đźź Chapter 17:
I woke up at 4:30 a.m., just in time to get ready for the Test. I hadn't slept much—maybe three hours at most. I'd spent most of the night making a few dust bombs, hoping they'd come in handy someday.
I got out of bed and left the room, and ran into the hotel clerk who, surprisingly, was already awake at this early hour.
"Oh—sir, you're up."
"Yeah. What about you? Didn't you sleep?"
Now that I looked closer, I noticed how red his eyes were. He probably hadn't closed them all night.
"Sir, I'm so excited about the Test."
"You sound like you're the one taking it."
"Maybe… but I'm not ready to die in the Hunter Test."
Ugh. These people are going to drive me insane. What a stupid contradiction. Last night everyone was asking, "Are you taking the Test?" like they were all brave… yet none of them are actually participating.
"By the way, sir, you're the last participant to leave this hotel. Everyone else got up before you."
Seems like everyone's really hyped for the Test. I thought there'd be other cowards like me.
[You're the only one who thought the Test wouldn't include monsters, so it makes sense you're the most cowardly.]
Hmm… fair point.
I left the hotel and waved to the clerk.
"Goodbye, Mr. Clerk."
"See you later, sir. Do your best."
"See you later? After everything, I expected you to say farewell properly."
The clerk smirked
"Of course not. I'd much rather have you alive... than let your stay be free."
What was that supposed to mean? I had no clue what he was talking about, so I just kept walking.
I headed toward the Guild. A decent number of participants were already gathered—some familiar faces from the hotel, others who'd stayed elsewhere. I had no idea if turnout was higher than past years, but there seemed to be around fifty or sixty people.
Everyone stood in line, holding their registration slips, waiting to hand them to the supervisor up front to officially confirm their participation. They all looked ready. Eager, even. I overheard some Guild staff talking nearby.
"These participants are better than the last batch."
"Yeah, the numbers rose a bit this time. Still low compared to some older Tests—those had three hundred participants—but at least we managed to attract some from distant regions this round."
Amazing. All this happens in the very season I'm taking part. Life really loves its little coincidences.
The confirmation process went on for about half an hour. After that, some townsfolk showed up to cheer the participants. A few contenders were locals—their parents had come to see them off. It looked more like they were heading to war than taking a test.
Around six o'clock we were divided—six people per carriage, ten carriages total. That meant exactly sixty participants. I was assigned to carriage number seven.
With me were a dark-skinned swordsman with black hair, a blonde girl in armor, and the loud man who sat behind me in the restaurant yesterday… he didn't seem to remember my face.
[Of course… who remembers a boring face like yours.]
Not the time for your useless commentary. Besides them there was a girl in a sorceress outfit, and a younger girl who looked like her sister. The little one was writing something in a small notebook.
"What are you writing, Flora?" the older sister asked.
"I'm recording everything that happens today, just in case I die," Flora said without a hint of exaggeration. "If someone finds it, my memory will live on."
Her words dropped a brief silence over the carriage…but she didn't stop there.
"I'm also writing down everyone I see today. My arrogant sister who flaunts every spell she invents—even though that's rare. A giant man who's way too excited. A naive swordsman trying to look heroic. A dumb warrior girl wearing armor that doesn't fit. And a messy-haired idiot who looks like he joined by mistake."
After Flora's remark, everyone looked a bit shocked. And even though she'd insulted every single one of us, I couldn't help feeling that what she said about me… might've been kind of accurate.
[Everything she said about you was spot on.]
Not now. Don't make me look like a lunatic—no one else can see your screen.
"Flora, how can you say something like that?" her sister asked.
"But sis, I was only being honest. If this is really my last day, I want to be completely honest—not fake like you."
Wow. This girl says whatever's on her mind with no shame.
Her sister turned to us with an apologetic look, clearly embarrassed. Honestly, it was weird that a child her age was even allowed to take part in something like this.
"Flora, you want the truth? You'll crush those monsters out there. Don't believe everything the townsfolk say. I know they're not trying to scare you—maybe they're telling the truth—but you're not an ordinary girl. You're talented."
"You're not lying this time, are you?"
"No—I'm not. I mean it. You'll do great."
"Perfect. Then I don't need to write that part down. That means I still have more time to live… and maybe I'll finally be someone important to people. Hey messy-hair guy, do you want my notebook?"
Of all people, why'd she pick me to talk to? I refused her offer.
"No thanks. I don't need it."
"But you really seem weak—maybe if you wrote it down someone would remember you."
This kid is really annoying. Speaking of the word friend, the first person who came to mind was Ren... that's weird. Did I really consider him a friend?
"There's no need for that, kid. I'm stronger than you think."
Of course I was lying, but it was just to shut her up. She looked at me in surprise and said, "Really?"
Then the girl in armor suddenly spoke up.
"Wow—kids really are bold. Little one, what do you think about a challenge?"
The little girl looked puzzled.
"A challenge… what is it?"
"Whoever in this carriage is the strongest and hunts the most monsters will be the winner." the armored girl said.
"If I win, will you be my friend?" the little one asked enthusiastically.
"I'll be your friend," the armored girl replied.
Unexpectedly, everyone in the carriage got excited by the idea—except me, of course, because I didn't even know if I'd come out of this alive.
From that moment on everyone started talking among themselves in the carriage—until we reached Krais Forest.
It was seven o'clock when we arrived. Everyone disembarked from the carriages, and two supervisors were already waiting—one short and fat with white hair and a long mustache, the other tall and thin with black hair and a long beard. They looked like total opposites.
The thin one stepped forward and introduced himself and his colleague.
"Welcome, participants. My name is Largo, and this is my colleague Kurto. We're the supervisors in charge of this year's Hunter Test. Now, let us explain the rules. As you know, hunters are ranked from A to E."
Then the fat supervisor continued,
"Your rank will be determined by the monsters you hunt. To prove it, you must extract the monster's heart. Your rank depends on both quantity and quality—with quality being far more important. For example, hunting one large beast is better than ten small ones. You will have six hours. Good luck to everyone."
The rules were simple—but execution is the real problem. I had no idea how I'd survive this, but I had to. Everything that's happened to me in this world so far has been out of my control—yet I'm still alive. So even if it means facing monsters, I'll do whatever it takes to survive.