REAPER SCANS

The Martial God Who Regressed to Level 2

[Translator – SCM]

[Proofreader –  ilafy]

Chapter 524

[Player 'Kim JiHun' has entered the 'Aptitude Test - Korea 1 Area'.]

JiHan, summoned to the aptitude test room, looked around.

'They said it's a test room, but it just looks like a forest.'

A dense forest filled with towering trees so large that the sky was barely visible surrounded him. If you ignored the name of the map, it felt being stranded in a tropical forest.

Step. Step—

A World Tree elf walked slowly toward him and smiled. "Player 'Kim JiHun’, welcome. I'm the 'elf priestess' in charge of guiding you."

"Please, follow me this way." After bowing politely to JiHan, she guided him deeper into the forest.

Walking for a short while, he was led to a massive tree glowing with green light.

"Then, Mr. Kim, please sit in the waiting room for a moment. We will call you when it's time for the test."

The 'waiting room' the elf pointed to was an area filled with about 30 chairs on the other side of the giant tree. Only one seat was empty.

'I must be the last one in Area 1.' JiHan walked toward the empty seat.

He heard murmurs around him.

"Huh… it's a man."

"There are five men in Area 1 this time. That's quite a lot."

"Maybe a male half-elf will appear today."

"It seems there are a lot of men with the 'Interspecies Affinity' Gift."

"To think there were so many with Rank B or higher…"

25 out of 30 there were women. People looked at the disguised JiHan with interest and chatted among themselves.

'From Area 1 to Area 10, only players with the Interspecies Affinity Gift were summoned, right?'

The area number assigned in the Aptitude Test Room was based on one's likelihood of becoming a half-elf. 

Since Area 1 could be accessed only by those with Interspecies Affinity, the seats there were mostly occupied by women. Thus, it was rare for five men to be gathered.

JiHan looked at those around him and sat down in the empty seat.

"Oh, the last person has arrived!" A middle-aged man in a suit sitting in the waiting room jumped up and approached JiHan. "Excuse me… What guild are you affiliated to?"

The man's forehead showed noticeable wrinkles. Considering that the human species had evolved twice, such a level of aging would only be possible for someone over 60.

Still, the face below the forehead was uncomfortably similar to JiHan's features and clearly showed signs of plastic surgery.

'Ugh… seriously.' JiHan immediately realized why the man looked like that.

In that era, there was a superstition that one had to resemble a male half-elf to pass the aptitude test.

While the medical field struggled due to the human species evolving to mid-low ranking, the plastic surgery sector thrived.

It was a world where everyone put knives to their faces to have facial features resembling that of a male half-elf.

'At this point, this is more annoying than humanity being colonized…'

JiHan answered without showing any outward annoyance. "A guild? No, I'm not in a guild."

"What? You aren't in any guilds?" The other man immediately started lecturing him like he was a life mentor. "Why did you do that…? As soon as you received your Gift, you should have contacted a guild and received a contract fee! What are you going to do if you fail the aptitude test after coming here empty-handed?!"

"It has only been a few days since I got the Gift."

"Tsk, tsk. You should have contacted the top five guilds immediately! Ugh. This guy just threw away his lottery ticket…!"

Tap. Tap—

He stepped closer and patted JiHan's shoulders. Just because he said he hadn't signed with a guild, the man switched to informal speech, making JiHan let out a laugh in disbelief.

'It's been a while since I've been treated like this.'

During his time as JiHan, he'd never been spoken to in such a way. Things were certainly different after having become 'Kim JiHun.'

'Well, what he's saying isn't wrong.' 

Male half-elves were harder to become compared to females. 

While women could sometimes become half-elves even without the Interspecies Affinity Gift, men needed to have it, but even if they did, the chance of becoming one was less than 1%.

That's why players who received the 'Interspecies Affinity' Gift made contracts with major guilds before the aptitude test and signed contracts for large sums of money.

Rather than aiming for the less than 1% chance of success, people preferred to secure money in case of failure, such was the mindset of the majority of men who received the 'Interspecies Affinity' Gift.

"He didn't sign a pre-contract…? It seems that guy is rich."

"His face doesn't support that."

"Exactly. If he had money, he would have gotten plastic surgery first."

Overhearing their conversation, people in the waiting room whispered among themselves.

However, before the conversation could continue…

Flash—!

A green light flickered at the front of the waiting room.

"Oh, I think it's starting." The middle-aged man who had been meddling returned to his seat.

Swoosh—

At the front of the waiting room, the elf priestess slowly appeared.

"Now that everyone's here, we will begin the aptitude test." She pointed behind herself.

Crack—!

Part of the tree trunk opened up, revealing a space large enough for one person to enter.

"I will call everyone in order. Number 1, player Jung Yoon-ha."

"Y-yes!"

"Please, enter here."

The first female player stood up, and tension filled the waiting room.

Ziinng—

A large message window appeared next to the tree.

[Area 1 Test Results]

[Passed: 0 Waiting: 30]

[The progress of Area 1's test will be streamed on Battle Tube.]

As soon as the message about the Battle Tube streamed appeared, viewers' messages flooded the chat window in real time.

- Area 1 is live!!

- Oh, there are five men. Last month, there were only two.

- Is something big going to happen today?

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator - SCM

Proofreader - ilafy

Join our discord for updates on releases!!

https://discord.gg/reaperscans

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The aptitude test determining whether one could become a half-elf or not was actually quite simple.

'So you just have to go in and out.'

When the examinee entered the hollowed-out tree trunk, the entire tree then flashed with a green light, and the test started.

Those with the potential to become a half-elf stayed inside the tree for a longer time.

Was that why?

"Number 21, player Lee Moo-yeol. Please enter here."

"Y-yes!"

The numbers were called quickly, and the test was already entering the latter half.

"Oh, Father in heaven, merciful World Tree… I pray and pray again. Please, grant me the honor of becoming a half-elf… Please, please…!"

"It seems you're a devout believer. It's time to stop praying and enter now."

"Y-yes…!" The middle-aged man, praying fervently before the test, continued to chant the World Tree's name as he entered the tree trunk at the elf priestess's urging.

Flash—!

When he entered, the giant tree glowed.

JiHan looked at the message window floating nearby.

[Area 1 Test Result]

[Passed: 4 Waiting: 9]

Only four people had passed the aptitude test, and all of them were women, who had a relatively higher chance of success.

- I guess only women are going to become half-elves again…

- It's a miracle how a male one appeared three months ago.

- Is it true that the dungeon 0ortal suppressor will be turned off if male half-elves don't appear?

- That's already been in the news, and housing prices have been dropping.

The viewers were visibly disappointed at the results. Since there were five men in Area 1, they had expected that at least one male half-elf would appear.

The atmosphere indicated otherwise, and a minute later…

Drrr—!

The tree trunk opened again.

"Wh-why already…?" The middle-aged man touched his ears, but when he felt they were still the same, his expression instantly fell. "C-can't I try just one more time…? This time, I'll do it better…!"

"Come out." The elf priestess coldly moved her finger.

Swoosh—!

The middle-aged man was flung out of the tree trunk.

"Ugh…" He groaned in pain from the fall.

[Area 1 Test Result]

[Passed: 4 Waiting: 8]

The number of waiting candidates decreased by one.

- It's a bust again…

- No, there's still one man left.

- That guy didn't even get plastic surgery.

- He should have used the contract money and gotten plastic surgery. He didn't put much effort despite being in front of the opportunity of a lifetime.

- But does plastic surgery even work? Hahaha.

- For real. Isn't it just superstition?.

Many people concluded that he would also fail.

'How much should I dye my hair?' Meanwhile, JiHan was considering becoming a half-elf as a given and pondered how much he should dye his hair. 'I heard the highest record is 25%. Should I go beyond that?'

If he set a new record, public attention would skyrocket. That would make investigating Earth and the World Tree elves harder, but if he became the most outstanding half-elf, he might have more opportunities to find out why they were so obsessed with the male half-elves.

'Hmm… Should I go for 20% or 30%?' JiHan was lost in thoughts with his legs crossed.

"Number 30, Kim JiHun. Please enter here."

He stood up and walked over. While he’d been lost in thought, another female half-elf appeared in Area 1.

"Ah…"

"It's over…"

"I thought I had a chance…"

Those who failed held their heads low.

"Unnie! I knew that you'd also make it!"

"Woah… I became a half-elf…!"

"I still remember the World Tree’s words…"

The five who had become half-elves gathered together, sharing their joy. Even though male half-elves were rarer, becoming a female half-elf was also like winning the lottery.

In the waiting room, where the atmosphere was divided between heaven and hell…

"I just have to go in, right?" JiHan stepped forward and pointed to the open space in the tree trunk.

Seeing him about to enter so hastily, the elf priestess tilted her head. "Yes, but aren't you going to pray to the World Tree?"

‘Why would I do that?’ Although JiHan was thinking that, he outwardly smiled.

"I already prayed while waiting."

"Understood… Please enter." The elf Priestess gave her permission, and JiHan walked into the tree trunk.

- Oh… he looks relaxed.

- Maybe he's just given up, hahaha.

- Yeah. He didn't do plastic surgery or even pray.

- Someone like him succeeding would be a problem.

- He's going to get kicked out in less than a minute.

As soon as he entered the tree trunk, a blue light flashed from the giant tree, unlike before.

Flash—!

"Ah…"

- ??

- The color is different from before.

- Isn't that the light that appears when it's a success?

- Yes, that's right. If one succeeds, a blue light comes out;

- No way… did he really succeed…?? Without any preparation??

The chat exploded.

Inside the tree, JiHan frowned as he saw the blue light enveloping his body.

'This… Is the Blue stat.'

The strength contained in the light was Blue Administrator JiHan's 'Blue' authority.

* * *

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