Chapter 3
Yoon Kang-woo.
The undisputed protagonist of the novel <Light of Dawn>.
If we were to describe him with just a few keywords, these three would probably be the most accurate:
Overwhelmingly good person, perfect hero, everyone's victim.
'He has a personality kinder than anyone else.'
Yoon Kang-woo was a protagonist with a completely good nature, which was rare in recent novels.
A person who admired heroes and lived for them.
Someone who wanted to save everyone, but didn't deny or ignore reality, and had the ability to do so.
Yoon Kang-woo was already superhuman, both mentally and physically.
Even more than the other protagonists who are considered the best of this era.
In terms of protagonist types, he'd be close to a 'munchkin'.
Of course, even he couldn't prevent the future where everything was destroyed by outer gods, but still…
"Examinee number 39, begin the test!"
At the examiner's words, he took the iron sword given for the test and stood in the examination area.
"Hmm... that boy is amazing, to reach such a level at that age."
"There's a good reason for that."
"A being with such talent might appear once in a generation, if at all."
Well, that's why he's the protagonist, isn't he?
He also has quite a backstory.
As Yoon Kang-woo gripped the sword, a white aurora burst forth from his blade.
It was his main skill, 'Sword of White Night'.
'I didn't expect to see it in reality.'
Originally, Yoon Kang-woo was a front-line tanker cum dealer who used both shield and sword.
Thanks to his characteristics, he had a top-tier defense.
And thanks to that 'Sword of White Night', his damage output was not lacking either.
Moreover, he also had a self-healing skill that he could use on himself.
In short, he had a disgustingly high defense, strong one-hit attacks, and even if you manage to break through his defense and deal damage, he could self-heal.
Honestly, he's the type of character you absolutely wouldn't want to meet as an enemy.
Kwaaang-!!
At that moment, a thunderous sound was heard as his sword struck the wall, which was the target of the test.
Simultaneously, the score was announced.
"Examinee number 39, 98 points!"
98 points, currently the highest score.
Of course, Karen, nicknamed the glass cannon, will reclaim first place, but still…
It's already nonsensical that a tank has taken second place.
"Thank you!"
Yoon Kang-woo bowed to the examiner and returned to the waiting room.
After that, the test continued.
Most were people I didn't know, and since they were likely to fail, I wasn't interested, but...
For those I was interested in, I observed carefully.
For example, in Rin's case.
"Spear of Nine Thunders."
As Rin drew a pattern on the ground and chanted, a huge green pattern appeared in the sky, and simultaneously, 9 bolts of lightning surged from it, striking the wall.
Rin was a utility dealer cum supporter who handled the power of thunder and lightning, snow, and yin and yang.
Usually, she didn't use it much because it consumed a lot of her main power.
But if the situation was set up well like this, she's the type whose high point can skyrocket.
'As much as I'm worried about the evil spirits clinging to her.'
Evil spirits that grow stronger as their host becomes stronger.
Even now, the translucent evil spirits swarming behind her were concerning, but it should be fine for now.
Anyway, the next one to catch my eye was Karen.
"Spear."
As I mentioned earlier, Karen was a glass cannon who put everything into attack.
Her firepower alone was already comparable to active heroes.
What she represented were the blue flames with negative energy and black ice.
As the brightly burning blue flames and the supporting black ice shot forward, everything around them froze.
The score, of course, was the highest, first place.
"Is she really... a student like us?"
"I've only heard about her, but she’s really on a different level."
This was the reaction of ordinary students.
An existence close to an unreachable realm, which was actually true.
That's what it meant to be a disciple of the Magic Tower.
"Her power is really tremendous for her age, even the current Magic Tower master wouldn't have had such power at that age."
"It's because all her stats are focused solely on power."
Karen's biggest weakness was her frail body.
Well, it's not so much that she's weak because she doesn't train, but more like a side effect of that power.
Because of that, she struggled until the latter part of the novel, and in the final battle, it leads to her downfall and she dies.
'I won't let that happen this time though.'
Anyway, that's not what's important right now.
"Examinee number 147, Kang Shin-woo!"
It was now my turn.
"Good luck, my lord! When you come back, I'll give you a hot reward!"
"That's more for your benefit, isn't it?"
Finally, the numerous people in front of me disappeared.
As my turn came and I headed inside the examination area, the examiner spoke to me first.
"Examinee number 147, correct?"
"Yes, I'm examinee number 147, Kang Shin-woo."
"You have 1 minute to check your equipment before we begin."
With those words, the examiner led me to the test weapons displayed in the corner.
The variety of weapons on display was surprisingly diverse.
There were over 5 types of swords alone, and there were also staves, spears, bows, hammers, and even morning stars.
And I had already thought about which ones to take from these.
First of all, the most important thing to take was a sword.
It was the weapon I was most familiar and comfortable with. This would be the center of what I was about to do.
"Examiner! Is it possible to bring stones into the test?"
"That's fine. As long as it's not something brought from outside."
"Thank you."
Good, now there were no variables with what I'm going to do.
"Hwa-ryeon, find me a few palm-sized pebbles from around here."
"Yes!"
The most crucial elements for what I was about to do were none other than these stones.
You could say they were even more important than the sword.
Maybe it was because the test site was a huge space surrounding the examination area, it wasn't too difficult to find the stones I was aiming for.
"Hey, what's that guy doing?"
"Looks like he's picking up stones...? Is he really picking up stones?"
"Stones in the examination area? Is he crazy?"
I heard some voices from around, but it didn't particularly bother me.
Their doubts were perfectly reasonable.
Who would pick up stones in this important examination area?
"How dare they spout nonsense about my lord! If only this concubine had half her original power!"
Of course, Hwa-ryeon didn't seem to think so.
"Examinee number 147 will now take the test."
Not long after, thanks to Hwa-ryeon's help, I was able to find the stones quickly.
I found a total of 7 stones. All of them are about the size of a fist.
Holding them, I immediately headed to the examination area.
'This should be right.'
As soon as I entered the examination area, I drew a large circle with the 7 stones right in front of the test wall.
The stones were placed at regular intervals to form a circle shape.
These were shamanic techniques I learned while reading books at home after the transmigration.
It should be correct. I had practiced several times at home.
Now that the preparations were done, it was time to start.
The first thing to do was 'Possession'.
I bit my thumb to draw blood, sprinkled it on the ground, and opened my mouth.
'It's embarrassing, but.'
To be honest, it was embarrassing.
Especially the activation words were very embarrassing.
But what can I do? The shamanic technique won't even activate if I don't say this.
"Familiar spirit, I speak to Hwa-ryeon. Lend me your power."
"Yes, I will follow my master's words."
A window popped up along with Hwa-ryeon's answer.
[Possessing the familiar spirit, 'Hwa-ryeon'.]
+++
[Skill List: Hwa-ryeon]
Fox Fire Lv.9
Enchantment Lv.MAX
Fire Body Lv.6
※Due to low skill proficiency, only one skill can be used.
+++
I could only choose one skill.
But this alone was enough to achieve the power level I had in mind.
"I choose Fox Fire."
[The skill 'Fox Fire Lv.9' is temporarily granted to you.]
[A part of the familiar spirit Miho's soul is possessed by you.]
As soon as the 'Possession' skill activated, the changes came immediately.
Whoosh-
In an instant, fox ears and tails appeared on my head and waist.
They were made of red flames, but their form was definitely solid.
'Flame to sword.'
I move the fire generated from that bright red flame to the sword.
As I exerted my will, the test sword I was holding was enveloped in red flames and burned brightly.
With this, the first objective was complete.
Now all that was left was the shamanic technique.
This time, I slightly cut my arm with the sword and sprinkled the blood that came out around me.
"What comes here is red flame, what rises is the sun. That power to me."
This was a shamanic technique heavily biased towards positive energy.
There was not a single power that matched the negative energy in me right now.
What I needed was only positive energy.
Thinking so, as I chanted the activation words, positive energy burst forth from the 7 stones that had taken my main power.
[The skill 'Shamanism Lv.2' is activated.]
[The shamanic technique 'Extreme Yang Formation' brings you the power of yang.]
[The power of skills with yang energy is greatly increased inside the formation.]
The air suddenly became hot.
Whoosh-!!
Along with that, the size of the fox fire attached to my body and sword grew even larger.
With this, the preparations were complete.
Now it was time to swing.
"Haah...!!"
I swung the sword towards the wall right in front of me.
The sword would be blocked, but it didn't matter. After all, the sword was just a medium and won't even be 10% of the power.
Bang-!
And simultaneously, the fox fire attached to the sword burned strongly and let out a thunderous roar.
The red flames, more intense than ordinary flames, emit extreme yang energy and strike the wall.
"I'll assist you."
Right now, a part of Hwa-ryeon's soul was possessing my body.
Because of that, I could manipulate the fox fire, which was originally her power.
As Hwa-ryeon's assistance continued, 9 flames flowed from the single fox tail on my waist and struck the wall.
A series of huge explosions followed in an instant.
After drawing out most of the power, I finally withdrew the fox fire and sword.
And with that, the score was announced.