Chapter 51. Special Discount Store (3)

"Ooh..."

Click, click.

The sound of swallowing saliva that hit his eardrums made Yoo-ri suddenly come to his senses.

'It, it couldn't have been heard, right?'

Fortunately, it seemed that only he had heard the sound.

The couple, who appeared to be lovers, were still deeply engrossed in their kiss.

No, now they seemed to be exploring each other's lips even more passionately than before.

To a 15-year-old on the verge of adolescence, this was an incredibly stimulating scene.

But that didn't last long.

Smack, smack.

Stimulated by the peripheral sounds, Yoo-ri looked up at the sky.

His eyes seemed to have gained a bit of enlightenment, taking on a wise look.

'...Uncle mercenary was right.'

The senior in life had said it.

Even in the midst of war, children are born.

'If children can be conceived in the midst of chaos, it would be strange for there to be no romantic tension in a place filled with passionate youths.'

Young, fit, and passionate youths.

Even with families of high status, they were all gathered in one place.

Even if they were ready to stab each other to death, it wouldn't be strange for their eyes to meet and exclaim, "Wow! This is the first time I've been stabbed like this!"

'That, in itself, is the true law of nature.'

Yoo-ri's eyes took on a deeper wisdom, as if he had gained some strange enlightenment.

Smack, smack, smack.

The stimulating sounds continued, and just when he started to worry, "Are their lips about to wear out?" the two finally parted.

"Haa..."

"..."

There was no conversation between the lovers.

Only low breathing and deep gazes exchanged.

After staring at each other for a while, they held hands again and walked away.

After they left,

Thud.

Yoo-ri, who had climbed down from the tree, looked in the direction the couple had gone with a wry smile.

"Good show."

Embarrassedly rubbing his nose with his index finger, he quickly wiped the wry smile off his face and regained his composure.

"I have to go."

There wasn't much time left until dawn.

He needed to move as much as possible to find a hiding place by then.

Thus, Yoo-ri started moving his legs diligently.

Not long after, the sun rose in the direction he had been heading.

* * *

December 31, 5:30 PM.

Yoo-ri, who had been moving in the direction of the rising sun 15 hours ago, was now facing the setting sun.

Turning his body for a moment, Yoo-ri gazed at the slowly setting sun.

As the sun finally disappeared and darkness descended, he stretched.

"Should I start moving again?"

Yoo-ri had taken a break when the sun rose.

As a result, he was still in the third-year area.

Fortunately, he hadn't been discovered yet.

'About 6 hours left? It's a bit tight, but... it should work out somehow.'

According to Jerry, the northern area where the first and second years lived was the largest.

It took several hours by carriage to travel from the northernmost point to the central area.

Since the areas of other upper classes were smaller, considering Yoo-ri's current speed, it seemed that the time would match even if it was his first time.

'Of course, I can't be too confident, so I need to move as diligently as possible.'

You never know what might happen.

If he wasted time unnecessarily, all his efforts so far could be in vain, so Yoo-ri became cautious.

He ran through the forest, keeping his senses sharp.

Jumping over rocks and streams.

Sometimes hanging from vines to climb cliffs and trees.

Paths that horses and carriages couldn't take were no problem for Yoo-ri.

Moreover, his speed was several times faster than an average person running on flat ground.

Yoo-ri, who was quickly covering the shortest distance due east, suddenly stopped.

'There are people.'

Quickly scanning the surroundings, he climbed up a nearby large tree.

Squatting on a branch, Yoo-ri held his breath.

Not long after, two people appeared.

They were a couple holding hands affectionately.

'...Huh?'

Feeling something strange, Yoo-ri tilted his head.

Thud.

The man forcefully grabbed the woman's wrist and pushed her against the tree.

And, of all things, it was the same tree Yoo-ri was on.

Yoo-ri's expression changed as he watched what happened next.

The man, leaning one arm against the tree, lifted the woman's chin and kissed her aggressively.

'Huh?'

The woman, who seemed startled at first, wrapped her arms around the man's neck and kissed him back enthusiastically.

'Huh?'

Yoo-ri's facial muscles relaxed as he watched the entire process.

'What is this... déjà vu?'

The situation from the appearance of the couple to the kiss.

Didn't this happen a while ago?

Yoo-ri's eyes twitched as he stared blankly at the scene below.

'Wait, that man...?'

Yoo-ri thought he had seen him wrong.

But his eyesight was normal.

'That bruised purple head!'

If he wasn't mistaken, the man kissing passionately was the same one he had seen a few hours ago.

Although his face wasn't clearly visible, the green badge and slightly curly purple hair were definitely his.

But there was one problem.

'The woman is different.'

The woman he had kissed a few hours ago had brown hair.

But the one kissing passionately with the bruised head now had light blonde hair.

'Did she dye her hair in between?'

Of course, Yoo-ri knew better than anyone how unrealistic that was.

The brown-haired woman and the blonde woman were clearly different people.

'Their badges are different too.'

The brown-haired woman had a green badge.

The blonde woman had a blue badge.

'Green is for the third-year 48th class, blue is for the fourth-year 47th class...'

So, the conclusion was one.

'He's two-timing!'

The man was seeing two women at the same time.

Not only his classmate but also a senior from the year above.

Smack, smack, smack.

Yoo-ri shook his head at the passionate sounds coming from below.

A moment later.

"Haa..."

"..."

The couple, exchanging deep gazes, held hands again and left.

Thud.

Yoo-ri, who had descended to where they had been standing, clicked his tongue, thinking of the bruised head.

"Tsk... What a playboy."

After a short click of his tongue, Yoo-ri moved again.

Whether the man was two-timing or not,

What mattered to Yoo-ri now was reaching the central area by midnight.

Thus, Yoo-ri started running again.

* * *

Thud, thud.

Yoo-ri's legs, which had been running through the thick darkness, gradually stopped.

After hours of intense movement, his breathing had become quite rough.

Huff, huff.

Calmly catching his breath, Yoo-ri looked straight ahead.

Lush grass and dense forest paths.

And beyond them, a small white light.

Yoo-ri's face brightened.

'I made it in time.'

He didn't need to check the clock.

His biological clock told him it wasn't too late.

As he slowly walked out of the forest he had been running through,

Yoo-ri's eyes widened at the scene before him.

"...My God."

He had asked Jerry before.

How to find the circular arena in the central area.

Jerry had chuckled.

[How to find it? You don't even need to look for it. If you can't see it, you might as well be blind. You'll feel it as soon as you see it. Oh, that's why everyone calls it the Dragon's Cradle.]

That was true.

'Indeed... if you can't see that, you're blind.'

Yoo-ri knew what a circular arena was.

The arena where gladiators fought bloody battles.

The circular arena he had worked at for a while was one of the largest in the continent, capable of accommodating thousands of people.

But the 'circular arena' in front of him was far more than that.

The outer walls, clearly made of high-quality white stone, were at least 50 meters high.

The overall size of the building was so vast that it couldn't be seen at a glance.

This could accommodate not thousands, but tens of thousands, or even more.

It was an enormous architectural marvel that Yoo-ri had never seen before.

And what surprised Yoo-ri the most was this.

'Those... are all luminescent stones?'

Luminescent stones, which were very expensive, were embedded in the circular arena's outer walls at intervals of several meters.

It seemed as if all the luminescent stones in the world had been used.

As a result, the area around the circular arena was filled with a bright white light, as if the moon had descended.

'Ah... That's why everyone calls it the Dragon's Cradle.'

Honestly, he knew that the Dragon's Cradle itself was an artificial island made of gold.

But what could he do with that?

Even if he had heard that gold was used like water to build the artificial island, he couldn't easily imagine how much, so he didn't really feel it.

But the building in front of him was different.

How much high-quality stone must have been used to build this massive structure?

How many luminescent stones were embedded