Free Web NovelAfter seven hours of forced marching, they finally reached the vicinity of the summit.
“Something’s over there!”
F2, who had been leading the way, called out. freewёbnoνel.com
“Is that the flag?”
“No. It looks like a signpost or something?”
Roy had been lagging at the rear, repeatedly pushing Gwakhyeol’s back to get him moving. When F2 said they’d found something, Roy stopped for a moment and withdrew the hand that had been propping Gwakhyeol up.
“You can walk on your own now, right?”
“Huff, cough, don’t leave me and go—”
“We’re basically here already, what are you on about.”
If you were going to abandon me, you would’ve done it already.
“Then I’ll go up first and wait, so take your time.”
Gwakhyeol waved his hand weakly instead of answering. Roy regarded him with a smirk, then started walking again.
Each step sank into the snow with a crisp crunch. Snow had begun to appear after they passed mid-slope, and by now they were well into the snowy mountain. Fortunately, they’d left thoroughly prepared, so none of them were shivering from the cold. Roy even felt hot and had offered his own jacket to a teammate. So he was in short sleeves.
“Here!”
“Roy-nim was right!”
As they approached, F1 and F2 led Roy to the sign.
[SKILL RESTRICTION ZONE]
However, temporary allowance if all team members are assembled.
※ Push emergency button in urgent situations
As expected. Roy’s guess hadn’t been wrong. Looking up the rock face, he saw a flag planted in the white snowfield. Unlike the ascent route, there were quite a few cameras set up here. Judging by how they tracked movement, they were either remote-controlled or similarly high-end equipment. It really seemed like the Wilderness production team was taking the broadcast way too easily.
“Roy-nim, there’s the flag! But there’s some sort of shield up around it?”
F1 pointed to the rock face.
“The guild master said the flag can only be pulled if all team members are gathered.”
It seemed the sign would only deactivate the shield if every teammate was within its recognition radius. Unnecessarily fancy.
“Wouldn’t that be solved once Gwakhyeol gets here? Let’s just watch for now.”
“So that means we don’t have to climb any further, right?”
“Yes. Probably?”
At Roy’s answer, the two of them sat down on the snow and caught their breath. After a moment, Gwakhyeol staggered over like a zombie.
“I... huff, cough, I can’t believe I climbed up here without dying, cough cough.”
“Gwakhyeol-nim, we did it... we did it...! sob”
While F1 and Gwakhyeol wiped away tears of joy, Roy checked the flag. When Gwakhyeol joined them, the transparent barrier around the flag vanished. Now all they had to do was take that flag down and descend, and the training would be finished.
“Alright. Let’s postpone celebrating for a moment—could someone please lower that flag?”
Roy said, relieved, to the older guys. The atmosphere suddenly dropped.
“...That thing?”
“...How?”
“Cough cough, guh-ack!”
Huh? What’s with this unfamiliar reaction? Roy thought his teammates were joking. But their trembling eyes said they were serious.
“Seriously, how did you all pass prelims?”
Roy himself had crawled forty meters up, which was a famous story among participants and didn’t need to be told. The others already knew he was that notorious lunatic from Zone 2. After a moment of rolling eyeballs, F1 went first.
“My shadow happened to touch the flag, so I hid inside my shadow.”
He said he’d then stepped into the shadow and brought the flag out.
“Luckily the prelim spot was an outdoor stadium, right?”
“My slot happened to line up with sunset timing, so the heaven helped me, haha! If it had been indoor, I’d probably have failed. Haha!”
“.......”
But why did the luck that carried them through prelims abandon them today? Of all times, it was noon — the moment when shadows are shortest. That meant no matter how much F1 flapped, his shadow would never reach the flag.
“How about you, hyung?” Roy asked, holding a faint hope as he looked at F2.
“I soothed a hawk and made it drop the flag I’d been holding.”
Damn. Unfortunately, the flag on the summit was stuck in a field of snow. And snow cannot be soothed to drop.
‘This can’t be!’
Roy had thought there would be a way up here, but they’d overlooked the fact they were F-rank. He cast a final glance at Gwakhyeol, who bared bloodstained teeth and smiled.
“Heh heh. I knew it would turn out like this.”
What the hell?
Gwakhyeol’s remark made Roy’s already bad mood even worse.
“But I know a way. I’ll reveal it here for the first time: my ability is — yes, cough!”
“Yes...?”
“-prophecy. Heh.”
“Oh.”
A sensing-type. As rare as an elemental. And somehow it fit...!
“I can sense the near future.”
“Ooo...!”
Seeing the future! He didn’t believe in superstition, but when a sensing-type awoken said it, it felt oddly convincing.
“So what do we do now?”
“Tell us quickly. I’m dizzy here.”
Roy, impatient, urged Gwakhyeol. Gwakhyeol climbed onto a rock and sat cross-legged.
“We’ll find out starting now.”
He closed his eyes and began bobbing his head this way and that.
“.......”
He’s not dozing off, right? Roy wasn’t doubting — just curious. Wilderness was new to him and he didn’t know much about awakeners. Still, he cautiously asked.
“You're not asleep by any chance?”
“No way~. I must be using my skill.”
“That’s right. He would never—”
“Zzzrrr.”
“......?”
Hadn’t he just snored a bit? Roy stared at him. F1 and F2 fumbled for words and then diverted their eyes.
“He is sleeping!” Roy shouted and lunged to wake him, but the two elders grabbed his arms and desperately held him back.
“Wait, wait! If we forcibly wake him, what if something goes wrong?”
“Exactly! Let’s wait a bit. He might actually be using his skill.”
Who sleeps while using their skill and snores!
Then—
“Zzzrrr, kuk!”
Gwakhyeol, who’d been snoring, snapped his bloodshot eyes open.
“Ugh! A ghost!”
“Ah! Blood fiend!”
“Don’t say unlucky things!”
F1 and F2 abandoned Roy and ran off. Roy, left alone, flinched and stared at Gwakhyeol. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
“You were asleep, right.”
“...No? Cough. I just saw 14,000,605 futures, though.”
It barely seemed like two minutes had passed, and he’d seen a lot.
‘Where have I heard that line before?’ Roy tilted his head. What popped into his mind was a scene from a hero movie — where a wizard claims he’s observed every possible outcome to defeat the final villain.
“Doctor Gwakhyeol...?”
“We have only one way to obtain that flag!”
Snap!
Gwakhyeol raised his index finger with solemnity.
“The leader must climb that rock face.”
A hush fell.
Had you thought it through before you said that? F1 and F2 thought it absurd too — they quickly shook their heads and gave Gwakhyeol a look that said ‘don’t be ridiculous.’ But Gwakhyeol wasn’t deterred.
“I saw it!”
Snap!
This time his finger pointed at the snowstorm-blown summit.
“The small, brave silhouette of the leader climbing that place!”
That bastard... Should I just throw him off the mountain? Roy, who could no longer hold back his anger, glanced to F1 and F2 as if to seek permission. At that instant, Gwakhyeol pointed to the other side and shouted.
“Oh! Look, there it comes now.”
Behind F1 and F2, a huge bear reared up on its hind legs, raising both paws high.
“Roooaar!”
“Eek!”
At that moment, F2’s skill activated. The bear, which looked like it was about to charge, suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed over the two of them. Thud!
“Gyaaah!”
Roy’s jaw dropped at the unbelievable sight. A bear? Is that a real bear? Meanwhile, Gwakhyeol hopped down from the rock and passed Roy with a chuckle, clearly amused.
“Shall we go then? Cough.”
“Taming that creature is the leader’s job, after all.”
...What?
✧
After saving the two pinned under the bear, Roy couldn’t ignore Gwakhyeol. It was what Gwakhyeol had said ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) quietly to him earlier that had stuck.
‘Taming is my job, huh. How would he know that?’
But right now he was a fool through and through. Roy watched Gwakhyeol’s back as he squatted beside F1 and F2. The three of them clustered around the bear, prodding its paws with their fingers.
“It’s a real bear? Are you saying Roy is going to ride this thing? How the hell?”
“During the rank evaluation I saw him take down a blood fiend with a rock. Maybe he’ll fight the bear one-on-one and win?”
“I don’t know. I have a different idea. There’s an easier way, isn’t there?”
Snap!
Again Gwakhyeol raised his index and spoke seriously.
“Behold, the beauty strategy. This bear looks like it has udders, so I think it’s female, cough cough. Honestly, with the leader’s face, couldn’t we charm the bear?”
“Ooo!”
“With that face, it might just work...!”
Three pairs of eyes turned to Roy at once.
“Say something sensible!”
Feeling like a zoo monkey, Roy barked. What are these idiots talking about? Gwakhyeol’s earlier remark had been meaningless, and Roy had clearly misinterpreted it. When Gwakhyeol said he’d seen Roy riding up the rock face, it probably just meant Roy would be the one doing the taming. Roy asked F2 bluntly.
“Hyung, how long does your skill last?”
“It varies by subject, but with something this large it’s only about an hour.”
F2 said he still had about forty minutes left before fully waking, and in that time they should come up with an alternative.
“I think we could make something to lure the bear.”
He found some nearby branches and an old rope and spread them on the snow.
“We can fashion a fishing rod out of this. What do you think? Hang some bait and lure it in.”
“Oh! Sounds good. But who’s going to hang on it?”
Silence fell at Roy’s remark. Hang on it?
