Chapter 123: The Trial of Judgment [1]
The hunters were scattered among the trees, making use of the last few minutes before the next test began.
Some were sitting on the ground.
Others were leaning against the trunks.
Emily was drinking water while Carol inspected her hands, which still had several areas with a rocky appearance.
Jordan, of course, had gone back to eating chips.
"I need to replenish all the fat I burned."
Chuck watched him while chewing his gum.
"Didn’t you just eat?"
"That was several minutes ago."
"It was thirty seconds."
Jordan popped another chip into his mouth.
"My body needs fuel."
Liam was sitting beside Lydia.
She had returned to her small slime form and was resting on his lap.
Then...
James’s voice echoed through the speakers once again.
"Aspirants, I hope you enjoyed your little break."
Everyone looked up.
"Because the third test is about to begin."
The atmosphere immediately changed.
"This test will be different from the previous ones."
A pause.
"Welcome to the Third Trial."
The words appeared in front of them.
THIRD TRIAL — THE TRIAL OF JUDGMENT
James continued.
"This time, we won’t be judging only your combat abilities."
Liam slightly furrowed his brow.
"We’re going to judge the decisions you make inside the new simulation."
Then the forest began to disappear.
The trees faded away.
The grass-covered ground vanished.
The horizon warped.
Liam felt his stomach churn.
"Ugh..."
Several hunters had to hold their heads.
"What’s happening?"
"I’m getting dizzy!"
Jordan staggered.
"I think the chips are trying to come back up."
Chuck looked at him.
"That was unnecessarily graphic."
James’s voice could be heard again.
"And... I’m sorry if any of you are feeling nauseous."
Some of the hunters looked up at the ceiling in disbelief.
"We’re still experimenting with this transition system."
James paused.
"Oh, and just in case... I hope no one here suffers from epilepsy."
Liam’s eyes widened.
"Seriously?"
Emily covered her face with one hand.
"This man is unbelievable."
For a few seconds, they could once again see the enormous hangar.
The walls.
The metal structures.
The lights.
The screens.
It was as if the simulation had been paused.
Then...
Everything changed again.
The ground appeared beneath them.
Nothing but dirt.
The wind hit their faces.
A gust kicked up dust, forcing several hunters to cover their eyes.
Liam looked around.
They were no longer separated. Now, they could see the other groups.
Dozens of hunters were scattered throughout the new environment, watching one another.
Lydia returned to her human form and took Liam’s hand.
"Ready?"
Liam nodded.
"I guess."
Jordan continued eating chips.
Chuck chewed his gum with apparent calm.
But Liam could tell he was more tense than usual.
"Are you nervous?"
Chuck looked at him.
"Me?"
"Yes. Who else would I be asking?"
"No."
Liam smiled.
"You’re chewing that gum like you want to destroy it."
Chuck immediately relaxed his jaw.
"I’m focused."
"Sure."
The sky above them was covered with clouds.
It didn’t look like it was going to rain, but the atmosphere was strange.
Then it happened.
A person appeared in front of them.
She collapsed onto the ground.
"Help!"
Liam immediately stood up.
It was a woman.
There was blood on her face and several visible wounds across her body.
"Please!"
Another body appeared behind them.
Then another.
And another.
Within seconds, there were injured people scattered throughout the entire area.
Some were screaming. Others were crying.
"Help me!"
"Please, protect me!"
"There are monsters!"
"I don’t want to die!"
The hunters began reacting.
Emily looked around.
"What the hell is happening?"
Carol crouched beside one of the people.
"Are you hurt?"
The woman grabbed her arm.
"Please, don’t leave me!"
A chill ran down Liam’s spine.
It looked far too real.
Even Duncan Steel, who always seemed to maintain a calm expression, appeared shaken.
"What’s going on?"
Lydia squeezed Liam’s hand.
"Liam, what’s happening?"
Liam looked at the injured people.
"I have no idea."
He looked around.
"Is this part of the simulation?"
Then James’s voice echoed through the area again.
"Aspirants, remain calm."
Everyone looked up.
"The injured people who just appeared are not real."
Several hunters stood frozen.
James let out a small laugh.
"But I have to say, I’m proud of your reactions."
Some of the hunters began looking suspiciously at the people around them.
"All of this is part of the simulation."
James continued.
"And some of you even seemed to believe they were real people."
Liam looked back at the woman in front of him.
She was still crying.
Even knowing she was part of a simulation, it was difficult to ignore her.
James continued explaining.
"This third test will end when someone destroys the dungeon core."
Liam looked up.
’The core?’
"You can think of these injured civilians as people who happened to end up here through sheer bad luck."
Liam fell silent.
That sentence brought back a memory.
The S-Rank dungeon.
Him falling inside.
Lydia, newly transformed into a slime, beside him.
Those women they had found.
The goblins.
They hadn’t been the only ones.
Liam slowly lowered his gaze.
’Then it’s not that strange.’
’Civilians really can end up inside a dungeon when one appears.’
Perhaps what James was showing them was something far more common than Liam had imagined.
The instructor’s voice echoed again.
"But be careful."
James’s tone had changed.
"This simulation is much more difficult than the previous one."
The hunters began paying closer attention.
"You’re going to be in a tough spot."
The wind blew again.
"And this time, we’re going to judge the decisions you make."
Liam frowned.
"Both as a team..."
James paused.
"...and individually."
Those final words caused murmurs among the hunters.
"Individually?"
"What does that mean?"
"Are they going to separate us?"
"What kind of decisions do they want us to make?"
James didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, the sky grew darker.
The clouds seemed to spread across the entire area.
Liam looked at the others.
There were complete groups.
Hunters who would surely try to move forward together.
Others who would probably try to take advantage of the confusion.
And injured civilians begging for help.
The test didn’t seem to be simply about finding the core and destroying it.
Lydia looked at Liam again.
"What do you think we should do?"
Liam didn’t answer immediately.
He looked at the injured woman in front of him.
Then he looked toward the horizon.
Finally, he gently squeezed Lydia’s hand.
"First, we need to understand what’s going on."
The wind kicked up the dust again.
James spoke one last time.
"Aspirants..."
His voice echoed throughout the dungeon.
"I wish you the best of luck."
A brief pause.
"And with that..."
The words appeared in the sky once again.
THIRD TRIAL — THE TRIAL OF JUDGMENT
"The third test begins."