[105]
The taste of blood was bitter in his mouth.
Chris threw the man’s body carelessly and growled.
At the ferocious sound, those who had been approaching to target him hesitated slightly.
Thanks to that, Chris gained a small window to survey the battlefield.
Surprisingly, not all of them had come to capture Chris. Some people were targeting other competitors who were heading toward Chris.
‘A grudge relationship?’
Chris quickly assessed the situation.
‘Or are they taking the opportunity to easily attack another predator who is after the same prey?’
If things were simple, he could just overpower them with strength. But a complex situation wasn’t necessarily bad either.
It meant there were more elements he could exploit.
‘I shouldn’t act too exceptional.’
That way, they would check each other and disperse the attacks directed at Chris, wouldn’t they?
The wolf dashed straight through the crowd of people.
“Catch him!”
“He’s escaping!”
Some areas were covered with sticky mud, while others were solid rock. Among them were also soft substances disguised as rocks.
It was too crude to even call a trap.
The problem was that in the midst of being driven by so many, it could act as a very fatal factor.
Chris could distinguish the different rocks with uncanny precision.
‘For just an arena, they’ve set up quite a variety of things.’
Among them were relatively low mountains and cliffs.
‘It must have been difficult to create all of this by human hands.’
Thinking that perhaps there might be an Esper who could manipulate earth, Chris surveyed the terrain and his eyes lit up.
He spotted something useful at the top of a small mountain.
The moment he set his target, his legs kicked off the ground without hesitation.
Besides mushy rocks, there were flowers spitting acidic liquid, sharply honed thin metal wires, and small swamps covered with leaves, all hindering his movement.
But they were hardly obstacles for Chris.
Everything felt vivid to him.
The pungent smell from the flowers, the metallic scent of metal objects, and the leaf edges dampened by mud.
Chris’s combat sense was innate.
Being forcibly limited in his abilities, he had to make the most of what he had.
Finally reaching the summit, Chris stood beside a huge boulder.
The stone, large enough for him to spot from below, was secured with a stake, ready to roll down at any moment.
Although no one had touched it yet, the stake holding the boulder was slowly being pulled out due to the weight of the stone.
If Chris took action, it could fall faster.
“Damn it!”
“He’s already reached there!”
Those who had expected the fleeing wolf to fall into a trap sighed in disappointment.
Everyone had been anticipating which trap he would fall into as he quickly widened the distance.
‘How did he reach the top?’
Needless to say, securing high ground was important in any battle.
Wariness and concern mixed in the gazes looking at him.
‘They chased after me excitedly but now they’re completely frozen.’
Chris decided to meet their expectations.
He pulled out the stake securing the heavy boulder. Surprisingly, the stone didn’t immediately roll down.
There was a slight incline, hardly noticeable unless pressed with a foot.
‘If it doesn’t fall, I’ll just push it.’
Chris pushed the rounded boulder forward.
Being new to this arena, Chris didn’t know, but several explosives were installed at the bottom of the small mountain.
If someone triggered them while moving, the ground would collapse, causing the boulder to roll down even faster.
The competitors who had already gone through rookie hunting tensed up but didn’t immediately flee when Chris pulled out the stake. They knew there was still time.
But when the wolf began to push the massive boulder, the perceptive ones started to slowly back away.
Fortunately for those watching from below, the wolf who had brought the stone to the edge of the cliff paused momentarily.
‘Perhaps… has he lost strength?’
‘That is quite heavy.’
A sense of expectation held their ankles in place.
At that moment, the wolf’s tail swayed gently.
As Chris applied pressure, a thunderous sound echoed throughout the arena.
Kukukukung…!
The boulder, large enough to easily sweep away three or four people, began to fall.
“Aack! Get out of the way!”
Having experienced this arena before, everyone jumped to either side of the path.
– Oh, the boulder! The boulder has started rolling!
With the announcer’s shout, the competition began to unfold urgently.
The massive boulder, having gained acceleration through its fall, easily caught up with those fleeing.
It wasn’t just the boulder’s pursuit that caused the panic.
Those fleeing desperately from the indiscriminate stone triggered hidden traps.
Not only that, the boulder was so large and heavy that it triggered all the traps in its path.
The explosives, which would have normally been triggered by others unknowingly causing the ground to collapse, were set off.
“Kuk!”
“Huaaah!”
All kinds of screams erupted from everywhere.
Chris watched the hellish scene unfolding below.
Acidic liquid bursting here, gas spewing there, and flames popping in all directions on top of that.
It was almost like a small fireworks display.
– Indeed, a rookie with remarkable sense!
The mechanical voice handling the commentary praised Chris.
Chris immediately moved to the side and struck the spot where he had been standing.
“Ah!”
Though nothing was visible, a human scream was heard.
“How did you know?”
Chris pointed at the ground with his front paw.
Muddy footprints were there.
A sigh from the invisible competitor was heard.
“Damn. I let my guard down because I thought no one knew I’d approached this far.”
Whether the opponent was reflecting on their mistake or not, Chris was thinking about something else.
‘Of all times, the broadcast loudly announces when someone approaches.’
He sensed malice lurking beyond the mechanical voice in this coincidental timing.
Maybe they didn’t like Chris’s overwhelming performance.
After all, a competition needs to be somewhat nail-biting to proceed.
‘Nail-biting, huh.’
Chris decided to act moderately wild.
With many steps still to climb, it would be troublesome to stand out too much already.
While the transparent enemy was in disarray, Chris scratched the ground with his front paw, covering the opponent’s body with dirt.
– The rookie has found a way to counter our invisible assassin, Obl! Quick, really quick.
Thanks to the sand thrown, a vague outline became visible.
Although this would have its limitations if not concentrated on, it was the best option for now.
Chris lunged toward the empty space.
At the sound of air being sliced, he tilted his head to the side but momentarily paused.
A cool sensation touched the tip of his perked ear.
– As expected of Obl! He succeeds in drawing the rookie’s blood!
It was intentional.
To show his discomfort, Chris scratched the ground and growled.
His performance seemed to work well, as the invisible one could be heard laughing.
He shouldn’t act too experienced.
‘Utilize my sensitive senses, but make it seem somewhat like luck.’
Chris scratched at the invisible assassin with his front paw.
Feeling something thread-like caught on his claws, he pulled. Something heavy seemed to be attached to that veil, as a weighty resistance followed.
The opponent wasn’t just taking it.
Obl thrust a blade toward the wolf’s paw.
Slightly moving his body to dodge, Chris caught the attack with his claws and threw the opponent to the ground.
Dust rose with a whoosh, and the sound of a body rolling on the ground was heard.
At the tip of the wolf’s claws hung a broken thread. It seemed that it was Obl’s clothing that had been caught on his claws.
“Kek, cough, cough.”
The invisible one coughed. The impact from being thrown to the ground seemed quite severe.
– This is something. Obl doesn’t seem to be faring well. Is this the end for Obl, notorious as a rookie hunter?
“That can’t… be.”
The one who had been grinding his teeth got up.
Chris could ‘see’ this with his own eyes because Obl had deactivated his invisibility.
The opponent had all his equipment intact, though the chest part of his clothing was torn.
Chris, who had to change clothes every time he underwent anthropomorphization, was a bit envious of that.
“I surrender! I surrender!”
Obl spat and shouted toward the ceiling.
“What kind of rookie is this? I was completely deceived.”
Obl, who muttered weakly, looked at Chris.
The wolf’s form was so perfect that it was hard to believe he was a human like himself.
‘At this rate, I’m losing more than I’m gaining.’
He had participated hoping for an easy way to make money between competitions, but the injury was not trivial.
Having been completely controlled by the opponent’s pace, sponsors would likely drop him.
‘And since I surrendered, the dividend is also gone.’
But it was better than getting injured.
If he got injured beyond recovery, he would only be left with a pile of debt and gain nothing.
“Hey, your name is Wolf, right?”
Obl addressed Chris.
“Let’s meet up there. It won’t be so easy then. I need to recoup the money I spent on rookie hunting.”
Chris clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘So even someone like him spent money to participate in this competition.’
It seemed he had thought he would win easily against a novice.
“Give me an answer. Oh, can you only bark when you’re in wolf form?”
Chris pretended not to understand and just wagged his tail.
– This is unfortunate. But also amazing!
The mechanical commentator exclaimed.
– With Obl’s surrender after fighting to the end, today’s rookie hunting winner is…! The new sensation, Wolf!
Lights came on in the previously dim spectator stands.
Masked individuals were looking down at them.
Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!
A bizarre fervor and cheers that sounded as if from one person.
Chris closed his eyes and blocked out those cheers.
He missed Yuri.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
