“Number 1, Numbers 320 and 72, please defend the flag!”
“Number 281, move to my opposite direction, to the right.”
Since we weren’t good at close combat, it was more efficient to have the bigger guys block the flag.
Meanwhile, those who were fast and quick-thinking would infiltrate the enemy camp.
But if it were Sungho…
Even with the burden of three women, it felt like he could somehow break through our defense.
[Thump, thump]
First, we had to move.
Since the defense wasn’t fully guaranteed, it was essentially a speed battle.
…
It seemed I was quite far from Number 281.
But wouldn’t the enemy already know our location?
That vague anxiety quickened my pace.
[Thud!]
“Why are you…”
“Sunbae… I’m sorry, but I’m going to block your path…”
If they were going to block me, it should have been Sungho at least, or another man.
Why Yujin…?
Did she think I still had feelings for her?
But Sungho must have something in mind.
[Thump, thump]
“Yujin, I’m going.”
[Tap-]
Yujin grabbed my sleeve, making me even more impatient.
“…Sunbae. I have something to tell you…”
“No time. Let’s talk later.”
I shook off her hand and kept running, and thankfully, she didn’t seem to follow.
I glanced at the timer while running, and about half the time had passed.
If we hadn’t sent a man there, Number 281 on the other side might have already been stopped.
And one man left…
I became even more uneasy. How would Seongho use that card?
[Number 456, a warning has been issued for using violence.]
“Huh…? What bullshit is this…?”
All I had done was run.
What part of that was a foul?
Ah.
Only one thing came to mind.
Shaking off Yujin…
The staff, who usually eliminated men unilaterally, wouldn’t be an exception in this game either.
They called it violence, but in reality, you couldn’t even touch a woman’s hair.
What a sexist rule…
Was Seongho aiming for this too?
Considering Seongho’s brain, it was definitely possible.
If so, our defense of two men would be in danger at once.
I had to get to the enemy flag as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, as my speed picked up, I saw a flag in the distance.
‘Huh…?’
For some reason, Seongho and the other two women were guarding the flag nervously.
I panicked for a moment and hid behind an obstacle.
Seongho should have been attacking.
Something was strange.
Even if one man and Yujin went to our defense, it would be easy to defend.
Did they not understand our strategy properly…?
No, with Seongho’s brain, he would definitely understand.
If this was the case, going for a long game would be more advantageous for us.
[01:06]
[01:05]
After waiting behind the obstacle for a bit, the time was almost within a minute.
Maybe it would be better to hide like this and look forward to the next round…
No, Seongho must know that a long game would be disadvantageous.
There must be something about that man.
It was better to attack now.
[Thump! Thump!]
“Seongho!! I’m taking the flag!”
Seongho and the two women tried to respond, but my speed seemed faster.
Then.
[Bang!]
“Huh…?”
I tripped over something.
I looked down and saw that my vest was tangled in my feet.
It seemed one of the women had thrown off a vest.
But this wouldn’t stop me.
More than that… Seongho’s plan was quite desperate.
[Thud!]
I ran again and grabbed the flag, and Seongho seemed to react late, trying to grab it.
It was as if he had deliberately reacted a step late.
Did Seongho deliberately react late? Was he hiding something?
The question remained, but I turned around and ran desperately.
However…
[00:00]
[The first round has ended.]
[Both teams, please return to your flags.]
The timer ran out while I was running towards our base.
Logically, it was several times the size of the auditorium, but to take the flag and return in 5 minutes… it didn’t make sense.
Then, I heard footsteps turning back, and when I turned around, I saw Seongho.
“Seongho, do you have something to say?”
“Jiyoon… I’m sorry.”
I didn’t understand.
I hadn’t done anything, but suddenly I received an apology.
Maybe he was sure that our team would lose.
…First, I had to return to the flag.
…
“More than that, Number 456, did you hit someone?”
“…It’s nothing. There’s not much preparation time left, so let’s plan quickly.”
I wanted to tell them about the absurd situation so far, but there wasn’t much time.
Thanks to the experience of the last game, I could use the time a little more efficiently.
“Um… I met one of the enemy’s men on the way.”
“I tried to grab him… but the difference in physique was too great… I’m sorry.”
I could get a rough idea of the information through Number 281’s words.
First of all, thanks to the previous experience, I knew that time was more limited than I had imagined.
“Next time you meet him, don’t try to grab him, just run.”
“That would be more beneficial for him too.”
When I looked at Number 281’s face, he seemed a little embarrassed, but he quickly agreed.
“More than that… don’t you think that team is acting too thoughtlessly?”
“They don’t seem to have any teamwork from the beginning…”
…Certainly, Number 320 is very immature.
Sungho must have something in mind.
“One of the opponents is a former winner. From my experience, he’s someone who’s more quick-witted than you can imagine.”
“Everyone, let’s not be careless!”
I had to persuade the others by putting up the false title of former winner.
That’s how much I was impressed by Sungho’s brain and his ability to calmly deal with any situation.
Fortunately, my persuasion worked, and the others didn’t say much.
“…Let’s have two people on defense this time.”
“Two people? Until just now, you were praising him as a former winner and all that?”
Number 320 protested, but there was no choice.
“It’s meaningless for men to defend. Number 1 is needed a lot this time.”
I knew because I had directly experienced the unfair rule.
In that case, we should only put Number 1 and one big man for insurance on defense, and all the rest should go on the attack.
Above all, Seongho was already aware of this rule.
Next time, a woman might attack.
“What~ Did you finally recognize my value? You’re getting a little less noobish, huh?”
…It’s just that women have become quite important this time.
“Anyway, this time, Numbers 320 and 1 will defend, and the rest will attack.”
“What… defense again? I want to attack too…”
In terms of physique, Number 72 was good, but it was a bit of a waste to give up Number 72’s quick judgment.
[Then, let’s start the second round.]
[Bang!]
Ah.
It seemed the preparation time was already over.
“Let’s go as we talked about!”
“Numbers 72 and 281, follow me!”
No matter how good Seongho was, he would have to pay attention to defense considering our speed.
[Thump, thump]
But caution was still needed.
If a woman ambushed and grabbed us… we would have to break free, risking a warning, or stop.
Above all, we didn’t know the penalty for accumulating a certain number of warnings.
It would be fine if it was just expulsion.
“Number 72, can you go ahead and check the surroundings?”
“Number 281, let’s move together after Number 72 finishes checking.”
When we reached the middle, Number 72 would come forward and look around, while Number 456 and Number 281 would hide behind obstacles.
The rules themselves were simpler than any other game… but the psychological warfare was making my head hurt.
Fortunately, Number 72 and Number 281 seemed desperate to maintain their chastity like me.
[Shuffle, shuffle]
“Number 456, there’s no one around.”
“Let’s go then. Keep repeating this in the future.”
…
[02:21]
When I looked at the timer, about 3 minutes had already passed.
Fortunately, looking at the surrounding obstacles, it seemed we were almost there.
If we could confirm the number of defenders on the other side, we could run at full speed when we returned.
“Number 456, there’s no one around.”
“Okay. We’re almost there, so let’s run without checking.”
[Thump, thump]
Fortunately, there was no one around as expected.
It seemed they were focusing on defense.
…Above all, we were lucky.
The enemy’s attack and our attack routes seemed to be different.
As we continued to run, I saw familiar obstacles and the silhouette of the flag.
Huh…?
“Hide!”
Something was strange.
For some reason, there wasn’t a single defender around the flag.
