Chapter 36: Preparations for the Hunter Examination (Part-2)

Lin Fang wasn’t like other hunters. He didn’t have mana. He didn’t train in fighting. After transmigrating, he clung to his life even more.

For a while, he was surely frustrated for not being able to get the Pegasus summon; he was angry at himself for not being able to just summon Black as a helper, and right now, he really wanted to get stronger, but the moment he saw Frost Bear King instead of a familiar-looking mammoth, he lost that courage.

He started running right away for his life as a result.

But then… as he ran for a while, he felt the monster guardian’s footsteps and its roars getting fainter every second.

Eventually, Lin Fang glanced back, only to find that the Frost Bear King had fallen far behind. The towering beast was still chasing after him, but the gap between them widened steadily.

“Huh?” Lin Fang slowed just a bit, enough to notice his body’s rhythm. “Since when did…” His eyes couldn’t help but gaze at his legs. His feet felt lighter.

“I’m faster than before, or is this Bear weaker than the mammoth…?” he wondered aloud. “Come to think of it, I managed to evade most of the attacks aimed at me.”

He came to a stop at once. The cold bit into him, but he ignored it. His eyes locked onto the roaring giant that continued barreling forward.

“Maybe, I can do this…”

A sudden thought gave him the courage he had lost earlier.

Taking a deep breath, he turned around and charged back. The Frost Bear King roared again, louder than before, charging at him. Its speed didn’t lessen a bit. Lin Fang also fastened up his pace toward it.

As they came within reach, the bear swiped its claws, slicing the air. Lin Fang ducked in response, then rolled and leapt to the side before sliding beneath a second swing.

Standing up again, he glared at the monster, clenching his fists. “I can do this.” He charged at it.

For the entire two minutes, he kept moving, weaving around it, purely relying on speed.

That’s how long he lasted, dodging and moving before finally finding an opening for a counterattack.

The bear lunged, but Lin Fang twisted low and spun behind it. He kicked off the icy slope and launched forward with all the strength his legs could summon, slamming his heel into the back of the bear’s joint.

A sharp crack echoed out while the Frost Bear King faltered with his knees bent slightly.

Lin Fang’s eyes lit up in disbelief. “It worked just as I thought… Now for the nex…”

But he never could finish that thought as a massive paw shot toward him in that instant. He moved to dodge, but it was too late as the claws snared his throat.

“Gaaah!”

Lin Fang’s eyes widened as pain exploded across his body. A guttural scream escaped his mouth. His vision dimmed in almost the next instant.

“Damn it…”

And then…

Everything went black.

“Haah!”

He blinked rapidly as white light filled his vision in the next moment, after 3 seconds of blackout.

He was no longer on the snowy mountain. And neither did he return to the real world like before. Instead, he stood in the Training Ground’s central space again, the endless void of white space with the hovering golden crystal before him.

While he seemed alive again, the experience of death remained. And his entire body couldn’t help but tremble nonstop as the memory of paw striking him replayed in his head.

“Ugh…” As Lin Fang closed his mouth, trying his best to bear the feeling of getting vomit, a chime echoed in his head.

Ding!

[Resurrection Successful]

Another prompt appeared as he turned to the side:

[Silver Moon Snow Mountain: Cooldown (23:59:42)]

The illustration of the icy habitat turned gray.

Lin Fang then fell to his knees, catching his breath again. “Alright. It seems like other habitats are still available.”

The last remnants of fear from the Frost Bear’s crushing grip still lingered in his nerves, but his feet moved anyway. He turned toward the crystal at the center of the void.

“Again.”

This time, he didn’t hesitate.

The moment the selection interface bloomed open, his eyes scanned past the grayed-out Silver Moon Snow Mountain and locked onto another accessible world.

[Cragstone Expanse – Rocky Habitat]

Lin Fang pressed his hand forward.

And in the blink of an eye, he was gone. When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing amidst a barren world this time. Cracked brown earth stretched endlessly in all directions, dotted with massive rock formations like jagged spires, sloping cliffs, and scattered boulders.

Lin Fang blinked in surprise. “This is… surprisingly bearable, unlike that icy habitat,” he muttered before starting to walk forward, eventually climbing up a low rock hill.

He spent the next thirty minutes wandering the craggy terrain, just looking for a perfect place to fight the guardian.

And in the end, he found a jagged ring of broken stones clustered in a wide natural formation.

Lin Fang rubbed his chin and stepped into the middle. “This could work. Lots of obstacles… perfect to hide or block the line of sight.”

With that, he sat down on one of the flattest rocks, stretching his legs out and catching his breath.

“Alright, now for the rest to summon the guardian.”

Fifteen minutes passed.

And… a familiar notification presented itself.

Ding!

[You have remained sedentary for more than 15 minutes. Activating Defense Protocol.]

[Spawning the Guardian… Please evade or engage.]

[Training Time Extended by +15 Minutes. Remaining: 27:42]

Lin Fang stood up. This time, he appeared to be very calm, as if he no longer feared death. “Alright, here we go again.”

Followed by the notification, a dull tremor rippled through the earth beneath his feet. Dust shifted while pebbles around rolled away from their perches as a stone golem materialized.

With at least four meters tall, its body was composed entirely of gray, cracked slabs stacked together like armor. Its face, if it could be called that, was just a flat surface with two molten-red eyes.

Lin Fang whistled softly at the sight. “It reminds me of that Emberwood Golem from the dungeon raid. But then again, it made one thing clear. The system doesn’t summon prehistoric animals as guardians. It was a pure coincidence that I ended up against the Woolly Mammoth, last time.” Even Lin Fang himself didn’t realize that his body was no longer trembling in fear of the monster. If anything, his eyes fluttered in excitement, and his fists were clenched tightly, watching the giant slowly raise its arm and let out a rumbling grunt that sounded like rocks grinding together.

Dropping into a low stance, Lin Fang muttered under his breath, “But at the same time, I don’t think I’m strong enough to fight something like that. But if anything, I’m confident enough to dodge it. Based on its size, it can be anything but fast. Seeing that I have fast legs, let’s focus on just dodging. Let’s not attack it, like I did to Frost Bear King. Let’s keep my distance and run around, wasting time. I just need to survive.”

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