My decision to challenge Stage 8 was daring and bold because I might be given a lesser reward than if I had chosen to stay in Stage 7 until the end of the test.

After making my decision, I challenged Stage 8, but there was not a single monster just like when I first stepped into Region 0.

Of course, there were some differences.

In the past, when I was watching TV, I often saw people being swept away in the rapids in the summer during the rainy season.

Right now, such a torrent appeared before my eyes.

Of course, the river was quite wide. It was about 20 meters wide.

"Do I have to swim past it?"

There was no specific guideline about what to do, but I could make an educated guess given the circumstances. What's more, just like stepping stones, there were quite large blocks of stones lined up about 1 meter apart across the river.

And it seemed I could cross the river very easily if I stepped on those stones.

The problem was that there was not only one line of stepping stones.

There were 20 flat stones lined up on the river, approximately 1 meter apart.

But each stepping stone was also a part of another row of stepping stones in the direction of the river.

In other words, a total of 400 flat stones were laid at regular intervals just like a Go board.

I felt it unlikely that all of these 400 flat stones would serve properly as a stepping stone.

Obviously, this was a trap.

I did not need to think too hard to conclude that many of those stones were traps.

"Ice Ball!"

First, I tried using Ice Ball on the nearest stone.

Kaaaaang!

It wobbled a bit, and a dent appeared on the stone.

Given the effects of my Ice Ball, it was highly likely that the stone was real.

But just in case, I tried the same Ice Ball on other stones.

Kaaaaang! Kaaaaaang! Kaaaaaang!

"..."

The same thing happened, so I suspected all these stones were real.

Of course, all of them could be real stones, but it's more likely that they were not.

So, I attacked all the rocks within my striking range.

Kaaaaaang! Kaaaaaang! Kaaaaaang! Kaaaaaang! Kaaaaaang!

What about the results?

They were all the same. In others, all of them might be real or fake, but I could not ascertain with my skills whether they were a trap. But I felt more and more convinced that they were fake.

"Damn it! Do they want me to confront it directly?"

At that moment, I missed Blink with zero cooldown.

With Blink, I could easily cross the 20-meter-wide river even without using these stepping stones.

However, I could not have Blink even if I fervently wished for it, so I gave up thinking about Blink anymore.

For about 30 minutes, I examined the 400 stones.

"Alright! Let me confront it directly!"

So, I approached the first stone on the far left.

Of course, I didn't idle away for 30 minutes without doing anything.

Wondering if I could summon the root, I racked my brain trying to summon it but it didn't appear.

Anyway, I had spent 30 minutes hesitating, so I decided to set foot on the first rock.

Thud!

I could feel the solid stone on the soles of my feet.

"Did I make it successfully?"

Of course, I just took the first step, so I let out a sigh of relief at the fact that my first step was a success.

At that moment, a message rang.

[You have to cross the river in Stage 8.

-Among a total of 400 stones, there are traps in the shape of a stone.

If you step into a trap, you will be swept away by the torrents and will fail to cross the river.

-In Stage 8, you will not die even if you are swept away by the torrents. Instead, you will be moved to the location before you first crossed the river.

-After failing, all 400 stones are randomly reshuffled for the challenger's next attempt.]

"..."

First of all, I liked the fact that my death count would not go up even if I drowned in the river.

But the problem was that there were as many as 400 stones.

Moreover, it seemed almost impossible for me to get to the other side of the river by stepping on only the real stones of these 400 stones.

As expected, I kept making mistakes while trying to cross the river.

The next day, I stopped counting after I reached 500 failures.

Of course, sometimes I made it as far as the middle of the river.

But it was impossible for me to go beyond that.

"Damn it! If you want to get me into trouble, just give me monsters!"

At this point, I thought that the ranged monster, Rascal Fairy, in Stage 7 was much better, for I could at least clear the stage someday even if I died.

But I could not find a solution to this task in Stage 8 because I couldn't predict when I would succeed.

[You have stepped on the wrong stone.

-Start over from the beginning.]

Plop!

Along with that message, the stone I was stepping on disappeared like smoke, and I fell straight into the river. Of course, I was moved back to the place where I started in the blink of an eye.

"Damn it!"

Spitting out curses like that, I was about to rush toward the stones again like before.

But I stopped myself because I thought another reckless challenge would end up in failure like before.

I had some wishful thinking I would succeed someday, but I gave it up after one day.

In the end, there was only one option left, namely, the root.

"I think I can make it with the help of the root…"

With my skills, I couldn't tell whether the stone was a trap or not.

But for some reason, I thought I could do it with the root because it was not a skill.

However, there was no sign of the root appearing at all.

"Do I need to fear for my life?"

Obviously, my life was in danger in Stage 7.

I was lost in thought while looking at the river with the rapid torrents.

And 10 minutes later, I sprang to my feet.

Then I approached the riverside where the stones were located.

"Good. If this doesn't work, then I can't help it."

Of course, there was no guarantee that this method would work.

But if it didn't, there was no way for me to cross the river.

Plop!

I threw myself into a river right away where the torrents were flowing instead of stepping on the stones.

It was a river with powerful torrents.

Although I knew how to swim, I could not keep my balance in the water.

So, I was swept away by the torrents.

I could not figure out how far the torrents swept me away.

At some point, I felt that I wasn't being swept away anymore as if my body was stuck in something.

What's even more surprising was that even though I didn't do anything, my body was spontaneously moving upwards through the current like a salmon rising to the surface of the river.

Soon, I was deposited on the top of a rock.

It was not a trap, but a real rock.

And the root that I had seen in Stage 7 was wrapped around the rock thickly.

"Hahahaha."

I threw myself into the rapids at the risk of death, but I knew that I had made the correct decision.

Anyway, since I found the right way to cross the river, I threw myself into the river again. And by repeating that, I could cross the river.

I could barely succeed after spending more than one day.

Moreover, without the root, I would not have succeeded at all.

Anyway, I cleared Stage 8 and entered Stage 9.

For the remaining 23 days, I kept challenging, and advanced to Stage 15 although I went through a lot of dangerous moments.

[Congratulations!

-Lumen, Asirante reached Stage 15 after 30 days.

-Since your total number of deaths is 0, you are given additional points.

-You have succeeded in advancing to Stage 15 with a 7% actualization rate. Additional points will be given.]