After jolting awake...
A boy crouched in a large dead tree, concealing himself in its shadows. In the distance, something uncanny prowled through the darkness. It seemed to have no definite shape, twisting and changing constantly.
"Benjamin, is there anything we can do?" "Yes, Charkus, we'll die sooner or later at this rate."
As it turned out, there was more than one boy in the shadows. Two others were there as well.
Benjamin Chakus kept his eyes on the distant monster and spoke in a low voice.
"It seems to have lost us?"
"You're right. Maybe the monsters' sense of smell isn't as sharp as we imagined?"
"But the people who were with us before got dragged out no matter how well they hid."
Benjamin looked back in the direction they had fled from. The dark, ruined castle was no longer visible. He shook his head slightly.
"Remember what Professor Jonester said? We need to rely on our own courage. In the Otherworld, Awakening-level physical abilities are far less useful than strength of will."
"You mean they can track our fear, but their other senses might not be that strong?"
"I see what you two mean. To them, our fear is like a distinctive body odor. But if we overcome it, the way an experienced hunter masks his scent, we can hide from them."
Benjamin glanced at that student.
"This is a special exam. As the examiner, Professor Jonester must know what's happening here. There's no point in hiding. Not only will we fail to get a high score, we might not even be able to leave the exam grounds."
The other two students largely agreed with Benjamin.
"Isn't this a little too unfair to the new students? Too cruel?"
"It's not much better for us, really, though we're still