WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 23: Crossroads of Choice (1)

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Crossroads of Choice (1)

His name was Geum Seo-il.

He was only thirty, yet the martial world already called him the Little Sword Sage.

He had entered Changcheon Martial Academy as a second-rank in its early years, and his brilliant gift had won such recognition that at twenty-nine he had been invited to serve as a sword art instructor there, the youngest in the academy's history.

This year, Geum Seo-il had been given charge of the final gate of the entrance examination, passing over instructors with far longer tenure.

That was because the testing method he had devised had been adopted.

Geum Seo-il called this test the Crossroads of Choice.

Creak!

The applicant who pushed the door open and stepped through could not hide their confusion as they looked around.

What greeted them inside was a fork in the road, two paths splitting apart.

Along the first path stood Geum Seo-il, the supervisor for this final stage. Along the second stood a hulking man wearing a demon mask, holding an iron club that looked frightening just to look at.

Behind that man, some distance off, sat a pond roughly three jang across, and just above its surface hung an iron cage dangling from a rope, a girl trapped inside.

"What in the world is this?"

Geum Seo-il spoke to the puzzled applicant.

"Welcome to the final gate of the entrance examination."

"Ah, yes!"

The applicant gave Geum Seo-il, who was clearly the supervisor, a respectful clasped-hands salute. Geum Seo-il returned a light nod and began to speak.

"The final gate is, quite literally, a test that respects the applicant's own choice."

"Pardon? What do you mean by that..."

"You simply choose one of the two paths."

"A choice?"

"Any applicant who has passed the first and second gates has, in effect, already earned the qualifications to enter Changcheon Martial Academy. That is why you are given the choice."

At those words the applicant looked back and forth between the two paths.

There had been no explanation, but at a glance the second path looked like it would be far harder than expected.

Still, without knowing what kind of test waited along the path where the demon-masked man stood, the applicant couldn't rush to judgment.

"Then, supervisor, what is the first path?"

"Simple. I will stand right here in the middle, blindfolded, wearing this certificate of passage on my head."

"Certificate of passage?"

"Yes. Take the certificate and it's yours. While I count to five, I'll stand still with my eyes covered. But once five is reached, I will take off the blindfold."

"And that means?"

"If the blindfold comes off, you must survive five techniques against me to take it."

At this the applicant's eyes lit with interest.

Judging the distance, using a movement skill, it looked easy enough to reach the certificate before the count of five finished.

Which meant the final stage was practically a test given away for free.

'This should be easy.'

There seemed to be no reason to even weigh the choice. The first path, no question.

But curiosity got the better of the applicant, wondering what the second path even involved.

"How does the second path work?"

"Simple. You save that girl held captive by the force of evil master over there. But once a certain amount of time passes, the rope will be cut, so if you fail to rescue her safely, there will be no certificate."

It sounded simple enough.

But compared to the first option, it was every bit as hard as expected.

If the applicant couldn't defeat whoever was posing as that force of evil master within the time limit, the rescue would be impossible.

Was there really any need to take on such a risk?

The applicant answered without hesitation.

"Then I'll choose the first path."

"Hmm. A wise choice. But whether you take the first path or the second, there is a rule you absolutely must follow during the test."

"Pardon? And what would that be?"

"You must not speak. Not a single word."

"Speak?"

"That's right. If you utter even one word before the test ends, you fail immediately, no matter the circumstances. Just keep that in mind."

"Understood."

It didn't seem like much of a difficulty. There had been no need to speak during any of the tests so far anyway.

The applicant strode confidently toward the first path.

The moment the applicant's foot touched down on the first path, Geum Seo-il, the supervisor, covered his eyes with the blindfold.

'Well then, here we go.'

Just as the applicant was about to take that step forward, something baffling unfolded before their eyes.

'Huh?'

The iron cage behind the second path was sinking down into the pool of water.

Something seemed to have gone wrong. And the girl, seemingly struck at her pressure points, could neither speak nor move even in that state.

Then Geum Seo-il's voice reached the applicant's ears.

"One."

The count had already begun.

In an instant the applicant's mind spun into chaos.

If there were no rule, the applicant would already be shouting for someone to save that girl, but doing so meant instant failure.

Ignore it, grab the certificate, then speak up, and the iron cage would already have sunk into the water by then.

"Two."

Running now might still snatch the certificate in time.

But there was no telling what would happen to the girl trapped in that cage in the meantime.

'Damn it.'

And after finally making it to the final stage this year, the applicant couldn't bear to throw away the chance so easily.

If the demon-masked force of evil master couldn't be beaten either, that meant failure too.

Thrown into confusion, the applicant didn't know what to do.

Whichever choice was made, the crushing feeling that it would turn out wrong pressed down hard.

By now the applicant could no longer even hear Geum Seo-il's voice counting.

"Five."

Geum Seo-il took off the blindfold.

Even then, the applicant hadn't moved into either path.

At the sight, Geum Seo-il let out a short scoff.

"Applicant, failed."

"W-what?"

At the word "failed," the applicant flinched in shock and asked back.

Watching the applicant, Geum Seo-il said, his voice cooling.

"You couldn't even bring yourself to say the cage was sinking and the girl was in danger. You truly lack the qualifications to enter Changcheon Martial Academy."

"Th-that's not..."

Creeeak!

Just then the applicant saw the iron cage, half-submerged in water, rise back up.

The girl was smiling and waving a hand toward the applicant.

'!?'

A wave of hollow disbelief crashed over the applicant.

'...No way.'

This hadn't been an accident. It had been staged, deliberately, from the start, and the applicant had failed to make any proper choice at all.

Flustered, the applicant protested.

"Isn't this a bit much? How are we even supposed to know the standard for passing, if it's set up like this?"

"Didn't I already tell you?"

"Pardon?"

"That you could take the certificate easily while I counted to five, or go down the second path and save the girl. Either way you'd have earned the certificate."

"No. What I mean is, how am I supposed to make a choice when speaking a single word means failure?"

At those words, Geum Seo-il gave a cold smile.

"Funny fellow. You had plenty of choices. At that distance, using a movement skill, you had more than enough time within the count of five to grab the certificate. And once you had it, you could have simply told me about the accident. Couldn't you?"

"That's..."

"And there's something else you fundamentally lack as a member of the force of justice."

"Lack? What do you mean?"

"If you truly understood chivalry, you would have run straight for the second path without a second thought, no matter what the outcome might be."

"......"

At those words the applicant fell into a flush of shame.

Geum Seo-il was right.

Faced with someone in danger, the applicant had weighed the choices back and forth and settled on neither.

Coldly, Geum Seo-il pointed toward the door the failed applicants would leave through.

"I don't even want to look at you. Get out, quickly."

In the end the applicant trudged out through the door, shoulders sagging.

Watching the applicant go, Geum Seo-il clicked his tongue.

The true purpose of this test, called the Crossroads of Choice, was to measure both cool judgment and a sense of chivalry.

At the very least, someone with cool judgment would have done as he'd described earlier, and someone with a true sense of chivalry would have chosen the second path no matter what the outcome.

"What a difficult test. I'm really glad I didn't enter this year."

At the voice, Geum Seo-il turned his head.

Tang So-so, who was assisting at the second gate, stood there.

At her words, Geum Seo-il clicked his tongue.

"It isn't a difficult test at all. The second path was designed to be impossible to complete from the start. Simply choosing it guarantees a pass."

"Huh? Really?"

"Though the applicant will experience the crushing pressure of having to face a force of evil master at the inept level of Master rank, all while someone they must save hangs in the balance."

Geum Seo-il curled his lip in a faint, wicked smile, as if he were enjoying all of this.

'...That's a downright nasty hobby.'

Anyone thrown into such a situation would fall into confusion.

They might even suffer real psychological shock.

Watching a hostage sink into the water while having to fight an overwhelming master, that wasn't a situation that came easily to anyone.

Tang So-so clicked her tongue in disbelief.

"...Sounds like you'll get more failures here than we do at the second gate."

"More outstanding passers have come through than you'd think, So-so."

"Here?"

"That's right."

Geum Seo-il's mind drifted to two names.

'Hong Hye-ryeong.'

The daughter of Southern Blade Imperial Uncle, one of the Four Immortal Masters.

Not only had she chosen the second path, she had shown skill to match the demon-masked master blow for blow.

The test had been meant to teach her despair, and she had simply overcome it through sheer strength.

She hadn't managed to save the girl held hostage, in the end.

But she had fulfilled the true purpose of the test and become the first to defeat the demon mask, so she had earned her certificate with pride.

'The Eastern River Sword Sage's disciple... now that was an amusing one.'

Young Chun had chosen the first path.

While the count reached two, he'd snatched the certificate in an instant and hurled himself straight at the pool of water.

He had been blocked by the demon mask and stopped there, but he too had tried to bring the man down without hesitation.

Both of them had produced results that went beyond the surface intent of the test.

'Looking at the results, the Eastern River Sword Sage's disciple falls a little short of the Southern Blade Imperial Uncle's daughter in raw skill, but he has the cool judgment to match.'

Geum Seo-il understood now why the other instructors were so eager to be test supervisors. You got to see so many different sides of the applicants.

Thinking of them, Geum Seo-il felt a private satisfaction, then asked, puzzled, "By the way, why are you here, So-so?"

"You're only asking now? Thanks to an applicant at the second gate, we've run into some trouble, and I'm on my way to ask the chief supervisor to refill the water in the artificial lake."

"Refill the water in the artificial lake?"

"Yes. That applicant used Water-Treading Flight and made the lake overflow."

"What? Water-Treading Flight?"

Geum Seo-il's brow furrowed.

A movement skill that reached the level of Water-Treading Flight was not something that should exist at an applicant's level. At the very least, it required a level of skill matching Ga Yu-hang, the supervisor of the second gate.

Finding this strange, Geum Seo-il asked, "...Could that applicant happen to be the one they call Mumu, the one who tore the door clean off the fortress gate at the first gate?"

"Huh? How did you know?"

"Yeon Nam-gyeong told me."

"Ah!"

Now that she thought of it, Yeon Nam-gyeong, assisting at the first gate, had headed to the main building to ask for help before she had.

"Anyway, Instructor Geum, I'm in a hurry, so I'll go on ahead."

She hurried off, and Geum Seo-il stroked his chin.

When Yeon Nam-gyeong had first mentioned it, he had brushed it off as something that couldn't possibly be true.

But now, hearing that this same applicant had shown such tremendous skill at the second gate as well, bringing the test to a halt, Geum Seo-il grew curious about who this person really was.

'Said to be that Yeo Jin-sung's younger brother, was it.'

He'd heard the boy was talented and overflowing with a sense of chivalry.

But something about this one gave off a strange, different scent.

Twice now, he had disrupted a gate of the examination, and that felt suspicious.

If it had been intentional, that could not be forgiven.

'If... he's doing this on purpose, he'd better be ready for what comes.'

Of course, this test was on a completely different level from the ones before it.

It had been designed from the start so the given conditions could never actually be fulfilled.

Even if the boy had somehow cleared the earlier gates, if he tried to interfere clumsily here, he would pay a heavy price for it.

* * *

About a quarter hour later,

Geum Seo-il watched the back of an applicant named Ha Ryun walking off calmly with the certificate in hand, and clicked his tongue inwardly.

This one had been different in quality from every applicant before him.

No, to be precise, the quality had been poor.

'Should I even call this cool judgment?'

Geum Seo-il had been a little surprised when the boy claimed the certificate off his own head in only the count of two.

The boy's movement skill had nearly matched that of the Eastern River Sword Sage's third disciple.

But the moment he had the certificate in hand, he had simply tried to walk off.

So Geum Seo-il had pressed him on it.

[Why didn't you say anything about the cage sinking into the water?]

[Wasn't the whole demand for silence itself part of the plan?]

[What?]

[And even if it really had been an accident, wouldn't that be the fault of a careless supervisor and Changcheon Martial Academy, rather than mine?]

At those words, Geum Seo-il hadn't been able to scold him.

It didn't align with the hidden purpose of the test, but the boy's reasoning wasn't wrong either. He hadn't broken any premise of the test.

Still, the boy's way of thinking was strikingly different from that of most force of justice members.

'An unpleasant one.'

Since he'd be entering the academy, Geum Seo-il figured he would need to keep an eye on him for a while.

Though he had no idea why the boy's hand had been injured.

The palm looked cracked, swollen and dark with bruising.

When Geum Seo-il had asked before the test whether that hand would be a problem, the boy had shown a surprisingly sharp flash of displeasure.

Had something happened to him?

While Geum Seo-il was still puzzling over it, the next applicant walked into the testing ground, the preparations apparently finished.

'Hmm.'

Wandering in with a lazy gait, looking this way and that at the surroundings, not exactly an impressive first look.

A rare, striking face, but an expression so naive it was almost comical.

Geum Seo-il asked, "Applicant, your name?"

"Me? Mumu."

"Mumu?"

At the name Geum Seo-il's eyes narrowed.

Was this the one, the younger brother of Yeo Jin-sung, who had reduced the first and second testing grounds to a mess?

At last, he was seeing the face for himself.

'Let's see just what kind of person you really are.'

If the boy really was the sort Geum Seo-il suspected, he'd probably look for some way to disrupt this test too.

But this test was nothing like the ones before it.

The master posing as the demon-masked force of evil figure had reached the inept level of Master rank.

If the boy tried to stir up trouble again here, he would pay dearly for it.

"Welcome to the final gate of the entrance examination. The final gate is, quite literally, a test that respects the applicant's own choice."

Geum Seo-il explained the final stage just as he had every time before.

Through this test, he would learn the boy's true nature.

And so Geum Seo-il gave Mumu the choice.

"Which path will you choose?"

At the question Mumu tilted his head for a moment, then walked toward the first path.

Watching him, Geum Seo-il gave a small inward smile.

'Yes. Of course.'

That much made sense. Anyone would choose the path that offered an easy certificate.

But the trouble was that this first path was the one carrying the heaviest psychological pressure of the whole test.

Geum Seo-il pulled out the blindfold.

Once Mumu reached the front of the first path, Geum Seo-il put on the blindfold and called out.

"One!"

His eyes were closed, but he knew exactly what was happening.

The iron cage would be sinking into the water by now.

From this point, the boy would face the true question of the test.

Whether to run for the second path, or take the easy road and quickly claim the certificate on the first...

BOOM!

At that instant a tremendous crash rang out in Geum Seo-il's ears.

It sounded like the ground itself had shattered.

'!?'

What in the world was that just now?

Then a scream reached his ears.

"Guh!"

CRASH!

Another deafening crash followed.

It sounded like something had slammed into a wall and lodged there.

'What was that sound just now?'

"Two!"

Geum Seo-il called out the second count regardless.

In the meantime, more sounds came one after another, impossible to guess at.

Splaaaash!

"W-wait, what are you doing right now... AAAAAAAH!"

Whooosh! Clatter! Clatter! Thud!

Something crashed down right in front of him, the impact rattling the floor.

He couldn't begin to guess what on earth was happening.

"...Three!"

Curiosity was eating him alive, but rules were rules, so he kept counting.

Pat!

Just then he felt the certificate lift off from where it had been fixed atop his head.

Unable to bear it any longer, Geum Seo-il tore off the blindfold.

'!!!'

The moment the blindfold came off, Geum Seo-il stood speechless before the scene laid out in front of him.

"Did I pass?"

In the hand of a brightly grinning Mumu was a massive iron cage.

"BLEUGH!"

Inside the cage, the girl who had been held captive clutched the bars, her face bone white, retching helplessly.

Like someone gripped by violent motion sickness.

'...What in the world is this?'

The scene defied all sense, and Geum Seo-il simply couldn't process it.

Don't tell me, in the rush to arrive before the count of five, the boy had just hauled the entire iron cage over here?

'This absolute madman...'

An unhinged leap of logic if there ever was one.

Wait, then what had the one guarding it, demon mask, been doing this whole time?

Geum Seo-il turned his gaze toward where the demon mask should have been, and his eyes went round as saucers.

"I-Instructor I-mun!"

The demon mask, no, Instructor Byeok I-mun, who had been helping run the test, was staggering out from a shattered wall.

Footnotes:

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