Chapter 68. Stimulation (1)

After the first sparring session ended, Yurin slumped to the floor of the sparring ground.

In front of her, Teresa entered into practice.

Swish.

A very simple thrust.

As if it didn’t matter if Yurin watched, Teresa immediately began her practice.

In fact, it was true that there was nothing wrong with watching, since it was just a simple thrust.

Yurin watched Teresa, who was repeatedly thrusting with her spear, with interest and asked,

“Teresa-senpai, what was that? The thrust with the white trajectory.”

Even in response to Yurin’s question, Teresa didn’t stop her thrusting and answered.

“Drunk Thrust.”

“Drunk Thrust...”

“What about yours?”

“Mine?”

“It felt like the space around you twisted for a moment. I’m not sure what it was, but it felt like wind or a barrier.”

Teresa’s words made Yurin’s eyes light up with interest.

‘Is that how it feels to the one who gets hit by the Demon Current?’

Since Yurin was the one using the Demon Current, she couldn’t really know how it felt to be on the receiving end.

In response to Teresa’s question, Yurin answered calmly.

“Demon Current.”

“Demon Current...”

Teresa repeated the words, savoring them.

And that was the end of it.

She quickly lost interest in Yurin and focused solely on the tip of her spear, as if projecting herself into it.

Watching this, Yurin fell into thought.

‘There was definitely nothing wrong with the Demon Current I used.’

Still, Teresa’s Drunk Thrust had defied that flow.

Yurin wasn’t sure how that was possible yet.

But if they continued to spar regularly, she could uncover the reason.

At first, the sparring was just for 10,000 points, but Yurin felt she would gain much more than expected, which made her happy.

‘Earning points and gaining experience.’

Is there anything more beneficial in this world?

Yurin got up and looked at Teresa.

Whether she was confident or not, Teresa had already started her practice.

She had already begun to focus perfectly, repeating the same thrusting motion.

Yurin watched her closely and couldn’t help but be impressed.

‘Clean and precise.’

It was a simple thrust, something any spear user could do, but Teresa’s felt different.

Despite the countless repetitions, her path never wavered.

The distribution of force in her thrusts was also consistent.

Just by looking at her posture, one could tell how many times she had practiced this.

Yurin decided to leave the sparring ground carefully so as not to break Teresa’s concentration.

* * *

Yurin walked leisurely along the forest path, her hands in the pockets of her shirt.

Unlike the hurried pace of the previous day, her steps were relaxed and easy.

Basking in the clear sunlight, Yurin smiled contentedly.

“Ah, refreshing.”

The weather was clear, and even though it was winter, the sun felt warm.

If it weren’t for the first regular assembly, she would have enjoyed basking in the sun.

‘Maybe I can indulge in such leisure once in a while.’

Just as she thought this, the forest path ended, and the clock tower in the north came into view.

‘Perfect timing.’

The clock pointed to 8:50.

Yurin muttered to herself,

“I should get a clock.”

While her biological clock was quite accurate, it wasn’t as precise as a real clock.

In the Womb, time seemed to be quite important, so she couldn’t rely on her biological clock forever.

‘I didn’t have money to buy a clock or other luxury items outside, but...’

This is the Womb.

A place where you can buy what you want with points, not money.

If she had enough points, she could buy a clock.

The question was whether the store sold clocks, but...

‘They probably don’t sell anything but basic necessities, so I’ll have to wait for a special sale.’

While thinking this, Yurin arrived near the clock tower.

Since it was almost time, many of the 50th generation had already arrived.

Buzzing.

The atmosphere among the 50th generation, who had gathered after several days, was quite chaotic.

This was inevitable.

The Womb had only told them about the existence of points and to be self-sufficient.

Due to the lack of information, the 50th generation, who had been in the Womb for less than a week, were still trying to understand the situation.

As a result, they were gathered in groups based on the acquaintances they had made in the Black Line or the information they had gathered, sharing what they knew.

However, the information they had was not very useful.

Those who had valuable information were keeping their mouths shut, watching the situation.

And right in the middle of this somewhat market-like atmosphere, Yurin appeared.

Her appearance divided the 50th generation into two groups.

“Anyway, what I’m saying is...”

“Oh, that’s...”

Those who continued their conversations as if Yurin’s appearance didn’t matter.

These were the 260 or so people who had fainted as soon as the Hundred Steps ceremony began.

“...Is that him?”

“Is that him?”

“Yeah, it looks like him. The guy with black hair.”

Those who stopped their conversations and turned their heads at Yurin’s appearance.

These were the 30 or so people who had clearly recognized Yurin’s presence during the Hundred Steps ceremony.

Thus, the 299 people were divided into two distinct groups:

Those who knew Yurin and those who didn’t.

Of course, no one knew her name.

She had fainted before she could reveal it to the Sword Master.

Even those who knew her existence just called her “the guy with black hair.”

Meanwhile, Yurin, ignoring what others were saying about her, pushed through the crowd and took a spot in the front row.

Soon, a familiar aura followed her from behind.

“I’m hungry!”

Yurin chuckled at the familiar voice.

It seemed her mood was quite good today.

Even the sound of that guy’s voice was pleasant.

As she turned slightly, Yurin was taken aback.

She blinked her eyes.

“You, why do you look like that?”

What had he been doing all this time, Poppie was now dirty and disheveled.

His clothes were covered with rotten leaves and what looked like animal fur.

“I’m hungry...”

Scratching the back of his head, Poppie slumped down next to Yurin.

Then another voice made Poppie shudder.

“I’ve been looking for you for days.”

This time, it was Arin.

Yurin’s face hardened as she turned to the direction of the voice.

“And why do you look like that?”

Arin’s appearance was the same as Poppie’s.

Dirty and covered with strange fur and leaves.

It was as if they had been wandering the same places.

Yurin asked with a sleepy look.

“...Did you also look for me?”

Arin shook off the fur and leaves from her shoulders and replied.

“No.”

“That’s a relief...”

“I chased after him.”

“...”

Arin pointed at Poppie with her chin.

Yurin looked puzzled.

‘When did you two become so close?’

...She couldn’t say this out loud when she saw Poppie hurriedly hiding behind her.

“I’m hungry...”

Poppie, crouched behind Yurin, peeked at Arin over his shoulder.

His extremely cautious demeanor made Yurin ask Arin in disbelief.

“Why did you chase him?”

“He’s interesting.”

“...I see.”

She felt like an idiot for asking a normal question to an abnormal person.

But her eyes widened when Arin continued.

“I’ve never seen a Yum before in my life.”

“...Yum?”

“Huh? What, you didn’t know?”

“...?”

“He’s a Yum.”

“...?!”

At this, Yurin’s head whipped around to look behind her.

Her eyes met Poppie, who was crouched down.

Her gaze seemed to ask,

Is this true?

Why didn’t you tell me?

Poppie tilted his head in response.

“I’m hungry?”

His reaction seemed to say,

You really didn’t know?

Why didn’t you know when everyone else did?

Yurin’s spirit was completely deflated by his innocent eyes.

“Yes, I see, I was the only one who didn’t know.”

Just as Yurin’s lips curled in a sarcastic smile, Arin interjected.

“You can tell he’s a Yum just by looking at him, right? Who else would have a body that big? Even if there were, it would be rare.”

“...I see. It’s all because of that old bear and his grandson.”

Ralph and Muchi, despite being ordinary people, had grown so abnormally large!

It was all because they had arbitrarily raised the standards for ordinary people.

Just as Yurin’s lips were about to curl again,

Thud.

9:00 AM.

Right on the announced assembly time, the Black Swordsmen arrived.