Clacking sounds rang throughout the room, the noise coming from the last remaining tunnel. Not long after, an eagle waddled into view, walking upright with its wings spread to help it maintain balance. Behind the eagle, there should’ve been its group, but there was only a single person: a man wearing black dress pants, a white-collared shirt, and a thin black vest meant to be worn underneath suits. He had black hair and pale skin, and a large watch made of silver and gold rested on his wrist.
“That’s weird,” Hyeonnam Tokki muttered. “Hyeonnam Dogsuli is usually as good as Hyeonnam Huingom when it comes to finding fresh meat.”
“Are you all related?” Stella asked upon hearing the skeletal rabbit’s murmurs. “You’re all Hyeonnam.”
“Ah?” The skeletal rabbit flinched. How good were the fairy’s ears? For things so small, they shouldn’t have been that effective. “Hyeonnam is a title of nobility granted by the tower. If you complete the allegiance ceremony found in the upper levels of the tower, you can become a noble as well.”
“You’re a noble?” Vur asked and raised an eyebrow.
Hyeonnam Tokki puffed his non-existent chest out. In fact, all he really did was curve his spine inwards while standing a little taller. “Yes, I’ve climbed the tower high enough to become a noble.” He raised his front right paw and stuck a bony finger in front of his face. “Now, shush. The administrator is going to appear soon.” Hyeonnam Tokki hopped twice, turning his body around with those two motions to face the center of the room.
Vur raised his gaze off the rabbit and looked ahead. The air was shimmering as if it were a hot, sunny day in the desert. The room fell oddly silent, and the shimmering came to a halt. As it did, a woman appeared out of thin air; she stood suspended a few feet above the ground, her gaseous body floating in the air without any issue. She looked as if her body were made of flames rather than flesh, and other than her eyes, which were bright red, the rest of her body was white. Despite the lack of physical flesh, the fiery woman was wearing a set of crystalline armor that seemed to be growing out of her body.
Tafel opened her mouth to say something, but she recalled the skeletal rabbit’s words and pressed her lips together. Tafel’s gaze shifted onto Vur, more specifically, his lips. They parted, and Tafel placed her finger in front of Vur’s mouth. Although it wouldn’t be a problem surviving an attack from someone as strong as a lich, it was still better to avoid being attacked in the first place.
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“New blood,” the fiery woman said, her gaze sweeping over the crowd of newcomers. “Welcome to the tower. My name is Gaegukja Yeol, and by the power vested in me by the tower, I will be the tutorial’s administrator this time around.” Gaegukja Yeol placed her hands on her hips and glanced around. “When I was in your position, the administrator for my exam gifted one participant a reward. As your senior, I don’t see why I shouldn’t do the same.”
Vur raised an eyebrow and glanced down at Hyeonnam Tokki. Wasn’t the administrator supposed to be a bad person just waiting to kill someone to make an example out of them? Why was she giving out gifts now? As expected from a lying rabbit, even the words it claimed to be the truth was a lie. As if sensing a gaze on him, Hyeonnam Tokki turned his head around and his eye sockets met Vur’s eyes. The skeletal rabbit, through its years of experience, understood what Vur was accusing it of, but it couldn’t defend itself or it’d attract the attention of the administrator. All Hyeonnam Tokki could do was rapidly shake his head and gesture for Vur to keep watching.
“Now,” Gaegukja Yeol said, her voice crackling as she spoke. “Who deserves a gift from me?” Her eyes swept across the crowd again, slower this time. When her gaze landed on the well-dressed man standing behind the eagle, the fiery woman’s eyes lit up. The well-dressed man merely crossed his arms and stared the administrator in the eye with an expressionless face. The administrator floated over to the man. “Well, aren’t you handsome? You know you’re here to struggle to survive, right? Why would you be wearing something so restrictive like this?” The fiery woman licked her lips. “Well, I don’t mind. I think I’ll give you the…”—she turned half of her torso to the side as she reached into a black pouch hanging from her waist. She pulled out a diamond with a small fire suspended in the center of it similar to an insect trapped in resin. After securing the diamond and closing her bag, the administrator raised her head. That was when her gaze landed on Vur. “The….”
The well-dressed man blinked, and his brow furrowed as the administrator floated a step away from him, not bothering to look in his direction at all. He couldn’t help but turn his head to see where the administrator was floating towards. His gaze landed on Vur’s group, and the furrow in his brow deepened even further. His lips parted slightly, and his eyes squinted to get a better look. A small mutter escaped from his mouth. “Who…?”
Gaegukja Yeol floated until she came to a halt in front of Vur. She stroked her chin as she examined Vur, her eyes traveling from the tips of Vur’s toes all the way to the top of his head. Then, her gaze landed on Tafel and Lindyss. She didn’t spend as long inspecting them before turning her head towards the skeletal rabbit on the ground. Gaegukja Yeol fiddled with the diamond in her hand before holding it out towards Vur. “I was planning on giving this to a newbie as charity, but I think I’ll use it as an offering to make a friend. What do you say?”
“My husband says yes,” Tafel said, stepping in front of Vur and taking the diamond from the fiery woman. “Thank you very much.”