Published at 29th of November 2020 01:59:40 PM
Chapter 294
Chapter 294
The meat party with Hyeonu ended, and Tang-E held his swollen belly as he sat in Hyeonu’s arms .
‘Cute guy . ’ A deep smile appeared on Hyeonu’s face . Then he stepped through the door at a leisurely pace . The background for Senu’s Stage 4 was the Colosseum . This was Senu’s original appearance before the first stage began .
-In Stage 4, we will test the life you have lived up to the present . The empire wants talented people who not only have skills but also humanity . Three witnesses will be summoned to the testing bench in front of you . They will be asked a few questions each . If the answer is above a certain standard, the Stage 4 test will end . There is no time limit .
Hyeonu smiled bitterly as the voice ringing through the space stopped . This was the worst .
‘It’s shit . ’
It was a more difficult mission than anything else . Testing his life—this meant checking his play history . The presence of Senu on the East Continent and Laek on the West Continent meant that there had been no distinction between east and west during the Luos Empire . The components on which talents who were desired by such a huge empire were judged included personality . It meant that they wanted him to have a tendency toward either ‘good’ or ‘neutral’ behaivor . Of course, this was just Hyeonu’s guess .
‘Did I do so? Did I play Arena nicely?’
Hyeonu was already looking back on himself . What had he done and who had he harassed?
‘When did I harass anyone? No, I never did . ’
Hyeonu shook his head vigorously . He hadn’t done that at all . Although he hadn’t done anything good, he hadn’t done anything bad either . Hyeonu was extremely neutral, and it was the definition of how he had played Arena so far . However, this stage had nothing to do with Hyeonu’s willpower or strength and merely depended on who appeared and what they would say .
‘Please, please . . . Please be people who have a good relationship with me . . . ’ Hyeonu prayed earnestly .
-The first witness has been summoned, the voice spoke again .
Simultaneously, a four-meter-wide circle appeared around the place called the testing bench . The light disappeared, but nothing was left in that place .
“What?” Hyeonu was naturally annoyed . It was because this was Senu’s problem . In a way, it was a bug .
“Why isn’t anyone coming out?” Hyeonu murmured as he watched the empty test bench . He was annoyed, but he didn’t know the cause, so it was natural for him to be curious .
-The first witness has been summoned, the polite voice said once more .
Then the light appeared again, but there was still no one on the test bench . The irritation disappeared from Hyeonu’s face, and seriousness filled it instead .
‘Is it really not appearing?’
He didn’t know for sure since this was an ancient empire . A lot of time had passed, so perhaps the magic circle was damaged . There could be a problem .
-The first witness has been summoned .
Just then, the magic circle glowed three times, and the light burst out again . Hyeonu stared at the testing bench with a face of anticipation .
‘Work this time! Someone appear!!’
Perhaps Hyeonu’s desperate prayer worked . There were small movements from the place where the light had disappeared . Yet Hyeonu’s expression quickly stiffened when he saw the other person . Simultaneously, his face turned white like he had seen a ghost .
“Hrmm . . . Who called me? Is it the earl?” The owner of the voice had golden hair as gorgeous as the sun . He was a person with a distinctively lazy voice . It was the master of the empire who ruled the West Continent . The emperor, Alexander, had been summoned .
“I thought someone was playing a joke . This doesn’t seem to be the West Continent . Is this the East Continent?” The emperor looked around with curious eyes . This was extremely rare for the emperor who didn’t see most things in his eyes . If any of his attendants saw this scene, they would be shocked .
Hyeonu soon managed his expression and calmly answered the emperor’s question, “Y-Your Majesty, this is a place called Senu on the East Continent . ”
He had always felt it, but he was struck by fear once again when he stood in front of the emperor . Arena was a game yet the reluctance that came from instinct couldn’t be helped .
“Senu? Ah, the place that Suped was looking for . You are eager to advance in many ways . Truly a model for the nobles of the empire . In particular, Lebron should imitate your eagerness . . . ” A subtle playfulness was on the emperor’s face . “So why am I here?”
“That . . . ” Hyeonu hesitated as he was unable to answer the emperor’s question properly .
Just then, a voice answered the emperor’s question instead of Hyeonu: -It is for the examination of the academy student .
“It’s a test? Do I have to fight against the earl?” The emperor’s expression was still playful . It was a terrible joke from Hyeonu’s point of view .
“It isn’t like that, Your Majesty . Don’t say that even as a joke,” Hyeonu said .
Just imagining it was horrifying . A battle with the emperor, a dragon-certified monster, was nothing but suicide .
-Just answer three questions, the voice stated, saving Hyeonu .
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“How boring . Is that all? It isn’t worth standing up from my throne after such a long time . ” The emperor shook his head slightly .
The emperor’s face had lost his sense of playfulness, which was then replaced by the expression Hyeonu was used to seeing . It was an expression of being bothered by the world .
‘He stood up from the throne?’ Hyeonu realized it from the emperor’s words . It was a fact that the emperor’s body had always been buried in the throne .
‘Ah! There was one time . ’
An exception was when he had a fistfight with Lebron, Hyeonu’s teacher, but that had only happened once . Apart from that time, the emperor had always been buried in his throne .
-The first question . What is your relationship with the academy student in front of you? The voice asked the first question .
The emperor started answering without hesitation, “I am the emperor of the empire . ”
The answer was ridiculous, but it was the most obvious expression of the relationship between the two . The emperor—no matter what the relationship was packaged as, everyone was just a subordinate in front of him . The voice was well aware of this as well .
-The answer turned out to be true . Then I’ll move onto the next question . Who is the academy student in front of you?
The emperor answered the next question without hesitation as well . It was as if he had studied in advance the questions that the voice would ask .
“Our Earl Gang Hyeonu is very suitable . His talent is good, his greed is appropriate, and he is even moderately fun . I like him very much . He is the best subordinate . ” It was the emperor’s praise . Of course, it varied depending on those listening, but it couldn’t be higher praise according to the emperor’s standards .
-The answer turned out to be true . Then I’ll move onto the next question . It is the last question . Is the academy student in front of you trustworthy?
“Gang Hyeonu is a trustworthy man,” the emperor once again asserted without hesitation . Hyeonu was embarrassed to hear it .
‘Does he believe in me that much?’ Hyeonu even had this thought . However, just as he was feeling moved—
“He has the right amount of armed force . He isn’t a threat at all . A dog is a dog . He can’t bite his owner . ” The emperor’s ensuing words shattered Hyeonu’s emotions .
The voice echoed through the space: -The answer turned out to be true . The questioning is over . I will return the witness .
Light wrapped around the emperor’s body, but the emperor didn’t move away as the voice intended . Instead, he moved entirely of his own will .
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“Bring more when you come . Understood?” The emperor ordered as he stared into Hyeonu’s eyes . There was a faint sense of greed in his eyes .
“I understand,” Hyeonu replied with a smile .
‘I have to fill my empty inventory with alcohol . ’
It was clearly alcohol that the emperor was asking him to bring .
“Don’t make me wait for long . There is only a bit of alcohol left . ” The emperor disappeared from the testing bench with these words . He was truly a monster .
-The second witness has been summoned .
A second witness was summoned before Hyeonu could recover from the aftermath of the emperor . This person had a familiar face and appearance . It was a face he saw countless times a day . The face belonged to Yeongchan .
“Hey, what is this? Did you do it? This shit . . . ” Yeongchan frowned with annoyance the moment he showed up . He had been hunting with his guild members . Yeongchan was a guild master and their ace, so his absence meant that the hunt would have to stop .
“What? This? What is this place?”
In response to Yeongchan’s words, Hyeonu answered briefly, “Give good answers . You will be sent away soon . ”
“What?” Yeongchan asked again, not understanding Hyeonu’s words properly . Before hearing Hyeonu’s answer, Yeongchan heard another voice .
-The first question . What is your relationship with the academy student in front of you?
“I have to answer this?”
Hearing Yeongchan’s question, Hyeonu nodded . Yeongchan opened his mouth as he thought of the guild members who would be sending him whispers after he went missing . He answered, “A friend . A friend I will be with for the rest of my life . ”
Like the emperor, Yeongchan responded without hesitation . In fact, there was no need for him to hesitate . He just had to tell the truth .
-The answer turned out to be true . Then I’ll move onto the next question . Who is the academy student in front of you?
“A good friend . He is pretty kind but also moderately bad . He is a really good friend . ”
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It was a simple answer, but this alone showed what Yeongchan thought of Hyeonu—a friend he would know forever .
-The answer turned out to be true . Then I’ll move onto the next question . It is the last question . Is the academy student in front of you trustworthy?
It was already the last question . Two questions passed by in an instant . Yeongchan immediately opened his mouth to answer this question and said, “I believe in him more than my family . My parents gave birth to me, but this friend knows me best . Who will I trust if I don’t trust the person I’ve shared half my life with?”
The relationship between Yeongchan and Hyeonu had lasted over 10 years, from their days of being snot-faced kids to the present when they were 23 years old .
‘Jerk . . . ’
Hyeonu had believed that Yeongchan would speak well of him, but he hadn’t expected such sincerity .
-The answer turned out to be true . The questioning is over . I will return the witness .
“Hey, buy my usual fried chicken later . Onions, ribs . You know the drill?” Yeongchan was pleasant to the end . At the end of these words, he disappeared from the testing bench with a burst of light .
‘I just need one more person . ’
So far, it had worked out well . The emperor and Yeongchan—they had both showed confidence in him and come up with good answers . Hyeonu wanted to end it here . However, he wasn’t the one who would finish the test .
-The last witness has been summoned .
It was a nice sound . This was the last one .
‘I just need to pass this time . ’
He felt lucky .
“Huh?” Hyeonu instantly became awkward as his body felt lighter . It felt as if he just put down a heavy load he had been carrying . The reason quickly became apparent .
“Master dude, the last one is me . ”
The last witness was a cute bear with golden fur . It was Tang-E .