Chapter 241: Ssh—— [Part 1]
This additional test had no time limit. The examinees were forbidden from using flying tools, but of course those who were born with the ability to fly were a different story.
There weren’t many overly imposing rules or restrictions. The examinees could group up and form teams as they liked. That was why Cillin grouped up with his hostel mates for this test.
Cillin noticed from the beginning that Teita’s expression was a little unusual. Unlike Libero and Ironhead’s miserable appearance, Teita looked like he just saw an old friend or two. However, the young boy did his best to maintain a serious expression.
Teita might be small, but his stamina was incredibly good. At the very least, he hadn’t fallen behind the team.
They had to avoid the pursuing animals behind them and the ones who were causing trouble ahead of the road. Cillin and his team saw with their own eyes an unfortunate fellow being caught by the leg by the black ape and tossed way, way back across the running track. None of them doubted if the tigers, leopards, snakes and even cows were capable of similar feats.
After running for a moment, the group of five rested temporarily behind a rock pile. One hour later, they continued along on their journey.
“Teita, you have unexpectedly good stamina,” Libero praised.
“Of course! I trained a lot with my father’s subordinates since I was small.” Teita was very proud of this.
Cillin looked up to the sky. They couldn’t outrun the planet’s rotation, so of course daytime wouldn’t last forever. No one could tell what kind of danger would befall them after it was night though. The animals cared nothing for chivalry, and they were the ones who were going to suffer if the animals accidentally used too much strength, just like the poor guy who was flung into the air by the black ape.
Had Cillin been running alone, he would have definitely been able to move faster and hide better than this. However this was just an additional test, and there was no need to fight for the number one spot. Plus, he could help his teammates and learn some other news from them.
At first, Cillin was planning to send the gray cat to communicate with those animals. However, it left behind the message “I’m out to do some networking” and was gone before the marathon even started.
“It’s getting dark…” Walley sounded a little sad while leaning against a rock. He didn’t look as careless as he used to.
“Are you afraid of the dark?” Teita asked.
“No, I’m just worried.”
“Don’t worry, we’re here. If you want to take a nap now then do it quickly. We’re going to move again in about a moment.” Libero moved outside so that Walley could sleep at the center.
“Stay here. I’m going to inspect the terrain for a bit.”
They had zero understanding of this strange running track, and they were forbidden from bringing scanners. There were even signal jammers and magnetic interference devices nearby. It was very likely for a person with a bad sense of direction to stray off the path.
Cillin looked around him for a moment before climbing onto a rock formation. Then, he hid himself inside the shadows and inspected the terrain around him.
From the high ground, Cillin was able to figure out the meaning behind its arrangement a little. Some of these rocks were purposely arranged in a way that affects a person’s mind. It was a maze that confused everyone who navigated it and nudged them into making the wrong choice.
That wasn’t all that was fishy with this terrain either. It wasn’t too long before he noticed that some of the rock formations had shifted positions. When they entered the rocky maze, they made sure to mark the path behind them. But if the rocks shifted positions, then they would only be misled if they searched for the right path using the marks they left behind. The trapped examinees would stray off the path, attempt to return to the original spot only to stray even further… if they couldn’t find a way to escape the maze then they would be trapped straight until morning. Also, who knows what other dangers might lurk during this long night? Cillin thought that the sooner they left this place and found a new resting spot, the better.
While Cillin was examining the rock formations, a figure had sneakily entered the area. A momentary pause later, it “floated” towards Cillin and approached him from the back.
Walley, who was taking a nap at the center abruptly opened his eyes to look at Cillin’s direction, but before he could cry out a warning there was a “bang” that sounded like something heavy crashing onto the ground. Walley ran quickly towards the direction of the noise while followed by Libero and the others, but when they arrived they found Cillin standing safe and sound on top of the rock formation while a stranger they didn’t recognize lay motionlessly on the ground.
Cillin had imprinted every examinee in his mind, so he was certain that this stranger wasn’t an examinee of the test. This meant that he was a student from the previous term.
The animals weren’t the only ones who were causing trouble for the examinees during this marathon. The students from a previous term were in it as well. The reason they were here was to catch those students who used illegal tools and cause some small troubles for the examinees just like those animals.
Walley walked over and pushed the stranger lightly. “He’s fainted.”
“He tried to ambush me, so I knocked him out immediately.” Cillin climbed down from the rock formation before looking around him. “We should leave as soon as possible. Something’s wrong with the rocks in this place. The longer we delay, the more it impairs our judgment.”
His teammates nodded, but the ground suddenly shook before they could take a step.
“It’s that black ape! We must leave now!” Libero said.
“No we can’t, not now.” Cillin pointed in front of them. “Someone’s coming.”
The team quickly hid themselves and wiped out the traces that proved they were there. However, they left behind the stranger whom Cillin had knocked out earlier.
Three people flew over from the sky. It was a humanoid with wings and two common humans wearing flying suits and mini propellers beneath their feet.
The trio headed straight to the spot where the stranger was knocked out. After they saw the unconscious person and inspected his condition for a moment, they gave him a medical injection that quickly woke him from his coma.
One of the trio rejoiced in his companion’s downfall. “You got careless, didn’t you?! I told you to be more careful. There are plenty of strong people among the examinees even though they haven’t been trained by the school yet.”
The person who woke up sat up and rubbed his neck, swearing, “Fuck, that guy moved too quickly. What a blunder!”
“They should be around this rock formation still.”
“That doesn’t make them easier to find since our devices are jammed too. We can only find them by ourselves.”
“There’s no need, all we need to do is to trap them here. Once an hour passes, the maze will confuse the hell out of them.”
The quartet jumped up a rock formation and paid attention to their surroundings while chatting with each other.
The black ape moved closer and closer as they talked.
“Yo, King Kong! I heard you tossed a poor guy into the air? Did you grab his leg or his arm?” One of them joked.
The black ape walked over with its teeth bared, hit its chest and let out a roar. Then, it raised its chin, ignored the quartet and continued on its way.
“Heh, this fellow’s growing more and more arrogant.”
“That being said, I don’t think King Kong ever got lost in this maze.”
“There is such a thing called animal instinct in this world.”
The quartet chatting on top of the rock formation was under no pressure, but the same couldn’t be said to the team hiding in the dark. Cillin observed the black ape’s path for a moment, and he discovered that it would definitely pass by their location soon. However, they couldn’t move to a new hiding spot because those students were still around. A single misstep, and they would be discovered immediately.
Libero and Ironhead looked very troubled, and Walley was completely tensed up in a state of readiness even those his lowered head hid his expression. Cillin shot a glance at Teita. The young boy was grinning at the black ape until he noticed that Cillin was staring at him. Teita put a finger to his mouth in a gesture of silence before looking at King Kong once more.
The black ape got closer and closer, and Libero’s palms were covered in sweat. The second they were exposed, the black ape and the four previous term students would all become their enemies. He wanted very much to remind Teita not to look at the black ape’s direction, but before he could touch him Teita did something that nearly caused the hair on his hand to stand literally.
Teita looked around and made sure that the four enemies couldn’t see them. Then, just as the black ape approached them, he poked his out of this hiding, raised a finger before his mouth and said, “Ssh——”
Everyone: “...”