Countless students were climbing the mountain with a single goal in mind—to reach higher ground as quickly as possible.
We were among them, technically.
But while the others marched confidently up the main trail, we veered off toward a shadowy side path tucked between overgrown bushes.
A path no one else even considered.
And I knew exactly why.
"Aaaah!! It's sticky—!!"
"Louis! Louis!! Help me!!"
…Yeah.
This was why.
The quiet, shaded path was full of traps.
Not dangerous traps—just annoying ones.
Right now, both Elena and Lisa were flailing helplessly, half-submerged in a pool of sticky slime.
I pressed a hand to my forehead, sighing.
Slimes were harmless low-rank monsters.
They didn't bite, didn't sting, didn't poison.
They just… covered everything in mucus.
But that was precisely why everyone avoided this route.
No one wanted to spend the rest of the exam covered in slime spit.
