Chapter 24
It's sad enough to wake up to the sound of a siren, but the first thing you hear when you wake up is, 'We're going to have to fight really hard.'
Heo Yu-bin, still in buffering mode, had his face sticking out of the blanket and was emitting a confused look.
"Come on, do we have to fight?"
"Where I lived, there was a saying like this."
After opening the box lid, I took out the purple sweatshirt that was neatly wrapped inside.
It had the same design as the training clothes I usually wear, but it had non-woven fabric attached to both arms and the back.
"You have to fight desperately every moment to get what you want."
"Wha, what kind of life does Karis hyung-nim have in Estonia?"
"Here, take it. And you must put it on as quickly as possible."
Although they still seemed unsure of what was going on, both Kang Si-yoon and Heo Yu-bin wore purple tracksuits.
I quickly put my top over my head and then took out the instructions from under the box and read them.
"Starting at 8 AM sharp, the 'Cell Name Tag Removal' will begin to decide the topic of your self-PR video. Each trainee will be given three name tags. If all three name tags are removed, you are immediately out. The target trainees that must be removed are those on the same floor as your current cell. Cells that remove a total of 18 name tags will automatically be able to choose the topic of their choice for their self-PR video. If you fail to collect all the name tags, a topic will be randomly assigned, so please keep that in mind."
Same mission as before.
I need to take advantage of the so-called 'name tag removal' to my advantage for my self-PR video.
If you can't wake up early or get ready late, you could end up in a defenseless state.
I sighed internally as I looked at my two roommates, who had barely come to their senses.
'I'm glad I woke up quickly, or I wouldn't have been able to get away with it.'
"Name tag removal? I've seen this a lot on variety shows."
"I, I, I'm really bad at sports! When I was in school, physical education was the time I wanted to avoid the most―."
"Don't worry. If you stay behind me as much as possible, you won't be in much danger."
When I smiled, Heo Yu-bin opened his eyes wide with emotion and covered his mouth.
... It seems that the Crown Prince's ego has once again exerted its influence unintentionally.
'I can have this confidence because it was Karis von Walden's body from the beginning.'
It is no exaggeration to say that things related to idols started from zero, but events related to the body like this are truly a specialized field.
The ultimate goal of
In short, there are many characters with the power to start a war with the Demon World and survive until the end to kill the Demon King.
I grabbed the cold handle of the cell door.
A familiar feeling came over me.
'I feel like when I got Durandal.'
My roommates, who were right behind me, urged me on.
"What are you doing, open the door! We have to hit first!"
"I want to see Karis hyung-nim get slaughtered mercilessly!"
"... The basics of combat is to first listen to see if anyone is out there."
"So can you hear the sound now? Who's out already?"
Heo Yu-bin, who had been unable to wake up from a deep sleep just a few minutes ago, was radiating a look of anticipation in his eyes.
I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall in my room.
"There are two minutes left until 8."
"What should I do? Should we go outside first and hide?"
"If someone were waiting for us first, we would be putting ourselves in a trap... But since I can't hear anything, I think it'll be okay."
"Move! Move! Move!"
As expected, there were no people in the hallway yet.
I quickly moved towards the central staircase and hid on the 3.5-floor platform.
"Is it okay if we're on the stairs?"
"It says that only cells on the same floor can be removed, so you don't have to worry about attacks coming from above or below. The enemy will only come through the hallways, so if we can occupy a place with a wide field of vision, it will be much more advantageous for us."
"When you talk like that, it feels like I'm fighting an actual battle, man."
Even while talking to Kang Si-yoon, I was counting the minutes in my head to see how quickly they passed.
At the moment, I judged that there were about 3 seconds left.
[Notice. Notice. It's 8 o'clock. It's 8 o'clock!]
A warning sound echoed throughout the dormitory, signaling the start of the name tag tearing.
I tense up my body and prepare myself to jump out at any moment.
But the sight that unfolded before my eyes a few seconds later... was enough to make this tension seem insignificant.
"Where is everyone?"
"I feel sleepy...."
"I can't open my eyes."
The trainees who came out of the cell right next to the central staircase still looked half-asleep.
Because they woke up without time to shower, their hair was like a magpie's nest, and their eyes were swollen from a deep sleep they hadn't had in a long time.
They were so defenseless that I was embarrassed at how I had planned to launch a surprise attack as soon as someone showed up.
"What are you doing, Karis! Let's go and tear it!"
"Not yet."
I caught the sound of something falling with a loud crash at the end of the hallway and stopped Kang Si-yoon for a moment.
Soon, several doors opened with a loud noise, and a large number of trainees rushed out.
"You have to tear it apart as you see it!"
"Don't scatter! Stay close to me!"
"Hey, there are people over there! Go, go! Run!"
In the blink of an eye, it became chaos.
Those who try to protect the name tags attached to the sweatshirts and those who try to tear them off.
As the battle between offense and defense took place, the heat of the battle gradually increased.
"Now is the time."
"Are we going to do this in this situation? Really?"
"Sounds fun!"
I crouched down and pressed my body against the wall next to the stairs.
Five or six people were engaged in a fierce battle at a distance of less than a meter.
'There's plenty of prey.'
I can't help but laugh.
"Hey, why doesn't this come off?"
"Hyung, why are you like that in the morning! Oh, my arm hurts! Help, help me please!"
I saw a guy holding someone down on the floor and trying to somehow tear off the name tag on his arm.
I kept my footsteps to a minimum and attacked the trainee's empty back with lightning-quick movements.
Snap!
"Huh, huh? What is it!"
The trainee, startled by the sound of his name tag being ripped off, tried to turn around.
I held onto his arms, which were bent at just the right angle, and spun around in the opposite direction.
Snap! Snap!
"...."
"...Wow."
Heo Yu-bin, who was following me, let out an exclamation.
I flashed a smile at the trainee, who was making a dumbfounded expression, and waved the three name tags I had acquired in an instant.
"You must always watch your back during battle. Otherwise, you may die in an instant like this. Be sure to keep that in mind next time."
"Wha, what the hell are you talking about?"
This is no longer the time for leisurely chatting.
I kept running forward, stuffing three name tags with 'Park Jae-hoon' in my pocket.
"It's late, it's late!"
"Tear it off quickly, quickly!"
Because the entire dormitory was so noisy, even the people who hadn't been able to wake up woke up.
Suddenly, the door to Cell 27 opened wide in front of me, startling me, but I quickly dodged to the side and didn't lose my balance.
However, Heo Yu-bin, who had no athletic ability, ended up falling backwards on his butt.
A trainee who came out with a shower cap on his head saw Heo Yu-bin and yelled at his roommates.
"Guys, let's tear it! Block both arms!"
Well, it won't be that easy.
"Siyoon, block the door so other reinforcements can't come out!"
"Okay."
While Kang Si-yoon was blocking the door with his whole body, I headed towards the shower cap trainee who was trying to grab Heo Yu-bin's arm.
And then I tapped his shoulder.
"Excuse me for a moment."
"Huh?"
As soon as he turned toward me, I grabbed his shoulder.
I took advantage of the moment when his center of gravity was shifted forward to walk slowly, holding onto his stomach with one arm to avoid getting hurt.
The shower cap trainee fell helplessly, as if he were being attacked by a wrestling technique.
"You shouldn't try to rip off my teammates without permission."
"Karis hyung-nim!"
For now, we've managed to temporarily eliminate the biggest threat.
However, two other trainees who caught wind of this chaos rushed in and pinned Heo Yu-bin to the ground.
'Hmm. I guess I can run this distance.'
I jumped up on top of the shower cap trainee.
For a moment, I almost used the close combat skill that the crown prince was used to and used Kick, but I barely managed to come to my senses at the last moment.
Instead of kicking, I grabbed the trainee's left arm, which was holding onto Heo Yu-bin's leg, and applied force.
"Ahh!"
"Just let go of your hand."
"I'll let go, I'll let go!"
"Thank you."
After expressing my gratitude, I grabbed his left arm and leisurely removed the name tag from his back.
And without stopping, I flew towards the last trainee.
Thud!
"I didn't want to do this, but I'm sorry."
"... Just take off the name tag quickly."
The trainee, who saw his friends being torn apart like autumn leaves, raised both hands and surrendered.
The moment when I obtained 12 name tags, more than half of the target number, in less than 10 minutes by tearing off so many name tags.
"Karis hyung-nim, behind!"
"huh?"
When I turned around at Heo Yu-bin's urgent shout, I saw Kang Si-yoon, who was blocking the door, being thrown out.
The three trainees remaining inside Cell 27 broke through Kang Si-yoon's blocking.
It seems that in addition to the trainees originally living in Cell 27, there was one more person trapped inside.
"Oh my, it's hard. Oh, what is it?"
"Are they all out already?"
"...."
The prey refilled on its own.
That's when he woke up mouth-watering.
The two people at the very front looked at each other, nodded, and spoke in unison.
"Let's go."
"Let's go."
"Wait a minute; it would be more fun to fight me―"
Without even looking at my pitiful hands, the two trainees ran away in a hurry to the other side of the hallway.
"It'll be even more of a mess there."
"Siyoon, are you okay?"
"I am fine, though I just hit my head on the wall."
As we stood up, supporting Kang Si-yoon, an incredibly long new figure slowly walked towards us from inside Cell 27.
'That's right. There was still one left.'
I tried to force my legs into a fighting stance again.
The last survivor of Cell 27 seemed completely unwilling to fight.
"...."
"...…."
I sighed as I looked at Ji Yoon-cheol's face, which seemed half-asleep.
I was a little surprised to see him showing off his harmless, childish visuals, unlike on stage.
There was something even more surprising.
"Can I ask you one favor…...."
Ji Yoon-cheol muttered while hugging the giant rabbit doll in his arms.
"You have a favor to ask?"
"I'm so sleepy...…. Could you just take off my name tag... ?"
"...Do you really think that's okay?"
To my question, Ji Yoon-cheol nodded silently.
Finally, he turned his body so that his back was visible.
"Hyung-nim! I want to take a look!"
"Yeah, I want to at least get a taste of it."
"Oh yeah!"
As Heo Yu-bin tore off all three of his name tags, Ji Yoon-cheol bowed and greeted him.
"Thank you. Good night."
"Uh.... Okay. Sleep well."
"Yes."
I looked at Ji Yoon-cheol with a dumbfounded look as he headed back to bed, holding the rabbit doll dearly.
Kang Si-yoon must have had the same thought, as he put his hand on my shoulder and stuck out his tongue.
"Those kinds of kids secretly do things that don't match their size. Right?"
"I guess so."
"Honestly, I thought it was scary to see him dance, but what is this? When he wakes up from sleep, he looks exactly like a child."
"The rabbit doll was cute! They kind of look similar?"
I took out the three name tags I had stuffed into my pocket.
'3, 9, 3. So far, 15 in total.'
If I tear just three more, I can freely film my own PR video.
Unlike the hallway on our side, which had become a little quieter, on the other side we could still hear the trainees fighting amongst themselves excitedly.
"Let me tear the remaining three too. If I keep doing this, I'll end up blocking the door and falling backwards."
"Hmm. Then I'll grab the back of the next prey, so Siyoon, you tear off the name tag. If both arms are restrained, he won't be able to do anything, so you shouldn't have much trouble dealing with the guy."
"... Karis. This is not Africa. We are not hunting herbivores."
"It just came out in a habitual tone."
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