Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Gathering Leather (6)
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Once it started, Yuri's laughter showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.
No, now she was openly pointing at Theresia and roaring with laughter.
“Puhahahahaha!”
“…….”
At that, Theresia's delicate brows twisted into a crumpled mess.
‘This is the worst.’
It had gone exactly as she’d feared.
She’d deliberately kept it from her because she knew that girl would react this way.
But to get busted like this on the very first day.
Theresia's pale neck and ears flushed bright red with shame.
Seeing it, Yuri smirked.
“Ah, so that’s why you wouldn’t tell me what leather gathering was about?”
“…….”
“I mean, if you were gonna get caught anyway, you could’ve just told me upfront?”
“…….”
“Come on, did you really think you could avoid running into me?”
Every time Yuri opened her mouth, her words stabbed right at the heart of it, and Theresia’s shoulders stayed hunched with no sign of relaxing.
On top of that, her worries deepened.
‘Can I even take her down?’
She wanted to smack the back of her head really hard.
Right as that thought crossed her mind.
As if reading Theresia’s innermost thoughts, Yuri drew her sword and spoke.
“What? Wanna go a round? Suits me fine. Hmm… Seeing as Tetsa-senpai’s a wolf, does that mean only certified Rank 1 elites get to be wolves?”
“…….”
“But that’s not all—there must be restrictions on the wolf role too, right? If we’re fighting in that state, I’m all for it! Come at me! Draw!”
Looking at the insolent finger waggling at her, Theresia let out a faint sigh.
‘…This girl’s already figured out the rules of this quest to a decent extent.’
No, at this point, it was fair to say she knew almost everything.
The animals and the restrictions tied to them.
Once you knew that, taking them down became a breeze.
How had she pieced it together so quickly after the quest had only just started? It was baffling.
Also, Theresia pondered how to get out of this mess.
‘Should I just hand over the leather without fighting?’
As she mulled it over.
A voice wormed into her ear.
“Tell me a few things, and I’ll let you go.”
Doubt flickered in Theresia’s eyes at the words.
“Really? You? What’s the catch?”
“‘You? What’s the catch?’ kinda pisses me off, but… whatever, neighborly goodwill— I’ll let it slide this once. Just answer well.”
“…Neighborly goodwill? Since when did we have that?”
“We didn’t. So let’s just fight.”
“Now that I think about it, we totally did.”
“…….”
“What do you want to know? I’m busy too, so spit it out.”
Yuri’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Theresia.
‘Was she always like this?’
Her first impression had been aloof and haughty.
She had been, at first.
But not now.
‘Quick on the uptake, pretty cunning. Knows how to look out for herself.’
Had she always been this way and only showed her true colors after getting close?
Or had hanging around Yuri rubbed off on her?
Either way, it wasn’t a welcome change for Yuri.
‘Sigh, she’d be easier to fool if she were naive….’
Yuri sighed inwardly and finally spoke.
“Looks like the zones are set up in rings, right? Rabbits on the outermost, then deer, wolves, bears, tigers? Spot on?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Pleased that her guess was correct, Yuri flashed a sly smile and tossed out the next question.
“How many leather hides does a wolf get issued?”
“How did you…? Sigh, fine, whatever—you’d figure it out anyway. Wolves get ten in total.”
“Then what’s the wolf’s restriction? Attack conditions?”
“They can strike first, but the total exchanges of offense and defense can’t exceed two hundred. Go over that, and they’re stuck dodging only for thirty minutes.”
“Hoo?”
Yuri’s eyes gleamed.
‘Nice.’
In other words, after two hundred exchanges, the wolf could only beat on herself.
Sure, most riders would wrap things up well before two hundred strikes.
‘Wolves get two hundred exchanges,’ Yuri noted mentally before firing off the next question.
“Then last one: who’s the bear?”
At that, Theresia hesitated for a moment.
She sighed and answered.
“I don’t know the bear’s identity either. But…”
“……?”
“The animals available to us existing riders were only rabbits, deer, and wolves. That’s all I can tell you. Can I go now?”
“Yeah, yeah, thanks for your hard work. Off you go!”
“Thanks for the mercy.”
Theresia left with a slightly pouty expression.
Yuri really did let her go.
She stroked her chin.
‘Even wolves won’t be a problem.’
If she endured two hundred exchanges, it’d be her world from there.
No, she might not even need to go that far.
She could handle a certified Rank 1 before then.
‘Wolf territory? I’m the king here now!’
She didn’t know how many wolves there were, but sweeping them all would net a massive haul of points.
She was already getting excited.
But that thrill faded as she gazed deeper into the forest.
‘A bear, huh….’
Theresia had dropped a solid hint.
‘Riders’ roles stop at rabbits, deer, wolves?’
Then the bear was obvious.
“Black Sword Soldiers.”
The only ones fit for the bear role were the Black Sword Soldiers.
Yuri let out an incredulous chuckle.
“Wow, isn’t this suddenly jacking up the difficulty?”
Black Sword Soldiers were at least certified Rank 3 caliber.
So the bear had to be at least Rank 3 too.
Hiding or running from them? Maybe.
But challenging them head-on was too much even for Yuri.
‘Can’t just barge into bear territory.’
Well, no big deal.
She didn’t need to enter bear territory anyway.
She could just camp in wolf territory and strip leather from every one that crossed her path.
“Puhahaha, how much is that gonna be?”
Her eyes sparkled with madness at the vision of points dancing before her.
She laughed toward where Theresia had vanished.
“See you later.”
Next time they met, no more neighborly crap.
With that thought, Yuri moved out right away.
* * *
Night fell on the Forest of Beasts too.
In the deer zone deep in the woods, a campfire flickered to life.
Crackle, crackle—.
By the brightly burning flames, Yuri munched on her rations—nom nom—and tallied the day’s haul.
“One, two, three, four, five…….”
Her hands lovingly counted each hide one by one.
And as the count climbed, so did the corners of Yuri’s mouth.
Only when her grin stretched ear to ear did the tally wrap up.
“32 rabbit, 12 deer, 2 wolf.”
Convert them all, and that was 192,000 points total.
A massive sum for one day’s work.
‘At this rate per day—no, push a bit harder, and in ten days….’
A glint of madness flickered in Yuri’s eyes.
Pure obsession with points.
If Yohan saw, he’d say, ‘Was that guy always like this?’
Not wrong.
She’d always had a strong fixation on wealth.
But lately, it had intensified—that much was true.
Madness for points.
It started when Yuri realized her flaw: ‘mana and magic power deficiency.’
‘Losing because my skills suck… fine, I’ll concede that a hundred times over.’
But fighting well and then suddenly running out of mana—not anything else?
‘I’d rather bite down on a blade and kill myself!’
The mere thought was horrifying.
And it was a worry that had been quietly growing in her chest.
She’d half-expected it.
That someday, she might really lose because of mana shortage.
Right around when that fear was churning her mind.
After downing a low-grade mana enhancement potion, Yuri tasted a new world.
Boom!
That fullness!
That refreshment!
That sense of accomplishment!
‘A mere low-grade potion does this much…?!’
Having felt the potion’s effects firsthand, Yuri went all-in on grinding points to buy more.
Then something poured fuel on the fire: none other than Yuri’s treasure No. 1, the elixir.
[Sigh, you brute. Listen up. Elixir is a legendary potion that appears in myths, and the Bone Tribe’s elixir has the same effects.]
Those effects replenished immense vitality—life extension was basic, eternal youth a bonus.
But the most crucial effect.
The true reason every magic martial artist dreamed of elixir.
[Elixir filters out impurities in the mana accumulated in the body. There’s some variance, but it purifies your internal mana to over 90% purity. Theoretically, 100% is possible… but I’ve never heard of anyone achieving it, so think 90% plus.]
Over 90% purity.
Yuri blinked blankly at how amazing that was, so Yohan revealed his own mana purity was around 90%.
And Yohan, with over a million magic power, was at 90%.
Only then did Yuri grasp how precious the pendant in her hand was.
[The Bone Tribe’s elixir is something that might hit the market once a century, if at all. No idea how it ended up in your hands… lucky bastard.]
Looking at Yuri with envy, Yohan gave one piece of advice.
[Elixir only filters impurities in the mana core. So gobble up every potion and elixir you can scrounge from the cradle to build up mana.]
[Worried about junk food causing issues? Why? One shot of elixir digests it all! Stuff yourself until you think, ‘One more bite and I’ll really burst’… then take the elixir!]
For a runt like you with a pittance of mana, chugging elixir now is like dumping it in the toilet.
So stack mana as much as you can, then take it.
Do that, and you’ll leapfrog decades of others’ progress in one go.
That was Yohan’s advice.
How could Yuri not go insane for points?
It was her fastest, easiest path to power.
Whoosh—.
Like the campfire flames, the fire of madness blazed in Yuri’s eyes.
And that was the moment.
“Waaah, get lost!”
A bizarre scream—half shriek, half sob—rang out.
Then footsteps rapidly approaching.
Yuri quickly stashed her precious hides and drew her sword.
Soon, a girl burst through the bushes.
Yuri tilted her head at the blue-haired intruder.
“…Arin? What are you doing coming from there?”
Hearing her name, Arin whipped around.
Like she’d found her savior, she dashed over and huddled behind Yuri.
“Hide me!”
“W-What’s going on?!”
As Yuri panicked at the sudden mess.
Something else emerged from where Arin had come.
Rustle—.
The first thing from the bushes: long, snow-white rabbit ears.
“Boing!”
Followed by a purple head.
“Boiiing!”
Even with a rabbit-ear headband like the other rabbits, this guy was mimicking ears with his palms.
The moment their eyes met head-on, Yuri’s lips parted slightly.
An incredulous mutter escaped her.
“…And why the hell is that guy here?”
Late at night.
A wild pervert appeared.