I’m Here to End This Fight

Chapter 43 Changing the Dragon Plaque (2)

As Yuri smiled, a boy appeared at the end of the passage.

Golden hair like honey, dark brown eyes.

At first glance, his appearance seemed ordinary.

He was wearing black clothing, identical to what the cadets wore.

“Cough, cough. No, seriously… I just wanted to take a quick break. What’s with all this chaos?”

Dusting off the debris from breaking through the traps, the boy grumbled continuously.

Yuri, who had been silently observing the intruder, tilted his head.

‘A cadet?’

But then, he shook his head.

‘No, different.’

Though the clothes were the same, the boy had yellow epaulettes on his shoulders.

Moreover, the epaulettes were stained and worn, as if they had been used for a long time.

‘As if he’s been using them for a long time.’

There was also an inexplicable sense of ease about the boy.

As Yuri continued to observe, the intruder stepped into the firelight and stared into the darkness of the cave.

“I know you’re all there.”

Saying so, the boy raised his sword.

It was a peculiar-shaped sword, like an enlarged awl.

With the sharp end of the sword pointed towards the darkness, the boy smirked.

“Hey, when a senior arrives, you should hurry out to greet them. You’re quite the rude junior.”

The intruder stood there with the sword pointed into the darkness.

A moment of silence ensued.

“Huh… Um… Is this not the right place?”

As no response came despite his wait, the intruder’s expression grew awkward.

Whoosh-.

A sudden gust of wind made the firelight flicker violently.

At that moment.

“Who are you looking at, junior?”

“…?!”

Startled by the voice from directly behind him, the intruder spun around, and in the process, the precarious fire was finally extinguished.

The cave was plunged into pitch-black darkness.

Within that darkness….

Clang- Bang-.

The sound of metal and a bursting noise echoed in quick succession, followed by complete silence.

* * *

Time passed.

Inside the cave where a campfire roared.

Tremble-.

Jerry Bee’s eyelids, which had been tightly shut in deep sleep, quivered slightly.

It was a sign that he was regaining consciousness.

As he awoke from the deep abyss, a terrible pain radiated from the back of his head.

“Ugh…”

Despite not being fully conscious, the pain was intense enough to elicit a groan from him.

Thanks to the pain, Jerry quickly regained full awareness.

Finally, his eyes opened.

“Ugh…”

The first thing his gradually clearing vision captured was a ‘blood-stained rock’ right in front of him.

Blink, blink-.

“…”

Even in his dazed state, Jerry instinctively knew that the blood-stained rock had been used to strike the back of his head.

However, there was one problem.

‘Why… does it look like this?’

The rock on the ground looked perfectly horizontal to his eyes.

If he had just regained consciousness after being knocked out, he should have seen the ceiling first, or the world should have appeared sideways if he were lying down.

But the rock was lying flat on the ground, right in front of his nose!

This was like…

‘If I were looking at the world from the ground with my head severed, it would look like this, wouldn’t it?’

As this thought crossed his mind, his dazed state vanished.

Simultaneously, he realized that he couldn’t move his body below his neck, and his face turned pale.

“No way?! Is my head really severed?!”

But how could a severed head remain alive?

Gaining a bit of rationality, he realized he still had feeling below his neck.

A few seconds later, Jerry understood his situation and laughed faintly.

“Heh… So, I was just buried alive.”

Buried deep underground with only his head sticking out.

That was Jerry’s current situation.

‘Thank goodness. Being buried alive is better than being decapitated or paralyzed.’

A year ago, he wouldn’t have been this calm in such a situation.

But a year spent in the Dragon’s Cradle had raised his tolerance to a level where he could think, ‘Thank goodness,’ even in this situation.

Still, it was his first time being buried alive.

‘Can I escape?’

Jerry tried to wiggle his limbs and grimaced.

‘Damn it… They didn’t just bury me; they tied me up before burying me.’

Jerry, slightly annoyed, continued to struggle diligently to escape.

He tried moving his limbs with all his might.

After even attempting to use mana, Jerry could only shout in frustration.

“How on earth did they bury me so well that I can’t move an inch?!”

Despite all his efforts, the ground he was buried in didn’t budge.

If there were a master at burying people, the person who buried him must be a grandmaster.

“Sigh…”

Ultimately, Jerry sighed deeply, giving up on everything.

He stared at the ceiling and murmured miserably.

“…Where did it all go wrong?”

Where had things gone astray to lead him here?

Jerry slowly reflected on his past.

‘I was certainly lucky all week.’

Sometimes there are days when everything goes your way.

For Jerry, the past few days had been those kinds of days.

He had found 500 points while walking down the road.

A small enlightenment, which had eluded him for months, suddenly came, allowing him to progress a step further.

And, as if in perfect timing, he received news that the Dragon Plaque Renewal, which he had been eagerly awaiting, was moved up a day.

Everything was falling into place.

Jerry felt as if the world revolved around him.

With such a great feeling, the Dragon Plaque Renewal began.

Whoosh-.

As he looked at the Forest of Beginnings he had returned to after a year, Jerry felt a strong premonition.

‘I think something big is going to happen this time.’

The streak of good luck continued.

He felt that his luck would shine even in this Dragon Plaque Renewal.

‘I might even be able to replace my Dragon Plaque this time!’

He couldn’t be satisfied with the Silver Dragon Plaque forever.

He aimed to switch to a Gold Dragon Plaque with this opportunity!

‘If not that, then I hope for a jackpot in points!’

Even better would be a cadet with a Gold Dragon Plaque carrying lots of points.

And he had a good feeling that it would happen to him.

With light steps, Jerry headed toward the Forest of Beginnings.

But the weather was the problem.

As the snowstorm grew fiercer, Jerry sought to take shelter for a while… and then.

Thud-.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, the ground beneath him gave way, revealing an entrance to an underground cave.

As if guiding him to enter.

‘Oh!’

Brightly smiling at his luck, Jerry entered the underground cave.

Soon, his face hardened.

‘These are traces of someone blocking the entrance on purpose?’

Finding the underground cave was entirely unexpected.

In the vast Forest of Beginnings.

He had stepped precisely on a spot just one meter in diameter, where a makeshift door made of branches and leaves was located.

Normally, it would be impossible to find such an entrance by chance.

But he found it.

He focused his mana on his eyes and looked straight ahead.

Then, the dark passage came into faint view.

A passage about 2 meters wide and high.

It seemed quite deep as the darkness thickened further back.

‘There’s a place like this in the Forest of Beginnings?’

It was obviously a significant place.

Moreover, someone had deliberately blocked the entrance.

‘Interesting?’

It would be strange not to feel curiosity and anticipation.

Furthermore, the branches used for the makeshift door were not fully dried.

This meant the cave had a new owner not long ago.

‘So, the owner of this cave must be a cadet who arrived this time!’

Sshing-.

Drawing his sword, Jerry cautiously entered the passage.

And then.

‘Whoa, I was startled!’

A battle with traps began.

Snap- Clang!

Sudden flying stones.

Whoosh- Thwack!

Branches swinging at his ankles.

Bang!

Buried logs suddenly popping out of the ground.

There were countless traps, their mechanisms unknown.

‘Well, it’s flashy but not particularly threatening.’

Jerry quickly dismantled the traps, and his excitement grew.

‘The owner of this cave… isn’t an ordinary cadet.’

Would a mere Yellow Dragon Plaque holder set up such traps?

Impossible.

Jerry’s eyes sparkled.

‘It must be a Gold Dragon Plaque holder!’

With the experience he had gained over a year in the Cradle and his peak condition today, he felt confident he could handle a cadet with a Gold Dragon Plaque.

With eager anticipation, he moved toward the end of the passage, where a faint light was visible.

Upon arrival…

[Who are you looking at, junior?]

Bang!

His head was ruthlessly struck from behind.

Throb- Throb-.

As the pain in his head resurfaced with the memory of the past, Jerry grimaced.

“That bastard, attacking sneakily…”

Cursing the guy who had emerged from the darkness, Jerry suddenly flinched.

His face hardened slightly.

‘If it weren’t a sneak attack… Could I have blocked it?’

Though he couldn’t pinpoint the exact location due to the deep darkness, he was sure the guy had been right in front of him.

But…

‘I was instantly outflanked.’

He had no idea when the guy moved.

Or how he ended up behind him.

He had completely missed the enemy’s movements.

‘A cadet managed to flank me?’

Though he had the Silver Dragon Plaque, he was confident he could easily earn a Gold Dragon Plaque if he took the Cradle’s test again.

Yet, he was instantly subdued and buried alive, even if he had reacted late and blocked one attack.

Jerry laughed in disbelief.

“Damn, I thought I was lucky these past few days…”

It seemed his luck had run out.

Or maybe his luck had been too good.

“Sigh, I would’ve been fine with a Gold Dragon Plaque, but I ran into a Platinum Dragon Plaque holder.”

Although the Platinum Dragon Plaque and Gold Dragon Plaque were only one tier apart, it was generally believed that even five Gold Dragon Plaque holders couldn’t handle one Platinum Dragon Plaque holder.

Especially during the cadet period.

The gap widened with time, and Platinum Dragon Plaque holders gradually became untouchable monsters.

In other words, Platinum Dragon Plaque holders were on a different level from the cadet stage.

Jerry hadn’t been concerned about encountering them due to their scarcity.

Only five or fewer among the yearly Cradle entrants held the Platinum Dragon Plaque.

In this vast Forest of Beginnings, the odds of meeting one were slim.

But his luck had been extraordinary.

He had run into a suspected Platinum Dragon Plaque holder right away.

“Sigh… Even good luck is a problem now.”

A premonition that something big would happen?

“It did, my head got smashed.”

As Jerry sighed in exasperation…

“Why? What’s bothering you?”

Suddenly, black hair dangled in front of him, and a pale face appeared upside down.

Who wouldn’t be startled if someone’s face suddenly appeared upside down right in front of them without a sound?

Jerry screamed in shock.

“Ahhh!”

So surprised that he almost had a seizure, Jerry’s eyes rolled back.

If he hadn’t been buried, he would’ve flopped like a freshly caught fish.

Meanwhile, the dark figure moved past Jerry’s head.

Tap-.

Seeing the shoes in front of him, Jerry shouted.

“D-damn it, you almost gave me a heart attack! Move more quietly!”

“Why should I?”

…Right, why should he?

Having nothing to say, Jerry responded awkwardly.

“Wouldn’t it be better?”

“If you couldn’t detect me, isn’t that your problem? I was behind you the whole time.”

“…Since when?”

“Since you shouted, ‘No way?! Is my head really severed?!’”

“…So you’ve been there since I woke up?”

“Yep.”

“…”

Detecting presence is a skill.

Failing to notice someone so close meant he had no excuses.

Jerry closed his mouth and looked at the person squatting in front of him.

A face hidden by long hair.

A defiant mouth matching his posture.

Feeling a chill, Jerry spoke awkwardly.

“Haha, my nameless junior?”

“Why, nameless senior.”

“Well, I am your senior, so…”

“Are you really a senior? What kind of senior is so weak?”

“I… I am a senior.”

“A senior? Do seniors sneak around trying to stab?”

“Well… In the Cradle, that’s normal… And when did I sneak around…”

Even if he wanted to assert his seniority, it was hard to do so while buried in the ground after being overpowered.

Seeing Jerry’s sullen expression, Yuri clicked his tongue and asked.

“Tsk, so what’s the nameless senior’s name?”

“Jerry Bee.”

“Which class?”

“…Class 49.”

“Second year?”

“Yes.”

“Really Class 49?”

“Really…”

Jerry’s pleading eyes finally convinced Yuri.

“Alright.”

“…”

“So what brings a second-year here? You didn’t come for a picnic.”

“That’s…”

Jerry shut his mouth at Yuri’s question.

It was embarrassing enough to be subdued by a cadet; he couldn’t spill everything.

His peers would mock him forever if they found out.

‘Especially that bastard Humphrey!’

The test ended in two days.

He could escape or find another way by then.

Suffering for two days was better than enduring Humphrey’s teasing for life.

With that thought, Jerry clamped his mouth shut.

Yuri smirked, seeing Jerry’s reluctance to speak.

“Ah, so you have too much pride as a senior to tell me?”

“…”

“Really?”

“…”

“Fine.”

Seeing no sign of Jerry talking, Yuri didn’t press further.

“Hehehe.”

Instead, he laughed ominously and disappeared from Jerry’s sight.