Ch.120119. Empty Seat (4)

# 119. Empty Seat (4)

I wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but Reina, who seemed lost in deep contemplation for a moment, asked me.

“So, are we forming alliances this time?”

“What do you want to do? I just want to fight whoever I see. I’ll draw my sword at anyone who appears.”

“Well… that’s so like you. What about you guys?”

Hearing that question, they paused from demolishing the building and answered.

“You really like alliances, don’t you? Just kill everyone you see.”

“I agree with that opinion.”

“That’s what survival is about. Last time was like a war, wasn’t it? Everyone forming alliances. What kind of survival is that?”

I agreed with their opinion.

Last time was a bit excessive, after all.

And for some reason, everyone seemed thirsty for battle.

‘I guess I’m kind of the same…’

Of course, there was a good reason for it.

I could explain my eagerness as having done nothing yesterday, but I couldn’t understand why these guys were so desperate.

“I get why I’m like this, but why are you all so desperate to fight?”

“It’s all because of you.”

“I’ll admit that.”

For some reason, everyone seemed to agree with Reicle’s statement.

But I couldn’t understand why it was my fault.

“Huh? What nonsense is that?”

“It’s because of you that we’ve become addicted to fighting. You’re always fighting like that.”

“You’re blaming me for this? That’s ridiculous…”

Even as I verbally denied it, I hated how I was somewhat acknowledging it deep inside.

‘I guess it’s true to some extent…’

I definitely do it a lot in normal times.

Enough that even I’m aware that I “do it a lot.”

Of course, despite being aware of this fact, I have zero intention of reducing the proportion of fighting in my daily life.

There’s no need to reduce it, and I shouldn’t.

“But… isn’t that a good thing? It’s because I’ve been leading you like this that you’ve become what you are now.”

“Ah… so you’re saying our growth rate has accelerated thanks to you, is that it?”

“That’s right, it’s not completely untrue.”

Perhaps because it wasn’t entirely wrong, they didn’t deny my statement.

And honestly, it would make even less sense to say it wasn’t thanks to me.

“Well… that’s true.”

“It’s not just ‘true,’ it’s absolutely correct. Even though you’re not in our party, you’ve helped us a lot.”

When Reina acknowledged this fact, I automatically felt good.

But listening to the conversations that followed made my improved mood drop again.

“Not as much as you, though. I’ve resolved quite a lot on my own.”

“So what? You’re still weaker than me.”

“How long are you going to milk that?”

It seemed like they were talking about when Reicle lost to Reina during the midterm exams.

I only heard about it through stories, so I didn’t know the exact situation, but judging from Reicle’s reaction, it seemed like Reina really did win.

‘How did she win…’

At that time, Reina hadn’t even met me yet to undergo her first awakening, so she wouldn’t have had any unique skills.

And conversely, Reicle already had unique skills.

Reina won despite such an enormous difference.

‘I’d like to see that… is there no video of it?’

I regretted not being able to witness that battle with my own eyes.

But fortunately or unfortunately, I wasn’t sure which, that situation was about to unfold now.

Normally, I would have just watched their battle, but now wasn’t the time.

“Anyway… stop fighting, we’re almost there.”

After walking for about three hours, we had moved quite a distance, and now we were very close to the unidentified red dots.

It seemed like we would arrive in about 10 minutes.

Such a bustling attitude wasn’t good in this dangerous situation.

“Stay alert, we don’t know who might appear from where at any moment.”

“If anyone’s nearby, Eve will let us know anyway.”

“Right, that’s why she’s separated from us.”

No matter how much Eve was moving around tall buildings looking for other teams, it was still dangerous in reality.

“Still, be careful. The city structure inevitably creates many blind spots.”

There are many tall and large buildings, so enemies might be present even if we can’t see them.

That’s why we need to be as thorough as possible in our vigilance.

“Stay sharp, and attack immediately when you see them. That’s our entire strategy.”

“What kind of strategy is that…”

“It’s a perfectly valid strategy, just a simple one.”

In truth, we couldn’t make detailed plans from the beginning.

All of us are strong in mobility and power, and we need to fight at close range.

So we have to rush in and engage in close combat no matter what.

In fact, if we don’t do that, we’ll lose.

Therefore, everyone was taking out their weapons to proceed with the battle quickly.

And in the midst of this, Reina, who was checking the map, raised a question.

“But these red dots seem to be moving?”

“Moving?”

“Their position is slightly different from before, and the number seems different too.”

I immediately turned on the map to check the position of those dots.

‘Oh… it’s true.’

As Reina said, the dots that had formed a perfect circle earlier were now in the shape of a distorted oval.

And the number of dots also seemed to have increased compared to before.

Of course, we couldn’t stop now, so we continued walking.

During this, I felt a rather familiar energy.

An energy that felt different from monsters was sensed nearby.

“Huh?”

I wasn’t the only one who felt that energy; everyone present seemed to have sensed it.

And simultaneously, all our wristwatches rang.

-Ding-a-ling!-

Reina, who had been looking at her wristwatch all along, told us what that ringing meant.

“It says they’re nearby? That building on the right ahead. Behind that building.”

“Let’s go.”

“Run for now!”

Everyone seemed to have been waiting for this moment, and they started running at full speed toward that building like wolves that had found their prey.

“Seriously… it’s like we’re here for hunting.”

I had no choice but to follow them toward that building.

“Hey! They probably know we’re here too.”

In terms of energy alone, ours was much stronger, so they would have noticed us already.

But these guys weren’t thinking about such things and were entrusting their fate to their bodies.

“Ah… I hope it works out somehow, just not that team…”

Just as I was praying like that in my heart, Reicle, who had run ahead first, turned the corner of that building.

And at that moment, a deafening gunshot was heard.

-Bang!!-

With my heart racing at that sound, I ran toward the building as fast as I could, and as a result, I was the second to turn the corner of that building.

“Ah… as expected.”

Contrary to the worries that flashed through my mind when I heard that gunshot, Reicle was still alive and well, and rather, the owners of those gunshots were in a dangerous situation.

Reicle, who had arrived first, had jumped into that group alone and was tearing through their formation by himself.

“Hey! Let’s do this together.”

I also jumped into that group with just my weapon prepared, like Reicle.

With Reicle entering alone, it could have led to a dangerous situation, but with my joining, the situation changed 180 degrees.

-Slash! Slash!-

-Thud! Thump!-

We mercilessly slaughtered the enemies in front of us, and the other team members who followed us did the same.

‘But is this… balanced?’

Seeing this cruel and harsh scene, I couldn’t help but think that.

We slaughtered them without receiving much damage, while most of them were eliminated immediately without inflicting much damage on us.

“See? I told you we’d definitely win if we just charged in like this.”

As Reicle said, we won by just rushing in without thinking.

Unlike us, they had what appeared to be a proper formation, and they even knew we were coming and attacked first.

But the result was their complete defeat.

“Hey, did you see that?”

“But when did you undergo your second awakening?”

“Yeah, that’s right…”

Given the situation, I didn’t have time to think about Reicle’s condition, but as Reina said, Reicle had activated another skill.

And not just any skill, but a unique skill.

“But why would you learn something like that…”

However, that skill, while fitting for Reicle, wasn’t actually a good skill in practice.

“[Limit Break].”

That unique skill consumed half of the maximum mana and increased stats according to the amount of mana consumed.

It was a skill better suited for mages rather than warriors.

“That’s why, damn it.”

“Sudden outburst…”

“When did you learn it anyway?”

Reicle looked at the badges left by those who had just been eliminated and said.

“Yesterday, while fighting that guy.”

“Huh? During the melee?”

Instead of answering verbally, Reicle nodded.

He was even wearing an arrogant expression that was uncomfortable just to look at.

“Now I’m no different from you guys.”

“You just did it yesterday, what are you…”

“So what happened yesterday?”

Awakening can happen during one-on-one matches like that, or even while clearing dungeons, so I wasn’t concerned about that.

However, I was more curious about the result of that match.

“What happened? Of course I won.”

“So that’s why you were talking like that earlier…”

I finally understood why his shoulders had been raised high since this morning.

“That’s definitely good news, so turn it back on.”

“Huh? Why? I don’t feel anything particularly now.”

“Of course you don’t feel it, they’re hiding.”

Something had been watching this place, or more precisely, us, all along.

But that gaze was too crude to be human.

“Right, now it’s starting to feel like a proper survival game.”