Arena

The physical strength buff was a basic skill for the four of us, so we cleared out the huge amount of prepared samgyetang in an instant.

As great as our bodies were, our fuel needs were just as amazing.

Cha Ji-hye, who liked sweets, even made strawberry tarts for dessert to show off her cooking skill. Yoo Ji-soo’s eyes flipped.

“What, wow! Is this handmade?”

“It is.”

“Thanks for the food!* I don’t think my mouth will get bored while staying here.”

(TN: Korean version of itadakimasu.)

While staying here?

Nuance-wise, it seemed these guys had no intention of leaving after one night.

Anyway, we finished our meals so I moved on to discuss the main topic.

“You can have the rake eagles bring us?”

“Yes, I’m thinking currently, in Arena, you two are in a pickle, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Over there we’re practically being chased like most wanted criminals.”

“Then first of all, when the next exam starts, I will send eagles to the two of you. Ride those and escape to where we are. After that, you can rest and after reorganizing, try your exam again.”

“That’s a good idea. We’re being chased in Arena so we don’t really have another choice either.”

Cha Jin-hyuk agreed with my plan.

But perhaps Yoo Ji-soo hadn’t made her decision yet because she asked me.

“The eagles you’re raising, can they accurately come find where we are?”

I smiled confidently and answered.

“Yes, without getting lost, they’ll be able to find you very accurately.”

“How is that possible?”

“I have a skill called animal tracking. As long as they have the scent of whatever they’re tracking, they can find it.”

“Scent?”

“Yes, so give me some kind of object of yours. I can have them recognize your scent with those.”

“Objects……?”

Suddenly, Yoo Ji-soo’s face got serious.

Cha Jin-hyuk’s face went blank as well.

The two of them quietly looked to each other and then, at the exact same time, they grabbed me and shouted.

“We need your help!”

“Help us with our exam please!”

“What, what is it?”

“You know what our mission is right?”

“Wasn’t it following and prying into some consul?”

“The mission is to investigate the mastermind behind consul Lumad.”

Said Yoo Ji-soo.

“We failed the investigation, but there is one thing we got our hands on.”

Yoo Ji-soo tapped her fingers and Cha Jin-hyuk grimaced as he summoned an item backpack and took an object out of it.

A luxurious leather bound book.

This book was about as thick as a language dictionary.

I took it and opened the book.

“Hmm?”

I was completely surprised.

In the book, an empty space shaped like a rectangle had been punched through.

But the empty space within the rectangle is exactly that, empty.

Yoo Ji-soo sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

“We took that from consul Lumad’s official residence bedroom but as you can see the inside is already empty.”

“Do you have any idea what was in it?”

“A secret letter probably. Don’t know between who though.”

“Wouldn’t it be with the Aman Kingdom? It is surmised that the sultan has an intimate relationship with the dark magician organization.”

“Would a sultan need to deliver messages to the consul in secret?”

At Yoo Ji-soo’s words, I agreed.

The sultan orders the consul. He is the power holder until his term ended so he could replace the consul if he wanted to.

Then the sultan, if there’s something he wants, he could just call and tell him, he wouldn’t send a secret message for it.

“I need to know who he exchanged that book with.”

So find the owner of the scent embedded in this book with the animal tracking skill?”

“Exactly. Such a secret and important book won’t have changed hands much.”

“That much isn’t difficult. I’ll help.”

“Thanks! Now we can live!”

Yoo Ji-soo spread out both arms and rejoiced. It also looked like Cha Jin-hyuk sighed in relief.

“Then first of all I’ll send the eagles so ride them back to us. You’ll get the synthetic muscle suits and radios, stay with us a bit and clear the exams together.”

“Got it. We’ll help your missions too as much as we can.”

“Please and thanks.”

Like that we made a deal with Yoo Ji-soo’s team. They stayed at my house and trained and exchange info with us.

And the exam approached.

***

As the exam neared, we went to the Korean Arena Research Agency.

They gave me a bunch of the synthetic muscle suits and radios they received from the Nordic exam group.

Things to share with the examinees.

I stored them all in the virtual space.

An hour before the start of the exams, Chief Lim Chul-so came to me and said.

“We’ve received contact from Chairman Maglun.”

“What did he say?”

“He asked you for a pair of fur mane dogs.”

“Fur-mane dogs?”

“Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like, a dog with a long mane like a horse, it has many babies. By the looks of it, the Maglun family seems to want to focus on fast reproduction for majeong collection.”

“Different from us.”

For us, we decided to bring back a pair of dairy cows.

We could collect majeong, milk, meat, and leather too.

More than anything, it looked similar to a dairy cow from our world and had the benefit that it was hard to differentiate just by looking at it.

And the Nordic exam group also requested dairy cows like us too.

Anyway, I think I’ll accept his request. Since a deal is a deal.

Of course, it’ll be after I verify that the Maglun family has kept their promise.

Dana Litalin.

Will he, the person publically ranked 1st in the world, be able to get rid of two high priests?

If that big talk was real, he might be the protagonist that finishes the final exam.

Anyway, all preparations were finished, and only 30 minutes remained before the exam.

“I wish you a safe return.”

I nodded at Chief Lim Chul-ho’s words.

“Don’t worry. Returning alive isn’t a problem.”

I said farewell to him and went into my assigned room.

It was a little bigger than the goshiwon with a bed and small table.

I closed the door and lay on the bed.

“Summon board.”

-Name: Kim Hyun-ho

-Class: 43

-Karma: +50

-Mission: rest until the next mission.

-Time limit: 26 minutes 42 seconds

After buying two 100-karma item bags, I only had 50 karma left.

If I clear this mission too, then I think I’ll be able to earn at least 5000 karma. Maybe 20,000 karma at most.

It’d be good if I got attacked by a corrupt examinee or something.

Then I could get rid of them and get a massive amount of karma.

But by now, everyone should know I’m a strong player that ranks 7th in the world so they won’t be willing to attack so easily. How disappointing.

The time limit shrank little by little.

Then, with 10 seconds to go, the countdown began.

It was somehow a familiar feeling now, I didn’t really feel nervous or anxious about it.

And when it hit 0 seconds, my eyes gently closed.

***

“Wake up!”

Tang- tang- tang- !

I got up straight away at the sound of the loud gong.

Cha Ji-hye did the same.

Who knows where he got it but the baby angel looked at us and smiled as if we were a pair of unlucky saps.

“Did you spend your rest period enjoyably?”

“Thanks to you.”

“At least you know.”

“Know what, you asshole.”

“Aww, don’t be like that. We don’t have that much time to see each other like this.”

“…… what do you mean?”

The baby angel smiled and said.

“What are you asking for? I can hear your head spinning and spinning.”

The final destination of the exams wasn’t too far away. The baby angel hinted at that.

“It doesn’t have to be me specifically, does it?”

I asked.

Many words were omitted from the question but the baby angel understood right away.

“No.”

“……?!”

“Examinee Kim Hyun-ho.”

“Me?”

“Yes, it hangs on you. The choice that decides everything doesn’t lie with someone else.”

“Why does it happen to be me?”

“It just happens to be you.”

“What?!”

“The exams have been going on a long time. But most examinees, with the final mission in front of their noses, die or become corrupt.”

“……”

“That’s why the gods are trying to end these exams once and for all. How should they determine when to finish it then? That happens to be where you come in, examinee Kim Hyun-ho.”

“Me?”

“Yes, they’ve decided to wait and see, just until you. Will you clear the missions to the end? Or die or give up and corrupt yourself? That is up to you, examinee Kim Hyun-ho.”

“If I clear all the missions, what happens then?”

“The exam disappears and all examinees are freed from harness of the exams. Of course they’ll be given compensation. You’ll find out more specific stuff when the time comes.”

“And if I fail……?”

I asked in a shaking voice.

It was because the secrets of the exams that he hadn’t told me all this time was being divulged little by little now.

The baby angel said.

“Then the people chosen as examinees will regard finishing the missions pointless. They’ll want to keep getting majeong and decide to not want sever ties with Arena. And……”

The baby angel’s smile felt creepy to me. 𝗳𝘳𝒆𝘦𝑤𝐞𝚋𝗻𝚘𝘷𝘦𝙡.𝑐𝐨𝘮

“It’ll be as you want it. Not severed from Arena, so you can keep dipping your hand in the majeong jar.”

“What, what does that mean?”

“You’ll know when the time comes.”

“It’s bad isn’t it? That’s a bad ending right?”

I asked again.

The baby angel shook his head.

“What is good and what is bad? Have I ever spoken in that manner? Saying this is right, that is that.”

“……”

“Because it is plus karma doesn’t make it right, and not vice versa for minus karma. They are just plus and minus, the consequences of your actions comes back around is all. Whether you consider that price as bad, it depends how you look at it.”

What that was supposed to mean, it sounds even scarier.

I won’t discern right from wrong.

I won’t suggest to you a road because it is the right one.

Only, no matter what you choose, be prepared to pay the price.

…… that’s what he’s saying.

“The choice is the same. Whether the last mission is cleared or not, it won’t be decided if that’s right or not. Just face the consequences. Whether you regard that consequence as a prize or punishment depends on you.”

My body was shaking.

I won’t sever ties to Arena. I’ll make it so you can keep getting majeong.

That never sounded good to me.

Think about the reckless things that Chinese examinees did in Arena to get majeong.

Not only that but countless corrupt examinees must have done similar things to get majeong.

If that is the price of the exams, that doesn’t sound good at all.

“Hold on! It doesn’t have to be me. No, even if I die, someone else could clear the missions to the end. For example, an examinee like Dana Litalin!”

“Is that right?”

“What does even that mean?!”

“Well. That’s all I’m gonna say.”

I was speechless at the baby angel’s firm reply.