I Became an Illegal Cheat User – Chapter 4

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The theme of the second exam.

‘Courage’.

What is appropriate for testing ‘courage’, which corresponds to a person’s heart and mental strength?

That is none other than ‘fear’.

It is an exam to find out if you can overcome that fear.

Unlike the maze where all the examinees were transported together, the second exam venue is a private room assigned to each individual.

The Courage Exam is about ‘overcoming’ rather than ‘escaping’, so it looks at individuals rather than groups.

Overcoming the fear created by ‘illusions’.

Why is such an exam given?

In fact, although the world of ‘Arena Academy’ appears peaceful, if you dig a little deeper, you can see that it is far from peace.

Although the theme of the game is ‘duels’, this game, which also includes RPG elements, allows you to move to areas outside the academy for character growth.

However, when you move from the city where the academy is located to other areas, especially remote areas, the atmosphere of the game becomes extremely dark.

The reason is because of the Fallen Ones.

While the beings from other worlds that appear in the later part of the game are also dangerous, the ‘Fallen Ones’ are equally responsible for bringing the Human Realm to ruin.

In areas with transcendents, like the city where the academy is located, the Fallen Ones are not often seen, but in areas without transcendents and with low security, the Fallen Ones run rampant.

People living in such places always live in anxiety and fear.

Because they never know when they will be caught and eaten by the Fallen Ones or kidnapped and used as sacrifices to summon beings from other worlds.

And there is one place that has been devastated by such Fallen Ones.

That place is none other than China.

A country with an immensely vast land and an enormous population.

There was no better place for the Fallen Ones to run rampant.

As it became the main area of activity for the Fallen Ones, a staggering number of people became food for the Fallen Ones and were offered as sacrifices, summoning a large number of beings from other worlds.

And as most of China’s regions became contaminated with evil, it turned into a forbidden zone where humans should not enter.

However, fortunately, the 1st generation transcendents joined forces and fought the beings from other worlds, risking their lives to banish them back to their worlds, so other countries could remain safe.

Still, China is still referred to as the ‘Continent of Death’ where people cannot live, and entry is strictly prohibited.

Given such examples, ‘Martial God Baek Yu-hwa’, the 1st generation transcendent who established Arena Academy and is still a living legend, treats the academy’s students equally regardless of their background, but gives preferential treatment to students with high skills and heroic spirit.

That has not changed even now, so even though the exams the examinees take change every time, the themes always focus on testing ‘skills’ and ‘heroic spirit’.

So if the first exam, the ‘Wisdom Exam’, tests the examinee’s ‘caliber’, the second exam, the ‘Courage Exam’, tests the examinee’s ‘heroic spirit’.

However, like the first exam, there is a trick to this as well.

I took out the item I had prepared for this exam from my inventory.

“Phew.”

I took a deep breath.

The item I would use this time was not very safe.

If mishandled, it could turn me into a cripple.

But I had also prepared safety measures, so it should be fine.

Ssss.

As if the exam had begun, white fog started to fill the private room I entered.

That fog was ‘Illusion Fog’, an artificial fog modeled after the ‘Fog of Death’ in ‘Centralia’, a forbidden zone in the United States.

‘Illusion Fog’ did not have the killing power to kill people like the ‘Fog of Death’, but it was dangerous because it maximized people’s fears.

So it was only used temporarily for exams in narrow private rooms like this, not in wide spaces.

‘I hope there won’t be any accidents during the next examinees’ exams.’

An examinee with the S-grade skill ‘Illusion’ caused a major accident while coming into contact with this Illusion Fog.

The skill ‘Illusion’ is to ‘realize’ what is imagined into reality.

However, when the examinee with the skill ‘Illusion’ came into contact with the Illusion Fog and became terrified, they ended up realizing something in it that was dangerous that was similar to beings from other worlds coming into reality.

Because of that, a state of emergency was declared in the city, the exam was abruptly terminated, and chaos ensued.

But that was something that happened later.

There were no problems in this exam, so it was fine.

Anyway, after looking at the fog filling the private room, I looked down at the item held in my hand.

“It’s a crazy thing to do, but…”

There was nothing as certain as this item to easily pass this exam.

A small 150ml bottle.

Inside, there was a liquid swirling with rainbow colors.

A liquid that somehow looked like it shouldn’t be drunk.

But in fact… it was not ‘somehow looks like it shouldn’t be drunk’, it was really a liquid that shouldn’t be drunk.

If someone who knew this liquid saw it, they would shout, “You’re going to drink this? Are you in your right mind?” That was how dangerous this liquid was.

So what was this liquid?

It was a favorite of drug addicts in the underworld.

But I didn’t get it from the underworld.

I directly obtained the ingredients for the potion, went to an alchemy workshop, and asked an apprentice alchemist to make it.

And as expected of an apprentice, they were lacking in potion-making skills, so only the bad effects of ‘abnormal status’ were enhanced, not the good effects.

But I actually expected such effects, so I requested it from the apprentice.

After receiving a satisfactory result, I spent all my remaining money to buy the potions.

I took one of those potions out of my inventory and tightly grasped it in the hand opposite to the one holding the ‘Unicorn’s Tears’.

Detoxification (B+).

The effect of curing all abnormal statuses below B grade.

Although it’s not a skill, perhaps because I’m immersed in the game, I can see the information of items as if I have the ‘Appraisal’ skill, thanks to which I was able to select and purchase high-quality potions among those sold at the alchemy workshop, even though they were the same price.

Sss…

The Illusion Fog filled the private room.

The surroundings were so hazy that it was impossible to tell what was in front or behind.

But that was only for a moment.

As the effect of the Illusion Fog began to take effect, the hazy surroundings distorted and started to reveal something.

– Grrrr.

As my senses were consumed by the Illusion Fog, causing confusion, the growl of a beast was heard from afar.

And at some point, the huge pupils of a reptile were visible on my retina.

Whenever those bright red pupils, longer and larger than two average adult men, blinked once, fear instantly sprouted in me.

Shiver shiver.

My body trembled uncontrollably, like a poplar tree shaking in the wind.

Before that huge illusion fully revealed its form, I drank the ‘Unicorn’s Tears’ I was holding.

Gulp.

The liquid passed through my throat. And its effect appeared immediately.

Swoosh.

The fog was pushed back, and the huge pupils disappeared.

The abnormal status ‘Hallucination (B)’ of the potion was properly taking effect.

‘Fight poison with poison.’

There was a saying, ‘Idokjedok’.

It meant using another poison to remove poison.

This followed the same principle.

Although it will be revealed later, the illusion grade of the Illusion Fog used in the exam was ‘B-‘.

Since it was made for the examinees’ exam, it was not a very high grade, but if you didn’t have a mental resistance-related talent or skill at the intermediate level, you would be consumed by the illusion as it was, and this acted as a kind of ‘debuff’.

So the method I found was this.

Using a ‘debuff’-related item like the ‘Unicorn’s Tears’.

Why did I use this method?

It was because some debuffs can be stacked and some cannot.

The ‘Illusion’ of the Illusion Fog.

The ‘Hallucination’ of the Unicorn’s Potion.

The two seem similar but are classified into different categories.

Perhaps because of that, even if they are the same debuff, if they are not in the same category, they do not stack, and the debuff with the higher grade takes priority.

‘The effect of the fog has disappeared.’

The ‘fear amplification’ characteristic of the Illusion Fog had disappeared.

The proof was that my body had stopped trembling.

Instead…

Shiver.

My body started trembling for a different reason.

It was a symptom of the potion’s other abnormal status, ‘Addiction’.

My body was going crazy, demanding the drug.

“Heh, hehe.”

My lips curled up involuntarily, and I let out an involuntary laugh.

The hazy fog turned into a slew of rainbow colors like the potion, and pleasant illusions began to appear before me.

Now, instead of fear, joy welled up.

‘Quickly.’

Before the symptoms worsened, I hurriedly moved.

Towards the passage point faintly visible beyond that fog.

My steps were tangled, and my body staggered.

But fortunately, the private room was not very large.

Ding.

I was able to reach the passage point.

‘Qui, quickly.’

As soon as I passed the exam, I hastily poured the antidote into my mouth.

Although my hands were trembling severely, I opened the lid of the antidote and shoved it into my mouth, so I didn’t spill the contents.

Gulp.

The moment the liquid passed through my throat and reached my stomach…

“Bleargh!”

Due to the hellishly bitter taste I felt on my tongue, I vomited everything that was in my stomach.

It felt like my insides were turning inside out.

The unbearably bitter taste made my head spin.

But I definitely felt the abnormal statuses ‘Hallucination’ and ‘Addiction’ disappear.

However, I made a resolution from this incident.

I must obtain a talent or skill related to mental resistance.

So that I will never again… drink this potion.

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Meanwhile, in the monitoring room.

Among the instructors who were watching the examinees’ ‘Courage’ exam, two instructors were intensively monitoring Lee Yu-jin.

“That crazy bastard…”

The female instructor shook her head with a disgusted face.

“Hahaha! Yes, that is also courage! Hahaha!”

The male instructor slapped his forehead and laughed out loud.

The two instructors had come to know Lee Yu-jin’s courage well.

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