Against all my expectations, Toki turned out to be extremely helpful. Coming from a family of hunters, he was taught everything.
He deboned that boar in about thirty minutes.
Kairi is using her knowledge to make sacks, using herbs, bark, and straw. I have no idea how she does it, but this way, we know how to transport the meat, since in the Virtual Room, phones are deactivated and cannot be used as storage. Meanwhile, Seyun went to gather wood with Koto.
"I thought you were a psychopath. Why do you seem calmer now? Did Koto tell you not to cause trouble?" I ask Toki while he fillets the boar.
"Eh?! I'm not a psychopath!" He leaves the meat and points the knife at me.
Now I recognize him.
"To be honest, you still annoy me. It's just that..." He doesn't finish the sentence and starts cutting the meat again.
I don't ask him why he hesitated because, in reality, I don't even care.
After a couple of hours, we all gather around a campfire.
Seyun talks calmly with everyone; that alone is a great success.
The author never talked about it in detail. Whenever Seyun was mentioned, it was to convey that she was bullied. All to give meaning to her imminent death.
"I wonder when we'll find those civilians..." Kairi asks with a worried tone.
"Eh? Don't tell me you're worried; they're not real people anyway." Toki retorts.
Well, he's right; they're just NPCs after all.
"How insensitive you are..." Kairi replies quietly.
"Eh?!" Toki counters, standing up and pointing the meat at Kairi.
"Calm down, calm down, be still!" Koto makes him sit.
I can't help but smile; it feels like watching an owner scolding his dog.
"Remember that you're eating meat... thanks to me!" Toki continues.
"Yes, yes, you're our savior. Now eat and be calm." Koto reassures him.
After finishing eating, we camp outdoors. It's warmer here; it's probably mid-summer. We decided to take turns on guard duty, so while others sleep, one stays awake to make sure no monsters approach.
The night passes peacefully, and at dawn, we start exploring the area together.
I'm already tired of this 'outing.' I just want to go back to my room and go to sleep.
Yesterday, while trying to fall asleep, I roughly remembered where those civilians are. The author revealed that despite each group being on its own, all of them were in the exact same setting. Among them, Koto's group was one of the first to complete the rescue after about ten days.
Recalling those chapters, I look towards a distant mountain. The civilians should be hidden in a cave nearby.
I can't explicitly say anything to avoid suspicion, but I'll try to guide them in that direction.
"Seyun, Kairi... How about taking a bath?" I speak to my prey, waiting for them to take the bait.
They look at me with evident surprise.
"What? Where? When?" Kairi responds hastily.
I point to the mountain.
"There's a good chance that there are streams near that mountain." I said her.
Then I turn my gaze to Koto.
"We can still see if we find those civilians along the way. And given that we have been given 60 days, they might be beyond the mountain." I tell him with my eyes, to convey that we can combine business with pleasure.
Koto nods. Toki doesn't seem to object; maybe he wants to wash too. So, we begin to venture in that direction.
After 3 hours of travel, we reach the foothills of the mountain. We decide to rest there for a while.
"Are you sure there are streams here?" A confident voice emerges from behind me.
I turn around and see Kairi, looking worried. It seems she has already forgotten about the civilians; apparently, she has new priorities.
"I said the chances are high. Once we start crossing, we'll see..." I reply calmly.
"Ugh..."
She seems more tired than worried. During the journey, we were attacked by two zombie hordes in quick succession, and she had to exert herself to protect Seyun.
I killed a few, but Koto and Seyun did the heavy lifting.
"How can you be so strong?" Toki directs his question to Koto, with a mix of envy and admiration in his tone.
"I've been training since I was a child. And you? Not bad with that..."
He replies with a smile, indicating the spear that Toki holds up with his hand.
My gaze inadvertently falls on that weapon. I notice something attached to the base of the tip, something slowly dripping.
"Because I trained before being admitted here. My father taught me how to use it." He proudly states it.
Then Toki stands up to show his skills and makes a thrust upward with the spear.
At that moment, a strange thing detaches from the spear and falls on his face.
...
It's a zombie's hand.
...
It happened so quickly that we are processing it in silence.
After a few moments, Toki grabs it with his free hand and angrily throws it a few tens of meters away.
Then he looks at each of us, hoping we hadn't noticed anything.
Koto seems very serious, but I think he's trying not to look at it since his eyes are elsewhere; Kairi has her eyes fixed on the ground, and Seyun is struggling not to laugh.
I, on the other hand, look at him with particular curiosity. Probably, he didn't notice due to the anger that overcame him, but there's still some zombie flesh on his nose.
Toki, seeing that the situation has remained calm, sits back down.
Hearing strange noises coming from my left, I turn and look at Seyun. She's literally about to implode.
At this moment, thousands of possible futures fly through my mind.
What would happen if she burst into laughter?
In 99% of these scenarios, Toki would truly go crazy.
I look in Koto's direction until our eyes meet. At that point, I point to Nayun, gesturing with my eyes and tilting my head slightly.
-I know you understand, Koto, you know what to do.-
I try to send him a telepathic message.
After some contemplation, he stands up.
"I'd say we've rested enough, let's go!" Koto suggests, once again not understanding my messages.
His gaze then falls on Toki.
...
"Pfft" He can't hold back his laughter.
"Eh?!" Toki looks at him perplexed.
~Cough Cough~
Koto fakes a sudden cough and turns to the rest of us: "Are you ready?"
We nod.
So, we start circling the mountain, and after just an hour of travel, we find the stream, bringing great joy to Kairi... And also for my safety since I feared for my well-being.
I knew there was a river because it was mentioned, but I didn't know its exact location.
The others all stop near the stream.
Kairi moves away with Seyun while Koto and Toki stay back.
I have no intention of washing, as if everything goes well, by the end of this day, we will have completed the trial.
I approach the guys, who are about to immerse themselves in the river.
"I'll take a walk!" I reveal to them, looking them in the eyes.
"Eh? Where do you want to go alone? You'll just be killed by zombies!" Toki speaks loudly, visibly angry.
"Here, we don't really die, right? I thought I saw footprints earlier. They might be from the civilians; I'm going to check."
He looks at me with suspicion.
Meanwhile, Koto, already in the river, looks at me thoughtfully, then asks me: "You're not going to spy on the girls, are you?"
"Eh? Is that the real reason? Is that why you brought us here?" Toki speaks loudly, even angrier.
"But do you think so? Why would I spy on young girls? Continue to bathe; I'm going. I should be back in about thirty minutes to report."
Koto nods without saying anything while Toki continues to look at me skeptically.
I quickly move away, continuing along the edge of the mountain. I'm not very afraid of encountering zombies. I killed some before, and it was incredibly easy. Apparently, I overestimated them the other day; after all, in this place, they don't show their true strength. With a bit of effort, I could even kill those wolves, but I don't think I can go further. Despite not having had a direct experience, I know that during the test of the other day, in the third wave, cadets faced some sort of giant shark with legs.
~Brrr~
I shudder just thinking about it. And did Koto manage to defeat the shark?
They will also appear during this trial in a few weeks, so it's better to finish it as soon as possible.
Walking through tall grass and slaloming through trees, I see a section of the mountain covered with thick vegetation. Probably, anyone would think it's moss or vines, but not me.
At this point, I just have to go back and warn the others that I may have found something.
Mmmh... Maybe it's better to make sure it's actually a cave to avoid embarrassing moments with them.
I approach carefully, trying not to stumble, and arrive in front of the wall.
I slowly bring my arm to touch it and realize that it passes through. So, there's a void on the other side; it must be the cave.
I turn back.
"Cave found, yeeeah."
As I move to return to the others, my foot gets caught in an exposed root, and I fall backward, entering the cave.
I immediately notice that I'm being observed by two adults, a man and a woman, both in fairly good condition.
"Thank you, you saved us!" They speak simultaneously before disappearing into nothingness while I'm still sitting on the ground.
At that point, a white light envelops the area around me.
...
Damn... It wasn't supposed to go like this!
A moment later, the whole group appears in front of the Virtual Room.
...
Everyone looks at each other confused. We've been there for two days, so technically only two minutes have passed.
Koto approaches me and asks, "Did you find them in the end?"
Nayun and Kairi look at me perplexed.
I start scratching my chin.
"Well... yes, I found them." I confess a bit embarrassed.
No one says anything for a moment.
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
...
Nayun, Kairi, and Toki's jaws break through the floor.
"How did you find them?" Kairi asks, curious.
Koto jumps in and answers her, "He had seen the traces they had left in that area, so he followed them and then found them."
Kairi looks at me, implicitly asking for confirmation.
I nod.
At that moment, we notice Mary's presence.
Or rather, we sensed an intense pressure.
The author spoke of 'bloodlust' to explain this type of pressure exerted by certain characters.
She stares at each of us, then reports, "Well done, good job... You can go now."
At that point, the pressure eases, and we all breathe a sigh of relief.
Toki seems about to faint, so Koto holds him under his arm. Seyun and Kairi seem to be fine.
Before I could move away, Mary grabs my shoulder.
"Cadet Azka Ban... Would you mind talking with me for a moment?"
She asks in a tone that doesn't admit a refusal as an answer.
I look at her, trying to smile, and then ask her: "Can I say no?"