Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Clearing the Stage
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The core was exposed.
Han Dong was well aware that his body was not built for endurance battles.
Seize the opportunity.
The “Plague Doctor’s Short Blade” was clenched in his left hand.
The moment he spotted the object resembling a core within the stomach sac, Han Dong lunged out with his sword.
Not only was the short sword poisonous, but it was also extremely sharp.
The unguarded core got a crack from this strike… Visible plague energy overflowed from the tip of the blade, seeping into the core through the crack!
Crack.
Completely shattered.
The ‘Stitched Monster’ whose existence relied on the core, collapsed like a marionette with cut wires, falling limp on the ground, devoid of any danger.
Dark Moon Forest was the territory of the Mysterious Department.
Han Dong suspected that the crows perched in the trees could monitor his every move, so he did not risk using a special metal syringe or attempt to extract the cell essence from the stitched creature.
“Hmm…what’s up with this forest?”
Han Dong was not allowed to investigate the dead stitched creature in detail. The seemingly ordinary ground turned into a quagmire, absorbing the stitched creature.
“Will it resurrect?!”
Han Dong wasn’t sure if the stitched creature that had been sunk underground would resurrect to attack them again.
Seizing the opportunity, Han Dong helped Pasha up and tried to leave the forest as quickly as possible.
One hour.
Thanks to Han Dong’s superior sense of direction, they were able to exit the peculiar Dark Moon Forest without any detours.
As for the resurrection theory, it didn’t happen… the land took the stitched creature away, most likely for ‘recycling’.
Rippling water.
A five-meter-wide clear stream marked the boundary of the Dark Moon Forest, separating it from the central building area within.
Just cross over a wooden arched bridge, and they would reach the core building area of the Mysterious Department.
Before crossing the bridge, the building was completely obscured by thick mist, making it impossible to see its overall structure.
“We…finally got out! Thank you, Nicholas.”
The Middle Eastern girl looked incredibly grateful, her eyes filling with tears…Without Han Dong, she would have been long dead.
“Yeah, we were lucky.”
“Nicholas, let’s hurry across the bridge and submit the test items in the main building… According to the rules of the test, it isn’t considered complete without handing over the items, so we might still be in some danger.”
Pasha was right, they had to hurry.
However, Han Dong stopped in the middle of the bridge, looking at the clear stream flowing underneath…
“The object… should I hold onto it?”
Looking at Han Dong, a baffled Pasha asked, “What object?”
“The real iron box…you swapped it, didn’t you? I’m not sure when exactly you swapped it, but if I were to go to the Mysterious Department building and hand in the task just like this, I’d probably be deemed ‘inadequate,’ right?” The atmosphere changed for a moment.
“Not quite ‘inadequate,’ it would simply result in points being deducted.”
For a moment, Pasha, the little sister who had her ankle opened with scissors, was remarkably able to stand unaided on the bridge without holding onto the railing…her face devoid of any emotion.
Han Dong immediately turned around, the short sword held horizontally in front of him…his Ghoul Hand also activating its special traits.
However, Pasha’s next move was not to harm Han Dong.
Instead, she took out the real iron box with the eyelid from somewhere and handed it to Han Dong with both hands.
To some extent, this signified that Pasha’s true identity was not a scheming student with dark intentions who would deliberately switch objects to gain an unfair advantage in the test.
She was, instead, an ‘interference factor’ in Han Dong’s test this time.
Pasha widened her eyes, asked curiously, “When did you figure it out?”
Han Dong took the authentic iron box, and after confirming that Pasha was not a ‘scheming villain,’ he sheathed his short blade.
“From the start, I harbored suspicions. It wasn’t your acting skills, but you made a fundamental error… you relied too much on me.”
Since participating in the Fate Space until now.
Because of my physical condition, teammates usually detest me at first sight, not even believing that I am an Apprentice Knight.
When you appeared, however, there was no doubt, you tried to team up with me.”
According to your statement, you could continue waiting in the log cabin for the arrival of the next Apprentice Knight. There was no need to take the test together with a person of weak health like me who also chose dangerous equipment.”
Perhaps you foreseen something in your divination, but you were still too proactive, making me suspicious… After all, my appearance can’t give the opposite gender a sense of security.”
When confronted with Han Dong’s explanation, Pasha couldn’t help but laugh.
“Hahaha!! Interesting, so it was here that the error happened… Indeed, your physique cannot inspire trust in teammates. Your severe malnutrition, skin-and-bones body, so terrible.
Ah, what a miscalculation.”
Han Dong continued, “Of course, your performance was too commonplace, not at all like an Apprentice Knight who has experienced the ‘Fate Space’… So I could basically confirm that you are either pretending to be a newbie in order to covertly swap essential items and profit from it, or you are also part of the test.”
Clap, clap, clap!
Hearing this, Pasha began to applaud.
“Impressive… also, I have one more question.
When I was powerless, what was the reason you chose to stay?
Was it because of a sense of[Justice], or did you guess my identity in advance, considering that ‘I’ was also part of the test and stole essential items.
That’s why you chose to stay and fight around me.”
Han Dong unabashedly replied:
“It’s simply a choice based on my personal interests… Few people in today’s world are willing to risk their lives for a stranger they just met, right? I was just considering that saving you could lead to a higher evaluation of the test.
Moreover, your divination does attract Stitched Monsters… this trait could give us the ‘upper hand’.”
Pasha nodded, “Okay, you can now report to the main building.”
That being said,
Pasha Buhart, the young girl, disappeared in front of Han Dong’s eyes.
In the meantime, in the Stargazing Room, a special person showed a satisfied smile.
“Phew… I thought there would be a fierce battle. I didn’t expect it would end once her identity was unveiled.
The test really evaluates many aspects, it can easily get complicated if you’re not careful.
As he crossed the wooden bridge, the mist suddenly dispersed.
It must be because Han Dong entered the mist barrier, and was no longer affected by the mist.
Staring at what was in front of him, it was nothing like the knight teaching building he had imagined.
Instead, there stood a towering ancient castle tower that went straight into the clouds.
Its medieval architectural style, appearing to be made of bleak stone bricks, might actually be a sort of special material, which could give people a strong sense of oppression.
Moreover, Han Dong noticed a problem.
“That’s strange. Such a towering structure should be quite noticeable… Why couldn’t I see it from outside the school? Could it be hidden by some magic?”
Wanting to get closer to the castle tower, he had to cross through a graveyard that was shrouded in dense Yin Qi.
The graveyard covered such a large area that there was no way to bypass it… It seemed that the graveyard was the ‘front yard’ of the castle.
Just as Han Dong was carefully treading on the stone path in the center of the graveyard, a sinister long-haired arm abruptly shot out from one side of the cemetery… The sudden jump-scare frightened Han Dong, who instantly turned around to prepare for combat.
It was one of the ‘guests’ of the graveyard who crawled out.
While climbing out, he was also wearing a relatively neat suit and put two spare eyeballs into the empty eye sockets. After inserting his tongue and false teeth into his mouth, he made a ‘relatively friendly’ sound:
“Greetings new Apprentice Knight, I’m your temporary steward – Aggie. From here on, I’ll be guiding you into the Dark Moon Tower..”