D.I.O

/Clear!/

Of course, there were also tests that were relatively easier, like the [Art] test, for example. Unexpectedly, Merlin was actually a skilled illustrator.

“Oh, they’ve given me high marks, but why didn’t they give me any rewards?”

The reward was the painting that he had just made, but Merlin was unaware of this. During the test, he had been given ten minutes to draw something quickly. With extensive experience in using a computer for illustrations, Merlin didn’t think much of his brief sketch-like drawing. Yet, Merlin was unaware that the paper that he drew on was special.

“Whatever. The remaining non-combat tests are… [Miscellaneous Skills] and [Trainer].”

The [Miscellaneous Skills] test was simple. It was a written exam that asked about the history of the continent and certain legends and myths. It seemed to be based on what was seen as common sense to the people of this mystical world. Obviously, Merlin failed this test. The next exam named [Trainer] had Merlin train a cat. His Level 2 test was simple and had him train a dog. On the other hand, this Level 3 test cat was posing quite a challenge, as the cat seemed resolved to make life as difficult as possible for Merlin. Though Merlin contemplated whether he’d be better off just destroying the cat, at some point, the cat turned around and ran off. As a result, Merlin failed this test as well.

“Phew. There’ve been more failures than successes, but at least I’m nearing the end. I have two tests remaining, right?”

[Escort] and [Rescue] remained. Merlin mulled over which one he should challenge first, and after some consideration, he chose [Escort].

“Hiya!”

“Huh?”

Seeing a short sword swinging toward his head as soon as he entered, Merlin tilted his upper body to swiftly avoid the strike. Even a world-class boxer would have had trouble trying to hit Merlin, so the young girl swinging the short sword was no match for him. Despite only a month passing since he obtained his newfound abilities, Merlin had already mastered his control over them.

“W-who are you?”

“Hmm, this place is pretty dark. Is this a commonly used trope, a dark alleyway?”

Merlin looked around at his dim surroundings. While there was little lighting, it wasn’t so dark that he needed to use Night Vision. His normal eyesight had developed to the point where he could read a book with only the illumination from the stars in the night sky.

“Y-y-y-you… who are you?”

The mid-teen girl cried out anxiously, but Merlin didn’t pay her any attention. After this test was completed, they would never meet again. She was probably an NPC that actually existed somewhere, but the world where the tests took place were virtual recreations. Even if he invested the time to form a relationship with her, she’d forget everything in real life, wherever she was. As such, Merlin focused his attention on the mission description.

“Plundering allowed?”

Didn’t this mean that he could take whatever the NPC had on her? Perplexed, Merlin stared at the young girl in front of him.

“I asked you who you are! Y-you appeared so suddenly; how did you do it?”

“Oh, is that what you saw? It was just a bit of magic. As for your question about who I am, I’m your guard.”

“My guard…”

Seeing the young girl’s stunned expression, Merlin continued to explain, “Yes. I’ve been ordered to escort you safely to the Night Wing Guild branch office.”

It wasn’t an order; it was a mission. Either way, Merlin didn’t think the difference between the two was anything important. It had no effect on his test. On the mini-map located in the upper right corner of his vision, Merlin saw a pin showing the location of the Night Wing Guild branch office. Furthermore, the mini-map showed his current position, along with Senna’s, the young teenage girl.

“Dang, this mini-map is nice.”

“What’s nice?”

“Nothing. Put on your clothes. Where’s your shirt?”

To be more specific, her shirt had been ripped to shreds for whatever reason. Even in the dark, Merlin was still able to make out her chest. While a healthy young man like him didn’t mind this scene, he didn’t feel that he could continue the mission due to his discomfort from being around the half-naked girl.

“You can see me? In this lighting?”

“I see pretty well in the dark. I can even make out the mole below your chest area.”

“…?”

Hearing Senna shriek as she covered her chest and crumpled to the ground, Merlin felt glad that she had a sense of modesty. Then, to better understand his surroundings, Merlin scanned the area around him. They were about 500 meters from the Night Wing Guild branch office.

“We aren’t that far from the office.”

“The distance isn’t the issue. The problem is the Bloody Fist Guild members that are scattered all over this place. They’re such dangerous, ferocious gang members….”

“Those guys are probably only Level 3.”

Seeing that Senna had put something on, Merlin grabbed her and dragged her out of the alleyway. He wanted to end the mission quickly and not waste any time on this test. Of course, Senna tried to fight against Merlin’s firm grip, but she had no chance. Merlin’s strength was already far beyond any typical human’s capabilities.

“Hey, they’re over there!”

“Grab them!”

“That bitch… making us work so much….”

As they shouted, numerous people rushed over urgently. Senna wasn’t joking when she said that the guild members were scattered everywhere. In addition, there were quite a few of them. Since Merlin had an internal energy limit that he was trying to stick to, these enemies weren’t ideal. However…

Bam.

The skill and ability differences between Merlin and the guild members were too vast. Merlin didn’t have to use five or ten years of internal energy. Instead, his energy expenditure could be more accurately portrayed as days, not years.

“These guys are like commoners, no? They’d all have to rush for the hills if a Level 2 Dire Wolf showed up.”

The guild members may have been considered powerful beings within their level, but in the end, they were still just Level 1 commoners. Unless they possessed an ability or trained in martial arts, they’d be restricted to the first level.

With Merlin’s 200 points in muscular strength, life points, and physical strength, these enemies were like baby chicks. Although Senna saw the Bloody Fist guild members as dangerous and ferocious, Merlin couldn’t help but look down on them. There wasn’t a single person amongst their numbers who even came close to 30 points in muscular strength, life points, or physical strength.

“Who the hell is this guy….”

Boom.

“I’ll kill you….”

Bam.

Soon, the area around Senna and Merlin was filled with moaning men. Since Merlin didn’t want to expend too much energy fighting them in a protracted battle, he’d made sure to crack at least a bone or two in each of their bodies.

“Let’s see.”

Merlin picked up a short sword that one of the guild members had used to attack him. As he did so, he waited for a warning message to appear, but there were no notifications.

“Oho. So, this is what they meant by ‘plundering allowed.’ So, it’s okay to take their stuff, huh?”

Merlin didn’t have to be told twice.

“Uhm, what are you doing?”

“I’m taking all their stuff.”

Merlin gathered the groaning guild members into a pile and started ‘extracting’ everything that they possessed. Short swords, money, leather armor, and more. Merlin took everything that looked usable.

“Found him! It’s that guy!”

“Kill him!”

As Merlin was sorting through the fallen guild members, additional foes approached him. And, of course…

Bam.

Merlin welcomed all of them the same way.

***

“Woohoo! Today is a good day.”

“D-devil.”

Senna sweated profusely as she watched Merlin mow down over fifty Blood Fist guild members and ‘extract’ their items. He even stripped off some of their clothing. With lively steps, Merlin escorted Senna. Since he had taken care of all the Blood Fist guild members, there was no one to bother them.

“Dang, that was great. Am I allowed to go into their headquarters and plunder some more?”

“… I know you’re strong, but you shouldn’t be too arrogant. The Blood Fist guild is well-known around here. They also have many skilled members in their ranks.”

“Skilled members… like this type of skill?”

Whoosh.

Merlin flicked a finger and conjured a flame, causing Senna’s eyes to grow wide.

“Mage?”

“Yeah. Can’t you tell from what I’m wearing?”

Currently, Merlin was wearing his magic user training gear. His wide-brimmed hat and long robe showed that he was undeniably a mage. However, after witnessing Merlin wipe out all the Blood Fist guild members with his bare hands, Senna wasn’t able to register that he was a mage.

“Then, why did you fight with them with your bare hands?”

“None of them were strong enough to deserve the use of my magic.”

The truth was that Merlin’s magic was poor, but he wanted to show off. At that moment…

Clank!

“A long-ranged attack?”

Merlin raised his head, surprised at the sudden attack. Yet, he wasn’t the target; it was Senna. Merlin was lucky that she didn’t sustain any injury. When the attack had neared him, Younghwi had been circling Merlin when it executed the order, ‘deflect anything that approaches me above a certain speed.’ Thus, Younghwi had deflected the oncoming arrow due to Merlin’s proximity to Senna.

“Get down!”

Aerial attacks like a flying arrow were troublesome for Merlin. Thankfully, he had enough life points that a single arrow wouldn’t kill him, and his reaction speed was fast enough to avoid any projectiles that he could see. However, a flying arrow was still a rapidly-moving object to Merlin, and none of his skills or abilities could make it any slower.

“Damn it!”

Merlin had 60 points in reaction speed. Since people generally had 30 points, Merlin had twice the reaction speed of an average person. Additionally, with the Golden Pill Immortal Technique, his perception and awareness were around four times an average human’s.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

As such, now that he was expecting them, Merlin was able to make out the arrows and deflect them. Yet, this wasn’t easy. The arrows flying toward him were moving at speeds of 320 kilometers per hour. Luckily, due to his extraordinary perception and awareness, the arrows only seemed like they were moving at 80 kilometers per hour to him.

In his neighborhood batting cages, the slowest baseball pitching machine would shoot out baseballs at 90 kilometers per hour. This was slow enough for Merlin to see the balls and react to them, but this didn’t mean that he was able to respond to each and every ball perfectly. In this instance, some of the arrows approached from outside his field of vision, so he had even less time to react. Merlin found himself in a tough situation.

‘I need to counterattack!’

However, this was easier said than done. Merlin could easily counterattack the enemies if he didn’t have to stick next to Senna to keep her safe. To catch the enemy, Merlin would have to somehow launch his own long-ranged attack, but his bow was broken, and the only ranged skill he possessed was the Great Tantra Hand. Yet, this skill…

‘I don’t have enough control not to kill the enemy.’

Similar to his situation with the Great Strength Vajra Hand, Merlin didn’t possess the ability to limit the internal energy used in the Great Tantra Hand to less than a year. If he tried, the hand attack would misfire, and if he sent out the weakest attack possible, it would be enough to make a standard human explode.

“Shit, what am I supposed to do in this situation….”

Plop.

“Huh?”

Senna’s body collapsed onto Merlin’s feet from a finger-length arrow that had struck her neck. It was a quarrel, an arrow from a small crossbow.

Bam!

As Merlin froze in shock, a quarrel hit him directly on the head, sending him staggering. Although he had been hit, the arrow had only scratched his skin and caused a few drops of blood to ooze out. With the right shot, a quarrel could pierce through sheet metal armor. Yet, with the 200 points in life force that Merlin had, and the added protection from the Golden Pill Immortal Technique, the arrow only caused a ringing sensation in his head.

“One must first realize that there is no place where I cannot reach….”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In an instant, Merlin released six years of internal energy and created six new corpses. Alas, it was already too late. The subject he needed to escort had perished.

/Out./

After being returned to the main testing room, Merlin couldn’t help but stare blankly at the air. The girl who he had just been speaking to was dead. Furthermore, Merlin had just murdered people with his own two hands. Merlin knew that the people he killed were just data and not real, but the sensory input from the game made the killings feel like reality. Even if the red blood was swapped for golden particles, all the sensations seemed realistic.

“Isn’t this game… too… too… dangerous?”

Merlin couldn’t help but give an empty laugh as he recalled the monster that had sent him into this testing room.

“This is the end, human. You shall die like the falling petals of a flower.”