(Melon)
We huddled together in the square with the other contestants.
We just have arrived into the square, and are now equipped with a special magic item [Festival Talisman], and as long as I take it off, I would be immediately bailed out of the labyrinth and be declared as one of the failed contestants.
By the way, killing is allowed in the game, something that I'm rather surprised of, however, killing other people is against Master's order, so it's fine to try to incapacitate it.
The game is about to start, and the teleportation magic circle under the player's feet emitted a dazzling golden light.
"Uuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" Said Miss Aure.
"... Melon, See you, on the field." Said Miss Grace, her voice is very unhappy, probably because she had realized that the contest would be held in the water labyrinth, a place that is filled with water, something that she hates.
My vision gradually turned white.
Swish!
Not long after that, the white light dissipated, and my vision became much clearer.
Unfortunately, the sudden dizziness that I felt made my head spin.
Miss Grace teleportation has no such side effects….
—After a minute had passed, the dizziness still persisted, and then I realized that this shaking was coming from the boat beneath me.
It was a little raft that looked vulnerable, she got a feeling that it would collapse when a monster smashed into it.
Is this really the vehicle that all of the contestants would use in this race?
I turned my head to my surroundings, noticing the sight of towering huge cube stone pillars, cutting the water channel into a complex looking labyrinth.
The stone pillar was stretched tall, each one of them reached up to the ceiling, and it seemed that there was no way to climb it.
I sat down and tried to slide the paddle.
As soon as the paddle was inserted into the water, I immediately felt something hard hit my paddle.
The water is very shallow.
So, in this case, no one would drown if the boat tipped over, right?
I stretch out my fingers and touch the water.
I closed my eyes, all of my senses were focused on my fingertips, reading the various information that I got from the vibration of the water.
Hmmm…
Twenty meters ahead to the right, there was the feeling of a boat moving.
I listened again.
Ten meters from the left rear, there was the sound of a plank hitting a rock...
Crack! At the same time as there was a splashing sound from behind, my quick reflex allowed me to catch the flying...fish with my backhand?
The weird fish has a mouth full of slender fangs, the fish is about the size of a grown man's palm.
I see, is this the monster that haunts this labyrinth?
Standing up, I took off the boots under my feet, and then put the boots into the [Inventory Bag].
When my feet touched the deck, frost formed on the bottom of the boat.
The speed that I could get by rowing a boat would never surpass the speed I got when I was running.
Master said that one of the enhancements that are on my feet is something called [Frost Walker].
The original use for these enhancements is to allow me to walk on water, but depending on the circumstance, it can also enhance my performance in combat.
Master once told me to try to prevent myself from using [Band of the Bold] if the one that I'm fighting against is a human, or a race that has similar strength as them.
The requirement to achieve victory in this competition is to get four keys.
The entire competition venue can be roughly divided into four blocks, and there was a key placed in each one of the blocks.
"Hey! Found it!" a male voice.
... From the vibration on her feet, she can roughly gauge that the voice is coming from sixty meters to her rear right.
The key to this area has been found.
The next thing she needs to do to win is to snatch it from whoever now has it.
In order to get more credits, I started to learn [Arte] as soon as possible. At this moment, I have several [Arte] that would make me a decent thief.
The opponents present are all targets of plunder for the time being.
So... I abandoned the shaky boat beneath me..
Leaping onto the water, the ice floes formed in an instant gave me a point of support, so I ran into one of the labyrinth entrances.
I hit a dead end.
I ran to another entrance.
It's another dead end.
I turned, sprinted to a different entrance.
Another dead end.
I ran again.
Same as before, I hit another dead end.
At eighty meters, more voices from other contestants can be heard.
The shout from earlier attracted many people.
All of them are both the thieves and the victims.
...It's very similar to the law of the jungle in the wilderness
"Eh!? Who is that!? They are running on the water!!!"
The person who was not the target appeared in front of my eyes with a big sword on his back.
The number plate hanging is number one.
I see a helpless prey before me.
So I hunt.
Slam!
"Wooahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
When the wooden planks that I kicked hit the stone wall, there was a cracking sound of flesh meeting stone. Meanwhile, I kept running.
There is the sound of fighting at the original location of the target.
—The goal has been changed.
"Do you have the key!?"
"Hahaha! that's right!!"
"Both of you are mine to defeat–Huh?"
There was a scuffle ahead, but none of them were the target I was looking for..
One of them saw me.
All prey.
So, I hunt.
Slam!
"Wooah!"
"What the hell!!?"
Wooden boards are a kind of thing that would easily break when you hit it, and so I kicked their boat before they could react.
Before I knew it, my body was already drenched from the constant splash of water.
"The key is mine!!"
There was a fighting sound ahead, and then the original target fell into the water... The target has changed once more.
I run ahead
It's a dead end.
I rushed into a different direction
Another dead end.
Also, I met some prey on the dead end.
And like before, I hunt.
Crack!!
There is another prey appearing on the entrance of a different dead end.
So I hunted.
70 meters to my left
The two prey were fighting each other, not knowing who should be the real prey.
All prey.
So I hunt.
"Who's that girl running on the water!?"
Prey that wasn't on the route witnessed the Predator.
He hides In order not to expose his trace to the lizard girl, since without him realizing, he had become one of the prey.
So I hunt.
Crush!
I grabbed the remaining half of the prey.
The prey thrown further away is not the target, but she is still a prey.
So I hunt.
After that, I ran in a random direction.
It's a dead end.
I ran into another one.
Also a dead end.
The route is probably clear.
The ice floes floating on the water told me the route I had traveled.
Fifty meters ahead to the right.
I turn.
Forty meters ahead.
I saw the rabbit.
Behind him, several foxes were chasing.
For tigers, both rabbits and foxes are all prey.
So, I hunt, hunt, hunt, hunt.
Hi Rabbit.
"Sir, please give me the key."
"Damn it! OOOO──"
Crack!
At the same time, I grabbed the key hanging around his neck, and when he fell into the water, I took it away from his neck. The key is in my hand, and I hang it around my neck.
Now, the only thing I need to do now is to just go to the center of the arena to see if the rest of the rabbits have arrived. It would be too troublesome to go to the other block to hunt for the rabbit when I can just wait for them patiently.
"Hm...?"
At this moment, I noticed the presence of several floating boats in the distance.
Ah, this smell…. It's the smell of Miss Aure.
...not a target nor prey.
So, don't hunt.
There is a loud sound of water coming from a certain direction, that is the central altar, right?