Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Tiger Hunt (4)
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As soon as Yuri uttered "fifty," rationality returned to the eyes of the Black Sword Soldier who had been flying into a frenzy.
At the same time, the lethal attack hurtling toward her came to a halt as if it had all been a lie.
Yuri clicked her tongue in wonder.
‘This never stops being amazing, no matter how many times I see it.’
The Black Sword Soldiers’ battle instincts—or their aggression—seemed to override even their reason.
Yet every single one of them, once that set limit of fifty exchanges was reached, shed all their ferocity in an instant and regained their senses.
The implication was simple.
‘Their obsession with their mission is strong enough to suppress even their battle instincts and aggression.’
The Black Sword Soldiers’ compulsive drive to complete their mission above all else.
One could only wonder what kind of training produced such fanaticism.
Sling—.
The Black Sword Soldier sheathed his sword.
Then he pulled a brown pelt from his pocket and tossed it to Yuri.
It was a bear pelt worth fifty thousand points.
“Had a good time.”
With those words, the Black Sword Soldier leisurely departed.
He walked with a slight limp, as if only now feeling the pain.
Yuri fiddled with the bear pelt as she watched him go.
“That makes nine.”
Ever since leaving the Hell Training Camp, Yuri and her friends had spent the past three days hunting bears every single day.
Hunting bears by day, fleeing tigers by night—racing through the forest around the clock.
It had been grueling, but they’d uncovered a great deal in the process.
The Black Sword Soldiers playing the bears were restricted to Certified 3rd Dan, with a limit of fifty exchanges.
Once fifty exchanges passed, they acknowledged defeat and handed over the pelt.
And there was only one pelt per bear.
Of course, those were side details. Through bear hunting, Yuri had gathered key intel for tiger hunting.
‘I think I’ve got all the important info now.’
As Yuri stared thoughtfully at the spot where the bear had vanished,
“Good work!”
“I’m hungry!”
Arin and Poppi approached her.
Yuri held out the bear pelt to Arin.
“Here, your share.”
“Thanks!”
Delighted, Arin snatched the pelt and stuffed it into her pocket.
Her eyes sparkling, she chattered on.
“That means we got all the bears, right? We’re done? Right?”
They had identified a total of nine bears.
And with the ninth one just felled, they had exterminated every bear in the forest.
In other words, Yuri and her friends now held nine bear pelts.
But something even more significant had been achieved.
All their preparations were complete.
Yuri nodded at Arin’s eager gaze.
“Yeah, we’re done.”
What had driven them to hunt bears relentlessly these past few days without proper rest?
Gathering intel.
Building teamwork and experience among the three of them.
All of it for one purpose: to catch the tiger.
And with the final bear down, preparations were finished.
Yuri declared it like a proclamation.
“Tonight… we hunt the tiger.”
* * *
When night fell on the Animal Forest, the 50th Cohort split into a few distinct types.
First, the devout type, holding their breath and praying for dawn.
Second, the fugitive type, desperately fleeing from the beasts.
And finally, the despairing type, who had given up on everything.
The despairing ones didn’t waste energy fighting—they surrendered to the beasts willingly.
Then they endured a clean eight hours of Hell Training Camp punishment.
‘If you give up, your body might ache a bit, but your mind’s at ease, right?’
It might even be the wisest choice.
Eighty percent of the 50th Cohort ended up dragged to Hell every night.
Most had abandoned the pelt quest entirely.
Even if they scraped some together, they’d get hauled off and lose them all—who could stay motivated?
Sure, hiding pelts in advance was an option, so a few stuck with it diligently.
But their numbers were few.
Think about it.
After rolling through Hell Training all night, did they have energy left for pelt hunting?
With stamina hanging by a thread, everything felt like too much trouble.
As time dragged on, what accumulated among the 50th Cohort wasn’t pelts, but rigid discipline forged nightly through drills.
And fear of the Black Sword Soldier instructors and seniors.
Thus, on the sixth night.
Darkness predictably blanketed the Animal Forest once more.
And as the gates to Hell swung open, the woods grew chaotic.
“Wolves are coming.”
“Run.”
Those still clinging to the pelt quest—the fugitives—dashed every which way to avoid the Hell Training Camp.
“…Let’s go.”
“I’m… ready.”
The resigned ones prepared casually for their trip to Hell.
But they all shared one trait.
They stuck to the outskirts of the Animal Forest: the rabbit and deer zones.
The reason was obvious.
The wolf zone.
Save for a rare few, most of the 50th Cohort lacked even Certified 1st Dan skill—they dared not venture into wolf territory.
Wolves ranked mid-tier in the forest but were the most numerous predators.
Come nightfall, they swept down into deer and rabbit zones.
Chasing the 50th Cohort who’d lingered there by day.
Thus, the safest daytime spots became the hottest hunting grounds at night.
Some realized this and tried pushing into the wolf zone depths at night, but evading hordes of wolves was no easy feat.
Even if they made it, bears would snag them and drag them to Hell.
So the wolf zone served as a boundary line etched across the Animal Forest.
One that kept the riffraff out.
That was why Yuri hadn’t dealt with the wolves.
And now, the three of them faced the night deep within that boundary—in bear territory.
“Ughk—.”
Yuri stretched briefly.
Around midday, after taking down the last bear, she and her friends had rested right there.
With all bears eliminated, the bear zone was now the safest spot in the Animal Forest.
After ages without real rest, Yuri savored a few hours of true relaxation before glancing back.
“Everyone holding up?”
At her question, Arin flashed a bright smile, and Poppi snorted and nodded vigorously.
“Good!”
“Hungry!”
Perhaps thanks to the proper rest, they all looked refreshed.
Yuri checked her own condition.
‘Feeling good.’
Fatigue gone, muscles nicely loosened and refreshed.
A faint tension in her chest kept her mind sharp and cool.
Gripping her sword hilt, feeling its firm texture, she released her demon aura.
Tssstsss—.
Thin threads of demon aura spread out in all directions.
Far finer than when she’d first made it to find the special discount stall.
Her range had doubled as a result.
A spiderweb of demon aura spanning forty meters.
Thinner and longer than before, yet more stable.
This growth came from nights spent racing through the Animal Forest.
At the sensitive tips of those delicate threads, a faint disturbance registered.
A chilling ripple stirring the air.
An arrogant, savage aura.
The tiger woman’s presence.
She still made no effort to conceal it—the flow poured through Yuri’s demon aura threads.
Yuri suppressed her goosebumps and looked to Arin and Poppi.
Hunting bears with them these past days had synced their teamwork perfectly.
He was certain: no one in his cohort matched his rhythm like these two.
Still, worry lingered.
‘Can I take down the tiger with these two?’
Tiger strategy sounded grand, but Yuri’s plan was anything but elaborate.
Painfully simple, in fact.
Charge in with teeth gritted, fighting for survival—and they’d last ten exchanges.
…That was it.
Simple, yet the best approach.
The easiest and hardest strategy.
The only way to take down the tiger.
That’s why Yuri had obsessed over exchange counts lately.
She’d confirmed they applied strictly per individual.
No issues like the system failing to register and lumping exchanges together, as she and Arin had feared.
But verifying that uncovered a headache: exchange resets.
Here’s how it worked.
Suppose Yuri traded ten exchanges with a bear, leaving forty.
If the bear’s focus suddenly shifted to Arin for five exchanges, Yuri’s prior count reset to zero.
Even if Yuri re-engaged, she’d start from scratch at fifty.
‘The beast’s attention threshold is about ten percent of the attack limit.’
For a bear’s fifty-exchange limit, ten percent was five.
In actual fights, Yuri’s count reset when Poppi traded six exchanges mid-battle.
Wolves reset at twenty-one, past their two hundred limit’s ten percent of twenty.
The tiger’s ten-exchange limit almost certainly followed the same rule.
But that posed a problem…
‘The tiger’s attack limit is ten… ten percent is just one.’
Meaning Arin and Poppi could intervene only once each.
Exceed two combined, and Yuri’s hard-earned exchanges would reset.
So she’d told them:
Don’t expect much from you two.
Just twice.
Create two openings for me.
Then…
‘I’ll handle the rest.’
She didn’t need useless fodder swept away by a single swipe.
She needed capable allies who meshed well with her.
That’s why Yuri needed Poppi and Arin.
“Let’s go.”
Thud—.
Yuri stepped forward heavily, with Arin and Poppi following.
The three headed toward the heart of the Animal Forest.
Where the tiger waited.
* * *
Between two trees.
A hammock strung fifteen meters up.
The tiger woman lounged within, stretching her limbs languidly, then yawned hugely.
“Haaah~!”
Crack— Boredom crashed back over her after the yawn.
Gazing at the full moon in the night sky, she muttered softly.
“Ah… so boring.”
The nightly hunts repeated endlessly.
Hundreds must have been dragged to Hell by her hand already.
But it barely registered.
‘It’s not like I’m killing them—just dumping them in training camp.’
No thrill, day after day.
No excitement!
Facing foes that crumbled like rotten wood at a light tap—where was the fun?
Her eyes drifted to memories of days ago.
‘The first night was pretty fun, though…’
A 50th Cohort rookie who lasted four exchanges against her.
Playing with him, she’d thought maybe this cohort had potential, this mission wouldn’t be dull.
Big mistake.
That black-haired guy was just an outlier.
Turned out he was the one who’d walked fifteen paces in the Hundred Pace Ritual.
‘Of all times, I had to be out on external duty when that happened.’
She regretted missing his fifteen paces live.
“Well… whatever. Up we go!”
The tiger woman flipped out of the hammock.
Plummeting fifteen meters in a dizzying drop.
A normal person would’ve shattered bones or died.
But she landed feather-light.
Tap—.
She stepped lightly onto the ground and started walking.
“Sigh… duty calls for the tiger again today.”
Boring or not, it was her mission—she’d hunt diligently tonight too.
Sure, she’d slept in a bit late, but whatever.
As the tiger woman took a few steps toward her patrol,
Her stride halted abruptly.
“Huh?”
At first, she thought she’d seen wrong.
‘…A person?’
Far off, dozens of meters away.
Through the dim moonlight between trees, a shadow approached her slowly.
Undeniably human.
‘A person?’
That’s why she was puzzled.
No one had come near her area in days.
Not even fellow Black Sword Soldiers.
How could she not be flustered?
‘Who is it?’
Nah, the deputy commander wouldn’t come personally for her tardiness, right?
…That thought made her flinch.
When the figure entered clear view, she blinked in slight surprise.
Then, as he reached her, the tiger woman broke into a beaming grin.
“You!”
Yuri smiled back at the broadly grinning tiger woman.
“Came for a rematch. Tiger Auntie.”
Shing—.
Yuri’s sword slid free crisply.
“Ten exchanges again, right?”
“Of course!”
No sooner had the hearty reply ended than Yuri’s body shimmered like a heat haze.
She vanished from her spot, reappearing right in the tiger woman’s face.
Slash—.
Crunch—.
Yuri gritted her teeth and swung.
Whoosh—.
“Hahaha!”
The tiger woman laughed joyfully and thrust her fist.
Sword clashed with gauntlet as the ten-exchange battle erupted.