For a while, I watched the trail of tiny flames stretching across the middle of a dark path in the Otherworld's harsh, humid forest, where the dense foliage barely allowed any sunlight to penetrate.
Marlkaama To Rosto De Mohs.
Translated roughly, it meant, 'Take the form of flames and track the heart of the forest.'
Naturally, Rune Language could be used to construct sentences as well.
Here, the 'heart of the forest' referred to the 'black crystal' that was the objective of this examination.
The people of the Otherworld called it the heart of the forest, but apparently, the people of Earth hadn't discovered that much yet.
Which means they probably don't know what the black crystal actually is, either.
“What a dangerous exam.”
Since this was merely a permit examination, they'd made it sound as though there were no dangers whatsoever, and that even getting lost wouldn't be a problem.
But that confidence only proved how little they understood about the forests of the Otherworld.
I shook my head.
There was no time to dwell on it.
Five hours.
If I completed the examination within three hours, I'd score at least eighty points. If I took longer, I'd have to sit through additional examinations, up to the second stage.
And I had absolutely no intention of taking any additional exams.
After tightening the laces of my boots, I began running in the direction indicated by the trail of flames.
Before long, I encountered a sheer rock face several stories high.
In the distance, I could see three people gathered together, looking upward.
When I focused my hearing, I could make out their conversation.
“Ha, we're running into something like this right from the start.”
“We weren't very lucky with our starting location.”
“The practical exam doubles as a physical fitness test anyway. We'll probably encounter quite a few more obstacles like this.”
“Are we sure this is the right direction?”
“Who knows? Everyone, get your climbing equipment out. I'll hammer in the pitons as I climb.”
“We're going to waste at least thirty minutes here··· This is bad.”
“Let's give it a try first.”
Since the examination wasn't graded on a curve, the participants naturally prioritized cooperation.
“Cooperation, huh···.”
I'd never actually experienced it myself, but being able to cooperate with others would certainly improve one's chances of survival in the Otherworld.
That was probably why they'd deliberately removed any competitive elements from the examination.
As I watched them, our eyes naturally met.
One of the men gave me a particularly strange look.
Apparently, the sight of someone who hadn't even brought an exploration backpack seemed rather unusual.
Or perhaps he was looking at me with pity, thinking I was some clueless beginner who'd entered without knowing what he was doing.
“Well, I suppose having equipment like that would make things easier.”
The thought did cross my mind.
But during my time in the Otherworld, I'd never once had the luxury of relying on equipment like theirs.
Clap, clap.
I clapped my hands twice to steady myself, then grabbed a protruding rock and began climbing.
THUMP—
When I finally reached the top and looked down, the participants sensed my gaze.
One by one, they raised their heads.
Their mouths fell open.
“Ah··· Huh?”
“When did he··· get up there?”
“Didn't he come without any climbing equipment?”
They seemed thoroughly confused by the fact that I was still completely unequipped.
“Be careful out there!”
I was about to leave when someone called out.
“You be careful too, young man! You'll have to pass through the swamp next! It's going to be quite a struggle!”
“The swamp?”
I stopped and looked down again.
“This is my second time taking the exam, and my first exam was around this area! If you head left, there's a swamp!”
“Really?”
“There's a good chance the black crystal is on the other side! My Crystal Detector hasn't picked it up yet, but··· I detected it somewhere around there during my first attempt.”
“I see···.”
I raised my head.
Sure enough, the tiny flames were spreading out toward the left.
I already had a rough idea of where the crystal was, but learning that there was a swamp ahead was extremely useful.
If a swamp was waiting for me, there was something I'd need to prepare beforehand.
“Gentlemen!”
“What is it?”
“Leave the climbing pitons and rope and toss the rope up here.”
I secured the rope they handed me firmly around a tree, then drove a couple of pitons deep into the ground and tied it off.
A double- and triple-layered safety arrangement.
A textbook rock-climbing safety line.
“You can climb straight up using the rope! Just be careful not to fall!”
“Much obliged! Hope you pass!”
“You too, sir!”
After all, this wasn't a competition based on relative rankings.
In other words, someone else's failure wouldn't contribute to my success.
And when someone had already helped me first, there was even less reason not to return the favor.
I resumed walking.
My body, which had felt rather stiff and sluggish, began warming up after the rock climb.
My muscles, now filled with elasticity, propelled me forward like powerful springs.
Faster.
And faster still.
***
“Ugh···.”
Four participants who had started from the eastern rift gagged as they stared at the swamp stretching out before them.
Even the sturdy-looking man among them, who seemed to have a stronger stomach than the others, couldn't hide the grimace on his face.
“Do we··· really have to cross this?”
“I think this is probably the right direction.”
The woman standing at the front couldn't conceal her bewilderment either.
“We could try finding a way around, but then we might not make it in time.”
“Ugh··· Blegh.”
The rotten stench rising from the swamp was so overwhelming that none of them could bring themselves to step into it.
“This thing··· looks ridiculously deep, too.”
They tried to estimate its depth by looking at the tip of a tree that had sunk into the middle of the swamp.
It could easily have been several meters deep.
One wrong move, and they might never get out.
This wasn't merely a matter of enduring the smell.
They had to determine whether crossing it was even possible.
“What should we do···?”
While they were struggling with the problem—
“Pwah!”
“AAAAAH!”
Someone's head suddenly emerged from the swamp right beneath their feet.
The four participants recoiled in fright.
Was it an animal from the Otherworld?
A crocodile?
Such thoughts flashed through their minds.
“Eek···? Huh? A person?”
“It could be a creature from the Otherworld! Be careful···.”
Meanwhile, the man had already crawled onto solid ground.
He casually brushed away the thick mud covering his body.
Then, as though completely unconcerned by the other participants standing awkwardly nearby, he raised the axe in his hand.
“···An axe?”
“Are we allowed to bring axes into the examination?”
“No. Bladed weapons are restricted to knives no longer than ten centimeters because of the risk of violence··· What is that thing?”
“Look at it··· Isn't the blade unusual?”
Instead of an ordinary steel blade, it had one made from transparent blue crystal.
Everyone immediately recognized what kind of crystal it was.
“···Blue crystal?”
“Isn't that the same stuff the Crystal Detectors pick up? I thought those things couldn't be broken.”
The crystals couldn't be broken, which was precisely why they were used as fixed reference points for determining locations.
Yet this man seemed to have fashioned one into an axe right on the spot.
Regardless of what they were saying, the man spat into his palm, gripped the axe tightly, and looked toward a tall Otherworld tree growing at the edge of the swamp.
“Everyone, stand back.”
And then—
CHOP—!
He began hacking at the base of the tree.
Each swing gouged several centimeters into the trunk, sending wood chips flying violently through the air.
What exactly was he trying to do?
The participants could only stare blankly.
CHOP— THWACK— THUNK! THUNK!
At first, it looked as though he was swinging the axe recklessly.
But before long, they realized that every strike was the result of careful calculation.
CREEEEEEAK—
The giant tree began leaning precisely toward the opposite bank of the swamp.
SPLASH—!
It fell across the swamp, becoming a bridge that stretched from one side to the other.
Before the tree had even stopped rocking from the impact, the man was already running across it.
“Good heavens···.”
In the blink of an eye, he reached the opposite side.
Only then did he turn around.
“Ugh, that smell. Aren't you coming across?”
“Y-Yes? What?”
“I'm not so petty that I'd complain about you using the tree, you know? If you have trouble keeping your balance, just hold onto it like a flotation tube and come across slowly. It's deep here.”
“Ah, yes! Th-Thank you!”
***
There was a distinct word for 'heart of the forest' in Rune Language.
That was why I could use magic to track it.
The spell wasn't particularly accurate over long distances, but the closer I approached, the more clearly the flames of Mohs pointed toward my destination.
And now—
“···I should be getting close.”
Once you approached the area surrounding the heart of the forest, you could make an educated guess about its location just by observing the scenery.
It was difficult to explain exactly what characteristics gave it away.
But after living in the Otherworld for so long, I'd developed a certain 'instinct' for such things.
Step, step—
If I had to explain it, the first sign was that the amount of decaying fallen leaves nearby would gradually decrease.
Even though nobody was clearing them away.
Step, step—
That was because the heart of the forest accelerated the decomposition of organic matter in its surroundings.
The reason was simple.
It needed to obtain nutrients for itself.
Step, step—
Ironically, that was precisely why there were so few rotting leaves left nearby.
Once they began decomposing, they rotted away that much faster.
Step, step—
And then, there was also···.
On second thought, this really wasn't an environment where I could afford to lose myself in contemplation.
I gave up and glanced behind me.
“Ah.”
“Ah, h-hello. Hehe.”
The person whose eyes met mine smiled awkwardly.
“What? You're taking this exam too?”
“Huh? Y-You too?”
“Shh! Keep your voice down. You'll disturb that gentleman's concentration.”
No, you're not disturbing me.
At some point, more than a dozen people had quietly begun following behind me.
There had been roughly a hundred participants in the examination.
That meant about ten percent of them were currently trailing behind me.
They weren't getting in my way.
In fact, they were actually helping.
When ten people gathered together, there was a surprising amount they could accomplish.
We'd worked together to move a boulder blocking a cave entrance.
Thanks to that, we'd managed to pass straight through a rocky mountain that would otherwise have required a lengthy detour.
And eventually—
“Huh? I can see it over there!”
Cheers erupted from the group.
But at the same time, I heard groans of despair.
“···Again?”
“Come on, this one's seriously too high!”
A cliff.
This time, it was a cliff we had to descend.
Going down was certainly better than climbing up, but at this height, everyone would still need quite a bit of time.
“Will it take more than thirty minutes······?”
And in a situation like this, there wasn't much I could do to help them.
In that case—
“Excuse me, sir.”
“Ah, yes?”
“Could I borrow one of your gloves? One of those cotton work gloves.”
“Oh, of course. You can keep it. You've helped us so much already. How could I refuse something this small?”
I accepted the cotton glove from the man.
Then I tied the wrist section tightly so it wouldn't slip off.
“I'm going ahead!”
“Wha—?!”
I jumped.
Of course, I wasn't some superhuman from a superhero movie.
If I dropped straight to the bottom from this height, I'd definitely get hurt.
From the beginning, I'd been aiming for the trees growing close to the cliff face.
As I fell, I quickly scanned the branches with sharp eyes and grabbed the one that looked most suitable.
CRACK!
The branch snapped.
But it slowed my descent considerably.
And that was enough.
THUD—
After landing, I looked up.
Several people were already hurriedly setting up safety ropes, while others were staring down at me with their mouths hanging open.
We'd only known each other for a short while, but we'd shared a brief connection, so I thought I'd at least wave goodbye.
But at that very moment, something completely unimaginable caught my attention.
Behind the heads of the people looking down at me, something was slowly drifting across the sky······.
It was so far away that an ordinary person wouldn't have been able to make it out properly.
But for some reason, my senses had grown considerably sharper during my years in the Otherworld.
That was why I could see it.
Though perhaps it would've been better if I couldn't.
“···Wilson?”
What the hell is he doing up there?
And why is he still perfectly fine?
“······.”
I looked behind me again.
For a moment, it felt as though my brain had completely stopped functioning.
But the only things that mattered were passing this examination and getting home as quickly as possible to take a shower.
“···Nothing that happens should surprise me.”
Not in the Otherworld.
It was something I'd constantly repeated to myself during my struggle for survival, just to keep my sanity intact.
I shook off the distracting thoughts and started running again.
By now, the others had probably figured out which direction to go.
Still, I had a feeling that quite a few of them would fail the examination at this point.
After all, a massive thicket of thornbushes stood between the participants and their destination.
***
Once the examination began, the empty auditorium fell into silence.
The two supervisors in charge casually tidied up the venue.
“Sang-gyun. Did you bring the escape Rift Generator? It's about time we opened it.”
“Ah, yes. I put it up there.”
The supervisor operated the device, which resembled the dial of a safe, and generated an escape rift.
An interdimensional rift opened in an irregular shape, accompanied by an unpleasant sound.
“It'll remain open for the next three hours, so all we have to do now is wait. How long has it been?”
“Exactly one hour and twenty minutes since the participants entered. Hmm······.”
The junior supervisor looked toward his senior.
“Aren't you hungry, sir? We skipped lunch, too. How about heading to Subway and grabbing a sandwich each?”
“Hmm······.”
“Even if someone's incredibly fast, things should stay quiet for at least another hour. We can grab something and come straight back. You haven't even had a cup of coffee today, sir.”
He wasn't wrong.
Technically, they were supposed to remain at their posts.
But work was something that required a little flexibility.
The senior supervisor had no particular desire to become one of those unnecessarily strict senior colleagues.
“Well··· shall we? Just give me a moment to finish filling this out······.”
At that moment—
CRACKLE—!
Something burst out of the rift.
The senior supervisor threw his pen aside and jumped to his feet.
“W-Whoa! What the hell?!”
Standing before them was a man wearing a T-shirt and jeans, with hair long enough to almost reach his shoulders.
His entire body was covered in mud, and he held something resembling a willow branch in his hand.
“······.”
“······.”
Both the senior and junior supervisors froze.
For a moment, neither could comprehend what was happening.
The disheveled man stared at them, wiped some mud from his face, and finally spoke.
“Um, did I do something wrong?”
“N-No, not at all. J-Just a moment, please.”
Supervisors were required to keep a timer with them at all times.
They had to measure the exact moment each participant arrived.
The senior supervisor hurriedly picked up the timer he'd left on the table.
CLICK.
“Um, you're an examination participant, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Uh··· Your name?”
“Kang Seon-hu.”
“Sang-gyun, go get me one of those··· record sheets.”
“Yes, sir!”
Only after the junior supervisor returned with the record sheet did the senior supervisor finally look at the time displayed on the timer.
<1 Hour 21 Minutes 12 Seconds>
It was a five-hour examination.
Completing it within three hours awarded enough bonus points to bring a participant's score close to one hundred.
And this man had finished in one hour and twenty-one minutes.
“······.”
It was the highest record since the examination had first been introduced.
There wasn't even another record remotely close to it.
“Can I go home now?”
“Ah, yes, of course. You've passed. You can collect a temporary certificate from the lobby. Your official permit will be mailed to your residence later, so please keep that in mind.”
“Okay. Thank you for your hard work.”
The man gave a polite bow and left.
Muddy footprints marked the path behind him.
Normally, the senior supervisor's first reaction would've been irritation at the additional cleaning work.
But he was so distracted by everything that had just happened that he couldn't even spare a thought for it.
“What the··· It hasn't even been an hour and a half, has it?”
“Sang-gyun.”
“Yes, sir?”
“We'd better eat later.”
“···Understood.”
The completely unexpected turn of events had put them on alert.
Neither had any intention of leaving their post now.
***
“···One hour and twenty minutes?”
“That's right.”
The employee sitting beside him widened his eyes as he stared at the same screen.
“Is a record like this even possible?”
“···Could he have colluded with the supervisors?”
“Cheating? Hmm.”
The employee beside him couldn't immediately dismiss the possibility.
However, after thinking about it for a while, he concluded that cheating would have been practically impossible.
“The physical fitness test isn't structured in a way that allows cheating, is it? Unless he brought in prohibited equipment··· But even if he colluded with a supervisor, that wouldn't help him get through the inspection of personal belongings.”
“Hmm······.”
“And even if I were going to cheat, I wouldn't leave behind such an absurd record. It would be far too obvious.”
That was a fair point.
“Who is this guy? Could he be a Pathfinder or a Hound taking the examination as a joke?”
“Kang Seon-hu. This was his first attempt. If he were a professional explorer, he'd have previous examination records, wouldn't he? Besides, I doubt even those people could achieve a record like this.”
“Hmm··· Doesn't today's pass rate seem a little higher than usual, too?”
Twenty percent.
Compared to the average pass rate of eighteen percent, it was well within the margin of error.
And yet, something about it felt strange.
Of course, Kang Seon-hu was the only participant who had completed the examination within two and a half hours.
“Oh, about that. I heard something interesting from Sang-gyun today.”
The employee sitting beside him spoke with an intrigued expression.
“Apparently, quite a few participants said that some man helped them. They said he didn't even bring a backpack or a knife, and that he just charged straight through everything like a bulldozer.”
The person in charge felt a profound sense that something was out of place with the results of this examination.
“······This Kang Seon-hu fellow. Could you send a report about him to the higher-ups?”