Arena Chapter 112:
Chapter 112 – Entering the 7th exam (Part 1)
Eventually, we agreed to 100 million francs for 14 days of treatment . (TLN: 100 million USD)
It was unknown if the flames of life would restore her psyche, but Odin maintained that he was more than happy to pay for it .
Honestly, in light of my relationship with the Nordic exam group, that was an enormous discount .
The cost was about half of what I got from Chairman Maglun .
Also, the treatment is just 14 days but I agreed to give two flames of life per day .
After eating the flames of life, Marie’s frequency of episodes had shrunk considerably .
As her life energy went up, her mental state was getting more stable .
But there was one side effect .
“Hehe . ”
Marie was stuck next to me .
No matter how she presents her white face and blonde hair, she smiled giddily and didn’t know how to be apart from me .
‘Despite appearances, she’s a 23rd turn veteran?’*
(TLN: Last chapter said 24th turn and this chapter says 23rd . I doubled checked the raws so it’s just a typo by the author . I’m not sure which exam she’s actually on . )
I couldn’t forget the knife skills she showed that sliced my steak in a second .
Then again, she did throw a fork at Odin because she got angry . A normal person would have died then and there .
I stayed at the Nordic exam group headquarters and trained while using the synthetic muscle suit .
I requested a spar with Odin but he gestured to Marie who was next to me .
“If it’s sparring without any weapons, just bare hands, Marie will make a much better opponent than me . ”
Only then did I look to the stupid-smiling crazy woman at my side .
Accepting my gaze, Marie opened her blue eyes wide .
I asked .
“Would you like to spar with me?”
“Yeah . ”
Marie nodded her head .
“Then you should wear the same suit as well . ”
Of the 11 synthetic muscle suits I had stored in my space bag, I took one and handed it to her . But……
“Uak! What are you doing!”
Right where she stood, she took off her t-shirt and pants!
When I said something, Marie looked at me in her undergarments, tilting her head .
She dons the synthetic muscle suit . Perhaps she got uncomfortable while she was dressing because she barbarically threw off her bra .
In embarrassment, I looked to Odin .
Odin just sighed and shook his head back and forth .
“Let’s fight . ”
Marie, having got in the suit, pointed to me and jumped up and down . It looked like she has quickly adjusted to the synthetic muscle suit .
Across from her, I hesitated .
Regardless, my opponent is a thin woman, it’s hard to throw a punch .
But .
She lunged forward with a kick and I quickly dodged to the left .
But then with her other leg she kicked into my chest .
Puk!
I blocked with both arms but I’m pushed back a few feet .
But I didn’t see her .
All too late I realized that she was flat on the floor and had approached from below me .
Ultimately, the whole time we are sparring, I was busy blocking or escaping .
She not only moved forward, backward, left and right, but adeptly moved up and down as she attacked me .
But thanks to the games of tag with the elves, I was good at dodging .
Eventually, the sparring session basically became a game of tag .
“This is fun . ”
Marie looked like she was having fun . She was really trying to get me as I dodged here and there .
Despite the physical strength buff intermediate level 5, I became exhausted and I asked Marie, who looked perfectly fine .
“May I ask, what is your physical strength buff level is?”
“Superior level 2 . ”
“Makes sense……”
She may look like she’s gone crazy but she was a veteran who had completed 4x more exams than me .
***
Cha Ji-hye and I spent all our remaining rest days in Denmark .
The Nordic exam group WAS a safe place and it also had impressive training facilities so it was good for preparing for the next exam .
During that time, the Nordic exam researchers completed the communication device .
Research chief Vilhelm came by with Odin, with the comm devices .
“This is the radio wave transmitter-receiver . ”
“This is?”
Width 20 cm, length 14 cm, height 7cm, there were three of them in a small case .
“When you push this red switch, the high power microwave transmits the radio waves, and the area that the radio waves reach is approximately 1,850 km . ”
Explained Odin .
“We will have one in the Zelkova village on the Brown Mountain and another in the Wolfenbrooke territory . And the remaining one, you can take it wherever you need to go . ”
“And it’s able to make voice calls?”
“Voice calls and text messages are possible . Communicate with these . ”
This time, he gave me satellite flip-phone looking comm devices . There are 15 of these comm devices .
“What do you think? Will you be able to take it all in your space bag?”
“I’ll try . ”
I tried putting the radio trans-receiver and the comm devices in my space bag .
Thankfully, they all fit .
“I did get them all to fit but I don’t think I’ll be able to take any provisions . ”
“Don’t worry about that . If you come to my territory, any amount of provisions and food you need will be given to you . ”
“Yes, please and thank you . ”
Like that all the preparations were done and the 7th exam approached .
During this time, many things happened .
After the 14 days of treatment were done, Marie’s mental state finally stabilized .
Marie Johanna returned to her original broken-hearted self, the woman who committed suicide, who was originally mentally vulnerable .
For a woman like her to be cursed the way she was, there wasn’t a way for her to not suffer an extreme backlash .
After the treatments were finished and her mind was stable, we weren’t sure if her regressed mental age would recover, but they said she would improve .
But what I was curious about had nothing to do with that .
“Who cursed you?”
When I asked her, Marie answered with an angry face .
“A fair-skinned man did it . But I killed him . ”
“Was he a dark magician?”
“Yep . ”
“Was killing that dark magician the mission?”
“Yep, yep . ”
Marie nodded her head vigorously .
‘It’s definitely that dark magician group . ’
A 23rd exam veteran like her, I think she must be nearing the last objective .
If the 23rd exam mission was to kill a dark magician, the center objective of the exams must be closely tied to that dark magic group .
Regardless, I won’t know until I get through the 7th exam .
***
“I’ll pray for your safety . ”
“Yes, see you in the Arena . Stay strong, Miss Cha Ji-hye . ”
“Yes . ”
We went into the room prepared for the examinees going into exams .
After chasing out Marie, who tried to follow me in, we lock the door .
The room was nice, made to look like a basic studio .
Unlike the Korean Arena Research Agency that had study room lookalikes, this was much better .
‘It really has been a while . ’
Having rested 100 days, it felt like it had been a really long time since the last exam .
But I didn’t feel much anxiety .
Actually, I was looking forward to it .
‘I’ve prepared a lot for this . ’
An anti-material sniper rifle AW50F that boasts crazy power .
A synthetic muscle suit that multiples my strength by 20 .
A radio trans-receiver and comm devices .
And also a smartphone and touch pen and a solar charger .
When I send Sylph scouting, I’m thinking of having her take a photo on the smartphone .
I packed the touch pen for Sylph who couldn’t use the touch screen on it .
I taught her how to use the smartphone and Sylph learned everything very quickly .
She took photos well and came back and she even used a sketch app to draw with the touch pen . Her drawing abilities were really good . I was pleasantly surprised .
‘Whoever Sylph scouts, I’ll have her draw in the map . ’
The space bag was an intermediate level 1 and enabled storing electronics and it has made it a lot easier .
With a heart full of anticipation, I waited for the 7th exam .
As the rest time counted down, gradually my eyes closed .
When I opened my eyes again, the thing I was so sick of seeing, the white world appeared .
“It is the exam time you have been waiting for!”
Flapping like a sparrow, flying around was the baby angel, welcoming me .
“Yo . ”
“What is it?”
“Seeing you over and over again, I’m even starting to like you . ”
The baby angel laughed loudly .
“What makes you spew such nonsense?”
“I suppose . Me spewing such nonsense, I must be in good spirits . ”
“Wow, you’re really motivated . ”
“Hey, let me ask you one thing . ”
“Nahh . ”
“……”
Ugh, so aggravating .
My blood pressure instantly rose, I think my forehead vein was bulging .
“You know Marie Johanna?”
“Of course . She’s not mine though . ”
“She fought a dark magician in her 23rd exam . ”
“So?”
“How come someone like that fought a dark magician in the 23rd exam and I fought that group in the 6th exam?”
“Who knows . ”
“If everyone took into account that I would progress fast, there is something you guys want from me?”
“We want you to clear the exams . Are you asking the obvious?”
“No, the flames of life and the space bag too, it’s just that the tools I’ve been given are so good . ”
I continued to say .
“If all that is the generosity of the gods, it seems to me that there is something you guys do want from me . ”
The baby angel smiled wide .
“All the answers are at the end of the road . If you walk that road you will soon know them, is there a need to be curious now about it?”
“That’s true too . ”
Ddak .
The baby angel snapped his fingers .
The exam door appeared .
“Go check it out for yourself . Maybe the answer will pop up while you’re walking . ”
“Sure . ”
I opened the exam door and walked through . The bright light made everything I saw turn white .
***
The Brown Mountain .
I opened my eyes atop the great Tree of Life in the Zelkova village .
I saw young elves, loud and bustling in their game of tag .
Above that, adult male elves were also playing tag, fight-style .
From before, in the battle with the horde of the undead, the elves saw the effects of all their game-of-tag training and were now playing it harder than before .
‘I’ll suit up first . ’
I went to a secluded area and put on my synthetic muscle suit .
The safe feeling of it wrapped around my entire body down to my fingers and toes . I already felt as if the energy was flowing through me .
“Board retrieval . ”
-Name: Kim Hyun-ho
-Class: 21
-Karma: 0
-Mission: Kill at least one corrupt examinee .
-Time limit: unlimited
I felt as if I’ve been struck in the back of the head .
‘I was so sure that I would get the mission to track down the dark magicians!’
Corrupt examinees!
Like the Chinese examinees, examinees that have given up on clearing the exams and are focused on making money, I would be fighting against them .
‘Why an exam like this……’
Suddenly, I realized the meaning of this exam .
This isn’t just punishing of examinees that have given up on their duty .
Corrupt examinees gone crazy over making money, for the continuous collection of majeong, are distracting other examinees from clearing their missions .
Eventually, this was to take care of those that are disrupting the exam’s final destination .
‘I have to come across them at some point . But isn’t this a bit much?’
A mere 7th turn examinee like me, it’s usually veterans that go up and fight against corrupt examinees .
I had no idea where to start to look for corrupt examinees .
‘I’ll have to ask Odin . He might know something . ’
Most likely, the corrupt examinees have a warehouse where they safely stored the majeong they gather .
Like how the lycanthropes had their ‘human ranch . ’
‘First, I have to set up the radio trans-receiver . ’
It should be best to set it up in a high spot .
I decided to set one up on top of the Tree of Life .
I jumped with all my might .
Due to the synthetic muscle suit, my body shot up to the sky .