“Even if you go through with this, do you think Lady Bojoo will look favorably upon you? I will keep quiet about this matter out of loyalty between fellow trainees, so let’s beg to be allowed to retake the exam together. We will also confess our sins along with you.”

“Elder Brother Taeneung! There’s no need to go that far!”

“Hwaryeon acted selfishly, so why should we confess our sins too?”

“Can’t we just disqualify Hwaryeon alone?”

“Enough.”

Taeneung stretched out his hand with a solemn expression, quieting the complaints of the other examinees.

“Anyone can make mistakes. I want to see if Hwaryeon has room for repentance.”

“As expected, Elder Brother, you are a great man.”

At that moment…

“How ridiculous.”

Eh?

Before Taeneung could shift his gaze to Na Rin on the other side of the ditch, Na Rin stepped on the stepping stones, hop, hop, and jumped over to the other side.

“Wh-what! How could this happen…!”

Flash.

Na Rin’s eyes, provoked by Taeneung’s handiwork, shone fiercely.

Overwhelming Presence had been activated.

“Huk!”

“Uh-uhhh…!”

A whopping 1,009 points of Overwhelming Presence.

It was too strong and violent for Taeneung and the examinees, who were training to become warriors but were still ordinary people, to endure.

Na Rin snorted, looking at the examinees trembling and unable to even breathe like animals facing their natural enemy.

‘How can these guys think of becoming warriors.’

For the future of the Demon Cult, such guys should not be allowed to pass through Bongmadong, she thought firmly, but…

‘If left like this, that child will have lingering regrets.’

Na Rin’s gaze reached Hwaryeon on the other side of the ditch.

Just seeing her unable to refute Taeneung’s sophistry, Na Rin could tell Hwaryeon’s personality.

A straightforward character who shows through actions rather than seeking others’ understanding.

It was a personality that Na Rin liked.

“You guys are damn lucky.”

Although they were struggling like insects and foaming at the mouth.

Na Rin erased her hostility towards the trainees and released them from the Overwhelming Presence that was crushing them.

And she decided to give them another great salvation.

“Have you learned the falling technique?”

“Cough! Cough!”

“You must have learned it. Of course.”

The examinees who didn’t grasp the situation were coughing and unable to answer, but Na Rin’s small hand tightly grasped the back of Taeneung’s collar.

“…?!”

The next moment, Taeneung’s vision flashed, wind rushed into his face, and the world turned upside down.

Thud!

This was not falling or being thrown.

He was smashed.

“Was it too much?”

The pupils of the examinees who saw a grown man being slapped across the molten iron ditch by Na Rin’s hand began to tremble violently.

Is he dead? I think he’s dead.

Am I going to die now too?

“Next.”

“Eeeeek!”

When Na Rin took a step forward, the remaining examinees quickly stepped back like cockroaches in a lit room.

Do they think they can escape like that?

“Next.”

Bloody Plum Blossom Ju Na Rin has never let go of the remnants of the Demon Cult.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Are you awake?”

Taeneung opened his eyes under an unfamiliar ceiling.

To be precise, under the jagged stalactites hanging.

“Uwaaah!”

“It’s dangerous to suddenly sit up.”

“Ugh… Ah, I had a nightmare. Hwaryeon. I was taking the Bongmadong exam, and Lady Bojoo told me to escort a young child. But that child… that child! Was a monster. A monster! Grabbed me and threw me…”

Taeneung’s body trembled.

It was the first time in his life he had such a terrible dream.

He must have exerted himself so much that his whole body ached.

“Elder Brother Taeneung, are you awake?”

“How did you guys get here…”

“It’s reality.”

“Reality…?”

Is this a dream or reality? That reality when you say dream or reality?

Taeneung’s face, which had barely regained composure, turned pale again.

“No way. It can’t be! It’s impossible!”

Hwaryeon got up, leaving the shocked Taeneung behind.

It seemed there was no harm to his life, so that was enough.

Hwaryeon sat cross-legged alone, yawning boredly, and thought as she looked at Na Rin.

‘She brought everyone to the other side.’

Perhaps the true meaning of the molten iron ditch test was what Taeneung thought.

A test to select the single most daring, brave, and able to handle unexpected situations.

But Na Rin, as if the examiner’s intentions didn’t matter, calmly crossed the broken stepping stones in reverse and threw the examinees who couldn’t make it to the other side.

Yes. Literally. Threw them.

‘It was terrible.’

Even Hwaryeon, who was not the victim, couldn’t help but feel a chill down her spine at the misery at that time.

However, Na Rin’s actions showed the most daring, courageous, and able to handle unexpected situations, which was quite ironic.

No, perhaps saying she handled an unexpected situation is not quite right.

Na Rin herself was the unexpected situation.

“Is everyone awake?”

Seeing the commotion around Taeneung, who had been unconscious the longest, Na Rin got up from her seat.

“Let’s go.”

No one had the courage to say what kind of nonsense she was spouting to someone who had just regained consciousness.

They just glanced at each other and supported Taeneung as if carrying him up.

“Are you in your right mind? You’re really going straight to the next stage?”

“Elder Brother. Let’s just go quietly without provoking her temper.”

Taeneung felt a chill at the blunt attitude of the examinee supporting him.

This guy wasn’t like this before.

‘It must be because of them that my prestige has been diminished!’

Although it was the examinee next to him who looked down on him, Taeneung’s anger was directed at Na Rin and Hwaryeon walking ahead.

“Let go.”

“Don’t overdo it, just-”

“I said let go!”

When Taeneung thrashed around, the supporting boy let go as if he couldn’t hold on.

The examinee pouted his lips at Taeneung’s temper.

“I will eliminate them in the next test.”

“Huh? What do you mean…”

For the examinees who would have been eliminated in the previous stage if not for Na Rin, they couldn’t understand Taeneung’s words or the anger in them.

Not to mention being thankful, he says he’ll eliminate those two? Moreover, isn’t Na Rin the escort target?

“Haven’t you thought about what will happen if you follow those wenches out of Bongmadong?”

“Well… we pass, don’t we?”

“Nonsense.”

Taeneung crossed his arms, lowered his head, and glared.

It was as if he was looking at an enemy.

“Hwaryeon is not the type to tell a lie to Lady Bojoo.”

“That’s true.”

“Even knowing the truth, do you think she’ll believe we passed Bongmadong fairly? When we were thrown like luggage by that young thing’s hand!”

Luggage!

At the shocking choice of words, the examinees recalled the memory of being thrown by Na Rin’s hand.

They did manage to land without getting hurt by skillfully using the falling technique, following Taeneung’s example, but there was nothing that could be called their own effort in the process.

‘Calling us luggage.’

‘It’s truly shameful.’

As if reading the shaken hearts of the examinees, Taeneung began to exploit the gap.

“They are truly wicked things. Not only did they deceive us and drive us into a corner, but now they’re even making us commit foul play, aren’t they? Having gained this dishonor, we may never be able to take the exam again.”

Never be able to take the exam again?

That was a completely different story from simply being eliminated.

If they entered the Sword King Hall and left without even becoming warriors, who would accept them?

The future looked bleak for the examinees.

“Then what should we do? If we leave them be, only we will ruin our own lives!”

“Elder Brother, what tricks do you have up your sleeve?”

“Please tell us a way to eliminate those two!”

The anxious examinees began to spout the words Taeneung wanted to hear, even without being told.

But not yet. It’s still not the time.

‘They need to become more desperate. Only then can I make them follow my plan.’

Taeneung frowned as if in painful agony, like a troubled soldier, then fell silent for a moment before finally shaking his head.

“No. It’s too heavy a burden for you. Pretend you didn’t hear it.”

“Please, Elder Brother Taeneung!”

“Don’t say that!”

“We’ll do anything! Just tell us what to do!”

The examinees’ hearts reached a peak of desperation, and they began to make empty promises as if grasping at straws.

Not knowing they were crawling into the spider’s web on their own.

“Can you have the heart of a beast in human skin?”

The examinees answered without hesitation.

“Of course.”

“Isn’t the Demon Cult about the strong?”

“I am prepared to dirty my hands.”

At last, a distorted look of ecstasy appeared on Taeneung’s face.

[This is the timeline separator]

“A shortcut?”

At Na Rin’s counter-question, Taeneung nodded vigorously.

“I may not look like it, but this is my fourth time taking the Bongmadong exam. I know not only the entire structure of Bongmadong but also the types of exams and how to break them.”

Na Rin was about to ask, ‘Then why did you fail three times?’ but stopped herself.

Although she didn’t like Taeneung’s personality or behavior, she was tempted by the mention of a shortcut.

“How much faster can we arrive?”

“At least twice as fast as usual. If we’re quick, we can even shorten it up to four times.”

Four times. Na Rin folded and unfolded her fingers, roughly estimating.

The distance between Myeonggung and Bongmadong, the time when the exam ends. And the time until Dokgo Cheon’s work is finished.

‘If we do well, we might be able to return to Myeonggung before dinner.’

Whether Na Rin can pass the low-level warrior exam is not a concern in the first place.

The real problem is that Bongmadong is extremely far from Myeonggung.

It had been quite some time since Na Rin became Dokgo Cheon’s sleeping assistant.

Thanks to that, Dokgo Cheon’s condition was gradually improving. His expressions when holding Na Rin became more varied, and he showed more emotional expression even when away from Na Rin.

However, there was a problem that stood out as much as the positive changes.

Dokgo Cheon’s dependence on Na Rin was getting worse day by day.

Na Rin shuddered at the thought of a mad Divine Technique master unleashing sword energy in all directions upon realizing his cherished assistant had disappeared.

‘The faster I get home, the better.’

Having reached that conclusion, Na Rin nodded her head refreshingly.

“Alright. Where’s the next exam?”

“It’s first-come, first-served.”

According to Taeneung, the next exam is a kind of race.

Not a test of running ability or speed, but more like an obstacle race.

“To reach the destination, you have to choose one of several passages. There are short and dangerous paths, and long but safe paths. The important thing is that not everyone can reach the destination.”

Among the presented passages, there are real and fake ones, and even if you choose the real one, you can’t proceed to the next stage unless you obtain the beads at the destination, Taeneung explained.

There are only three beads.

Seven people remain.

“You and Hwaryeon each get a box, and I want to get the remaining one.”

“What about the other four?”

“I’m done talking with the younger brothers. This time, I’m going to pass the Bongmadong exam.”

Na Rin glanced at the examinees who were fidgeting and looking this way from a short distance away, then looked back at Taeneung.

‘Well, if they’ve reached an agreement.’

It’s not my business to interfere.

“Now that you’ve heard this much, I think you know what I’m going to say. In exchange for telling you which passage to take, I’d like you and Hwaryeon to agree with all of us.”

Taeneung’s condition was simple.

Forget what happened in the previous stage.

Because if the Examiner Jeonsi-yeol finds out that they passed the exam by being thrown by the escort target Na Rin, they may never be able to take the Bongmadong exam again.

‘Hmm. It’s not a bad condition.’

It was a profitable deal to just keep our mouths shut and be spoon-fed the next exam.

Hearing the circumstances, it wasn’t a situation that was completely incomprehensible.

Taeneung said.

“Hwaryeon, your cooperation is crucial for this matter.”

“…”

“Please don’t block the future path of your fellow trainees. I beg you like this.”