Simon passed through the open bars and into the dungeon entrance. Before long, he came to a long, narrow corridor. There were no signs of human passage, and he couldn’t feel any trace of Jet-Black. Only a musty, subterranean smell stung his nose.
It was dark, preventing him from seeing far ahead, but nearby objects were clear enough. He took a cautious step forward.
From the distance came a sound like something being fired. Simon froze, his eyes fixed on what was flying toward him: a pure white arrow.
’A holy arrow?’
Just then, Pier’s voice rang out.
[The power is different from an ordinary holy arrow. Don’t block it—dodge!]
As Pier instructed, Simon tilted his head. A flash of pure white streaked past his eyes, so close he could clearly see it from arrowhead to fletching. The arrow passed him and embedded itself in the wall behind. The wall cracked with a sharp creak, a testament to the arrow’s considerable power.
’I see how it is.’
[Bwahaha! If you’ve got the feel for it, go in with a bang!]
Simon grinned and broke into a run. This time, three shots rang out.
’The first one is the same as before!’
He dodged the high arrow by tilting his head back, then immediately leaned to the side to avoid the middle one. He dodged the final, low-flying arrow by lifting his leg. Straightening his posture, Simon’s eyes grew serious.
’They’re just flying in without me even stepping on a trap. Is this test unrelated to trap disarming?’
The moment Simon took another step, he heard the ‘click’ of a trap activating beneath his foot. Without a moment’s hesitation, he stepped on Jet-Black and leaped into the air. A bundle of metal spears shot up from the floor he had just stood on, their tips coated in a purplish liquid.
[Paralysis poison! If you get stabbed, your movements will freeze within a minute, and you’ll be hit by the arrows!]
’Since I don’t have my Kizen uniform, I can’t even let it graze me.’
He wasn’t safe even in the air. As if the walls to his left and right had detected his descent, lights flickered, and magic circles immediately unfolded.
’Tch!’
He couldn’t afford to step on another trap. Simon calmly opened his Subspace and took out the long spear he had recently purchased. He planted it on the floor and vaulted over it like a pole vaulter as flames erupted from the walls on either side.
The intense heat stung his face. The moment he landed, sweating profusely, he heard a ‘click’ and a ‘tick’. The floor panel he was standing on sank.
’Just how many traps are there?’
Simon ran without rest. Spears shot out from the floor while arrows continuously flew from the front.
’Click.’
’Tick.’
’Click-click.’
’Tick.’
He stepped on a trap with every stride; there were more trigger panels than safe ones. In that case...
’It’s faster to just dodge them all than to find a pattern!’
Simon kicked off the floor and leaped, nimbly dodging the barrage of flying and shooting traps.
[Boy! Above you!]
Simon immediately flattened himself to the floor.
A spiked log, cutting through the air with a menacing sound, passed just over his head. When the log reached the end of its pendulum swing, Simon quickly got up and shot forward.
’Click.’
’Tick.’
’Click.’ The traps activated in succession.
’Ugh, isn’t this a bit much?’
Simon dodged the incoming holy arrows in a trance. Now he was jumping over red lines that would trigger traps on contact, but his leg brushed against one.
A poisonous fog sprayed from the ceiling, blurring his surroundings. He immediately stopped, unfolded the mask magic circle he had learned in Venomology, and held it to his mouth. He then took out a flat piece of cotton from his Subspace and touched it to the fog. The cotton turned brown as the poison was absorbed.
’The spore poison of a Red Mushroom. The antidote is Myeonghacho.’
It was a poison he had learned about to the point of exhaustion in Venomology class. Since he also had plenty of ‘Myeonghacho’ for practice, Simon immediately took out two potion bottles from his Subspace.
’Pier! I need to prepare the antidote, so please watch my back!’
[Got it!]
Simon had now reached a state where he could deftly dodge just by listening to the sound of the flying arrows and Pier’s explanations. While continuously dodging arrows on the spot, he placed the potion bottles on the floor. After pouring a solution over the ‘Myeonghacho’ and drinking it straight down, he dispelled the mask magic circle and strode into the poison fog. His neck and skin tingled, but that was all.
[Bwhaha! You weren’t just sleeping in Venomology class!]
’Of course not.’
Using what he learned in class was the best part. He briefly wondered if, had he mastered all of Byulya’s poison-drinking lessons, he could have walked into a poison like this without needing an antidote.
’I’m almost there!’
The red button that would take him to the next gate was now in sight. He wanted to reach it without getting hit, not letting his guard down until the very end. Simon took out two skeletons from his Subspace. The skeletons disassembled and attached to his legs, forming ‘Bone Boots.’
’Alright, time for a little break.’
He waited for one volley of arrows to fly by, and the moment he dodged them, he stepped on Jet-Black and charged. A flash from the wall indicated a trap had been sprung, and the floor also made ‘tick-tick’ sounds as traps activated. Simon kept running.
The difficulty seemed to have spiked at the end, as dangerous blades of divinity were being fired relentlessly, but Simon didn’t fear divinity in the slightest. He had to be careful not to let the spectators notice, however, so he calmly watched their trajectories and dodged. Suddenly, the floor in front of him shot up, creating a wall.
The way forward was blocked, and from behind, he heard a tremendous vibration and the sound of something rolling—undoubtedly a boulder trap.
[Bwahahaha! You’ll be crushed if you don’t hurry!]
Simon spun around in front of the wall and, adding the power of the Bone Boots, slammed a roundhouse kick into it.
The wall shattered easily, and he jumped through the gap.
[Fire trap right in front!]
"Got it!"
As Simon dodged the fire traps pressing in from all sides, he placed a hand on the floor and swung both legs up. From that position, he kicked his feet forward, and the Bone Boots wrapped around them transformed into skeletons and began to run.
Ten meters to the button. Right here.
’Cut them down!’
Simon’s absolute command was issued. The two skeletons used ‘Dash’ to break through the traps in an instant and stabbed the button with their swords.
He could feel all the traps being neutralized. The boulder that had been rolling beyond the wall also seemed to have its internal explosives activated, as it blew up into pieces. Simon pushed himself up from the floor and exhaled.
The wall split left and right, revealing the door to the next stage.
"Woooooah!!"
The audience, having witnessed Simon’s performance, cheered wildly. While other students hesitated in fear of the flying holy arrows or took their time cautiously figuring out the trap patterns, the sight of the boy known as Special Admission No. 1 simply plowing through all the traps was bound to have a significant impact.
"Yes! That is Simon! His performance is impressive!" Byulya, the commentator for the day, also pounded the table and shouted.
Seizing the opportunity, the announcer quickly followed up.
"The way he created an antidote on the spot was incredible! He must be good at Venomology!"
"Hardly! That Simon received a sixty on the Venomology midterm. His academic performance in theoretical studies is less than satisfactory!"
As Byulya cackled, the announcer joined in with a cheerful laugh and asked, "Then what aspect of Simon did you, as the Venomology professor, see in a positive light?"
"Initially, my interest was based on his status as Special Admission No. 1, with the intention of taking him as a direct disciple. However, his practical skills have proven to be quite promising."
’Your kind?’ The words almost came out of the announcer’s mouth, but he held them back like a professional.
"You mean that calm-looking boy?"
"Yes! He possesses remarkable instincts! And most importantly!" Byulya grinned, revealing her triangular teeth. "He is exceptionally unique!"
Simon immediately challenged the second stage. Compared to the first stage, the overall difficulty had been upgraded. The path was bigger and wider, but the number of traps had also increased. Most importantly, the traps didn’t activate when stepped on but just went off randomly without any pattern.
Holy arrows, spears shooting up from the floor, fire blasting from the walls. In addition, holy whips lashed about wildly, holy spears fell from the ceiling, and sometimes even ‘Exorcism’ was activated.
’Divinity here, too.’
Simon clicked his tongue at Kizen’s viciousness in deliberately stimulating a necromancer’s fear even in an exam like this. He rolled like crazy, did cartwheels, and ran on the ceiling. Once he started, he couldn’t stop. And pretending to be hurt by the divinity was also a chore.
As Simon charged through the rain of holy arrows, the audience, watching on screen as a few arrows lodged in his body, let out sighs of pity. They poured praise on Simon for his indomitable will, but in reality, he was completely fine.
"Hah, hah."
In the end, he made it through. Since he couldn’t rest, he actually passed it faster than the first stage.
’Ugh, there were real arrows, too.’
Sometimes, arrows flew with divinity enchanted on them, and those were painful enough to make his lips tremble. Simon squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed the arrow deeply embedded in his thigh.
"Hnngh!"
Then he pulled. His thigh screamed as a burning agony flooded him.
"Aaargh!"
It was lodged much deeper than he thought. The pain spread throughout his thigh, making it feel as if his leg were on fire. Simon eventually let go and panted. It was so painful that tears actually welled up in his eyes.
He hadn’t known that pulling an arrow out would be more painful than getting hit by one.
[You’re trying to pull it out with brute force, of course it won’t work!] Pier chided him. [You can use Jet-Black Enchant, can’t you?]
’Ah, yes. Not as well as Dick, but I know the basics.’
[Inject a small amount of Jet-Black to coat only the surface of the arrow, then pull it out.]
Simon did exactly as Pier instructed. As soon as he coated it with Jet-Black, it slid out easily. He poured a potion on the wound to heal it. His mind went dizzy.
If this weren’t an exam, he could have healed it cleanly with divinity. Swallowing his regret, Simon took out another recovery potion and poured it on. The pain finally began to subside a little.
Simon stared at the next challenge visible through the opened wall. Stage Three had an even larger corridor than before, and it was completely smooth. The bricks and walls were all made of a smooth material. At the very end of this corridor, he could see the red buzzer, but there were no visible elements where traps could be installed.
Simon first took out two skeletons from his Subspace and sent them forward. The skeletons walked ahead without any tension. After just a few steps...
Countless weapons shot out from the ceiling. The skeletons’ bodies were instantly buried under the downpour of weapons and disappeared from sight.
[Bwahahaha! This time, they’re really not playing around!]
’I agree.’
With a tense face, Simon opened his Subspace. What he took out was a golem’s core. Placing the core on the floor, Simon rolled up his sleeves.
’I have no choice. I’ll use the Blood Golem here and now.’

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