--- [Lucas’s perspective]
“The seventh contestant has returned. Only three flags remain.”
Damn, just three left?!
I need to hurry hell up!
If only that dude hadn’t done me dirty like that…
Gaaaah!
I guess it’s my fault for believing him in the first place…
He’s was under no obligation to tell the truth.
We’re supposed to do anything we can to get a flag, and he did.
He tricked me, that’s it.
Let’s just move on, and get a new one.
There are still three left.
That’s plenty…
…
WHAT AM I THINKING?!
THAT IS IN NO WAY PLENTY!!!
THAT LITTLE SHI…!!!!!
I take a deep breath.
Ok…
Let’s just calm down…
I need to hurry up and find a flag already.
No more bullshit.
I continue to run for a few minutes, but I don’t find anyone at all.
Where are everyone??!
It’s not even that I’m not finding anyone with a flag, I’m not finding anyone at all…
The numbers have obviously been reduced significantly since the start, but I didn’t think they would be reduced this much.
I run for a little while longer, before eventually spotting someone.
What the…?
The guy who fucked me over earlier was wearing a white suit.
It seemed a little strange, as that kind of clothing isn’t exactly the best suited for combat or running.
I thought that maybe he was just a weirdo, but now…
That guy over there is wearing a black suit.
What is going on here?
Are they friends?
I run up to him, but before I get close enough to attack him, he spots me.
“Hey! Do you have a flag, if so, hand it over!” – Alex
PAHAHAH!
Is this guy serious??
If only he knew…
“Sorry kid, I don’t have one.” – Lucas
“Oh, alright then. Good luck.” – Alex
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
??????????????????????
“That’s it?” – Lucas
“Huh?” – Alex
“You’re just gonna accept my answer? What if I was lying???” – Lucas
“Well… Are you lying?” – Alex
How trusting is this guy?
Or is he just tricking me?
Maybe he wants me to think that he doesn’t have a flag so that I’ll let him go.
“Only one way to find out, right?” – Lucas
“I advise you to tell me the truth. I’m stressing out because the flags are starting to run out, and if you do indeed have one, I will get it from you, even if I have to get violent.” – Alex
He’s not exactly lacking in confidence…
We’re in a bit of a weird situation now.
I think he’s being sincere; I don’t think he has a flag.
But…
He might.
If it did turn out he did have a flag, I wouldn’t exactly be surprised.
I already got fucked over by another guy in a suit earlier, if I let myself get fucked over again, then that would be an entirely different level of embarrassing.
So, I can’t let him go.
But…
If we assume that he is indeed being sincere, then he can’t let me go either.
All because of how I responded.
I was a bit taken back by how trusting he seemed, so the way I responded made it seem like I might have a flag after all.
He needs it too, so he can’t let me go.
So, we’re in a situation where most likely none of us has a flag, we’re both running out of time, yet we’re also about to deliberately waste it on fighting each other.
“Let’s just get this fight over with, I don’t have time for this.” – Lucas
“Same.” – Alex
He runs straight to me and immediately throws a punch to my face.
I move my head back a little, so it just barely touches the tip of my nose.
I don’t hesitate and throw a counter punch right towards his stomach, but he manages to jump back before it connects.
This guy is pretty good too.
He’s seems to be about on par with Mr. White Suit; if not maybe even a little faster…
That should be no problem though.
I was completely outclassing him.
They’re not able to get any good hits in on me.
My perfect muscle control is too effective.
He quickly gets back to me and starts wildly kicking and punching from every direction.
Not one of the attacks connect.
He’s starting to get visibly frustrated.
Just when the time is right, I throw a counterattack, a kick to his side.
It connects and he is sent flying.
“Gueahhh!” – Alex
He coughs up some blood, but quickly gets back on his feet and rushes straight for me.
He’s not giving up.
He throws a hook towards my temple, and I easily dodge it, but…
What the…!
The hook was just a fake out!
The moment I moved my head back, he lunged forwards and wrapped his arms around me.
There was no possible way for me to escape.
He figured out a way to counter my perfect muscle control!
As he tackles me, I fall to the ground.
He’s doing a bear hug.
My arms are still free, so I continuously slam my fists into his back, but he’s not budging.
“GhhHHHAaaH!” – Lucas
He’s not letting go!
He knows that if he frees even one of his arms to punch me, I’ll be able to escape.
I’m being squeezed!
I continue to hit him as hard as I can, and every time he’s hit, he groans in pain.
But…
He.
Is.
Not.
Letting.
Go!
Regular attacks won’t work.
I’ll be crushed before he’s forced to let go.
I need to charge up an attack.
I take a deep breath, then essentially just go limp.
I put all my focus, all my concentration into my fist.
I’m no longer fighting back against his bear hug, meaning I’m going to pass out even sooner.
I can feel my consciousness fading…
One of my ribs crack…
Just a single moment before I pass out, I unleash my attack.
My fist connects with his side.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGG!” – Alex
He screams out in pain and gets sent flying away.
He crashes through a bunch of trees, but they don’t stop him; his momentum is too high.
His body hits a hill, but not even that immediately stops him.
He burrows deep into it.
I get back on my feet and run over to him.
Ahh…
Running with a broken rib hurts like hell…
He’s just lying there…
Lifeless…
Did he die?
“Ugh…” – Alex
He survived…
He picks himself up and gets back on his feet.
“Wow… That one hurt.” – Alex
What the hell?
Is he ok?!
He doesn’t even seem that hurt…
A hit like that would have killed most people…
Yet, he didn’t even get knocked out…
As I get ready to attack again, I suddenly get interrupted by a strange voice.
“PLEASE DON’T HURT ME! JUST TAKE THEM OKAY!!”
We both look over and see a guy who is hiding behind a rock, crying.
He’s holding two flags…
“JUST TAKE THEM, I DON’T NEED THEM! JUST PEOPLE DON’T HURT ME! JOINING THE E-RANK EXAM WAS A MISTAKE!!!”
Wat…
“…” – Lucas and Alex
No way something this conveniently lucky just happened…
“How the hell did you get your hands on two flags if you’re weak?!” – Lucas
“Uhm… I’m just lucky, I guess…? I found them earlier, but I was too scared to run back with them. I saw some monster lady massacre a crowd of over 100 people all by herself! I didn’t want to just give them up… but… going back would mean I’d most likely run into more monsters like her…”
…
Had I punched him in the other direction, we wouldn’t have run into this guy.
What the hell kind of luck is this???
It’s like the cosmos itself is paying me back for what happened earlier…
The guy stands up and hands us a flag each.
“Here, take them. Just don’t hurt me, okay?”
He wipes away his tears before promptly running away.
“Huh… I guess that works too…” – Alex