'Fucking crazy.'
The shocking demand left Hanul quiet.
'I'd heard that the immortals can be problematic, but to think even the start is this insane!'
To kill an examinee who failed the first step. What could be the reason?
'No, think further back. What even determined a fail?'
Was it some delineator when they passed through the doorway? Maybe when the previous inspector tested something when he was placing his hand on people's heads. Did passing get determined once the red-robed lady appeared?
'Wait!'.
Then Hanul's face calmed down. He called up his system and looked at the quest again.
'This showed up once we got in here. So we couldn't be tested before that at least.'
He sorted through his memories once more. This time pacing through from the start.
'The next significant event was the flames lighting up the room. I looked through the room as all the others arrived as well.'
Hanul focused on the still bowing child in front of him.
'System, did this child show up in the room I first arrived in?'
[Negative. No results match target among searched parameters.]
'So he wasn't among the children there. That leaves the kid being from another group, or that this is an illusion.'
It was hard to say. Hanul hadn't experienced an immortal illusion before, so he couldn't be sure that this was his first time. The possibility that the goal was to look beyond the crazy demand, and to see through the tricks was uncertain.
Maintaining his composure, Hanul raised his head and asked a question.
"I don't remember seeing this kid before. Did he test after me?"
["Ohooo, you're a patient one too~ No matter."]
The voice paused, as though pondering how to answer.
["How about I tell you after you kill it?"]
Hanul's right eyebrow perked up.
'This guy's really adamant about me killing. Maybe that's the true focus here: whether or not I'm willing to kill.'
There wasn't enough information. The baldie responded to his answer with further insistence, and didn't give Hanul much to work with.
'What if I consider this test to be independent of the previous room?'
Perception was the main focus of this room, according to the baldie, but was that still true? That was likely, considering Hanul hadn't been interrupted or rushed while he was thinking. What could he have perceived that would help him with understanding the current situation?
The grass was still flowing, with a light breeze making waves across the sea of green. No mountains in the distance, just a plain blue sky.
'Nothing sticking out to me in the scenery. Does Map show me anything different?
Hanul switched the Map to the active window.
"...Ah!"
A pill shape. The on the Map were a blue dot and 2 brown rooms separated by a wall. One room was completely visible, while the following room only had about 75% of it revealed. The blue dot was located at the bottom-right corner of the 2nd room.
Hanul's indicator wasn't alone either. Multiple grey dots were scattered around the same room, still flowing in from the previous room.
'So the illusion stock just went up. Now I need to figure out what the right answer is here.'
Despite figuring out his first confusion, Hanul's focus didn't dwindle.
'I couldn't get enough information about the immortals before arriving here. But the general mood towards immortals that I have witnessed seems to be pretty positive.'
The eagerness of mortals to want to see immortals was ever present. Hadn't even the children's guardians been excited and in awe from the immortals descending? It was unlikely that public consensus towards immortals would be good if every immortal disciple had to kill a person.
Weapon, the bear-like red robe had seemed quite friendly as well. Hanul hadn't noticed anything off about him, and in fact, the friendliness seemed very geniune.
Before this test, the baldie seemed to be a good person as well! The first words he had heard were an apology to comfort Hanul.
'Even if I disregard Baldie, the remaining information I have just points towards immortals being generally good people. At least around here.'
It was time. There wasn't any more information to review.
"I refuse."
["Ooooh! Took you a bit to make that decision. You must have been reeeeaally fighting that urge for blood, huh?"]
"It's as you said."
["Eh? Really?"]
"If I want to be an immortal, I
["..."]
A pause. Then an uproarious laughter.
["Bahahahaha! Ohohoho!-"]
"-Ahahahaha!"
As the laughter continued, a baffling sight occurred. The sword and bowing child faded back into the ground, and in their place, the source of the voice leaped out from the loose soil. The figure that appeared had a similar appearance to the baldie from before, except with wild voluminous hair that waved in the air.
The figure continued to make a raucous. Yet when he landed on the grass, the ground sunk in with his body and bounced the laughing man back into the air. Back and forth the man went, laughing as Hanul stood there with a slightly dumbfounded face.
"Ahahahaaaa. Oh, phewww."
After what felt like the same eternity as waiting in the DMV, the man settled down and landed on his feet in front of Hanul.
'Tall.'
Towering even. The man was probably about 2.5 meters tall with how much he shadowed over Hanul. This staggeringly tall man squatted down to match Hanul's eye level, and began to rub Hanul's head with a fittingly large hand.
"Excellent job kid! You've got a good head on you!"
The tall man smiled wide.
"Man, I would love to sweep you up as my own disciple, but the ol' prudes waiting might give me a hard time later."
"It's not over?"
"Oh, don't worry, you're done. I didn't feel like making you wait after you noticed my lips desync in record time. You passed the next test already, so you're done with the Immortal Inspection, congrats!"
[No falsehood detected]
['Pass the Immortal Inspection' - Quest Complete]
[Congratulation User Hanul!]
Once the news was confirmed, the system promptly updated its results.
'At least the system affirms it for me.'
"Now then, I'll take you to the waiting area. You might be there a while, since the others are probably going to be testing for an hour longer at least. But you'll get to meet with the sect members while you wait."
'How convenient, I can get more insight on the immortals while I'm here.'
Still lively from his laughter, the tall man did a very animated circular motion with his hands above Hanul's head. A portal, like before, took shape above, and began to descend covering Hanul's view.
"I'll see ya soon, don't forget me!"
As the scenery changed around him once more, Hanul looked around his new surroundings with a single thought.
'But you didn't even introduce yourself...'