Chapter 76. Collecting Leather (2)

January 20th, morning.

Yuri had a small backpack slung over his shoulder as he emerged from the shop inside the circular arena. His expression was far from pleasant.

‘Sigh… Such an unnecessary expense. It makes me feel sick.’

He had ended up spending over 10,000 points in a place he hadn't expected.

It was the most he had spent since becoming a formal member.

And Yuri's bad mood wasn't just because of the unnecessary expense.

His brows furrowed, as if something was bothering him.

‘Why does it feel so off?’

The day before, Yuri had tried to get information from Teresa about the upcoming integrated quest.

However,

[That's all I can tell you. The first integrated quest for the first year is about collecting leather.]

Teresa only said that much and refused to provide any more information.

She hesitated continuously, as if she was unusually reluctant to leak any more details.

When Yuri said that this much information wasn't worth 10,000 points, she finally...

[Even though you can be self-sufficient, it's better to prepare enough rations for about ten days.]

...gave him this additional information.

Following this, Yuri spent a little over 10,000 points to buy rations for ten days and a backpack.

After that, when Yuri tried to get more information, Teresa simply fled back to her quarters.

Her reaction was completely incomprehensible.

As a result, Yuri felt extremely uneasy.

‘Collecting leather...’

From the name, he guessed it would be a quest to hunt some kind of animal and collect its skin.

Teresa's additional information about preparing rations for ten days, even if he could be self-sufficient, led him to infer a few things.

‘The quest is likely to last ten days.’

The schedule would be so tight that he wouldn't be able to be self-sufficient for food.

That's why Teresa suggested buying rations for ten days.

‘Maybe they'll confine us somewhere, like the Starting Forest.’

It was a plausible possibility.

And the second point, which was the most important:

‘If this quest lasts ten days, then right after it ends, there will be the monthly evaluation.’

This meant that this quest would determine the January monthly evaluation.

If the schedule started today and ran for ten days, he wouldn't be able to earn points through other quests.

With this in mind, Yuri left the circular arena.

He stopped in his tracks, startled by the scene before him.

Clearly, it wasn't like this before he entered the arena.

‘What is this?’

The 50th batch members were gathering as the assembly time approached.

But their appearances were so disheveled that it was hard to find a fitting description.

‘What should I call this?’

A group of defeated soldiers?

Refugees?

After much deliberation, he found an appropriate description.

“Ah! It's a den of plague-stricken beggars.”

The scene before him was truly dire.

People lying around like corpses, hollow-eyed faces, greasy hair, and dirty clothes.

‘I always wondered why the cradle likes black clothes so much... It turns out there's a deeper meaning to it.’

Since they would eventually turn black anyway, they might as well start with black clothes.

Could this be the deeper meaning of the cradle?

Yuri slowly walked through the den of plague-stricken beggars.

‘What on earth have they been doing to end up like this?’

Yuri listened to the sounds around him.

“I... I... I'm done... I already abandoned my human dignity... I couldn't resist... that... that hunger... and... ate... ate bugs...”

“It's cold, someone, light a fire, my ears feel like they're going to fall off...”

“I'm so sleepy...”

“No! Don't sleep! If you sleep here, you'll die!”

“I ate a rat by mistake and vomited and had diarrhea for three days.”

The tragic stories and groans came from all around.

Just as he was about to block out the uncomfortable sounds,

“Damn! 1,000 points for a day's worth of food! It takes a whole day to complete a low-level quest! Is this to make us survive or to make us starve?”

“Ah, you tried that too?”

“Of course, I had to. To survive.”

“Did you succeed?”

“The difficulty wasn't high, so I did succeed.”

Occasionally, he heard stories of people earning points through quests.

‘Some people have already attempted quests, I see.’

Over the past few days, Yuri's top priority had been building a hideout, so he hadn't had time to think about quests.

‘Now that the hideout is mostly done, it's time to start earning points.’

And this integrated quest would be the start.

With this in mind, Yuri looked at the clock tower.

8:50 AM.

The Black Swordsmen would appear in about ten minutes.

At that moment, a large finger tapped his shoulder.

Tap tap.

Yuri, who had already sensed the giant approaching, greeted him lightly.

“It's been a while.”

But to his surprise,

Poppie turned away, avoiding his gaze.

“...?”

Yuri tilted his head in confusion at this unexpected reaction.

‘What's this? Why is he avoiding me after touching my shoulder?’

And what was that face, like ‘I'm in a bad mood’?

Just as Yuri tried to understand Poppie's intentions, another voice chimed in.

“He's sulking.”

“Sulking?”

Yuri turned to the familiar voice.

Soon, Arin stood next to Poppie, linking her arm with his.

“Yes, our Poppie is sulking at you. How could you not meet him for over ten days? You were avoiding us, right?”

“Yes.”

“...Really, you were avoiding us?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, anyway, that's why Poppie is sulking! And I'm sulking too! Right?”

Arin poked Poppie's waist.

Poppie nodded vigorously.

Yuri's eyes turned sleepy.

“Ah, I see. You're sulking.”

He simply turned away.

“...”

Poppie and Arin were taken aback by his cold response.

They leaned in and whispered to each other.

“It seems the sympathy plan failed.”

“I'm hungry.”

“He's even more cold-blooded than we thought. Normally, he would ask why you were looking for him by now.”

“I'm hungry...”

...I can hear you, you know.

Yuri sighed inwardly.

‘Sigh...’

Honestly, he was curious.

Why were they looking for him so much?

But,

‘If I ask, I'll get entangled in this properly.’

So he didn't ask.

Or rather, he deliberately didn't ask.

“Hungry?”

“Another method? I'll try researching it.”

Had the past few days of sticking together been effective?

Poppie no longer seemed wary of Arin.

As they chatted, the clock struck 9:00 AM.

At that moment, the Black Swordsmen appeared sharply.

Thud thud.

Ten Black Swordsmen.

At the front was the bespectacled man who had harshly criticized the 50th batch before.

The sight of them roused the scattered members of the 50th batch.

Then,

Snap.

“Everyone, pay attention.”

The low voice resonated heavily, carried by mana.

When all the 50th batch members looked at him, the bespectacled man nodded slightly.

The Black Swordsmen behind him then moved to distribute something to the 50th batch.

“This is the badge that will prove you are part of the 50th batch for the next five years. If you lose it, you'll have to buy a new one with points, so take good care of it.”

The item distributed by the Black Swordsmen was a badge.

Yuri's eyes sparkled as he held it.

‘The 50th batch is red.’

The 49th batch was yellow, the 48th green, the 47th blue, and the 46th white.

The 45th batch was probably red, and they must have passed the color to the 50th batch upon graduation.

Once all the 50th batch members received their badges, the Black Swordsmen immediately moved on to the next step.

“We are moving now. Those who can't keep up will be left behind. Follow closely.”

The Black Swordsmen started walking quickly.

Caught off guard by the sudden movement, those who were still attaching their badges to their shoulders hurried to catch up.

After walking for a bit,

“Speed up.”

The Black Swordsmen began to jog slowly.

The pace gradually increased until it reached the level of a full sprint for an average person.

They continued at this pace for an hour.

Huff huff.

Already weakened by adapting to the cradle, the weaker members' breathing became more labored, and they started sweating profusely.

Finally, the running stopped.

The Black Swordsmen had brought the 50th batch to a place in the northern area, surrounded by a wooden fence.

The fence, made of wooden posts about 2 meters high, had a gate at the entrance.

Standing at the gate, the bespectacled man announced,

“Welcome to the Animal Forest.”

Someone muttered, “Another forest? Last time it was the Starting Forest, now it's the Animal Forest? Lack of creativity much?”

The bespectacled man glared at the “black-haired person p