SWNOVELXO Chapter 116 - Veteran (3)
Chapter 116: Veteran (3)
Three members of the 50th group were walking through the forest.
These three were none other than Nellie Blanc, Pana Taylor, and Ivan Baskin.
Seeing that combination, some might have looked on with curious eyes.
It was understandable that Nellie Blanc and Pana Taylor were already on friendly terms.
But Ivan Baskin, who looked rather delinquent and unsociable, hanging out with them?
Anyone would have thought it odd to see those three together.
In fact, Ivan and Pana had even had a small argument during last month’s evaluation.
But surprisingly, the reason these three started hanging out was because of Pana and Ivan.
The two had clashed several times after the last evaluation.
They continued to bicker constantly.
Then, as if to prove that people bond through fighting, they suddenly began to stick together.
And since the two were always together, Nellie, who was already friends with Pana, naturally became part of the group.
“Are you sure this is the right way?”
“Yeah, if we keep going this way, we’ll reach the Mechanism Breakthrough Quest site.”
“Are you certain?”
“I confirmed it for sure.”
“Hmm?”
“What’s with that suspicious look? Are you saying you don’t trust the information I gathered?”
“Hmm?”
“…Staring at someone like that without saying anything can make them uncomfortable, you know.”
“Hmm?”
“I said stop it…”
Once again, Pana and Ivan were bickering as they walked, not slowing down for a moment. Watching them, Nellie tilted her head, intrigued.
‘Those two… They don’t seem to match, but they actually get along quite well, don’t they?’
Pana Taylor appeared to be gentle and docile.
Ivan Baskin, on the other hand, seemed prickly, like he was always ready to pick a fight.
However, from what Nellie could observe, the two actually had similar temperaments.
Pana, who seemed gentle, had a hidden sharpness.
And Ivan surprisingly handled Pana’s sharpness quite well, showing a gentle side of his own.
However, because both had slightly prickly personalities, there were occasional awkward moments between them, and Nellie naturally took on the role of mediator.
“Hmm?”
“I told you to stop doing that.”
Nellie intervened between the two, who were glaring at each other.
She skillfully managed to restore balance.
“Come on, Ivan. Are you really sulking over something so trivial? You’re not a child, are you?”
“…A child?”
“Pana, I was right there when Ivan was gathering information, you know? If you oversleep and arrive late, you should just quietly follow along, shouldn’t you?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
Nellie’s intervention quickly eased the tension that had begun to build.
It was clear who the glue holding the three of them together was.
After that, they continued their light bickering as they walked along the forest path, as if nothing had happened.
After walking for some time, they finally emerged from the forest and saw a towering cliff in the distance.
At this sight, Nellie and Ivan, who had gathered the information, brightened.
“That must be it.”
“It’s just like we heard—a cliff.”
Having finally reached their destination, Nellie looked around.
‘Is that the Mechanism Breakthrough Quest site that I’ve only heard about?’
The information provided by the Quest Distribution Center about the Mechanism Breakthrough Quest was incredibly sparse.
The difficulty level could range from 2 stars to 7 stars.
The rewards were also variable, with the only instruction being to check the site to find out more.
A bigger problem was that the Cradle didn’t even tell them where the quest sites were.
As a result, the Mechanism Breakthrough Quest wasn’t particularly popular among the cadets, who were too busy adapting after recently entering the Cradle.
However…
‘The situation has changed recently.’
After the end-of-month evaluation:
[If you don’t want to be expelled, you need points… a lot of points!]
As cadets became more aware of how important points were, their perception of quests began to change as well.
Those who had been satisfied with earning 1,000 points from completing 0-star, or no-star, quests started eyeing higher-level quests.
And what caught the attention of these cadets was the 2-star to 7-star Mechanism Breakthrough Quest.
‘How many points could I earn from a 7-star quest?’
The potential points to be earned from a 7-star quest became the focus, leading to increased interest in the Mechanism Breakthrough Quest.
As a result, more cadets began searching for the Mechanism Breakthrough Quest.
Nellie and her group, having stumbled upon related information, finally found the quest site after some trials and tribulations.
Of course, their goal was no different from the others.
‘If I can get the reward from a 7-star quest… I could easily rank in the top tier during this month’s evaluation.’
Nellie was determined to complete the quest and earn a large number of points.
Pana and Ivan shared the same thoughts.
With dreams of striking it rich, they pressed on.
And then…
“Huh?”
Pana, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped.
Nellie and Ivan, following behind, also came to a halt.
“What is it?”
“Is something wrong?”
At their questions, Pana furrowed her brow and let out a small groan.
“Hmm…”
As time passed, Pana’s frown deepened.
She tilted her head in confusion.
“Is that… a person?”
“What?”
“What is?”
Pana pointed towards the cliff.
Nellie and Ivan followed her gaze, and soon, they saw it too.
In the distance, about halfway up the cliff, a small figure was waving at them.
Nellie and Ivan’s brows furrowed as well.
“Hmm… It does seem like a person.”
“Looks like it.”
As the two agreed, Pana grew even more puzzled.
“But why is that person waving at us?”
“…Who knows?”
“Maybe they’re not waving at us specifically?”
“Could be?”
While they were engaged in this puzzled discussion, the black figure on the cliff suddenly leaped down.
It then began to run quickly toward the three of them.
“Huh?”
“Hm?”
“Huh? They’re coming this way!”
The three of them were startled by the sudden situation.
They calmly placed their hands on their weapons, ready to respond if the approaching figure turned out to be hostile.
As the rapidly approaching figure grew larger, they finally recognized who it was.
“Huh? That person?”
“…It’s him, right?”
“Seems like it? Yuri Holland.”
The person running toward them was none other than Yuri Holland, the one known as the Tenth Black Dragon Plaque Holder.
All three were puzzled by Yuri’s sudden appearance.
And they had good reason to be.
Not only was it strange that Yuri Holland had suddenly appeared, but also the fact that someone they had never even spoken to before was running toward them.
But what was even more unusual…
‘Why is he smiling so warmly?’
Yuri was smiling at them with a face full of delight.
Seeing Yuri’s bright smile, Nellie and Pana’s eyes softened slightly.
‘Smiling like that with that face… That’s unfair, isn’t it?’
‘Ah… I feel healed.’
As if they had never been on guard, the two girls’ wariness melted away.
They were completely disarmed.
Only Ivan, barely holding onto his slipping caution, glared at Yuri.
And soon after…
“Hey there, hello!”
Yuri greeted them as he reached the group.
He asked in a very friendly and gentle tone, quite unlike his usual self.
“Are you here for the Mechanism Breakthrough Quest too?”
“Oh? Oh oh!”
“R-right?”
Nellie and Pana nodded as if they were under a spell.
Ivan, on the other hand, just nodded slightly with a cautious expression.
Seeing their reactions, Yuri smiled and gestured for them to follow.
“Come along.”
He then turned around and started walking away with long strides.
“……?”
The three of them stared blankly at Yuri’s back, bewildered by the sudden situation.
They exchanged glances for a moment.
‘Doesn’t seem like he means any harm, right?’
‘Yeah, seems that way. What should we do?’
‘Let’s just follow him for now.’
After a brief exchange, the three of them quietly followed Yuri.
And from that moment on, Yuri began explaining things to them in a friendly manner.
“See that building over there? That is…”
He started explaining the uses of the temporary buildings, the ranking board, and the rewards.
Yuri, moving along with the three of them, explained everything he knew in place of the sleeping Peter.
About 15 minutes later.
“Alright, now let’s head this way.”
The three of them, who had been listening absentmindedly to Yuri’s explanations, followed him again, as if drawn by his beckoning gesture.
This time, Yuri led them to the entrance of a green cave.
“This is the Green Cave. It’s a 2-star difficulty cave, so it’s often called the 2-star Cave.”
Yuri pointed inside the cave as he continued explaining.
“Before you go in, you press the start button, then go all the way inside and come back out to stop the clock. It’s not that difficult, right?”
“……”
“Even though there are quite a few traps, the cave isn’t very deep, so don’t worry too much. You’ll get the hang of it after a few tries.”
“……”
The three of them listened in silence to Yuri’s overly kind explanation.
Unable to suppress the rising questions any longer, Nellie spoke up on behalf of the group.
“Um… hey?”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you being… so nice to us?”
Yuri had a sudden realization at Nellie’s question.
‘Ah… So that’s what it was!’
It was the same question he had once asked Theresia.
And only now did he begin to understand why Theresia had been so kind to him.
‘Wasn’t Tetscha here for five months?’
If he was feeling this way after only ten days, he could only imagine how bored Theresia must have been.
How glad she must have been to see a new recruit.
Now, Yuri could fully understand how she had felt back then.
So he gave them the same answer Theresia had once given him.
“Just because.”
“…What?”
“I’m just being nice, no particular reason.”
“……?”
Seeing the same confused expressions he had once had, Yuri laughed.
Then, he pointed a finger up at the sky.
No, to be precise, at the very top of the cliff.
“Oh, and there’s a cave with a red entrance up there. It’s a bit dangerous.”
“Dangerous? How dangerous?”
“To the point where you might not make it out.”
Panicked by Yuri’s words, Pana’s eyes widened.
“D-did someone die in there?”
“Yeah, I’ve seen two, but there might be more. Anyway, that’s not important, so let’s move on.”
“Wait, if people died, how is that not important…?”
“Heh, everyone dies eventually. Don’t worry too much about it.”
“……”
“Alright, let me tell you something good. This is top-tier information! Normally, I’d charge points for it, but since I’m in a good mood today, I’ll tell you for free!”
“…What is it?”
“Listen carefully. Once you enter the Green Cave, the floor will collapse 0.3 seconds after the start, and a metal ball will fly at you from a 47-degree angle. When that happens…”
Yuri, clearly excited, explained in detail how the traps were triggered, how they worked, and how to avoid them.
He wanted to make sure these new recruits wouldn’t leave too soon.
“After dodging that, an arrow will fly 0.2 seconds later, so you have to move about 15 cm to the left…”
The three of them exchanged glances as they listened to Yuri’s long-winded explanations.
‘…What is he talking about?’
‘I have no idea…’
‘How does he even calculate the angles and timing of these traps?’
Although they were utterly confused, they pretended to listen because Yuri was being so detailed and kind.
Yuri ended up sharing about 5 out of 100 traps’ activation times and how to deal with them, then asked brightly,
“So, what do you think? Easy, right?”
“……”
The three of them nodded slightly.
Of course, they didn’t nod because they understood.
They just wanted to escape from this uncomfortable kindness as quickly as possible.
But perhaps it was thanks to this kindness.
The three of them found themselves thinking the same thing about Yuri.
‘Yuri Holland might not be such a bad guy after all?’
In that fleeting moment of misconception…
“Oh, and I’ve got about 95 more pieces of information like this, so feel free to come by anytime if you want to hear more. Although, I might charge a few points next time.”
…Is he really not a bad guy?
Seeing Yuri wink at them, the three quickly corrected their thoughts.
Since the arrival of the new recruits.
They never came looking for Yuri to buy new information.
But maybe because of Yuri’s kindness.
Or perhaps because the new recruits were special.
They were steadily making progress through the Green Cave.
‘These new recruits might actually stick around.’
Yuri, who had been energized by the hard work of the new recruits, was burning with determination.
‘Alright, I should work even harder.’
Fueled by his newfound resolve, Yuri spent day and night challenging every empty cave.
The more he challenged himself, the more he could feel the 10-second barrier gradually lowering.
On the 12th day of his challenge.
As usual, Yuri was challenging the Green Cave.
He checked the stopped needle at the 10th mark and his eyes sparkled.
‘Almost there.’
He was sure he could hit the 10-second mark on his next attempt.
Just as he was brimming with confidence.
Swish- Tap!
A score sheet popped out.
He unfolded it absentmindedly, expecting to see 199 points again.
Instead of a score, there was a single line written on it.
[You damn bastard, let me go home!]
“……?”
Yuri blinked in surprise, suddenly cursed at out of nowhere.