Chapter 72 : Chapter 72

Chapter 72 - Tag (1)

The first thing that came into view was the blue sky.

And a dense forest.

Lush green, dense enough to feel slightly less so than a jungle, filled my vision.

In a way, it felt like I had simply been warped into a forest, but looking up at the sky, the letters hanging there as big as a gate immediately erased that feeling.

[ The Second Ordeal, First Stage in Progress. ]

[ Time Remaining - 72:00:00 ]

“The feeling is quite... different from last time, isn't it?”

Seo Ah-in, who looked around, said.

Well, certainly.

Compared to the 11th floor, which was filled with a dreary background, soggy mud, and gloomy fog, this background felt almost refreshing.

If that place felt like only ‘Demonic Beasts’ and ‘allies’ existed, this place felt like a part of the real world, with plenty of things to interact with.

And above all.

“Was there originally a time limit like that?”

“There was, but it wasn't displayed by the ordeal itself like that.”

Of course, the difference was clear as day.

Back then, it was displayed in a way that felt like, 'You'll be in big trouble if you don't clear within this time~', but here, it felt like, 'If you endure this long, we'll acknowledge it as a clear~'.

‘Well...’

The Second Ordeal as a whole felt like this.

Should I say it was to check how well one could do in a given environment for a certain period of time?

It would be right to see the entire floor as one giant survival set composed of several parts.

[ Main Quest: Survival of the Fittest ]

[ Detailed information cannot be viewed yet. ]

The name of the Main Quest that popped up with the start of the ordeal also reeked of that feeling.

As I was recalling that information and chuckling, Darien poked her cheek and asked a question from the side.

“Oh. Then isn't it easier to clear than before? You just have to endure somehow within the limited time...?”

“I wonder.”

Thinking that way was, of course, plausible.

After all, if the goal was to ‘survive’, it seemed like a very simple objective compared to the last ordeal where we had to complete a specific mission.

They even sent us all up as a team, yet there was no mention of how many had to survive. As if it would be a clear if even one person survived.

However.

“There's no way the guys who set this up wouldn't know that.”

There was no way the ‘organizers’ wouldn't care about something so simple.

Didn't they say it from the selection criteria for receiving the invitation in the first place? That the ones who were chosen were those who seemed like they would survive somehow even if shoved into the ‘pits of hell’.

The condition that it was a clear if even one person survived.

It meant that even that was difficult to accomplish properly.

-!

In an instant.

A terrifying sound that echoed throughout the forest erupted.

-!!

-!!!!!

A scream that sent shivers down my spine.

No matter how you heard it, it wasn't a sound made by a human, so as soon as they heard it, everyone tensed up and drew their weapons.

They probably reacted as their bodies were trained to.

“...!”

Everyone seemed flustered, unable to adapt to their completely unfamiliar physical condition.

Well, it was a fact known from the moment we entered this floor, but this was a ‘Mana Vacuum Zone’.

It meant that since all forcibly granted mana was removed, no abilities other than basic physical abilities could be used.

Especially a guy like Darien, whose physical strength didn't deviate much from that of an ordinary person, almost lost his balance and fell over from the weight of the weapon he had drawn.

“...I-Isn't this a big problem?!”

Ms. Meirin said in a trembling voice.

“We have to fight Demonic Beasts with our bare bodies, don't we?!”

“No, that's not it.”

I replied with a smirk.

“It said to survive. Not to fight.”

In fact, fighting a Demonic Beast with one's bare body was a good way to die.

Considering that even I, who made a hobby of catching the final boss with no equipment, bare hands, and normal attack parries, had at least the minimum stats prepared when doing such things, it was nothing short of a suicide attempt.

Especially the ‘boss’ that appeared in this stage was a guy whose characteristics led to combat=instant death.

Then what should be done?

“Everyone has played tag at least once when you were young, right?”

It was simple.

Keep running away within the time limit.

The stage structure was designed that way from the very beginning.

“Wa-wait a minute! We don't even know the terrain here or what Demonic Beasts have spawned, so running away recklessly like that is...!”

Ms. Meirin, thoroughly flustered, tried to argue, but before she could finish her sentence, she shut her mouth with an even more flustered expression.

Because everyone except her was preparing to move in perfect order as soon as they heard my words.

“Well, whatever. Mr. Kim Gyu-sik probably already knows.”

“There has never been a case where what the Avatar of the Savior said was wrong.”

“...”

Meirin turned her head with an unnatural movement that seemed to make a creaking sound and looked at me.

A suspicion of whether I had brainwashed these people was etched in her eyes.

“...You'd better get used to it. That person is always like that.”

Seeing Seo Ah-in, the number one brainwashed person, grab her shoulder and say that, well.

I had a feeling that person would also change like that before long.

***

So, first, the distribution of personnel.

Although we had to run away for now, what we needed to pay more attention to was the presence of a ‘base camp’.

Anyone who had experienced spending a day outside the conveniences of civilization would know this very well.

To a bare-bodied human with no equipment, nature was, in some ways, a more threatening existence than Demonic Beasts.

A superhuman who could handle mana would laugh off such an environment, but now everyone's abilities had been downgraded to the level of an ordinary person or a slightly sturdy ordinary person.

Even more so if we had to endure in this environment for 72 hours.

“If you walk this way for about 15 minutes, you'll see some black trees. Set up a tent there and hide appropriately.”

“...You say it like you're walking on a promenade. How should we hide?”

“If you hear any sound nearby, just bow your head and stay still.”

“Pardon?”

“Or face each other and never look away from there. No matter what sound you hear from the surroundings, you must never look that way.”

After giving those firm instructions, I sent them off with the camping equipment I had packed.

Well, that scream just now served to inform everyone, 'Something dangerous is about to appear, so everyone prepare!', it didn't mean the ‘taggers’ were roaming around right away. Those guys would be safe for a while too.

The 72-hour timer set in the sky wasn't even moving yet.

What I had just told them was a kind of ‘stronghold’, so if they set up a camp there, it would be even more so.

“...So. What's with this lineup?”

Such a complaint muttered from among the guys I had organized into the ‘bait team’.

Yoo Ho-jun and Lee Si-yeong. And me.

In fact, if you thought about it, there was no more appropriate distribution than this.

Lee Si-yeong, a lucky charm who needed no words, and Yoo Ho-jun, whom all users unanimously called the King of Survival.

Moreover, the guy behind me had specs at a garbage level from the start, so he wasn't affected by the penalty of a mana vacuum.

“...Gyu-sik?”

“I didn't say anything.”

Just from the sharp suspicion coming at me, there was no doubting that perceptiveness.

“For now, the goal is to survive for one hour.”

“One hour?”

“The guys released in this forest are divided into a ‘hunting period’ and a ‘dormant period’. And the first hunting period ends around then.”

At the same time as I said that.

[ The stage will begin. ]

[ Survive for the limited time. ]

[ I wish all Conquerors good luck. ]

[ 71:59:59 ]

-!

-!!

-!!!

A thunderous scream once again echoed throughout the forest.

Yoo Ho-jun and Lee Si-yeong's faces turned pale at the terrible sound, almost like a vocal cord tearing, which contained a clear hostility even compared to before.

“Good. First, a few principles of action.”

I snapped my fingers at them to draw their attention.

“It doesn't matter how loud you are. But you must walk looking only at the ground. Never raise your head.”

“Hey, no. You should at least explain why we have to do that-”

Lee Si-yeong's voice, which was about to argue in a dumbfounded tone, quickly subsided.

Because the tearing scream was getting closer and closer.

“...”

“...”

Yoo Ho-jun and Lee Si-yeong's heads simultaneously buried themselves towards the ground.

Like the King of Perception and the Queen of Luck, they seemed to have instinctively realized that listening to my words was the wise thing to do in this situation.

“Follow my feet while looking down like that. Can you do it?”

They both nodded while their heads were down.

I too fixed my gaze on the ground after seeing that.

‘Surely...’

The forest, the first stage of the Second Ordeal, was actually infamous among Conqueror users as a cancer-inducing section.

It wasn't just that combat was blocked; there were several restrictions that felt like the game genre itself was changing.

‘You must not make eye contact with the Demonic Beasts roaming the forest’ was the most representative and annoying restriction among them.

“...But what happens if we do make eye contact?”

-Ah, aaaargh-!

[ A member of the ‘Batan Gilius’ team has been eliminated. ]

[ Remaining members: 18 ]

[ A member of the ‘Jin Hisaori’ team has been eliminated. ]

[ Remaining members: 16 ]

[ A member of the ‘Kang Seok-hyun’ team has been eliminated. ]

.

.

.

The sound of meat being sliced.

The smell of blood.

The roar of beasts. The screams of people.

As those things filled the entire forest, the electronic display in the sky began to update in an instant.

I continued speaking with a smirk.

“Like that.”

“...”

“...”

The degree to which Lee Si-yeong and Yoo Ho-jun's faces turned bluish intensified.

Well, to put it another way.

In this Second Ordeal, knowing and not knowing such restrictions made a huge difference.

I didn't know for sure, but a good number of the Climbers who entered this ordeal would probably be ground down from this first stage.

‘Of course...’

My team was an exception.

Because I was confident I could escape this demonic landscape with everyone alive even with my eyes closed.

Then, what should I, who had all the strategies down pat in the current situation, do?

“Hmm.”

It was an obvious and simple thing.

I would take all the benefits I could get.

The first step was to screw over the guys who could develop a hostile relationship with me when we met.

‘...It’s been a while since I've seen that face.’

Batan Gilius.

I had seen him quite often in the game as a model.

But this was the first time seeing him in person.

So, well.

When meeting someone for the first time, shouldn't one bring a gift to soften the atmosphere?

Look forward to it.

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.