SWNOVELXO Chapter 47 - Changing the Dragon Plaque (6)
Chapter 47 Changing the Dragon Plaque (6)
Jerry’s muttering made Yuri tilt his head in confusion.
“A peculiar rumor?”
“Yeah… more like a ghost story.”
“What is it?”
“The special sale items are updated on the 1st of every month. But there’s a rumor that once a year, on January 1st, a special sale board appears for just ten minutes from midnight.”
“A special sale board? What’s that?”
“A special discount sale shop.”
“…Can you stop using weird abbreviations?”
“That’s what everyone calls it. Anyway, it seems that a special sale board appears on January 1st.”
“So, what’s the ghost story? It’s just verified information.”
“Special sale items and special discount sale items vary by year. But…”
“…?”
“On January 1st’s special sale board… there are items exclusively for the first-year cadets. That’s why I called it a ghost story.”
“Why is that? Is that not allowed?”
“The Dragon Plaque changing ends exactly at midnight on January 1st! In history, it has never ended before midnight. Plus, it takes a whole day by black ship to get from the Forest of Beginnings to the mainland of the Cradle!”
“So, first-year cadets can’t set foot on the mainland until at least January 2nd?”
“Exactly! Second-year cadets sometimes give up the Dragon Plaque changing and stay on the mainland to target the special sale board, so I understand having a special sale board for the second-year cadets… But items for first-year cadets? That’s weird, right? And even… cheap.”
“Isn’t it supposed to be a special discount sale? Of course, they’d sell them cheap.”
“No, it’s not just cheap.”
“Then?”
“Items that normally cost hundreds of thousands of points… sold for just thousands or tens of thousands of points.”
“Does that even make sense? Who would do that?”
“…I can’t tell you that.”
“Now you say?”
“Anyway, it’s classified as ‘Upper Standard’ accurate information. It’s high-level information, not just a ghost story.”
There was a brief glimmer in Yuri’s eyes at Jerry’s evasive tone.
However, he didn’t show it and changed the subject.
“If that’s true, the Cradle is openly mocking us. Knowing we can’t buy it, they’re just making us watch and drool?”
“The Cradle likes to play pranks, so it’s quite possible.”
Yuri nodded absentmindedly at Jerry’s words.
Jerry, excited, continued fervently.
“There’s no way a cadet would have enough points to use the special discount sale board.”
Nod.
“Even if someone did, how would they get to the mainland?”
Nod, nod.
“They can’t swim that long distance.”
Nod—
Yuri’s head, which had been nodding absentmindedly, stopped abruptly and tilted to the side.
‘Huh?’
Someone who has enough points.
Someone who can swim to the mainland of the Cradle?
‘That’s…’
Me?
“Honestly, the Cradle has a bit of a malicious tendency…”
Mumble-mumble.
Jerry’s continuous rambling didn’t reach Yuri’s ears, lost in thought.
‘Could that really be true?’
Judging by Jerry’s tone, he seemed quite certain.
‘He did say… [classified as Upper Standard accurate information], right?’
From Jerry’s casually dropped words, Yuri gained a certainty.
‘That means someone is categorizing the information.’
In other words, there might be a group exchanging or selling information among the cadets within the Cradle.
Thinking this, Yuri found Jerry’s ‘ghost story’ about the special sale board somewhat believable.
Of course, that didn’t mean he was without worries.
‘A special discount sale for first-year cadets who haven’t even set foot on the mainland yet…’
Starting from obtaining the information about it.
Gathering at least tens of thousands of points.
And arriving on the mainland by midnight on January 1st.
Any ordinary cadet wouldn’t be able to achieve even one of these.
‘Even I wouldn’t have known about the special sale board if this talkative senior hadn’t mentioned it.’
Was it right to act on such information obtained by chance?
Could he leave the Forest of Beginnings before the test ended?
What about the disadvantages?
Should he just wait quietly for the test to end without doing anything reckless?
Countless thoughts crossed his mind.
‘But the temptation of the bait is too strong to just pass by…’
A chance to buy rare items, usually worth hundreds of thousands or millions of points, at a bargain price.
If the ghost story about the special sale board was true, it was a significant opportunity for Yuri.
An opportunity only Yuri could enjoy.
These thoughts made Yuri’s dilemma even longer.
While he was deep in thought.
‘Wait? What did that one-eyed man say?’
He recalled the five conditions stated by the one-eyed man on the first day of the survival test.
[First, survive for a month. Only those who survive persistently will shed the ‘cadet’ tag and become the 50th generation.]
[Second, killing among cadets is forbidden, but anything else is allowed.]
[Third, the Dragon Plaque each of you carries is your life. Those whose Dragon Plaque is destroyed will be considered dead.]
[Fourth, there is no second chance. Those filtered out here should never look at the land of the Cradle again.]
[Lastly, for those who want to give up, ring the bell over there. We’ll send you back home to your mom and dad safely. Hehehe.]
And the final words he left.
[Remember, only those who survive until January 1st will set foot on the true land of the Cradle!]
The one-eyed man had said just that and disappeared.
In other words, those were the only rules the Cradle had set for the Forest of Beginnings.
‘Not once did he say leaving the forest would result in disqualification.’
The conditions for elimination were only two.
Ringing the bell or having one’s Dragon Plaque destroyed.
With that, Yuri’s dilemma was resolved.
“Upcha.”
With a decision made, Yuri smiled and stood up.
“Ouch.”
After squatting for a long time talking to Jerry, Yuri patted his numb thighs.
He loosened his legs and back lightly and grabbed the sword he had placed on the ground.
Shrrk-.
The sword blade emitting a gentle white light was revealed.
Jerry, who had been talking non-stop until then, turned pale at the sight of the sword.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“……”
“You said you’d let me go if I told you everything!”
Was he going to dispose of him now that he had gotten all the information?
Jerry’s thoughts were written all over his face.
Without a word, Yuri moved his sword.
“D-damn!”
As the blade approached slowly, Jerry shut his eyes tightly.
And.
Shhk-.
The expected pain didn’t come.
Hearing a sound nearby, Jerry cautiously opened his eyes.
Seeing that, Yuri chuckled.
“Scaredy-cat.”
“……”
“Don’t move. Stay still so you don’t get cut.”
Shhk, shhk-.
Yuri’s white steel sword swiftly dug into the ground.
Jerry, feeling embarrassed, watched the blade busy digging around him.
“If you were going to dig the ground, you should have told me… You scared me.”
Whether Jerry grumbled or not, Yuri kept moving.
When he dug the hole down to Jerry’s stomach, the ropes binding him appeared. Yuri cut a few strands and asked.
“So, Senior Jerry, what will you do if I free you?”
Suddenly calling him senior, Yuri’s tone made Jerry even more flustered.
“If you free me? Well… I’ll continue participating in the Dragon Plaque changing? I need to earn points.”
“Really?”
Yuri’s eyes glinted mischievously at his answer.
But that glint soon disappeared.
Yuri spoke casually.
“Then, should I give you some good information?”
“Information? What kind of information?”
“About a first-year cadet with a lot of points.”
“…?”
“I bet most of the first-year cadets with the Dragon Plaque roaming this forest are empty shells. All the other 49th cadets are probably coming up empty-handed.”
“How do you know that?”
At that question, Yuri paused and took out his points pouch, opening it slightly.
As soon as the mouth of the pouch opened, a faint silver light shone.
“Gasp?!”
Jerry’s pupils dilated at the sight of the heavy pouch, clearly holding an unusual amount.
In a bewildered voice, he asked.
“Is that… all points?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, my God! How much is it?”
“Guess? Curious?”
Nod, nod-.
As Jerry quickly nodded, Yuri spoke generously.
“Roughly… most of the points distributed to the first-year cadets with the Dragon Plaque are in here.”
“Most of the points distributed to the first-year cadets…?”
Jerry did a rough calculation, muttering to himself.
Among the 500 cadets, assuming 450 were first-year cadets, multiplied by 500.
It was a substantial amount, enough to not worry about points for a while.
‘If I could get that…’
A hint of greed appeared in Jerry’s eyes.
‘But could I take those points from him?’
With that thought, the greed disappeared.
In a flat voice, Jerry asked.
“How did you gather that?”
“I can’t tell you that. So, are you interested in my information?”
“I’m interested, but…”
Of course, he was interested.
If Yuri’s words were true, it meant the chances of finding points outside were slim.
Plus, he mentioned the cadets with the Dragon Plaque.
‘Even if not all cadets are like him… it’s risky to target those with the Gold Dragon Plaque or Platinum Dragon Plaque
.’
Since being caught by Yuri, Jerry’s initial confidence had vanished.
He thought it better to target cadets with the Yellow Dragon Plaque or Silver Dragon Plaque.
Yuri’s proposal was very tempting for him.
However, the problem was…
“…Why? Why would you give me that information for free? What’s your motive?”
That was the issue with Yuri, the lunatic.
Jerry prided himself on having a good eye for people.
And this guy didn’t seem pure in his intentions.
There was no way he would offer information for free.
Jerry’s suspicious gaze made Yuri shrug.
“Of course, it’s not free.”
“…What do you want?”
“It’s nothing much. Just a simple favor later? That’s all.”
“No way…”
Hearing ‘favor,’ Jerry immediately wanted to refuse without a second thought.
It was never a good idea to owe a crazy guy.
The less connection with a lunatic, the better.
So, Jerry was going to firmly reject.
If he hadn’t heard Yuri’s casual comment.
“Three people.”
“…?”
“The first-year cadets with a lot of points I’m going to tell you about are three in total.”
“…?!”
“If you gather their points, it’ll be quite a sum. Easily four digits?”
“…!”
Jerry’s pupils trembled.
‘Three people? Four-digit points?’
It was a significant temptation.
‘That’s at least 1,000 points… If I quickly catch those three and spend the remaining time robbing other cadets, I could make a decent haul.’
Having already wasted a lot of time being interrogated by Yuri, he didn’t know how many points he could gather if he started now.
‘What should I do…?’
A simple favor from a lunatic.
Or the chance to efficiently and securely gather four-digit points.
As Jerry’s dilemma grew, Yuri’s soft voice reached him.
“Uselessly long deliberation only fills someone else’s points pouch.”
“…?!”
“If you don’t act quickly, another 49th cadet will beat you to it. Tick-tock, tick-tock-.”
There was no phrase more effective at clouding a buyer’s judgment than ‘Last chance, sale ending soon!’
The ticking sound from Yuri’s mouth made Jerry anxious.
“Ugh!”
Crack-.
Snap-.
Rattle-.
With a growl, Jerry broke the already loosened ropes.
At the same time, his arm popped out of the dirt.
Jerry, with gleaming eyes, reached out to Yuri.
“Alright! I’ll accept your deal!”
Yuri shook his dirt-covered hand, smiling broadly.
“A wise choice, senior!”
* * *
Clang-.
As the pouch that had been floating in the air landed in his hand, Jerry’s past recollection ended.
Leaving behind the collapsed Eric, he moved again.
“That’s the second one.”
Before meeting this Eric, he had already robbed another cadet, gaining quite a few points from him.
In total, he now had over 2,000 points.
Jerry smiled contentedly.
‘Honestly, I thought that bastard might be scamming me…’
But the story about first-year cadets with a lot of points was true.
Unaware that Yuri had headed south, Jerry looked toward Yuri’s hiding place and spoke slightly apologetically.
“You might have a bad personality, but… you were quite trustworthy?”
* * *
“…I wonder if our naive Senior Jerry is running around like crazy?”
Having successfully shaken off Theresia, Yuri looked up at the sky and muttered.