Black Badger

This wouldn't blow up into a big deal later, would it?

I was tense as could be, but the seniors seemed to think the opposite.

Especially Barbie and Asil's reactions. They wore much more relaxed expressions as they loosened their stiff bodies.

Barbie even came over to me and asked,

"Do you not do social media at all?"

Truth be told, I had no idea why I'd need to take selfies.

When I said as much, Barbie blinked and studied my face.

Fortunately, the senior seemed to have shaken off some of the shock. She blinked a few times, then clicked her tongue.

"What a shame. With a face like that, you could rack up a ton of followers. Why wouldn't you want to take pictures with a face like yours?"

"Huh? Well... not really... It's my face anyway, isn't it?"

"Doesn't it make you feel good to see your photos?"

"My face in photos?"

I saw my face in the mirror every day—what was so special about that to make me feel good?

I looked at the senior with a puzzled expression, and she snorted.

The senior let out a disappointed sound as she took a step back.

"It would've been nice to see at least one photo of you up there."

Why?

There were plenty of other sharp-looking people besides me...

I was about to say that when the announcer's voice cut me off.

[The matches for those who'll be the highlights will take place at the very end!]

Boo.

The announcer just grinned happily despite the flood of boos. He was someone I really wanted to go up and punch.

The audience sitting up there wasn't any different, though.

I turned my head and looked back at the empty arena. The announcer reined in his cheerful laughter and continued the explanation.

[And these matches will proceed in a slightly different format from the usual!]

What?

[Since you've all come to the arena together, we should let you fight together as well. Ah! Of course, we won't have all four of you up there at once. That wouldn't let anyone focus.]

A team battle?

Hildebert Talev meat shield strategy viable? I craned my neck forward at the promising words.

The announcer gave a simple explanation.

[The order of entry into the arena will follow the order of introduction!]

That meant Barbie, Asil, Ricardo, and me at the end.

[Also, the previous entrant may forfeit their match and pass their opponent on to the next one—if they so choose!]

This was huge.

It felt like a bright light suddenly shone down on me. There was no issue at all with the meat shield plan. Especially since I'd luckily been assigned the last spot.

It seemed like I'd been selected last because I'd provoked Mick.

Scratching that guy's nerves back then had really been a stroke of luck.

I broke into a wide smile.

I pretended not to notice Ricardo glaring at me.

[As you all know, the final batter is a fresh-faced newbie. A rookie who joined the Black Badgers with convictions in hand. That's right! We're going to see just how much the Black Badgers love their juniors—up close and personal!]

Yes!

I cheered inwardly along with the outpouring of cheers.

Then I turned my head with a satisfied look.

I spotted Ricardo smiling brightly.

...A bit scary.

But after rolling under a mentor who wanted to gut me like a fish, I'd grown bolder lately. Besides, this wasn't something I could stay quiet about out of fear. The lives of three seniors were on the line right now.

I flashed a bright smile back at the beaming Ricardo.

"Senior."

"Yeah~."

[The matches will resume after a 15-minute break!]

The announcer's words cut off, and chaotic music started blaring.

Barbie and Asil, who had been watching the arena, approached.

We ignored the other players in the waiting room and gathered near the bench. I dragged my still-wobbly body over and propped one knee up on the bench.

Standing awkwardly, I said to the seniors nearby,

"I have a proposal."

"What is it? Speak."

The senior pulled a lighter from his pocket.

He looked annoyed, but I ignored it. At least my mood was good. Better than before, anyway.

I declared it without hiding my feelings.

"It's the Hildebert Talev meat shield plan!"

Whoosh.

Ricardo blew a puff of cigarette smoke right in my face.

That's too much.

But since I was a cigar smoker, I didn't even flinch at the cigarette smoke. Instead of coughing, I took in Asil staring blankly at me, Barbie with her eyes wide open, and Ricardo grinning menacingly.

"If things look dangerous during your match, just push it back!"

"A half-baked kid with some guts, huh~."

"If I may be so bold, aren't you all less than half-baked right now yourselves?"

I pointed it out, bracing for a hit.

Fortunately, no one struck me. But Asil's surprised expression crumpled.

He glared at me with a furrowed brow.

"Who's your mentor?"

"Choi Yoon."

Asil was at a loss for words for a moment.

Since he couldn't attack, Ricardo jumped in.

"Then that means you'll have to face at least four of them... You think a guy who struggles with one can handle four at once-?"

"I've improved a lot lately. Trust me on this one."

"You're not thinking of trusting us?"

Ricardo countered coldly.

I'd expected something like that. But I had no intention of backing down.

The situation had worsened due to Jae-yeon's interference, after all. I knew I wouldn't die here. But these three's lives weren't guaranteed.

The chaotic EDM kept pouring in. Flashing lights. Stale cigarette smoke. In the midst of my unsteady senses, I said calmly,

"I'm the one who recovers the fastest here, aren't I? This is the most rational approach."

"There's no way your mentor taught you to do something like this."

"Yoon always taught me to think rationally."

I shot back quickly at Asil's curt remark.

I wasn't about to yield even a single word. I could compromise on anything else, but not this.

No.

I'm saying spare your lives!

"I really did think this through rationally."

"Speaking from conviction."

Barbie, who had been keeping quiet amid the tense atmosphere, raised her right hand.

We all turned to look at her.

Her blonde hair, tied back up again, caught the eye.

Barbie blinked and said slowly,

"I think the maknae has a point."

"Senior!"

Genius!

I let out a cheer, while Asil furrowed his brow. Ricardo let out a heavy sigh and pressed his brow with his thumb as if his head hurt.

I lowered my hand and grinned brightly at Barbie, who wore a strange expression.

"Excellent judgment."

"No, I mean, I'll try to hold out as long as I can?"

She grabbed my shoulder with her chin, smiling brightly.

The fact that I couldn't feel any strength in her grip made the reality hit home once more. No matter what, I had to drag these people out of the arena alive.

Whether she knew my inner thoughts or not, Barbie gripped harder.

"But if I really can't hold out till the end, I'll leave it to you. You can be trusted, right? Don't go dying on me alone and haunting my dreams for life, okay?"

"Yes. I absolutely won't die, Senior. No matter what happens."

"Does it work that way?"

Asil cut in, not hiding the anger on his face.

The emotion in his tired eyes was clear. I was aware that I'd said things that scraped at people's nerves. I didn't fail to understand why the seniors were angry.

But I thought this was a situation worth getting angry over too.

Especially since I knew—though I couldn't explain why—that I wouldn't die alone. It hurt a little that they wouldn't trust me. Were they telling me to just watch them die?

"I don't want to see you all only in my dreams either, Seniors."

I replied quietly, and Asil pressed his lips into a straight line.

I'd seized the tilting momentum for good.

"This isn't me being reckless. It's just the most rational method. You all know that deep down."

A sinking silence.

Unpleasant noise assaulted the ears. The waiting room shifted from blue to white to red. Standing in that distasteful place, we didn't move for a long while.

Until Ricardo, who had been smoking with his head down, exhaled another puff of smoke.

The snake-shaped ring on the man's finger melted away.

"Hildebert."

Ricardo looked up at me.

"What sword do you use?"

No sooner had the eerie voice ended than a silver liquid approached me.

I watched it transform into a sword at my feet. The shape-shifting weapon built itself up slowly and methodically, even forming a silver hilt.

An elegant longsword.

Its graceful blade resembled the swords used by Ricardo and his close friend Jonathan Kudo.

I smiled faintly and reached out.

"I've been using a slightly thicker sword."

I lifted the sword that had been embedded in the ground.

Taking in Asil and Barbie's surprise, and Ricardo's scrutinizing gaze.

"But a longsword will do just fine."

You can't choose your weapon on the battlefield.

The Hildebert meat shield strategy began.

*

We weren't dragged out immediately.

We were the main course. Only after everyone else in this waiting room was pulled out would it be our turn.

There were three illegal augmented body owners in the waiting room. The woman messing up her hair in the corner, the man inhaling something like drugs from the floor, and the man sitting motionless on the bench.

In the past, their matches would have been plenty exciting.

But now, they were just sideshows.

We were the core. The audience eagerly awaited the sight of Black Badgers neutralized by Green Dream being dragged into the arena.

They hated us, after all.

For not growing old and dying.

The Black Badgers didn't have to feel the despair they did. At least, that's how those people saw it. The powerlessness and fear of daily life. The impatience and emptiness that came with a fixed lifespan. They thought the Badgers couldn't possibly understand.

And they couldn't accept that fact. Looking at the Badgers filled them with deprivation, and that deprivation soon turned to loathing.

The eternal youth everyone had once coveted.

The thing we'd casually inherited.

I knew this would become a problem...

"Prometheus."

As I stretched in the center of the waiting room, a familiar word reached my ear.

I whipped my head toward the man on the bench.

"Let's talk."

I spotted the owner of the voice.

Disheveled silver hair and blue eyes.

He was the elder who'd been ousted by my long-time nemesis.