37 - Chapter 35: Belladonna
Fortunately, I managed to slip the pistol back into the storage locker without getting caught.
Jeong Yu-mi's gang was busted and arrested by the police, and luckily, the violent mess my sister and Seo-yun caused didn't blow up into a major issue either.
The police, obsessed with hitting their performance metrics, took all the credit for themselves.
From our perspective, it was actually for the best. We got off scot-free despite causing such a violent scene.
With that mess settled, time flew by, and before I knew it, the final evaluation exams for the year were already here.
Since I was in my final year, once I cleared these finals, the only thing standing between me and my license was the Hunter License Exam.
Realizing that the day I'd become a fully licensed hunter was just around the corner made me feel strangely restless.
'To make that happen, I need to ace these finals. It would be incredibly embarrassing to fail and get held back.'
With that in mind, I hopped onto the school website to check the exam details.
"Hmm."
There wasn't much to it. Exams were all pretty much the same anyway: a written portion first, followed by the practical.
The written exam was just a test on the theory we'd learned so far.
As for the practical, it was the usual: clear out a dimensional gate designated by the school.
Maybe because human resources were all they had, they really squeezed every last drop out of us.
I briefly wondered just how many dimensional gates they dumped on inexperienced trainees under the guise of exams, assignments, and practical training.
Of course, it was still better than the Korea of my past life, which had been desperate to exploit young men like slaves at every opportunity.
In this life, with an existential threat looming right before everyone's eyes, the government actually treated us with some decency.
Even so, it was hard to ignore the fact that putting hunter trainees to work was a lot cheaper than hiring professionals.
I let out a quiet sigh at the bitter reality and started getting ready.
*
As expected, the written exam wasn't that hard.
No matter how well you knew the theory, combat power was what actually mattered when it came to clearing gates.
Because of that, they kept the written exam easy enough so that students born with high mana ranks wouldn't get held back just because they slacked off in theory class.
It was easy enough that even I—who was running on zero sleep after getting fucked in turns by Natalia, the female orc, and my sister all through finals week—passed without much trouble.
Now, the real issue was the practical exam...
Since the practical was meant to evaluate individual combat power rather than teamwork, we had to go in solo.
'Well, I just need to handle it like I do during regular training.'
With that thought, I packed my gear and headed to my assigned E-rank dimensional gate.
As usual, an officer from the Portal Management Department was guarding the entrance.
"You're the cadet here for the exam, right? Would you like some coffee?"
Surprisingly, the officer offered me a paper cup filled with instant mix coffee.
The gesture really took me back to my college entrance exam days.
I smiled back and accepted the warm cup.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
"Stay safe, and good luck on the exam."
"Thank you."
Sipping the steaming coffee, I gave him a nod and stepped through the shimmering dimensional gate.
Once inside, I downed the rest of the sweet coffee and tossed the paper cup aside.
"Let's see..."
I took a look around. It was a dense, overgrown forest.
'A forest... What kind of monsters did they say spawn in an E-rank forest gate?'
I racked my brain, trying to recall my lectures.
But a moment later, I didn't need to.
"Huh?"
A low buzzing began to echo through the trees—the unmistakable sound of beating insect wings. Judging by the sheer volume, it wasn't just one; a whole swarm was closing in from all directions.
My brain quickly pieced the clues together.
'An E-rank gate, a dense forest, and swarming insects.'
This was Mandrake territory.
Right on cue, the insects burst through the foliage.
As expected, they looked like honeybees scaled up to monstrous proportions.
There were about five or six of them, each easily a meter long.
I flipped my assault rifle to full-auto and unleashed a hail of lead at the bugs directly in front of me.
"Screeech!"
Riddled with bullets, three of the giant bees plummeted to the forest floor.
I threw myself into a roll just as massive, razor-sharp stingers swept through the air, narrowly missing my head.
It was obvious that the ones flanking me and coming from behind would strike while I was focused on the front. And because it was so predictable, dodging them was a breeze.
"Skreeee!"
Instead, they ended up colliding and stinging each other in a comical display of friendly fire. They were probably immune to their own venom, but they still ended up injured and tangled in a heap on the ground.
I lined up my sights on the last bee still hovering in the air and easily shot it down.
With the immediate threat neutralized, I walked over and finished off the two tangled bugs currently pinning each other down with their own stingers.
"Whew."
Having survived the warm welcome, I took a moment to catch my breath.
'The textbook said the Mandrake hides in the deepest part of the forest.'
Recalling my lessons, I began to push forward with caution.
"Ah, damn... what now..."
As I ventured deeper, a glittering powder began to drift down from the canopy. My eyes stung, and the air grew thick and acrid.
"First bees, now butterflies?"
The way they fluttered around scattering toxic scales was annoying, but they were slow and had massive wings, making them easy targets.
I quickly pulled the gas mask from my belt, slipped it on, and blew holes through their wings. They fell helplessly, writhing on the forest floor.
And really, what's easier to kill than a butterfly that can't fly?
I kept moving toward the center of the forest, fighting or slipping past mushroom-infested animal carcasses, giant toads with trees growing out of their backs, and Treants bearing fruit that looked disturbingly like human heads.
And that was where I encountered the monster known as the Belladonna.
The final obstacle guarding the master of this gate, the Mandrake.
The Belladonna looked like something out of a twisted fairy tale, resembling a mermaid. Except instead of the ocean, she lived in the forest, and her lower half was a mass of writhing vines rather than a fish tail.
The one before me possessed the upper body of a stunningly beautiful woman. Leaves were tangled in her wild, voluminous hair, and her skin was a stark, porcelain white.
Given that she had a belly button and voluptuous breasts despite being a plant monster that didn't reproduce like humans, it was obvious her gorgeous upper body was nothing more than evolutionary bait.
The real danger lay in the vine tentacles of her lower half.
Because they were engorged with moisture, they weren't even weak to fire despite being made of plant matter.
Normally, she was a monster that required at least a B-rank hunter to face solo.
Yet, gates containing Belladonnas were classified as E-rank because she was highly passive and too fickle to care about protecting the gate's master.
Some monster ecologists even hypothesized that this apathy was a survival strategy to avoid being targeted by hunters.
Following the standard protocol, I lowered my weapon to signal that I wasn't a threat. She slowly blinked, her eyes scanning me from head to toe.
Her gaze felt strangely sticky, thoroughly sizing me up. Then, she slowly licked her lips.
'Is she going to let me pass?'
But that hope was short-lived.
Before I could react, a vine tentacle snaked up from behind and wrapped around my ankle.
"Ah...!"
For a split second, I hesitated, wondering if I should raise my rifle and fight back.
But while the grip on my ankle was firm, it didn't hurt. There was no real malice behind it, which made me hesitate.
'I can't beat her on my own anyway. Fighting back will only provoke her, so I might as well see what she wants.'
As it turned out, my instinct was right.
With no sign of hostility, the Belladonna sent more vines slithering toward me while I stood pinned.
"Tsk..."
Resigning myself to my fate, I didn't move. Another vine coiled around my other ankle, while more wrapped around my arms, pinning them behind my back.
Once I was completely bound, she hoisted me into the air.
Dangling me in midair, she forced my legs apart. Fresh, slender vines crept closer and began to slip beneath my clothes.
"Ugh... ah..."
The vines sliding under my shirt coiled around my waist, teasing my belly button before crawling upward to brush slowly over my chest and nipples.
But the ones sliding down my pants were far more aggressive.
Thin tendrils wrapped around my cock, slipping beneath the foreskin to coax it erect. Other vines slid between my cheeks, rubbing persistently against my anus and perineum.
"Hngh... h-ah... ah..."
As I clamped my mouth shut to stifle my groans, I saw even more tentacles rising toward my face.
One was a smooth, slick vine, while the other bore a vibrant red flower bud blooming at its tip.