Chapter 19 - The Returner’s Promotion Battle (5)
In any case, they managed to accomplish their first goal—get the party
together. Unfortunately, they had been fighting the entire time, and were
exhausted. After casting detection magic constantly, Romantica was looking
much worse for wear. Desir motioned towards a tree stump and spoke. “For
now, let’s rest.” The party cleared out the fallen leaves and sat down.
After sitting down, each of them opened up the packets supplied by the
academy—inside were two energy bars and a bottle of water. Desir took out an
energy bar and started eating. He grimaced in response to the taste, but it was
no time to be picky.
His eyes wandered over to Romantica. She went through her energy bar slowly,
melting it in her mouth. The girl who always grumbled about hard food was
nowhere to be found. Pram also noticed this sudden change and stopped eating.
Romantica, noticing their stares, stopped eating in embarrassment. “What are
you looking at?” she asked.
“Are you alright, Miss Romantica?” questioned Pram.
“Mm? What are you talking about?”
Desir had a knowing smile on his face. “Looks like you’re completely used to it
now. There shouldn’t be any problems even if we leave you in the Beta Class
now.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” exclaimed Romantica. She threw her food packet at
Desir.
Desir deftly caught the packet, and buried the remainder of the party’s packets
to hide their tracks. After they finished eating, they enjoyed their momentary
12
break before returning back to reality. Desir grabbed a stick and took this
opportunity to explain his plans:
“There are two ways for us to enter the Alpha Class. First, we are among the
last 9 survivors. Second, we clear the Shadow World’s quest and take 1st place.”
As Desir explained their goals, the wind bit into their skin and the drizzle
coated the plains. Romantica, intently listening, offered her own rebuttal. “But
you said the second way was impossible.”
Desir quietly drew 30 lines on the ground, before crossing out 4 of them.
“Correct. With our power, it would be difficult to do so whilst taking attacks
from the other parties at the same time. It really is impossible,” explained
Desir. Pram and Romantica nodded in response. “But... think of what our
objectives are. Our objective isn’t 1st place, but 9th place or higher. So our most
important objective is to eliminate the competition.” Desir crossed out more
lines on the ground, one by one. “24 people remain. As each party is working on
the quest, they will undoubtedly get into fights with each other. If we take that
opportunity to eliminate 15 people, it won’t be that difficult to enter the top 9.”
The stick stopped drawing, and 9 lines remained on the ground. Desir circled 3
of them. “If we think about it like this, our goal isn’t as hard as it seems.”
Pram nodded in agreement. “I see—so that’s the plan.”
A torrent of rain washed over the land. The sound of raindrops pattered against
the leaves and resounded across the entire forest. Their party was truly lucky—
they’d found a place to rest where they could avoid most of the rain.
Unfortunately, that was where their luck ended.
A clear bell rang out and the party all turned towards the northeast
simultaneously. The peals could be heard over the rain. “Romantica, what time
is it?” asked Desir.
13
“1 o’clock,” responded Romantica.
It was starting. An announcement played in Desir’s ears.
| The time has come to test your knowledge. The Privius Clock Tower has been
activated—it creates a demon once every hour.
| The clock strikes 1, and the sin of cunning crawls out from the depths of hell.
The Killdra Mouse has been summoned.
| The quest has begun.
[Survival: Demons live in the forest. Survive and defeat the demons.]
“Kiaaaaaaaak-!” A sharp cry rang out, followed by dozens of similar screams in
response. The first cry alone would make anybody’s heart palpitate and shoot
right out of their chest, but the chorus of monsters would make a person’s heart
stop.
“Everyone, get back.” Desir ordered the team and hesitantly rose up. The leaf-
covered dirt shifted, thumping up from the ground. It looked like the spirits in
the dirt were dancing with the raindrops.
“Eugh, the smell!” Romantica complained as she pinched her nose. She’d
smelled this before—the smell of rotten meat and blood, pungent enough to
paralyze a person’s sense of smell. She tried to recall the smell. It was definitely
when they were cleaning the training ground... A shiver ran down her spine.
“By the first demon, they can’t mean...”
“Squeak-!” A red blur burst out of the rumbling dirt.
Romantica held her shaking hands together and screamed. “Rats!”
It was a rat with jagged teeth, covered with red flesh. It looked as if a child had
molded it out of clay. The slow contractions of its stomach matched its
14
heartbeat. An exoskeleton covered its entire body, starting from the two horns
sprouting on its forehead. ‘Demon’ was the only word Romantica could muster
to describe the creature.
| Your prior knowledge has revealed the identity of this monster. Killdra Mouse.
2-star demon. This monster commands countless rats, consuming human flesh.
After determining a target, it never gives up on its prey.
“Squeaaaaak-!” The Killdra Mouse cried out, and its ear-splitting scream
reverberated across the forest. Tremors broke out yet again, the ground
bursting at the seams trying to contain the pressure. The bulging ground
exploded, and black creatures emerged from the dark crevasse.
Rats. Thousands of rats swarmed out from the hole, and they squirmed and
scurried like one massive organism.
Romantica’s face was pale, and she was frozen in place. Her breathing became
heavy, and she had no idea what to do. Desir pulled sharply on Romantica’s
arm, and turned around to run away. The tidal wave of rats crashed in the
direction of their party.
The squealing rats’ cries pounded against Romantica’s eardrums. She trembled
in terror. “I’m going crazy. I’m going crazy. I’m going to go crazy!” If she got
swept up by these rats, she might really go insane.
They kept running, but the plague of rats were incredibly fast. If they slowed
down for even a second, the slew of rats would consume them.
“Huk...huk!” The wind bit at their skin, and the crunch of the leaves rang with
each step. Trees flew in and out of their peripheral vision as they desperately
tried to get away. With each tree that they passed, a booming sound rang out
behind them. If they looked back, they could see the tree ground into dust by
the black swarm.
[Blow Wind!]
15
Romantica flung a spell at the mess of rats, but it had very little effect. For
every rat blown away by the spell, a dozen rats came to take their place. The
current situation was extremely bad for the three of them. The ground was
slippery, and the densely packed trees made getting away several times more
difficult. The group was losing their breath, and growing more exhausted with
each passing second. On the other hand, the rats continued barrelling down on
them, with no sign of stopping.
“We’re blocked off!” said Pram. An enormous tree appeared their path, fallen
on its side. Fragments of ice glittered on its stump. Desir immediately
recognized this tree.
‘The tree that fell during my fight with Lapras. Of all times, why now!’ Desir
estimated it to be 1 meter tall. Pram didn’t hesitate, vaulting over the tree and
landing lightly on the other side. The problem was Desir and Romantica, who
were mages. Desir let go of Romantica’s hand—it would only impede their
movement. They had to run as fast as possible to make it past.
“3... 2...” Each second was precious. They sprinted to the foot of the tree and
Desir contracted his leg muscles with all of his strength.
“1...now!” Desir kicked off the ground, and flew in the air until he landed on the
other side. Looking to his side, Romantica landed face-first in a puddle. She’d
caught her leg on the tree as she jumped. The last hint of reason fell away as
Romantica felt an imminent sense of foreboding looming over her. With a
thunderous slam, the giant tree exploded into pieces, as the wave of rats rushed
forward. The party was barely three steps ahead of the rats.
“We’re going to get caught!” Romantica shrieked.
Desir had to quickly come up with a solution. “It’ll be over if we kill the Killdra
Mouse!”
“And where’s that!” shouted Romantica.
16
“In the swarm of rats!” said Desir.
“You idiot! How are you going to kill a rat in THAT?” retorted Romantica.
The monster’s main body—it was definitely possible to find it in the swarm. It
had an unusual form, so they would be able to tell the Killdra Mouse apart from
the other rats. Unfortunately, because it was buried in the wave, it was
impossible to aim an attack at the main body alone.
‘But what if we can draw the Killdra Mouse out?’
The squirming rodents were nipping at their heels, and there was no time left
to run. There were even rats scrambling over the backs of the swarm to make
headway for fresh meat. Some of the rats climbed onto the party’s shoulders
and began gnawing into their skin.
They was no time. Desir breathed out deeply. ‘I have to draw the Killdra Mouse
out from the swarm.’ He’d use it. The reason the monster was chasing them. Just
before the rat wave reached them, Desir bit down on his thumb, and blood
spurted out of his finger. Immediately, he thrust out his finger and a stream of
blood flew across the air.
A figure rocketed out of the wave, careening at the glistening red liquid—a red
rat, covered in a black exoskeleton.
Chapter 19 - The Returner’s Promotion Battle (5)
In any case, they managed to accomplish their first goal—get the party
together. Unfortunately, they had been fighting the entire time, and were
exhausted. After casting detection magic constantly, Romantica was looking
much worse for wear. Desir motioned towards a tree stump and spoke. “For
now, let’s rest.” The party cleared out the fallen leaves and sat down.
After sitting down, each of them opened up the packets supplied by the
academy—inside were two energy bars and a bottle of water. Desir took out an
energy bar and started eating. He grimaced in response to the taste, but it was
no time to be picky.
His eyes wandered over to Romantica. She went through her energy bar slowly,
melting it in her mouth. The girl who always grumbled about hard food was
nowhere to be found. Pram also noticed this sudden change and stopped eating.
Romantica, noticing their stares, stopped eating in embarrassment. “What are
you looking at?” she asked.
“Are you alright, Miss Romantica?” questioned Pram.
“Mm? What are you talking about?”
Desir had a knowing smile on his face. “Looks like you’re completely used to it
now. There shouldn’t be any problems even if we leave you in the Beta Class
now.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” exclaimed Romantica. She threw her food packet at
Desir.
Desir deftly caught the packet, and buried the remainder of the party’s packets
to hide their tracks. After they finished eating, they enjoyed their momentary
12
break before returning back to reality. Desir grabbed a stick and took this
opportunity to explain his plans:
“There are two ways for us to enter the Alpha Class. First, we are among the
last 9 survivors. Second, we clear the Shadow World’s quest and take 1st place.”
As Desir explained their goals, the wind bit into their skin and the drizzle
coated the plains. Romantica, intently listening, offered her own rebuttal. “But
you said the second way was impossible.”
Desir quietly drew 30 lines on the ground, before crossing out 4 of them.
“Correct. With our power, it would be difficult to do so whilst taking attacks
from the other parties at the same time. It really is impossible,” explained
Desir. Pram and Romantica nodded in response. “But... think of what our
objectives are. Our objective isn’t 1st place, but 9th place or higher. So our most
important objective is to eliminate the competition.” Desir crossed out more
lines on the ground, one by one. “24 people remain. As each party is working on
the quest, they will undoubtedly get into fights with each other. If we take that
opportunity to eliminate 15 people, it won’t be that difficult to enter the top 9.”
The stick stopped drawing, and 9 lines remained on the ground. Desir circled 3
of them. “If we think about it like this, our goal isn’t as hard as it seems.”
Pram nodded in agreement. “I see—so that’s the plan.”
A torrent of rain washed over the land. The sound of raindrops pattered against
the leaves and resounded across the entire forest. Their party was truly lucky—
they’d found a place to rest where they could avoid most of the rain.
Unfortunately, that was where their luck ended.
A clear bell rang out and the party all turned towards the northeast
simultaneously. The peals could be heard over the rain. “Romantica, what time
is it?” asked Desir.
13
“1 o’clock,” responded Romantica.
It was starting. An announcement played in Desir’s ears.
| The time has come to test your knowledge. The Privius Clock Tower has been
activated—it creates a demon once every hour.
| The clock strikes 1, and the sin of cunning crawls out from the depths of hell.
The Killdra Mouse has been summoned.
| The quest has begun.
[Survival: Demons live in the forest. Survive and defeat the demons.]
“Kiaaaaaaaak-!” A sharp cry rang out, followed by dozens of similar screams in
response. The first cry alone would make anybody’s heart palpitate and shoot
right out of their chest, but the chorus of monsters would make a person’s heart
stop.
“Everyone, get back.” Desir ordered the team and hesitantly rose up. The leaf-
covered dirt shifted, thumping up from the ground. It looked like the spirits in
the dirt were dancing with the raindrops.
“Eugh, the smell!” Romantica complained as she pinched her nose. She’d
smelled this before—the smell of rotten meat and blood, pungent enough to
paralyze a person’s sense of smell. She tried to recall the smell. It was definitely
when they were cleaning the training ground... A shiver ran down her spine.
“By the first demon, they can’t mean...”
“Squeak-!” A red blur burst out of the rumbling dirt.
Romantica held her shaking hands together and screamed. “Rats!”
It was a rat with jagged teeth, covered with red flesh. It looked as if a child had
molded it out of clay. The slow contractions of its stomach matched its
14
heartbeat. An exoskeleton covered its entire body, starting from the two horns
sprouting on its forehead. ‘Demon’ was the only word Romantica could muster
to describe the creature.
| Your prior knowledge has revealed the identity of this monster. Killdra Mouse.
2-star demon. This monster commands countless rats, consuming human flesh.
After determining a target, it never gives up on its prey.
“Squeaaaaak-!” The Killdra Mouse cried out, and its ear-splitting scream
reverberated across the forest. Tremors broke out yet again, the ground
bursting at the seams trying to contain the pressure. The bulging ground
exploded, and black creatures emerged from the dark crevasse.
Rats. Thousands of rats swarmed out from the hole, and they squirmed and
scurried like one massive organism.
Romantica’s face was pale, and she was frozen in place. Her breathing became
heavy, and she had no idea what to do. Desir pulled sharply on Romantica’s
arm, and turned around to run away. The tidal wave of rats crashed in the
direction of their party.
The squealing rats’ cries pounded against Romantica’s eardrums. She trembled
in terror. “I’m going crazy. I’m going crazy. I’m going to go crazy!” If she got
swept up by these rats, she might really go insane.
They kept running, but the plague of rats were incredibly fast. If they slowed
down for even a second, the slew of rats would consume them.
“Huk...huk!” The wind bit at their skin, and the crunch of the leaves rang with
each step. Trees flew in and out of their peripheral vision as they desperately
tried to get away. With each tree that they passed, a booming sound rang out
behind them. If they looked back, they could see the tree ground into dust by
the black swarm.
[Blow Wind!]
15
Romantica flung a spell at the mess of rats, but it had very little effect. For
every rat blown away by the spell, a dozen rats came to take their place. The
current situation was extremely bad for the three of them. The ground was
slippery, and the densely packed trees made getting away several times more
difficult. The group was losing their breath, and growing more exhausted with
each passing second. On the other hand, the rats continued barrelling down on
them, with no sign of stopping.
“We’re blocked off!” said Pram. An enormous tree appeared their path, fallen
on its side. Fragments of ice glittered on its stump. Desir immediately
recognized this tree.
‘The tree that fell during my fight with Lapras. Of all times, why now!’ Desir
estimated it to be 1 meter tall. Pram didn’t hesitate, vaulting over the tree and
landing lightly on the other side. The problem was Desir and Romantica, who
were mages. Desir let go of Romantica’s hand—it would only impede their
movement. They had to run as fast as possible to make it past.
“3... 2...” Each second was precious. They sprinted to the foot of the tree and
Desir contracted his leg muscles with all of his strength.
“1...now!” Desir kicked off the ground, and flew in the air until he landed on the
other side. Looking to his side, Romantica landed face-first in a puddle. She’d
caught her leg on the tree as she jumped. The last hint of reason fell away as
Romantica felt an imminent sense of foreboding looming over her. With a
thunderous slam, the giant tree exploded into pieces, as the wave of rats rushed
forward. The party was barely three steps ahead of the rats.
“We’re going to get caught!” Romantica shrieked.
Desir had to quickly come up with a solution. “It’ll be over if we kill the Killdra
Mouse!”
“And where’s that!” shouted Romantica.
16
“In the swarm of rats!” said Desir.
“You idiot! How are you going to kill a rat in THAT?” retorted Romantica.
The monster’s main body—it was definitely possible to find it in the swarm. It
had an unusual form, so they would be able to tell the Killdra Mouse apart from
the other rats. Unfortunately, because it was buried in the wave, it was
impossible to aim an attack at the main body alone.
‘But what if we can draw the Killdra Mouse out?’
The squirming rodents were nipping at their heels, and there was no time left
to run. There were even rats scrambling over the backs of the swarm to make
headway for fresh meat. Some of the rats climbed onto the party’s shoulders
and began gnawing into their skin.
They was no time. Desir breathed out deeply. ‘I have to draw the Killdra Mouse
out from the swarm.’ He’d use it. The reason the monster was chasing them. Just
before the rat wave reached them, Desir bit down on his thumb, and blood
spurted out of his finger. Immediately, he thrust out his finger and a stream of
blood flew across the air.
A figure rocketed out of the wave, careening at the glistening red liquid—a red
rat, covered in a black exoskeleton.
