Bet

Clovis, Jay, and Kanaria stood at the west gate, where they saw a few trucks lining up.

There were about one hundred and fifty people at this gate. They were waiting for the event to start, specifically for someone to explain more about the competition. 

Ivan's group was also standing in the opposite direction. They were glaring at Clovis's group for one reason or another. 

Unlike them, Clovis didn't have any intention of giving them the attention they wanted. He simply wanted to start this competition and began eliminating their target.

He had even worn the new t-shirt he bought from Another World Mall. 

Finally, a man climbed the platform and stood in front of everyone. The man looked at these participants with an observant gaze as though he were able to see through their strength. 

"As you already know, we will be holding a hunting competition. I don't plan to prolong this with my boring talk, so I only want to tell you three things." The man raised three fingers. 

"First, during the competition, we will surround the competition area. If you meet any soldiers, you have to go back immediately. If they end up helping you, you'll be disqualified.

"Second, during the competition, you are allowed to use everything other than high-level weaponry with overwhelming destructive power like missiles. Other than that, you are allowed to use anything.

"Third, this is a competition. We have prepared everything to monitor and ensure the competition is fair. For example…" The man grabbed a syringe and showed it to them. "Each group will receive this item.

"This syringe is a special item developed by the military, allowing you to absorb only one ml of essence for every beast you kill. We can find out if you put the essence from the same beast, so you won't be able to cheat us with this item. As for the rest of the essence, you are free to absorb it as you want. We won't do anything to you.

"This syringe has been programmed to suit only your group. So, even if you take the other group's syringe, you won't get any point for it.

"Each Tier 0 beast will give you 10 points, and each Tier 1 beast will give you 100 points. That's all. You all should have known about the reward, so I will end my speech here. Is there any question?" 

None of them raised their hands, so the man extended his hand to the trucks. "If there's no question, please board the truck. You should be able to see the number of your group on the truck." 

Clovis led his group to enter the truck. But because Ivan's group registered right after Clovis, they ended up sitting on the same truck. 

As expected, they ended up glaring at each other. Kanaria obviously faced Lovelia, whom she hated due to their family condition. Jay's eyes were focused on the Drake Group's eyes, Elina. It seemed that he was trying to pressure Elina to not think anything about Clovis as though he knew how the Drake Group operated.

Meanwhile, Vina and Ivan were glaring at Clovis, the leader of the group. Vina remembered Clovis's action previously, making her wary of him. On the other hand, Ivan was glaring at him because of Kanaria, who was sitting next to him.

"Heh. To think that you are getting a random person to be your captain… I'm shocked. It seems that your standard has decreased, Kanaria." Lovelia harrumphed, looking at Clovis with contempt. 

"This is why you are always below me. Your eyes simply can't differentiate the gems before you. No matter what you do, I will simply beat you again and again." Kanaria harrumphed. 

"Oh my, I wonder what kind of thing you see from your captain?" Elina asked, trying to probe some information from the two angry girls. 

"You should be asking whether your captain is a gem or not." Jay snorted.

"I won't allow you to be rude to him." Vina glared at Jay. 

Clovis and Ivan remained silent. Clovis wasn't that bothered by him, but Ivan looked like he was harboring a grudge.

"Let's have a bet." Ivan suddenly opened his mouth. 

"A bet?" Clovis squinted his eyes, feeling suspicious.

"If we defeat your group in this competition, you are going to let Kanaria enter my party," Ivan stated with a cold tone.

Clovis rolled his eyes, thinking it was a special bet. It turned out to be something unimportant like this.

"I don't see the point of the bet." Clovis shook his head.

"Don't tell me, you're afraid?" Ivan harrumphed, looking down on Clovis. 

"Ho?" Jay narrowed his eyes, staring daggers at him.

"Just look at you, a 99% evolution rate guy is actually challenging a no-name like me. What a joke. In addition, you are treating her like an object that can be dragged to another place simply because you want it." Clovis shook his head helplessly, disappointed in this guy. 

It was no wonder why these girls lost their lights.

"What did you say? He is a gentleman, unlike you! He has been protecting us!" Lovelia snarled, trying to protect Ivan.

"If you are scared, just feel free to say so. You can be the captain of the group, but you, in the end, are a coward who hides behind a woman." Ivan rolled his eyes as though he were disappointed in Clovis. 

Kanaria waved her hand and said, "I can't let that slide."

How could she? After seeing how Clovis defeated many Tier 0 bears as well as two Tier 1 beasts by himself, there was no way they could admit that Clovis was a coward.

"I don't think that's wrong, considering how he acts right now." Elina interjected with a sly smile. She obviously wanted the competition, not because she was eager to have Kanaria in the group, but because this was the opportunity to check Clovis's strength. 

She had known what Kanaria and Jay were capable of. So, if they surpassed that point, it would definitely be because of Clovis. 

Kanaria looked at Clovis with a serious expression. "Can you let me handle this?"

"Sure." Clovis nodded, trusting Kanaria's judgment in this matter. 

Kanaria turned to Ivan and asked, "What if you lose?"

"Me losing? That's impossible." Ivan harrumphed, fully confident that he would be the first in this competition.

"Because you have one more person in your group, if you lose, Lovelia has to leave the group and be forbidden to re-enter." Kanaria then looked at Vina and said, "And she has to join our group as a baggage carrier for two weeks." 

"!!!" Ivan widened his eyes in shock. "Do you understand what you're saying? Are you going to treat her like a slave?"

"You're contradicting yourself, eh, Mr. genius?" Kanaria snorted. "When you proposed the bet, you treated me as an object you could simply steal from this group. But when I made my condition, you disliked it? What a hypocrite." 

"…" Ivan gritted his teeth. 

There were a few reasons why Kanaria proposed that condition. First of all, she believed that their group could win. Second, by forcing Lovelia to leave, it meant that her rival family wouldn't be able to take advantage of this guy. Last but not least, Vina was the most useful among them.

Not only was she great as their vanguard, but she could also bring a lot of benefits to the group. Two weeks should be enough for Kanaria and Jay to become Tier 1 explorers. So, they would have no use for her anymore. 

"You…" Ivan wasn't the only one pissed. Lovelia didn't expect that she would be Kanaria's goal. If she couldn't fulfill the task from her family, she didn't know what her family would do to her.

When Elina heard this proposal, she calmly assessed the bet and understood Kanaria's aim. It seemed that she was also confident in their strength. 

In addition, losing this bet would cripple this group for a while. But the biggest problem was actually Ivan's judgment. 

Elina wanted to see how good Ivan's judgment was here. She thought, 'A hero would definitely be accompanied by many beauties, whether it's for politics or love. Kanaria might be useful, but she is not worthy of the destruction of the group. Then again, he has provoked them so much that it's impossible for him not to accept this. It seems that the president has to reassess him.'

As expected, Ivan accepted the bet. "Fine. We'll be the ones to win." 

"I-Ivan?!" Lovelia was shocked. It was clear that Kanaria was worth more than her in Ivan's eyes. It felt like she was just something he could throw away even after giving him a lot of things.

On the other hand, Vina's eyes never left Clovis at any moment. She noticed that Clovis trusted Kanaria's judgment. However, it also pissed him that she accepted the bet since he didn't want his people to bet over their own lives. 

Other people inside this truck couldn't help but look at these kids' arguments and shake their heads. They were simply too young and hot-headed, making them unable to assess the situation correctly. 

When they reached their destination, the two groups went in a different direction.

Jay, who had been silent until now, couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure about this, Kanaria? You shouldn't have bet on your life like that." 

"I'm sorry, Jay, Clovis." Kanaria gave a wry smile. "I know that you might not like it, but this is the only way to solve the issue. Clovis, I know that someone like you will definitely become a bigshot in the future. So, if we were to lose, I hope that you won't question my decision."

"!!!" Jay widened his eyes in shock. "Are you insane?"

Jay fully understood what she wanted. It seemed that she had resolved herself to die if they ever lost, meaning that she didn't have to join their group. 

Clovis let out a long sigh and patted Jay's and Kanaria's shoulders. "You both are making this so complicated. All we need to do is win, right? That's all. It's going to be tough, but I'm going to work both of you to the bone so that we can win. Be prepared." 

The two of them were stunned for a moment, seeing how calm Clovis was. They couldn't help but smile, believing that they had taken this a bit too seriously and forgotten about their main priority.