Before the exam, a rumor began to circulate among them.
"The newbie is currently being trained by the veterans! After that, he'll take the Pilgrim Exam!"
Up to this point, it was 100% true.
The problem was what came next.
"The veterans are teaching him everything after seeing his true form!"
"The newbie is hiding his power!"
"He's clearly the one destined to go out and destroy the kingdom!"
After that, all sorts of wild rumors got mixed in, and in a closed-off guild, false rumors spread in an instant.
Thanks to that, everything got all jumbled up, and on the day of the exam...
"The newbie is the hero who will save the guild, and the one who will crush the kingdom's Seven Apostles and return supremacy to the players!"
What remained was a rumor 0% truth and 1000% lies.
Of course, the challenger player was just as steeped in those rumors.
As a result, he ended up becoming a raid leader, something he hadn't planned on at all.
'Wait, I've never even done a raid before, let alone be a raid leader!'
Even if he tried to say that...
"Just give the orders!"
"Everyone, let's follow whatever the newbie says!"
When they looked at him with eyes so full of expectation, he simply couldn't tell them the truth.
If he couldn't tell them the truth, he had no choice but to show them what they wanted to see.
"Hmm... hmm... First off, those of you whose main specialty is ranged combat, hold your ground from a distance! And those of you in melee combat, step back and escort the others!"
It was a command that could have been directed at anyone, but no one objected.
The players whose main focus was ranged combat—including the one with the bow from earlier—spread out, retreating even further.
After all, they, too, were challengers who had set out to become Pilgrims, and they were max-level players in their own right.
If anything, it was the newbie who made up for the lack of morale and organization that the others lacked.
Though the newbie was unaware of that fact.
The problem was that Arien was well aware of it.
Her crimson gaze turned toward the newbie.
At the same time, she sent a message.
[Arien: How does it feel? How does it feel to suddenly be saddled with responsibility out of the blue? In life, you always end up with responsibilities you didn't ask for, don't you?]
With those words, she assumed a fighting stance.
Her shield, which had been moving busily back and forth, now clung tightly to her arm.
Anyone could tell what she was about to do.
"Stop her! She's about to charge at Newbie!"
A quick-witted player pointed at Arien.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than.
Whoosh!
With a piercing whistle, she began charging toward Newbie.
Arrows and bullets rained down, but they only struck the afterimage she left behind.
Before anyone knew it, she had closed in on the newbie.
At that moment, the quick-witted Excel clung to her shield first.
"Hmph! No way!"
As if she had expected it, she slammed her shield into the ground.
"Eh, eek? Aaaah!"
Along with the shield, Excel was driven into the ground.
Excel, who had effectively been Newbie's strongest shield, was sealed in place.
[Arien: That's how you break your opponent's strongest weapon first.]
Along with the message, she swung her sword at Newbie.
Clang!
Her sword collided with the one Newbie had hastily drawn.
A metallic clang rang out like a bell, and sparks flew like flint.
The problem was what came next.
She began to fully showcase her swordsmanship.
It's easy to mistake her flashy chainsaw shield for her main weapon, but her true strength lay in close combat.
'Everyone probably thinks they can beat her if they just dodge the chainsaw shield and close in, so they charge even harder. That's exactly what she wants. But if you try to fight her in close combat... hmm, I'm not so sure? Even I'd have a hard time against a dog like that.'
That was Vald's assessment of Arien.
In an instant, she unleashed her swordplay on the newbie.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Damn it! Save the newbie somehow!"
"How?! If we mess up, the arrows might hit the newbie!"
"You guys in close combat, go over there first! What are you doing?!"
The players around them began to lose their coordination.
Meanwhile, Newbie continued to be cornered.
Unlike other sword techniques, her style swept through like a whirlwind with almost no preparatory movements.
It wasn't a sword style that felt flashy or powerful.
It was simply invisible.
'Lord Vald was definitely right.'
In an instant, her sword carved a long red line across the newbie's cheek.
[Slashed by a sword. Lost 72% HP]
'Damn! It was just a scratch on the cheek, and that's the damage?'
This was the difference between a max-level player and a level 10.
While an attack from another max-level player wouldn't even chip away 1% of her health, for him—the only level 10 in this world—any hit from her was a critical strike that could kill him instantly.
"Focus! I have to focus! If I get hit again, I'm dead!"
They kept trading blows like that for one minute, then five.
It wasn't until then that Arien sensed something was off.
'What is this? I'm supposed to last less than ten seconds, right?'
Her swordplay was renowned for having the fastest speed among countless fast-sword styles.
Thanks to this, even among the kingdom's NPCs, she was called the "Invisible Sword" because her blade was too fast to see.
Under normal circumstances, lasting a minute was the absolute limit.
Yet, the newbie's sword was forming an uncannily perfect rhythm with hers.
Just then, the two locked blades once more in a fierce duel.
[Arien: That's strange… I'm not bragging, but I'm pretty confident in my swordsmanship, you know?]
"It's all thanks to Lord Vald and the veterans. Hehe…"
Unlike Arien, the newbie—who didn't even have the spare time to type a message—replied with a laugh.
He had taught her countermeasures for every single one of her sword techniques and skills.
'That damn bald old man...'
From the very beginning until now, that bald man had been a figure of both love and hate to Arien.
She felt a slight pang of resentment toward him, but then realized something shocking.
'Wait a minute... but is this really possible?'
Come to think of it, it was strange.
When she swung her sword, the newbie would already be in a blocking stance ahead of her.
Anyone watching would assume he was a master who could predict her moves, but in reality, he had simply memorized everything.
It wasn't just memorization, either.
Her arm movements, shoulder shifts, even the sounds and her breathing—it seemed he had memorized every single detail.
As that thought crossed his mind, he was horrified.
"I-is that even possible?"
I mean, it's theoretically possible, but to actually be able to do it?
That's a whole different story. And in just two weeks, no less?
Seriously, what kind of learning freak is this?
With that realization, the situation did a complete 180.
In a sword fight, a newbie could never beat Arien, but at least she hadn't lost either.
Simply put, it was as if she had actually been bested by the newbie.
By then, even the players who had been acting like fools were gradually coming to their senses.
"I-I-I-incredible! That newbie isn't backing down!"
"I knew the rumors were true!"
Before they knew it, they were watching the scene as if they were spectators.
"Hey, give me a hand!"
Newbie couldn't hold back any longer and snapped.
Only then did they snap out of it and start approaching her little by little.
[Arien: You really do surprise me every time, Newbie. But you can't land a hit on me either. In that case...]
As soon as she sent the incomplete message, she stepped back.
At the same time, she pulled out the chain connected to her shield again.
Thud! Swish!
She abandoned the shield, retrieved only the chain, and attached a short blade to it.
She spun the chain around.
The other players all charged at her at once, but,
"Huh…?"
The chain moved like a snake and surged toward the players in an instant.
It pierced right through the chest of the player who reached her first, and without stopping there, it skewered three of them in succession.
The three were reduced to dust without even having a chance to react.
"Eek, eek!"
"Crazy... what is that?"
"What do you mean, what is it?! Shoot her now!"
The ranged players fired at her all at once, but the chain spun around, deflecting the arrows and bullets.
She moved in a way that was the exact opposite of her original strategy.
If subduing the newbie was too difficult, she decided to eliminate the dazed challenger players around her instead, cutting off any elements that could land effective hits on her.
"S-stop her!"
"Damn it!"
The players resisted as best they could, but her chain attacks were relentless.
To stop her, the newbie would have to lock swords with her and hold her in place, just like before.
The problem was that Arien wouldn't let the newbie get close.
She attacked the players scattered here and there.
After all, since these challenger players were also the ones who had tried to go outside, they weren't going to take it lying down like before.
Clang! Clack!
"Guh...!"
It was only a matter of time.
There was an unbridgeable gap between Arien, who had gone in and out of the outside world hundreds of times, and those who had spent their entire time within the guild.
The only option left was for the newbie to engage her.
"Gulp, gulp!"
[Used the item 'Elixir']
[Used the item 'Elixir']
[Used the item 'Elixir']
[Health has been restored.]
The newbie drank all the elixirs.
Thanks to that, his health, which had dropped by nearly half, returned to normal.
The newbie ran nonstop, desperate to get close to Arien.
Even so, Arien used his speed boost skill to pull away while simultaneously hunting down the players.
Even as he pulled away, and kept pulling away.
He pressed forward relentlessly.
[Arien: You'd better give up. I won't go easy on you like Lord Bald did.]
"I have to try. Group up! I said group up!"
The newbie shouted.
At those words, the scattered players began to converge on a single spot all at once.
"Tch!"
This became the line that would decide the outcome of the battle.
As she ran toward the players, she suddenly turned.
"Ugh...!"
For a moment, Newbie felt as if time had stopped.
Those crimson eyes were clearly fixed on her.
Her chain coiled around her wrist like a snake, and the blade at its tip was aimed directly at Newbie.
Pretending to attack the players who were gathering, she had instead launched a counterattack against Newbie, who had been chasing her.
Whoosh! Sssssshhh!
The coiled chain flew straight toward Newbie.
Newbie didn't dodge.
He watched the incoming chain until the very end.
It had reached a distance where, if it had just one more second, the blade would have pierced his heart.
"Ugh!"
The strength in her hand slipped slightly.
At that moment, the newbie, who had been watching until the very end, twisted his body.
As a result, the blade attached to the chain barely grazed his forearm.
[Cut by the blade. Lost 98% of HP]
Newbie reached the end, and his sword clashed with hers once more.
But her sword lacked the power it had earlier.
It felt less like a fight to win...
"Unequip."
At Arien's words, her helmet vanished, revealing her lush hair and beautiful face.
It was tantamount to admitting defeat.
As the two stood facing off.
"Now!"
"Show no mercy!"
Players swung their weapons and fired arrows at her.
Countless sword strikes and arrows pierced her back.
After that storm of attacks from the players subsided, she was left battered and bruised.
Only then did the newbie speak.
"You said you wouldn't go easy on me?"
She smiled at the newbie's question.
[Arien: I never went easy on you. It's just...]
She couldn't finish her sentence.
Thud!
Because a brave player had succeeded in stabbing her in the back with a spear.
The player who stabbed her in the back shouted to the newbie.
"Got her! Are you okay, Newbie?"
"Ah, yes... I'm fine."
At the same moment, as if her stamina had run out, she dropped to one knee.
The players watched her with tense expressions.
"Congratulations. I lost."
With that declaration, the players erupted in cheers.
A few of them, their tension completely gone, simply collapsed onto the ground.
Meanwhile, Arien, despite the spear piercing her, stared at Newbie without batting an eye.
[Arien: You can do it, right?]
For a moment, Newbie didn't understand what she meant.
[Newbie: Yes, I can do it!]
She just agreed.
It was more of an emotional response than a rational one.
Satisfied with that answer, Arien flashed another broad smile.
[Arien: I'll trust you. I pray you achieve what you seek out there.]
With those words, a shower of light began to flow from the tips of her hair, and soon her body dissolved into light.
*
Clank!
"Huh?"
"Hmm?"
"Eeeh?"
Everyone who looked inside the open door let out strange exclamations.
"This... it's just a door, isn't it?"
"Wh-what is this?"
That door wasn't a dimensional portal leading anywhere.
It was just a solid door placed right there.
Which meant...
"I guess we're supposed to jump down here?"
Newbie pointed toward the cliff below.
Everyone swallowed hard and looked down.
There... just like the trap test earlier, countless sawblade traps filled the floor.
It was obvious to anyone that falling meant certain death.
"Is this what they meant by a 'test of courage'?"
"Isn't this way too easy? We just have to fall, right?"
Excel said confidently.
Even after being stuck in the ground for quite a while, he was perfectly fine—not even a hair out of place.
He really is a sturdy mascot.
"You're the only one who can say that, aren't you?"
The players' opinions began to diverge.
"Is there something going on here?"
"Arien the Examiner definitely said we lost—she didn't say we passed, did she?"
"What on earth are we supposed to do..."
"What do you mean? Isn't it just a matter of dying once?"
"Are you an idiot? If you die, you're automatically disqualified from the test!"
At that moment, the newbie wondered why this was a test of courage.
At the same time, something felt off to the newbie.
It was that same feeling of something not quite right, like when they saw bugs.
And the lingering question: why was this a test of courage?
All of it pointed to one thing.
"I'm going in. Thank you all!"
With those words, Newbie took a deep breath.
"Alright, here I gooooo!"
"Hey! Hey! What are you doing?!"
Newbie threw himself off the cliff inside the door.
The players stared blankly at him for a moment.