Chapter 99: The Small Snowball (3)

The man with glasses scanned the documents in his hand.

Incredible tally results flowed from his mouth one after another.

"312 rabbit skins, 421 deer skins..."

As soon as the number of skins collected by the first place was announced, murmurs spread among the crowd.

"How many?"

"Are you kidding?"

The murmurs grew louder and reached a peak when the wolf tally was announced.

"Wolves... 142."

"......?!"

"142 wolves?"

Shocked exclamations burst out.

Even though he could have quieted them, the man with glasses did not impose any restrictions.

Because he too was inwardly amazed.

'...What a lunatic.'

The number of people mobilized for this quest was 80 for rabbits, 35 for deer, and 20 for wolves.

If you add up all the skins distributed to them, it amounts to 4,000 rabbit skins, 700 deer skins, and 200 wolf skins.

Yet, the first place alone collected 421 deer skins and 142 wolf skins.

It would have been more surprising if he hadn't been amazed.

'If you consider the skins recovered from the hell training camp... this guy practically monopolized everything.'

The ratio of skins collected was heavily skewed towards the higher-point skins.

It was clear that he had ignored the rabbits, which didn't yield many points, and focused on deer and wolves.

Of course, 312 rabbit skins were not a small number.

Compared to Gunter, who was in second place, there was a difference of over a hundred skins.

However, the problem was that the tally didn't end there.

The final bomb dropped on the still-shocked initiates.

"9 bear skins... and finally, 1 tiger skin."

The murmurs among the initiates subsided at the mention of bear and tiger skins.

The shock was so great that it left them speechless.

'What, what kind of skins?'

'Bears? And tigers?'

'F... freaking hell.'

Everyone's minds were paralyzed.

With 38 million points... he could lend a little, right?

'Just enough for a day's food... no, 10,000 points!'

For those who had been eliminated, Poppi, who possessed 38 million points, was their last hope.

So they waited anxiously for Poppi to come out.

However...

"Why isn't he coming out?"

Time passed—10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour.

No matter how long they waited, Poppi did not appear.

* * *

The protagonist that everyone was eagerly waiting for, Poppi.

Instead of going outside, he was running towards the center of the Animal Forest, the tiger's territory.

Aerin was, of course, by his side.

Thud.

After a long run, the two finally arrived at the tiger's domain.

There, someone who had arrived earlier greeted them warmly.

"Oh, welcome, welcome! Thank you for coming such a long way!"

Yuri welcomed them with open arms and a cheerful voice.

But the welcome was very brief.

He quickly got to the point, his face stern as he extended his hand.

"My points? Are they safe?"

His rigid expression clearly conveyed his resolve: 'If you tampered with my points, I won't let it go!'

It was a threat, plain and simple.

Aruru.

Even with the mad dog baring its teeth, Aerin and Poppi were unfazed.

Instead, they appeared quite smug.

"Ah? Are you threatening us?"

"Are you hungry?"

"Is that it?"

"Are you hungry?"

Yuri's face melted at their few words.

The mad dog wagged its tail.

"Oh, threatening? What a scary thing to say! I just wanted to know if my points are..."

"Your points?"

"...I just wanted to know if our points are safe!"

Yuri smiled smoothly.

But inside, he was grumbling.

'Che... If only I hadn't agreed to the potion, this wouldn't have happened.'

He had planned to receive the potion from Greta, but she was suddenly assigned a long-term mission, which complicated the situation.

To resolve the mess, Yuri sought out Poppi and Aerin.

When he went to find them, Yuri was brimming with confidence.

'No matter how you look at it—front, back, side, or lying down—the first place in this quest is definitely mine.'

If that was the case, Poppi and Aerin had a good chance of being second and third.

But life is unpredictable, and there was no law against someone collecting more points than them.

So Yuri explained his situation and made a proposal.

[Anyway, even if you get second or third place, you only get an additional 50% or 30%... Why not combine your points with mine and each get 60% more?]

He also offered to handle the skin tally for them.

This was a good deal for both Poppi and Aerin, as well as for Yuri.

They would gain much more than the additional points for second and third place.

Yuri would get their help and, on top of that, a windfall from their points.

In Yuri's mind, it was a perfect proposal that had no reason to be rejected.

But to his surprise...

'I don't like it. It's too much trouble.'

'I'm hungry.'

Both Poppi and Aerin rejected his offer without hesitation.

Thinking that perhaps the fee he offered was too low, Yuri, with a heavy heart, increased it to 70% for a second proposal.

They still rejected it, seemingly without regret.

At this, Yuri realized something.

'...The scariest things in the world are those without greed.'

Or, to be more precise.

'The scariest thing is a ghost.'

The second scariest thing was those without greed.

He had no idea how to persuade someone without greed.

While Yuri was racking his brain, the two made a counter-proposal.

They wanted him to maintain the 60% fee but do one thing for them.

'What do they want?'

'Get us a house.'

'You still don't have a place to stay? How have you been living all this time?'

'Street sleeping.'

'For a month?'

'Yeah, or sometimes I'd sleep in a noticeable cave... but occasionally beasts would jump out. Ugh.'

'...No wonder, every time I saw you, you were covered in strange fur. But why are you asking me to do this?'

'You're meticulous... meticulous?'

'...No, thorough. I think you'll find a good place for us. If you don't like it, you can reject it, and we can reject it too.'

'Oh, how could I reject it! I'll find a place for you as if it were my own! Just wait!'

Honestly, Aerin and Poppi's proposal wasn't bad for Yuri.

It was good, in fact.

He had initially proposed a 70% fee.

But now, if he just found them a house, he could keep 60%.

'Poppi and Aerin have 6 bear skins.'

That's 3 million points, and 10% of that is 300,000 points.

Why would Yuri reject a deal where he saved 300,000 points and got what he wanted?

So now...

"Yes, our points, still!"

"Very well said! They are still our points! Hahaha!"

The power dynamic had reversed.

Until he got his points back, Yuri had to flatter them, and he asked with a forced smile.

"So, where... where are our points?"

Aerin, who had enjoyed Yuri's groveling, decided to stop before he snapped.

She took out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Yuri.

"Take it."

"…What is this?"

"Our points."

"This scrap of paper? Haha, where did you get this joke...?"

"How are you going to carry so many points? If you take this to the bank, they'll give you the points. That guy with glasses, the Black Swordman?"

"…Really?"

Yuri quickly snatched the paper.

He skimmed over the part about the certificate and focused on the numbers.

"One, ten, hundred, thousand..."

And finally.

"...Hundred thousand, million..."

Seeing the million-unit number, Yuri's hands trembled with excitement and emotion.

'These are my points.'

Would they fly away if the wind blew?

Would they tear if he gripped them too hard?

Would the ink wash off if they got wet with sweat?

Yuri's hands shook nervously as he clutched the paper carefully.

Aerin, seeing this, asked.

"Why are you like that? Do you want me to carry it for you?"

"Stay back! Our points are trembling, you devil!"

"...This."

Even with Aerin's cold stare, Yuri was unfazed.

Instead, he looked anxious.

"I need to go to the bank... the bank."

He felt he might die of a heart attack if he kept holding the paper.

He also wanted to quickly welcome his precious points.

With this earnest desire, Yuri ran off.

"Ah, ah! Come with me!"

"I'm... hungry!"

And Poppi and Aerin hurriedly followed Yuri.