Chapter 16

Chapter 16

About 30 minutes before Dojae heard the scream.

In one corner of the exam hall, a group was experiencing a precarious situation.

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

The three of them, breathing heavily, hid in a secluded spot.

Kim Junsu carefully laid Seong Minho, whom he had been carrying, down on the soft, cushiony floor.

“Huff, huff… Young-jin, let’s just give up… Min-ho’s in that state too…”

“Damn it, why are you so scared? They weren’t going to kill us anyway!”

“Still…”

“It’s already happened. Besides, do you think they’ll just leave us alone if we run away like this?”

“That’s why I’m saying we should give up. We don’t care about the score; it’s just us saying we won’t fight back.”

“You’re so frustrating. If you wanna do it, you do it.”

“Ah, Young-jin…”

Shim Young-jin grips his sword and stands up.

Sung Min-ho was unconscious, Kim Jun-su had zero motivation.

He had to fight alone.

Simply passing by defeating a few monsters wouldn’t earn his uncle’s recognition.

Top score.

If he wasn’t first, he wouldn’t have the face to see his uncle.

“I’m going.”

“You’re really going? You saw him too. That guy… He didn’t even draw his weapon. He was holding back. No, judging by how much he seemed to enjoy beating us, he was probably holding back more than 90%.”

“What can I do? This is actually an opportunity. It’s about making a deep impression on the examiners.”

Shim Young-jin thought.

The difference between the examiner and himself was clear; he knew he could never win in a normal fight.

Therefore, conventional methods wouldn’t work.

“Where?”

“Deeper inside.”

“I… I’m coming too!”

“Get lost. I’m going alone. You take good care of Sung Min-ho.”

Shim Young-jin left Kim Jun-su and Sung Min-ho behind and headed deeper into the forest.

The examiner who underestimated him.

He sought an opening between that psychology and the aggro drawn by the boss monster.

‘There’s nothing money can’t do.’

In truth, Shim Young-jin possessed more information than others.

He had bribed one of the examiners at the Cheorwon test site to obtain various pieces of information in advance.

The only regret was that many pieces of information were ambiguous, perhaps because that examiner lacked influence.

The examiner he targeted was supposedly the weakest one, according to the bribed examiner, but to him, it felt completely untrue.

‘I’ll need to have a separate talk with that guy after this.’

Still, the information about the test field itself was quite accurate.

The terrain features, monster locations, and rest areas mostly matched up well.

Thanks to that, Shim Young-jin and his friends scored 770 points.

It was a score placing them among the top ranks among the other examinees.

Thump thump thump thump-.

‘I can already hear footsteps approaching!’

Shim Young-jin, fired up and charging toward his destination.

Soon, he’d get to see the boss monster.

“Grrrr.”

A wide open space halfway up the mountain.

Behind it, a towering cliff rises.

From all appearances, it seemed the mountain had been artificially carved out.

‘The expeditionary force that brought this beast here is pretty impressive, huh?’

Clank-clank-.

The boss monster, the Giant Horned Ogre, shuffles back and forth within a narrow range, its thick iron chains—thicker than an adult man’s wrist—dangling everywhere.

This is the Giant Horned Ogre, a boss monster of the Horned Ogre species, a whopping Level 5 creature.

Being a boss, it’s at least a Level 4.

It’s a powerful monster with records of reaching up to Grade 3 depending on the individual.

‘This one would definitely make things tough for the test subject.’

Shim Young-jin pushes through the grass and steps in front of it.

Even though it’s a test and an examiner will appear to save him if things go wrong, he can’t help his palms getting sweaty.

“Hurry up…”

Shim Young-jin charges forward with fierce momentum.

“Kra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-

Whoosh!

The Giant Horned Ogre’s long arm brushed past Shim Young-jin’s hair.

A bone-chilling moment.

Shim Young-jin swept his sword, his hand still trembling.

Clang!

The Giant Horned Ogre tilts its head.

It dodged swiftly, expecting the sword to target it, but perhaps it aimed elsewhere.

“Kick.”

Shim Young-jin had aimed for none other than the iron chain.

He prided himself on his cutting skills, but this chain—whatever it was made of—only suffered a slight scratch.

‘This isn’t just ordinary scrap metal, is it?’

A chain that restrained a Giant Horned Ogre.

If it were made of ordinary iron, it would have shattered under the Giant Horned Ogre’s brute strength.

Crackle-pop.

The Giant Horned Ogre uprooted a nearby broadleaf tree with one hand.

The thick tree trunk didn’t fit entirely in the ogre’s massive hand, but it crushed it into a manageable grip with its characteristic grip strength.

“Kra-ra-ra!”

With a suitable weapon in hand, the ogre swung its arm wide, sending dust swirling across the clearing like a typhoon.

Taking advantage of the ogre’s momentary blind spot, Shim Young-jin darted about, searching for a way to break the iron chain.

‘I need to move more dramatically.’

A total of five chains bound the Giant Horn Ogre.

Both arms, both ankles, and finally, the neck.

The anchor of the chain on its ankle was embedded in the ground, while the other three were fixed into the cliff face.

None seemed easy to remove, but one thing was worth trying: the more violently the ogre moved, the greater the strain on the chains.

And that strain would clearly be directed not at the chains themselves, but at the ground and rock they were embedded in.

Thud!

“Gah!”

Shim Young-jin was flung far away and tumbled.

Fortunately, he wasn’t hit directly by the ogre; he dodged the attack but was dragged by the chain, which struck his side.

“Kra-rat!”

The ogre lunged toward Shim Young-jin, who clutched his waist and gasped for breath.

But the taut chain held him back, preventing him from doing anything despite the defenseless Shim Young-jin right before his eyes.

The ogre, thoroughly annoyed, began to rage even more violently than before.

‘Right, right. More! More!’

The more the creature raged, the more the chains rattled and shook.

And then, a moment later.

Clang!

A massive heart embedded in the cliff was wrenched free.

***

“Hey, hey, isn’t that a bit dangerous?”

Control Room.

The examiners watching the entire situation unfold.

One of them speaks up.

“Captain, what should we do?”

The exam captain, looking relaxed, sips his coffee and says.

“I’m already monitoring it. Orders have been issued, so just keep a close eye on the other examinees.”

“Yes, sir!”

The exam captain sets down his coffee and glances around.

One person was sweating profusely.

He looks awkward, focusing intently on the monitor to avoid making eye contact at all costs.

“Supervisor Lee.”

“Yes! Did you call me?”

The examiner jumps up and answers at the chief examiner’s call.

He managed to steady his trembling hands, but he couldn’t control his shaking pupils.

“Which examinees are under your supervision?”

“Yes! Lee Hyun-ho, Choi Tae-geun, Song Ah-hee… Shim Young-jin.”

When the last name was spoken, the exam chief gave a faint smile.

Then, nodding his head.

“After the exam ends, come to my office.”

“Huh? Oh…”

“And switch the proctor assigned to that one with Proctor Number 8.”

“Yes, sir!”

As the exam chief shuffled through the papers, a document with a brightly smiling ID photo of Shim Young-jin appeared.

‘Shim Young-jin, age 24, recently promoted to Class C. His demonstrated skill is ambiguous. Family consists only of his mother. Jin Ja-kyung? Huh, so his mother is the head of the Polina Group? Then his uncle must be Song Deok-hoon.’

The exam chief nodded.

He thought it was possible for someone like Shim Young-jin to jump from D-rank to C-rank in just a few weeks—probably by bribing the examiners.

One question remained: why would someone like Shim Young-jin join the Suppression Corps, and as an officer at that?

‘Is this also Song Deok-hoon’s doing?’

The exam captain suspected Song Deok-hoon might be planning something through Shim Young-jin.

Song Deok-hoon’s guild was also closely connected to the Hunters Association.

It wasn’t a guild like Eugene’s that just handled cleanup; it was a guild capable of exerting strong influence over the Association.

‘Damn those Association bastards.’

The exam captain was seriously mistaken.

In truth, Song Deok-hoon had no interest in the extermination force, but his very presence caused innocent people to worry.

“Director Yang!”

“Yes!”

“Let’s adjust Shim Young-jin’s score.”

“Huh?”

The man called Director Yang was flustered.

They were supervisors for a nationally certified exam.

Even if he was the chief examiner and their superior, openly committing fraud pricked his conscience.

“Let’s not be so rigid about it.”

“But that’s still a bit…”

“Supervisor Yang, I think you’re misunderstanding. I’m not suggesting we tamper with the scores.”

“Huh?”

“Drive the monsters toward Shim Young-jin. The monster placement is entirely up to us, right?”

“Well, that’s true… Oh! Got it!”

Director Yang reluctantly agreed.

Directly lowering or raising scores would cause problems.

But moving the monsters was indeed the exam hall’s responsibility, as the exam captain had said.

The test captain held the authority to adjust the number of monsters as needed to prevent any potential incidents.

‘If Shim Young-jin gets the highest score, there probably won’t be any fuss when we bring him in.’

***

Ting-!

“Glaraglaraglaraglaraglaraglaraglaraglaraglaraglaraglarag

The third binding chain snapped.

Now only the neck and right leg remained.

Even this has loosened up compared to before, and it seems like it’ll all come undone soon enough.

“Hey, you bastard! Come on, try it! Can’t you come? Pissed off? Wanna kill me?”

Shim Young-jin taunts the Giant Horned Ogre, dancing around provocatively.

The ogre couldn’t possibly understand human speech, but it knew he was trying to rile it up.

Even a dog or cat would bite if you teased it, so an ogre, with its higher intelligence, couldn’t possibly fail to grasp Shim Young-jin’s actions.

“Kra-ra-ra-ra-ra!”

Clang.

Shim Young-jin’s provocation seems to have worked perfectly, as the iron chain on its leg snaps loose.

Thanks to that, Shim Young-jin narrowly avoided being hit by the flying shackle.

“Whoosh. Whoever took that hit, an ogre this size is no joke.”

The size of the arrow was enormous.

It easily surpassed Shim Young-jin’s height, reaching nearly 3 meters.

Not only that, but like a ship’s anchor, it had a cross-shaped hook at the end, designed to prevent it from slipping out easily.

Squeak-squeak.

Dragging around four heavy iron chains was no small threat.

The only thing that made Shim Young-jin feel somewhat at ease was the fact that the creature didn’t know it could fight using those very chains.

He just needed to keep it at a certain distance.

But it seemed that distance would soon be lost.

Clank-.

The core of the chain tightening around his neck trembled violently.

Two large holes, as if bombed, gaped in the cliff face, and rocks tumbled out from within.

“Starting to get a little nervous…”

Quite some time has passed since I first came here.

Enough time for the test tube to react and then some.

But what the hell?

Even as the last pin was about to fall, not a single ant was in sight.

“Huff, huff.”

Shim Young-jin’s breath grows rough with frustration.

Now he stood at a crossroads.

Flee or wait.

If he flees, the sooner the better.

Beyond the open field lay a steep slope densely packed with trees.

The creature’s massive body would be a huge hindrance to movement.

Even for a creature that can effortlessly uproot trees with deep roots.

If you wait?

You have to hold out until the end.

Didn’t I tell my friends earlier?

I’d never let them die.

But for Shim Young-jin, who had never once risked his life, an uneasy thought surfaced.

‘What if I’m just a hair’s breadth too late? Or what if they really only intend to save me?’

Such cases weren’t entirely unheard of.

Accidents happen anytime, anywhere.

Even a controlled exam hall was no different.

For instance, three years ago, an accident occurred where one examinee was injured.

The news about a Class C Hunter becoming crippled overnight and confined to bed.

A faint possibility that it could happen to him began to creep up.

‘I’m falling!’