〈 Chapter 219 〉 The Fifth Trial (1）

*

A lake shrouded in fog.

It certainly felt like a trial.

‘It’s been a while.’

Or has it?

Thinking back, it wasn’t that long since I had participated in a trial near Leim Kingdom.

Still, the density of events during that time made it feel like forever.

‘By the way, I wonder what the gods want to tell me.’

Albert had expended quite a bit of divine authority, telling me to go to the Ice Valley’s trial even while resting.

That meant it must be something important.

‘Moreover…’

It was true that I had learned significant facts each time I underwent a trial.

In the second trial, I learned about my identity; in the third trial, I discovered the reason for my connection being severed with the Divine Seats, and in the fourth trial, I learned about the impending destruction.

Naturally, I couldn’t help but feel anticipation for this trial as well.

What I needed most right now was a way to prevent the world’s destruction.

If I could just gain a hint about that…

“Then, shall we go in?”

I said to Elsie and Sara, who seemed ready.

By the way, it seemed Luel, Miss Weiss, and Miss Gwen would stay outside.

Given the uncertain duration of the trial, it could be dangerous if one person came out alone.

So, Miss Gwen, who had presumably reached her growth limit, decided to stay back.

In addition, it seemed that Luel and Miss Weiss judged it would be more effective for Miss Weiss to teach magic than for them to grow through this trial.

Just then, Elsie spoke.

“Come to think of it, it reminds me of the days at the Academy. Back then, we were in and out of trials every other day.”

“Indeed.”

The Academy.

It was true.

But now, the situation was a bit different.

Unlike back then, when we entered the trials with light hearts, this time it was a trial of utmost importance.

“You both remember, right? What we need to find out as much as possible.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Sara, you?”

“Hmm? Ah, the High Priest’s objectives and how to prevent the destruction!”

I felt a momentary panic.

But thankfully, she seemed to remember.

“Good, let’s prioritize the way to prevent destruction.”

That settled it.

Now, I needed to focus on my trial rather than worrying about the two of them.

It had been a trial I had consistently passed, but that didn’t mean it was easy.

‘Every trial has been difficult except the fourth.’

Steeling myself once more, I stepped toward the lake’s surface.

Then, my body was instantly sucked beneath that surface.

Naturally, my consciousness submerged with it, and when I opened my eyes again… it was an entirely different place.

‘Where is this…?’

A strange ceiling.

Actually, it was a familiar one.

‘No way…!’

As I raised my body, a computer came into view.

‘Not again?’

This was Earth.

And more specifically…

Sung Yoo-rang’s room.

*

“Ah, ah.”

Sung Yoo-rang’s voice flowed from my throat.

His voice, ruined by smoking and drinking, was somewhat recovered.

However, it was hard to adjust to, given its depth compared to mine.

‘Well, that aside.’

I needed to assess the current situation first.

I sat on the bed and began to think.

‘First and foremost, this place is within a trial.’

Therefore, saying it was Earth like earlier was technically incorrect.

This place couldn’t possibly be the actual Earth.

I could be deceived by the trial once or twice, but I wouldn’t fall for that trick in the fifth trial.

Then, the second thing to doubt was whether this Earth truly resembled what I knew.

Given that it was a trial, there was a chance this Earth wasn’t in a normal state.

‘Then…’

As I tried to rise from the bed, I realized my legs were unable to support me.

For a moment, I had forgotten I was in Sung Yoo-rang’s body.

‘Not being able to use my legs is frustrating.’

I felt a bit bad for thinking this about Sung Yoo-rang, but it was true.

“Ugh.”

I ended up resting my body in a wheelchair.

Then, I rolled toward the window.

The blackout curtains had been drawn for a good night’s sleep.

Gently pulling them open, sunlight began to filter in.

At the same time, the outside view caught my eye.

‘It looks peaceful.’

Given Sung Yoo-rang’s difficulty using stairs, his room was on the first floor.

Thus, it didn’t have the best view of the cars and people below, but I could see folks rushing along the street.

That was an exceedingly ordinary sight.

‘So far, so good; I confirmed it’s a regular Earth.’

I closed the curtains again before making eye contact with anyone in the street.

Instead, I turned on the lights in the room.

As the room became brighter, I got a better look at my surroundings.

‘It’s cleaner than I remember.’

I wasn’t sure if this was really Sung Yoo-rang’s room.

After all, it was a trial.

However, compared to my last memory, his room appeared considerably tidier.

The belongings were organized, and there wasn’t a scrap of trash lying around.

Even the empty bookshelf, which used to have an assortment of junk, had a few books tucked into it now.

That meant he had changed a lot since then.

I felt a sense of warmth, but at the same time, it was a bit strange.

Surely, when I first inherited his memories, we could be considered nearly the same person, but now I had become entirely different.

Of course, this was the right direction for both of us.

‘The question is, why was I shoved back into his body?’

If it’s a trial, there must be some purpose behind it.

Most likely related to what I was lacking.

‘What was I lacking…?’

‘Hmm.’

As I collected my thoughts, I unconsciously turned on the smartphone and searched for “what’s most lacking.”

However, an autocomplete suggestion popped up on the search engine.

[Most Lacking Capability］

‘What is this…?’

Searching that brought up pages related to self-introductions.

And each of those pages had traces of having been visited.

It seemed Sung Yoo-rang had been preparing for a job recently.

‘This guy was doing his part, huh?’

That realization hit me hard.

If that was the case, then maybe trying to live Sung Yoo-rang’s altered life for at least a few days wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Of course, I didn’t think that was the trial’s purpose, but since I had Sung Yoo-rang’s memories, I was curious.

‘Then what should I start with?’

I was mulling over that when suddenly, my smartphone vibrated.

‘Hmm?’

It felt oddly familiar.

I remembered speaking to the gods like this before.

The God of Regret.

‘It’s not that guy again, is it?’

Thinking that, I glanced at my smartphone.

[A message has arrived.]

Miss Mint Lemon: Yuran, did you get home okay last night? You can make it to today’s broadcast, right?

This woman… was definitely someone I had heard of from the God of Chains.

She mentioned she was doing a broadcast with Sung Yoo-rang recently.

And also noted how the atmosphere was pleasant.

‘I do feel a bit guilty…’

I began skimming through the previous messages between her and Sung Yoo-rang.

I needed to understand their relationship.

However, the more I read, the more my head tilted.

‘Wasn’t it said that they had a good vibe according to the God of Chains?’

But from the messenger, I couldn’t tell.

To me, it looked like a purely business-like relationship between a man and a woman.

There didn’t seem to be any private feelings between them.

‘What they did last night seemed like just sharing a meal after the broadcast.’

I still had no idea.

That said, since I read it, I should reply.

‘Saying I’ll come seems appropriate, right?’

It seemed that recently, Sung Yoo-rang had been quite invested in broadcasting with her.

– Yes, I’ll be there on time.

Sent.

*

“Hello!”

“Yuran! Did you have breakfast?”

Upon arriving at her studio, she greeted me with a bright smile.

Her bright blonde hair seemed to embody her nickname.

For some reason, Elsie popped into my mind.

‘She should be doing well on her own.’

Though I had Sung Yoo-rang’s memories, I was on Earth, and since I didn’t know the purpose of my trial, I couldn’t guess what trials she might be undergoing.

However, worrying about Elsie was a foolish thing to do.

Rather, I should have been more concerned about Sara.

Anyway, I needed to focus on my trial now.

“Yes, I had breakfast.”

“Great! Then we can start the broadcast right away?”

I nodded.

Broadcasting… I had never experienced that before, so it felt fascinating.

“Ah! I’ll check the final transmission computer environment, so Yuran, please start up Hundred Braves on the game computer.”

Following her instructions, I booted up Hundred Braves.

Just as I was about to log in, a thought struck me.

‘What happens to me if I log in here?’

I was currently within a trial.

However, if I logged into Hundred Braves while in this trial…

‘Hmm.’

Difficult question.

It seemed more certain to check it out directly.

‘Then where should I check?’

I clicked the login button.

Suddenly, my image appeared on the screen, Allen Pleuk.

And he was… not within a trial.

‘Huh?’

*

“Allen, what on earth is he trying to do?”

Well.

For now, I held back my answer and continued observing Allen’s actions.

‘What could it be?’

He left the trial and headed toward the Ice Valley.

He must be preparing for a showdown.

‘Is that really me?’

Nope, that can’t be.

This was ultimately inside a trial.

Thus, every single thing is an illusion.

Even as I thought that, I couldn’t help but focus on the Allen Pleuk on screen.

Because the place he was walking through was somewhere I had never stepped foot in before.

‘In a way, it’s information about the future.’

Perhaps this is what Albert referred to.

He might have intended to reveal some truth to me through this.

Things like the High Priest’s objectives or hints on how to prevent destruction, perhaps.

If that’s truly the case, I wanted to quickly confirm the story’s end on my own.

Yet, leaving Miss Mint Lemon and the viewers behind felt unsettling.

To be honest, simply confirming the future this way didn’t quite feel fulfilling as a trial.

So, I should probably respond to Miss Mint Lemon’s question first.

“I’m not quite sure either.”

Of course, I was Allen Pleuk himself.

But what the Allen Pleuk on the screen was trying to do was unclear to me as well.

Had that guy discovered something I didn’t know?

Or was he just heading to the Ice Valley aimlessly?

I couldn’t figure it out from my current perspective.

Then Miss Mint Lemon said, sounding puzzled.

“Yuran, you’re not feeling unwell, are you?”

“Pardon?”

“You usually predict Allen’s actions quite confidently like you were him. But this ‘I don’t know’ is the first time I’ve heard you say that.”

What on earth had Sung Yoo-rang said about me?

“That time when we bet on whether Allen would cheat, you ultimately couldn’t find evidence, leading to your victory. That was the best underdog odds of all time.”

Thankfully, that much was on my side.

I felt bad for betraying him.

I never expected I’d end up getting involved with Sara or Miss Gwen too.

‘Now that I think about it, I said it confidently…’

Bringing doubt upon myself wouldn’t be good.

So I spoke about what I thought Allen Pleuk was doing.

“I’m not sure if there’s a clear plan. However…”

The purpose of what he was doing was evident.

“He’s probably trying to save the world.”

Miss Mint Lemon displayed a strange reaction.

“Eh?”

“Is there a problem?”

“Didn’t you already prevent all the destructions? What do you mean by saving the world…”

Ah.

‘I made a mistake.’

It seemed they didn’t know about the scheduled destruction.

– ???

– Wait, there’s more destruction left?

– This wasn’t supposed to be the ending, was it?

‘How do I fix this…’

Then it happened.

– Our side had informed Sung Yoo-rang about the new settings.

That was through the account of the Hundred Braves GM.

Thanks to that, some confusion was somewhat resolved.

However…

‘But who the heck are they?’

I’d been curious about that for a while.

What on earth does the Operator of Hundred Braves do?

Even though this is a fictional Earth within a trial, I still wanted to find out.

‘Who knows what information might be a hint to prevent destruction.’

Perhaps… there might be hints in this place that could not be found in that world.

*