By Zephyria “S, save me. Just once, save me—. Ah, I said save me, seriously—!”
The protagonist of the voice heard from the forest was running away from arrows flying from behind. It was fortunate that he had some skill in running, having lived his whole life as a errand runner in the back alleys. But with the pistol he had bothered to bring as a weapon becoming useless in this game, he was a fugitive as soon as he encountered anyone.
He was being chased by a group right now, and while they usually gave up after a certain distance, these guys were very persistent. Moreover, unlike the first half of the game, which was mostly individual, now that it had moved into the second half, everyone was forming teams to survive, making it even more maddening.
The fugitive held his bag in one arm and gripped the pistol, which had no bullets, like a club in the other. He was about to use the barrel to push away a branch blocking his view.
“Ugh!”
One of the pursuers, who had been waiting beyond the overgrown bushes, swung a gleaming axe.
Five trees nearby were cut down in one blow. Barely dodging it, the fugitive rolled across the ground and crawled down a sloping hill.
But his location had already been exposed, and he was outnumbered. His stamina was completely drained, and he had even lost his sense of direction as to where he was going. So, there was no way he could realize that he was being herded. The fugitive wandered through the jungle, driven by the pursuers, until he reached a dead end at the bottom of a cliff.
Panting, he looked up at the towering cliff, and felt presences from all directions. Turning to his sides, he saw a Mage chanting a spell on the left, and a bandit with a huge axe on the right. Behind him, a hunter with a drawn bow was slowly approaching.
Cornered, the fugitive pressed his back against the cliff and shouted in a trembling voice.
“Aish, you tenacious bastards… If I were you, I’d look for another flower instead of wasting time like this!”
“Why look for flowers? You have the last crystal that will allow us to pass.”
The arrowhead adjusted its direction and aimed at the fugitive’s bulging clothes.
“And aren’t you the tenacious one too? You cockroach-like bastard, you’re disgustingly fast. If you had just handed it over when we asked nicely, we could have saved each other some time, right?”
“Am I crazy? How do you think I got this! Even if I have to throw it away, I won’t give it to you guys—.”
“We don’t want to hurt people either.”
With three people approaching from three sides, the fugitive trailed off, glancing up at the cliff. It was too high to climb up. But a frontal breakthrough was out of the question, as they had ranged weapons. Before he could get out of range, an arrow or a fireball would hit his torso first.
As evidence of that prediction, the fugitive’s clothes were already scorched and torn to shreds. But he absolutely wouldn’t let go of the bag containing the crystal. Now that they were in the second half, losing it would mean losing even the possibility of negotiation with other participants.
“Now, hand it over quickly. I can’t shoot your head, but I can cut your tendons.”
The three pursuers chuckled as they looked at the rat in the trap. With each step they took closer, the fugitive squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, denying reality.
‘Is this the end?’
Everyone here was desperate, but he absolutely had to make it to the round where betting started. He had even bought a used pistol from the black market with a heavy heart… He couldn’t be eliminated here. The fugitive gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes. Even if you’re bitten by a tiger, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.
At that moment, an unidentified silhouette flickered above the cliff. The fugitive shouted at the top of his lungs, grasping at straws.
“Ah, anyone, I don’t care who, anyone who needs a white or red one! I’ll give it to you, so please, help me!”
The three pursuers momentarily hesitated at his crazy outburst towards the sky. But they scoffed again and shook their heads.
“Don’t bother, who’s going to come? There are three of us here.”
“Don’t increase the competition for no reason and be quiet—.”
At that moment, a faint breeze blew between the fugitive and the pursuers. In the blink of an eye, they reflexively blinked, and a man was standing in front of them.
The four people who had been facing off lost their words for a moment. The grass sprouting at the man’s feet was all lying in one direction. It seemed to have been pressed down by some pressure, but there was no sound of him stepping on the ground at all. There was no sign of an approaching presence or movement either.
It was a natural reaction for the pursuers, surprised by the appearance of the third party like a ghost, to step back.
“W, what? Who is this bastard?”
“Hey, do you really have a white one?”
Regardless, Leonardo placed his palm next to the fugitive’s head and asked the main question first. The fugitive, who had been standing blankly, blinked and looked at the face that had been thrust in front of him.
“U, uwaaah!”
He couldn’t hold back the scream that burst out instinctively and sat down on the ground. In that state, he awkwardly raised his guard and scanned the opponent up and down while lowering his head. The first place his gaze landed was, of course, Leonardo’s jacket pockets, which were bulging on both sides.
Participants can only possess one competition auxiliary item each. So, what filled the inside must be crystals. Having collected many crystals clearly meant he was a strong person.
The fugitive, developing thoughts that didn’t flow smoothly, was already nodding his head vigorously.
“Y, yes, sir! I have a total of two, one white and one red!”
He instinctively knew that this man was his savior. Soon, he showed Leonardo the crystals he had taken out of his bag, fumbling. An indisputable white color, with a surface that hadn’t worn or faded. The corners of Leonardo’s lips curled up as he saw a white crystal with his own eyes for the first time.
“If I save you here right now, will you hand that over to me?”
Loosely curved eyes and a confident tone. It was an attitude that proved he was strong, but that didn’t mean it inspired trust.
The fugitive swallowed hard and stealthily put the crystals back. Soon, he gave an awkward smile and answered as humbly as possible.
“W, well, it’s a little difficult to just give it to you, if you take me with you….”
“Hey, what are you doing? That’s originally ours. We’re the ones who exhausted that guy, it’s troublesome if you suddenly show up and interfere.”
One of the pursuers, who had been watching the strangely unfolding situation, broke the flow. Leonardo glanced to the side and looked down at the opponent in front of him again, asking.
“They say it’s theirs? Is that right?”
“Y, yes? No! I found it, and those guys are trying to take it from me!”
The fugitive protested as if he was the most wronged person in the world. Leonardo rubbed his chin, making an ‘euhm’ sound. But he shrugged as if it didn’t matter. He grabbed the arm of the fugitive, who was still sitting down, and forcibly pulled him up. Then, he pulled him to his side, put his arm around the other’s shoulder, and declared to the pursuers who were checking them.
“Look somewhere else. He has to go with me.”
The pursuers looked at each other in disbelief. On the other hand, they silently gestured with their eyes towards the other’s jacket pockets. They seemed to think that 3 against 1 was enough to win.
Soon, they all rushed at the two people in the encirclement, as if they had agreed on it beforehand. Leonardo, who had roughly expected it, sighed annoyedly but willingly obliged. It didn’t take long to clean up.
“Sir, you’re really my savior! Until this game is over, no, throughout the entire league period, I will serve you with all my heart! If you just give me orders, I will devote myself and work hard—.”
“Hey, be quiet.”
Leonardo, who was crouching down and looking around, turned around with a frown. The temporary partner, carrying a heavy bag, saw his expression and shut his mouth. Even so, he followed busily, baring his gums and smiling, lest he be left behind.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
Leonardo scanned the opponent he didn’t like from top to bottom, then turned his head and slightly lifted his hat. He sighed silently as he swept back his sweaty bangs.
‘I think I chose the wrong one….’
The two were currently heading towards the central tower of surgery on the island, avoiding the eyes of other participants. It would be much faster to fly across the sky at once, but Leonardo judged that exposing himself to all 87 remaining competitors on the island at once was recklessness, not courage.
Moreover, since the partner’s abilities were mediocre, Leonardo had to protect both his own and the other’s safety, as well as the crystals.
It was too late to regret it now, but he should have brought one of the three guys he had knocked out who could be helpful. Even if none of them looked strong, they seemed to be able to take care of themselves. Why did he bring that guy….
‘No. Still, he’s supposed to have good stamina. And he doesn’t seem that clueless.’
Leonardo repeated that to himself, trying to package the partner he had chosen well in his mind. A sociable guy was better than an arrogant or stiff one. While he was thinking that, the partner, who had stealthily leaned his face to the side, whispered in a lowered voice.
“But sir, you were really cool earlier. How did you poof, pow, tusha those three guys all at once—.”
“Ah, please—.”
Leonardo squeezed his eyes shut. He could no longer deny that the being he had picked up was baggage 4.
The fugitive who had been chased by the pursuers introduced his league alias as ‘Joker’. He proudly listed the reasons why he had given himself the alias, saying that he was the man who would become the joker of this game. Then, seeing Leonardo’s expression, which seemed to have a lot to say, he smiled awkwardly and revealed another name, ‘Erwick’.
“Please call me Ero comfortably, what should I call you, sir? The strongest man, Maskman?”
He had used the name Theo so much, and that name had been mentioned several times in the investigation process when he was a low-ranking merchant in frost territory, so unfortunately, he decided to bury that name for a while during the league.
In fact, Leo or Lion were the same thing, so if they were Council officials, Lion alone would be enough to infer who he was… Maybe there was a little bit of a desire for the Legion Commander to recognize him.
Anyway, from when did I become ‘our sir’, Ero swore that he would become the sir’s faithful right-hand man, rambling, and described Leonardo’s movements in defeating the pursuers almost like reciting a sacred scripture.
At the time, Leonardo had put an Aura in front of Ero and caught the first axe that came flying with his hand. Then, he threw the axe he was holding towards the arrow flying from the front. The axe blade accurately split the arrowhead in half and flew towards the hunter’s head, but it stopped in the air before hitting the skull and knocked him out as it was.
After that, when a huge man like a bandit rushed at the two of them without a weapon, Leonardo lowered his stance and kicked the giant’s chin from the bottom up, touching the ground. As the sound of the jawbone shattering and the giant floating into the air, he moved into the air in the blink of an eye and slammed his heel into the back of the giant’s head, burying his face in the ground.
The last remaining Mage retreated while hastily casting a fireball. The fireball formed in his two hands was about to fly forward when Leonardo, who had quickly approached the Mage, grabbed his wrist. Then, he quickly extinguished the flickering flame and muttered a word.
“‘Sorry, but that level of flame doesn’t work on me.’ Kya—! I was seriously about to cry at that time! How can every single word be so precious?”
Leonardo wiped his face dry at Ero’s appearance, who was getting excited while setting the mood and reenacting the situation. Rather, he felt like he was being sarcastic rather than praised because he was making such a fuss. Even if you threw him in the water, only that mouth would float.
Leonardo picked up the grass on the side of the road and rubbed it on Ero’s chattering mouth, meaning to please shut up.
Then, he looked at his palm, which had been tingling and hot since earlier.
‘Why is this happening?’
It seemed that the participants’ individual weapons brought into the league were enchanted so that others could not possess them. The moment he grabbed the flying axe, he felt a strange pain in his hand. He had thrown it away right away, so nothing would happen, but he felt an unpleasant sensation continuing to linger on his arm and spreading throughout his body.
He already felt like his body temperature was gradually rising because he had been running around the island for several hours, but it seemed that the heat was getting worse since then. It couldn’t be a cold, and did the Plariness have any toxicity? Anyway, he had found a partner and crystals, so he had to finish this game as soon as possible.
‘That way, I can see his face at least once before the opening ceremony ends.’
Leonardo unconsciously increased his pace. Ero, who had been spitting out the grass that had gone into his mouth with a tearful face, followed closely behind him and asked.
“But, Brother, are you sure it’s okay to leave all the decisions to me? Of course, I’m grateful that you trust me, but… what if I just take it all and run away?”
Ero slyly tested Leonardo, pushing the bag filled with Decisions forward. Leonardo glanced at him and nonchalantly retorted,
“Are you going to run away?”
“Huh? Of course not! Why would I do that? Isn’t it my mission to stick by your side and assist you!”
“If you’re going to run, then run. I don’t trust you anyway.”
“Huh? Th, then why the Decisions….”
“It’s heavy to carry around. It gets in the way when fighting. And, don’t worry if you run away. I’ll catch you soon enough. I’ll find you no matter what, break all your limbs, and finish you off.”
“……”
“But it’s okay to run if you still want to.”
Leonardo, without changing his expression, rattled off terrifying things while still being wary of his surroundings and watching his competitors. Ero, who was watching him, sweated profusely and gave a bright smile.
“I will be loyal, Brother!”
The two hurried their steps and quickly approached the Great King Plarinus. When they were about 1km away from the petals, smog began to rise from the Surgery Tower. The sky near their destination slowly began to darken.