23 – First Semester Training (5)
“Heuk… Heuk….”
Arna, barely holding onto the lighter, led his tattered body back to the camp.
Today, he had unintentionally expended too much energy. And it was only the first day.
Still, if he went a little further, there would be meat waiting. Juicy beef brisket, chewy abalone, and finally, a delicacy like Mingnamul.
With his eyes fixed on that alone, Arna stretched his steps with all the strength he had left.
Now, almost there….
Just beyond this thicket….
“Why are you coming so late? I’ve been waiting for a while.”
Surprisingly, when he finally arrived, the barbecue party was already in full swing.
Sizzle.
The beef brisket sizzling on the oversized spoon, the abalone shell rising alongside, and the kimchi frying in oil.
It was exactly the scene Arna had been anticipating.
“….”
But Arna couldn’t sit down. He just stood still with the lighter in his hand.
“Sit down. It’s grilled just right for eating.”
“…What is that fire?”
Before starting the meat party in earnest, there was a point that had to be addressed.
Arna pointed to the blazing campfire under the spoon.
Certainly, until just now, there was no fire at all. So he had gone around the island, even finding a lighter.
As if mocking those efforts, Shinyunseong casually poked the inside of the bonfire.
“Is this fire? Don’t be surprised. Prometheus himself just came and went.”
“Stop talking nonsense…!”
Thunk!
Arna threw the lighter with all his strength towards Shinyunseong’s shoulder.
***
After the long first day of training, they entered the second day of training.
However, calling it the second day didn’t make much of a difference. It was all about wandering around the island to find food and quickly grabbing supplies when they descended from the sky.
“Hey, there goes the spoon! Anyway, that’s Shin Yoon-seong’s spoon! Damn delicious rice!”
Of course, the students weren’t just standing by, watching the spoon go wild. They were determined to chase me down and snatch the supplies somehow.
But I had a reliable escort with me.
“Ack! Arna, run!”
“Why is Arna protecting that spoon?”
Even with just one Arna, the students who were chasing us quickly scattered.
Occasionally, there were those who, driven by the allure of food, would recklessly charge at us, but Arna always took care of them.
Truly my hero.
“hehehehe….”
“You’ve been through a lot. Have a drink here.”
I handed a hip flask to Arna, who had just returned. It looked like a stainless steel bottle at a glance.
Gulp, gulp.
“Pwah…!”
But as soon as Arna took a sip, she spat it out. At the same time, the scent of alcohol filled the air.
“Tsk tsk. A grown lady shouldn’t spit out her food. How uncultured.”
“Tch, tch…! Are you kidding…? This is alcohol…!”
“That’s right. It was in the box I just brought. Is the taste alright?”
From Noble mtl dot com
“eeek…! What do you mean by making me drink alcohol in broad daylight…!”
Arna shoved the hip flask into my chest.
I guess it was her way of telling me to relieve some stress. Why doesn’t she appreciate my consideration?
I took a sip from the bottle.
“Pfft…!”
Before I could even swallow, I immediately spat it out. There was a reason why Arna spat it out right away.
This was an extremely potent drink. It wasn’t something you could casually drink. Is it over 50 proof? Did they give this to me for the purpose of starting a fire?
“Hey!”
“What is it? If it’s lunch, we were just about to start.”
“Gyah! It’s lunch! Not thaaat…!”
Arna shook her head, rolling her eyes wildly. Even white steam appeared from her head.
“Why are you fighting alone! You always hide in the back!”
“Wasn’t that part of the contract from the beginning? I handle supplies and cooking, and you handle combat.”
“I’ve never heard of such things…!”
“Is that so? If you can’t handle it, then cancel the contract.”
I pointed to the place with supplies. There were boxes piled up there, collected just yesterday and today.
All of them were boxes I had scooped up with a spoon.
“I won’t stop you from leaving.”
“Ugh….”
Arna knew too well. How deceptive my spoon could be in this training. Wasn’t I always the first to grab supplies ahead of others?
Arna found it difficult to do the same.
“Even if you leave, I’ll make sure to give you a hefty severance pay. You’ve worked hard all this time, after all.”
“Ugh…! Fine…! Just go…! I’ll finish preparing lunch while you go wash up…!”
In the end, Arna declared surrender.
Arna quickly grabbed toiletries from the box and disappeared somewhere.
Probably went to a nearby stream.
“It’s just unnecessary fuss.”
Even if I said that, I did benefit from Arna’s efforts.
If I were alone, I probably wouldn’t have made it this far. All the provisions would have been taken, and even the number tag on my back would have been stripped away.
“Where…”
Beep.
While Arna was away, I decided to check my smartwatch for a moment.
[Survivor Count: 376/499]
Over a single day, more than a hundred people had already been eliminated. With this pace, how many people would survive on the last day? Probably less than fifty.
In addition, as time passes, the supply quantity will gradually decrease. The competition will only become more intense.
To survive until the end, Arna must stay by my side.
I have to feed and take care of her well.
“Hey! Shin Yoonseong!”
Just as I was preparing lunch, a female student suddenly emerged from among the trees.
It was Baek Joohee, heavily made up. She was the female student Arna mentioned last night as the one who got away.
“Wow! You’re still alive! I’m really relieved! I was so worried about you….”
What’s this? When did we ever have a conversation to suddenly act so familiar? And on top of that, she’s shedding tears of emotion.
Just last night, wasn’t she the one relentlessly chasing after my spoon as if her life depended on it?
“Hmm, isn’t Arna here? Weren’t you with Arna? Did you guys have a falling out, perhaps?”
Baek Joo-hee pretended to look for Arna while subtly turning her gaze to the area where supplies were stacked.
Seeing that both Lee Sang-hoon and Han Baram, who had been accompanying her, were now out of the picture, she must have intended to stick with me.
Fortunately, I had an abundance of provisions.
“What do you want to say?”
“Oh, come on. You don’t have to be so guarded. I really won’t do anything.”
Thud. Baek Joo-hee took a step closer.
In a gesture that meant she should not come any closer, I lifted the oversized spoon.
“W-Why are you being so scary? I really didn’t come here to fight.”
“State your business, or I’ll shatter your bowl with this spoon.”
“…”
Baek Joo-hee tightly sealed her lips. Soon, she abandoned the act of being friendly and revealed her hidden intentions.
“Alright, I won’t bother you anymore. There she is. If it’s okay with you, how about sticking together for this training? It seems like you’re alone…”
“Not necessary.”
“What…?”
Baek Joo-hee seemed not to have expected an immediate rejection and bounced in place.
“Why not? Being together is better than being alone! Let’s help each other survive!”
Help each other…
I could provide Baek Joo-hee with this food right now. However, in return, she had nothing to offer me.
She wasn’t exceptionally skilled in combat like Arna, nor did she seem particularly lively. She just knew how to put on makeup.
Well, if she really wanted to accompany me…
“Give me 13 reasons why I should go with you.”
“Huh…? I have to give you 13 reasons…?”
“If you don’t want to, then forget it.”
“No, no, I’ll tell you! Just tell you, right?”
Uh, um, so. Baek Joo-hee, racking her empty head, tried to come up with reasons.
“First of all… I’m pretty, aren’t I?”
“Are you serious?”
“And my figure is good too? I have a lot of aegyo? If we’re together, our strength will skyrocket?”
“You’re seriously out of your mind.”
“Ah, then what should I do…!”
She couldn’t help but lose her temper. If she had just honestly said that she came because she was hungry, they would have thrown her at least a piece of bread.
“Okay then, why don’t you give me something else instead!”
“Something else?”
“hehehehe….”
With a sudden jerk, Baek Joo-hee started to unzip her lower garment. Precisely up until her chest. Soon, her pure white collarbones were exposed.
“I’ll let you have a taste….”
A sweet whisper.
Baek Joo-hee bent her body, gathering her chest as much as possible. But even with all her effort, her breasts were nothing compared to those monstrous ones.
Lacking in combat ability, lacking in breasts….
It was the first moment Baek Joo-hee started to feel pity for herself.
“Well? You must have some built up too… I’ll satisfy that… just once.”
“Only once.”
“What…? Uh, then, twice…?”
“Tw-two times?”
“Ah, I get it! Three times! I’ll do it three times! I can’t give you any more than that!”
What difference does it make if it’s three times or four times. It probably won’t wear out that easily.
Anyway.
I’ve played with it enough. It’s about time to send her away.
I need to prepare lunch quickly. Otherwise, Arna will definitely get angry. I can’t let her waste any more time.
“As expected, you’re rejecting it.”
“Ah, then how many times do I have to do it!”
“No matter how many times you do it, it’s useless. I’ve learned not to eat food that smells like a rag’s piss. It only gives me stomachache for no reason.”
“This is ridiculous…!”
Snap!
Was it the trigger that set off the mention of food that smells like a rag’s piss.
Baek Joo-hee took out her hidden weapon, a whip.