Arena

“Ah, f.u.c.k.”
 

It was not a dream.

I was greeted by a dense forest instead of the one room bas.e.m.e.nt apartment I should be sleeping in. 

It was not only dense and thick but also disgusting. 

It was horridly filled with large broad leaf trees which meant you couldn"t see the sky and the vines were thicker than my arms.

The wild energy was overflowing in this place.

Every time I take a step I clearly feel the sensation of stepping on the gra.s.s being transmitted to my feet.

It’s been a while since I walked barefoot.

“…..huh?”

Barefoot?

“What! What kind of bulls.h.i.t is this?”

It was at that moment that I realized what kind of appearance I was in.

I was only wearing black underwear. I was dragged here in the same condition as when I was sleeping.

f.u.c.k, I’m only wearing underwear in a dense forest. What am I Tarzan? At the very least you can give me some clothes and footwear!

[Sighs]

It’s no use complaining. Let’s focus on clearing the test right now.

This forest seems to be in a mountain as it had some incline to it. Without any plans I headed up to a higher alt.i.tude to understand the geographical situation of this place.

After walking for 5 minutes I arrived at a hill and looked down.

“What is this?!”

I was stunned.

The forest was so vast and extensive that I couldn"t see the end of it.

“Summon slate!”

-          Name: Kim Hyunho

-          Cla.s.s: 1

-          Karma: 0

-          Mission: Get rid of the red ape.

-          Time limit: 24 minutes and 43 seconds

The time give was 30 minutes, the time remaining was only 24 minutes.

At first I thought if I search the forest I’ll figure out what the red ape is but now that isn"t happening.

The forest is too vast for that.

How could you possibly search this kind of forest in 30 minutes?

And what do I know what the red ape is?

This is impossible. This was an impossible test from the very beginning!

Red ape.

It could be an animal, plant, it could be a person, or it could be some monster that I never saw in my life. That bird that is flying away could have the name of red ape.

They didn"t tell me anything.

The worm b.a.s.t.a.r.d also just sent me away to the ‘arena’.

And the time limit is also only 30 minutes.

Are these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds crazy!

I was furious.

Are they playing with someone who is trying to desperately live? Are they mocking me? At that time I thought of the words of the baby angel said.

‘That is something you need to figure out.’

When I asked what the red ape was, that"s what he said. 

There wasn"t any other warning or reminder.

In a forest where it is filled with animals, plants, and bugs my att.i.tude was in a state of giving up.

How am I supposed to figure out what a red ape is in this large forest?

‘Okay let’s calmly think about this.’

I started to organize my thoughts.

1st, the time limit is just 30 minutes.

2nd, they didn"t tell me what the red Ape was.

3rd, they wouldn"t have given me a test that is impossible.

I thought about these three conditions with the overall situation. Is there a way to figure out what the red Ape is?

….. There is!

A thought pa.s.sed by my brain like a shooting star.

A method for finding out what a red Ape is and finding it within 30 minutes exists.

That is making the red Ape attack me first!

If I am attacked even if I don’t want to know what the red Ape is will get to know what it is.

This explains why the time limit is only 30 minutes.

If the red Ape was already close by there is no reason to give so much time to complete the test.

‘That’s it.’

I felt certainty like having solved a math problem.

I was feeling no hope but now that I look at it there was plenty hints given already.

Then, let’s think about this again.

First of all the red Ape was close by.

Second of all the test a.s.sumes as precondition that the red Ape will attack me.

Third, even after looking around for 5 minutes I couldn"t find the red Ape.

There is only one answer.

The red Ape who already spotted me and trailed my back to look for an opportunity to attack.

When he is trailing me there is no way that I will find him. Even right now he must be hiding somewhere observing me.

[Sound of twigs breaking]

Thinking like this I felt full of horror and gooseb.u.mps. 

That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is observing me from somewhere.

To attack me.

To kill me. 

“If that is the case…….”

After thinking long and hard I came to a conclusion to go and sit beside a nearby tree against my back.

“I’m so tired that I feel like dying.”

I talked out loud to let him hear what I saying.

It was in case that the red ape could understand human speech. It could be a person.

I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.

Even while doing that I fumbled the ground around for a decent size rock.

‘Okay, this is the chance you been waiting for. Come out and attack.’

I was sure it wasn"t a a fierce animal I couldn"t handle like a lion, tiger, or jaguar.

It’s too careful.

If it was a fierce animal would it hesitate? It would have attacked me and ate me already.

There is only one reason why it hasn"t shown itself and carefully trailed me.

The strength he has is roughly the same as me or weaker than me. There is high probability that it’s a b.a.s.t.a.r.d I can win against.

‘Hurry up attack. Let me see what kind of b.a.s.t.a.r.d you are.’

I pretended to sleep for 3 three minutes.

And of course I heightened my hearing and monitored for any sound.

And it was then.

[Bristling]

I heard the sound of gra.s.s moving.

‘He came!’

I felt dry in the throat from the tension.

[Bristling]

There were more sounds of bristling gra.s.s. This sounds a bit unnatural.

I smiled inside.

‘Cowardly b.a.s.t.a.r.d.’

It made those sounds on purpose. It was confirming for sure if I was sleep or not.

I didn"t move. I continued to pretend to be asleep.

I heard some careful steps. It was being slow and careful but it couldn"t get rid of all the sounds it makes.

[Sounds of footsteps]

It was getting closer. It seems to be certain that I am asleep.

It felt like the hand holding the rock was going to go into convulsion. I wanted to open my eyes and throw the rock right now.

‘It’s not the time yet.’

I endured.

The sounds of the footsteps came close enough.

My heart felt like bursting.

‘Now!’

I instantly stood up and threw the rock.

Crack!

The rock flew and hit it right in the middle of its forehead.

“Kiruk!”

It was the sound of screaming from the pain.

The b.a.s.t.a.r.d grabbed his bleeding forehead and was moving all over the place.

It was a chance to pin him to the ground but from the shock I was stoned. It was due to the ident.i.ty of the red Ape.