Chapter 98. The Small Snowball (2)

Many people were wandering in the forest.

However, their condition was strange.

Puffy eyes.

Dry, twisted lips and bloodshot eyes.

Wobbly movements.

Some were even drooling.

They looked like a horde of zombies.

Such people were found all over the Animal Forest.

“Huh, huh-.”

“Gurgle, gurgle…”

Making bizarre sounds that were neither human nor beast, they moved without stopping.

Their relentless search for something, as if looking for raw meat drenched in blood, was relentless.

Then, it happened.

Rustle-.

Something caught their extremely sensitive senses.

The people who were gathered turned their gazes sharply.

And unfortunately, a rabbit girl had stepped into the horde of zombies.

“Eek?!”

She was startled by the many pairs of bloodshot eyes staring at her and took a step back.

But would the zombies, who had been searching for so long, let this opportunity slip away?

“Rabbit… it’s a rabbit!”

“Quick, catch it!”

“It’s mine… it’s all mine!”

“Get out of the way!”

The horde of zombies, having lost their minds, rushed towards the rabbit girl.

Overwhelmed by their ferocity, the rabbit girl took a step back and, tripping over a branch, fell to the ground.

“No, don’t come closer!”

Her frail and delicate appearance.

But this only excited the horde of zombies more, and they drooled as they rushed towards her.

“Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit!”

“Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit!”

“Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit!”

Just as the rabbit girl was about to be overwhelmed by the horde of zombies.

Beep- beep!

A sharp horn sound echoed through the Animal Forest.

It was a signal indicating something.

The movement of the horde of zombies stopped as if by magic upon hearing it.

Instead, they began to tear at their own heads with the hands that were about to tear the rabbit.

“No, no!”

“This can’t be happening!”

“Please… just give us a little more time!”

The rabbit girl sighed with relief at their madness.

She slowly got up, dusted off her bottom, and, still looking at the horde of zombies, or rather, the 50th class, she carried out her final mission.

“Effective immediately, the quest is over. The 50th class, please submit the leather you collected at the entrance of the Animal Forest.”

Leaving those words, the rabbit girl vanished quickly.

As if avoiding something dirty.

The screams of the 50th class grew louder.

“Damn it! We can’t even cover the labor costs with this!”

“Just a little more… just a little more time!”

But time was cruel to them.

Thus, at 10:16 AM on January 29th.

The first integrated quest of the 50th class, the leather collection, finally came to an end.

* * *

Gulp, gulp-.

The water from the canteen refreshed her throat.

Her throat, which had been gulping, finally stopped.

“Phew!”

Pana Taylor let out the breath she had been holding.

Wiping the droplets of water from her chin, her shoulders slumped.

The deep sense of relief after quenching her thirst had overwhelmed her.

“Ah… I can finally breathe now.”

Not long after saying that, Pana began to doze off.

Right then.

“Are you falling asleep during training? I’ll get up immediately, sir!”

Hearing the voice from nearby, Pana jumped up.

She then stood at attention and shouted in a tense voice.

“S-Sir!”

Pana, who was still half-asleep, instinctively shouted.

Gradually waking up, she finally realized something was off.

‘Ah? Right… this isn’t the training ground, is it?’

As she blinked, someone next to her chuckled.

“Scared? Hehehe.”

“You… you…”

Pana, who was there, saw Nelly Blanc squatting and smiling.

Pana, feeling her heart race, let out a sigh of relief.

Then she glared at Nelly.

“Really, I thought my heart was going to burst!”

“Silly, you’re so jumpy.”

“Not being jumpy would be stranger. Look!”

Pana pointed around.

Nelly Blanc, following Pana’s finger, was startled.

Shudder, shudder-.

Angry and irritated glares from all around.

They all, like Pana, had jumped up from their spots and were clutching their chests.

Nelly, realizing she might get into trouble if she didn’t apologize, slightly bowed her head to them.

Then, she whispered in Pana’s ear.

“…It seems many of them have been dragged to the hell training ground a lot?”

“How many times were you dragged there?”

“Three times.”

“Yeah, three times is manageable. But I… six times.”

Pana’s eyes showed a hint of pain.

Nelly, at a loss for words, just patted her friend’s shoulder.

Then, Nelly asked Pana in a small voice.

“Pana, have you noticed… that the quests have become easier recently?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, haven’t you felt that the attacks have become less frequent recently? I think it started around the 7th day.”

Pana, who had been pondering for a moment, nodded.

“Now that you mention it…”

Pana, who had been dragged to the hell training ground six times, hadn’t just been lucky.

It was because, starting from the 7th day, running around had become much easier.

At first, she thought she had adapted and become more relaxed, but after hearing Nelly’s story, it seemed the attacks had indeed become less frequent from the 7th day.

“Yeah, the attacks decreased a lot from then on.”

“Have you seen the black-haired guy since the 7th day?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Just as I thought.”

Nelly’s face stiffened slightly, as if she had an idea.

Pana, noticing this, tilted her head.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing. Anyway, you collected a lot of leather, right?”

It was clear that Nelly was trying to change the subject.

Pana, understanding this, went along with it.

“Not too bad? All rabbit leather, though. What about you?”

“I got a few deer skins and three wolf skins.”

“No way… wolf skins?”

Pana’s eyes widened.

Nelly shrugged.

“Only three, and I didn’t catch them alone.”

Then, Nelly turned her gaze to one side.

There, two boys were standing.

One boy, who looked as if he had just returned from somewhere, was impeccably dressed.

The other boy had a somewhat rough and delinquent vibe.

Pana, following Nelly’s gaze, blinked.

“Gunter Irons and Ivan Baskin? You moved with them?”

“It just happened that we left the training ground at the same time.”

“With the three of you, catching a wolf was possible.”

While Gunter had done most of the work, Nelly didn’t mention this.

Then, Pana asked in return.

“Oh, right! Who do you think will be first?”

The one who comes in first gets 100% of the points earned.

The second place gets 50%, and the third place gets 30%, but the special prize for first place is so overwhelming that everyone’s attention was inevitably drawn to it.

Pana’s question made Nelly scan the crowd.

Gunter Irons.

Ivan Baskin.

Clarisse Van.

Eric Redman.

And a huge, bald man and a girl with blue hair standing to one side.

She saw people with formidable skills.

But in Nelly’s mind, there was only one person who could be first.

“Of course, it’s that guy… huh?”

While searching the crowd for the black-haired guy, Nelly realized he wasn’t there.

Although she had occasionally seen black-haired people, none had the long, flowing black hair like that guy.

Nelly blinked.

‘…Not here? That guy? No way…’

Nelly’s reaction was one of disbelief.

She wasn’t the only one.

Gunter and a few others were also looking around for the black-haired guy.

But as they couldn’t find him, they were all puzzled.

‘Really not here?’

The implication was simple.

‘That guy… dropped out?’

In this quest, a dropout is someone who voluntarily left the forest.

Most dropouts were those who couldn’t endure the nightly attacks by beasts and the hellish training.

But ‘that black-haired guy’?

The one who had been leading the way in the terrifying hundred-step ceremony?

To drop out at this point?

It was hard to believe.

‘No way…’

Just as Nelly was denying it.

“Line up!”

The sharp command made the 50th class turn their heads.

Seeing the Black Swordsmen suddenly appear, the cadets, who had been sprawled out, quickly moved.

Thud, thud, thud-.

In an instant, the 50th class aligned themselves and stood at attention.

The man with glasses, who had led the Black Swordsmen, smiled slightly at their disciplined appearance.

‘Finally, they’re getting into shape.’

Just ten days ago, this was unimaginable for the 50th class.

But the hellish training and drill training had transformed them.

If Yurii had seen this, he would have said:

[Wow, you’ve really shed your civilian ways in just ten days.]

Of course, there was no Yurii to say this.

Meanwhile, the man with glasses, looking at the 50th class standing motionless, announced:

“All the tallies are complete. I will now announce the results from third to first place.”

He then raised the folder containing the tallied points.

Some cadets’ eyes lit up.

‘Maybe I didn’t get first, but at least third?’

‘Maybe I made it into the top ranks…’

Those who were confident in their performance this time.

They all harbored hope.

In the tense moment, the third place was announced.

“Third place, Clarisse Van. 87 rabbit skins, 23 deer skins, 5 wolf skins. 452,000 points earned.”

The mention of the number of skins made the hopes of those who had collected fewer vanish instantly.

Before the cadets could express their disappointment, the second place was announced.

“Second place, Gunter Irons. 231 rabbit skins, 42 deer skins, 11 wolf skins. 991,000 points earned.”

Even after the second place was announced, the names of Arin and Poppi, who had earned at least 1.5 million points, were not mentioned.

If someone had known this, they would have been puzzled.

But those who didn’t know were amazed by the 991,000 points Gunter had earned.

For those who had only managed to catch a few rabbits, the hundreds of thousands of points were like a fairy tale.

‘991,000 points…’

‘I’d be happy with just 100,000 points…’

Envious gazes were directed at Gunter.

And now, only the first place announcement remained.

People thought:

If second place is 991,000 points, first place must be around 1 to 1.5 million points.

Or, since it took twice as many points to go from third to second, maybe first place is twice that of second, so about 2 million points?

As people were roughly estimating the points for first place, the name of the first place was finally announced.

“First place, Bobbykurtanka Purtabi.”

The unusual and strange name drew attention.

Then, the man with glasses flipped a page in the folder he was holding and said:

“Hmm… it’s quite a lot, so listen carefully.”