My Cell Prison - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Chapter 44 – A Log Cabin in the Forest

At the highest point of the forest was a special room shaped like half a sphere, peaking over the cloud of crows.

It even gave off the sense that this special room was sitting atop the clouds, and aside from a single large astronomical telescope that poked out, the entire room was actually made from a sort of special silica that reflected light.

This room was called the Star Observatory.

There were two humans inside the room… though they looked like they were just one man.

“A freshman has arrived, and he doesn’t seem half bad…”

“How can you tell?”

“He’s physically small and weak… Even weaker than previous students. There must be something unusual about him to be able to get through the Destiny event with a body like that.”

“I remember now, that should be the one called Nicholas Valen… That must be him, right? The Trainee Knight that had cleared a four-star difficulty scenario.”

“Four stars. It has been so long since we saw a four-star freshman… Should we increase the difficulty of the test?”

“That’s not good… Increasing the chance or variables is the better way to examine the overall quality of a freshman, rather than blindly raising the difficulty. Furthermore, he might not have used force to clear his four-star difficulty scenario.”

“By your words, should we test him in the Darkmoon Forest, or inside the tower?”

“The former… There are more variables in play there.”

“What method?”

“We’ll let him choose for himself. Additionally, we need to add another variable.”

“Oh? Isn’t what you’re suggesting considered increasing the difficulty?”

“The variable would not pose any threat or danger. It’ll just be a simple variable, and it would be very important to his future development… We shall pay special attention to this young man if he’s able to identify the variable we set.”

“That goes against your style a little… Crow.”

“It is all fated.”

———————————

Crows cawed. Their numbers were far more numerous than what Han Dong had imagined.

The carriage followed along the winding road as it galloped on. Along the way, Han Dong could see plenty of crows all perched on every tree branch, making it somewhat seem like the regular squawking of the crows were trying to transmit a sort of signal.

All of a sudden, the horse carriage that had been galloping along came to a stop, even though they were still within the forested region.

“Does the road end here?”

The carriage that should have brought him straight to the faculty building of Mysticism Studies had actually come to a stop halfway, as trees were blocking his way forward.

All Han Dong could do was alight from the carriage, spotting a signpost at the end of the road.

Written in strange large letters were the words – [Direction to the Darkmoon Forest’s Exit], along with an arrow that pointed the way forward.

“It’s as if I need to go through the forest on foot before I reach the faculty building of Mysticism Studies and complete my enrollment… It’s a good thing that I came prepared.”

Han Dong had always believed that ‘fire’ was very useful.

At least with regards to the Novice scenario, as well as the Ghoul incident from before, both of them required a torch to provide light at some point… As such, Han Dong had already prepared a torch to light his way as he gingerly entered the strange Darkmoon Forest.

Traversing through the gloomy and dense forest of tall and dead trees would very easily cause anyone to lose their sense of direction, resulting in them deviating from a straight path. However, Han Dong’s situation was different as he was very clearly aware of just where the straight line was. Even with his physical deficiencies, he would always immediately correct his path toward a straight line if he ever found himself stray away.

This might be due to Han Dong’s very strong sense of direction that he personally possessed, or it could have been his Faceless One’s head.

In about half an hour, he began to depart from the dead woods and discover a dainty little log cabin that had light flowing out from the inside right there inside the forest…

Ever since Han Dong had been reborn, he had already seen plenty of strange and novel things.

“Who knows, this log cabin that is no bigger than 100 square meters might very well be the main faculty building for Mysticism Studies… I should go in and take a look.”

There must be a reason for its existence.

Han Dong very cautiously walked nearer to it, circled the entire cabin once, and discovered that there were no ‘windows’ installed in this log cabin… Meanwhile, that light source that he had seen before seemed to only be leaking out from the gap under the door.

Han Dong knocked on the door, but no one answered. He very slowly pushed the wooden door open and the inside was nothing like what he had imagined: it was just a normal log cabin.

However, there were plenty of strange and exquisite items that were placed inside the log cabin, giving him the illusion that he had just stepped into a medieval antique store.

A message slip came from somewhere unknown and landed right in front of Han Dong.

Please choose any object of your choice from inside this log cabin (You can even tear down the door and take it with you! But make sure you bring the whole thing with you.)

Walk out of Darkmoon Forest and hand the object to the department’s Management Office.

(Note: the Department of Mysticism shall determine your overall rating based on your performance)

“Yet another test… To think they would be so strict with just studying in the Academy. First is the Space of Destiny scenario, then the interview as well as the undisclosed background check. Then before I get into the faculty building for one of the main specialization classes and enroll myself, I need to do a related test?”

Han Dong had originally thought that he would undergo some basic examination upon arrival that would be designed to assess his strong suit and point out the direction of his future studies.

He simply could not have imagined that it would be done in such a strange manner.

“How good or bad I do for this test will affect my future studies here in the Knights’ Academy. I better perk up and pay attention.”

After getting several days of stress-free rest, Han Dong’s was at his peak condition… Not to mention the fact that he now had a Ghoul’s arm.

Pumping himself up, he began to quickly scan through all the various items inside the log cabin with his eyes.

There was a crafted green crystal frog that was placed inside a jewelry box.

A mourning box that was sealed in a glass casket.

A gas mask that had a steampunk design.

A stitched up pig mask that was hung on the wall.

And there were white silk threads that were scattered on the floor.

….

….

“Forget about the miscellaneous trash that could also be brought out of this room, there are twelve options to choose from the ‘special items’ alone. The moment I make my choice, the test method that ensues will be set in place, and it might differ in terms of difficulty as well. Guess I’ll go with this one…”

Han Dong was staring at the mourning box that was sealed in a glass casket, and just as he stepped forward to pick the item that looked as if it came from hell…

*Creak*

When he took a step forward, he stepped onto a special wooden floorboard that made a creaking sound when he shifted his weight onto it… And this one detail immediately caught Han Dong’s attention.

The sound that came from this wooden floorboard was different from all the others in this log cabin.

“Could this be… a secret compartment?”

He lifted his foot and examined the strange floorboard.

Inside the secret compartment that was hidden underneath the floorboard was a small rusty iron box that had been placed within.

Han Dong had a change in his countenance upon inspecting what was kept in the iron box. He spent several minutes thinking it through before selecting the iron box, turning around to leave the log cabin.

“Someone’s coming!!”

The moment he stepped out of the log cabin, Han Dong could hear the sound of crunching leaves beneath footsteps coming from the forest.

Instantly, Han Dong’s expression changed as he became alert… A thread of green plague coursed through the surface of his right arm.

Unexpectedly, it was a black haired girl who looked dirty all over that actually came running out of the treelines. From her skin and facial features, she appeared to be middle-eastern in heritage, and there were even golden rings that adorned her nose.

The girl was clutching a golden card that identified herself as a fellow Trainee Knight.

She was squinting, somewhat warily asking, “Are… Are you a Trainee Knight?”

“Yes.”

“That’s wonderful!… I got lost and have been wandering in the Darkmoon Forest for several days now, and it looks like I’ve finally found the right direction to head toward.”