The pioneering industry’s rise and its resulting revenue made up over 30 percent of the Country of Faith’s income. This has led to a great deal of importance being put on this industry in the form of greater government support.
The millions-strong country had a standing army of 30,000, of which 10,000 are used for security purposes. These 10,000 men were specifically trained to combat human opponents. While the remaining 20,000 were trained to deal with the hostile unknown terrain and inhabitants encountered during pioneering. These 20,000 were trained in the use of wish abilities as their main weapon.
These 20,000 soldiers all had the chance of becoming a pioneer who explored a new territory, an extremely prestigious recognition in Faith. In order to become a renowned hero in Faith, there was only one route. That was to contribute significantly during a government-led pioneering expedition; an exceptional contributor.
However, this was a thorny road filled with blood and death.
No matter what capabilities you had; personal, group, weapon or wish abilities, there was always one foe that you could never overcome.
The unknown.
…….
……
Calm down… While reality was similar to that wall of text I thought of, it wasn’t a doomed endeavour either.
It’s really obvious this is a government-led expedition. After all, I am in an army recruitment tent facing a selection test.
With the army following this expedition, this journey will be a lot safer than any other expedition I could’ve joined.
Furthermore, exploration work is a form of hard labor as well. Under these circumstances, there will be no lack of people willing to teach me the basics.
At most I would be scolded or punished for messing up, but given some time I would definitely be able to rise to a veteran position.
This is definitely a safe bet.
Having thought of this, my worries were allayed.
Enter the exploration team, undergo an on-the-job training and find a suitable position for myself. Yup, that’s the plan.
As for further advancement…becoming a soldier? I’ll think about it at another time. A safe and stable life sounds much more appealing to me than the adrenaline packed world of adventuring.
Given a choice between stability and danger, my vote’s for stability.
However, all these are matters for the future. As for this selection…I, Di Qi Ju, 16, male, accept this challenge!
With enthusiasm burning in my eyes, I pick up the study material and looked——
Di Qi Ju:……
——-F*ck.
I seem to have forgotten about one important matter—-
I can’t read the letters of this world!!
As for verbal communications, Miss Poppy had kindly reminded me that a 10 point wish was enough to attain such an ability. Before setting off, I had already invested 10 points into an “ability to engage in verbal communications with the human inhabitants of this world”.
In order to test out this new ability, I went out of the way to find two villagers and engaged in verbal communications. The result: God is great! Even Chinese slang terms were successfully translated.
I considered wishing to be literate as well but Poppy warned me not to.
The education standards in this world were poor and while most citizens were able to read, this was limited to common words only.
If someone found out that my literary ability was really high, they might mistake me as a school graduate. This was a problem for my cover story. The cover Miss Poppy created for me was—–
“I migrated to this frontier village with my parents when I was six. I lived with them for 10 years before they passed away due to a serious illness. Due to their sickness, I had to take a loan, incurring a heavy debt.”
“My debtors kidnapped my beautiful fiancee and made me sign a contract; which said that if I did not pay up, they will ‘***%^#’ and do ‘#$@#$’ to my wife.”
“Therefore, I had no choice but to leave the village and seek employment to repay my loans (and pay for the engagement).”
——————That’s all.
Of course, the second sentence and the sentence in the parenthesis would never see the light of day. Long story short, my origins story did not allow for any literary or job specific ability. Due to the fact that I had no knowledge of this world; having a complete grasp of its words did not make sense.
This was my transmigrator status messing with me once more. I don’t know who was the first person to decide that all transmigrators had to cover their true origins but there was an actual reason for me to do so here.
While there were plenty of old legends about transmigrators in this world, they were the devil’s incarnate, sowing chaos and discord everywhere or they were the heroes who suppressed the devil’s incarnate.
These legends did not have much factual basis but were widely popular with the masses. This was especially true for a country with such an exploratory spirit. There were plenty of rumors within the military that they were searching for transmigrators.
Just by looking at Miss Poppy’s treatment of me, I shudder to think what would happen to me if my identity was ever exposed.
Miss Poppy’s suggestion definitely meshed with my opinion. As such, I did not wish to be literate.
Back to my current situation…what am I to do with this piece of paper?
Judging by the “brawny” looks of these people, they didn’t seem to be the civilized type.
Judging by the blond officer’s description of the test, the contents of this paper should be easy enough for the common folk to read.
Should I ask another person for help? I would rather avoid getting made fun of though…I’m not really a good judge of character after all.
What to do…what to do…
Di Qi Ju:……
I, Di Qi Ju, the king of tests and reading books, had just been stumped by this scrap of paper…What a disgrace.
No no, I mustn’t panic. Think Di Qi Ju! Think. What was the most difficult test that I’ve ever taken that had caught me off guard?
Right, that one: the “physics” test that I sat for where I found out it was actually a geography test only after the papers were given out.
Didn’t I manage to overcome that in the end? What’s more this test hasn’t even started. It’s just at the preparatory stage.
There must be a way!
At a remote corner of the tent, sat the blond officer and his adjutant. Judging from their passive looks, they did not intend to interfere in this revision stage.
Most of the people next to me were already looking through the study material during my little episode. There were signs of groups being made prior to this test; a number of people were huddling together and discussing.
That’s right! In this sort of environment, there must be people who read the material out loud while studying.
I just have to find such a person and memorize what he recites. As one of the Heavenly Kings of China’s examination world, my listening comprehensions skills were nothing to scoff at.
That guy seems like a good target. Having settled on a target, I stealthily approached him and eavesdropped on his revision.
Middle aged, skinny passerby (Lanky) : Ahahahah…this material…
Lanky: Seems to be the same as the test ten years ago, passing shouldn’t be a problem…
Lanky: I just hope they don’t make me shove manure again…at least give me a higher position…
Lanky: Ah, I should celebrate after this test by finding a woman…
Lanky: Those big boobs…and that soft perky butt…
Di Qi Ju:……
Ahah…there’s always this kind of fellow isn’t there…just listening to him gives me the creeps. I don’t have much time left…Thanks to my earlier panic attack, I’ve already wasted half an hour. Got to find a better target quick.
After taking a few steps, I heard another person reciting.
A piece of pork (Porky) : “Absolute obedience?” Isn’t this obvious?
Porky: Even if it’s hard labor, it’s still working in the military.
Porky: Following orders is the ironclad rule of the military. Even a boor like me knows this.
Porky: If you are going to conduct a test, at least conduct a meaningful one. Do you think I’m an idiot?!
Porky: “Molesting girls under the age of 14 is a serious offense?” Huh?! *spit* *spit*—-
Porky: This is veiled discrimination! It’s stereotyping little girls as being unable to show off their charms! This is a human rights infringement!
Porky: Don’t tell me the country of Faith is unable to comprehend the value of lolis? Hmph. Once this one has made a name for himself, the first thing I’ll do is abolish this stupid rule!
Porky: Overthrowing the army’s oppression against lolis is my life’s mission!
Di Qi Ju: ……
Well there were some useful bits in there. But at this rate, I’ll never get to hear the full contents.
And what’s with these people?! All they talk about are women. One of them even has a weird fetish.
Are you trying to tell me that people who talk to themselves are all like that?
No————-! My plan was supposed to be perfect!
Suddenly, I heard a soft whispering near me.
The type of whispering that was methodical. The kind you hear when the teachers asks the class to recite a passage.
This voice! That’s definitely the one!
I tiptoed through the crowd in search of that voice’s owner. Right in the middle of the tent, I spotted a regular looking person softly reading to himself, his head lowered and his back facing me.
Judging by his slightly dirty tank top and denim shorts, he seemed to be a manual laborer.
His back was larger than a normal human being’s by at least 30 percent and its bone structure seemed different as well.
Especially that black hair that extends all the way down to his butt..
A tail?
He’s definitely not a human.
What’s with that two metre gap between him and the crowd?
Everyone seems to be avoiding him on purpose; even if it means squeezing together.
That blond officer as well…he is surveying the crowd but when it comes to that man, his gaze seems to be cursory at best.
Recalling Miss Poppy’s lessons, I identified his race as [Seasonal Wolf].
This was one of the highly intelligent races of this world. They had a wolf’s tail and possessed a body larger than a human by twenty to forty percent. Their strength was higher than a human’s and they also possessed a similar level of intelligence.
The reason why they were known as season wolves was because of their unique trait. Every season which consists of a hundred days, their body and personality would significantly change. Thankfully, they were mostly stable for at least half of the time.
As such, no one wanted to stand close to him as they were unsure of his current personality. If he decided to act up, there was no one of similar stature to suppress him.
However, this seemed unnecessary to me. Those two officers seemed pretty confident in spite of him.
It’s kind of similar to encountering a tough question you can’t answer. However, knowing that it will never be tested, what’s there to be afraid of?
I stepped out from the crowd and approached the seasonal wolf. As I started “reading” my material, the eyes of the crowd fell upon me instantly.
Lanky: Ahah…another brave soul has appeared!
Porky: Suicidal fellow…
I ignored the flies buzzing in my ears and concentrated on the wolf’s voice. From the sound of it, he didn’t seem to be affected by the whispering either.
Black Haired Seasonal Wolf: Obey orders to the letter.
Black Haired Seasonal Wolf: Follow all the current laws of Faith.
Black Haired Seasonal Wolf: You are not to leave the camp perimeters during your break time.
Black Haired Seasonal Wolf: Do not run about when you encounter danger. Group with your comrades
Black Haired Seasonal Wolf: Carry your personal belongings with you and please find a safe place to store your valuables yourself.
Mhm. That’s the stuff.
Such concise reading was just what I had wanted.
I closed my eyes unknowingly as I immersed myself in his voice. Such a test was simply child’s play to me.
Black Haired Seasonal Wolf: ……
Unbeknownst to me, recitation had ended and the wolf turned towards me, a sharp gaze in his eyes.
Footnotes:
Credits:
Special thanks to 7STARDARK BLADE! The first ever patron of Catato Patch Translations.
