Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Two hours had passed since entering the exam hall.

A clear, steady voice came over the speaker at the front of the room.

[Attention, all examinees. Please immediately put down your writing instruments and place your hands under your desks. Then, follow the proctor’s instructions….]

“Thank you all for your hard work. I will deeply engrave the faces of you who will protect the Republic of Korea in the future and always cheer you on. That is all.”

The proctor, who delivered that heartwarming message, bowed at a 90-degree angle and exited.

Many examinees, seemingly moved by his words and actions, hesitated to rise from their seats.

Meanwhile, others remained seated for a different reason.

‘What’s the answer to question 17?’

Do-jae hurriedly pulled out one of the books filling his bag and flipped through it.

He checked if the year on the question matched the answer.

‘It’s right. I’m glad I stuck with my first choice.’

After double-checking a few more questions, he stood up with a relieved look on his face.

It had been a short period, but he felt his all-out studying hadn’t been in vain.

‘The results are tomorrow, so just one day. Just one day off.’

Once it was finally over, fatigue hit harder than joy.

Staying up late last night, waking intermittently to flip through the problem book, certainly contributed.

“Hey, how’d the test go?”

“I think I screwed it up. It was crazy hard.”

“Me too. Ugh, I should’ve studied yesterday. What about you, Young-jin?”

“Like I’m the same as you guys? It was a piece of cake.”

“That’s Young-jin for you.”

“Maybe we should skip the PC room and study like Young-jin.”

The sound of loud chatter came from over there.

‘Huh, what about them?’

Three people stood out distinctly among the crowd leaving the exam hall.

Shim Young-jin, Kim Jun-su, and Sung Min-ho.

The three of them were walking and chatting nonstop, seemingly thrilled about something.

‘Seong Min-ho was probably a C-grade, and the other two were D-grade, right?’

Shim Young-jin and Kim Jun-su’s grades had risen.

And that happened in a very short time.

They either possessed immense latent potential or had reawakened.

Or perhaps there was something boosting their abilities.

The only realistic possibility left is that, like that employee at the Seoul Regional Hunter Bureau, they might have misread the mana scan.

“Young-jin, but do you think what your uncle said is true?”

“What.”

“He said to just hold on for two years. He said if we hold on for two years, he’d get us into the guild.”

“Hey, are you saying our uncle lied? That bastard?”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant…”

His friends squirmed at Shim Young-jin’s words.

Do-jae watched the scene from afar and finally burst out laughing.

“Ha!”

He had been puzzled why they took the exam.

Especially Shim Young-jin, who had the solid backing of being the deputy guild master of the Daegil Guild, why on earth would he want to join the extermination force?

“Do you know why your uncle told you to join the expeditionary force?”

“Isn’t it just him telling me to stop goofing off and do something?”

“You idiot, do you think Uncle meant something so trivial?”

“Then what did he mean?”

“I know what he meant, that’s why I suggested you guys take the officer exam. See, if we become officers, we’ll have subordinates under us, right? And we’ll learn leadership by commanding them. Then, when Uncle puts us in the guild, he won’t make us newbies, he’ll put us in at a decent deputy team leader level, right? Plus, with this kind of experience, there won’t be any arguments.”

“Whoa… Holy crap. Young-jin, you thought that far ahead?”

“Ha, you guys. How would you survive without me?”

“Thanks, Young-jin.”

“Young-jin, let’s stick together for life!”

Dojae burst out laughing once more.

If you had seen Song Deok-hoon’s expression back then, you would have known for sure that wasn’t the thought behind it.

‘In my opinion, that guy is the right answer, my friend.’

Do-jae laughed heartily, then watched as Shim Young-jin and the others walked away.

And sadly, one bad thought came to mind.

‘I hope I don’t end up in the same unit as them.’

***

‘Ah, why, again.’

Anxiety overwhelmed him.

Second expeditionary force officer exam, practical test.

Of all places, they’re here again at the designated waiting area.

Shim Young-jin and his friends!

‘Of all places, we ended up at the same test site.’

There are eight practical test sites distributed nationwide.

The one where Doja is located is the First Test Site, in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province.

They’d struggled to get all the way to the far end of Cheorwon, leaving early in the morning, only to find the trio sitting there, right in front of them.

Judging by the three seats lined up together, it seemed they’d come all the way from Seoul together.

‘Try not to draw attention. Somehow, I get the feeling I shouldn’t be hanging out with those guys.’

Do-jae sat as far away from the three as possible.

But thinking about it, they hadn’t really done anything wrong to Dojae.

Maybe a bit of backbiting and some natural disregard?

Compared to others he’d encountered before, they were actually being considerate toward him.

To put it bluntly, whether by choice or circumstance, they included an F-rank in their operation and even paid him a decent wage.

So why was Dojae trying to distance himself from them?

Is it just because he acts childish?

Because he’s pathetic?

But upon reflection, these thoughts—aren’t they the very thoughts others have had about him?

Reaching that conclusion, Dojae suddenly felt disgust toward himself.

‘Snap out of it, Lee Dojae. You are what you are now because of luck. Always remember the past.’

He steels his resolve.

Nothing is more pathetic than acting that way just because others did.

Do-jae rose from his seat.

To offer his greetings first.

Tap tap-

“All examinees, please take your seats. We will now begin the explanation for the second evaluation.”

***

The second evaluation is a 2-night, 3-day survival test.

Given the nature of the extermination force, prolonged combat is far more common than short-term engagements.

Therefore, this second assessment was introduced to determine whether one can survive even when dropped into a place with nothing.

“Huff, puff.”

A man was running through thickly grown trees and weeds reaching up to his thighs.

His pants were soaked through with muddy water from the crushed weeds, a testament to how far he’d fought his way through the forest.

“Do this for three whole days? You’re crazy.”

The man muttered quietly as he hid his body inside a narrow cave barely tall enough to reach his waist.

Approximately six hours had passed since the test began.

He had been running nonstop through the mountains without a single break.

Even for a physical-type hunter like him, it was no easy feat.

Rustle-

“Damn it…”

The man, gripping his sword with both hands, dashed out of the cave like an arrow.

Ambush.

A cowardly ambush, you say?

It might be fitting if we were equals, but it’s hardly a word for the hunted to use.

Clang!

Sparks flew violently.

But the spot where the man’s sword struck felt strange.

Because it wasn’t his opponent’s weapon—it was inside his mouth.

More precisely, the sword was embedded between his front teeth.

“Hey, that’s more than generous, don’t you think?”

Clang-

Clang- Clang- Clang-!

The man’s hard, sharp sword was being chewed away.

The precious sword he had paid a fortune for was being gnawed away, piece by piece.

“Aaargh! My sword!”

“Serves you right for messing with the wrong people. Didn’t you study properly? During the second evaluation of the extermination force, never, ever provoke the examiners! Especially avoid encountering the examiners from Cheorwon!”

The man began to regret his actions.

He had thought he was confident in his abilities, but that was arrogance.

He was about to declare defeat to end this grueling game of tag immediately.

“Guhh… I’m sorry. I’m… ugh!”

Just as he tried to continue speaking.

A large palm suddenly clamped over his mouth.

“What? You want to quit? Already? Just when it was getting fun. Let’s keep going. You be it this time? I’ll just hop around like this instead. Now answer me.”

The hand was removed.

The man tried to declare giving up once more.

Unfortunately, once again, no sound came out after the ‘g’.

“No, no. No… Ugh…”

“Sshh, no. You can do it! Now, hide? If I can’t find you in an hour, you know what happens?”

Pop-.

Whoosh.

The man was suddenly left alone, despairing in the empty forest.

What happens if I can’t find it within an hour?

***

Swoosh-!

Dojae’s sword severs the Worm Man’s arm.

Already missing both arms, the Worm Man collapses to the ground from excessive blood loss.

“Ugh… You’ve collected quite the lot of these things.”

Green, viscous blood gurgles from the stumps of Worm Man’s arms, soaking the ground.

The thick fur covering its entire body bristles, then quickly droops limp.

The insectoid monster, Worm Man.

One of the monsters consistently ranked in Forbes’ Top Five Most Disgusting Monsters.

‘Worm Man really is an easy opponent for a C-rank. Is that why I only got this many points?’

The small electronic device handed out before the evaluation began.

It could be worn as a necklace, and its screen displayed the score in red LED.

[280]

The passing score is 1,000 points total.

After 6 hours, this rate of point acquisition isn’t slow.

However, except for the initial 150 points, I’ve only encountered 5-point or 10-point monsters like Wormmen.

That means you’d have to catch at least dozens to reach 1,000 points.

‘This might be a close call.’

Dojae felt the pressure of the score.

It wasn’t that 1,000 points felt like a huge number.

Up until now, he’d been reading the flow of the evaluation and calmly observing the situation, so he’d moved relatively slowly.

But if he gave it his all hunting monsters?

He could fill 1,000 points in a single day.

But 1,000 points wasn’t the end.

It was possible to earn even more points, and that ranking would be announced at the end of the evaluation.

Then, the written exam, practical skills test, and interview are all combined for a final overall ranking.

In other words, unlike the written test and interview with fixed scores, the practical test allows you to earn points based on your actual skill.

‘Didn’t they say the current commander of the 2nd Division of the Suppression Army achieved the highest score?’

A super-elite who rose to division commander within three years of joining the Expeditionary Force.

Rumor had it he scored 116,000 points in the second practical skills assessment.

The highest score ever recorded.

No one has achieved that level of score since, though one or two individuals scoring in the 100,000 range have appeared every year or two.

‘Clearing common monsters has clear limits. To earn massive points, you need to hunt boss-level monsters or find hidden point items.’

There are various ways to earn points.

Hunting monsters, survival challenges, treasure acquisition, rescues, and so on.

But the nasty examiners don’t tell you.

They simply call it a 2-night, 3-day survival test.

There was a lot of talk about it at first, but as time passed, more information leaked out, and now people just accept it and take the test.

Thanks to this, the number of practical test passers has been increasing annually, and the average score has been trending upward.

Therefore, Dojae must score at least a perfect score.

Only then can he list headquarters as his first choice.

‘And while I’m not really eager to try this… if my score falls short, I’ll have to consider targeting the examiner too.’

Thump-thump-.

Thump-thump-.

Tap tap-!

Dojae gradually picks up his pace.

Once he’d made up his mind, immediate action followed.

“Aaargh!”

A scream rang out then.

It was a voice thick with a familiar tone.