It seemed clear that people of various ages came to take the test like Jaegyeom. Unlike the exorcists he saw in the lobby, they were all wearing comfortable plain clothes like him. The numbers ranged from 1 to 70s. Judging from Jaegyeom’s last number, it seemed that they handed out numbered tickets on a first-come, first-served basis.
The third meeting room was large enough to accommodate seventy people. It resembled a college classroom. A large blackout cloth was draped over the front of the conference room, where a projector screen was located. The atmosphere was quiet and heavy.
All of the test takers who had been seated in advance had a clear expression of nervousness, and each had a number tag hanging from their chest. Jaegyeom, who was standing awkwardly in front of the door, sat down at the location the exorcist from earlier informed him while receiving the stares of the other test takers. On the long table, paper cups filled with drinks were placed one by one.
He was sitting in the last row, so he could see the backs of dozens of people’s heads. Jaegyeom sat with his mouth open blankly, and at some point he remembered that he was holding a numbered ticket in his hand. Puzzled about what to do, with a pensive expression on his face, Jaegyeom fiddled with the number tag with a pin hanging behind him. When he pressed the pin, a sharp needle popped out. Just when he was tugging at his t-shirt, trying to get the number tag on,
“Can I help you?”
Someone sitting next to him reached out his hand. Jaegyeom turned his head, dumbfounded. The man had his hair bleached bright yellow and wore piercings hanging from his ears, and he looked about Jaegyeom’s age. Before Jaegyeom could say anything, the bleached man put the number tag on him with an unwavering hand. Jaegyeom looked down at his chest.
“I am number 76. That’s number 77. I guess you’re a bit of a klutz huh?”
The bleached man pointed to his number and whispered.
“…”
Jaegyeom glared at the bleached man with a stern face. The bleached man touched his earlobe with an awkward face. He was acting so serious… The bleached man changed the subject and asked.
“Can I ask how old you are?”
Jaegyeom looked straight ahead and opened his mouth.
“No.”
The indifferent reply made the bleached man look embarrassed, and he suddenly started chuckling. He meant it from the bottom of his heart, but the bleached man seemed to think that Jaegyeom replied as a joke. Just when Jaegyeom frowned, the front door of the meeting room burst open and someone walked in.
The silent test takers began to stir. The exorcist, dressed in a neat suit, was wearing slippers on her bare feet that did not match her outfit. She dragged her slippers along with a squeaking sound, and stood in front of the meeting room and put both hands on her waist.
“Hello, children.”
The exorcist in front of them was a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties. There were several people older than her among the test takers, but she was outspoken and called them all ‘children’. It was an attitude that would offend some, but no one in the conference room dared to point it out.
“I am Shim Kijung, the supervisor of the first stage test.”
Shim Kijung was the owner of a husky voice. Her hair was almost half-short, and with dark purple lipstick on her lips, she made a very intense impression. All the applicants were overwhelmed at the sight of overflowing charisma.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Now we’re going to start the test, but first, a word of precaution. Children, if you don’t listen and ask a question later, you’re out. I hate to say things twice.”
Vtlw Blpecu rmgjamtfv tfg rtbga tjlg jcv mbcalcefv.
“Mlgra bo jii, atf olgra lr j yilcv afra ys geif. P mjii sbe jii ys cewyfg lcrafjv bo cjwf, rb ajxf cbaf bo sbeg cewyfg. Ccv tfgf, atfgf jgf mtbgjcl ktb tjnf yffc tfgf obg 2 sfjgr, jcv atfgf wera yf gfmbwwfcvfv jqqilmjcar ys gfofggji jr kfii. Gbc’a ajix jybea sbeg yjmxugbecv. Po sbe gfnfji sbeg qfgrbcji lcobgwjalbc, sbe klii yf filwlcjafv lwwfvljafis jr la nlbijafr atf ojlgcfrr bo atf afra.”
The stern warning made the test takers look frightened. Jaegyeom, who had Yoon Taehee as his backing, was thoughtless. He looked down and checked his number tag once more.
Sloppy seven seven. He had to memorize it.
“The test consists of three stages. The first stage is to see if your eyes are properly opened, the second stage is to see if your spiritual senses are clearly opened, and the third stage is to see how well you handle spiritual energy. Dears who do not meet the standard at each stage, see the back door over there? Just open it, leave, and go home. So far, does anyone have any other questions?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
The ‘children’ gulped and looked at each other.
“No? Well then, children. Do you have a paper cup in front of you? One shot it.”
One by one, the test takers who had been looking at each other hesitantly lifted their cups. What was this… After looking into the cup for a while, Jaegyeom decided to do as he was told. He drank the green liquid without hesitation. It smelled like grass and tasted bitter. He glanced to the side and saw the bleached haired man was squirming. Seeing how he struggled, it seemed that he was uncertain because of the unknown identity of the drink.
“Did you finish it? Then let’s begin the first test.”
Shim Kijung, who had been sticking her head out while checking the cups to see if they were empty, turned around. She quickly peeled off the large blackout cloth hanging from the front of the conference room. When the cloth was removed, a pure white screen was exposed. It was in pristine condition, as though brand new.
“Over there, you. Child number 13. What do you see here?”
Shim Kijung pointed to the candidate sitting in front of her and said.
“Me, me? Ah… I can’t see anything.”
“Child number 56 behind, what do you see?”
“I- I can’t see anything either…”
Shim Kijung nodded her head and put her hand in her trouser pocket.
“Okay, first row then. From child number 1 to child number 10, come out.”
Following her command, the test takers stood up and came forward. As they lined up in a line according to the order of the numbers, Shim Kijung said, “Closer.” and snapped her fingers. The candidates glanced at her and took a step towards the screen.
“Do you see the masking tape on the floor? Step on it.”
As Shim Kijung said, masking tape was attached to the floor like a line drawn out. At the moment when the test takers stepped on the masking tape in line, a few of them exclaimed. As soon as they stepped on the tape, a clear picture suddenly appeared on the white screen out of nowhere.
“How is it, do you see it now?”
Shim Kijung sat down on one side of the table.
“Tell me how many flowers you see one by one. This is stage one. Depending on the level of openness of the eyes, some people may see fewer flowers, while others may see more flowers.”
The other candidates sitting in the back began to mumble. It was because they couldn’t see anything. Only the eyes of 10 people standing on the masking tape saw the picture on the screen. In the picture, a green meadow was spread out.
“However, you cannot bluff. Just say what you see.”
Shim Kijung pursed her purple lips and tilted her chin.
“Okay then, starting with child number one. How many?”
“I see six flowers.”
Candidate number 1 said with confidence. Shim Kijung snapped her thumb and middle finger together, and the number tag hanging from the chest of candidate 1 turned blue. Candidate 1 sucked in a breath and stared at the tag in disbelief.
“Okay, next. child number two?”
“One- one…”
Candidate number 2 replied in a crawling voice. This time, Shim Kijung also gestured in the same way. The number tag of candidate 2 turned red. Shim Kijung received the answers in order. Various numbers came out, ranging from a minimum of one to a maximum of eight. Consequently, the color of the number plate changed to red and blue.
In an instant, the turn of people in the first row was over. Shim Kijung called the second line thereafter while Jaegyeom, who was sitting in the back, was wondering what the heck this situation was. No matter how hard he strained his eyes, the screen remained only pure white.
It seems like one could only see something when they stand in front…
At that time, the bleached haired man sitting next to him whispered to him.
“Looking at the classification by color, it must mean something, right?”
Unbeknownst to Jaegyeom, the man had taken out a notepad at some point and was making a record. When the test takers answered how many flowers they saw, he was checking off each color he received.
“Looking at it, it seems that the colors are divided based on number of flowers. All under four were given red, and above four were given blue.”
The bleached haired man pointed to the contents of the memo with a serious expression. Contrary to how he looked, he was surprisingly meticulous… Jaegyeom, who was looking at the memo paper and the bleached haired man, opened his mouth slightly.
“Then red is eliminated?”
The bleached man nodded.
“Right? Red is an ominous color.”
“Why is red ominous? Strawberries are red too.”
“…”
Then strawberries are ominous too. When Jaegyeom seriously questioned him, the bleached haired man blinked in silence. No, why were strawberries suddenly being brought up here? The man, who had been fiddling with his piercings for a while, said, “By the way,” staring at Jaegyeom carefully.
“Why are you dropping honorifics with me?”
“You did it first.”
The bleached haired man was speechless for a moment. Even at first glance, the other looked younger than him… Jaegyeom was unrelenting with the bleached man. It was because he assumed they wouldn’t be on the same team like he would be with Kang Yibin, and there was no reason to be awkward because they were of the same gender. In addition, he must not forget the purpose of entering Naryecheong. He kept reminding himself; unless it was absolutely necessary, Jaegyeom had no intention of forming relationships with people here.
“Aren’t you a high school student?”
Jaegyeom exercised his right to remain silent. A few days ago, he was a high school student, but not now, if he told the truth, it was obvious that annoying questions would follow. Perhaps taking his silence as an affirmation, the bleached haired man added.
“I am in college.”
“That so? Good luck with that.”
Jaegyeom’s insincere cheering made the bleached haired man frown. What kind of guy… he thought the saying that ‘young gwijaes have poor social skills’, was only old people saying… Seeing it with his own eyes, now he understood it. Was he like that when he was a teenager? He did not think he was like that though…
“Fine, well. We’re a year or two apart, so we’re friends…”
The bleached haired man decided to accept Jaegyeom without prejudice. More importantly, they would be motivated by passing the exam together. After the man decided to be gracious, he started scribbling on the notepad again.
What if the red group are more powerful tho?? Maybe Jaegyeom won’t see any flower??
Ohh … or something else entirely? I am defnitely not disappointed in this first “test”-chapter. This is going to be fun.
haha can’t wait for more situations his literal understanding of things come into play
Yeah! Two chapters in a row! Thank you so much!