Solo Clear Chapter 7

This morning, 38 more people arrived at the training ground.
According to the manager that takes care of the entire training ground system, they gathered all the smaller groups into one place.
Currently, there’s a total of 50 people here.
Among them, like the ones that spent their first day here, there were those that didn’t have any knowledge of this place. But.
There were people who seemed to know of this place and it was their second day here.

“Whew…What do you think happened Jin Woo?”

During the morning stage of the second day, I met up with Kim Byung Chul’s group while exploring and had a short chat.
He asked for my opinion regarding how the world within the training might change.

“I’m not sure, but, at least half of the group are seeing this place for the first time. They’ll be given 2,000 Geny and a Weapon Selection, so I’m sure there will be a lot of groups that will try to win them over.”

The ones that experienced the first day acquired information through the mine exploration.
Persuading the anxious people with this information wasn’t difficult.
During the morning exploration, Kim Byung Chul’s group, me and a few others explored the stage.
The others were outside socializing and probably trying to make friends.

“Having a lot isn’t always a good thing. The more people there are, the more charisma is required to lead them. Whew~”

Kim Byung Chul smoked the cigarette he purchased at the store and even smoked through the protective filter.
From what I remember, one pack costs 500 Geny, which is pretty expensive.
Despite that, he had a content expression.

“You’re not like that Mr. Byung Chul.”

Continuously calling him Kim Byung Chul made me cringe, so I decided to start calling him Mr. Byung Chul.

“Controlling the others is hard enough.”

“…What kind of job did you have in the outside world?”
“Meeting people and…something like that. You won’t gain anything from knowing.”

This was of course just my own imagination, but I imagined him working at a private detective agency of some sort.
Finding people, taking unpaid payments, collecting information about affairs, and shadowing.
When one thinks of a private detective agency, those are the kinds of work that I think of.

“You don’t look so good.”
“Honestly, when I look at your group, I get scared.”
“Ha ha ha. Hey, did you hear that? He said you guys look scary.”

The guys next to us were physically big, so just looking at them made me feel timid.
On top of that, they wielded swords, which made it that much harder to talk to them.

Among them, Kim Byung Chul was the smallest and yet, he was the leader, making it very significant.

“Oh my, this young gentleman is just as handsome as when I saw him last time.”

There was one lady within Kim Byung Chul’s group and she naturally linked her arm with mine by sliding her hand to my side.
She looked like she was in her mid-30’s and she was very skilled in physical contact.
She pressed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against me and made circles on my thigh with her finger.

“Did your friends abandon you? Poor thing. If you’d like, you can join our group.”
“Hey, don’t just a.s.sume things based on your own reasoning. He left at his own will. Also, if you’re thinking about seducing him, at least wear a padded bra. Can’t believe you pressed your flat chest against him. Jeez.”

“Byung Chul!!!”

Is this considered flat?
Since I’ve never dated before, this was something I was unfamiliar with.
But, seeing the woman seduce me aggressively felt pretty good.
I could possibly be quite vulnerable to beautiful women.

“I thought we were just going up the mountain, so I packed light!! You probably didn’t even notice.”

Despite being in a ditch where she could possibly die, she sure was energetic.
If she acted like this within the group, I’m sure the members would feel confident.
Rather than feeling down, it’s way better to smile even if it’s a forceful smile.

“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

I ended up resting ten minutes more than I thought.
Delaying any longer would cause an issue in my plan.

“Okay. We’re planning on staying here a bit longer. Which road are you going to take?”

At the place where we were resting, the road split into three.
Taking the same road probably wasn’t the smart thing to do, so I decided to split up.

“I’m thinking about taking the middle road.”
“Good luck.”

Unlike the previous stage, this one didn’t even have candles on the walls.
Taking out the torch that I purchased from the store, I poured oil and lit it with fire.
Fwoos.h.!.+
It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the brightness due to my eyes being used to the dark.
Flap!!

The bats that were hanging from the ceiling were surprised by the light, causing them to suddenly fly towards me.
I protected my head using the s.h.i.+eld decided to attack them with the torch whenever I could.
Due to their attacks, I had small injuries all over my body.

“Gah.”

Even if the injuries were due to minor scratches, it would still be painful if there were a lot of them.
Starting from my legs, there wasn’t a place where I wasn’t attacked.
It was at times like this when the healing potion was very useful.
But, it’s smarter to use it when I get worse injuries.

“Whew, are they all gone?”

The more time I spend by myself, the more I started talking to myself.
If I didn’t at least do that, I would feel like I was suffocating and would go crazy in this narrow mine.
Maintaining my sanity was a lot more difficult than fighting.

Within the first stage, there was an a.s.signment that I had to complete.
It was to find the secret room that was hidden somewhere within this mine.
The guidebook briefly described this place.
Long ago, the owner of this mine stashed his treasure in that room.
When it said owner, it was talking about the one that owned this place before the Cobalts took over.
But, seeing how there wasn’t much information about them, I figured they were irrelevant.

“I need to get a map.”

In order to find this room, I needed to get a map of this mine.
The supervisors of the Cobalt had this and it was only given to a select few, making it a rare item.
I needed to acquire it.

Even if one didn’t use it to find the secret room, it was an item that held great value.
So, if someone were to acquire it, I’m sure they’d ask for a lot of Geny in return.
Either gather a lot of Geny or get the map yourself.
Those were the only two choices.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Walking out the road, a large plaza appeared before my eyes.
This seemed to be one of the mining locations where the Cobalts would dig for quartz.
Dozens of Cobalts were wielding a pickaxe and were either digging the wall or the floor with all their might.

“You good-for-nothing greedy sc.u.ms. Work harder and don’t think about taking a break.”
“d.a.m.n it!! You gave us one piece of bread and are making us work this hard.”

“Do I hear someone complaining?! If you don’t fulfill this month’s quota, we’ll cut this month’s pay by half.”
“d.a.m.n it!!”

Even between the monsters, the way they bossed them around was just as bad as humans.
If it was that bad, they should just look for a different job.

“One, two, three, four.”

There were four Cobalt supervisors and more than 30 Cobalt workers.
Also, the monster that was guarding the wagon filled with quartz was a monster that I’ve never seen before.
It looked totally different from the Cobalts and was intimidating.

I decided that there was nothing I could do at this point, so I turned around and headed towards the portal where I entered from.

What would I have to do in order to take out that many Cobalts by myself?
That was the only thing that was running through my mind.

Now…let’s think.
An effective plan that could wipe out a group that big.
Weapon? Trap? Magic? There was a need to think out of the box.
There wasn’t a rule that said one person couldn’t take on that many monsters.

Through the portal, I arrived at the training ground.
And the place was louder than before.
I wonder what happened while I was gone.

“Sh…s.h.i.+t. Save me. Let me out!!!”
“Ahhhhhh!”

A guy was holding his head in despair and a woman was screaming.

What did they see?
Making my way through the crowd, I was able to see what was causing the commotion.

“…No way.”

Two bodies were gruesomely murdered.
I couldn’t tell their gender and it was impossible to make out their face.

It was the second day at the training ground.
For the first time, a person was murdered when they returned from the stage.
The training ground was filled with nervousness due to this event.