Chapter 20: First Exam — Hunt! (6)
'Who am I praising?! It's Aimee's ingenious plan!'
Inwardly telling himself off, Hunter gawked at his teammate getting in the corpse of the monster, her golden armor slowly losing its sheen as she crawled her way inside.
Her brown eyes momentarily stopped on Hunter's face, staring at her with widened eyes and a faint smile, obviously enjoying the scene. There was a hint of unconcealable appreciation in his eyes.
"You can think this way even inside this pungent and bloody mess?" Aimee sighed, "It's said that women grapple the most with their lust and affection, unable to control themselves in front of handsome men. Were you a girl in your past life?"
As Hunter was so silent and hard-working before, Aimee couldn't have stopped herself from genuinely commenting on his attitude.
Aware of the circumstances and that women were more passionate than men because their libido increased due to their unique and strong mana, Hunter quietly laughed at Aimee without wasting this chance to score points.
"I don't think I was… I'm a man in flesh and blood whose heart and soul will always be appeased by beautiful women, no matter what situation we're in. I can put a blind eye to this bloody mess, ignore the pungent smell, and only have my attention on you and your beauty, Aimee! You're that beautiful and ingenious!"
"…you clearly haven't seen enough of the world."
"Oh, come on!" Hunter beckoned Aimee to enter inside and follow her plan.
As she did that, he closed his eyes and focused on the nice feeling rubbing down his crotch, for Aimee had finally pressed on him below. In this case, her fashion design was far from flawed, as the short black skirt was more than Hunter could have asked for.
Still, it took all his will to not get too excited in this situation!
And as Aimee was now within his reach, Hunter whispered to her ear, "No one's born seeing all of the world! We must take joy in our baby steps! Be positive and continue working!"
Zipping the entrance to the black bear's stomach, Aimee turned around and looked into Hunter's eyes, "I'll celebrate when I pass the yearly exam. You do you. Just don't make any noise."
Hunter sighed and closed his eyes, fighting with his spirit.
'Seems like she has a lot of expectations burdening her… well, I also want to pass the yearly exam, but that won't stop me from enjoying the progress. All I can do is just agree with her.'
"Yeah, I will be quiet and take you to the finish line."
"…"
Aimee closed her eyes, inwardly feeling thankful… and a little troubled as she could somehow make a shape of what was hidden in Hunter's pants.
"Your willpower sucks."
"It doesn't."
-
Around thirty minutes later, Hunter and Aimee were forced to hold back their breathing, even though they were coated in a skill to hide their fragrances.
Which was naturally because someone had entered the black bear's crumbling mini domain.
Upon finding the corpse, the party grew suspicious and scanned the entire domain, finding nothing but bones and bitten pieces of rotting flesh.
One of them soon got to the monster's side, confirming that the monster was dead… and that the ground around it wasn't littered with traps.
The monster seemed lone and abandoned… which was odd…
However, it was still a great finding!
More newbie hunters circled around the dead bear to check on its body, growing amazed by the fact that someone had managed to kill it.
The hide was so tough that no normal sword could slash through it, making the empty and bloody eye socket with mixed blood and brain juices seeping out a clear validation of its death.
[Maybe it was a draw!]
[Where are human bodies, then?]
[There are some eaten parts here and here… but good question.]
Hunter cursed at the woman who asked this annoying question. A few moments later, his feelings took one-eighty change as the hunters decided to take the corpse to the finish line.
The problem was that…
[Why is it so damn heavy?!]
[Didn't you see its hide and flesh? No normal human would be able to lift it!]
[Don't complain and haul it outside! The finish line is the mountain we can see from every direction. Kill anyone who tries to steal our prey.]
With that strict order, no one from the hunter team dared to voice their feelings. But, for some odd reason, the corpse grew heavier, which was surely not because Hunter's ego increased after hearing their complaints and curses.
Surely not…
-
Things seemed to be on a stable and good path, but that quickly changed when the hunter team was barred by another team in search of the corpse. The battle ensued, with the main prize in the middle of their deadly contest.
Which was not really that bad, as hunters were moving left and right, sometimes bumping into the black bear! If someone collided from Hunter's direction, his crotch would press tighter on Aimee's ass… and vice versa, when an enemy landed on the corpse from her side, her bottom would squeeze Hunter down below.
'I love this hunter world.'
He kept smiling with his eyes close.
And if Hunter could peek at Aimee's face, he'd see that she had already accepted her fate and was amused by this situation that was growing in their favor.
She inwardly whispered to herself, 'He must be smiling like an idiot and thanking the hunter world for this opportunity. I can't help but get a little excited, too… which is because either I'm getting stronger or fond of him.'
While these two were in their own thoughts, the battle outside was about to be over.
Soon, the new team won possession of the corpse of the black bear, drawing its pounded body to the finish line.
Time was ticking, and a few more battles unfolded all around Hunter and Aimee. However, one thing was surely going in their favor, and it was them constantly getting closer to the goal of the first exam.
At last, their ears recorded the voice of someone… who seemed to be on a totally different level.
That voice said, "This corpse now belongs to our Beast King Team. I'll give the two of you a chance to cross the finish line and keep your hands on the corpse. The rest of you get back to the forest to find a new dead body!"
Just like Aimee had predicted, the mountain and its finish line were seized by a coalition of a few teams, all working in tandem to bring their people to the second exam.
Even worse was that they were more clever than Aimee had predicted.
Instead of getting their hands dirty to diminish the competition, the coalition was giving a chance for others to pass the finish line but only for a few, encouraging them all to either work again in the forest… or fight among themselves.
The latter happened more than often.
Hunter inwardly commented, 'How cruel. Can't wait to break that system!'