Chapter 14 – Pacman Rule (2)[Ten Thousand Sword Swings (Daily),
Ten Thousand Dummy Strikes (Daily),
Thousand Lifts with Every Dumbbell in the Training Center (Daily),
Eight Thousand Blade Dummy Dodges (Daily),
Thousand Laps around the Plaza (Daily),
Low Grade Monster Hunts,
Low Grade Monster x10 Hunts,
Mid Grade Monster Hunts…]
This was only a part of the list Sungchul had scratched out on the dirt with twigs for the preselected. The list of seemingly impossible tasks had a total of thirty entries in it, causing those who were reading to become slack-jawed.
“This is the list of common quests that I’ve been suggested to do by my guide, and they increase the three basic stats: Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality. If you don’t believe me, then check with your own guide.”
There were a few false ones mixed in, but the majority of them were real; he borrowed the authority of the guides to convince the preselected before him, leaving the responsibility of proving his words to their guides. The three preselected showed hostility, but they also couldn’t say no to his face.
“I won’t force you. You can spill sweat and train like your lives depend on it, or you can spill your blood at the Rank Match tomorrow in front of the other preselected. It’s up to you.”
There were a total of four preselected gathered here: Ahram, Sunghae, and her two bodyguards. Ahram, despite being a latecomer, only listened to a bit of the explanation then left while yawning. He leaned on a tree off in the distance and began to hum to himself, attempting to nap. He was the epitome of carefree irresponsibility. What would someone, who even looked down on the Drill Sergeant, have to fear?
Only three people remained listening to Sungchul’s advice.
“Excuse me.”
A pale hand rose in the middle of the uncomfortable silence, it was Sunghae’s.
“You are certain that there will be an effect if we do all of this, right?”
“Open your status windows. Ignoring the other stats, your strength, dexterity, and vitality don’t exceed 20, do they?”
The eyes of Sunghae and the other two becomes unfocused as they looked at their status screens. Sungchul looked over towards Sunghae and said.
“How does your strength, dexterity, and vitality look?”
“Eh. They are 15, 16, and 16.”
All three preselected had similar stats. It wouldn’t be surprising for the average summoned to be limited at around 10, but it was disappointing for the quality of the preselected to only be this high.
“My average numbers are higher than 20 though?”
They heard a familiar voice, it was Ahram. He had been leaning on a tree trunk pretending to sleep while actually listening to everything they’d said.
“I said, I got more than 20! So I don’t have to do that stupid list, right?”
Sungchul completely ignored him. Instead, he turned his head and called out loudly.
“Come out.”
A man revealed himself from deeper in the forest. It was Loner #2: Ha Yungjong
“Ah, this is a bit embarra.s.sing. Do I havta do this?”
The other preselected stiffened. It was quite unpleasant for them to be a.s.sociating with just Sungchul, but now there was another unpleasant face in the mix.
Sungchul didn’t mind the chilling gaze that the two of them were being shot with and spoke to Yungjong.
“Yungjong, how are your stats?”
“Ah, Kim hyung. I really don’t like doing things like this.”
“Come on, it’s not hard. I’ll even grill you some meat.”
At the mention of meat, Yungjong opened his stat window and revealed his stats with a bitter smile.
“Now lookie here. Strength 28. Dexterity 27. Vitality 25. That’s it.”
The other preselected were shocked by the numbers.
“How can that be? That b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s stats are higher than mine?”
Ahram rose with a stretch from his tree trunk. A mysterious smile appeared on his face.
“Some b.i.t.c.h like this is better than I am? Huh? Don’t joke around with me! f.u.c.k! This guy with a rotten expression is better than me?”
No one knew what had bothered him to such a degree, but Ahram was clearly angry.
“I’m already p.i.s.sed for getting b.i.t.c.hed at for losing the staff, and now some b.i.t.c.hes are trying to f.u.c.k with me.”
The rotten interior hidden underneath his handsome exterior revealed itself. He began looking over everyone with hatred in his eyes before eventual screaming out spitefully.
“Hey! f.u.c.k it! Don’t even bother! What do you f.u.c.kers know. f.u.c.king worthless idiots. Do you know who my backer is, do you?”
Everyone either turned their gazes or simply ignored him completely.
Ahram, who was throwing a tantrum like some drunkard, suddenly reached out and grabbed Sunghae’s wrist.
“What?”
Sunghae looked aghast and pulled out of his grip. Ahram smiled lecherously and reached out for her once again.
“Do you know who my backer is, Sunghae? Hm?”
“What the f.u.c.k do I care about that?”
“Oh s.h.i.+t~ Look who’s talking back now. What a step up for a wh.o.r.e like you.”
“What? What did you just say?”
Sunghae jumped back in surprise and reached for Moonlight, seeming ready to kill.
Ahram pointed at her staff and looked at her mockingly.
“Am I wrong? You got that f.u.c.king staff, from that hobo, for one night.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Give me a turn. Don’t act so coy. I can get you something better than that s.h.i.+t if I ask my guide, Dolorence or some s.h.i.+t like that. Come on!”
Ahram struck Sunghae’s staff out of her hand and once again held her wrists.
“Let me go! I’ll kill you!”
Sunghae struggled with her all her might, but her strength couldn’t overcome Ahram’s. Ahram dragged Sunghae by her arms to some taller bushes, in plain sight of everyone. He continued laughing the whole time; he was like a crazed dog that had broken free of its leash. Even the two men who’d a.s.signed themselves as Sunghae’s bodyguards could do nothing but watch with their heads lowered.
“…”
A man stepped up just as Sungchul was about to move. It was Yungjong.
“Little baby, shut up now, you hear? Or else, your chin just might go flying.”
Ahram would often throw a tantrum over every little thing, but this time, he went far over the deep end.
“What?”
Ahram glared, eyes blinded by anger. He impatiently stomped towards Yungjong and stiffly got in his face.
“Flap those gums again, b.i.t.c.h. You stinkin’ garb…”
The impact of a punch rang out. Yungjong’s fist had squarely collided with Ahram’s face. Ahram who was sprawled across the floor with his face turned around abnormally, uttered an unnatural scream.
“ageaaaAAa!”
The insult that had been on the tip of his tongue must have been deformed by the blow into the current unsettling noise. Ahram twitched like a c.o.c.kroach that had been sprayed with bug poison and could do nothing but grip the dirt in anger after being fed such a solid punch.
“Rrr…. Rrr…..”
It felt anticlimactic as everything was resolved under the message of, ‘A stick is the only medicine for an unruly dog’. Ahram soon left the area, muttering profanities under his breath as he went.
“You’ll all see. f.u.c.kers. I’m going to get my faceless daddy* to f.u.c.king crush all of you. b.i.t.c.hes… Just you wait. Just you wait…”
The most cowardly threats could be heard leaking past the trees.
After Ahram left, Sungchul gathered the group again and spoke to them.
“I’ll be in the plaza. If there is anything you want to ask regarding the common quests, don’t hesitate to come to me.”
Sungchul left the Preselected behind and left the forest with Yungjong. Yungjong leaned over to him and whispered.
“Uh… s.h.i.+t. I ended up blowing it. That was the one b.i.t.c.h I shouldn’t have hit.”
He had acted instinctively, but there seemed to be a lot of regret remaining.
“Ah… what should I do? s.h.i.+t… Should I apologize later?”
Yungjong turned out to actually be quite a decent guy. His mouth was foul, and his appearance was intimidating, but he always supported his friends. It was rare to find a person like this within the Summoning Palace where everyone’s true face was soon revealed.
“Then why did you step up? I could have dealt with it myself.”
“Ah… but that b.i.t.c.h was so uppity. Really though… I did do it but… whew…”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Didn’t you see him call his guide some s.h.i.+t? The guide probably wants to thank you for dealing with that a.s.shole.”
“R…right? It’d be sweet if that was the case.”
His face relaxed after being rea.s.sured. He had punched out of anger, but it wasn’t enough to calm his anxiety.
“Anyways, Kim hyung. Do you think those kids will actually do as you said? They’re as spoiled as they come.”
“Well, It’s their loss if they don’t. Your example will only be of benefit to them.”
“Okay. Also, let me taste that amazing meat that you were talking about. I’ve only been eating that trashy bread, and I want to chew something which has meat juices flowing.”
“I’m not bragging, but I’m confident in my cooking skills. I’ll be grilling it for dinner, so don’t come crying to me if you’ve filled up on Homunculus bread.”
“Of course. I’ll be waiting!”
Yungjong returned to the training center with his thumb in the air.
Now that Sungchul was alone, he looked around the plaza center a bit. He was looking at the established factions between the average summoned.
‘It’s not enough with just the minority of the preselected. Everyone’s stats has to be raised across the board.’
He looked over the exterior of the people gathered in the plaza with pa.s.sive eyes. He quickly found what he was looking for. That middle-aged office worker that had wanted to gather people to form a group on the first day; he had become the leader of the largest faction in the Blanche Plaza.