Chapter 19

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

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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 .

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“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

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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!]

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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 .

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“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 .