š Chapter 18 :
After the announcement that the test had begun, everyone rushed straight into the forest.
Each person wanted to start hunting as fast as possible.
Seeing them like that compared to my own pathetic stateā¦ yeah, it was depressing.
Still, I forced myself to move tooāthough much slower than the rest.
Inside, the forest was dark, even though it was still morning. The thick layers of plants and trees blocked most of the light.
The first thing everyone encountered were short, blue-skinned monsters with jet-black eyes, their arms and legs comically thick for their size. There were about twenty of them.
"Blue Gurmelo monstersāthey're mine!"
One participant shouted that, and while some ignored the creatures, others immediately charged.
Swords sliced them apart, mages burned them down.
In just a few moments, those monsters were wiped out.
"ā¦Isn't there a weakling like me around here somewhere?"
I muttered, then sighed.
I had to find a place to hide. Maybe I should set up some trapsāat least to protect myself.
But before I could move, another monster appeared.
This one was massiveāaround four meters tall, with red eyes, thick black scales, sharp fangs, and four muscled arms.
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.
And thenā¦ someone unexpected stepped forward.
The dark-skinned, handsome swordsman from the carriage.
He moved in a flash. His black blade gleamed, and in the blink of an eye all four of the monster's arms were severed.
The giant collapsed, helpless.
With a calm expression, he sliced open the chest and pulled out the heart before walking deeper into the forest.
The others scattered in different directions, leaving me standing there.
"ā¦I'd better move too. Carefully."
I kept walking until I found what looked like a quiet clearing.
Too quiet. The kind of quiet that makes you nervousālike the calm before a storm.
Then, I heard it.
The snap of a twig.
Someoneāor somethingāwas coming.
I prayed it would be another participant, but of courseā¦ my luck isn't that good.
It was a monster.
It looked like the Gurmelo from before, only yellow.
"A Yellow Gurmelo or something like that, huh?"
It lunged at me with frightening speed.
"System! Give me the sword I crafted!"
But the monster was faster. It pinned me down, its giant arms pressing me into the ground.
I couldn't move.
Its hand wrapped around my throat, choking me.
"This is bad. This is the end. This is really theā"
ā¦Or maybe not.
Sure, it was strong. But at the end of the day, it was still just a dumb pile of muscles.
I had been waiting for this.
Waiting for it to takeā¦ just one step forward.
When I reached this spot earlier, I noticed the groundāsoft soil, broken branches, natural gaps. Perfect for a trap.
I covered a small pit with dry leaves, leaned a loose log against a rock, and tied a thin vine between two trees.
Primitive. Simple. But enough for a monster whose own arms outweighed its brain.
As it leaned closer, its stubby body forced it to widen its stance.
Crunch.
Its foot sank deep into the soft soil, halfway swallowed like a rock dropped in mud.
The monster made a strange noise, trying to process what happened. It tried to pull itself out, but with all its weight pressed on top of me, it only sank further.
And thenā
Thwack!
The loose log came crashing down on its head. Not enough to kill, but enough to knock it off balance.
The creature rolled sideways, leg still trapped, arms flailing.
"Now."
[Temporary Iron Sword summoned]
I grabbed it with both hands, stepped forward, and looked down at the thing that had been choking me seconds ago.
"If we'd met anywhere else, you probably would've killed meā¦ but you walked into the worst place possible."
One clean strike to the back of its neck.
And it was over.
[ Gained 50 Experience Points ]
"Fiftyā¦ huh. Well, at least better than those job points. Honestlyā¦ it feels weirdly good. Killing a monster, I mean. Almost worth celebrating."
"Look at himābarely managed to kill a weakling monster."
The voices of two passing girls pierced my little moment of pride.
"ā¦Yeah, never mind. Forget I said that."
I carved out the heart, stuffed it away, and kept moving.
That's when I heard footsteps again.
What came out this timeā¦ was a rabbit.
Except it wasn't a rabbit.
It was the size of a bear, with glowing red eyes.
"ā¦Eh-heh. What's up, Doc?"
The giant rabbit roared at me.
"Wait, I'm not a human carrot!"
No weapon. My hands were shaking.
I had only one stupid idea leftāplay dead.
I collapsed instantly, body limp.
To my shockā¦ it worked.
The rabbit sniffed me, assumed I was a corpse, and lowered its head.
ā¦Except now its face was right above mine, drool dripping from its mouth.
And my mouth was still open.
Plop.
A drop of saliva landed right inside.
I shut my mouth immediately out of pure disgust. The rabbit noticed.
Busted.
I bolted. The rabbit gave chase. But the ground ahead was a cliff.
I didn't see it in timeāslipped, fell, hit the ground hard.
Everything hurt, but luckily nothing broke.
And just as I was about to catch my breathā
"Another Gurmelo?"
No. Not this time.
Not even a monster.
It wasā¦ a hyena.
A regular hyena. Cross-eyed, staring straight at me.
"ā¦Seriously? Am I supposed to fight this too?"
The hyena lifted its leg.
"Ah crap, I'll use the smoke bomb before itā"
Nope. Just peeing.
I used the chance to sneak away. But another hyena showed up right in front of the hollow log I hid inside.
Great. Now there were two.
I ran. Both followed. I tripped into a bush, and they pouncedā
Until a sound stopped them.
I peeked out too.
A small stream.
And there he was.
The dark-skinned swordsman. Washing his face.
"Oh, great. Mr. Handsome again."
And thenā
Twist of the century.
He removed his hair.
A wig.
The guy was bald.
I couldn't hold it ināI burst out laughing. Even the hyenas beside me looked like they were laughing too.
But the laughter didn't last long.
The bald swordsman finally lifted his head.
His eyes glowed faint red as they locked onto us.