Unexpectedly Swift Encounter

"Damn it... If only Yumi were still alive..."

"Shut the hell up with that nonsense!"

"Why are you getting so mad? It's the truth!"

"Who was it that sweet-talked her into ditching us, you bastard..."

"What? What did you just say?"

"It's true though... Thanks to that, only one person got all the benefits..."

"The one who became the guild's vice-elder must be thrilled. What did we get out of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it...?"

"It's only been two days, you pathetic idiots! Just wait until we get out of here... I'll make you regret this... grrr..."

Lee Yeonhee watched the bear beastman party bickering and hurling insults at each other for quite some time, her brows furrowed in clear displeasure. So there had been some benefit to eliminating that woman who died in the wolf den, and these guys had apparently plotted it in advance... The prize they gained was the position of vice-elder. Any guild with a title like that had to be at least mid-to-large in scale. A D-rank hunter becoming vice-elder already? That was definitely a meteoric rise.

But still.

'As dull as his face. How boring.'

I felt a sudden surge of irritation and kicked the bear beastman's head upward with force.

Smack—!

- Gurk!

"Krrgh...! P-Please spare me!"

"Ugh... Enough. You lot, hand it over."

"Huh? W-What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what. How the hell would I know? You piece of—!"

As expected of Bae Jua—she had the practiced air of someone who'd done this more than once or twice. She had an excellent sense for what parts of people triggered fear, and precisely how much profit she could extract without leaving loose ends. In the end, she managed to squeeze four high-grade potions and five runes out of them. Unfortunately, none of the five runes were particularly useful to me, but hey, they were still money.

"Good grief. At this rate, I might actually turn into a saint or something."

"What the hell are you talking about..."

"......"

Bae Jua seemed to think she was being far too merciful. We didn't see it that way, but if that was how she felt, then whatever.

Swish—

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The defeated bear beastman party vanished at some point, and we turned our attention to the four-person party's battle. Whether they were drained from their earlier fight against the middle-aged party or not, they ended up locked in a fierce ten-minute struggle against what had initially seemed like an unremarkable group.

'...These guys. They're really holding back. What exactly are they hiding so tightly?'

- Everyone... paint it.

- Aaaagh!! Damn it!

- I told you we should've gone for that skeleton from the start!

- Shut up! We'll argue after we get back!

The four-person party widened the distance and began drawing lines across their own faces with blood from their fingertips. Geometric tattoo-like patterns etched themselves along those lines, and their mana surged abnormally. With explosive combat power, they instantly overwhelmed their opponents.

'...Comparable to Baek A-rin's Lightning Step? There are still so many techniques I don't know.'

"······"

"The four-person party won, huh?"

"They won, but they don't exactly look like winners."

After their opponents surrendered, the four-person party collapsed straight onto the floor and stared blankly at us for a while. They seemed somewhat disappointed, yet also faintly amused.

"You guys! Let's have a proper match next time! Tomorrow works for us!"

When the young man among the four-person party said this, Baek A-rin immediately replied.

"Okay! See you again!"

"Huh?! Y-Yeah..."

The young man looked visibly flustered, as if he hadn't expected such a bright response, and scratched his face.

Swish—

Eventually the four-person party also disappeared, leaving only our group in the isolated space. We had expected to fight them, so we felt a slight sense of emptiness as we looked around the now-vacant clearing.

"This is ridiculous. Why didn't they use that technique from the beginning?"

"It's obvious the backlash is severe. They were probably saving it for a fight against us. I can understand how they feel."

"If the bear beastman party had faced them instead... we might've run into them."

"In the end, their failure came from not properly assessing our capabilities."

'Right... Just looking at the numbers, the bear beastman party probably seemed more troublesome. That aside, where did that guy go?'

The moment the four-person party was transported away, the brown mimic Tiny had vanished along with them.

"Huh? Where'd the mimic go?"

"Aah! Did that bastard run away?!"

"Then what have we even been doing all this time... Ha."

The party members also realized the mimic was gone and couldn't hide their bewilderment.

'Hmm...? When did that appear?'

But in the spot where the mimic had been, a golden wooden chest had suddenly materialized. It sat perfectly still, radiating the unmistakable aura of a genuine treasure chest.

"O-Over there... It's right there."

―!!

"Kyaaah! It's a treasure chest!"

"You idiot, there's no way."

Bae Jua scolded Baek A-rin, then fell into thought while biting her nails.

"No matter how I look at it, that's probably that Tania thing. The boss or superior of the brown mimic from earlier."

"Aah! So that's what it was?!"

"W-We should go check it out, right?"

In the end, we cautiously approached the golden treasure chest. As we drew near, the mimic sharpened its treasure-chest form and even began emitting light. It looked exactly like a mouthwatering treasure chest that anyone would drool over.

"What kind of trick are you pulling? We all know it's not a real treasure chest."

"······"

The moment I said that, the mimic's chest flew open, and a single golden sphere rose from within. Soon, familiar characters appeared before our eyes.

The voice, which sounded as though multiple people were speaking at once, was incredibly sweet, but its content shook us to the core.

"Huh? What does that even mean? We didn't hear anything like this from the brown mimic earlier."

"Challenger..."

"Wait, we're not all going in together?!"

"If our luck is bad, that might be the case."

"No, that's... I-I can't do it alone..."

"Seriously, I wonder how amazing the reward must be for it to pull something like this."

'Oh, so this is it. What that person mentioned.'

Stories from mimic experiencers in my memories. There had been nothing about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the brown mimic, but the part about flipping a coin to decide whether the entire party enters or only one randomly designated person enters for a duel matched the current situation perfectly.

'Is the brown mimic some kind of option used when there are many people...? Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not.'

"Huu... I'll give it a try."

Bae Jua's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected situation, while Lee Yeonhee simply nodded as if nothing could faze her anymore and stepped forward. Every time I saw this bold side of her, I felt a complicated mix of emotions.

Along with the message, a fist-sized gold coin appeared in midair. Lee Yeonhee caught the slowly floating coin with both hands and tossed it high into the sky. The coin shot upward as if fast-forwarded, then fell and stopped at a certain height above the ground. The coin bore an embossed figure of a person wearing a deeply pulled robe, and that side was facing upward.

"A robe? What is that?"

Just as curiosity about the pattern arose, Baek A-rin shouted as if she'd discovered something.

(Eeeek!! Master! The front and back of this coin are identical!! This is a scam!)

"What?! H-Hey! The front and back are the same! If you're going to do this, why even have us flip a coin?!"

Lee Yeonhee tilted her head down to check the back of the coin, then flared up as if she'd been scammed.

"Hah— You're kidding me. You're just trying to gloss over it because you got caught, right?"

"Exactly. Let us do it properly again."

――!!!

"N-No way! That's too much!"

Lee Yeonhee protested in an unusually strong tone, but there was nothing to be done.

'Maybe only one person was ever allowed to enter from the start. The coin was just for show.'

It seemed plausible for a mimic with a willful personality. I could feel its gaze sweeping over our faces the moment the coin was flipped. In any case, only one person could challenge. So thinking positively, who would be the most ideal choice?

'It's risky, but... I should hope Lee Yeonhee gets chosen.'

Our party protested to the mimic for a moment, but soon gave up and clasped their hands together as if praying, waiting for the mimic to flip the coin. The mimic floated in the air for a moment before suddenly darting toward Baek A-rin and Eunyoung, who were slowly backing away.

――!!

The two were lifted into the air by the mimic's unknown power. They struggled briefly but were soon moved toward us.

"Huuu... No..."

Baek A-rin sniffled as if she might burst into tears at any moment, while Eunyoung shoved every last remaining pill into her mouth. Eunyoung was one thing, but why was Baek A-rin so afraid of challenging? She seemed fairly confident in her own martial prowess.

"I can't... I have a younger sister... Please, no... Alone, I'll definitely fail!"

"Uuuu..."

'She had a younger sister...'

That made it somewhat understandable.

"Me again..."

Lee Yeonhee seemed to slightly regret having stepped forward earlier. Now she was the one who would decide our fates twice in a row.

"Huu..."

Ting—!

Letting out a deep breath, Lee Yeonhee flicked the coin upward. It spun in the air for a long time before falling to the ground with a soft thud. Lee Yeonhee, Bae Jua, Baek A-rin, Eunyoung. Which one of the four would end up challenging? Everyone's eyes focused on the coin lying on the ground. The embossed figure of the robed person had disappeared. In its place was a different embossed shape. It was—

―――?!

'A skull...? That's strange.'

It was a skull with a crack running through it.

'Hmm...'

"Huh? What is it? What? What is it! Tell me, mimic!"

"A skull... Don't tell me it's a dud? Are we all going to die?! No!! Please save us!! We barely made it this far!!"

"Uuuu..!"

"Ah... Could it be..."

The other three flailed their arms in panic, but Lee Yeonhee turned her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head sharply toward me, looking shocked for an entirely different reason.