Chapter 32: The Trial

“I feel sick… Disgusted… Nauseous… Terrible…”

Soine, usually so energetic, looked pale and unwell. Perhaps driven by sympathy, Sayoreinne instinctively reached out, gently taking Soine’s hand. She had thought she was getting used to physical contact, but clearly, she wasn’t. The familiar shyness returned, and she quickly pulled her hand away, worried that she had offended Soine.

However, Soine simply smiled weakly and murmured, “Thank you.” Apparently, she hadn’t been offended. Flustered, Sayoreinne averted her gaze.

She could still feel Soine’s eyes on her. ‘Why did I do that?’ She, a man who had never held a girl’s hand in his previous life, had momentarily lost his mind.

In the game, in addition to health and mana, there was a third gauge: sanity. This sanity gauge depleted every time a character engaged in combat with a magical beast.

The amount of sanity lost depended on the monster’s horror rating. Each time the sanity gauge depleted completely, the character’s stats would decrease by a certain percentage. If a player neglected to manage their characters’ sanity, they would quickly find themselves staring at a party of weakened, dying characters, their hand hovering over the retry button. The developers had clearly been aiming for a SAN value-like mechanic. ( SAN value means Sanity Value )

‘It wasn’t really necessary…’

Several groups had already completed their trial runs since Soine’s group.

Sayoreinne observed that most of the students who had faced the monsters, not just Soine, looked shaken. The unfamiliar sight of the monsters, coupled with the restrictions on attacking and the necessity of maintaining a defensive posture at close range, was clearly taking its toll. One particularly sensitive-looking girl was sobbing uncontrollably, and several others were on the verge of tears. Sayoreinne began to feel a knot of anxiety in her stomach.

‘…I can barely handle horror movies. Will I be okay?’

She had always had a low tolerance for horror, whether in movies, books, or comics. Anything that sent shivers down her spine, anything involving gore and guts, would leave her sleepless for days. Despite this, she had always enjoyed reading scary stories, urban legends, and mysteries online, though her weak constitution had eventually forced her to avoid them.

…It was a worrying thought, but perhaps the original Sayoreinne’s resilience to the monsters’ presence would protect her?

…The only problem was that the original Sayoreinne had changed significantly since Juseong’s arrival, becoming more mentally stable. Sayoreinne wasn’t sure if even she could handle the monsters without any adverse effects.

‘Please, just let me get through this without breaking down…’

“Haah…”

“Are you alright? Are you worried about facing the monsters?” Nell asked, moving closer, her voice laced with concern.

“What? No, I’m fine. I’m not… afraid of the monsters or anything. Just a little nervous.”

“Really…?”

Sayoreinne tried to sound confident, but Nell didn’t believe her. Despite Sayoreinne’s impassive face, Nell, who had been observing her closely, could easily see through her facade. Driven by a desire to comfort Sayoreinne, she reached out and took Sayoreinne’s hand, her other arm wrapping around Sayoreinne’s shoulder. Sayoreinne flinched, trying to pull away, but Nell’s grip was firm. Defeated, Sayoreinne leaned into Nell’s embrace.

The warmth of Nell’s body, the feeling of her hand in hers, did ease her anxiety, though a different kind of tension began to build.

Sayoreinne glanced around. Miner was comforting Soine, and Euru was still facing the monsters. No one seemed to be paying attention to them. Seeing this, Nell leaned in, her lips close to Sayoreinne’s ear.

“No one’s looking. There’s no need to be shy.”

‘Is this really the Nell I know?’ She had asked herself this question countless times, and the answer was always the same: she wasn’t sure. After a while, Sayoreinne managed to wriggle free from Nell’s embrace.

Chime—

A clear, ringing sound filled the air, signaling the end of another group’s trial.

“That’s my cue. I’ll be back soon.”

Sayoreinne was the last of their group to face the monsters. Ignoring the calls of “Be careful!”, she walked towards the designated area. While not the very last group, there were only two or three more after hers. By the time they finished, it would be lunchtime.

Soine and Miner seemed to be handling the experience relatively well, considering. Nell, though frowning slightly, appeared to be coping. Euru, as always, seemed completely unaffected. Euru’s high sanity stat in the game explained her resilience, but Nell’s composure was surprising. She had a low sanity stat and looked so fragile…

Sayoreinne didn’t mean to underestimate Nell, but… seeing the small, delicate girl seemingly unfazed gave her a boost of confidence. ‘Maybe it won’t be so bad after all?’

Standing in the designated spot, she took a deep breath. Now that her turn had come, her confidence had evaporated, replaced by a wave of anxiety. She took another deep breath, trying to relax her tense muscles. She didn’t recognize anyone else in her group. It didn’t really matter, since knowing someone wouldn’t have made any difference.

“Get ready!”

The professor shouted, then gave the signal. The forcibly revived magical beasts would be released, one for each student. ‘Come to think of it, I almost feel sorry for the monsters.’ Captured, forcibly revived countless times to serve as practice dummies for the students, unable to rest… The forced revival process was harmful, and repeated use, especially without sufficient recovery time, would inevitably break down their bodies, shortening their lifespans.

‘Well, they’re all going to die today anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.’ They were mindless killing machines, and Sayoreinne felt no hesitation in destroying them. Still, a flicker of pity crossed her mind.

She pushed the thought aside and focused. It was about to begin.

Growl—

A shadowy, wolf-like figure, its form flickering like heat haze, emerged from the gate. Its tail split into four whip-like tentacles. Its face was indistinct, a blur of misplaced features, its eyes, nose, and mouth twisted into a grotesque parody of a wolf’s face.

It was repulsive, but hardly sanity-shattering. The true horror of magical beasts lay not just in their appearance but in the faint miasma emanating from them, in their otherworldly, uncanny presence.

“Hmm.”

Seeing a real magical beast for the first time was… unpleasant. ‘Why do they have to look so disturbing?’ Still, she felt… okay? So far, so good. But sanity depletion was a gradual process. It wasn’t time to relax just yet. While wolf-like in shape, it was smaller than the wolves she had seen in documentaries, closer in size to a dog.

‘Here it comes.’

The shadowy figure crouched, then sprang forward. It was fast, but slower than Euru using Reinforcement magic. It was, after all, a low-level monster.

Sayoreinne channeled the mana circulating within her.

Small orbs of mana coalesced around her. Not quite spells, more like concentrated bursts of raw mana, she launched them at the approaching monster. Most missed, or were dodged, but a few connected.

The monster stumbled, rolling across the ground, then quickly got back on its feet and continued its charge. Sayoreinne hadn’t expected the attack to be particularly effective. It had been more of an impulsive experiment. The goal of this exercise wasn’t to defeat the weak monsters but to become accustomed to their presence.

This time, she drew out mana threads, weaving them into a spell formula, summoning a defensive barrier. Not her usual ice wall, but a simple, transparent shield. It should be more than enough to stop this weak creature. Now, all she had to do was maintain the shield and face the monster.

The monster slammed against her barrier.

“Haah…”

It clawed, bit, and lashed out with its tentacled tail, its shadowy form sharpening into razor-sharp edges as it attacked the shield, but it was no match for her magic.

The real challenge was her own sanity. Staring at the monster, her head began to pound. Its mismatched eyes, filled with malice, its gaping maw, its grotesque tail, its flickering form… it was all so unsettling. And that unease was slowly morphing into fear.

She imagined the shield shattering, the monster’s teeth sinking into her flesh, her lifeless body lying broken and mangled on the ground. She imagined its claws tearing her apart, spilling her guts onto the dirt. These terrifying, yet vividly realistic images filled her mind, making her dizzy.

She gritted her teeth and endured, focusing on maintaining the shield. She couldn’t lose control, couldn’t embarrass herself by collapsing and needing the professor’s assistance. Nell, Soine, Miner, and the other students had all managed to hold their own. So could she.

Her vision blurred. She focused on her mana.

Something flickered at the edge of her vision. She held onto her mana threads, refusing to let go.

Flashes of light. Nausea. She fought it down. It was almost over. Focus.

Mother, father, stepmother, bastard, whore, brother, sister, trash, b*tch, airhead…
Alone, alone, all alone, I am all, you are all, we are all…

Chime—

“!”

Her mind cleared. The reality? The hallucination? It vanished in an instant. The headache, dizziness, and nausea lingered, as did the lingering emotions: anger, sadness, pain…

As she sat there, dazed, a professor approached and removed the unconscious monster. Seeing this, she pulled herself to her feet, her legs, arms, and entire body trembling.

She wiped her eyes. Tears.

“…….”

She had failed.