EP.17 Conflict
The rules for the preliminary round of the battle are as follows.
Put 100 players in a large amphitheater.
The fight doesn’t stop until there are 16 players left to advance to the finals.
Even if the wounded comes out, even if someone asks for help, the firmly closed door will not open.
Until the blood of 84 people wet the floor.
Duwoong-! Duwoong-!
The drum sound signaled the start of the preliminary round.
However, the participants only kept their distance from each other and were wary, and no one rushed into a fight.
It is natural.
Even if it is a preliminary round, they are participating in the struggle. Not everyone is a good person.
Also, even when competing with one person, life goes back and forth, and the fight takes place in the midst of dozens of people.
It was more like a war than a duel.
‘It’s a breathtaking tension…’
Dominic, one of the participants in the struggle, broke into a cold sweat. If I make a mistake even once, I feel like I’m going to die. The power that gripped the sword was tight.
‘calm down. You have to be calm to live.’
Dominic took a deep breath and looked around.
‘The quack is not moving.’
Quack Chasty.
An old woman who claims to have learned magic, and is famous in Oulheim by the nickname of a quack.
After all, what mad orc shaman would teach humans magic?
Nevertheless, she is famous because those who persecuted her died at some point. Since then, no one calls her a quack.
‘The blue rose is watching the situation…’
Blue roses, Donate.
A man with blonde hair like a single canvas.
It was given the nickname because it looks like a blue rose is spreading in his swordsmanship.
The origin is unclear.
There are rumors that he is from a noble family, and there are many rumors that he is from a royal family.
However, only the rumors that he was very strong were true.
‘Aside from this, there are other winners…’
While Dominic was checking the venue.
– Whoa!
– Whoa!
Kwajik!
A scream was heard.
Turning to the direction the scream was heard, a large man bumped into the heads of the other two contestants and exploded them.
‘Savage, Berco…!’
A barbarian from the northern Principality of Polycia.
A man of great size and muscle, he was already famous in Oulheim for his unhuman strength.
The person closest to winning the battle is that man.
“Hey, what are you guys doing?!”
The other side is also noisy.
This is the direction where the quack Chasti is.
Five participants surrounded her in a circle, as if protecting Chasty with bewitched expressions.
‘What kind of situation is that…’
– Whoa!
This time in the direction of the blue rose donate.
It was stained red with the blood of his black blood that had been pulled out. Around him, participants with arms or legs amputated were rolling on the floor.
Dominic swallowed his saliva.
As expected, they are all monsters.
Can you survive among these guys? Was it not a bad idea to take part in the struggle?
It was then that fear enveloped him.
-Hey hey!!!
‘Who is this again!’
Dominic rolled his trembling eyes.
Then I saw a madman rolling on the ground and avoiding the spear knife.
– Hey! hey!
Even though it rolls on the floor curiously, it avoids everything that should be avoided.
Looks very lucky.
Did you save the country in your previous life?
‘…Yes, such a guy is also participating…’
Is there anything that can’t be called me?
‘What is the number of contenders?’
You just have to survive the preliminary round and make it to the last 16 players.
Because surrender is possible in the finals.
Dominic took a deep breath and—
“Ahhhhhh!!!”
He screamed and ran towards the other contestants. In the current state, it seemed that anyone could win.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Doo-! Doo-!
The sound of drums signaling the end of the preliminary round.
The locked door opened and the 16 surviving finalists left the venue.
Among them, there was a young man who was caught rolling on the floor, but there was no Dominic who rushed in with enthusiasm.
* * *
“What were you thinking?!”
When I returned to the inn after finishing the hard work, Annie was screaming at me.
What did he eat wrong?
“Did you ever go back?”
“Yeah! Of course I’ll be back! Someone almost made my life fly away!”
Annie ripped off my hair and explained why she was angry.
When I heard the reason, I couldn’t help but marvel.
“Did you play Toto with a house document?
Also, betting on the higher odds rather than on the one with the higher odds?
Newbie topic?
“I have to correct my words. You have already turned around.”
I don’t even think I’m old enough.
poor child…
Seriously, I wouldn’t have been sane to survive in this harsh kingdom of Alitia.
“I asked why did you do that in the preliminary round, but why do you keep talking nonsense from a while ago?! Please explain properly!”
“It’s noisy! Don’t say soy sauce, bring noodles!”
“Jumsoy? what else is that What else is noodles?”
“Shut up and get something to eat. Before you change the inn owner.”
“…all right.”
Annie stared at me for a moment, muttered, and then went into the kitchen.
That’s why kids can’t
You have to be angry to understand.
“By the way, what is the old man doing here?”
I turned my head and spoke to Old Merchant, who was looking at Annie with a funny expression.
Obviously the escort contract is over, but why is that gentleman here?
“I happened to meet that girl in the audience. As the owner of the inn where you are staying, I followed you, wondering what kind of fate this is. Excuse me?”
“It’s even called an excuse.”
I took a seat at the table next to the table where the boss was sitting. As I leaned back on his chair and turned his stiff shoulders, the top master asked me.
“Are you going to have a big drink?”
“Yes?”
“It’s about hiding your skills in the preliminary round. Aren’t you going to have a big drink by raising the odds in the finals?”
“right.”
Otherwise, there is no reason to roll the ground.
In response to my answer, Old Merchant said with a serious expression on his face.
“do not do that.”
“Yes?”
When I tilted my head, Old Merchant said with a serious expression on his face.
“This is my sincere advice. Listen. From a long time ago, there were not only two people who were aiming for a big bowl of water like you. Why not? It’s a place where big money comes and goes. But it all ended badly.”
“Are you saying it didn’t end well?”
“As you must have felt today, there is no such thing as a good opponent in the struggle. of course. It’s a competition at stake, but there’s no way someone who isn’t confident in their skills can participate, right?”
Annie brought two glasses of ale and placed them on the table top and on my table respectively. And naturally, he sat down next to me and began to listen to the story of the upper class.
Hey, what is it? Do you want rice?
“And among them, overly confident guys like you play such pranks. He hides his skills by creating a dangerous situation.”
Old Merchant took a sip of the ale and continued the story.
“Even if I don’t know anything about the world of swords, I do know one thing. A moment’s inattention can cost your life. But this place is a battle of strife. All of them are strong men who made a name for themselves in the vicinity. How many of those people who used to put on a breath-taking performance survived?”
While acting while watching, there are villains who have been reversed. That’s the meaning of the upper-levelist’s words.
“And gamblers are not stupid. Unless it’s a very good performance, you’ll notice it in no time. It means that the odds don’t go up that much if you postpone it like that.”
Clumsy smoke doesn’t work.
I mean, my acting in the preliminary round was clumsy?
Well, it was a little overkill. Even thinking about it now, rolling the ground was a bit excessive.
Don’t roll it, you’ll just get hit with a knife or a loaf of bread.
a little sad
“Again, let’s say you were lucky and succeeded. I made a lot of money by playing pranks. But what about those who lost money in that prank? Are you going to leave the guy playing with you?”
After saying that, Old Merchant took another sip of the ale. I arranged the words I had been paying attention to and opened his mouth.
“So, you’re saying that you’re good enough to show a breathtaking performance against the contestants, your acting is good enough to deceive gamblers, and you don’t have to worry about the repercussions after you ate your money, right?”
“…well, you’re right, but…”
“Then that’s it.”
I picked up a glass of ale and drank the ale.
Old Merchant and Annie looked at it with absurd expressions.
“…even so, I won’t bet on you anymore.”
Annie narrowed her eyes and said.
* * *
“Didn’t I say no?”
“This is really the last time.”
“her…”
Old Merchant looked at Annie, who was holding a piece of paper, with a surprised expression.
“Why, why are you looking at me like that?! It may not be known to the elderly, but to me, life is at stake!”
“If it’s money, didn’t you make quite a bit of money yesterday? Because I made twice my fortune.”
“Does my life have to make a big difference if I earn that money? Even if you have a little money, you have to eat and serve at the inn anyway. I want to turn my life around, not like that!”
“…Okay.”
After all, young people these days like to eat raw. When I…
The chieftain let out a deep sigh.
Either way, Annie looked at her piece of paper with warm eyes.
Chatty: 10
Cloud: 1
It’s a sign that the audience’s bet on Chasty is 10 times the money they’ve been betting on Cloud.
She bets her entire fortune of 25000 gold on Cloud, so if he wins…
‘I’m earning over 200,000 gold…!’
As long as you have that money, you don’t have to do boring inn jobs. Money to buy a decent sized farm and slaves.
‘Let the slaves work and I have to play and eat!’
It was when Annie raised the corners of her lips a lot, imagining a happy future.
“ok? What, did you bet on that Cloud or something?”
Annie looked back at the sound of laughter coming from behind. Her middle-aged man with her belly sitting behind her looked at her with a pitiful expression.
“Lady, it’s good to be greedy for money, but this time it’s a little overdone.”
“What else are you doing? Why are you arguing?”
“No, you look like a young friend, but it’s because you’re pitiful. It looks like the money you’ve been working hard on is screwing up.”
“…”
As Annie frowned and stared, the middle-aged shrugged.
“The guy called Cloud, isn’t he? He barely survived the qualifying round thanks to running away. Do you think he can beat Chasty?”
“You don’t know the outcome until the game is over.”
“That is also true. If it’s a game of a certain level, that’s it.”
A smiling middle-aged man continued.
“Everyone is quack and quack, but you know in my heart, right? I mean, Chasty has some unusual powers. Did you see it in the preliminary round? Capturing five people in an instant and using them as their own limbs. Do you think Cloud can be defeated by that strange power?”
“…you won’t know unless you watch the game until the end.”
“At this point, my dear. Well, you will see It looks like it will start soon.”
The middle-aged eyes turned to the stadium.
Chasty and Cloud are facing each other at a distance of 20m. The game was about to start as soon as the host struck the drum.
And.
Doo-!
The game started with the sound of drums.
Chasty started wielding the skull staff. He mumbled something while running like a crazy bitch.
But after a while, something strange happened.
Wasn’t it that a black energy was oozing out from the tip of her staff?
As Chasty swung the skull staff towards Cloud, the black energy flew quickly and sped into Cloud’s body.
Cloud’s body stiffened as he was running.
The middle-aged man who looked at him grinned. The crowd who bet Chasty cheered.
“Look at that. ‘Cause there’s no game Lady, it would be sad to lose money, but…”
However, that cheer did not last long.
“…?”
Cloud, who had been hit with the dark energy, tilted his head, and started moving again as if nothing had happened.
Surprised to see this, Chasty jumped again and swung her wand.
More bundles of black energy flew away than before and entered Cloud’s body.
Still, nothing has changed for Cloud. He walked towards Chasty with a puzzled expression on his face as if he was asking what this was.
Chasty’s leaps and bounds become urgent.
She waved her wand and began to mutter something the crowd couldn’t understand.
When the act reached its climax, Cloud arrived in front of her.
Chasty was startled and turned her back to try to run away. Cloud’s sword pierced his back. Chasti let out a terrifying scream, expressing his pain, then closed his eyes and died.
-…
Silence prevailed in the arena.
Not everyone was able to get out of the shock.
The host, who woke up late, shouted loudly.
“1st round Cloud wins!”
Only after the host spoke up, a commotion broke out among the silent crowd.
– Oh, crazy! Was that a real quack?!
-hey! you are sure! Just because it’s certain, he stole money from his wife and bet it!
– Who is a cub with that stone? come out!!!
-Oh, no, did I ever see you use real magic?! I saw you in the qualifiers too!
– You must have bought it with money, you idiot!! Take my money, damn it!
It was mainly the crowd betting on Chasty.
They clashed at each other and threw tomatoes at Chasty’s corpse.
“Look. You don’t know if you don’t watch the game until the end, right?”
Annie laughed and teased the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged did not respond. He just looked at Chasty, who had fallen with a spirited face.
Yes.
He, like Annie, was betting all of his fortune. And, unlike Annie, she nailed it. He has now become a penniless beggar in this harsh kingdom of Alitia.
His future was bleak to say the least.
* * *
On the way back to the participant waiting room after the match.
Cloud cut his wrist with a dagger. Seeing the dripping black slime blood, he grinned.
“I learned it right.”
After the bright red blood started to flow instead of the black blood, I drank the potion and took a step back.