from the lore related to it, ordinary people cannot even climb it.
If so, please…
“Those stairs… Are you saying that the little boy has climbed all the way?”
“Yes.”
Choji couldn’t help but be shocked.
You said you were chosen by the ordeal? Are you such a kid?
“… It’s clear that something has been tricked. I ask myself… ”
“No, there is no need for that.”
The governor’s voice was gentle.
It wasn’t to scold Choji, but to comfort him.
“There were stairs where he wanted to climb, and he just climbed them.”
“But, isn’t it okay to break the rules?”
“The ordeal chose him, so how can we, the humans, cast him out?”
The chief priest only put those words into his mouth with a round smile.
Choji was feeling frustrated with the gentleness of the head priest.
There is only one way to receive the ordeal’s choice.
It’s just that you have the same mind as the flame.
That a boy like that has what he didn’t have?
Absolutely not.
he was sure of it.
It must have been a cunning trick that would fool even the head monk.
‘Did you say there was someone in the house with an incurable disease? Then, why don’t you prove that fiery heart?’
Choji left the chief monk’s side, promising that he would prove it himself.
* * *
“Can we start the trial right from today?”
“… okay.”
Early in the morning Choji came to my room.
Apparently, Choji was in charge of the rookie.
His expression darkened, perhaps because he had been scolded the night before, and because of that, his already stern face was even more crumpled.
After a simple breakfast, Choji was taken to a huge temple.
‘Great heat… ‘
Because it was the top of the mountain, the wind blew well and it was a cool ordeal.
However, as soon as I stepped into the temple, I was greeted by the heat that I felt at a smithy.
Looking around, I saw an open space like a gym.
“Ugh… Monk, Monk! Help me!”
“I will end the ordeal. Take a break and try again.”
A monk wearing a monk’s robe and shaved his head, and a middle school student like me who wears a monk’s robe even though his hair is fine.
People were undergoing trials with a monk and a middle school student paired up one by one at a distance.
Perhaps if the monk gave him a trial with magic, he would endure it.
“The ordeal begins today. It won’t be that easy. If the ordeal is difficult, tell me immediately. There are cases in which they die while invoking Gaekgi. Since it’s the first day, I will give you the first level of trials.”
Choji, who took a seat in an empty seat, explained the rules of the ordeal to me.
The content was similar to what I saw in the game, so I roughly nodded.
Choji’s eyebrows twitched as if he felt that my appearance was disrespectful…
Soon after, Choji handed me a marble.
“If you hold this marble, the ordeal will begin soon. The contents of the ordeal do not affect your body in any way. It’s just an illusion and pain-“
“Yes, please start.”
“…A little boy like you can easily drag on even at the first stage. I’m going to leave the ordeal right now… ”
“No, please start.”
Choji glared at me once with a disapproving expression, but I just ignored it.
I closed my eyes and heard Choji chanting a Buddhist chant nearby.
I felt the flow of mana little by little around me.
‘Is it a start… ‘
I calm my excitement and recall the trials event of the ordeal in the game.
In the game ＜Party to Saviour＞, the ‘trial’ feels like a kind of event stage.
The trials here ranged from level 1 to level 10, but in the game, it was a simple structure in which the ordeal was cleared by enduring a certain amount of dot damage.
Of course, at level 10, you can’t stand it with tolerable stats, so you can only get it in the second half.
But what I wanted was a reward for clearing level 10.
I want to know what to do with the average stat E and low stats, but
I prepared a trick based on a little game knowledge, so it will work somehow.
First of all, the first stage trial that Choji gave me… It was really something I had to accomplish without blinking an eye.
because i don’t have time
‘…This?’
The marble in his left hand grew hotter and hotter.
The metal beads, which were cold, went beyond warmth and reached the height of heat.
It feels like you just lifted the handle of a silver pot where you cooked ramen.
In a word, it was fucking hot.
‘Fuck, this is the first stage ordeal?’
I wanted to pass without blinking an eye, but… I couldn’t.
I had to endure the insane burning pain I felt in my hand with a wrinkled expression.
Even so, the marble was not missed because of only one reason.
‘Arlott will suffer worse every day than this.’
The pain of cold sore syndrome is one of the most severe pains a person can experience.
It was Arlott who experienced it without even trying, even dozens of times every day.
Feeling a burning pain in the palm of your hand… I couldn’t compare to her.
chin-!
Rather, I held the marble firmly with both hands.
I felt insane heat in my other hand, and both hands screamed.
My brain screamed to let go of this insanely hot object right away, but…
couldn’t let go
Now step 1.
In the game, it was a structure where you only had to endure dot deals,
As real as it was, it seemed that he was actually suffering.
Even if you can clear the 10th stage ordeal with tricks, you can’t do anything about pain with tricks.
So I had to get used to the pain.
I have to go to step 10, but now I’m on step 1.
It’s still far and tough, but if we stop here…
Everything that has come this far is in vain, and Arlot cannot be saved from the disease.
– Chi Ik
I close my eyes, but I can feel it.
That the damn marbles keep getting hotter.
I fall into the illusion that smoke is coming out of my hands.
It was to the point where I thought that my skin was melting because it was not burnt.
The sense of holding the marble became more vivid and my delusions accelerated.
‘When will it end… ‘
Time seems to have stretched like candy, and there is no sign of it ever ending.
Did you know that you can know the value of one second by doing planks?
An ordeal worse than that… Under the guise of being tortured, every minute and every second was hell.
“…crazy.”
“Eh, what is this… ”
“Stop it at this point… ”
A murmur is heard all around.
They said that if you close your eyes, you can see various hallucinations.
Can you hear the voices of the people around you?
‘…I really want to open my eyes.’
Talking as if something is wrong
It was to the point where I wondered if the ordeal I was going through was wrong.
For example, my hands are really muddy and burning.
The time to resist the temptation to open your eyes wasn’t too far off.
“…Stop it, stop it.”
Someone snatched the marble I was holding.
When I opened my eyes moaning at the touch of the tingling hand…
Everyone around me who was being tried was staring at me.
“…?”
what?
what did i do wrong
With that in mind, let’s look around
I discovered that there is a pattern on the marble Choji is holding.
-4th stage trials-
… Choji gave me a 4th level trial, saying that it was the 1st level.