Arena Chapter 19:
Chapter 19 From within the darkness (1)
It was a time like **** .
Summoning and un-summoning Sylph repeatedly, I ran, gasping for air . Compared to Kang Chun-seong and Jun-ho with his physical strength buff, my stamina was even worse than Park Go-chan’s . But there was another who was gasping for air more than me, and that’s Lee Hye-su .
She looked like the very breath would leave her and her face was strewn in tears .
On her severely fatigued and frightened face, her fear that her comrades may leave her behind was obvious .
I wanted to help her but I was barely keeping up as it was .
“Get on my back . ”
Out of the ordinary, Kang Chun-seong interfered . Even with Lee Hye-su on his back he ran, leading the group .
As that happened, the person in last place became me .
“Hak, hak, haak…!”
It felt like my heart would explode . It was to the point that I feared I would die running like this .
I kept going back and forth between hoping we have a battle or to just keep running .
-Meow!
Sylph’s meow, with only 5 minutes left of her summon time, brought my dimming consciousness back to focus .
“Ah……!”
I am in awe at the view before me . The flow of the small river is joined to a small waterfall . Below the waterfall was a gorge surrounded with rocks and inside it, slightly hidden by the waterfall, was a small cave .
“H-here… . ”
I was so out of breath the words didn’t properly come out of my mouth .
“You’re saying we should rest here, right?”
With his physical strength buff entry level 2, Jun-h,o who was in better condition than I, asked me .
I nod my head .
We make our way down to the gorge . We go into the small cave behind the falling waterfall . It was small enough that as 5 people entered, it made us feel crowded .
But, perhaps due to the waterfall that blocked the entrance, it felt safe .
‘Thank goodness . If we fight here, it will be easier to block them . ’
The waterfall will get rid of our body odor and stop it from going outside .
The passage through the gorge is narrow so even if they attack, the fight will be easier .
I un-summon Sylph and speak to the group .
“Let’s spend the day here . ”
The group nods .
I make my gun and bullet pouch disappear and collapse onto the floor . Maybe it is just because of how tired I am, but as soon as I lay down, sleep floods over me .
***
When I come to, it is pitch black .
It is so dark I cannot see anything . All I hear is the soft breathing of my group .
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could make out the interior of the cave .
What immediately catches my eye is Kang Chun-seong, sitting towards the entrance to the cave .
“You didn’t sleep?”
Kang Chun-seong barely glances at me and nods his head . It seems while everyone had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion, he had kept watch all alone .
I summon my board to check the time .
-Name: Kim Hyun-ho
-Class: 3
-Karma: 0
-Mission: survive until the time
-Time limit: 5 days 9 hours 14 minutes
“You should go to bed now . We will keep sentry now . ”
At the words, Kang Chun-seong immediately laid down and fell asleep .
“Sylph . ”
-Meow .
“Shh, quietly . ”
Sylph nods her head and rubs her face on me . At her adorableness, I feel my heart melting .
“Scout for me please . ”
Sylph nods and flies out the cave .
She returns in a moment and draws a number in the ground . It is so dark I cannot really see .
“Can you draw it on my hand?”
Sylph draws a number into my right hand . Along with a tickle, I can make out the number 271 .
“271 of them?”
Sylph nods her head .
All of the red apes, minus the ones we had killed during the day, are gathering outside and near to us . They are sure that we are somewhere nearby .
‘This situation is really not good . ’
This place we had thought to be safe was actually not that good of a spot .
The falling waterfall is blocking the entrance so we cannot build a fire and because it is cold and moist, it is uncomfortable to sleep in . We cannot survive for five days in here .
We must escape this place .
But with what ability will we pierce through a net of 271 apes?
‘It’s making me depressed, so I’m going to stop thinking about it for now . ’
A while later, I wake the group, minus Kang Chun-seong, and decide on our sentry order . Between the four of us, we decide to each take turns of 1 hour 30 minutes .
**
“Get up, guy . ”
Thanks to Park Go-chan tapping me with his feet, I’m awoken from my sleep .
“Man, fuck, it’s so cold how am I going to get a proper sleep . ”
Park Go-chan finishes his sentry duty and lays down mumbling . Complaining aside, he quickly starts to snore .
I spaced out for a good while and then kicked my sleepiness aside and summoned Sylph .
“Can you go see what the red apes are doing?”
-Meow .
She replied in a small voice and flies out .
Sylph returns in a moment and I ask her .
“Are the **** sleeping?”
-Meow .
Sylph is nodding her head .
They have good night vision but they aren’t nocturnal . That means last night’s attack was a strategy .
“Are they all sleeping? If not, how many of them are awake?”
Sylph draws a ticklish number 9 on my palm .
‘Just 9?’
There are hundreds roaming about and there are only 9 that are awake and keeping watch? It’s more pathetic than I thought .
But I can understand it . There are hundreds of them and this forest is their territory . They have never had to fear and so their watch is loose .
‘Should I use that to my advantage?’
I think about escaping with my group while the **** are asleep .
But that is indeed reckless .
No matter how pathetic, there is the chance that we will be caught by the 9 that are keeping watch . In addition, we are exhausted . Even if we break through their ranks, we won’t be able to keep running while they chase us .
‘How did it come to this?’
I had thought things were going well and according to plan .
As we arrived in the forest, I had deduced that our enemy was the red ape . I had success in getting water and food . We were also ready for their night attack . Isn’t this much pretty good?
But alas, in the end, we are locked in this tiny gorge .
‘The red apes’ teamwork surpasses my expectations . ’
We killed all 21 of the apes that had ambushed us in the night attack, and didn’t leave a single one able to return .
But after that, and not even within a full day, hundreds of them worked together to search the entire forest .
They quickly narrowed their search and eventually found our location .
We did break through the earlier search team, but in the end we have found ourselves in a corner .
‘This is a total mall hunt . ’*
(TN: 몰이사냥 I don’t even know what this means but when I type it into google, this is the image that comes up . Maybe means a mob attack?)
The red apes’ group efforts were thoroughly organized and close .
The number that died at our hands is well over 40 and they weren’t a bit shaken up .
I am sure of it that they have a strong leader that has strong control of the group . A smart leader that knows how to night attack and mall hunt .
Let’s organize this .
First, a smart and strong leader .
Second, that leader has 271 red apes acting as his hands and feet .
Third, this forest is no different than their front lawn .
Fourth, in our group, one is a trouble maker and the other is incompetent .
‘What kind of **** exam is this?’
It’s making me angry . That bbundegi angel bastard! He may be looking at my anguish now and chuckling right now .
“Board retrieval . ”
-Name: Kim Hyun-ho
-Class: 3
-Karma: 0
-Mission: survive the time limit
-Time limit: 5 days 3 hours 45 minutes
I stare blankly at the words on my board . I spent a good deal of time just staring at the board .
And suddenly, a thought popped into my head .
Survive until the time limit .
That is all . Now that I think of it, nowhere did it say to flee for a week . Just survive .
It wasn’t an impossible mission . Like the first exam, they have given us a mission that is doable . Something that is possible with our skills .
Our skills .
My skill…
And then something passed by in my head, like a flash of light . I summon Sylph again .
“Sylph . I have something to ask you . ”
-Meow?
Cute Sylph, looking at me with her round eyes .
“Using your power, can you make it so sound disappears?”
-Meow .
Sylph nods her head .
“Can you get rid of smell?”
-Meow .
She nods again .
“Then lastly, do you know what kind of **** the leader of the red apes is? Like his appearance or if he’s giving out orders to other **** . Maybe, have you seen him?”
-Meow .
Sylph nods her head this time too .
Ah…… . .
This is it . The answer was this close all along .
***
I wake up the next sentry, Lee Hye-su .
“Is it my turn?”
“Something has come up so I am waking you early . ”
“What happened?”
“If I do not return within the hour, wake the others and escape . ”
“What?”
“I will return . ”
I head out the cave .
But Lee Hye-su follows after me .
“Where are you going!”
“I’m going to kill their leader . If I can do just that, the exam is clear . ”
“And if you do not return?”
“If an hour passes and I am not back, escape before the day brightens . For now, the bastard’s watch is loose so you have a chance, but if I fail, they will be more vigilant and even in the night they will watch more closely . So you…”
“That’s not it!”
“… . ?”
“What about me……”
Lee Hye-su is about to cry .
“What I was about to be molested, you helped me, you saved me during the fight, and you’ve taken care of me this and that way… Hyun-ho, you are the only one that has protected me . If you are not here, what will I do . ”
At those words, my heart is deafened .
“Please do not go . Just stay here . Why do you have to submit to such danger?”
I let out a bitter smile .
“Would you like to talk for a while?”
We sit together on a boulder .
I ask “How old are you?”
“I’m 27 . ”
“How long have you been with a company?”
“This year marks 4 years . ”
“Did you get hired as soon as you graduated?”
“Yes . ”
“What kind of company is it?”
“I worked at the ST Soft marketing division . ”
“Wow, you got into a big company right after graduating . You must’ve attended a good university . ”
“The school wasn’t bad, but my dad is a ST Soft board member . ”
“Wow, I’m so jealous . Your face is pretty and your house is well off, you had a very successful life . ”
“It’s not so . Look at me now…”
“Better than me . ” I speak up .
“Even if I say the name, people don’t know the university I went to and up to now, I’ve been saying that I’m studying for the civil servant exam and living as an unemployed person . ”
“…”
“My college friends graduated and mailed off hundreds of resumes, and then the place they barely got hired at gives them a salary shy of $20,000 . Seeing that scared me . That I might face those hardships too . So I decided to be a civil servant and wasted my life until I was 29 . ”
I let out a deep sigh and continue .
“I have never been complimented for being good at anything . I never worked hard for anything and my life ended having lived just plain and mediocre . That’s why I’m working so desperately now . Because I want to live . So that if I am given another chance, that I might live my life properly . I’m pretty pitiful, huh?”
“N-no, you aren’t . You are really incredible, Hyun-ho . If it wasn’t for you, we would all be dead by now . ”
“Thank you . For the first time in my life, I’ve gotten a compliment . ”
I laugh and she laughs too .