“I’m screwed.”
Surely, out of the hundreds of participants, I never expected that the random 1,000,000 points would be given to Charlotte.
No, while playing the Dreaming World for over a thousand rounds, I don’t know if I was just unlucky or if it was always like this, but I had never hit the 1,000,000 points once.
Since I had never experienced it in the first place, I made the nonsensical mistake of not considering it as a possibility.
“What… what should I do?”
In a typical situation, having a score of 1,000,000 would usually be a good thing.
However, in this tournament where scores are used for competition, this unique score draws the attention of others.
Moreover, it even gets marked on the map.
In other words, it’s equivalent to a moving treasure trove.
“This is a problem. The option to discard it…”
“Ugh…”
When Skolla calmly suggested the option of ‘discarding’ it, Charlotte’s complexion quickly worsened.
“No, that’s not an option.”
“If we continue like this, we’ll attract attention. Then your plan will fall apart right from the start.”
“We can’t win this tournament without Charlotte.”
Even if this genius inventor creates an amazing masterpiece here, the strength of Yoon Si-woo’s party is formidable.
To reduce both stability and risk, Charlotte’s help is absolutely vital.
“There is a way.”
“You say there’s a way?”
In fact, there is one way.
That would be to share her score of 1,000,000 with someone else.
It seems quite simple, but in reality, it is not.
Unlike other academy settings, the people here are not fools.
If you give them a reasonable score, that’s one thing, but very few would accept a score of 1,000,000 all at once, especially when it raises their own risks.
“Well, there is one person.”
However, there is just one.
There exists a character who is evaluated as having the strongest physical strength among all first-year students… perhaps even across all grades.
Among the professors, Philia is incredibly strong, and a student who might reach that strength in the latter half.
But maybe because of that, they tend to speak in short answers or have a rather simplistic way of thinking.
[11:13]
To determine the time in the sky, the numbers ticking from 11 to 12 were visible.
“Alright, okay… first of all, I need to find someone.”
“Who… who is it?”
“First, Charlotte. Please give me all of your points.”
“Ah… okay!”
Even though it’s a tournament format based on points, since Yoon Si-woo’s party is participating, it’s evident that most teams will be eliminated.
What really matters is whether we survive until the end or not.
Therefore, this massive score of 1,000,000 will be easily discarded.
[Hernia Aesha: 1,000,150]
[Charlotte: 0]
“First, stay in a safe zone! I’ll… handle this score.”
“Understood.”
Just like when I took the entrance exam, I start searching for people while holding a bottle in my mouth.
The factory complex is so enormous and complicated that finding someone is not easy, but that person’s appearance is somewhat distinctive.
[Current intoxication level: 5%]
Moreover, if Charlotte and Skolla appear around me, that person should be easy to find.
I navigate through pipes and various metal objects, continuously searching for that person I saw earlier.
Finally, I stop walking.
Tap.
“Ah, found you!”
A massive person I saw since the entrance ceremony.
His upper body is completely bare, and numerous complicated tattoos cover his body.
Although he’s the main character, he’s not the type I particularly like, so I don’t remember his name… but I do know that he’s not very bright.
If that person willingly accepts these scores, it would be an ideal situation.
However, there is still one more problem.
“…As expected, there he is.”
That character happens to be in Yoon Si-woo’s party.
Therefore, there must inevitably be Yoon Si-woo and his associates around.
I don’t know why, but since it’s impossible to forcibly hand over scores, I need to persuade him to accept the scores when he’s far from Yoon Si-woo.
And that opportunity soon presented itself.
No matter how superhuman he might be, enduring without supplies for five days is impossible, so everyone must take turns going to the safe zone to gather supplies.
And only one person is left.
I slowly approached him.
“Who are you?”
“…Wow.”
But as soon as I closed my eyes and opened them again, that person had vanished, and a voice came from behind me.
It must have been that person a moment ago.
“Uh… hello?”
“Weak. State your purpose.”
“I-I came to offer you something good!!”
Feeling the thick hand about to crush me, I raised both hands in a panic and shouted.
“Something good? Meat?”
“No, more than that. You’re on the same team as Yoon Si-woo, right?”
“Team?”
“Um, I mean… your companions…!”
Since this person is likely from a barbarian tribe, I remembered that I might have to phrase common terms a bit differently.
“That’s correct.”
“Ah, then… you know you need points in this tournament, right…?”
“Points… yes.”
Fortunately, we can communicate.
Perhaps this situation is viewed not as a person-to-person interaction but rather as one between a predator and prey… but I believe it can work somehow, so I continue talking.
“In that sense, we have a lot of points, so… would you accept them?”
“…Why are you giving it to me?”
“Huh?”
I didn’t expect him to ask questions.
“Uh… because it’s a good thing? It would be nice if we could both… share!”
“You and I are enemies.”
“……”
“Enemies do not give gifts without reason.”
“Haha…”
I tried to coax him with positive and simple words, but it was impossible.
This was an instinctive judgment about reducing the disadvantage of others rather than a conclusion derived from logic and reason.
This amount was being assessed intuitively by him.
“It doesn’t really matter.”
“I need a reason. Speak.”
“A reason…?”
Is there no way?
Of course, it’s not possible to attack yet, so if I forcibly strike now, he’s sure to be eliminated.
But I also can’t continue participating in this tournament as if nothing happened.
“If you won’t speak…”
I can feel the strength in his hand.
It hurts at the back of my head.
Should I use Power Release to escape?
“Oh. Okay… I’ll tell you!!”
“Do not stop.”
I definitely didn’t want to say this, but there was only one way to resolve this situation.
“I want to be friends with Yoon Si-woo!! So ha… haha…”
“There can only be four winners.”
Even if we’re with him, I suppose he’s pointing out that we won’t receive any rewards due to the limitation of four winners.
“It’s okay! Just… being friendly is enough…”
“Umm…”
I can’t believe he’s still hesitating here?
You’re not that kind of character.
Or maybe there’s something I don’t know?
“I understand.”
“G-Great!!”
Fortunately, I was relieved that he didn’t ask why I’m giving it to him instead of Yoon Si-woo, and successfully transferred the points to him.
[Grok: 1,000,250]
[Hernia Aesha: 150]
His name is Grok, and I don’t remember it since it doesn’t roll off the tongue.
Still, aside from keeping a small amount of points for emergencies, I transferred all points to this Grok character and immediately exited.
“Well then, I’ll be off!!!”
“Take care.”
I was genuinely scared.
“Ahh… I need to hurry to the safe zone.”
***
“Grok! I asked you to explore the surrounding area, so why are you still here?”
“A rabbit appeared.”
“A rabbit?”
“It gave me a gift.”
“What do you mean by that… huh? Your score…”
Upon hearing Grok’s words, Yoon Si-woo tilted his head but quickly noticed that Grok’s score had surpassed one million.
“Who the hell…?”
I can’t understand.
No matter how the score draws everyone’s attention, I can’t believe someone would give it up so easily.
“The rabbit said it wants to become friends with you.”
“Who is that…?”
A rabbit.
To Grok, who often calls other people animals, he probably recognizes Yoon Si-woo as roughly a human, but he doesn’t know who it is.
Grok usually refers to Helisia as a capable cat.
He calls Hyun Se-ra a frozen squirrel.
He describes himself as a tiger.
But no one in his class has ever referred to someone as a rabbit.
“I don’t know the name.”
“Do you know what they look like?”
“It was small.”
“Well, it would be small.”
For someone who is nearly three meters tall, there wouldn’t be many beings larger than him.
“The hair was white.”
“White… hair?”
For some reason, just that fact made Yoon Si-woo think of Aesha.
There must be plenty of people with white hair in this academy, yet…
“I’m leaving.”
“Ah, let’s look for a base together.”
But shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he soon began to focus on selecting nearby bases, following the leading Grok.
“I wonder, no… but maybe?”
No, it seemed like it might take a bit more time to shake this off.
