Chapter 233
Chapter 233
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 233
Chapter Title: I Won't Kill You (1)
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A little while earlier, shortly after the Baekbo ceremony had concluded.
For the newly arrived 51st Batch, now officially cadets, their very first task was the same as their seniors before them: securing their own hideouts.
The 49th Cohort, who had shared the northern sector with the 50th Cohort, had advanced to their third year and moved to the western residential area.
To claim the now-vacant hideouts, around eighty members of the 51st Batch bustled about.
Thus, the boys and girls roamed every nook and cranny of the northern sector.
It was inevitable that they would discover the bizarre structure situated not far from the circular arena.
The 51st Batch's reactions fell into a few categories.
First type: Those who spotted the grotesque and ominous castle looming in the woods, backed away, and retreated entirely.
These were perfectly normal people.
Second type.
They approached out of curiosity to investigate the castle's nature but shuddered at the blood-red warning on the entrance and moved elsewhere.
A bit more curious, but still normal people.
But the final type.
This was where the trouble began.
There are always those kinds of guys in the world, aren't there?
The rebellious sort who do the exact opposite of what they're told not to.
On top of that, ones who overestimate their abilities and think they're clever.
This boy was exactly that.
The sturdy fellow with blond hair and an angular face standing before the Demon King's Castle.
"Interesting."
Like most in Yoram, he had been hailed as a prodigy since childhood.
He had known only success, never failure.
Always surrounded by praise, he had finally earned the Golden Dragon Badge and become an official Yoram cadet.
He smirked at the blood-red warning that seemed to invite only those with a death wish.
Then he wiped the smile away and stroked his chin.
'Is this a Yoram facility too?'
From the information he had gathered, the north was the sector for first- and second-year cadets.
For such a place to have this massive structure planted here.
As the boy pondered the identity of the eerie castle, a thought flashed in his mind.
'Ah, I get it! This is... a test!'
The sinister appearance and blood-red message.
Designed to repel anyone at first glance.
It was blatantly telling people not to approach.
Analyzing the situation based on his intel, the boy's eyes gleamed.
'Right, they told us to fend for ourselves, but Yoram has still left us a path to survival!'
The boy recalled his father's words.
[Opportunity always hides within crisis.]
His face lit up as he remembered them.
'Father was right!'
If his guess was correct, this foreboding castle might contain supplies and a hideout for living.
'Why else make it so unapproachable? It's testing courage to claim a spot others avoid! Rewards for overcoming danger and hardship! Yes, this is exactly that kind of test!'
The boy felt a strong conviction.
'And a place others won't easily approach... there's no better hideout!'
Entering that ominous castle to claim supplies and the hideout would be his first achievement in Yoram.
Firm in this belief, he steeled his resolve and cautiously stepped inside.
'Let's go!'
Step-.
No sooner had he taken a few steps than a thick gloom enveloped him.
But the boy pressed on undeterred.
Step step-.
After a few more steps.
Two paths forked in the darkness.
'Hmm... which way?'
The boy pondered for a long time.
'Alright, this way!'
Trusting his instincts, he chose the left passage.
Grip-.
Sword tightly gripped, he advanced cautiously into the wide corridor ahead.
He opened all his senses, prepared for any contingency.
No trap.
No ambush.
He was confident he could react instantly.
Step step step-.
Even after taking three or four steps with utmost caution.
The boy still didn't know.
That his choice.
Out of the two paths, left or right, that simple decision...
That 50% chance...
Slice-.
Had sealed his fate.
'Ah?'
In that fleeting instant.
In that eternal moment where life and death crossed, what the boy saw was a silver glint and a geyser of blood.
And...
'My... body?'
An absurdly large-seeming, standing torso.
Thus, the first suicide hopeful in the Demon King's Castle was born.
And unfortunately, the tragedy didn't end there.
* * *
Three days after Yuri awoke.
The Demon King's Castle residents gathered for the first time in ages: Muchi's welcome party combined with a celebration of Yuri's recovery.
Muchi, who had perfectly blended into the group in just a few days, and everyone else looked quite cheerful.
Except for one person.
Thud-.
Yuri set down a plate of food on the large dining table.
Wearing an apron from who-knows-where, his lips were pursed in a pout.
Finally, seeing everyone else merry without him, he vented his frustration.
"Hey, isn't this supposed to be a gathering to celebrate my recovery?"
"Mm, probably?"
"I'm hungry."
No sooner had Yuri set the plate down than Arin and Ppoppi snatched food and shoved it into their mouths.
Yuri glared, cheeks puffed out as they nodded casually, and yelled.
"But in a party for me, why am I the only one cooking like a dog? Hey, you pig bastards, stop stuffing your faces!"
"I paid for my meal ticket! I even covered Muchi's!"
"I'm hungry!"
"I paid too. We're just eating what we've rightfully paid for."
When Gunter chimed in last, veins bulged on Yuri's forehead.
"Fine, I get that you're paying fair value... but this is still a celebration for my recovery—eat in moderation! You'll make me sick again feeding you lot!"
Despite his bellowing, no one yielded an inch, all too busy wielding their chopsticks.
As if they had starved for days.
Yuri, his eyebrows twisted in reverse, scanned the room.
Arin and Ppoppi wolfing down food greedily.
Gunter piling his allotted share onto his personal plate.
Muchi sneaking glances but devouring his food at a rapid pace.
And.
Munch munch-.
Teresa scooping food faster than the gluttonous duo, eating neatly yet voraciously.
As Yuri's gaze landed on her, her head tilted sharply to the left.
"...Tessha, why are you here?"
Teresa, mid-munch, gulped down her food and widened her eyes.
"Huh? What?"
"Why is a third-year here? Didn't you move to the third-year residential area?"
Arin answered the question.
"Tessha-senior came back because the food there tastes bad."
Teresa didn't deny it.
She even added an explanation.
"Where would I go? I never really left. I just went to check out the third-year area out of curiosity."
"...So, how was it?"
"They call it a residential area, but it's just a bunch of tents. Better to stay here than live there. Probably need to be fourth- or fifth-year for anything livable."
"......"
Yuri let out a deep sigh at her utterly nonchalant response.
Now at the point of whatever happens, happens.
"At least leave some for me! You heartless bastards!"
Before the pigs could finish everything, he joined the war on the table.
Chomp chomp-.
For a while, only the sound of chewing filled the air.
After the plates were emptied and everyone wore satisfied smiles.
Kyaargh!
A sudden scream of agony pierced their ears.
Moreover, it came from the direction of Yuri's residence.
Gunter frowned and sighed.
"...Another one crawled in."
They had blatantly warned "STAY OUT" in blood-red letters, yet these idiots kept coming.
"How low-IQ do they have to be. Sigh..."
Arin joined Gunter's heavy sigh.
"Sigh... Gotta clean up another body?"
"I'm hungry."
Ppoppi clasped her hands toward the scream's direction and prayed silently.
Muchi paled at the seniors' reactions.
Meanwhile, Teresa asked Yuri.
"Can't you turn off the traps in the passage to your place? This is the fifth one already. At this rate, there won't be many 51st Batch left."
Yuri gave a curt reply to her concern.
"Yeah, no."
"...Then at least lower the lethality."
"Yeah, that too, no."
"You... seriously."
As Teresa shot him a glare, Yuri shrugged innocently.
"No, to be precise, it's not that I won't—it's that I can't."
"......?"
"I can't touch those either."
"Why?"
"...Now even I'm scared of them."
"......"
Cringe cringe.
The group fell silent at Yuri's shrinking voice.
Soon, Arin spoke for them all.
"Hey, you lunatic! What the hell did you even build?!"
Everyone nodded vigorously in unison, showering him with incredulous stares.
Yuri scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
'I didn't plan for it to get this bad...'
This castle he designed had multiple spaces, connected by passages riddled with devices.
Traps ostensibly for intruders.
Only Yuri's group knew their locations and disarming methods.
And among all the Demon King's Castle passages, the most lethal was the one to Yuri's residence.
There were four paths from the castle to Yuri's place.
Three were obvious, one secret.
Those three obvious ones were the castle's deadliest kill zones.
Even the rest of the group couldn't approach them, except Yuri.
The reason was simple.
[That damn genius bastard, let's see you dodge this one.]
[Isn't that a bit weak? Better swap it for this.]
[You think? Oh yeah, this is good! Heh heh!]
[This'll make even that jerk sweat from his soles. Ki ki ki!]
Johan's only reason to visit was to see Yuri.
But Yuri and Sekyung, hell-bent on catching him, kept adding traps.
Yet Johan breezed through them every time.
The more he did, the more Yuri and Sekyung's eyes filled with madness.
[Kill him... we kill him!]
[Too weak, way too weak! How about planting explosives?]
Day by day, the traps grew more powerful and deadly.
Months passed like that...
The path to Yuri's residence.
Johan's dedicated route had become untouchable even for its creators.
The problem was the two, swept in madness, didn't stop there.
[Doesn't it feel... a bit lacking?]
[You think so too?]
[Just a little more and it'll be perfect, right?]
[I think so, but...]
[Hmm... looks like there's space behind that pillar?]
[Add... more?]
[Do it!]
By the time they snapped out of it, they had crossed an irreversible river.
Yet their mad efforts paid off—the traps had evolved to baffle even Johan.
Everyone remembered vividly.
Johan clutching his torn pants, roaring in fury.
[You crazy bastards! Don't you have any conscience as fellow men? Nearly got my balls sliced off, you deranged fuckers!]
Yuri had muttered, 'It'll probably be rusty from disuse, so one more won't hurt,' and nearly become a eunuch himself—they all recalled the scene sharply.
With things this bad, it was no wonder bold intruders ended up as corpses carted out.
But cleaning bodies once or twice was one thing.
With it repeating, countermeasures were urgent.
As everyone pondered solutions.
Yuri clicked his tongue and spoke.
"Tch, why's everyone fretting so seriously? It's no big deal."
"......"
As if that should come from your mouth.
Or whose fault is all this, etc.
Sharp glares followed, but Yuri brushed them off familiarly.
Then he grinned and said.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it."
"......"
The room zipped their lips.
It was perhaps instinctual that "don't worry" only heightened their worry.