Chapter 26: The Thief Is Way Too Shameless This damn Yggdrasil is dead serious about tormenting its students during every single exam.
The weather, which had been perfectly fine at night, turned sour at dawn. Now, a nasty rain is pouring down as if a typhoon has hit.
My teammates, who were jolted awake from their sleep, are huddled together under a makeshift shelter to escape the downpour.
"Wow—it really turned out just like you said."
"I told you to trust me."
"Though we wouldn't be suffering like this if we just had a tent."
Stop poking where it hurts.
Masayoshi marvels at my foresight while simultaneously nagging me about the tent. Well, I'd be annoyed too if I were him. Since we didn't participate in the mini-game, we're the only team without a tent.
Masayoshi had suggested we just build something half-assed and rest since it was the first day, but I pushed him to make it sturdier. Even when he said it was too much work after sunset, I insisted. He grumbled the whole time but eventually gave in to my demands, reinforcing the structure so it wouldn't blow away in a storm.
Well—even with the reinforcements, it's nothing like a real tent. We're all huddled in one spot, gripping the waterproof tarp we used as a roof to keep it from flying off.
"Thanks to that, we avoided the worst-case scenario, but water is the problem now."
"Isn't there water everywhere?"
"We don't have anything to collect it in. Once it rains like this, the streams and rivers turn into muddy water. You can't drink that."
I hadn't thought of that. I've played the game, but I don't actually have survival knowledge.
"If we had even a plastic bottle, we could filter it and make a small amount, but…"
In the end, are we forced to go around begging just like in the game's story? They won't give us precious resources, but if I can at least scavenge some discarded trash, Masayoshi might be able to do something with it.
"Come further inside. It's cold."
"You want me to go in there?"
Chika looks at us with eyes full of pure loathing.
Admittedly, if a girl gets between the Comedy Duo with a body soaked by rain, you've got yourself a plot for a doujinshi right then and there.
But I'm here too, aren't I? If I'm involved, doesn't the genre shift from a raunchy doujinshi to a romance?
The makeshift shelter, built poorly without a proper tent, can't block all the wind and rain. The further out you are, the more you take the brunt of the storm. Chika's body is soaked, and frankly, she looks sexy.
Her blonde twin-tails—which would make excellent handles—are wet and clinging to her shoulders, and her thin clothes are slightly translucent, revealing glimpses of her skin. Her body shivers slightly from the cold, and her white skin has lost its color as her body temperature drops.
Her personality might be total shit, but she is a heroine. A heroine's face doesn't lie; Chika is damn pretty.
As if to prove it, the crotch area of Rio and Masayoshi's pants… You pieces of shit! No wonder she's disgusted!
I was blankly staring at Chika's sexy figure, then looked at their faces, then looked down—and almost went blind.
"Get lost. Don't come near me."
"I feel like puking too. Save me."
"I told you not to come over!"
When I try to move away from the guys with the bulges in their pants, Chika, who's right next to me, immediately snaps. Please don't lump me in with them.
Right about now, that bastard Akito is probably tangled up with three girls in a single tent, while I'm stuck out here in the wind and rain next to these guys with hard-ons. This is why the male characters hate and envy Akito.
The moment the Magic Prohibition Time ends, the weather clears up. We use magic to warm our bodies and soothe our aching muscles from the long night.
Masayoshi moves quickly with Rio, starting to collect water pooled on leaves and trees, while I pick up the meat we butchered yesterday.
"You said it won't last long because it got rained on, right?"
"Yeah. I don't know if the humidity will stay like this, but bacteria will grow fast. I'll try to smoke it again as quickly as possible."
"Then I'll go trade this for something else."
Before going to sleep, I used Ullat's Eye to figure out where the nearby bases were. If the meat is going to spoil anyway, it's better to trade it for something useful now.
"I'm coming too."
Oh my god. Our "problem child" wants to work! Teacher Eun-young was right after all. Whatever the reason, there's no reason to stop her when she's taking the lead.
I head toward the nearest base with Chika.
The group we run into is Takeo's team.
Dammit, of all people, it had to be Takeo. I only checked the location of their campfire last night; I couldn't see their faces.
The expert at making the protagonist look good, the "Akito-launcher." My mind feels troubled the moment I see the thug Takeo. True to his nature, he's already subjugated the other teammates and is acting like the leader.
Chika scowls the moment she sees him.
"What is it?"
"…We're here to trade~"
I smile brightly and show him the meat in my hand. You guys are probably eating canned goods or military rations anyway. Real meat is way better than that tasteless crap.
Takeo looks at the large slab of rib meat in my hand.
"If I can hunt, why would I bother buying yours? I can just catch my own."
"Unfortunately, you're too late. A lot of kids went hunting on the first day, so there aren't many edible animals left. You'll just get hungry trying to find one."
Takeo ponders my blatant lie. If we don't trade this now, it'll rot and become useless anyway.
While I'm bargaining with Takeo, Chika looks around and picks up an empty 500ml water bottle lying carelessly on the ground. Even trash is an important tool here, but seeing them throw it away like this, they must be well-stocked.
Masayoshi, our survival expert, would weep.
Just as I'm about to praise Chika for naturally picking up what we need, she shows me the bottle.
"It's these bastards. These are the ones who stole our stuff."
"What's your problem? You want to die?"
Takeo, who's second to none when it comes to a bad temper, reacts immediately with anger, but we have someone with quite a temper ourselves.
Chika slams the empty bottle onto the ground and screams.
"Where did you get this?! You stole our stuff and now you're playing dumb?!"
"You got proof that's yours?! These pieces of shit are suddenly losing their minds!"
"Proof? The label on that bottle is from the aircraft carrier! What did you bring from there?! Nothing, obviously. A shit-for-brains like you wouldn't have the presence of mind to think of that."
Uh… Chika. You were the one who opposed raiding the aircraft carrier too. Does that mean your brain is also…
Ah, well, that's in the past. Let's just keep that between us. You keep on fighting Takeo.
Since the cat's already out of the bag, I give up and approach the other teammates, holding out the meat.
"I don't need much. We're just a bit short on water right now. Let's trade, Luis."
"Huh? But…"
"Hey! Stay still! If you trade without permission, I'll kill you!"
"I'm taking back my own stuff, so what's your problem?!"
Is there no other way?
And Chika, it's not your stuff, it's our stuff. More accurately, it's the stuff I insisted on getting even though you, with your "shit-for-brains," opposed it.
As I touch the discarded containers, Luis and Mio look away guiltily. As I thought, they didn't take them with the intent to steal.
"Um… was it really yours?"
"Yeah, it's different from the supplies because we got it from the aircraft carrier. Akito brought some too, so if you don't believe me, I can have him confirm it."
"Don't give me that bullshit! We found it! You're lying! And even if it is yours, isn't it your fault for not taking care of your stuff and losing it?!"
"Losing it? Wow—so that's how a criminal thinks? If someone steals it, it's because the owner didn't take care of it? Should I rob your house and say the same thing? Oh wait, you're a beggar, so there's probably nothing but trash inside anyway, right?"
"Don't mind those two."
Ignoring Takeo and Chika shouting in the background, I start gathering the trash scattered on the ground.
"Sorry, but since you threw these away, I can take them, right? We have something to check."
"We really didn't know. It was just sitting in the forest, so we naturally thought it was a supply drop."
"It can't be helped. The meat is a gift. It rained a lot earlier so it'll spoil fast; eat it today. Oh, and I'm taking one full bottle of water."
There's no point in fighting here; it won't settle anything. The other teammates feel bad, but Takeo, the de facto leader, will never admit it.
What, should we take it back by force? This isn't a real survival situation; it's an exam. The teachers are monitoring everything we do.
Using "checking" as an excuse, I grab the empty containers Masayoshi was desperately looking for. I stand up and grab Chika by the waist as she tries to keep fighting Takeo, dragging her away.
"Let go! Why are you leaving like a coward without saying anything?! Are you scared of that prick too?!"
"Get lost, you shits. If I see you again, you're dead."
I barely manage to separate the two as they flip each other off.
Once we're further away, the anger she had for Takeo turns toward me, and Chika glares at me with fierce eyes.
"Fighting is just a waste of time."
"No, I'm going back to kill that bastard. I just need to show him who's right."
"People often make this mistake in this kind of genre, but persuasion and physical force are not the same thing."
"So we're just going to back down like losers?! Are you chicken?!"
Teacher Eun-young… what do I do in a situation like this? She's turned back into a problem child.
I try to convince her that we shouldn't fight because it's an exam, but Chika, whose pride comes first, won't accept it. I worked so hard to make her "Chika," but she's reverted to "that Chika bitch," spewing insults and curses. I just take it all as we walk.
When we arrive at the base, Rio and Masayoshi see the pissed-off Chika and look at me for an explanation.
"Really? They're the ones who stole it?"
"But you only brought back trash?"
"Then what, should we throw away the exam and fight? If you want, let's go right now. The four of us can gang up on Takeo."
At my words, the two of them shut up. Part of it is the exam, but they're probably scared of Takeo too.
In a place where human weapons are gathered, does bluffing even work? To survive as a thug in Yggdrasil, where you're judged by your skill, you need the strength to back it up. It's just that Akito is exceptionally talented; Takeo isn't someone who'd lose easily elsewhere.
And it's not like I'm not pissed off either. There's no way I'd find someone cute who shamelessly claims our stuff is theirs even after being called out.
We finish our meal in a quiet atmosphere, much like yesterday when we lost everything. Excited, then depressed, then angry, then happy. It's a total rollercoaster.
"Smoke."
Blue smoke rises, signaling a mini-game, and Rio is the first to react.
"Blue smoke means two people, right? It's in multiple locations again."
"What should we do? That group will probably participate too, right?"
Masayoshi's question carries a lot of weight. Since we've already been robbed once, it's a burden to split into pairs for the mini-game. It also implies that since we were hit, we should hit Takeo's team back.
What a devious guy, thinking of paying them back immediately.
Chika, who understood Masayoshi's implication, has a murderous glint in her eyes, while Rio just watches for my reaction, delaying the decision.
Ping—!
I flick my thumb, sending Ullat's Eye into the sky. After a moment, I open my eyes and look at Chika.
"Honestly, you know it's a loss to get into a power struggle with Takeo, right? Most other teams will split into pairs to participate."
"Loss or not, a debt must be repaid."
"Or we could raid another team that isn't on high alert yet."
"You want us to do exactly what that piece of shit did?"
Is personality evaluation part of the exam? If not, it might actually be an action that earns us points, but the other teammates don't seem to like the idea. I guess raiding is strictly reserved for Takeo's team.
"Fine, then let's go. Rio, Masayoshi. Sorry, but please guard the base."
Since we've been robbed once, it's hard to leave it unattended. If we get raided this time, the meat we hunted will disappear, and there'll be no recovering from that. Takeo probably left someone behind too, since he's wary of us.
"Where are we going?"
"We have to get our money's worth. We're heading to wherever Takeo goes."
Only then does a smile spread across Chika's previously disgruntled face.
I don't know what the mini-game will be, but I'm definitely going to rain on his parade.
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