Awakening to a Special-Grade Explorer

Chapter 98

Song Chaewon and Yu Mina's collaboration.

They had come to the location marked on the map, on the mountainside about three kilometers away from the bald mountain area where Tenji was. There was a strangely new manufactured shed built there, which they believed was made for this test.

"This looks like the place."

"Yeah, but why go through all this trouble?"

"I don't know, but it's Mallorca Escuela, so it must be something."

"Oh, I know! This place has an atmosphere of freedom where anything goes. I like that. Someday, I want to build a house here and live elegantly. Maybe even snag a handsome idol!"

"Hahaha, Chaewon, you still love boys as always."

"On the other hand, I can't understand why Mina doesn't like idols!"

"Well, let's calm down. We don't have much time. Should we open it soon?"

"Yeah, you're right. Whatever comes out, I won't be surprised."

The prefabricated shed was clearly different. It was covered in pure white walls on all sides without any glass windows. The fact that they couldn't see inside meant that there was something they didn't want to show.

The two of them were aware of this and had their weapons ready in case of a fight.

Then Mina, the "carrier," grabbed the doorknob.

"Let's go."

"Okay."

After a short exchange, Mina opened the door with force.

The two of them stepped back from the shed and waited to see what would come out from inside.

However, no matter how long they waited, nothing seemed to come out from inside.

Mina cautiously shuffled forward and peeked inside the shed.

"Oh... hahaha."

She relaxed her shoulders and gave a wry smile to Chaewon, who was still on guard with her weapon ready.

"What happened?"

"It's a frozen black cocoon."

Upon hearing those words, Chaewon also relaxed and said, "Oh, I see."

The two of them lowered their weapons and slowly entered the shed.

What they found inside was a black cocoon that had been frozen by the skill of a first-grade explorer who specialized in ice magic, before the cocoon could hatch.

The black cocoon is a large cocoon made of black threads, and although the size of the cocoon varies, a powerful monster always emerges when it hatches. This monster is simply called an "Instant Monster".

The black cocoon is somewhat special and has been recognized by the Association as a spontaneous monster disaster that can occur in any part of the world. While it is limited to a 10 km radius around the main dungeon, it is known for not having any other range restrictions in sub-dungeons.

If an ordinary person discovers a black cocoon floating in the air, it is recommended to report it to the Association as soon as possible. Then, a decision will be made to either freeze it and prolong the time until hatching using the skill of a first-grade explorer who specializes in ice magic, or to gather many explorers and set out to defeat it.

The time until hatching varies, and it is said that the higher the grade of the monster that hatches, the longer the time it takes. For example, a fifth-grade monster has been observed to hatch in as little as five minutes, while a zero-grade monster has a record of taking up to eight months. These records are just records, and there are often black cocoons that go undetected.

"But why carry a frozen black cocoon here?"

Chaewon asked Mina a pure question.

However, Mina had no idea of the intention behind it and could only tilt her head in confusion.

"I don't know, but we just need to transport it, right?"

"Well, yeah. If the school demands it, safety should be guaranteed."

"That's right. Let's transport it together then."

The two of them decided to carry the black cocoon without thinking too deeply.

The black cocoon they found here was just big enough for the two of them to carry together, and it was still too small to hatch. In the first place, because the time until hatching is long, the black cocoon has a tendency to enlarge, and even those with knowledge cannot guess what kind of monster is sleeping inside that black cocoon.

The government has an expensive machine that they use to identify the monster inside.

The two of them didn't care what grade of monster was inside at this point anyway.

"Ah, it's a bit heavy."

"That's true. Actually, this is the first time in my life I've ever held a black cocoon."

"Come to think of it, me too. It's unexpectedly rough, and maybe it's because it's frozen, but it's quite cold."

"It's really cold. Should we take our time carrying it?"

"Yeah, let's do that."

They left the shed and began carrying the black cocoon to the goal at the top, shouting "ichi, ni, ichi, ni" as they went.

Little did they know, this was an absurd element that would raise the difficulty level of the exam.

A little earlier, when they took the black cocoon out.

There were two Jintawos blocking Tenji's way, but he simply stabbed them in the stomach with his iron sword and defeated them without a fuss.

He still hadn't shown a single millimeter of his top-grade heavenly abilities, and continued to fight like a fifth-grade swordsman.

"That's nine Jintawos and five Amariyus. Is that more than enough?"

Amariyus are rabbit-like monsters that lurk in the water.

They are known to be relatively weak even among fifth-grade monsters, and they camouflage themselves on the stones in the water and launch surprise attacks.

Tenji had already defeated a total of 14 fifth-grade monsters, and he thought he had already scored enough points.

According to what Pyne and Fuyuki had heard, the passing line every year was "to reach the goal and defeat 12 or more fifth-grade monsters."

"So, as long as we reach the goal, I assume Tenji will pass the exam without any problems," they had speculated.

"That's enough. Let's go back." Tenji decided to aim for the summit with over an hour of exam time remaining, considering the fact that Fuyuki was probably grading the exams while wearing thin clothing. Other students and teachers might think of him as lacking in ambition, but that was unavoidable; many students focused on defeating monsters until the last minute, so there were few who aimed for the goal early.

"Oh, before I go back," Tenji squatted down and wrote some letters on the ground while scraping the dirt with a stick.

"To Fuyuki-kun, I'm heading to the goal. Let's have some warm tea at the cafe when we get back. Take care not to catch a cold," he wrote, a message conveying his personal feelings.

Despite this, Tenji beamed with the sense of accomplishment and started climbing the mountain at a brisk pace, occasionally skipping and moving forward along a forest path that was hardly a trail.

It was then that a faintly shimmering magic arrow grazed Tenji's cheek.