WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Chapter 9: Episode 3: Great Exorcist Order Entrance Exam (2)
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Standing before the main gate, the applicants looked confused.
Taken literally, the task was far too simple to be called an exam.
All they had to do was pass through the gate.
There was no way to distinguish their abilities. Contrary to the rumors, it looked like nothing much of a test.
Then someone spotted the demon crouched in the middle of the gate, and the mood changed at once.
‘A demon.’
Its skin was ash gray. Its arms were long, and its neck was stretched to an unnatural length.
Its eyes were closed, yet its mouth looked as though the corners were slightly raised.
There was no sacred cord, no barrier, and no chain around it.
It was not a bound demon. It was simply sitting there. That meant they had to walk past a perfectly unrestrained demon through the narrow main gate.
If it attacked even once...
They would be risking their lives.
The applicants understood the purpose of the test.
Courage, one of Learning, Martial Prowess, Courage, and Principle.
The courage to walk forward despite the pressure of a demon that could harm them at any moment.
‘But this is too easy.’
No matter how unfamiliar and frightening demons might be, what was so difficult about walking past one if they were certain it would not attack?
Ise tilted his head.
The first applicant seemed to feel the same way. In a voice mixed with tension and bravado, they muttered, “What? That’s nothing,” and started walking.
They took only three steps.
Their legs began shaking, then they collapsed onto the ground and could not rise again.
“Fail.”
Chief Examiner Kang I-tae’s firm voice rang out, and the examiners dragged the applicant away.
Then came a second, a third, a fourth. Countless applicants stepped forward, but most collapsed after only three to five steps.
Whenever an applicant sat down, stopped walking, or hesitated, the chief examiner did not wait long before declaring them failed.
“Hae Unchan.”
A familiar name was called. Murmurs reached Ise’s ears.
“So that’s the eldest legitimate son of the Hae Clan.”
“They say he’s a candidate for top scorer this year...”
The Hae Clan? Since they called it a clan, he was probably from some noble family.
Ise knew nothing about the continent’s clans, so he simply watched Hae Unchan without much thought.
Hae Unchan strode forward confidently, then faltered on his third step.
He clenched his fist tightly and continued walking.
With every step, cold sweat poured from his whole body, and blood dripped from his clenched fist.
At last, the first applicant to pass through the main gate emerged, and Kang I-tae’s brief words followed.
“Pass.”
Low exclamations rose among the applicants.
After that, scattered successes appeared amid the many failures.
“Next, Ise.”
When his name was called, Ise quietly steadied his breathing. As he walked toward the main gate, he gathered his senses.
‘...Something’s strange.’
He narrowed his eyes as he studied the demon’s appearance.
He could not identify it.
Ise had memorized the hundreds of demon species recorded in Gwisu Temple’s library, so an unfamiliar demon stood out all the more clearly.
‘A demon that isn’t recorded in the library.’
Gwisu Temple’s library lacked information in other areas, but its records on demons were endless. That was thanks to Mongryeon’s three hundred years of demon hunting.
Even so, he did not know this one.
Judging from the intensity of its demonic qi, it seemed slightly stronger than the Infant-Cry Dragon Horse, around the late Qi Condensation Realm.
He pushed the thought aside and took his third step. The air changed.
A thick killing intent swept over him, as if it would slit his throat and tear apart his insides in an instant.
You will die.
Take one more step, and you will certainly die.
It felt as though someone was screaming those words directly into his ear.
‘How could this be a Qi Condensation Realm demon's demonic qi?’
The gap between the demonic qi it contained and the killing intent he felt was far too great.
It was the pressure of a being from a much higher realm bearing down on him.
His body reacted on instinct. His hand moved to his waist.
He gripped the handle of the hatchet, the weapon that had become familiar through long use.
“Hey.”
An examiner’s voice called out.
“If you attack the demon, you will be disqualified.”
“...”
Ise could not bring himself to put the hatchet away. Instead, he took another step.
On his fourth step, the pressure worsened. His breath caught, and his chest felt as though it were being squeezed shut.
On his fifth step, a sharp chill ran down from the back of his head to his waist, and his shoulder muscles began to stiffen painfully.
At that moment, the demonic qi inside him stirred.
‘...So I wasn’t imagining it.’
The day he had released the spirit of the Infant-Cry Dragon Horse.
The demonic qi that had remained in his body, throbbing and writhing like an ache. That unpleasant sensation became clear again.
‘Don’t act up.’
Muttering inwardly, Ise cut his palm on the hatchet's blade. Fresh blood slowly flowed out. He clenched his bleeding hand and walked forward.
‘This fake killing intent is child’s play compared to standing before a demon that’s truly trying to kill me.’
Then he moved quickly, almost at a run. No other applicant had shown such speed.
At last, Ise passed through the main gate.
“Pass.”
Kang I-tae’s short declaration reached him.
At the same time, the killing intent that had been slicing through his body vanished. A boy waving at him from inside came into view.
“Knew you’d make it.”
Hae Unchan hurried over, as excited as if he had passed himself.
“What was that at the end? Wow, I could barely take one step at a time.”
“I’ve just been through something like it before.”
“...?”
Hae Unchan tilted his head as if he had no idea what that meant, but Ise only shrugged.
If he said he had hunted a low-ranking demon at ten and severed the head of a mid-ranking demon only days ago, Hae Unchan would probably think he was bragging.
* * *
Because there were more than a thousand applicants, the exam continued until sunset.
By the time the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, the first test had ended. Fewer than two hundred examinees remained.
Compared to the number who had gathered at the start, nearly ninety percent had been eliminated.
Kang I-tae stepped before the unevenly arranged applicants and looked them over.
“One hundred sixty-nine. There were many applicants, so many of you passed as well. Welcome to those who passed the first test.”
As he spoke, a bird circling overhead flew down and landed on Kang I-tae’s shoulder. The demon guarding the main gate changed form and stood beside him.
Ise immediately recognized the two creatures.
One was a giant white-feathered bird, a Crane Bird.
The other was a horned beast that looked both like a lion and a cloud, a Haechi.
The two divine beasts were symbols of Great Exorcist Order, and the beings that had made the order what it was today.
The demon from the first test had been the Haechi in disguise.
As the applicants stared open-mouthed at the divine beasts radiating overwhelming power, Kang I-tae continued his explanation.
“The exam will proceed over seven days, with one test each day. As you all know, the standards for selecting disciples are Learning, Martial Prowess, Courage, and Principle. Knowledge, martial ability, courage, and moral principle.”
The standards were so famous that every applicant nodded.
“The first test has confirmed that you have the courage not to retreat before a demon. Prove the rest through the remaining six tests.”
Kang I-tae swept his gaze over the applicants, then spoke in a deliberately solemn voice.
“I will explain a few precautions.”
He paced slowly from side to side, tapping the staff in his hand against his palm.
“If there are any fools here who want to join Great Exorcist Order in pursuit of immortality, turn back now. Get lost and join those pill junkies, or go chant Daoist scriptures with those cowardly horse-faced bastards.”
Ise blinked, unable to understand Kang I-tae’s words. Hae Unchan nudged his side and whispered.
“He’s mocking the major cultivation sects of the Zheng Empire.”
“Cultivation sects? Other than Great Exorcist Order?”
“Yeah. The Zheng Empire has two huge cultivation sects, the Pill Altar Sect and Kunlun. The Pill Altar Sect hunts spirit beasts and gathers spiritual materials to make medicinal pellets. Then they forcefully raise their realm by eating them. That’s why people call them pill junkies.”
“And Kunlun?”
“They practice swordsmanship, but they hide away in the mountains and try to become immortals through meditation and enlightenment alone. That’s why people call them horse-faced Daoist bastards.”
“Sounds like they don’t get along.”
“What do you think? If you ever go to the Zheng Empire, watch your life. They call us demon butchers. Hahaha, cultivators become cultivators to live longer and become immortals, but they say we don’t care about our lives.”
“...”
“That’s enough chatter.”
Though they had been whispering very quietly, Kang I-tae caught them as if he had heard every word. His eyes flashed as he called them out.
Hae Unchan and Ise answered, “We’re sorry,” then straightened up.
“We do not cherish our lives. Making demon hunting our vocation is itself our principle, and the destiny of cultivators. Do not hunt spirit beasts recklessly. Do not damage spiritual materials carelessly. All those who walk a different path from ours are our enemies.”
Did that mean Great Exorcist Order did not consume medicinal pellets at all?
Did they have to spit out any they had already eaten...?
Ise remembered reading that medicinal pellets were necessary at certain realms, and the question came to mind.
“Answer.”
“Yes!”
The response thundered through the air. Then the examiners began handing out robes and books.
“That book will teach you the basics every Great Exorcist Order disciple must learn. There will be a written test on the last day, so study when you have time.”
Some applicants frowned at the mention of a written test, but most understood that it would test Learning.
The fairly thick book was titled <Great Exorcist Order Basic Handbook>.
“Lastly, if you fight privately or injure another examinee, you will fail. If something happens that makes you angry enough to want to kill someone, submit a request for a martial duel through this examiner. The loser will be eliminated from the test. That is all. Questions.”
When no one asked anything, Ise raised his hand.
They had not explained the most important matter.
“When are meal times? Is the food self-service?”
In an instant, every examinee around him looked at Ise.
“...Is that important?”
“Yes.”
Kang I-tae looked at him as if he had asked something painfully obvious.
His brow twitched. There seemed to be an unusual number of strange ones in this year’s group.
“A bell will ring at every meal time. I do not know how the food will be served.”
How could he not know?
Did cultivators not eat?
Ise had countless questions, but he decided to ask only the most important one.
“Will there be enough for healthy growth?”
“...Does this look like a sect poor enough to skimp on food? Next.”
After Ise opened the way, the others began asking their own questions one by one.
Kang I-tae answered them as best he could. Then, when a bell announced mealtime, he raised a hand to stop the questions.
“That is all for today. Someone here seems very serious about eating, so go eat first. Once you are finished, wait in the hall and you will be assigned temporary lodging.”
* * *
After the meal, they returned to the waiting hall.
Ise quickly skimmed through the handbook, then asked Hae Unchan, who had been stuck to him like a leech since earlier.
“Hae Unchan.”
“Yeah?”
“Can you tell me more about the cultivation sects on the continent you mentioned earlier?”
“That’s easy. What are you curious about?”
“Just in general. You said there were two more cultivation sects in the Zheng Empire. Aren’t there any other cultivation sects in the Three Peninsula Kingdoms?”
Hae Unchan was briefly taken aback. For anyone who dreamed of immortal cultivation, it was an extremely basic question.
Then he remembered hearing that some applicants spent their lives secluded in the mountains before coming to take the exam, and nodded to himself.
“There are. Most are affiliated sects of Great Exorcist Order, though, or so small that it would be embarrassing to call them cultivation sects.”
“There are three countries on the peninsula. Why is that?”
“The Three Peninsula Kingdoms are Great Exorcist Order’s territory. Think about it. Cultivators value their lives more than anyone. Living long and staying young by any means necessary is their greatest goal in life. Most cultivators prize medicinal pellets and fortunate encounters. Would they want to set foot in a place crawling with demon butchers, people who glare with murderous eyes and do not care about their lives?”
“...”
“Still, there are people who come here. Only two kinds. Fools who die young because they are stupid, and people confident in their own strength.”
Footnotes:
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