A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Grass and trees turned into rusted swords, covering the earth.
The seven demons that descended upon the human world unleashed their minions to ravage the homeland.
I am the last member of the suicide squad.
The final adversary and the shameful survivor.
Originally destined for the throne, but ultimately reduced to a dog of death.
An uninvited guest who donned the shell of existence and returned from the path of no return.
Carrying the seven sins like scars, endlessly wandering a journey where sleep is impossible, trudging alone on a thorny path filled only with rage and hatred…….
“Yawn~”
Oops. I ended up yawning without realizing it.
But it can’t be helped.
Jeanne was going on and on about her history that no one had even asked for.
And that too for over 2 hours!
Even I, who knows the circumstances, was looking for a [SKIP] button after just the ‘mountain of corpses and sea of blood’ part…… How must those people feel?
Sure enough, the expressions of the refugee naturalization examiners had long since turned blank.
[And thus, with a heart swallowing blades, I came to swear a blood oath before the stone tablet of the Twelve Nether Constellations…….]
See, even now, she’s gone back to the beginning of the story.
What the hell are those Twelve Nether Constellations, really?
At that moment.
“Okay. Yes. Got it.”
The balding interviewer raised his hand and cut Jeanne off.
“Whew. Even with today’s technology where translation is automatic, it’s rare for communication to be this smooth. Very good. Your understanding of Korean itself is high. Ah, your diction is really great. You could be an announcer~”
[That is thanks to the teachings of my heaven-like Master. In our Ravianglily Kingdom, the king, parents, and master are one and the same…….]
“Ah, yes! Yes! Understood!”
As Jeanne showed signs of spilling more TMI, the interviewer hurriedly waved his hands.
The other interviewers pulled their chairs closer and began a proper discussion.
“What do you all think?”
“So, she lost her home and family because of a dungeon break?”
“There was no mention of a dungeon, though?”
“If it’s not mentioned, it’s usually that. Like how a cold comes with a fever.”
“Is that so? But she said demons descended, and that she was a princess..”
“Well~ In our country, everyone claims they’re from a noble family, right? If there’s no way to prove it, they just say they’re noble.”
“Shh, this committee member is sharp today?”
“Wow— Really? Will the drinks go down well later?”
The interviewers began stamping Jeanne’s documents at their own discretion. They didn’t seem to read the personal details or anything.
“Mm, check check, roughly done? What was the original nationality again?”
“She didn’t specify, I think?”
“She said something like Raviang? Anyone heard of it?”
“Dunno— Probably some remote small country. If it was a place famous enough to know by name, why would she bring up the behind story?”
“That makes sense. In my opinion, it feels like a city-state? Kinda like the Vatican? Perfect size?”
“Oh ho, so the seven demons she mentioned earlier represent invading foreign powers?”
“That’s it! The rusted swords and stuff probably mean a lot of invading troops, something like that.”
“Solid, now we can go eat agujjim.”
Soon after.
“Haha, applicant?”
[……?]
“One last question. You know our country is facing a population cliff, so we’re pushing multicultural preferential policies a lot, right?”
[I don’t understand what that means? I am the last suicide squad member of Ravianglily who fought to the end against the demons’ lackeys…….]
“Okay~ Passed!”
—Thud!
The approval stamp fell all too easily.
With this, Jeanne has officially acquired Republic of Korea nationality.
It’s a bit too slapdash, huh.
Thanks to the slapdash process, we were able to obtain nationality without much difficulty.
But thinking that taxpayers’ money is being wasted like this doesn’t feel very pleasant.
Anyway.
Since we’ve received refugee approval, now we just need to go to the community service center and apply for a resident registration card, and it’s done.
A moment later, as we were leaving the interview room.
“Oh! You finished early! Did it go well?”
From down the hallway, a familiar face approached, waving happily.
<Dungeon Break Refugee Support Headquarters – Naturalization Center Team Leader ‘Kim Taekyung’>
It was the owner of the compact car that had rear-ended mine a few hours ago.
I smiled and said.
“Thanks to you, it was resolved smoothly. Thank you.”
“Oh come on, thank you~ Today, I should be the one thanking you. By the way, to think you were heading to the naturalization center, what a connection!”
All the matters being resolved so quickly was largely due to this person’s efforts.
Normally, just applying for screening and getting to the interview takes over two weeks.
To handle it on the same day, in just an hour or two, saved an enormous amount of time.
Soon, Team Leader Kim Taekyung handed over a crisp document envelope and opened his mouth.
“I’ve taken care of all the minor things. Just submit this at the community service center, and you can get the resident registration card issued right away.”
“Thank you. But……. is nationality approval usually this lenient?”
“Haha……. A bit loose, right?”
Team Leader Kim Taekyung continued with an awkward smile.
“Regulations on gate refugees have been greatly relaxed. For various reasons.”
Come to think of it, I’ve heard news that the government is actively supporting refugee acceptance and aid policies to resolve manpower shortages.
Team Leader Kim Taekyung glanced at his watch and continued.
“Oh dear, I have some work I was handling, so I should get going. If you need any help from our side later, feel free to contact me!”
With those words, Team Leader Kim Taekyung disappeared down the hallway with quick steps.
I looked at Jeanne standing beside me.
“……!”
Seeing her appearance again, I was surprised once more.
Skin so white it gave chills. And eyes with black and white inverted.
Other than that, she had a pretty face, but it was miraculous she wasn’t rejected in the interview.
I’ve heard that among refugees flying over from beyond the gate, there are countless beings with far more grotesque appearances than her.
At least it’s not the Death Knight’s visage, so that’s a relief.
Jeanne was currently wearing a pure white dress.
The sword and armor she used during her Death Knight days had all been disposed of in bulk.
The duel between Swordmaster Cheok Junseong and the Death Knight was a famous incident that no Republic of Korea citizen would be unaware of.
Therefore, the Death Knight’s distinctive features were already fully exposed through news and various media.
Walking around in Death Knight form in such a situation?
That would make her the protagonist of Korea instantly.
It’s better to avoid unnecessary commotion as much as possible.
Moreover, the weapons and armor Jeanne used weren’t particularly outstanding equipment to begin with.
They were junk items obtained from killing small fry, so I could discard them without regret.
Wait a minute. So she went toe-to-toe with Swordmaster Cheok Junseong using such trash items?
Thinking about it, yes.
Thank goodness she’s on our side.
I slowly looked at Jeanne.
……But looking like this, she seems like a normal girl around my age.
Thinking that, I examined Jeanne’s ID.
“Nationality is Republic of Korea. Birth year…… It’s set four years younger than me?”
Jeanne’s age was recorded as twenty.
Since Lokpia residents don’t count age precisely like us, they probably just wrote it roughly based on appearance.
[Master, is there a problem with my face?]
“No.”
[Please tell me without holding back,]
“No, no.”
I waved my hand at Jeanne, who was following closely behind.
Well, it doesn’t matter.
Indeed, she did look around just twenty years old.
***
The next morning.
At the Republic of Korea Hunter Association’s training ground, candidates for the hunter qualification exam had gathered.
Various physical tests were being conducted at the training facilities.
Push-ups, sit-ups, long jump, high jump, short-distance sprint, long-distance run, and so on.
Just looking at the events, it wasn’t much different from a normal physical fitness test.
However.
“Applicant 19. Push-ups, 1,741 in 60 seconds!”
“Applicant 122. Long jump, 23.45 meters!”
“Applicant 557. 100m sprint, 5.45 seconds!”
The test results were lightly surpassing Olympic world records.
That makes sense, since everyone gathered here are awakeners.
Of course, there were exceptions.
“Huff. Huff……. Huff…… Huff”
I was clutching my pounding chest, barely catching my breath.
I feel like I’m going to die.
I’m really going to die.
No, it’s not that I feel like dying—I’m actually dying!
I’ve always prided myself on having pretty good stamina throughout my life.
But a physical test organized based on awakeners had nothing that was easy.
This exam checks two main things.
First, how outstanding is pure combat power.
The measure of strength varies wildly depending on ‘who’ one synchronized with and awakened.
Second, are the possessed skills useful.
Even if combat power is somewhat lacking, if one has skills specialized in support, they get bonus points.
The examiners were closely observing the applicants based on these evaluation criteria.
Meanwhile, the strength I could present was none other than the ‘warehouse.’
But.
……It’s still too early to reveal this.
That’s why I submitted to the Hunter Association that my awakening-related ability is ‘document and text memorization.’
Since I can memorize any book in minutes with the Text-Eating Slug ‘Engram,’ it wasn’t a lie.
It’s an ability suited for Hunter Association office work, so maybe I could get bonus points?
From that perspective, I wrote it that way…….
But who knew the practical would be this intense. I should have just said tamer and summoned the undying pseudo-dragon.
I cut the 100m run in the 10-second range, but among awakeners, it was a record that lagged far behind.
At that moment, a neatly dressed man in a suit climbed onto the platform.
“Please pay attention. We will now conduct the final event of the hunter qualification exam. Applicants, each of you will spar with the golem assigned to you.”
At the same time, 2m-tall golems walked into the training ground.
Looking at the steel golems emitting a blue light, swallowing sounds could be heard from here and there.
Fight that thing now?
Is this recommending a new suicide method?
As if reading my thoughts, the suited man’s explanation followed immediately.
“These golems are training golems specially made by the Hunter Association. They are sturdy enough to easily withstand attacks from A-rank hunters, so use any means. Moreover, they have a program input that ‘does not kill people,’ so don’t worry about safety.”
As soon as the suited man’s words ended, the training golems began moving in unison.
Kkigik—kkigigik—
Golems approaching step by step with unpleasant operating sounds.
I quickly started racking my brain.
How do I take that down?
Right at that instant.
Kwajik!
A dull noise and a scream came from the adjacent course.
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
A large man was rolling on the floor, clutching his fist.
It seemed he had punched the golem straight and ended up breaking his hand bones.
“Applicant 532, eliminated.”
Immediately, the examiner’s cold voice flew in.
Then, tongue-clicking sounds came from various places.
“They said it withstands A-rank hunter attacks, why punch it.”
“It’s not made to be broken, self-inflicted.”
“This is why if your brain is bad, your body suffers.”
I slowly nodded.
Indeed, if your brain is bad, your body suffers?
Then this exam means to use the brain, not the body.
Attacking the weakness is the answer.
Golems mostly use mana stones as power sources to operate.
Therefore, if I just remove the power source equivalent to the engine, the golem should immediately become inoperable.
While I was earnestly thinking like that.
…… Flash!
A mana stone sparkling around the golem’s abdomen caught my eye.
It was perfectly positioned to reach out and grab.
Once. Just need to carefully wait for one chance!
The golem was now just a few steps away.
Dodge, and avoid the next attack too. Then, when that guy makes a big motion
***
Dodge the first diagonal attack for now
when he makes a large attack……!
It was around the time I finished roughly planning the strategy.
Bee—p!
Did dynamite explode in a quarry?
A sudden huge boom rang out.
And at that moment.
Kwakwakwakwang!
Something massive flying from somewhere fiercely struck the golem standing in front of me.
From the impact, the golem’s left half was grotesquely crumpled.
“W-What, what!?”
Did someone fire a cannon?
Is there an awakener who uses such a skill?
I swallowed dryly and looked at the identity of what half-destroyed the golem.
It was none other than.
……A head?
It was the head of another golem that flew from the adjacent course.
A head torn off at the neck by strong pressure.
Everyone in the training ground seemed at a loss for words at this absurd sight.
“What. It breaks?”
“They said even A-rank hunters can’t break it?”
“Insane. How strong must the power be to break this?”
“It’s only been a few seconds since the exam started……”
“Who is it? Just who……?”
Soon, everyone’s gazes turned toward the direction the golem’s head flew from.
There stood a woman with her fist clenched, expression calm.
Soon, inverted black-and-white eyes stared straight at me.
At the same time, the examiner’s trembling voice was heard.
“Applicant number 44……. P-Passed…….”
Ravianglily Mu Jeanne d’Arc.
Since her body was superior, she had no need for her brain to suffer.
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