Jake was making his way through the dungeon at tremendous speed.
Even among all the trainees throughout the years, his pace ranked among the fastest.
He weaved around the traps that had been set and cut down every monster that appeared with a single stroke.
Part of the reason this was possible was Jake's outstanding talent.
But even considering his abilities, his performance was far too impressive.
‘So all that money is finally paying off.’
Jake's father, Atun, watched the images from the crystal sphere with a satisfied expression.
The reason Jake could move through the dungeon so effortlessly was information.
Atun had paid the training center's instructors a considerable amount of money to obtain as much information about this exam as possible.
The dungeon's terrain, its traps, and even its monsters.
Atun had passed all that information to Jake's private tutor, who then put him through harsh training tailored specifically to it.
Jake had been trained to defeat monsters within his capabilities and avoid the more difficult ones he could not handle.
‘This result is only natural.’
There was only one objective.
Defeat Shuren inside the dungeon and prevent him from passing.
Atun wanted Jake to crush Shuren as miserably as possible.
Jake was also doing his utmost, both to pass the exam and to live up to his father's expectations.
“Whew.”
Jake looked around.
Then he came to a stop.
This was the first location where he expected to encounter Shuren.
“…….”
But something was strange.
Forget Shuren—there was not even an ant passing through.
‘I memorized the dungeon map until I was sick of looking at it.’
He knew it well enough to draw it from memory on the spot.
Jake knew where each entrance led and where the routes converged.
Assuming Shuren was moving at the same speed as him, they should have met here by now.
‘Could it be…….’
What if Shuren was moving more slowly than he had expected?
Jake thought that was entirely possible.
‘He never looked particularly confident in his speed.’
Perhaps he had overestimated Shuren.
‘There's no way he could be faster than me when I know everything about this dungeon.’
Once he reached that conclusion, some of the tension left his body.
‘Hmph. What a letdown.’
Jake decided there was no need to keep waiting here.
He knew the situation of every trainee inside the dungeon was being shown outside in real time.
If he continued standing around doing nothing, it would only invite suspicion.
‘Consider yourself lucky, Shuren.’
Jake moved on.
Come to think of it, defeating Shuren right in front of the destination might be even better.
‘I wonder what kind of face he'll make if he gets eliminated with the destination right in front of him.’
Jake grinned wickedly.
***
‘That thing…….’
Shuren sensed an enormous presence ahead.
Once he confirmed it with his own eyes, he saw that it was an Orc Warrior.
A broad, green warrior standing a full head taller than an adult man.
It was a monster difficult for a trainee to face alone.
It had been placed there to test quick judgment and teamwork.
‘What should I do?’
Shuren considered it for a moment.
The other trainees would have done everything they could to avoid the Orc Warrior.
But Shuren had the luxury of choosing.
‘Isn't this actually a pretty good opportunity?’
This was a Mock Dungeon.
Since it had been created for trainee practice, that Orc Warrior was weaker than one found in the wild.
And if things became dangerous, the defensive magic in his ring would activate, so there was no risk of injury.
‘In my previous life, I fought Orc Warriors countless times.’
But that was in his previous life.
He had never fought one with this body.
If so, facing one here, where safety measures were in place, was preferable.
‘Good. Let's fight.’
GRIP.
Having made up his mind, Shuren tightened his hold on his sword.
Step, step.
He cautiously moved forward.
Ordinary surprise attacks did not work well against Orc Warriors.
It was far better to confront one head-on and search for an opening during the fight.
“GRRROOOAR!”
The Orc Warrior spotted Shuren and let out a roar.
BANG! BANG!
It pounded its fists together as its fighting spirit surged.
‘Come.’
Shuren assumed his stance and waited for it to approach.
THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD!
The Orc Warrior charged toward Shuren with its massive body.
WHOOSH!
A huge, brutish green hand came crashing toward him.
‘This much…… should do.’
Shuren took a slight step backward.
At this distance, there was no chance of its fist reaching him.
At the same time, he remained close enough to attack with his sword.
Shuren drew up his mana.
Then he swung his sword upward and cut into the Orc Warrior's arm.
With the sound of flesh being torn, blood poured from the wound.
‘This is my first time cutting a monster in this life.’
He judged that there was no problem controlling his current body as he had in his previous life.
The Orc Warrior did not retreat.
Seeing its own blood only excited it further, and it swung its other arm at him.
Shuren did not panic.
He already knew exactly how it would behave.
That attack was a typical pattern for its kind.
He immediately twisted his body.
The Orc Warrior's arm tore through empty air.
WHOOSH—!
The rush of air swept across Shuren's face.
That was how close the attack had been.
But now that the attack had missed, Shuren had been given an irreplaceable opening.
SLASH!
Shuren's sword carved deeply through the Orc Warrior's left arm.
TAP!
Without stopping, Shuren widened the distance.
Then he observed the monster.
The left arm he had just cut was hanging limply.
CRACK!
Apparently deciding the arm was useless, the Orc Warrior tore it off itself.
Shuren had taken one of the Orc Warrior's arms, but he did not let his guard down.
The pressure of the air that had brushed past his face alone had told him how powerful the monster was.
Shuren raised his sword and charged.
He had to press the attack without giving it time to recover.
That was the correct way to fight an opponent in a heavier weight class than his own.
He focused his attacks on the place where the Orc Warrior's arm had been torn away.
“GRRRGH!”
The Orc Warrior struggled.
Defending itself with only one arm was difficult.
SPLURT!
Eventually, a sword wound opened across its chest.
TAP!
But the Orc Warrior turned even that into an opportunity to attack.
Using its right foot as a pivot, it swung its left leg toward Shuren's head.
‘Does this bastard not fear death at all?!’
The attack was practically an attempt at mutual destruction.
‘Should I block it with my sword?’
He immediately abandoned the idea.
If the monster's leg collided with his sword, the recoil would undoubtedly break his arms.
Shuren chose to duck as low as possible instead.
WHOOSH!
The moment he crouched, the Orc Warrior's foot swept through the space where his head had been.
THUD!
Before the monster could pull its leg back, Shuren kicked off the ground.
Gripping his sword tightly with both hands, he aimed for the right leg supporting its weight.
‘Got it!’
THUD!
Unable to remain standing, the Orc Warrior collapsed.
SHNK!
Before it could rise again, Shuren drove his sword into its chest.
“GRRRGH!”
The green monster let out a death cry and went limp.
Just in case it was pretending to be dead, Shuren stabbed his sword into its neck to make certain.
‘It's definitely dead.’
After confirming the monster's death, he continued forward.
***
Meanwhile, outside the Mock Dungeon—
“How could that boy……!”
“Did you see that? His movements flowed like water!”
“How did a mere probationary trainee defeat an Orc Warrior alone……?”
The parents watching the projected images from the crystal sphere erupted into an uproar.
When Shuren had first been advancing rapidly through the dungeon, they had assumed he was simply lucky.
But once he faced an Orc Warrior alone and defeated it, they had no choice but to fall silent.
The parents were stunned.
Even if this was only a Mock Dungeon and the Orc Warrior had been weakened accordingly, facing one was practically a disaster for a trainee.
Moreover, anyone who had watched Shuren's fight from beginning to end could tell.
He had not defeated the Orc Warrior through strength alone.
His movements blended physical strength and mana together with uncanny harmony.
And there was not a single wasted motion in the way he wielded his sword.
It was like watching a veteran who had rolled through countless real battles.
“Instructor! Has that boy perhaps trained in advance for this dungeon?”
Someone asked Instructor Katen.
A few parents flinched at the question, but none let it show.
“You all know who that trainee is, do you not? He is a child of the former Flamer Family. What power does that family possess to obtain information like that?”
“Huh…….”
The person who had asked had no answer.
Katen was right.
“Then are you saying a monster was born from a family that stands at the very bottom even among branch families?”
“Perhaps he really is a genius.”
People began murmuring.
Jake's parents, watching their reactions, felt as though their insides were burning.
‘The one who asked that question…… he isn't trying to probe our family, is he?’
Jake's father, Atun, had become paranoid enough to think even that.
In truth, it was already widely known that Jake had used his family's influence to receive private tutoring and prepare for the exam in advance.
Yet Jake had not fought an Orc Warrior like Shuren had.
He had chosen to go around one instead.
That naturally made the comparison even more obvious.
‘Jake! Why are you even losing to that lowborn thing in speed?! Hurry up and deal with him! Today's exam is supposed to restore our honor, not humiliate us further!’
Atun twisted his face and stomped at the innocent ground.
Instructor Katen watched him and felt thoroughly satisfied inside.
‘Shuren. You're doing well.’
He was as delighted by Shuren's performance as though it were his own accomplishment, and he continued watching the projection with pride.
***
Jake stopped running and examined the surrounding terrain.
‘This is the place.’
According to the map he had memorized, this was the final convergence point.
‘Someone's coming!’
Right then, he sensed someone's presence.
Jake hid himself and checked the direction from which they were approaching.
‘Shuren?’
If so, he needed to subdue him with a surprise attack.
Jake held his breath and tightened his grip on his sword.
But he soon realized there was more than one presence.
‘What?’
Before long, a group revealed themselves.
They were Jake's lackeys.
He sighed and stepped out of hiding.
“Oh, Lord Jake!”
“You got here first!”
Jake shook his head as he watched them greet him with bright smiles.
‘Even if they moved together, there wasn't much difference in our speed.’
His parents were surely watching this scene.
He had no idea what kind of fury would come down on him once he went outside.
But Shuren mattered more than that.
“Did any of you see Shuren on the way here?”
“We didn't. The route here was fairly long, but we never ran into him, so we thought you had already dealt with him, Lord Jake.”
Jake found that strange.
Even his subordinates had not seen Shuren.
“There's no way he could be faster than you, Boss. Maybe he got eliminated while wandering around alone?”
“Probably. He must've gotten too cocky and fallen to a trap or a monster.”
The boys snickered as they spoke.
‘……Is that what happened?’
Jake wondered if he had been overthinking everything.
He still felt slightly uneasy, but he accepted the explanation.
‘Right. There's no way he could've gotten ahead of me when I know the dungeon's layout.’
Jake regretted being unable to eliminate Shuren himself, but there was nothing he could do.
If their guess was correct, Shuren had gotten cocky and eliminated himself.
‘Pathetic.’
Jake decided to forget about him.
The exam was not over yet.
He still had to reach the objective to pass.
‘According to the map I memorized, that should be the final room.’
Jake looked down the passage.
“The final monster will be in there.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There is one Troll.”
The children tensed for a moment before quickly breaking into smiles.
“Come to think of it, all the monsters in this dungeon have been weakened to match our level.”
“Then even if it's a Troll, we should be able to handle it.”
His subordinates sounded confident.
They had already confirmed while making their way here that the monsters had indeed been weakened.
But Jake shook his head.
“It wasn't placed there for us to defeat.”
“What? Then what do we do? We have to get past it to reach the objective.”
“Listen.”
Jake gathered his subordinates' attention.
“Someone fast has to draw the Troll's attention. While it's distracted, the rest of us move past it and reach the objective.”
“Ooh……!”
“That'll work.”
“As expected of the boss!”
The children praised Jake.
“Then we need two people to draw its attention. Anyone confident enough?”
Several children raised their hands.
Just as they were smoothly assigning roles for getting past the Troll—
THUD—!
A tremendous noise came from beyond the passage.
“Whoa!”
“W-what was that?”
Startled, the children forgot all about their assigned positions and rushed through the passage.
‘These idiots!’
Jake cursed inwardly and followed them.
A short while later—
Jake could not believe the sight before him.
“What took you so long?”
Shuren was there.
He greeted Jake and his lackeys with a smile.