Chapter 90. Tiger Hunting (4)

The moment Yurii said "fifty," the black sword soldier's eyes regained their sanity.

Simultaneously, the fierce attacks that had been flying in stopped as if by magic.

Yurii clicked her tongue.

‘No matter how many times I experience this, it’s still amazing.’

The black sword soldiers' combat instincts or aggressiveness seemed to surpass even their sanity.

However, once the predetermined number of fifty was reached, all their aggressiveness vanished, and they regained their sanity.

Of course, that was just an additional piece of information. Through bear hunting, Yurii had gathered various pieces of information for tiger hunting.

‘I think I’ve gathered all the important information.’

As Yurii thought this, she stared at the spot where the bear had left.

“Good job!”

“I’m hungry!”

Aerin and Poppie approached Yurii.

Yurii handed the bear skin to Aerin.

“Here, your share.”

“Thanks!”

Aerin, delighted, quickly took the bear skin and stuffed it into her pocket.

Then, with sparkling eyes, she chattered.

“Is that it? We’ve caught all the bears? So it’s over? Is it over?”

The number of bears they had identified was a total of nine.

And just a moment ago, they caught the ninth bear, eradicating all the bears in this forest.

In other words, Yurii and her friends now had a total of nine bear skins.

But there was something even more significant.

It meant that all their preparations were now complete.

Yurii nodded at Aerin’s sparkling eyes.

“Yeah, it’s over.”

What was the reason for not resting properly and hunting bears for the past few days?

To gather information.

To synchronize their teamwork and gain experience.

All of it was for the sake of catching the tiger.

And with the capture of the last bear, all their preparations were now complete.

Yurii declared softly.

“Tonight, we… catch the tiger.”

* * *

When night fell in the Animal Forest, the 50th group's state could be divided into several types.

The first type, the Faithful, would hold their breath and pray for the night to pass.

The second type, the Criminals, would desperately run away from the beasts.

And the last type, the Resigned, would give up and let themselves be captured.

The leaders of the Resigned type would fight the beasts to avoid unnecessary exhaustion and then willingly be captured.

They would then neatly undergo the 8-hour hell training and come out.

‘If you give up, your body might be a bit tired, but your mind will be at ease, right?’

Perhaps this was a very wise choice.

Those who were dragged to hell every night accounted for about 80% of the 50th group.

Therefore, most of them had given up on collecting skins.

Even if they somehow managed to collect skins, they would be dragged to hell and have everything taken away, so there was no motivation.

Of course, some people tried to hide the skins they collected, but the number of those who did so was not large.

Think about it.

After being dragged through hell training all night, would they have the energy left to collect skins?

Due to their nearly depleted stamina, everything seemed bothersome.

As a result, over time, what the 50th group gained was not skins but discipline from the nightly drills and fear of the black sword soldiers and their seniors.

Thus, the wolf area in the Animal Forest served as a kind of boundary line.

A boundary line that prevented the random people from intruding.

The reason was simple.

The wolf area.

Except for a few, most of the 50th group were not even at the 1st rank level, so they couldn't venture into the wolf area.

In the Animal Forest, wolves were in the middle of the hierarchy but were the most numerous predators.

These wolves would push into the deer and rabbit areas every night to chase the 50th group members who had been staying there during the day.

As a result, the place that was the safest during the day became the most active hunting ground at night.

Some people realized this and tried to move into the wolf area at night, but avoiding numerous wolves was far from easy.

Moreover, even if they managed to cross over, they would be caught by bears and dragged to hell.

Thus, the wolf area served as a boundary line in the Animal Forest.

Yurii hadn't dealt with the wolves for exactly this reason.

And right inside that boundary line, in the bear's territory, the three of them faced the night.

“Ugh.”

Yurii stretched briefly.

Around noon, after successfully dealing with all the bears, Yurii and her friends had taken a rest there.

Since the bear area was now the safest place in the Animal Forest, they had taken a few hours of well-deserved rest.

Yurii turned slightly to look behind her.

“Everyone, how are your bodies?”

In response to Yurii’s question, Aerin smiled, and Poppie nodded with a big snort.

“Good!”

“I’m hungry!”

Perhaps because they had taken a proper rest for the first time in days, everyone looked better.

Yurii also checked her own condition.

‘Good.’

Her fatigue was gone, and her muscles felt refreshed.

The faint tension in her chest helped maintain her cold rationality.

Feeling the firm grip of the sword hilt, Yurii released the magic threads.

Sssss-.

The thin, thin threads of the magic threads spread out in all directions.

They were much thinner than when she had created them to find the special discount store.

As a result, the range had doubled.

A spider web of magic threads spanning 40 meters.

Despite being thinner and longer, it was more stable than before.

This growth was the result of the busy nights spent in the Animal Forest over the past few days.

A subtle flow was detected at the end of the sensitive spider web of magic threads.

A chilling flow that disturbed the air.

Also, a haughty and fierce aura.

It was the aura emanating from the tiger woman.

She didn’t seem to be hiding her aura, as the flow she emitted traveled through the magic threads.

Yurii suppressed the shivers running down her spine and looked at Aerin and Poppie.

After several days of bear hunting with them, she was confident.

Perhaps no one among her peers matched her and their synchronization as well as these two.

Still, she couldn’t help but worry.

‘Can I really take on the tiger with these two?’

The tiger hunting strategy, in reality, was not grand.

It was rather too simple.

To survive, she would have to fight tooth and nail, grit her teeth, and endure for 10 rounds.

…That was Yurii’s plan.

It was a very simple but the best method.

The easiest and most difficult strategy.

There was no other way to tackle the tiger.

Therefore, what Yurii had been most concerned about over the past few days was the number of attack and defense rounds.

As a result, she confirmed that the number of attack and defense rounds was applied individually and clearly.

There was no issue like the rounds not counting if the conditions were not met, as she and Aerin had wondered.

However, while verifying this, she discovered another troublesome rule.

The so-called reset of attack and defense rounds.

What does that mean?

Suppose Yurii had fought a bear for 10 rounds, leaving 40 rounds.

But if the bear suddenly shifted its attention to Aerin and fought her for more than 5 rounds, all the rounds Yurii had fought with the bear would be reset.

If Yurii then attacked the bear again, she would have to start from the beginning and fight for 50 rounds.

‘The attention threshold of the beasts is about 10% of the attack limit.’

For the bear, with an attack limit of 50 rounds, 10% was 5 rounds.

In the actual fierce battle with the bear, Yurii’s attack and defense rounds were reset when Poppie fought the bear for 6 rounds.

And for the wolf, with an attack limit of 200 rounds, the rounds were reset at exactly the 21st round, which was 10%.

Therefore, it was almost certain that the 10% rule would apply to the tiger.

However, there was one problem.

‘The tiger’s attack limit is 10 rounds… 10% of that is just 1 round.’

In other words, Aerin and Poppie could only intervene once each.

If they combined for more than 2 rounds, all the attack and defense rounds Yurii had fought would be reset.

Thus, Yurii had told Poppie and Aerin.

I don’t expect much from you.

Just twice.

Just 2 rounds, create an opportunity for me.

If that happens…

‘I’ll take care of the rest.’

She didn’t need random people who would be swept away by a single move of the tiger.

She needed capable assistants who could synchronize well with her.

That was why Yurii needed Poppie and Aerin.

“Let’s go.”

Thud.

Aerin and Poppie followed Yurii as she took heavy steps.

The three of them advanced toward the center of the Animal Forest.

Where the tiger awaited.

* * *

Between two trees.

A hammock hung about ten meters high.

Lying in it, the tiger woman stretched her limbs and yawned lazily.

“Haaaam!”

After yawning, a sense of boredom crept over her again.

Looking at the full moon in the night sky, she muttered softly.

“Ah… so boring.”

The nightly hunting routine.

Hundreds of people had been dragged to hell by her hands.

But that didn’t really give her much of a thrill.

‘It’s not like I’m really killing them; I’m just sending them to the training camp.’

Even though she hunted every night, it lacked excitement, excitement!

What fun was it to deal with people who fell over like rotten trees with a light tap?

The tiger woman’s eyes recalled a few days ago.

‘But the first night was quite entertaining…’

The leader of the 50th group who managed to hold out for 4 rounds against her.

When she played with that guy, she thought this 50th group might be decent and that this mission wouldn’t be boring.

But that was a huge misconception.

It was just that the black-haired guy she met on the first night was unusual.

Moreover, it turned out that the black-haired guy had walked fifteen steps in the Hundred Steps of Awareness.

‘Why did such an interesting thing happen when I was on an external mission?’

She was a bit disappointed that she hadn’t seen the black-haired guy walk fifteen steps herself.

“Well… that’s that. Let’s go!”

The tiger woman spun her body and dropped out of the hammock.

A dizzying drop from a height of over ten meters.

If an ordinary person fell from that height, they would either break a limb or die.

But the tiger woman landed on the ground with incredible lightness.

Thud.

She stepped lightly on the ground and moved forward.

“Sigh… the tiger is working hard again today.”

Even though it was boring, it was her mission, so she was going to faithfully go hunting.

Well, she was a bit late, but it was only by a little.

Just as the tiger woman took a few steps to start her shift, she suddenly stopped.

“Huh?”

At first, she thought she had seen something wrong.

‘…A person?’

Far away, dozens of meters away.

A shadow was slowly approaching her through the dimly lit trees.

And it was definitely a person.

‘A person?’

That’s why the tiger woman was puzzled.

Over the past few days, no one had approached the area where she was.

Even other black sword soldiers didn’t come here.

Given the situation, how could she not be surprised?

‘Who is it?’

No, it couldn’t be that the deputy had come to check on her because she was late?

The tiger woman, startled by this thought, blinked when she saw the approaching figure.

Then, when he finally reached her, the tiger woman broke into a wide smile.

“You!”

Yurii smiled back at the beaming tiger woman.

“I’m here for a rematch, Tiger Auntie.”

Sssss-.

Yurii’s sword was smoothly drawn.

“Ten rounds again, right?”

“Of course!”

As soon as the hearty answer ended, Yurii’s entire body wavered like a mist.

Soon, Yurii, who had disappeared from that spot, reappeared in front of the tiger woman.

Swoosh-.

Grind-.

Yurii gritted her teeth and swung her sword.

Whoosh-.

“Hahaha!”

The tiger woman laughed joyfully and punched forward.

Thus, the sword and gauntlet clashed, and the fierce 10-round battle began.