episode_0046

Hearing that there were 40 minutes left, Lucas immediately ran into the forest.

The other students stared at Lucas, who was rushing into the forest, with bewildered eyes.

“What do you mean, 40 minutes left?”

“I don’t know either! We have to run into the forest right now!”

No student had accurately assessed the current situation like Lucas, but all the students who heard Idra’s words and saw Lucas running rushed into the forest.

Lucas ran much faster than the other students.

‘Loki must have already found quite a bit.’

It had been 20 minutes.

Loki hadn’t been disturbed by other students for 20 minutes.

‘He must have found all the orbs on the outskirts, so I need to go deeper.’

Thinking that, Lucas entered the forest. And then he stopped.

“Ha… ha… ha…”

A hollow laugh echoed through the vast, dense forest.

“This is… driving me crazy.”

They say when people see something too shocking, their bodies freeze. Lucas had momentarily stopped even thinking.

He had been taught not to stop thinking, but anyone would be unable to think for a moment after seeing this.

“How much time is left—”

“Why did you stop—”

The students who had been following Lucas also stopped like him once they entered the forest.

“What is this?”

“I’m seeing things wrong, right?”

“Just how many are there?”

An uncountable number of blue orbs were spread across the forest.

The blue orbs covered the entire ground, hiding the soil and weeds. Even the trees, from their trunks to their leaves, were covered in blue orbs.

The forest, which should have been green, now glowed blue due to the covering of blue orbs.

Professor Idra hadn’t stated exactly how many orbs were in the forest.

The students rushed forward, their eyes filled with desire and greed.

“Those are all mine!!”

The students stretched out their hands to grab the blue orbs on the ground, but as their hands touched them, the orbs vanished like a mirage.

“Huh?”

As the students trying to get the orbs were bewildered, one student shouted.

“They’re all fakes made by him!!”

Only then did the students recall that Loki was nowhere to be seen and remember Loki’s abilities.

“So he tricked us and went in first?”

“That means everything here is fake.”

Realizing they were all fakes, the students tried to go deeper.

“Damn it!”

Annoyed at being tricked, one student kicked a blue orb rolling on the ground.

Thump.

“Huh?”

The orb, which should have vanished if it were fake, rolled away after being hit by the student’s foot.

The student ran to the rolling orb and grabbed it with their hand.

“Huh, this one’s real?”

The student said, blankly picking up the orb.

The other students nearby stared intently at the scene.

“Real?”

“Not an illusion made by him?”

“If he made it, it would vanish when you touch it.”

The students who had been preparing to go deeper into the forest all stopped in their tracks.

“Then that means there are real ones mixed in with those?”

“…………….”

The students once again gazed at the forest carpeted with countless blue orbs, their eyes filled with greed and desire.

‘There are real ones among those.’

There were still countless blue orbs remaining.

Most of them might be fake, but there could be real ones.

Thump-thump-thump.

The students rushed toward the blue orbs.

Swish, swish, thud, thud.

They swung their swords or kicked to get rid of the fake blue orbs.

With dozens of students doing this, the blue orbs on the ground quickly vanished.

“Gasp… gasp…”

“…Gasp… gasp…”

The students moved as quickly and extensively as possible to claim the orbs faster than others, and as a result, many of them grew exhausted.

‘Surely not all the orbs here are fakes, right?’

‘There must be more real ones.’

The students’ gazes turned toward the trees covered in blue orbs.

Their eyes, once filled only with greed and desire, had changed to an emotion of uneasiness.

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While most of the students were moving to find real blue orbs that might not even exist,

Lucas was running alone, sprinting through the forest.

His speed was so great that the leaves on the ground lifted from the wind created by his passing.

‘Loki wouldn’t have left many real orbs there.’

While the other students stopped upon seeing the real orbs, Lucas alone kept running without stopping.

They must know it too.

That there would be hardly any real orbs.

The reason they remained there searching anyway?

Because someone else might find them.

They must be staying there to search because they dislike the thought of someone else easily finding the orbs.

‘And Loki must be aiming for that.’

Professor Alicia often told Loki.

That he was strong in strategic battles.

He asked his father.

How to be good at strategic battles.

His father wore a puzzled expression when he heard that, but he said,

That you just need to read people’s psychology.

At first, he didn’t understand that.

But after seeing Loki duel with Ropri, he could understand.

“No, you couldn’t even call that a duel.”

It was like a meticulously staged performance.

Ropri was in the palm of Loki’s hand from beginning to end.

Loki fought while considering the opponent’s origin, background, and even personality.

Watching Loki and Ropri fight, he had thought many times:

‘If I fought Prince Ropri, could I win?’

He concluded that he could win if he used that power.

‘Could I win overwhelmingly like Loki, without taking a single hit?’

He concluded that it was absolutely impossible.

‘Then, could I win if I fought Loki?’

No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t reach any conclusion.

When describing someone’s strength, people explain it through their power, speed, techniques, and so on.

He recalled Loki’s abilities: unusual movements, unique magic, various magical tools, etc.

Variables.

Everything Loki possessed was a variable.

Creak.

Something snagged his leg while he was sprinting through the forest.

Without panicking, he kicked off the ground and dodged the spot.

Crash!

A tree crashed down where he had originally been.

[Ah- ah- Can you hear me~?]

He looked toward where the sound was coming from.

There was a small, palm-sized doll there.

“Ha!”

He let out an empty laugh from sheer absurdity.

The doll was wearing a white mask and a red cloak.

Even its voice. Anyone could tell Loki was its owner.

“Loki, is that you?”

[By the way, this doll generally only transmits speech and cannot hear what is said.]

How on earth could something like this be made?

[The one listening is probably Lucas-ssi, right?]

Is it really true that it can’t hear?

[If it’s not Lucas-ssi but someone else, they would have already fallen into the trap and wouldn’t be able to hear this voice.]

Is the condition for the doll to speak when a trap is activated?

[I’m sorry for tricking others and setting off first in this manner… no, I’m not! This is also my ability, after all.]

“…………….”

[I’ll give this doll to you as a special gift.]

The doll muttered, “Surely not,” then spoke.

[No one’s listening to this, are they? Because that would be incredibly embarrassing.]

Lucas picked up the doll and put it in his pocket.

“Yerika would like this if I gave it to her.”

Lucas’s murmur echoed through the forest.

“Reaching this far and not seeing a single one means Loki must have already found them all…”

Still, it was… not fun.

It wasn’t fun at all.

Squeeze.

His fist clenched instinctively.

He was furious. Incredibly furious.

He was in the palm of Loki’s hand.

“Hmph…”

He glanced around, confirming he was alone.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. A golden aura enveloped Lucas’s body.

A single leaf fell from a tree and landed on Lucas’s head.

The leaf instantly shattered into pieces.

‘I don’t have a talent for strategic battles like Loki.’

He had neither unique magic nor the skill to handle various magical tools.

“I tried my best not to use it, but…”

Whoosh.

The spear, imbued with golden energy, thrust through the air.

CRAAAAASH!!!!!!!!

All the trees in the straight line where Lucas’s spear thrust were pierced through.

Lucas looked at the sight as if it were natural.

“From now on, shall I go all out?”

He might lose today, but it would be different next time.

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“First place goes to student Loki!! Everyone, please congratulate him with applause!”

Clap clap clap clap.

Lucas was the only one clapping.

But when other students saw Lucas clapping, they also started clapping, sensing the mood.

Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap.

“Wow~ It’s great to be welcomed by everyone.”

I walked towards Professor Idra, receiving everyone’s applause.

“Here! This is the elixir I promised.”

I received the elixir that Professor Idra handed me.

With just this, I’ll be able to consume the elixir I received from the Emperor.

“Student Loki, do you have any thoughts on winning first place?”

Listening to Professor Idra’s words, I looked at the students and said,

“I dedicate all this glory to all of you. Oh! Of course, I’ll be taking the elixir myself.”

A sharp glare.

All the students glared at me.

Ah, it’s sweet, so sweet.

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“So, what’s the club name?”

After class, we chatted in Professor Idra’s lab.

As I got first place in the exam, Professor Idra promised to become an advisor for the club I would create.

“Since Professor Idra-nim is the advisor, I’ll tell you specially. It’s the Clown Alliance Club!”

Originally, I intended to keep it a secret until the very end, but I told Professor Idra first.

“Ugh! Can I cancel, perhaps?”

Professor Idra made a face I’d never seen before upon hearing the club name.

What’s wrong with the Clown Alliance Club??