NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30
Surviving countless threats of death can ruin your brain.
Ordinary stimuli no longer evoke emotions, and I can’t find any joy in entertainment.
This is precisely why those who were renowned on the battlefield take their own lives after retirement.
‘The world of ashes.’
It’s horrifying to become numb.
I suppose it feels like living your entire life unable to move, with your limbs amputated, stuck on a bed.
‘Boring.’
During the war, I fought to survive.
Ironically, once the war ended, I found myself searching for pleasures that rivaled the brink of death.
A dizzying thrill that could melt my brain.
That was all that kept Karen alive.
However, nothing satisfied her.
Getting drunk felt empty, and holding a man held no interest for her.
She had lost everyone she needed to protect on the battlefield.
She was in a life where she couldn’t even pretend to strive for someone else.
Such a boring, unexciting, and bitter life.
“Ah…!”
Now.
It changes.
“Ah… haha! Kya ha ha ha ha!”
The flames that flickered in her eyes exploded.
Unintended laughter erupted from deep within her body.
“Teacher…?”
“Aha ha ha ha! Did you see, Arin? That kid just sliced the Minotaur in half!”
It was delightful.
So incredibly joyful that it was hard to contain.
The thrill of narrowly missing an arrow aimed at her heart made her head feel light.
She hadn’t thought she could win.
Even if she could hold her own, meaningful damage felt impossible.
‘I’ll admit it.’
She tried to see without bias, but it couldn’t be helped.
He was a man.
Normally, someone would be terrified and freeze up or wet themselves in a situation like this.
However, the performance he showed was—
-‘Was this meant to be a single strike?’
It far exceeded Karen’s expectations.
“Haah, haah!”
Her breathing became ragged.
Drool was suddenly pooling in her mouth.
Her lower belly tightened with a ticklish sensation crawling all over her body.
It was a pleasure she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Ran….”
She tasted his name on her lips.
Her tongue flicked gently, a thrilling sensation lingering at the tip of her mouth.
For some reason, her body felt feverish.
Heavenly realms.
With the emergence of something to look up to, who wouldn’t feel excited?
Karen bit her lip, fixated on the screen.
“I’ll create something for you… I’ll make you the Greatest of All Time!”
Sticky heat mixed in with her voice.
*
“…What the hell.”
Seeing that nothing special was happening, it seems there’s no problem with the test itself.
‘Is it this powerful?’
Even though her skills had improved since then, she had built up strength, and her defense had dropped due to the chains, she never expected to take down a floor-level monster in a single blow.
“I can’t use this recklessly.”
Feeling a chill and a hint of pride, she approached the Minotaur’s corpse.
Fortunately, the strike seemed to have missed the box, and it lay on the ground undamaged.
“Wow.”
Unlike the copper, silver, or gold ones above, this treasure chest gleamed beautifully as if carved from diamond.
As she licked her lips, she began to unseal the box.
Clang!
“This is it!”
What she had been searching for appeared.
[Polaris Top Entrance Ticket]
A dazzling and beautiful ticket.
Considering the significance of being the top at Polaris,
‘It’s probably more valuable than ordinary treasures.’
Unlike the common entrance tickets she had haphazardly stuffed in her pocket, she carefully tucked this one away.
Despite merely picking up a piece of paper, a strong feeling of satisfaction washed over her, like finishing three bowls of gukbap.
“Now all that’s left is… these tickets.”
It seemed a waste to toss them, so she gathered the common entrance tickets.
If she recalled correctly, the test wouldn’t end until all tickets found their owners.
“I have to give these to the other kids…”
Whether she scattered them around or distributed them selectively, the entrance tickets had to be shared.
“Hmm.”
Even so, she didn’t want to give away what she had worked so hard to obtain.
Was she some kind of test proxy?
‘Proxies at least get paid.’
This was just volunteer work.
‘First ten to pass the entrance exam~’ or something like that.
“…Compensation?”
A cunning thought sprang to mind.
—
“What the hell! What kind of humiliation is this!”
A large contender, Dwenna, rolled her eyes with a fierce expression.
Her already dirty look seemed even more menacing due to the large bump on her forehead.
Even a floor-level monster would flee in fear at the sight of her.
She vented her boiling anger outward.
“Why! Why isn’t there a golden chest?!”
For reference, Dwenna finally regained her senses only about thirty minutes prior.
It was just ten minutes ago that she realized the conditions of the test by threatening another contender.
The reason she had started the test much later than others was simple.
She had fainted after being attacked by an unknown assailant in the waiting room.
“That damned man! I will never forgive him!”
To exert pressure on the other contenders, she threatened the weakest-looking guy.
-‘Then let the others crawl to you! Haha!’
Her leader surely said that.
Then she happened to spot a young boy and did just that.
-Boom!
He had pulled some weird stunt and knocked himself out.
Thanks to that, her face had ended up like this.
‘I will never forgive you!’
How dare he mess with her, the successor of the darker lineage and the one once hailed as a legendary warrior!
The next time they met, she would thoroughly beat him up.
Even if she pleaded with tears in her eyes, there would be no mercy.
“I will make you regret it!”
“What will I regret?”
“Uuughh?!”
A voice echoed from above.
Lifting her head, she saw someone sitting atop a high terrain, looking down at her with black hair.
“You…! You!”
“Hey there! Fancy seeing you again.”
It was the man from the waiting room who had humiliated her.
He lightly stepped down until he reached her level.
“So, you came looking for trouble without knowing how fearsome I am! Oh, I’ll gladly kill you!”
Her head was clouded with rage.
Just as she was about to draw her sword out of pure instinct,
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
“What do you mean?!”
“There’s not much time left. For the entrance ticket.”
“Ugh!”
At those words, her body hesitated.
“That… that doesn’t matter. It’s more important to crush you, the one who humiliated me!”
“Really? Then I guess this isn’t needed.”
He pulled out a sparkling ticket from his pocket.
[Polaris Entrance Ticket]
“That’s…!”
“Hmmm. If you don’t need it, I guess I’ll just give it to someone else. Well, take care?”
The boy smiled innocently and turned his back.
“Wait a minute!”
“Huh? What is it?”
“You, give that to me!”
She tried to sound as threatening as possible, but the end of her words quivered uncontrollably.
It was natural; she had run out of not just golden chests but even silver ones.
If she missed that ticket, she would truly fail the test.
“Give this to you? Why would I do that?”
“Ugh…! The fact that you brought it means you already have an entrance ticket!”
“Ha! You got it. I already have mine.”
Ran twirled the entrance ticket around his fingers, waving it playfully.
Inspiring irritation, there was something strangely seductive about the sight.
“So, I was thinking about making a deal with you.”
“A deal…?”
“Yeah. A deal.”
He casually stepped closer.
His vaguely lingering presence resembled that of a succubus feasting on vitality.
“If I give you this entrance ticket, you just have to give me what I want.”
“What do you want…?”
“It’s nothing major. Just a small elixir will do.”
Upon hearing the word elixir, she had a hunch about what he meant.
“Are you talking about Cheonmukdan (川木丹)?”
Cheonmukdan (川木丹)
One of the legendary elixirs from the darker lineage, it spreads the essence of the forest upon consumption, making it a rare elixir.
Not as precious as Cheonsandan (天山丹) but much more valuable than Jichodan (地草丹).
Even heir as she was, she had barely received one as a reward for passing.
To give up something like that!
It was nothing short of a bandit act.
‘But…’
Without passing the test, neither would she obtain the Polaris entrance ticket nor Cheonmukdan.
However, if she surrendered the elixir here, she could save one.
‘Should I just knock him out and snatch the entrance ticket away?’
The thought crossed her mind instinctively.
Just as she gave it a second thought, she understood.
“…Guh!”
That guy was strong.
The commotion in the waiting room hadn’t been a coincidence.
Even now, he looked relaxed, seemingly unaware of the danger looming over him.
‘There’s no opening…!’
She instinctively knew.
If she made her move now, he would leap at her and slice her.
“Damn it…”
She had no choice.
Bowing down quickly to someone stronger was also one of the virtues that brought her this far.
“Fine, I’ll hand it over, Cheonmukdan.”
“…….”
“Then give me that entrance ticket….”
“What are you saying? Just Cheonmukdan wouldn’t suffice, would it?”
“What…?! Don’t tell me you want Cheonsandan…!”
“Sis. I’m not interested in cheap elixirs made by the darker lineage.”
Ran sighed heavily.
“It was definitely obtained by the darker lineage just recently, right? The Gongcheongseokyu (空淸石乳).”
“…Wait a second, you’re not serious?!”
“Yep! I’ll settle for that much.”
“You crazy! That’s something I can’t just hand over!”
“Really? Then how sad for you.”
There’s such a thing as taking things too far.
Gongcheongseokyu (空淸石乳)!
That’s not just a treasure within the darker lineage but one of the rarest across the entire continent.
To demand such a thing?
If she were caught stealing it, she would surely be executed, heir or not.
“Get lost! I will never trade for that!”
“Hmmm… understood.”
With no hint of hesitation, the boy turned away.
*
“I’m insane… I’ve truly lost my mind…”
Dwenna thudded her head against the wall, half in tears.
In her hand, she clutched a familiar ticket.
[Polaris Entrance Ticket]
In the end, she accepted the deal.
-‘Then I’ll attach a condition that I will help you steal Gongcheongseokyu! Is that okay?’
-‘…Fine.’
-‘Great! Now, a blood contract on it.’
She didn’t stop at that; she even made a ‘Scales of Justice’ pact, promising to fulfill the deal to the end.
Now there was no turning back.
“Exchanging Gongcheongseokyu for an entrance ticket…!”
It wasn’t just a loss; it was a bankrupt-level deal.
Suuhh!
Swallowing back tears, she felt a warmth beneath her skin.
As the swelling gradually eased, her body began to return to normal.
“Tch.”
She pulled a round colored bead from her pocket and crunched it in her mouth.
As a result, her face deformed again, returning to a gorilla-like expression.
“I will definitely… absolutely get my revenge…!”
Deeper layers of anger piled up within her.
[All Entrance Tickets have been distributed.]
[The test has concluded.]
[All contenders are being recalled to the waiting room. Please be careful not to exit the magic circle.]
Thus, the test came to an end.