Chapter 157 : Chapter 157

Chapter 157 - The Test (2)

The quest item collection, which was quite a troublesome task, I finished it in a flash on my way here.

The main quest starts tomorrow, so all I have to do is sleep well and rest today.

With that thought, I entered the assigned room.

Well, it was called a room, but as expected of the Spirit Realm, it was naturally a bit different from a normal bedroom.

‘In fact…’

To be precise, it wasn’t a bedroom or anything.

It was just an empty room with a few magic circles drawn on it, and capsules floating above them.

‘Good.’

It was just as I remembered.

In fact, the reason I had dragged all the combatants near me to the Spirit Realm without leaving a single one behind was half because of this.

And as expected of the person here who was most sensitive to ‘ki,’ Chang Meirin-ssi seemed to be the first to realize the strangeness of this facility.

“…Wait a minute. Huh? Oh?”

She let out a voice as if she had noticed something strange, then she approached the capsule and started to stroke it and examine it.

And she looked at me with a tilted head.

“Ah, inside, I feel a very powerful ‘engraving’ prepared… is this, some kind of enhancement device?”

“Exactly.”

I replied, yawning.

This was usually a very closed-off place. Being treated as a guest was synonymous with being offered all sorts of favors because I had passed the hurdles they had acknowledged.

So they would never let anyone in here under normal circumstances.

As for me, I had been promised everything by the Spirit Queen with my silver tongue.

“If you sleep in here for a day, you’ll each get an energy engraving tailored to your ‘potential.’ It disappears after a few uses, though.”

“…That, you say it easily, but. It’s actually something amazing, right?”

Of course. It’s amazing.

The Spirit Realm was a power-up point that players would usually visit right before the final boss fight.

Although there was a restriction that it would disappear after a few uses, the efficiency of the power-up that could be exerted with that engraving was truly immense.

But if you were to ask why I visited now instead of before the final boss, well.

Everyone would find out tomorrow.

“...Hmm.”

But even with such a terrifying enhancement device in front of her, there was one person who still had a dissatisfied look on her face.

Sighing, I opened my mouth to Seo Ah-in.

“What is it, Combatant No. 1?”

“…No. 1. Not bad.”

“…”

You know.

You don’t even bother to tell me to call you by your name anymore?

Just how much have you given up?

“If he was someone who would care about such things, he would have prepared a more traditional bed…”

“…Why?”

“So we could draw lots or come to an agreement and make it a done deal…”

“S-Seo Ah-in-nim!”

“Ah, Ah-in-ssi!”

As soon as she uttered those words, a horrified reaction came from all around, but the speaker herself continued without batting an eye.

“Ah, it’s fine. It’s Kim Gyu-sik-ssi, right?”

“…”

What does that mean?

As I was looking at her with narrowed eyes, Seo Ah-in let out a deep sigh and shrugged at those around her.

It was a gesture that clearly meant, ‘See?’

“Now, then. Gyu-sik-ssi, you go in quickly.”

“Huh? What are you guys going to do?”

“We have to decide who will go into the capsule next to you. Why ask the obvious?”

And as soon as those words came out.

Tension filled the air.

“…”

And, from my perspective, I wanted to ask why there was tension in the first place.

What is this, this atmosphere?

“…Aren’t we just deciding where to sleep?”

“…Th-that’s true, right? Ah, ahaha…”

Chang Meirin-ssi answered with a tense voice, but the others, except for her, were openly avoiding my gaze and turning their heads away.

…What is it?

“Is it really that important?”

A moment of silence fell.

“…Wow. I knew it, but. Is that really a human being? Will he only realize it when he wakes up to find himself living under the same roof?”

“We’re already at that point and he doesn’t know, so who knows. Maybe he’ll still be like that…”

“Right. Let’s see if he can still be like that when his family members are forcibly increasing later on.”

“…”

And I didn’t know what it was, but.

My reputation was being shattered in real-time.

***

“Oh, wow…”

The next morning.

Chang Meirin-ssi let out a sigh of admiration as she looked at the red pattern engraved on her shoulder.

“This, what exactly is its effect?”

“You’ll have to try it to find out, actually. It’ll be applied differently for each person.”

I answered Chang Meirin-ssi, who was examining the engraving.

I had a rough idea of the engraving on this person, but.

“…Hmm.”

I looked around.

The others were still groggy. Was this person the only one who had opened her eyes even though the sun was high in the sky?

“Ah, I woke up when I heard you getting up, Gyu-sik-ssi. Otherwise, I would have kept sleeping.”

She was the one who had successfully secured the sleeping spot in the capsule next to me after a childish fight filled with all sorts of loud noises and low-level slander until the wee hours of the morning just yesterday.

I heard that she had held her ground without backing down an inch even among the top-tier Climbers who had stopped restraining their killing intent from the middle of it.

Yes. Good job, Meirin-ssi.

I don’t know what value there was in that, though.

“Yes, well. It wasn’t bad.”

“…Is that so?”

“I could see your sleeping face up close, Gyu-sik-ssi.”

Chang Meirin-ssi said with a giggle.

Well.

I don’t know what value my sleeping face has.

“…You’re still the same when it comes to that topic, really.”

I just shrugged at the grumbling Chang Meirin-ssi and checked my watch.

Right. If we leave now, it’ll be just right.

“Then, shall we go first?”

“…Pardon? Where?”

Where else.

We have to proceed with the quest.

I left a message with the spirits guarding the outside of the room to send the remaining people to me when they woke up, and then I strode down the palace hallway.

Chang Meirin-ssi was following me like a tail, looking bewildered.

“Uh, where are you going now?”

“Actually, I’ve been reflecting a little recently.”

“…Pardon?”

“A person should make progress in whatever they do, but I think I’ve been too attached to my old self for too long.”

“…Pardon?”

“Couldn’t I have done a little better if I had tried?”

Chang Meirin-ssi listened to me with an expression that said her brain was shutting down, then she asked again blankly.

“S-so. You’re saying you could have done better than the… monstrous achievements you’ve shown so far, Gyu-sik-ssi?”

Monstrous…? What? Have I ever done such a thing?

It was all things that anyone could do with a little trial and error.

I answered, tilting my head.

“Right?”

“…”

I continued speaking to Chang Meirin-ssi, who had shut her mouth with a speechless expression.

“So, this time, I want to try something different that I haven’t done before.”

Well, the ‘Hero’s Test’ that could be proceeded with in the Spirit Realm was a necessary course to complete the Gnosis’s Heart.

But it was one of the most notoriously difficult sections, to the point where even players who had made it this far would scream and run away.

It was the perfect quest to proceed with now that I had made a new resolve.

With that thought, I kicked the door open.

[…Huh? Who are you?]

[A human? My queen, is that the intruder you accepted as a guest?]

Inside was a hall with a structure similar to a council, where various spirits were gathered and holding a conference, and in the center sat our Queen Selpas.

Seeing the troubled expression on her face, it seemed she had just been fiercely attacked by the others.

[…How did you, here. I believe I told you to wait until I notified you of the results.]

The queen mumbled with her mouth covered by a fan, as she usually did whenever she met me.

Well, it was obvious.

In the Spirit Kingdom, the ‘Hero’s Test’ had a pretty big meaning.

According to history, it was an authoritative test personally presided over by the first king who founded the kingdom, so it required a strict procedure, so blah blah blah. It was a huge ceremony with all sorts of reasons attached.

There was also the fact that once you passed it, you were granted authority that was almost like a temporary dictatorship.

Anyway, for those reasons, just opening it once took a very long time due to these troublesome administrative procedures.

‘Well…’

So, the original point of progression was to appease the guys who were against opening this ceremony.

This was also the section where most users threw up their hands and ran away.

Because quests with complex clear conditions poured out from here.

[What are you doing here, you intruder? Get out. Can’t you see an important meeting is in progress!]

I looked at the one who was chiding me.

And I also confirmed the ones who were agreeing with him by looking at their reactions.

These guys were probably the ones who were against opening the Hero’s Test and were arguing to kick me out.

Yes.

Good.

I made sure to confirm the location of each of them.

“Meirin-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“That, use the engraving to channel your mana and synchronize it with me.”

“…”

An expression that said that no matter how you thought about it, it only felt ominous, appeared on Chang Meirin-ssi’s face.

But I shrugged my shoulders and urged her to do it.

“…E-eigh. I don’t know anymore!”

As Chang Meirin-ssi said that with her eyes squeezed shut.

[A huge amount of mana surges within you.]

[The limiter is released. You can temporarily enhance a desired skill.]

Right.

I smiled at the strings of text that appeared before my eyes.

If you got an engraving in the Spirit Realm, an additional effect would be attached to any ability like this. And that.

[Enhances the ‘Share’ skill.]

[You can temporarily synthesize up to 3 skills.]

It meant it could be used like this.

Well.

I had just told Chang Meirin-ssi that I was going to try ‘something different.’

For a top-tier veteran player, the standard way to break through this section would probably be to clear the ‘quests’ given by those guys as quickly as possible.

But well. There were other ways.

For example.

A way to erase the ‘existence of the quest’ itself.

I turned my head back to the spirit who had just said something to me.

“Hey.”

I continued with a smirk.

“That Hero’s Test thing. If I pass it, it’s a test that covers whatever I’ve done before, right?”

[…I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s an important test, but your qualifications are still far from it. We’ll call you when more details are decided, so for now, get lost.]

“Hmm. So that’s how it is.”

Right.

Then I can handle the aftermath.

I took a deep breath and arranged my skills.

Source. Beholder. Formless.

Synthesize the three.

[Hey. Didn’t you hear me? If you don’t leave, I’ll call the guards!]

“Right. You’ll have to call them.”

I nodded.

[ Source-Beholder-Formless Synthesis Roll... ]

[ Skill: Eraser is calculated.]

[ Explodes the vitals of all hostile targets in sight. ]

“To clean up the corpses.”

At the same time as those words.

-!

-!!

-!!!

Inside the room.

Heads started to fly like popcorn popping.

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