‘Cute guy.’ A deep smile appeared on Hyeonu’s face. Then he stepped through the door at a leisurely pace. The background for Senu’s Stage 4 was the Colosseum. This was Senu’s original appearance before the first stage began.
-In Stage 4, we will test the life you have lived up to the present. The empire wants talented people who not only have skills but also humanity. Three witnesses will be summoned to the testing bench in front of you. They will be asked a few questions each. If the answer is above a certain standard, the Stage 4 test will end. There is no time limit.
Hyeonu smiled bitterly as the voice ringing through the space stopped. This was the worst.
‘It’s shit.’
It was a more difficult mission than anything else. Testing his life—this meant checking his play history. The presence of Senu on the East Continent and Laek on the West Continent meant that there had been no distinction between east and west during the Luos Empire. The components on which talents who were desired by such a huge empire were judged included personality. It meant that they wanted him to have a tendency toward either ‘good’ or ‘neutral’ behaivor. Of course, this was just Hyeonu’s guess.
‘Did I do so? Did I play Arena nicely?’
Hyeonu was already looking back on himself. What had he done and who had he harassed?
‘When did I harass anyone? No, I never did.’
Hyeonu shook his head vigorously. He hadn’t done that at all. Although he hadn’t done anything good, he hadn’t done anything bad either. Hyeonu was extremely neutral, and it was the definition of how he had played Arena so far. However, this stage had nothing to do with Hyeonu’s willpower or strength and merely depended on who appeared and what they would say.
‘Please, please... Please be people who have a good relationship with me...’ Hyeonu prayed earnestly.
-The first witness has been summoned, the voice spoke again.
Simultaneously, a four-meter-wide circle appeared around the place called the testing bench. The light disappeared, but nothing was left in that place.
“What?” Hyeonu was naturally annoyed. It was because this was Senu’s problem. In a way, it was a bug.
“Why isn’t anyone coming out?” Hyeonu murmured as he watched the empty test bench. He was annoyed, but he didn’t know the cause, so it was natural for him to be curious.
-The first witness has been summoned, the polite voice said once more.
Then the light appeared again, but there was still no one on the test bench. The irritation disappeared from Hyeonu’s face, and seriousness filled it instead.
‘Is it really not appearing?’
-The first witness has been summoned.
Just then, the magic circle glowed three times, and the light burst out again. Hyeonu stared at the testing bench with a face of anticipation.
‘Work this time! Someone appear!!’
Perhaps Hyeonu’s desperate prayer worked. There were small movements from the place where the light had disappeared. Yet Hyeonu’s expression quickly stiffened when he saw the other person. Simultaneously, his face turned white like he had seen a ghost.
“Hrmm... Who called me? Is it the earl?” The owner of the voice had golden hair as gorgeous as the sun. He was a person with a distinctively lazy voice. It was the master of the empire who ruled the West Continent. The emperor, Alexander, had been summoned.
“I thought someone was playing a joke. This doesn’t seem to be the West Continent. Is this the East Continent?” The emperor looked around with curious eyes. This was extremely rare for the emperor who didn’t see most things in his eyes. If any of his attendants saw this scene, they would be shocked.
Hyeonu soon managed his expression and calmly answered the emperor’s question, “Y-Your Majesty, this is a place called Senu on the East Continent.”
He had always felt it, but he was struck by fear once again when he stood in front of the emperor. Arena was a game yet the reluctance that came from instinct couldn’t be helped.
“Senu? Ah, the place that Suped was looking for. You are eager to advance in many ways. Truly a model for the nobles of the empire. In particular, Lebron should imitate your eagerness...” A subtle playfulness was on the emperor’s face. “So why am I here?”
“That...” Hyeonu hesitated as he was unable to answer the emperor’s question properly.
Just then, a voice answered the emperor’s question instead of Hyeonu: -It is for the examination of the academy student.
“It’s a test? Do I have to fight against the earl?” The emperor’s expression was still playful. It was a terrible joke from Hyeonu’s point of view.
“It isn’t like that, Your Majesty. Don’t say that even as a joke,” Hyeonu said.
Just imagining it was horrifying. A battle with the emperor, a dragon-certified monster, was nothing but suicide.
-Just answer three questions, the voice stated, saving Hyeonu.
“How boring. Is that all? It isn’t worth standing up from my throne after such a long time.” The emperor shook his head slightly.
The emperor’s face had lost his sense of playfulness, which was then replaced by the expression Hyeonu was used to seeing. It was an expression of being bothered by the world.
‘He stood up from the throne?’ Hyeonu realized it from the emperor’s words. It was a fact that the emperor’s body had always been buried in the throne.
‘Ah! There was one time.’
An exception was when he had a fistfight with Lebron, Hyeonu’s teacher, but that had only happened once. Apart from that time, the emperor had always been buried in his throne.
-The first question. What is your relationship with the academy student in front of you? The voice asked the first question.
The emperor started answering without hesitation, “I am the emperor of the empire.”
The answer was ridiculous, but it was the most obvious expression of the relationship between the two. The emperor—no matter what the relationship was packaged as, everyone was just a subordinate in front of him. The voice was well aware of this as well.
-The answer turned out to be true. Then I’ll move onto the next question. Who is the academy student in front of you?
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