I passed through the exam door and I was in a room in baron of Wolfenbrookeâs residence, where I ended the last exam.
I was sitting on the bed and I found Cha Ji-hye sitting at the table by the window.
âHave you checked your mission?â
âNot yet.â
âCheck it. I donât want to jump to conclusions but itâs not that hard a mission.â
At her words I summoned and looked at my board.
-Name: Kim Hyun-ho
-Class: 43
-Karma: +50
-Mission: within the time limit, prepare for the invasion of the Aman Kingdom.
-Time limit: 729 days 23 hours
âPrepare for the invasion.â
Words with an expansive scope.
Firstly, control or dictate or do whatever a noble does with their stuff in the territory that King Alsefon the 3 <sup>rd</sup> of the Arend kingdom gave to me, strengthen the army, and prepare for war. I think thatâs what it wanted.
But it can also mean preparing to raise the status and care of my territory but you canât say I wonât have achieved (the mission) if I personally prepare myself for war either.
Just saying prepare can be interpreted any which number of ways so I could clear this mission no matter what.
âItâs a mission without the category of achieved or not.â
Said Cha Ji-hye.
âIs there something you know?â
âYou experienced this before. The mission where you were told to help the elves of Brown Mountain along with just a time limit.â
âYes.â
âIt is the same this time. The time limit given is 2 years so weâll do our best to prepare. And when the mission ends, how much effort we put in will be accounted for and will show up as our karma prize.â
âAh, thatâs a mission without an achieved/failed category?â
âIt is. But you can also get a grade close to unachieved. I have heard of getting minus karma for not doing what you could have done and being negligent.â
âWeâll definitely give it our best so that doesnât matter.â
âOf course.â
Honestly, the mission itself isnât a problem.
It isnât a matter of fighting for life and death so we can do it easily.
But what I heard from the baby angel earlier wonât stop replaying in my head.
If I canât clear all the missions, just what will happen?
âIâll give you what you want. So Arena isnât severed (from you), so you can keep dipping your hand in the majeong jar.â
Just what did he really mean by that!
Simply, as it is now, keep letting the examinees come and go to Arena?
But I didnât think that was it.
âThatâs why the gods are trying to end these exams once and for all. How should they determine when to finish it then? That happens to be where you come in, examinee Kim Hyun-ho.â
If I dwelled on those words, if I failed the exam, theyâre saying they wonât keep this exam system.
Then if the exam is gone, how will people go back and forth to Arena and keep acquiring majeong.
Thatâs the part I donât understand.
What Iâm really worried about is not just examinees like me but the whole real world being plunged into danger.
My family might be put in danger.
My nails started digging into my palms.
I suddenly felt a warm heat in my hand.
Cha Ji-hye had grabbed my hand.
âAre you worried about what the baby angel said?â
ââŚâŚ yes.â
I admitted honestly.
âDo not worry.â
âWhat?â
âRegardless, we just have to clear all the missions. Thereâs no need to think about what will happen if we fail.â
âI guess so.â
âUndoubtedly, weâll make it so we clear the missions. Iâll make it so.â
She said confidently with her unique expressionless face.
âWe will clear all the missions. Together, weâll be free from the bonds of this exam. I want to live as your wife. With you and your family, I want to be one family. That is my wish that I had never given thought to before.
âThatâŚâŚ is your wish?â
âYes.â
âReally?â
âReally.â
Using the hands we were holding, I pulled her into my arms.
The lump of anxiety in my chest disappeared and a happy feeling spread.
Itâs paradoxical but I think dying and becoming an examinee was my good fortune. At the very least, I was able to meet her.
***
I took out the handkerchief that Yoo Ji-soo and Cha Jin-hyuk gave to me.
And then I let number one and number two sniffed it.
âRemember their scent?â
âBeek!â
âBeek!â
âThink you can find them?â
âBeeek!â
Number one and number two nodded their heads.
Whew, I used the animal tracking for the first time and apparently doing it like this was the correct method. Thank goodness it was easier than I thought.
âGood, then have those two ride you and bring them here. Fly as high as you can and donât be noticed by any people on your way.â
âBeeek!â
âBeeek!â
With an energetic reply, number one and number two lifted off together. Flapping their wings without restraint their large builds soared up into the sky at an unbelievable speed.
Iâll be able to see them shortly.
Riding on the rake eagles for a few days, itâll be a bit difficult for them.
In the meantime, I decided to reside in Wolfenbrooke with Cha Ji-hye and Odin.
Marie had another mission so sadly we had to say goodbye quickly.
âI, too, received the mission to prepare for war. Probably all the examinees that have moved up and hold titles will have gotten this same mission I think.â
âThat means weâre going to war with Aman Kingdom for sure then.â
âYes. While you two are staying here, watch and learn how to handle a territory. Iâm not that impressive of a lord or anything but I donât get shamed for it anywhere either, haha.â
So Cha Ji-hye and I, as if we were an entourage, tagged behind Odin, Odin occasionally gave us errands to complete. He was very considerate to have us personally do some tasks in order to let us learn.
I watched beside him and I couldnât be taken in by Odinâs charisma.
Seeing how well he handles people, I felt like he was a different kind of leader-hyung than I.
Can I, like Odin, competently command those beneath me?
âŚâŚ I think itâs a stretch.
Up till now, I had prepared for the civil servants exam, I didnât think for one second that I had some hidden leadership skill in me!
In that regard, I decided to trust Cha Ji-hye. With a military background, she was specialized in leadership.
When about four days passed, the people we had been waiting for arrived.
Yoo Ji-soo and Cha Jin-hyuk.
âUaaaah!â
Yoo Ji-soo who jumped down off number one and yelled as she stretched.
âOoh, the smell from my head is killer! I couldnât wash the whole way here!â
âWhew, thought I was going to die. Just what kind of order did you give them that they didnât rest at all the whole way here?â
I laughed quietly at Cha Jin-hyukâs grievance and answered jokingly.
âWellâŚI didnât tell them to not rest. But I also didnât really tell them to rest either.â
The two of the stared at me with rage in their eyes.
âAnyhow, youâre here early so all is well.â
With a sentence, Cha Ji-hye clipped the topic simply and the two of them looked upset. But they were in the position of receiving help so they canât complain any further.
I handed them both the synthetic muscle suits and radios.
The next day, the four of us left the Wolfenbrooke territory.
Finally, we were heading to my territory.
âDo we have to ride the eagles again?â
Yoo Ji-soo looked like she was about to cry.
She does have the physical strength buff but fundamentally sheâs a magician so her physique was weak. Riding an eagle all day was burdensome for her.
I smiled and said.
âDonât worry. Iâll let you ride something nice soon.â
We all rode the eagles until we reached an area without people and then I took out the car from the virtual space.
The MSM-2 that used majeong to run.
âUh, wow! What is that?!â
âA car?! Iâve never seen this kind before? No, more importantly, a car in Arena?!â
Yoo Ji-soo and Cha Jin-hyuk nearly fainted as they stared at my favorite horse.
Especially Cha Jin-hyuk as he opened the hood and was awed. Ah, thatâs right. Before Cha Jin-hyuk was an examinee he was an auto mechanic.
The car was a two-person so of the four two of us have to ride the eagles or ride atop the car.
Cha Jin-hyuk volunteered as he wanted to drive and Yoo Ji-soo insisted on sitting comfortably on the seat.
But then, from the side, Cha Ji-hye slightly jabbed me in the side and said.
âPut the two of them in the virtual space. We can take them out when we reach your territory.â
âAh, I hadnât thought of that.â
The virtual space I mastered can hold life forms so as long as the person consents, itâs possible. Thatâs the result of already having tried it with Cha Ji-hye.
âTo come up with such an idea, you must really want to drive.â
âNot much opportunity to ride it if not in Arena.â
Cha Ji-hye admitted frankly.
I explained about the special ability of the virtual space to the two people.
âYouâre going to put us in the virtual space? Thatâs possible?â
I nodded my head at Yoo Ji-sooâs question.
âYes, if you consent, I can put you there. And I take you out when we arrive.â
âAnd that doesnât cause any problems for our health or anything? Inside there Iâm not like unable to do anything and locked inside or anything?â
âTime doesnât flow in the virtual space. In the blink of an eye youâll have arrived.â
âReally? Then Iâll consent. Please put me in the virtual space.â
âAlright.â
I grabbed Yoo Ji-sooâs hand and say the order to âplace.â
Pat!
Yoo Ji-sooâs form disappeared.
Then I gestured to Cha Jin-hyuk. Cha Jin-hyuk couldnât hide his nervousness.
âI donât know if this is okay.â
âDonât worry, câmon.â
Eventually I put Cha Jin-hyuk into the virtual space too.
Cha Ji-hye got into the drivers seat.
When I got into the passenger seat, she immediately turned on the car and pressed put the pedal to the floor.
As if she had been waiting for this day she excitedly built up speed.
***
Heinz territory.
An area stuck in between the Brown Mountain and Wolfenbrooke, the old territory of Bastian.
For a long time, it was ruled by Baron Heinz and thus it was already called the Heinz territory. Hundreds of years had passed since then.
Now, it has become the property of me, Baron Kim, but Iâm just going to keep the name as Heinz territory. Doesnât Kim territory sound weird?
Anyway, we arrived in Heinz.
By relentlessly racing in the MSM-2 through the fields and riding the eagles through extremely mountainous areas, we arrived in just 4 days.
We couldâve arrived sooner but I wanted to spend time alone with Cha Ji-hye so we moved casually.
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After Cha Ji-hyeâs words that were basically a proposal, our relationship was even more special.
Just seeing her next to me gave me relief and felt good, making me think Iâve really gone crazy.
We got to the Heinz territory and reached where people lived and put the MSM-2 in the virtual space and moved riding the eagles.
We flew around while checking the Arena map on the tablet PC and we found the feudal lord Heinz fortress quickly.