“Haaa…” Chae Nayun sighed as she lay on the sofa.
She mustered the courage to make her proposal. Fortunately Kim Hajin agreed that it was a great idea and accepted.
“I actually thought we would go up against other people so I was really nervous.”
“Me too. I was slightly nervous as well.”
Yi Yeonghan and Kim Suho respectively spoke while lying on the floor.
Yoo Yeonha also sat beside them. She wore a wrist protector ankle protector waist protector and magic rings. Indeed she lived up to her name as a gear maniac with her entire body covered in artifacts.
Anyways…
Kim Hajin misunderstood Chae Nayun’s offer as having everyone in one room instead of just the two of them.
“Ah… Annoying… Argh! Annoying! Damn it!” Chae Nayun cried out.
“Hey what’s wrong with you?”
“GRRWAAAH!” Chae Nayun suddenly started screaming and stomping her feet.
Kim Hajin was meditating a distance away and opened his eyes. He glared at her because of the commotion.
“That little…”
Chae Nayun thought he should’ve picked up on the subtle hints by now but she realized that was unlikely because of their relationship at this point. The fact that they were currently in the same club was already a miracle since they weren’t on good terms yet.
“Hey what are you doing?” she asked.
Kim Hajin turned towards her but didn’t say anything. Instead he handed her the announcement written on his card.
[Choose One – Battle or Hurdle]
“What’s that?”
“It’s what we have to do next. We need to choose one. Why don’t you check your card?”
Chae Nayun took her card out of her pocket.
It seemed that ‘Battle’ meant an actual battle against another person and ‘Hurdle’ meant they would have to fight against a certain situation.
“Hmm… Do we have to choose one or the other? Hey what are you guys choosing?” Chae Nayun asked.
“I’m going for battle. I should probably use this opportunity to gain some real-life combat experience” Yi Yeonghan said as he shot his hand up.
Kim Suho contemplated for a moment before deciding to go with battle too.
Chae Nayun glanced at Kim Hajin and asked “Hey Kim Hajin. What are you going for?”
“Why?”
“I want to choose the opposite of what you choose.”
Kim Hajin tilted his head in confusion.
Chae Nayun continued with a disgruntled look “We can’t meet as enemies right? Stupid…”
Everyone looked at Chae Nayun.
Yi Yeonghan frowned and Kim Suho did the same.
“Wow… what is she doing right now? Is she being considerate? I swear she was ready to beat us to death but not Kim Hajin?”
“I know right?”
Chae Nayun instinctively reacted when the duo put on a sleazy smile and teased her. She grabbed the pillow beside her and threw it at their faces. The pillow struck Yi Yeonghan before bouncing off and striking Kim Suho too.
“I’m going for the hurdle…” Kim Hajin said in a small voice.
Chae Nayun nodded “Okay I’ll go for battle then.”
Then she looked at Yoo Yeonha who remained deep in thought.
Yoo Yeonha finally replied “I think I’ll go for the hurdle too.”
***
I entered the hurdle the next day. The hurdle was a bit no quite a unique place.
“… Is this the Amazon or what?”
Lush overgrown vegetation surrounded me and large trees that I couldn’t identify towered above. The environment felt humid and the hot breeze caressing my skin made me uncomfortable.
“Ah… This is starting to annoy me…”
I looked at that card from the colosseum. The manager told me that most of the things happening here would be recorded on the card.
To my surprise the card did contain a message.
[You will gain more points the longer you survive…]
The sentence stopped halfway. Maybe the card malfunctioned because it was too hot here? I placed it back in my pocket and began walking.
“… Just how big is this arena?” I wondered while walking.
I walked and walked and walked.
I was covered in sweat after two hours due to the crazy humidity and the fact that it was quite difficult to walk through this mushy terrain.
“This heat is going to kill me sooner or later…”
However I actually preferred this. It was worth a shot if all I had to do was survive without having to fight anyone. My card malfunctioned so I had no idea how long I had to stay here. I needed to find some food if I wanted to survive.
I pulled out my dagger and headed towards the swamp to catch some alligators.
“Kwaaah! Krrwaaaah! Brrruaaararararah!”
“…”
Two dinosaurs fought each other in the swamp.
I instinctively retreated as far back from the swamp as possible. Then I spotted an alligator. Well it seemed more like a lizard the size of an alligator.
“Kireuk!”
The creature hissed at me and I immediately threw my dagger. It flew like a bullet before piercing between the creature’s eyes.
The dagger moved by itself and dug into the creature’s brain. This combo was a synergy between [Dazzling Dexterity] and [Master Sharpshooter].
“Haaa…”
I skinned the lizard and deboned its meat with the dagger. Next I tanned its hide with stigma. The lizard’s tough hide instantly turned soft like the ones sold in the market. Then I processed it with [Dazzling Dexterity].
[Lizard Leather Bag] [Intermediate Rank]
— A bag made from lizard leather skinned and tanned on the spot. It has numerous features and can be considered a luxury item.
[Intermediate Rank Preserve Freshness]
[Low Rank Weight Reduction]
The results satisfied me considering I used half of my mana. I placed the meat into the bag and began walking again.
Around three hours passed.
“Ukiki! Ukiki!”
I spotted a monkey swinging from tree to tree.
“Hold on…”
I realized something. This place filled with towering trees meant it was no different from a… parkour heaven.
I immediately climbed a tree and began jumping from one to another so fast that it looked like I was gliding through the air.
“Hmm?”
A familiar figure caught my eye as I sped through the trees.
Yoo Yeonha held her whip against six men wielding swords. I had no idea what was going on but the atmosphere between them didn’t look good.
I stopped on top of a tree and transformed my Desert Eagle into a sniper rifle.
The men channeled their mana and charged at Yoo Yeonha.
I aimed at them and pulled the trigger.
Pshwoo! Pshwoo! Pshwoo!
The entire situation de-escalated before Yoo Yeonha could even swing her whip.
“… What happened just now?” she muttered while looking around in disbelief.
I snapped a branch off the tree and threw it at her. The branch flew in an arc before hitting her forehead.
Tak!
“Hiyaak!” she screamed and jumped as if something electrocuted her.
The blow wasn’t strong enough to kill her but it seemed I threw it a bit too hard and she stood there rubbing her forehead.
I lightly jumped off the tree and landed behind her.
“Hey.”
“Hiiieeeek!”
We had been here for close to eight hours. Yoo Yeonha seemed mentally exhausted as she shrieked in horror and jumped when I called her.
I found the sight quite funny. It looked like she had been struck by lightning.
***
Sixteen hours passed since we arrived in the jungle and the sky began to darken.
Yoo Yeonha sat on a tree stump and stared at the campfire but it made her uncomfortable because the flames danced and hissed like a lizard.
“So… the spectators are watching us from somewhere?” she asked.
“They should be” Kim Hajin replied.
“I feel like a victim of voyeurism… Such perverts…”
“At least your face is covered.”
Yoo Yeonha wore a fox mask that anyone would call a cat mask but she insisted it was a fox.
“Haa… I wonder what part of this is a hurdle?”
“Stop whining and eat this” Kim Hajin retorted and passed her some food.
Yoo Yeonha looked down at the food on a big leaf that he used as a plate.
It looked like normal meatballs but she knew it was made from mushed lizard meat. It looked normal on the outside but lizard meat… lizard meat… she was supposed to eat lizard meat… she had no choice but to eat it if she wanted to survive… but lizard meat…
Yoo Yeonha sighed and picked up a meatball. She closed her eyes and bravely put one in her mouth.
“…!”
Her eyes slowly lost strength before opening again as the lizard meat caressed her tongue.
“Hang…!” she let out an unintentional moan before quickly covering her mouth in surprise.
Kim Hajin laughed and asked “Is it good?”
“Hmpf! Beats me…”
“Then don’t eat it.”
“Ah! It’s good! It’s delicious! It’s so good that I would buy them if it’s sold at the market…”
Yoo Yeonha’s pride took a hit but the meatball definitely tasted delicious. She gobbled up every meatball that Kim Hajin gave her.
“Do we have any leftovers?” she asked.
“Do you want more?”
“No I was just asking. We’ll have to throw away the leftovers right?”
“I can just smoke them and keep them for tomorrow.”
“Hiing…” Yoo Yeonha suppressed her disappointment.
Kim Hajin was truly a jack of all trades. He easily built a shack using cordage made from animal tendons knitted leaves together to form a roof and made makeshift walls out of tree bark. He did all this on top of cooking those perfect meatballs despite their environment.
Yoo Yeonha couldn’t help but feel bothered by how capable and crafty he was. She wondered when he had the time to learn all these survival skills.
Honestly she already realized the answer to that question a long time ago. He must’ve learned all of this while trying to survive in this world. He must’ve suffered unimaginable loneliness and faced numerous hardships alone.
In the end the countless trials and tribulations the world threw at him failed to kill him and only made him stronger. He must be so level-headed thanks to surviving in this world alone.
Kim Hajin mistook Yoo Yeonha’s silence as her falling asleep and said “Go sleep up there if you’re going to sleep. It’s quite comfortable up there.”
“I’m not sleeping” she retorted.
Ironically she began feeling sleepy right afterwards. It was then that the thicket behind her suddenly rustled.
Yoo Yeonha felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and goosebumps spread all over her body. She sensed strong killing intent from the darkness and two people soon emerged.
“…”
Both of them wore long robes and stood behind her and Kim Hajin.
Yoo Yeonha couldn’t utter a word and felt a life-threatening danger just standing in their presence. The crippling fear made it seem as if the entire world froze.
On the other hand Kim Hajin nonchalantly enjoyed his meal.
Yoo Yeonha couldn’t understand how he kept enjoying his meal when those two figures appeared out of nowhere with such powerful killing intent.
Even the two robed figures seemed taken aback by his eccentric behavior.
Thanks to that the killing intent enveloping the area slightly subsided and Yoo Yeonha finally regained control of her body.
She plopped down on the ground and tried to catch her breath “Haa… Haa… Haa…”
Meanwhile Kim Hajin glanced at the robed individuals. Their shadows danced around the campfire.
“Did you come looking for food?” he nonchalantly asked.
The two robed figures glanced at each other before one of them glared at Kim Hajin.
“It seems you have a good grasp of what’s going on” one of them a woman judging by her voice spoke.
Yoo Yeonha looked at Kim Hajin but he didn’t say anything in response.
“Hey… what… is she… saying?” Yoo Yeonha asked as her curiosity triumphed over the crippling fear incapacitating her.
The other robed figure who was a man courteously replied “What she means is this place isn’t the colosseum.”
“…?” Yoo Yeonha couldn’t say anything and simply looked at Kim Hajin again.
Kim Hajin still looked relaxed. He looked so peaceful that Yoo Yeonha wondered what the hell was going through his mind.
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Actually Kim Hajin had blocked off all of his senses. It wasn’t that difficult since he could use stigma for anything so he used it to block all the sensory receptors in his body.
Kim Hajin felt his heart stop too. Yes it literally stopped when those two appeared and he quickly made the decision to block off his senses to prevent the killing intent from causing him any further damage.
Thanks to that his vision became quite limited and he could only make out their silhouettes. He could only faintly hear sounds now too. His sense of touch and instincts also became completely blocked off to avoid feeling even a sliver of the killing intent that the robed figures exuded.
The robed man looked down at Kim Hajin and muttered “What a strange fellow…”
Then his eyes darted towards the lizard meatballs.
“Is that food?” he asked.
Yoo Yeonha became confused for a moment. She couldn’t tell if he was referring to them as food or the meatballs.
“W-What do you mean?” Yoo Yeonha asked as her imagination ran wild with all sorts of scenarios where she ended up as human meat.
Kim Hajin suddenly asked “Do you want a bite?”
“…”
The robed duo looked at each other. Eighteen hours had passed since they arrived here and they had starved the entire time.
“Boss?”
“I don’t think we have to kill them” the so-called boss uttered spine-tingling words before sitting in front of the campfire.
Tak…! Tak…! Tak…!
Only the crackling campfire could be heard as the four of them looked at the lizard meatballs.
“… What’s going on?” Yoo Yeonha muttered in disbelief.
She felt it with her own skin that the robed duo were definitely seasoned veterans. The fact that their presence alone drove her into a corner proved that.
However Kim Hajin seemed unaffected by them. He didn’t back down for even a second. In other words he was confident enough to not lose against them!
“Haaa…” Yoo Yeonha sighed in relief.
The fact that she had a companion like him became a huge relief.
It was then.
Ding!
A message popped up on their cards.
