Chapter 169: Scenario Gate (3)
Moreover, that was not the only headache. It had been about three minutes since the game of tag had started.
“Ugh, uuuugh…”
The C-Class Hunter seemed to finally realize he couldn’t catch the fairy and soon stopped in place.
He stood there, dripping in cold sweat, unable to overcome his fear, and eventually projected his misery onto someone else.
Thud!
He grabbed another player.
“Ugh, ugh…”
But why did that someone have to be me?
“I-I’m s-sorry. I’m really sorry…”
Having caused chaos, what nerve did he have to apologize now?
Flash.
I stared blankly at the light ring that had shifted onto my shoulder.
This was clearly revealing a gap I couldn’t cover. I had raised my defense with the [Divine Tree Sapling], but my physical abilities were still at rock bottom.
‘I couldn’t dodge his approach.’
Hmm.
But that Hunter wouldn’t know that my reflexes were lacking.
“Why did you have to pass it to an S-Class?”
I asked while glancing at my right arm. Logically, it was obvious that handing the tag to an S-Class would mean it would come back quickly, so I was curious what he was thinking.
“W-Well, I’m really sorry. I just couldn’t stay as the tagger anymore; I-I really thought I was going to go insane…!”
“…”
“B-But, Hunter Kim Gi-ryeo is S-Class, right? You can at least catch a fairy, can’t you? Right?”
“No. Honestly, with how much it teleports, it would be challenging.”
“Is that so? But…”
The C-Class Hunter in front of me spoke with a panicked expression.
“But you’re S-Class.”
He was a mid-tier Hunter yet seemed to know perfectly well that in such a special gate, the tier’s influence wasn’t major.
“It’s different for S-Class! Even if there’s a penalty, I won’t die, right? So can’t you please keep the role of tagger? P-Please don’t pass it back…”
“Chief!”
Unable to hold it back, Seonwoo-yeon shouted at her colleague, but I stopped her actions.
“…It’s okay.”
At this point, bickering over roles was pointless.
As soon as I received the tagger role, I calmed myself internally.
I shouldn’t hurriedly pass the mark back. While I was a false registrant with a forged tier, my opponent was a seasoned C-Class.
‘I’m at a disadvantage in agility contests.’
So I decided.
I needed to divert people’s attention elsewhere.
If I eased the taut atmosphere among the group, that damn employee who passed the tag to me would eventually show a weakness.
‘But I need to make sure the others don’t stray too far from me!’
Shiver, shiver.
I hid my trembling hands in my pockets and spoke with all my might.
“Your words make sense. It’s better for me to hold onto the tagger role.”
“Wha?!”
“It wouldn’t be good to panic too much within the dungeon. So for now, everyone, calm down…”
I won’t be passing the role.
As I acted nonchalantly to reassure everyone, predictably, the people around stopped fleeing.
The tension was easing away.
“Y-You’re actually going to hold it?! Really?!”
“Just standing still serves as proof. Don’t worry, just come over here. Don’t get lost.”
“Hmm.”
“I’ll try to handle the fairy somehow. Capturing it might be difficult, but at least if the penalty involves a violent confrontation, it might come closer then.”
I poured out sweet words to narrow the distance with the candidates for the tagger role.
While doing that, I continuously analyzed the mark on my arm, but unfortunately, it wasn’t something that could be erased with F-Class magic power.
In simpler terms, to survive, I needed to pass this to someone else somehow…
‘Damn you!’
The problem was that the C-Class Hunter I targeted was still outside the range of the mark even if he died.
That employee, after hearing my refusal to pass the tag back, still stubbornly stood his ground.
Even when I cleverly tried to persuade him, he absolutely wouldn’t come closer.
Moreover, as the 10 minutes promised by the fairy approached, the other participants, who had appeared to be at ease, subtly steered clear of the tagger…
Ugh.
I was anxious.
If they kept their distance like this, I’d reveal my F-Class physical capabilities when passing the tag.
‘If I had known this would happen, I should have figured out how to move my sluggish body! But still, resources are limited, what could I possibly do?!’
My thoughts got tangled, and at that moment, the fairy chimed brightly from above.
“In 1 minute, it’ll be over~”
Having done everything to distract them from tag, with a mere signal from the monster, the sense of crisis surged again. The players took a few more steps back, tightening their stances.
Honestly, I wanted to smash that cheerful little fairy’s head.
Hah.
At this point, I truly didn’t know what to do.
I pondered for a moment.
Right now, the closest person was Seonwoo-yeon.
But she was B-Class.
Even now, her face was as stiff as ice as she kept glancing at my mark, and if I tried to make a move, she’d bolt in an instant.
Trying to play tag with someone who’s a B-Class Awakened was reckless.
Thus, I naturally had to select the sacrifice from those remaining, excluding her.
“Hunter, isn’t it better for you to try catching the fairy starting now…?”
“As I said before, it’s impossible. That thing clearly uses teleportation skills.”
“But…”
“Not only myself, but even Jeong Ha-seong or Esther cannot catch it either. This is certain, so don’t tire yourself out anticipating it.”
With 50 seconds left, I had to make a decision.
Should I take revenge on that scoundrel who passed the mark to me? Or should I safely aim for the slow analyst?
But honestly, it seemed there was an obvious answer. To be sure, I had to target the weaker one.
The C-Class Hunter associated with the association could still fight back even if the tag moved right before the end.
Thinking about it, he had merely been undeserving of being the first tagger, yet there was no point in resenting him for wanting to survive by passing the tag.
‘Alright.’
Then, it was time for the usual value judgment.
‘I can’t just die in his place merely because I feel sorry for him.’
Thus, I decided to sacrifice an innocent weaker individual to preserve my own life.
A perspective not far removed from the Alphas.
I liked altruism, but I had never claimed to be a good person.
However, after a few seconds passed, someone abruptly intervened in my choice.
“…!”
A sudden surge of magic.
Someone’s touch on my back.
In the unexpected situation, I hastily turned my gaze.
What I saw was a long strand of black hair from an Awakened.
“What the…!”
Thud.
Flash!
Seonwoo-yeon, who had touched my back to take the tag, wobbled back as if startled, her eyes wide as she looked surprised herself.
“3 seconds left!”
And at that moment, a signal in the air indicated the end of the game.
“2.”
“1.”
“Wait…”
By the time the fairy felt smug about this.
The Earthling in a suit, trembling with fear, explained his actions.
“…Mr. Gi-ryeo is an S-Class Hunter.”
Strangely enough, it was the exact same justification an association employee gave, right down to the last word.
“Because he’s an S-Class…”
He took my mark.
She must have imagined the future approaching, swallowing hard with a terrified expression.
“All done! Now the tagger faces a penalty!”
At the same time as the 10 minutes finished.
Soon after, a green afterimage materialized at the fairy’s fingertips.
That afterimage grew into a powerful flash that flickered at the speed of light.
And then came the dull thud of an impact.
“Seonwoo-yeon!”
The B-Class Hunter of the association didn’t even let out a squeak before she collapsed with her abdomen pierced.
Chirp, chirp.
The wingless fairy giggled lightly, having pulled off such an act.
In my heart, I wanted to skin that fairy alive right then.
But now was not the time for that. Seonwoo-yeon, with her stomach pierced, continued to bleed on the floor.
“Why?”
Although she had already explained the reason.
I still couldn’t understand the Earthling’s actions. I had my doubts.
“Why on earth?”
What did it matter to her that I was an S-Class Hunter?
I hurriedly assessed Seonwoo-yeon’s condition.
A wound about 4cm wide piercing her side.
From the open wound, the unique lukewarm blood of a calm beast was seeping out, and seeing this made me suddenly think…
‘Huh?’
So, she wasn’t dead?
Yeah. She wasn’t dead.
The struck area was not critical, and having calmed my anger, the amount of bleeding didn’t seem particularly grave.
‘Wait, looking at this, it’s almost a minor injury?’
Now that I thought about it…
Due to past experiences of the fairies during the festival, everyone had unconsciously assumed the penalty involved death.
Looking back, that Apa character never did mention that losing in the game resulted in death.
Once I realized that Seonwoo-yeon was in a state that could be healed, my mind quickly cleared.
“Potion!”
I finally shouted toward the back.
“Does anyone have a recovery potion? Bring it now! Quickly!”
Then, another association employee pulled out a supply medicine. It looked like a mid-tier recovery potion.
I poured the potion over her wound before my eyes.
Fortunately, the magic power seemed to have avoided her bones and vital organs, allowing for quick recovery.
Given the situation up until now.
It seemed Seonwoo-yeon was not severely injured but fainted from the fear of death.
“Ah…”
Indeed, when I shook her shoulder to wake her, her consciousness was easily restored.
Drowsily opening her eyes, it looked as if she had just emerged from the water, taking deep breaths.
“Huh? I have… I’m not dead. I-I’m still alive?”
She seemed still somewhat dazed.
I sat beside her as she rambled, explaining.
“The penalty was different this time.”
“Huh?”
“The fairies in the plaza were killing, causing us to misunderstand, but this time it only left a hole in the body.”
Then Seonwoo-yeon opened her mouth slightly.
It appeared her survival was surprisingly astonishing to her, but that didn’t match the perplexity I felt.
I hadn’t expected that Earthling would risk her own life.
“No, but what in the world made the tagger think to take it?”
I genuinely grew curious about the extraterrestrial brain and asked, to which Seonwoo-yeon replied.
“Mr. Gi-ryeo seemed like he truly wouldn’t pass it back…”
“Huh?”
“Since it seemed possible to lose an S-Class Hunter in a place like this, that felt a bit… not quite right…?”
While she had bravely sacrificed herself, she still looked terrified till now.
As if the brief thought of death had left an impact.
“Honestly, even saying it’s because you’re S-Class is an excuse; I just felt uncomfortable doing nothing.”
“…”
“Since my parents…”
“…”
“I can’t bear to see others hurt after what happened to them.”
“…”
“So I did it for my own peace of mind. Honestly, just to be at ease…”
She followed up.
Saying that she originally had this kind of personality, so it was not my fault even if she weren’t in my place.
Of course, I wouldn’t feel particularly guilty myself since, as an Alphauri, I didn’t have that much of a sense of guilt…
But after hearing Seonwoo-yeon’s statements, I fell into a long silence.
“H-Hunter?”
And at that moment, a voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Thank you all for fulfilling my wish!”
A voice so high it felt like it was tearing apart. The fairy’s pitch.
“Playing was fun. It was so much fun! I’ll write about today in my diary. I’m so glad you all came to the kingdom.”
Chattering away.
At that moment, others couldn’t hide their fury at the fairy’s words, scowling and grimacing.
No matter how much annoying things it said, it was just following through with its design.
“Stay close and hold hands.”
“Ah, thank you…”
Putting emotions into objects was a foolish act.
So I ignored the fairy and turned my attention to Seonwoo-yeon. Even though I had used a recovery potion, she would need support for a while.
