Black Badger

The first event was tug-of-war.

Our team had been convinced this was one event we had completely in the bag. Naturally.

We had William Walker. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

“Go.”

The Black Mamba team surged forward in a wave.

We prepared for the first event, and I blinked as I watched the seniors loosening up to head into the tug-of-war.

Even among the Black Badgers, the ones gathered here were especially thickly built. Among them, William radiated the most overwhelming pressure by far.

Chen Koenig and several other seniors approached and placed their hands on William’s shoulders.

“We’re counting on you.”

“Honestly, this round is basically ours already.”

Chen grinned at William.

“Just do what you always do. Don’t get nervous.”

“Yes, sir.”

William answered politely.

He had the face of someone who probably didn’t even know what nerves were, but in any case, he answered his senior diligently.

“Let’s secure the opening point!”

I wanted to go cheer too.

But right now, I was still in the position of a junior. It wouldn’t be right to force my way in and join the crowd surrounding them with support, so I ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) stayed mixed in with the cheering seniors and watched others slapping powder onto their hands.

“What are you competing in again?”

I asked while looking at the thick rope laid across the center of the field.

Kairos, who had only just managed to make his way back to my side after being surrounded by the same-team seniors, answered.

“First section of the obstacle relay. Senior Trevain assigned me.”

“He’s probably assuming Creatures might be involved.”

I muttered while watching Personnel Director Ju walk toward the rope with the red ribbon tied at its center.

“I heard the seniors on extended rest are in charge of raising the Creatures.”

“Ah, I heard that too. I’d like to visit sometime.”

That sounded exactly like him.

If my recovery kept dragging on, it might not be a bad idea to visit with Kairos sometime.

He would definitely enjoy something like that...

Just as I was about to bring it up, Ju switched on the microphone.

[Then we will now begin the tug-of-war match!]

Kang Ju’s voice rang across the field.

Standing with one foot on the red ribbon, the Personnel Director called out:

[Competitors, take your positions!]

The players on both sides grabbed the rope at the same time.

Leonard was among the Snake-Eating Eagle team.

The rest were seniors I wasn’t especially close to, but I could still tell most of them were the ones who had once followed Richard Green so loyally.

At the head of our side stood William. At the front of the Snake-Eating Eagle side stood Leonard.

William dipped his head slightly toward the smiling Leonard.

Peeeeep!

Ju lifted his foot from the ribbon.

“Walker! Walker! Walker!”

The seniors started shouting with raised fists.

“Hold it! Hold it!!”

“Puuuuull!”

Among the yelling seniors, Giacomo Ro practically bulged a vein.

“Pull the damn thing!!”

Our team leaned back diagonally.

Then they began resisting the force of the Snake-Eating Eagle team, who started pulling in a steady rhythm. The rope jerked in time with the cadence of one, two! one-two!, but William endured silently and solidly.

Still, it wasn’t as overwhelmingly one-sided as we’d expected.

“One in the middle went down!”

“One, two! One, two!!”

The Snake-Eating Eagle team’s chant grew louder.

“Pull! Pull! Pull! Pull!”

“Come on! Keep pulling and they’ll tire out!”

“More! More! Nice!”

“Eagle!”

The noisy cheers of the Badgers continued from both sides.

I watched the Snake-Eating Eagle team raising their voices with puzzled eyes.

“Drop it down!”

That must have been some kind of signal.

The members at the rear of the Snake-Eating Eagle team released the rope all at once.

“Aaagh!”

Thud! THUD!

The people on our side, who had been bracing with all their weight, toppled backward, while several of the lead players on the Snake-Eating Eagle side lurched forward before stopping.

Everyone froze for an instant.

But it wasn’t over yet.

The last people on the Snake-Eating Eagle side had held firm, so the ribbon hadn’t crossed completely.

Noise exploded from both sides.

“Not that strategy again!”

“That’s dirty! Dirty!”

“Shit! Isn’t that a foul?! Hey, Kang Ju! Ref this properly!”

“Pull!!”

Pee-peeep!

The moment Ju blew the whistle twice and ruled it safe, the Snake-Eating Eagle team began dragging the rope away.

“Keep pulling just like that!!”

The rope began sliding toward the opposite side.

Even though the opposing force had suddenly surged, William Walker alone did not collapse.

The seniors beside me noticed it and started screaming like mad.

“Grab the rope! Grab the rope! It’s not over!”

“WAAALKERRRR!”

“Kid!!”

Huh.

That was Igor’s voice.

“Now!”

William had been bracing with all his strength from the moment the people behind him fell.

It was the first time I had ever seen the veins bulge in his brow from exertion.

William isn’t just strong. His reflexes are insane too.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, the kid suddenly let go of the rope.

“Wah!”

“Ghk!”

“Oh, hell.”

Crash!

This time, it was the Snake-Eating Eagle team that went down.

Everyone, Leonard included, had been pulling with too much momentum and toppled backward.

William did not miss that opening.

Peeeeep!

Ju’s whistle rang sharply.

“Black Mamba team wins!”

“Yessss!”

The seniors thrust their fists up in triumph.

“You underhanded bird bastards!!”

“Justice wins!”

“Walker! Walker! Walker! Walker!”

“That was Igor’s voice earlier, wasn’t it?”

I muttered, craning my neck to look for Igor.

“Or maybe I heard Yoow too. Was I imagining it?”

“The strategist is fond of William too.”

Kairos answered with a smile.

“Perhaps he came to watch without telling you.”

I couldn’t spot Igor.

But while I was scanning the stands, I noticed something unexpected.

Their expressions made them stand out unnaturally among the countless spectators.

Not sure whether they can’t manage their expressions, or just don’t bother.

“Hilde?”

Kairos immediately caught the shift in my attention.

“What is it?”

In the uproar soaked with excitement, only Kairos and I had turned our heads the opposite way.

I narrowed my eyes and continued scanning the stands.

“I spotted a few unwelcome faces.”

There was no way those people had come just to watch the match.

I frowned at the attendants of the new Elders.

At the concert hall, I had only formally introduced myself to the new Elders themselves. That didn’t mean I had failed to memorize the faces of the attendants hovering around them.

If they had only sent one attendant each, I might have let it slide.

But while the tug-of-war continued, I counted four attendants from the second Elder and five from the third.

By the time I had logged every face and position into memory, the best-of-three tug-of-war was already over.

“Good work!”

There had been no upset.

The winner of tug-of-war was the Black Mamba team. The Snake-Eating Eagle team had managed the remarkable feat of taking the second round, but even so, the final result never changed.

The team members slapped their hands clean and erupted in cheers for the returning players.

“Let’s keep this momentum!”

“Seriously, how the hell is this guy so strong?”

The seniors pounded William enthusiastically in praise.

“What, are you secretly Maori or something?”

Our bloodline, actually.

“The rest of you did great too!”

“Black Mamba! Black Mamba!”

“The scoreboard’s up!”

Someone shouted, and Leeho, standing diagonally in front of me, let out an impressed sound.

“Oh. Nice start.”

Ding!

With a cheerful chime, the giant board, like a baseball stadium scoreboard, lit up.

Black Mamba: 10

Snake-Eating Eagle: 0

“See that, peanut?!”

The staff hurried out to clear away the tug-of-war rope and began setting up for the three-legged race.

While they did, Ro darted forward and pointed at the opposing team.

“We’re gonna crush you pathetically, so brace yourselves!”

“Get lost!!”

Ami’s shout came flying back.

She slipped out from between the taller people and stepped up to Ro’s finger-pointing.

“We’re winning the three-legged race!”

“I’m going in for this one. I’ll wipe the floor with all of you!”

“What? You’re competing?”

Ami’s eyes widened into circles.

Then she immediately put on a smug look.

“Sure. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

“Huh?”

Ro’s brows arched.

“You’ve got some kind of secret weapon?”

Choi Ami was in.

Quite a few seniors I knew by face were taking part in the three-legged race. On our side there was, first of all, Giacomo Ro. Leeho Chang. Shu Diamond. Bobby Winter.

And John Mühlen...

John Mühlen?

“Senior Mühlen?”

I was so baffled I actually walked over and threw the question directly at Jason Trevain.

“Senior, are you serious about this?”

Trevain shot me a look that plainly said, I’m busy as hell, what do you want now?

But when I kept blinking at him silently, he snapped in irritation.

“Didn’t you read the rules properly?”

“Huh?”

I had read them carefully so I wouldn’t get penalty points.

“I read everything on the way here...”

“And after reading the scoring rules, you’re still asking me something this stupid?”

At this point Trevain even let out a sigh.

Then he turned away to bark orders at the others and disappeared. I stared blankly at Jason Trevain walking toward the people warming up for the three-legged race.

The one who explained it was Luke Lyle, who suddenly stepped up beside me.

“The more competitors you field, the more generous the scoring.”

“Luke!”

I turned toward the junior with genuine delight.

“Long time no see. You’ve been well?”

“Yes. I should have come to greet you after you woke up, Senior, but I’m sorry my greeting was late.”

“No, Hesh and Jack already passed your regards along.”

After answering, I blinked once.

“So the points aren’t just based on whether you win the event?”

They weren’t.

Apparently the organizers had created the rules long ago so as many people as possible could participate. A single player could overlap across multiple events, but if they did, they wouldn’t receive participation points.

So that was why the players had changed so heavily in the second tug-of-war round.

“I understand the strategy was to give up the second round, then decisively take the first and third.”

“Ahh.”

Then it made sense why they were putting John Mühlen into this event too.

In the three-legged race, as long as both people crossed together by any means, it counted.

As long as the height difference wasn’t too absurd, carrying John Mühlen while running wouldn’t be difficult.

I nodded and watched the seniors waiting for partner assignments while stretching.

On the Snake-Eating Eagle side, Ami, Tom, and Angela were competing.

They won’t pull anything weird in a three-legged race, right?

Thinking that, I finally took my eyes off the Elders’ attendants and watched the match.

That assumption turned out to be my mistake.

Something did happen...

No, to be fair, the Elders’ attendants didn’t do anything.

The problem was the Badgers...

“Huh?”

The moment Giacomo Ro and John Mühlen were paired together, it was already doomed.

“Is this rigged?”

“What kind of coincidence even is this...?”

“No, at least match their heights!”

People murmured in confusion.

“Look at that height gap.”

The Personnel Director firmly insisted it was random.

There wasn’t even a rule allowing redraws for three-legged pairings, so despite Yehyeon’s deeply troubled expression, the pairs remained unchanged.

The situation deteriorated smoothly when the first runners became Giacomo Ro - John Mühlen versus Choi Ami - Angela.

Of course, before the race began, very few people realized just how bad this was.

At most, maybe Yehyeon, Ju, and Ricardo had predicted it.

Bang!

Even when the starting signal sounded, no one thought much of it.

Everyone just figured it would be entertaining to watch two people who constantly bicker go head-to-head.

It was a simple race. What could possibly go wrong...

Turns out, plenty.

“MÜÜÜÜÜHLEN SIIIIIRRRR!!”

People screamed in horror.

“GIAAACOMOOOOOO!!”

Ro, who had been bickering with Ami right up until moments ago, had completely forgotten his strategy of carrying John Mühlen the moment the gun fired.

The instant the shot rang out, he bolted forward.

With John Mühlen still attached.

“GO GO GO GO GO, STILT-LEGS!!”

“JOOOOOOOHN!!”

Screams echoed everywhere.

“His head!!”

John Mühlen’s back scraped across the dirt of the field.