I Have Come To End This Fight

Episode 44. Dragon Claw (3)

after a while

Yuri returned with something.

he is… … .

“Come on, don’t eat, yield to your skin.”

He started to smear what he had brought onto Jerry’s face, making incomprehensible noises.

“What, what are you doing!”

“Hey, don’t dodge. It’s good for your skin.”

He moved his face here and there, but buried in the ground, he couldn’t escape Yuri’s demonic hand.

Just like that, Jerry’s entire face was covered in an unknown liquid.

‘This?’

As the sweet scent stimulated his sense of smell, he licked a drop of the liquid that ran down his face.

Only then did Jerry know the identity of the liquid applied to his face.

“… honey?”

Where the hell did honey come from this winter?

This is the forest of beginnings?

And why are you putting this on my face?

While Jerry had such a question, Yuri, who had disappeared out of sight for a while, came back with something this time.

It was a lump of mud the size of a human head.

“Did I really have a hard time getting this in this weather? I hope our Mr. Cheri likes it.”

“that is… What?”

Yuri kindly gave the answer to Jerry’s question.

by action.

“Honey, everyone likes it. man and beast and… Even these guys.”

widely-.

Yuri lightly smacked a lump of mud near Jerry’s face, and a small object fell from it.

No, it was exactly ‘one’.

‘uh?’

Of course, even if it fell, it was a small creature that fell on a bloody jjangdol.

The structure of the head, chest and abdomen.

Two long antennae and six legs.

And a being with a strong-looking chin.

that’s right… … .

“Hey, blue ant?”

It was a blue ant.

Because their active season is winter, they are often referred to as winter ants.

Also, it was a poisonous pest that caused severe itching.

While Jerry’s eyes widened in surprise, the green ant, which had been flipped over, stood upright.

The guy’s antennae that came to his senses began to flinch.

and then.

tall-.

The elongated antennae stopped moving as if they had caught their target.

The green ant slowly moves towards Jerry’s face.

To Jerry, the sight felt as if time was passing slowly.

And finally, the moment the eyes of the ant met, Jerry saw an illusion as if the ant was greeting him.

peekaboo!

(｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ

It was a look in his eyes that said, ‘I’ll be there soon, just wait there!’

“Oh, no… !”

Jerry screamed, but he couldn’t stop the existence that had already set a target.

In an instant, the blue ant that came down from the jjangdol started running.

Dada da da-.

It goes without saying that at the end of the run was Jerry’s face smeared with honey.

Terrified at this, Jerry screamed.

“Oh, don’t come! Whoop!”

He quickly sent Jerry away with a breath of fresh air.

The blue ant flew away in an instant.

But that was the beginning.

Tak- Tak-.

This time, Yuri lightly broke the anthill twice.

Then, five blue ants fell.

“Ouch! ha, don’t do it! hook! hook! hook! hook! hook!”

One breath per room.

Yuri laughed at the sight of Jerry blowing the ant away with precision.

“Oh my, my Mr. Cheri likes it this much, so it’s worth collecting hard in inclement weather.”

Yuri’s eyes shone brightly as she rubbed her nose with her index finger.

“I prepared a lot in case I wasn’t enough, right? how is it? It’s good?”

Having said that, Yuri appeared with a few more ant nests.

Seeing the five ant nests in Yuri’s arms, Jerry couldn’t help but be frightened.

“… Are you crazy?”

Where do you see this that you like?

Jerry cried.

In the meantime, he boasted that he had met quite a few crazy people.

But now I could be sure.

That all the crazy people he met were fake.

That this bastard in front of him had ‘real madness’.

Looking at Jerry, who had become contemplative, Yuri’s eyes, hidden behind his long hair, glistened.

He lifted one of the anthills up again.

“Okay then, here’s the problem! How many ants can there be in one anthill?”

“… … .”

“And if I break this down here… Would it be faster for our Mr. Cheeri to blow away the ants with his breath? Or would it be quicker to be surrounded by ants?”

Saying that, Yuri lightly put strength into the hand holding the anthill.

Booths-.

Jerry’s complexion turned pale at the sight of dirt falling as if it would break at any moment.

And then Yuri’s fishy voice.

“I bet you, if it breaks, the hole in Mr. Chely’s face will be filled with ants?”

“Uh, don’t do that… my please… … .”

“Shall we not?”

Jerry nodded desperately.

At this, Yuri smiled and said.

“Then tell me everything you know.”

“… … ?!”

“Give me five seconds. Oh, four, three… … .

Yuri resolutely counted and strained the hand holding the anthill.

Jerry’s face turned into despair as the amount of dirt falling from the anthill increased as the number gradually decreased.

‘ah… Needless to say… Even if it takes… … .’

And what came after despair was resignation.

Eventually, he closed his eyes tightly.

‘… You got caught by a crazy idiot.’

So, Jerry’s lucky day… … .

“No, I will tell you! say! Oooh, boo, it breaks?! Hey, you bastard! Take the power out of your hands! Give me strength, strength!”

It ended in tragedy.

* * *

The blizzard that had raged through the forest at the beginning of the day slowly faded.

However, instead of the blizzard subsiding, the screams from all over the forest increased.

“Please just… … !”

Kwak-.

“Oh no, dear!”

Yuri was hiding and watching as another yellow dragon plaque was smashed.

When he saw the 49 leave in search of another game, he turned and started running.

A wooden box was tied to Yuri’s back.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Tadat-.

Yuri’s eyes shone coldly as she ran quickly through the pure white forest.

‘It’s a mess.’

I went out into the forest and confirmed that dozens of dragon plaques had already been broken.

Although there were reserve jockeys who held up quite occasionally, they literally held up.

In the end, it was the same for them to be ‘hunted’ by the 49th.

‘It’s a hunting competition.’

It was a word that suited the current situation in the forest quite well.

The 49th at the hunter station.

And 50 prey for prey.

It’s just that he doesn’t like the fact that he belongs to the prey.

“It’s a dragon… … .”

The conversation he had with Jerry a few hours ago flowed through Yuri’s muttered mind.

* * *

“Yongpaegal? what is that?”

At Yuri’s question, Jerry started talking with a small sigh.

“ha… Did you know that riders’ dragons and stars are decided at the same time they take the proof test?”

The Yellow Dragon Plaque given to donation recommenders.

And the rule was that silver dragon plaques and higher rank dragon plaques were paid according to the proving test scores.

However, the dragon’s plaque when entering was not the same as the dragon’s plaque when leaving.

“Usually, you can raise the level of the Dragon Palette with points, but it’s hard to raise points while making a living, so when will you collect that many points to change the Dragon Palette?”

“point?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m talking about silver coins. Maybe the Black Swordsmen gave it to you in the middle of the exam?”

“You mean this?”

Yuri pulled out a unique silver coin with a hole in it from her pocket.

Seeing this, Jerry nodded.

“Yeah, that. In the cradle, they call it a point.”

“Is this the currency used in the dragon’s cradle?”

“It’s roughly the same.”

“Currency side, money paper, what else is similar?”

“It can definitely be called currency in that you can use all the facilities or purchase items that exist in the cradle with points. The problem, however, is that points do not simply serve as currency.”

“then?”

“s*xual.”

“… … ?”

“The criterion for determining grades in the cradle is ‘how many points you have’.”

“… … ?!”

Yuri’s eyes widened slightly.

‘This silver coin, more than I thought… Was it something more important?’

Silver coins, which were simply regarded as currency, had more value than that.

‘Silver coins, so it’s a structure that makes me consume points but has no choice but to collect them.’

Yuri laughed at the vicious system Yoram had created.

‘It’s fun. It’s just my taste.’

You’ll have to go into the cradle to know exactly what you can do with the points, but for now, Yuri liked the system that the cradle built.

Looking at the silent glass, Jerry poured out his story as if lamenting.

“You will know when you become a real jockey. The story of Yoram talking outside is just a fantasy.”

“… … ?”

“A month in the Forest of Beginnings? Puch. If you can’t even hold on to that, you’d better give up and go home. Because if you become a real jockey, you have to do that for a year.”

“What do you mean?”

“Cradle is a thoroughly competitive society, and those who survive that competition are treated preferentially. But what’s even more despicable is that even food, clothing, and shelter are discriminated against.”

“ok?”

“What is paid to the first year in the cradle… The clothes given to you when you wear it are all.”

Yuri lifted up his clothes as if he was dumbfounded.

“this? What’s wrong?”

“Yeah, one piece of sh*t.”

“What if it breaks?”

“What should I do, buy it at the store with points, or if you don’t have those points, patch it up… If you don’t have that, you’ll just have to live torn apart.”

Even after that, the information from the cradle that Jerry poured out was shocking.

The only thing given to the first year of Yoram is a set of clothes.

Just as they did for a month in the Forest of Beginnings, they had to find a place to sleep and food on their own for a year.

‘A month in the forest of beginnings… You mean it was just practice?’

After enduring one year like that, in the second year, clothes were paid once in half a year and dry weight once a month.

3rd year, 4th year, 5th year after that.

It was a structure in which the benefits received by one or two increased as the number of years accumulated after surviving the competition.

Upon hearing the story, Yuri clapped her hands with an admiring face.

Pair-.

“Hey, the dragon’s cradle is bigger than I thought… Could it have been more crazy?”

Rumors spread that such a crazy place was packaged like an academy in the world.

Yuri stuck out his tongue, and Jerry nodded in sympathy.

“It’s a crazy place. But it is also a place of opportunity.”

“Anyway, so continue with what you said. What is a dragon shell change?”

“… How far have I been talking?”

“Through the points, you can raise the level of the Dragon Plaque.”

“Ah, it was. Hmmm, you can level up with Dragon Palette by collecting points, but you really need a lot of points. However, only once in five years, you are given the opportunity to change to a higher rank dragon tile without points.”

I had a rough idea of what that opportunity might be.

Yuri smirked.

“That opportunity… Are you stealing the dragon shields from the reserve riders?”

At that, Jerry nodded.

“Exactly. A festival where only jockeys in their second year can participate when prospective jockeys come in… In the cradle, they call it Yongpaegal.”

* * *

Running through the forest, Yuri smiled.

‘Forest of Beginnings… This wasn’t a place made for reserve riders.’

Only once in a total of 5 years of living in the cradle.

A reward stage created to give second-year students who endured the hellish time of the first year after entering the island a chance to change their dragon plates for free.

That was the beginning of the forest.

‘Since I’ve sprinkled plenty of points as well as dragon plaques, I can understand why the 49th units are going crazy.’

Even if they were not interested in changing dragons, the 49th had to work diligently to earn points.

The cradle can filter out incompetent reserve riders without additional manpower.

Jockeys earn points.

It’s a pity for the reserve jockey, but isn’t it quite a good mutual aid.

‘It’s fun. All the reserve riders are golden goblins… … .’

If you catch them, they spit out points as well as dragon tiles.

That was the situation for the current reserve jockeys.

As the thought went crazy, Yuri laughed.

“In that sense, am I like the Great Golden Goblin?”

Over the past month, a box of hundreds of thousands of points collected by prospective riders is slung over their shoulders.

In addition, the best dragon shield, the black dragon shield.

If you just hold the glass, the so-called ‘jackpot’ will explode.

If this fact was known, it was self-evident that the 49th would flock like bees to catch Yuri.

Therefore, the best course of action for Yuri was to hide somewhere until this dragon swap was over.

It’s not that difficult for Yuri, if others don’t know.

Then you will be able to easily protect your points and dragons.

However, Yuri left the hiding place and ran into the forest where dragons were in full swing.

Then we started heading south through the forest.

The reason was one.

‘This dragon shell… It’s not necessarily a festival prepared for the 49th.’

It’s like getting your appetite back.

Yuri’s red tongue licked her lips.