Another Trouble

Ten years ago.

Clovis was sitting with his grandfather on the balcony. While licking his ice, Clovis couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa. Why do you always explore everything alone? The more, the merrier, right?"

"Hahaha." His grandfather laughed after hearing the question. "It's because I am not a good leader."

"You're not a good leader? But grandpa is strong, right?" 

"Strength is not the only thing a leader needs. If you want to be a leader, you have to make sure that you don't look lost. Otherwise, your group will catch that feeling and won't know what to do. I can't do that because I always panic or go crazy for the unknown, so I am not fit to be a leader." 

Clovis looked at his grandfather with a confused face. 

But remembering it now, he finally understood what he meant. If he was acting like he was swept away by the situation, the group would definitely head in a different direction. That was why he remained calm throughout the whole situation and told them that everything was simple. That was right, they just had to kill as many beasts as possible. Their goal hadn't changed. They simply wanted to get first place.

Clovis, standing with his group, looked at the man in front of them. He was looking at the clock before blowing the whistle. "Start!"

In that instant, all groups rushed into the woods, entering Dodo's territory. Some of the groups immediately changed directions to Quagga's territory. 

Ivan's group seemed to remain in this territory, while Clovis followed the other groups to Quagga's territory. 

"They are going that way!" Vina informed the group.

"It doesn't matter. We just have to stick to our plan to win. I see a shadow in the distance!" Lovelia reported while pointing at their front.

Ivan sped up and finally encountered the first bird. The bird looked harmless at first, but when it saw a human, it immediately charged, planning to impale the human with its sharp beak. 

However, Ivan bent his knees and sliced the bird's neck from beneath it, killing the beast in a single strike.

"Congratulations, Ivan. You're the first to kill a beast in this competition." Elina smiled.

"That's right. As long as we have Ivan, there's no way we can lose." Lovelia harrumphed, thinking they were invincible.

Meanwhile, Clovis asked while killing a bird on the way to Quagga's territory. "So, Kanaria. Are you going to move together with us or stay on top of an elevated platform to guide us? This is your competition, so I want to know whether you want to participate directly or act as usual." 

Kanaria was a bit surprised by the question. They had decided that she would support them yesterday, but Clovis respected Kanaria's decision since she was the one accepting the competition. 

Out of respect, Kanaria bowed. "What do you think I should do, Captain?" 

She had overstepped her bounds earlier, so it was only right that Clovis took back the command. 

"In that case, you are to remain as our support. We will head southwest from here. There should be a small ridge in that direction, which you can use. There should be a lot of Quagga in that area as well." 

"Understood." Kanaria received the instruction. 

"Jay will remain with me and hunt as usual. This will be hard, but please bear with me." 

"I'm going to show you that I'm a different man today." Jay smirked, feeling a bit confident in his improvement during the past few days. 

"I'm looking forward to it." Clovis smiled. "Let's go!" 

The group continued on their way, killing every bird in their sight. What Kanaria, Jay, or even Ivan didn't know was that Clovis had a cheat. 

It was not the Another World Mall. Instead, it was the Gold Class map that was given to him previously. 

Last night, Clovis had been studying the map carefully.

The Gold Class Map's reputation didn't come only from its detailed information. It was famous because of its functionality. 

Clovis could see which area had a dense population of beasts and which one was scarce. There was also abundant information about the terrain, allowing him to choose which place could become their hunting ground. Obviously, Kanaria's role was essential to his plan.

Clovis had prepared the special water bottle for their recovery during the hunt. And during the night, the tent would let them recover faster. With all this, he had no doubt that they had enough stamina to defeat the enemies. 

However, Clovis's real aim was actually the Tier 1 beasts scattered around the area. The number of Tier 1 beasts they could kill would determine the outcome of this competition. 

Hence, the group immediately headed to the small hill.

Kanaria hurriedly climbed the hill, while Clovis and Jay moved around to find the incoming beasts.

Due to Clovis donating all of his money to the group fund, Kanaria actually bought one more thing. It was radar to detect any life form near them. It would allow them to be more efficient during the hunt.

"There is a group of Quagga in your twelve. Head straight and ambush them," Kanaria informed while aiming at one of the targets with her sniper rifle. 

When Clovis and Jay were about to arrive, Kanaria let out the first attack and killed one of them in an instant, startling the rest. Clovis and Jay took advantage of their confusion to kill several of them before fighting the rest.

Even though they were lacking one person compared to Ivan's group, they knew each other's roles and hunted efficiently. 

In fact, Clovis was wondering whether he should buy more recovery water just for the sake of competition. 

… 

Meanwhile, Ivan and the group were currently catching their breaths after hunting for an hour nonstop.

"I'm sorry, Ivan. I am useless." Elina panted a few times. Her role was support, so she had the least amount of stamina. She was different than Kanaria, who also knew how to fight in close combat.

"It's fine. We have done a lot in the past hour." Ivan smiled, assuring her. 

"Then, I will scout the area ahead." Lovelia stood up. While they were waiting, she could look around so that the group knew where to go after their rest. 

"I'll leave it to you, Lovelia." Ivan didn't reject her idea, and he let her go alone. 

After making sure Lovelia was far away, Elina couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure about this, Ivan? You should know that Lovelia and Kanaria's families are enemies, right?" 

"In that case, it's my job to help both families. I will be the middleman so that they don't need to fight anymore." Ivan pumped his chest proudly.

"…" Elina looked at him for a moment before taking out her device. She opened the map and showed the difference between their map and hers. "If that's the case, I will give this to you."

"What is this?" Ivan frowned. The map looked more detailed than the one they had used so far.

"This is the Gold Class Map. The president has given me an account for the Gold Class Map. It's the reason why I'm always recommending a place to hunt." 

"What? Elina… you…" Ivan couldn't believe what she had just said. 

It was nothing weird for Elina to possess the Gold Class map since the president of the Drake Group would definitely invest heavily in Ivan. 

Instead of talking about the reason why she had hidden this for so long, Elina said, "Please think about this carefully, Ivan. You are currently in the competition. If you lose, the group will be crippled. Will you prioritize your ego, or will you accept this map and win?"

Ivan gritted his teeth. What Elina said wasn't wrong.

"Ivan!" Elina was a bit annoyed that Ivan took so long to decide. She even used another card to persuade him. "I've heard that Jay is running away from his family, so he mustn't have a lot of money. Kanaria has been expelled from her original group, so she doesn't have anything either. And that Clovis? I haven't heard anything about him, so he must be a poor boy. I don't know how he bewitched her, but they surely don't have a Gold Class map. You have to take advantage of this and save Kanaria from that man's hand."

Gulping down, Ivan contemplated. Kanaria didn't even accept him, so what exactly did Clovis do to get Kanaria? He couldn't think of any reason other than blackmail. It was the only way for an unknown man like Clovis to get a hold of her. 

That was right. He should free Kanaria from his grasp. This was his responsibility.

Ivan grabbed the device before handing it back to Elina. "I'm going to use the map, but in our group, you're the most suitable to read the map and direct us. Elina, I will trust you. Help the group to win so that I can free Kanaria from him."

"Understood." Elina smiled.

However, there was one miscalculation in both Clovis and Elina's plans. It was the fact that this competition was rigged from the outside.

The two mysterious men that had been watching Clovis had arrived at the area north of the dimetrodon's territory. 

"Do you think Dimetrodon is enough to kill him?" 

"I'm not very sure. He is the grandson of that man, so I don't think it will be that easy."

"What are you planning to do then? Create another beast wave?"

"No. There is something that I want to try. I don't know if it will work, but his group shouldn't have the ability to escape from it." 

"Don't tell me. You are insane, you know that?"

"I won't even bother the grandson of the top ten explorers if I'm sane."