Chapter 68: Grade X

[Congratulations!]

[All Nightmares (夢魔) have been defeated!]

[The nightmare is fleeing.]

[You are released from the effects of fear and hallucination.]

It was over.

A few seconds passed as the effects of the elixir faded, and I was still under the nightmare’s influence.

Just a few seconds, the weight of just one leg, but it wasn’t light.

That’s why I gave a nod of thanks to the two people who had held my arms to support me, then stood upright.

On my own feet.

“What’s this, Hyung?”

“I don’t know. Am I the only one who got something?”

“Ooh! Looks like this guy was the boss monster!”

“Congratulations, Eunho!”

There may have only been two of them, but they fought hard too...

It felt awkward to hog the loot and stay silent, so I bent down and added a word.

“There’s only one. It’d have been nice if one dropped for each of us...”

“Aww, we only caught it thanks to you, Eunho! Go on, check it out!”

Swoosh!

At those words, I picked up the orb that had fallen from the Nightmare.

The smooth sensation was foreign. Like someone had rolled up a glass window into a sphere.

▣ Orb of Hallucination

- When used, it shows a hallucination to a designated target.
The hallucination’s content can be composed as the user wishes, and the duration is roughly one minute, depending on the target’s mental strength.

‘Only one minute?’

...No, wait a second.

‘Isn’t this, like, completely overpowered?’

If I can show whatever I want, whenever I want...

If I cast a hallucination in battle, they won’t know where I am, and if I set up a fake illusion during an ambush, my chances of success will skyrocket.

And if I need to escape for my life, there’s no better item than this.

‘I should save this for a real emergency.’

Just in case I really need it.

And finally.

─ Ding!

A welcome alert rang out.

[‘Nightmare’ mission complete.]

[Check your mission rewards!]

Rustle—!

The tension running down my back faded, and the cold sensation enveloping my skin lifted.

Then, one by one, the people who had been tormented by their own fears raised their heads.

Countless eyes, once staring blankly into nowhere, now returned to themselves.

“Whoa! Shit! You’re alive?!”

“Of course.”

“Ha... I thought I was the only one who survived...”

So, we had come back.

“Guh...!”

“!!”

But only our senses had returned.

The dream was over, but the mistakes we made within it weren’t just erased.

“Aaaaagh—!”

A man’s spear was buried in another man’s body.

“You bastard...!”

“B-big bro! Why did you...?!”

He must have thought he was facing a Nightmare.

Not the brother who’d protected him all this time.

“Gahh... Don’t move! It’ll hurt more...!”

“H-hold on! I have a bandage item...!”

The man who dropped his spear in shock started shouting, “Shop! Shop!” frantically.

Then he grabbed a bandage that materialized out of thin air and hurriedly wrapped it around the wound.

Each span of bandage, wrapped by his trembling hands, was filled with desperation.

Thanks to that—

“Haa...”

The man, pierced through the side by a spear tip, let out a long sigh.

“Bro! Are you alright?!”

“You little punk... What would you have done if you’d really killed me?”

More than being glad to have survived, he looked relieved that his younger brother hadn’t killed him.

As if he was glad his brother wouldn’t be haunted for life by guilt over his death.

“Ah... If I’d been any later, it would’ve been a disaster.”

“No kidding, noona!”

Ji-eun and Jaehyuk, who had been watching, clutched their chests in relief.

And it was the same for the couple who’d been wrongly accused at Namsan Tower last night.

“Kyaaa! Let go of my hand!”

“...Who are you?!”

The man of the couple, jolted awake, was in shock.

No wonder—he was gripping the wrist of a strange woman, not his girlfriend.

“Sujeong! Where’s Sujeong?!”

The man frantically searched through the crowd.

And when he finally found his precious girlfriend...

“Hic...!”

“Sujeong! Are you alright?!”

She’d collapsed onto the ground, sitting in front of the Nightmare I’d just cut down.

“I... I almost died...”

Instead of words, the man hugged her tightly in his arms.

If he’d been any later, he would have found his lover cold and lifeless.

After a short reunion, the two approached me, holding hands as if they’d never let go again.

“Um... Thank you so much for saving my girlfriend!”

“Thank you.”

The man bowed his head deeply.

The woman, still pale, added in a barely audible voice.

“And... sorry about yesterday.”

“Pardon?”

“To be honest, I was really annoyed at first, wondering why you were suspecting innocent people. I thought you were blaming us without any proof...”

‘Innocent people,’ huh.

Well, from their perspective, they’d been out for a walk and suddenly accused of attempted murder.

“That’s understandable. It’s fine.”

“...Sorry. I didn’t know. I realize you’re not that kind of person.”

After apologizing for a while, the couple left.

I wasn’t particularly upset or dissatisfied.

Maybe they were expressing their gratitude for being saved through their apology.

Anyway.

“There are a lot of dead people.”

“...Looks like at least fifty.”

Even more are injured.

There were about 200 survivors in Yongsan-gu during the ‘Observation’ mission.

Now about 150 remain.

If we hadn’t taken out the Nightmares, everyone would have been trapped in endless nightmares, killing each other.

While absentmindedly rubbing my arms against the chill despite the bright daylight, my group approached.

“...Sola! Are you alright?!”

Ji-eun, startled, ran over.

She rushed to Sola, who had gone pale and collapsed.

“Huff...”

“Student! Drink this!”

Next, the cleaning lady hurriedly handed Sola a round vial filled with blue liquid.

A familiar bottle—diluted fatigue recovery potion.

“Here! You too, young man!”

To me as well.

“Me too?”

“Of course! You worked hard protecting us, didn’t you?”

“Huh?”

“My, my... How are you going to survive in this harsh world being so nice?”

It wasn’t really like that...

The Nightmares were just something I had to defeat to clear the mission anyway.

Still, feeling a bit embarrassed, I tried to refuse.

“It’s not really that...”

“Of course it is! Look how much you’re sweating!”

Ah.

I guess just walking a bit with my bad leg made me break out in a sweat.

It really was a nightmare, after all.

“Thank you.”

Anyway, there was no real reason to refuse, so I accepted.

Her hands, clasping the bottle and pushing it toward me, were insistent.

Sola quietly held her bottle and stared at me.

“You’re drinking a lot of medicine today.”

She mumbled softly.

“Grown-ups get by on medicine, that’s how it is.”

“It’s not just you, ahjussi?”

“Everyone does.”

So, Sola and I received our second dose, and barely managed to stand up when—

[This is an announcement for all survivors in Yongsan-gu.]

The much-awaited broadcast erupted above our heads like fireworks.

[Congratulations!]

[The ‘Employment Exam’ has concluded!]

“Wow... It’s finally over?”

“So the personality test was the last part!”

The Employment Exam, which had begun with the ‘Path of Darkness’ mission in the tunnel, was finally over.

“Ah, it really feels like finishing an exam!”

“You never study, but you’re always the happiest when exams are over.”

“What? Yoon Sola, you want to die?”

Now that the exam’s over, there’s only one thing left to do.

[Combining the results of the aptitude test and personality test, your Employment Exam grade will be assigned.]

[Restructuring candidate ‘Lee Eunho’. Calculating your total score.]

Time to check my score.

“Aagh! We get evaluated too?!”

“It’s a good thing. You get extra rewards.”

“That’s easy for you to say—you always get S! That’s not me!”

The foul-mouthed guy started tearing at his hair and yelling.

Oh right.

This guy’s never gotten any extra rewards before.

No point in saying anything that’ll just add fuel to the fire.

[Announcing the evaluation results.]

Waiting for the results.

‘Man... I can’t help but feel hopeful.’

I got S and S+ in the last two evaluations.

So it’s only natural to expect something good.

Might as well hope for S+ again.

‘When I got S+, I even got Training Completion Points.’

The welfare points were pretty great, too.

Now that I think about it, I’ve accumulated quite a few welfare points.

Once this mission’s over, I’ll need to go on a spree at the intermediate shop.

[Candidate ‘Lee Eunho’, your grade is—]

Weapons would be good, armor too...

[X!]

...What?

‘X?’

***

[Good work, everyone!]

Whew.

As Harona let out a breath she’d been holding, Seung, who had run over, handed her some water.

Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

She moistened her throat and barely got past the sand-like tension building up.

[Ha... My heart was pounding...]

Harona was known for saying whatever she wanted in front of anyone, but this report had been too much.

Especially with the unexpected variable that popped up at the end.

[We almost ruined everything at the last minute.]

[Exactly. Of all times, with all the executives present—mission interference, penalties...]

[Right? I was worried they might reverse their decision after hearing that. What a relief.]

A relief, she said.

But Harona’s expression was hardly relieved.

Because—

[Is it really a relief...?]

[......]

The penalty wasn’t the only variable.

[The Director...]

Seung glanced around anxiously and trailed off.

A sentence that could get you in trouble if overheard—‘What were you thinking, giving that order?’

No mere rookie could judge whether the orders from their leader were right or wrong.

Noticing this, Harona gave a response that sounded like a soliloquy.

[He wants to test his capacity.]

He probably wanted to see just how much potential the candidate had.

And also, the discernment of Harona, who had chosen him.

[He’s exceptional... but do you think he’ll satisfy the Director?]

[What can we do? All we can do is watch.]

[Aren’t you worried?]

Unlike the anxious Seung, his superior’s expression was a mixture of concern and anticipation.

[I’m worried... but I’m excited too.]

She felt both the anxiety of being in the same boat, and the anticipation of seeing what would happen next.

And it was obvious which feeling was stronger.

Harona’s jet-black eyes sparkled like a gourmet in front of a rare delicacy.

[Let’s begin.]

***

Of all the letters, why X?

X—just yesterday, I killed Yurina with my own hands.

My head throbbed, but the others were surprisingly unconcerned.

“Whoa! I got an A! An A!”

“Congrats, Jaehyuk!”

“Amazing! What did you get, noona?”

“I got an A too. Maybe defeating the Nightmares counted for a lot.”

Jaehyuk, sincerely congratulating Ji-eun, turned to me without a hint of suspicion.

“Hyung, you got an S, right?”

“......”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

My silence drew everyone’s attention.

One by one, they looked over, wondering what was up.

“...It says X?”

Just in case, I asked if anyone else had gotten the same.

“Huh?”

“Not Ex, but X?”

“What’s X supposed to be?”

As expected, no one had a clue.

Then Sola, who’d been quiet, muttered.

“X is an unknown variable...”

Unknown variable.

Right, unknown.

A grade so ambiguous I couldn’t tell if it was good or bad.

‘No info on rewards or welfare points, either.’

Just in case, I opened my status window, and a densely-packed screen appeared.

〔 Lee Eunho 〕

- Affiliation: District 13 ROK-SEO-106

- Rank: Provisional Selector (S+) → Selector (X)

- Stats: Stamina (17), Strength (14), Intelligence (10), Judgment (15), Agility (15), Endurance (31), Resistance (1,544)

- Traits: Rebel (反骨)

- Skills: [Acceleration (Lv.4)], [Petrification (Lv.12)], [Basic Swordsmanship (Lv.3)], [Sword Wind (Lv.1)], [Revival (Lv.-)]

- Trait-Exclusive Skills: [Counterattack (Lv.1)], [Defiance (Lv.-)]

As I pored over my familiar yet unfamiliar evaluation sheet to see if I’d missed anything, a belated announcement played.

[Congratulations!]

[An additional mission has been arranged to determine the grade of candidate ‘Lee Eunho’.]

“Additional mission? Just for me?”

“Huh?”

My muttered words must have been only for me, since Ji-eun just looked at me blankly.

I’d already cleared the mission, so why do I need an extra mission just to determine my grade?

[The additional mission is optional. If you succeed, you will receive double the reward for your grade, plus a special bonus.]

Well, that certainly got my attention.

A double rewards event if I succeed.

“What if I choose not to do it?”

[Even if you refuse, your existing rewards will be given as normal.]

No penalties for refusal? That’s nice.

Hmm.

[However, this additional mission is a special opportunity offered only to outstanding candidates who have achieved remarkable results!]

‘An ‘opportunity’ for ‘outstanding candidates’ with ‘remarkable results,’ huh.’

They sure know how to butter things up.

[Will you accept the challenge?]

So, what do I do?