SWNOVELXO Chapter 77 - Collecting Hides (3)
Chapter 77: Collecting Hides (3)
Creaaak— Thud!
A sound echoed from behind.
Several people who saw the entrance to the Animal Forest closing muttered with grim expressions.
“…This reminds me of the Forest of Beginnings.”
“What trouble are they stirring up this time?”
The 300 cadets cautiously advanced.
Just as they were about to step into the outskirts of the Animal Forest—
Halt.
The footsteps of the 50th batch naturally came to a stop.
What stopped them was none other than a male cadet wearing a yellow epaulet.
“A-A senior from the 49th batch.”
“W-Why is he here?”
A senior from the 49th batch had appeared out of nowhere.
Those who remembered the nightmare of the Changing of the Dragon Plaque instinctively froze.
However, those who were slightly calmer soon noticed something strange.
“What… is that?”
“…Rabbit ears?”
On the head of the 49th batch senior.
There was a long, white headband with rabbit ears attached to it.
As everyone blinked at the bizarre and strange sight, the 49th batch cadet with rabbit ears averted his gaze to the side.
Then, gritting his teeth, he muttered just one word.
“K-Kkangchung.”
“……”
For a moment, silence lingered.
Then, another word was spoken.
“…Kkangchung.”
Various emotions flickered in the eyes of those who heard it.
‘That bastard, he’s embarrassed, isn’t he?’
‘Ah, how disgusting.’
Disbelieving stares and clearly disdainful gazes flew from all directions, causing the ears of the 49th batch cadet to turn beet red.
In the end, unable to endure any longer, he…
“Kkangchung!”
…turned around and began to flee.
As they blankly stared at the retreating figure, a few people exchanged bewildered words.
“So, the 49th batch is the rabbit? That… 49th batch?”
“If it’s a rabbit, then it’s definitely prey we should be hunting, right?”
“…That’s right?”
At that moment, someone asked a question to no one in particular.
“Did you see earlier? He wasn’t even carrying a weapon. Since rabbits are herbivores… they can’t attack us, can they?”
“……”
A brief silence followed that remark.
In the quiet, everyone thought the same thing.
‘I don’t quite understand what’s going on, but…’
One thing was certain.
‘This is our chance to settle the score for that day!’
The memories of being tormented as prey by the 49th batch during the Changing of the Dragon Plaque resurfaced vividly.
And so, someone shouted loudly.
“Catch that bastard!”
Immediately, dozens of cadets rushed forward, chasing after a single rabbit.
“Wooohooo!”
“Get him!”
With strange cries filling the air, the full-scale hide collection began.
With a roar!
Like soldiers charging toward the enemy with high morale.
Or as if possessed by something, the cadets of the 50th batch dashed into the forest, chasing after the rabbit-man.
Of course, not everyone did this.
The ones who charged into the Animal Forest numbered less than 100.
About 200 of the 300 cadets remained quietly observing the situation from behind.
Yuri was among that group.
‘The Cradle is up to something strange again.’
They were told to collect hides and assumed that beasts had been released.
But in reality, it turned out that people dressed as beasts had been released instead.
Finally, it made sense.
‘Well, otherwise, that flimsy fence wouldn’t make any sense.’
As Yuri suspected, the flimsy fence that couldn’t even stop a rabbit wasn’t meant to confine beasts but to demarcate boundaries.
‘Hmm… So in the end, what we need to catch are not beasts but people.’
The bespectacled man had mentioned that there were five animals in this Animal Forest.
Rabbit, deer, wolf, bear, and tiger.
‘This must have been designed to make it difficult to catch them, right?’
The 1,000-point rabbit was a member of the 49th batch.
Then what kind of animals were those with higher points?
Especially the 5-million-point tiger.
It was obvious that this might be something they weren’t meant to catch in the first place.
‘There’s no way the Cradle would give away points so easily.’
Yuri clicked his tongue as he surveyed his surroundings.
Even after the initial rush, many were cautiously entering the forest.
Around 100 cadets remained, those who had become more cautious after realizing what the Cradle was really like.
They were wary of whatever tricks the Cradle might have up its sleeve and were recruiting allies rather than rushing in recklessly.
‘It’s safer to cooperate than to move alone. But the problem is that they’ll have to share the points…’
For Yuri, it wasn’t something he was particularly keen on.
‘Where are those guys?’
Looking around, neither Arin nor Poppy were in sight.
‘Did they really get upset?’
Or perhaps they had given up.
Yuri had expected them to approach and propose cooperation, but it seemed they were either operating individually or sticking together.
It wasn’t a bad situation for Yuri, who didn’t want to get involved in troublesome matters.
“Alright, I guess I should get moving too…”
Just as Yuri was about to head into the forest before it was too late, he paused as something occurred to him.
‘Wait… If the animals in here are from the 49th batch…’
At that moment, a scene flashed through Yuri’s mind.
Theresia hesitated when explaining the hide collection quest.
Then she avoided answering and eventually fled.
‘…No way?’
A small suspicion arose, and soon it turned into certainty, curling Yuri’s lips into a sly smile.
“This is going to be interesting. I should go tease our dear Tetscha-senpai.”
With that, Yuri’s run into the forest was as light and joyful as a rabbit’s.
A single rabbit-man was sprinting through the forest.
Behind him, dozens of cadets from the 50th batch were in hot pursuit.
With their eyes bulging in madness, they shouted at the top of their lungs.
“Catch him no matter what!”
“If we catch you, we’ll definitely skin you alive!”
Although skinning was indeed the goal, given the circumstances, it sounded truly gruesome.
The chase continued for a while, but the distance between them and the rabbit didn’t seem to close.
In fact, those who couldn’t keep up with the rabbit’s speed began to fall behind, leaving only a dozen or so still in pursuit.
“Damn it! How is this rabbit so fast?!”
“Rabbits are supposed to be fast, aren’t they?”
The rabbit-man darted through the forest, weaving this way and that.
Seeing that they were about to lose him, the 50th batch cadets widened their encirclement.
‘Drive him into a corner!’
‘Don’t let him escape!’
Focusing all their efforts on cornering the 49th batch rabbit, they finally succeeded.
“Got him.”
“Hehehe, you’re not getting away now.”
At last, the dozen or so cadets from the 50th batch managed to trap the rabbit-man within their encirclement.
The face of the 49th batch rabbit-man clearly showed signs of panic.
“K-Kkangchung.”
He tried to find a gap to escape through, but every time, he was blocked by the 50th batch cadets.
“Hehe, now then, dear senior… I mean, Mr. Rabbit? Would you kindly hand over that hide?”
As the encirclement closed in tighter and tighter, the 49th batch rabbit-man was filled with despair.
No matter where he looked, he couldn’t find any way out.
Just as he let out a long sigh and was about to give up—
Moo-ooo!
A sudden sound made the 50th batch cadets look around in confusion.
On the other hand, the face of the 49th batch rabbit-man brightened.
Moo-ooo!
The sound came again.
And with it, someone emerged from the bushes at the side of the encirclement.
“Moo! Aha, who dares to bully our cute little rabbit?!”
The figure who appeared while making the strange mooing sound caused the cadets who had formed the encirclement to tilt their heads in confusion.
“…Horns?”
This newcomer was also a member of the 49th batch, wearing a yellow epaulet.
A muscular, burly man from the 49th batch.
However, he was wearing a headband with deer antlers made of twigs.
“…Are those deer antlers?”
“Looks like it.”
“But why is a deer mooing? Isn’t that a goat?”
“How would I know? Maybe deer moo too.”
A brief debate ensued over the mooing deer-man and his strange cry.
Then, one person cut in with a sharp comment.
“You idiots, if you were going to question something, you should’ve started with this! Have you ever seen a rabbit say ‘Kkangchung’?”
“…Right? You’re actually pretty smart.”
As the debate over the mooing ended, they turned their attention to the newly arrived deer.
“He’s got a weapon.”
Unlike the rabbit who was unarmed, this deer was holding a weapon.
However, since his arrival, he hadn’t drawn it.
He simply crossed his arms and watched the situation.
As time passed, the 50th batch cadets began to show a bit of confusion on their faces.
“What’s this? Is he not going to attack?”
At this, someone muttered.
“Wait, if rabbits are herbivores and deer are herbivores too…?”
They didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone understood what was left unsaid.
‘Does that mean neither of them can attack?’
The cadets’ eyes shifted back and forth.
‘What should we do?’
‘Deer hides are worth 5,000 points, right?’
The cadets who had formed the encirclement exchanged glances.
Chasing the rabbit had caused most of the group to fall behind, leaving only themselves to form the encirclement.
But they hadn’t started as allies; they were competitors chasing after the same rabbit.
And now, before their eyes, a deer worth five times as much as the rabbit had appeared.
It was only natural that someone would give in to greed and act first.
One of the cadets closest to the deer shouted.
“The deer is mine!”
He swung his sword and lunged at the deer.
“Kkangchung!”
The rabbit seized the opportunity and quickly slipped away.
“You bastard!”
“Hey!”
“Damn it, he beat us to it! If that’s the case!”
As the situation unfolded, the others began to panic.
Clang!
A loud metallic sound rang out.
The source of the sound was the deer and the 50th batch cadet who had lunged at him.
The cadet’s eyes widened in shock as his sword was violently repelled.
“Huh? W-What? I thought they couldn’t attack?”
In response, the deer-man sneered.
“Even the most docile deer will get angry if struck first.”
Seeing the veins bulging on the deer-man’s arm as he gripped his sword, the cadet’s face turned pale.
“W-Wait a minute…”
His trembling voice couldn’t stop the deer’s enraged attack.
Moo-ooo!
Aaargh!
The bizarre sound of a goat’s cry mixed with a human scream echoed through the forest.
While some cadets were sent flying by the enraged deer’s antlers, Yuri, who had entered the forest, soon spotted a rabbit.
Once again, the rabbit was a male cadet wearing a yellow epaulet.
“Wow, a rabbit.”
The rabbit-man flinched when he saw Yuri casually walking toward him with his hands in his pockets.
His eyes darted around nervously, clearly about to flee.
In response, Yuri spat on the ground.
“Hey, ugly rabbit uncle? If you hand over your hide willingly, there won’t be a major bloodbath. So let’s not waste each other’s energy and just give it up, okay?”
The way he spoke suggested he had done this more than once.
In just a few times, Yuri had mastered the art of delivering his lines with perfect pronunciation, intonation, and emphasis.
“Come on, come over here.”
Yuri waved his white hand at the rabbit.
But despite the kindness, the rabbit made the wrong choice.
“K-Kkangchung!”
The rabbit bolted, and Yuri’s face twisted in irritation.
“Man, what a pain.”
As Yuri’s expression turned into a nasty scowl—
Whoosh!
His body shot forward like a missile, quickly catching up to the rabbit.
In an instant, Yuri was right behind him.
“I told you…”
Yuri’s body leaped up.
“…Not to waste our energy!”
Both of his feet struck the rabbit squarely in the back.
“Guh-ack!”
The rabbit let out a strange noise as he tumbled forward and disappeared into the bushes.
Thud.
“Hoo!”
After performing a somersault and landing gracefully, Yuri let out a short breath and adjusted his bangs.
“Seriously, people don’t listen when you try to talk nicely.”
Yuri once again shoved his hands into his pockets and walked into the bushes to retrieve his prize.
“Moo! I am a deer!”
“……”
“Moo-ooo! Who dares to crumple up our cute rabbit like used toilet paper…?”
Hearing the familiar voice from beyond the bushes, Yuri peeked his head in that direction.
At that moment, his eyes met those of the 49th batch deer wearing antlers.
“……”
“……”
A brief silence passed between them.
“…Damn it, that crazy rabbit.”
The 49th batch deer-man cursed as he looked at his unconscious rabbit-eared comrade who had rolled to his feet.
“If you were going to die, you should’ve done it alone… Why’d you have to bring a psycho hunter along?”
The 49th batch deer-man furrowed his brows in annoyance, clearly irritated.
Meanwhile, Yuri waved cheerfully at him.
“Jerry-senpai, long time no see!”