Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: Bug Hunt (2)
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Gwoooooh—.
Glasses Guy smirked at the surging killing intent.
Since becoming the administrator of the Cradle, Yuri Holland was the first to hurl such childish taunts right from the start.
‘Definitely not in his right mind.’
Perhaps the ability to provoke that level of bloodlust with just a few words was a talent in itself.
‘Alright then, let’s see if you’ve got the chops to back up that big mouth.’
He knew full well that Yuri Holland was exceptionally skilled.
On top of that, his comrades—Arin Helga and Poppi—were also powerhouses who could now walk six paces in the Hundred Paces Ritual.
But individual duels were a far cry from squad-against-squad warfare.
Especially when those three had turned all 167 enemies against them.
No matter how skilled they were, unless Yuri was some overwhelming absolute powerhouse, overturning numerical inferiority would be tough.
However...
‘Those three have a record of capturing Greta.’
That’s why Glasses Guy grew curious about how Yuri Holland—who’d just unleashed a wide-area taunt—and the squad he led would unravel this situation.
With a faint smile, Glasses Guy snapped his fingers.
Snap—.
At that signal, several Black Sword soldiers watching him operated the machinery.
Kreeeeak—.
The gates to (formerly) Animal Forest, (now) Forest Battlefield began to swing open.
With them, the killing intent from the 167 thickened even further.
If moments ago it had been the resolve of “I’ll kill you no matter what!”, now it shifted to the anticipation of “I can kill you now!”.
As if to prove it, the hands of the 50th Cohort riders glaring at Yuri twitched toward their sword hilts.
And facing off against the 50th Cohort like that was Yuri.
Standing casually with his back to the slowly opening gates, he crooked a finger at Poppi and Arin.
A gesture meant only for their eyes.
‘Hungry?’
‘Us? Come on?’
Anyone could see it was a beckoning motion aimed at them.
They absolutely did not want to go, but they couldn’t not go, so Poppi and Arin slunk over to Yuri’s side and stood there.
Feeling the killing intent pouring toward Yuri indirectly, their faces paled even more.
‘Ah, this is exactly why I didn’t want to come!’
On the other hand, Yuri standing unfazed amid such bloodlust seemed utterly impressive.
Kreeeak—grrrrind—.
By the time the quest arena’s entrance was nearly fully open.
Arin, staring straight ahead, asked without moving her lips—like a ventriloquist.
“…What’s the plan? You’ve got something in mind, right?”
There was a hint of expectation in her voice.
The hope that Yuri, of all people, must have some way to break through this.
Yuri replied in kind, ventriloquist-style.
“Of course.”
Arin and Poppi’s faces lit up instantly.
Hope that they wouldn’t just die like this.
And at that very moment.
Thud—.
The gates finally swung wide.
“March 10th, 09:12 AM. The Armband Seizure Quest begins.”
Gwoooooh!
With Glasses Guy’s declaration, the killing intent from all sides peaked.
Piercing through it came a voice.
“Hey, you bastards, come at me with everything you’ve got! But…!”
Yuri’s booming shout made the crowd—who’d been poised to charge—hesitate for a beat.
As question marks popped up over their heads.
“One squad at a time!”
“…….”
“…I didn’t say come all at once?”
The lame excuse that followed dimmed the surging bloodlust for a moment.
Seeing this, Yuri muttered softly, just loud enough for those around him.
“Kids.”
“……?”
“Run.”
“……?”
Simple, straightforward words—but Arin and Poppi stood there blankly, needing a moment to process.
It was that absurd.
About a second later, as they grasped the meaning of “run” and whipped around, Yuri was already bolting through the entrance into the distance.
‘Him?!’
‘Hungry?!’
Arin and Poppi gaped at the back of Yuri’s head as he ditched them and fled.
But they couldn’t afford to stand there stunned forever.
“L-Let’s go!”
“Hungry!”
The two hurriedly chased after Yuri.
And just like that, Squad 1 vanished ridiculously from sight.
“…….”
Silence blanketed the arena once more.
As the rest of the 50th Cohort finally processed what happened, their faces flushed red and purple with rage.
Staring at the three dots Yuri and the kids had become, they bellowed.
“Grab those bastards!”
“Don’t let ’em escape!”
“Chase ’em!”
“Catch ’em no matter what!”
Dozens charged into the Forest Battlefield at the front, fuming hot.
Followed by others passing through the entrance more leisurely.
Glasses Guy tossed out a line at the suddenly empty clearing.
“…What a mess.”
Yuri Holland was apparently even crazier than he’d thought.
* * *
Meanwhile, Arin and Poppi caught up to Yuri in a flash.
Poppi was already struggling just to keep pace, so Arin yelled on her behalf.
“167 bugs lumped together are still bugs! Doesn’t that mean we can handle them even if they all rush us at once?! Why the hell are you running now?!”
Yuri glanced back.
Running backward flawlessly, he replied.
“Nope.”
“Then?!”
“It means lumping bugs together doesn’t change the fact they’re bugs.”
“…….”
“Bugs don’t turn into people just by bunching up, right?”
“…Spineless.”
...This guy clearly just winged it, got scared, and was backpedaling now.
Arin’s eyes blazed.
“Yeah, why even taunt if you can’t handle the heat?!”
“Hey now, that was a taunt with purpose!”
“What purpose?!”
“A strategic taunt to rile up the enemy, cloud their rational judgment, you might say?”
“…Shameless too.”
Spinning excuses without a second’s hesitation was definitely a talent.
In that sense, he was a genius.
Arin let out a deep sigh.
“Haah, now what? We need some kind of countermeasure, right?”
“That’s why we’re booking it like this?”
“…What’re you talking about?”
“Sigh, so clueless. Good thing I’m squad leader.”
“You…!”
Yuri clucked his tongue pityingly before Arin could snap back.
“We’re three. They’re 167. But for them to leverage that overwhelming majority, they need two things.”
“What?”
“A leader and time.”
“A unified command structure and time to implement it?”
“Exactly!”
Yuri gave Arin a thumbs-up for grasping it instantly.
Then flashed a sly grin.
“But think those tail-chasing idiots have either right now?”
“Ah, yeah, if they got organized and moved cohesively...”
But with over a hundred barreling toward them, what then?
Without a unified command, they were just 24 separate squads flailing independently.
And a measly squad of about ten? Not scary at all.
The moment that certainty hit, a glint flashed in Arin’s eyes as she looked at Yuri.
‘No way, Yuri…’
Everything so far had felt so natural she’d chalked it up to improvisation...
‘But it wasn’t?’
He must’ve noticed the wall his peers had put up against them. No way he hadn’t.
‘That’s why?’
Provoking his classmates right away, luring them to chase—it was all deliberate?
A true strategic taunt, just like he’d said?
‘To gain situational advantage…?’
If it was all staged, all his acting...
That situational awareness and on-the-fly planning were downright chilling.
As Arin gazed at Yuri intently, he spoke up casually.
“Right now, in this forest, we’ve got two advantages.”
“Two?”
Arin tilted her head, puzzled.
Yuri held up one finger.
“First: nobody knows this forest’s layout like we do.”
“What do you...”
Arin started to refute, then gasped as she realized their direction.
“Ah, that’s it! That’s why we’re heading deeper in!”
The Forest Battlefield—once called Animal Forest—was divided into beast territories.
And they alone had rampaged through the bear and tiger zones.
No other squad knew those areas as intimately.
Arin’s eyes sparkled.
‘Lure squads moving separately into terrain we own?’
If they could...
“…Perfect for picking them off one by one?”
“Yep.”
Yuri smiled faintly at Arin grasping it without explanation.
‘Makes things easy.’
A teammate who got his intent on the first try, no hand-holding needed.
Definitely a huge asset.
“So the second?”
“Second... later.”
Yuri pointed ahead of himself.
Arin looked back to see Poppi huffing and puffing along, too winded even to yell “hungry.”
Yuri clucked his tongue sympathetically at him.
“That kid’s gonna keel over.”
“Ah!”
As Yuri said, Poppi was gasping like he might collapse any second.
Yuri chatting while backpedaling.
Arin matching his pace effortlessly.
Unlike the two specialized in speed and agility, Poppi—built for strength and stamina—struggled at this velocity.
Yuri pressed on quickly.
“Remember the tiger hunt failure protocol?”
“Of course.”
Arin nodded, and Yuri waved her off.
“Then take Poppi there and prep.”
“You?”
“I’ll buy time and thin the herd a bit.”
“Alone?”
“Stealth mode—solo’s perfect. Won’t be an issue against those blinded-by-rage chasers. I’ll loop back after giving them a heads-up.”
“On what?”
“Who it is they’re really chasing.”
“…….”
“See ya.”
With that, Yuri shot forward.
He’d been backpedaling; now bolting ahead meant the opposite direction from Arin and Poppi.
Straight toward the pursuing 50th Cohort.
Staring at Yuri’s vanishing afterimage, Arin murmured.
“He looked... really pleased?”
“Hun...gry... hun...”
“...You’ll bite your tongue. Just nod.”
Nod nod—.
With Yuri gone, Poppi and Arin leisurely vanished into the forest.
* * *
Crack—crack—.
Centered on the boy wearing the 13-1 armband, from 13-1 to 13-8.
Eight boys and girls ran together.
“This way!”
“Pick up the pace!”
Faint killing intent flickered in their furious glares.
‘Bugs? Bugs?!’
‘Daring to compare us to vermin?’
Sure, coming to the Cradle had crushed their egos plenty, but they’d grown up treated like royalty since childhood.
That’s why Yuri’s dismissive “bugs” label—and that chilling, contemptuous gaze—stirred deep disgust.
And there was a reason they took Yuri’s taunt so personally, flying into rage so easily.
‘If this weren’t the Cradle, he wouldn’t even get to speak to us... that lowlife!’
‘Thinks two top scores in monthly evals let him judge us like that?’
In society, they were elite nobility; in the Cradle, bottom-feeders.
They’d been suppressing their pride day after day.
Then some no-name nobody who lucked into first place taunts them, and pent-up inferiority exploded.
But if it hadn’t been Yuri.
If it’d been some top-ranker from another prestigious house.
They wouldn’t be this enraged, this offended.
Their fury was really a signal from deep-seated class superiority, using “that nobody top-scorer Yuri Holland” as a sacrifice to reclaim lost confidence.
That’s why, like moths to flame, they chased their sacrificial lamb.
Crash—.
And collided with a black disaster.