Chapter 125: A Hellish Game Of Cat And Mouse I am Renard Vale, seventeen years old. At the moment, I was taking the second trial to become a scholarship student of Frieden Academy. It was rough at the start, but thanks to the skills I had honed during my younger years, I managed to survive until now. I faced many monsters and fellow trial takers in the second round, but I was able to eliminate them all. Not to brag, but I was confident about being one of the last twenty survivors in this trial. Once I succeeded, I would have achieved my goal. At least, I was confident of that until two hours ago. As always, I was minding my own business when suddenly, a little white bun-like monster appeared out of nowhere. It shouted, "Dim Dim!" and several other people instantly arrived, surrounding me on all sides. "We meet again, Renard," said a handsome young man with short silver hair as he looked at me with a smirk and an evil glint in his eyes. "Would you like to become my comrade?" "You, I remember you. Your name is Alex, right?" I replied while glancing at the people who surrounded me. "Didn’t I tell you I have no plans to join a group?!" After checking their stances and expressions, I could roughly deduce that at least three of them posed a serious threat against me. This put me at a great disadvantage, and I was forced to weigh my chances of survival. "I will give you one last chance to change your mind," Alex said with a smirk. "Join us, or be eliminated. There is no other choice." "Kukuku!" The little white bun monster’s evil laugh made me frown. It was holding some kind of vial containing a blue liquid. Although I had no idea what was inside of it, my gut instinct was telling me that if I got hit by that, I would probably be scarred for life. "Look, why are you forcing me to join your team?" I asked. "Don’t you have enough members? Why must you force me to join you?" After hearing my reply, I saw some hesitation on the faces of Alex’s team members. ’It’s now or never!’ Seeing a chance, I ran with all of my might, leaving behind the group that surrounded me. To my surprise, none of them made any effort to follow me, so I managed to get away pretty easily. I thought that after that encounter, I would no longer meet them again. I was wrong. Very wrong. No matter what I did, no matter where I went, that cursed little white creature would pop out of nowhere and shout, "Dim Dim," followed by the appearance of the same group of people. Soon, it became a game of tag, the kind where I always had to be on the move to escape their pursuit. Minutes passed... Hours passed... As I tried my best to escape, I encountered monsters, trial takers, or both of them at the same time. Still, that little white monster never failed to show up wherever I went, making me wonder if I had somehow offended the little ancestor in my past life. When the sun was at its zenith, I finally found some breathing time. Dim Dim hadn’t appeared for the past hour, and I thought it must be having lunch with those hateful trial takers who kept on bothering me non-stop. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was a little grateful that they showed me mercy each time and didn’t eliminate me. Though that mercy also meant that I was constantly on edge. Perhaps reaching my limit, I sensed that I needed to take a number two. Naturally, I searched for a place where I could do my business in peace. I had just lowered my pants when suddenly, the little white bun appeared again. The two of us stared at each other for several seconds before... "Dim Dim!" "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Damn it! Damn it! Why?! Couldn’t it have waited for ten minutes?! Even five minutes would do! ...Why must it appear at this critical time when I need to take a dump?! I tried to pull my pants up mid-squat. I did not succeed. Instead, I stumbled over a root and fell on a very unfortunately shaped rock, hitting the place that must not be named. My scream echoed through the forest like a dying goose honking out its last will. The little white bun blinked innocently at me, tilting its head in that disturbing and sweet way like it had absolutely no idea what was happening. "Dim Dim?" "Of course, I’m not alright, damn it!" I replied through bitter tears, almost losing control over my bowels. But the worst was not over yet. Hearing the footsteps of several people running in my direction, I pulled up my pants and ran away, for my life, dignity, and pride depended on it. "Dim Dim!" The damnable little monster followed me through the underbush like a sugar-fueled ping pong ball. I screamed a manly scream. A scream filled with dignity. The kind of scream that only happened when your emotional support pants were half unzipped and a sentient white dumpling was trying to force friendship upon you. I dashed through the trees like a panicked squirrel during mating season, crashing through every bush like nature owed me money. "Renard!" Alex’s voice rang out behind me, calm and far too reasonable for someone chasing a guy desperate to find a place—any place, to unload the things that were desperately trying to force themselves out of his body. "Just listen to us! We just want you to join our team!" Alex shouted. "Don’t worry, just say the word, and your suffering will end!" "Damn you!" I shouted back in anger. "I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you!" As soon as I finished doing my business, I would risk everything, even my life, to kill this son of a b*tch, who had unleashed this little white demonic thing to make my life a living hell! With unbelievable speed and uncanny accuracy, Dim Dim landed on my head and shouted. "Dim Dim!" I could hear the pride in its voice. It was delighted that it had completed its mission. "Renard, I swear—just give us five minutes to explain," Alex shouted from behind. "We’re not enemies! After you become our teammate, I promise to leave you alone so you can take a dump!" "Damn you!" I didn’t know what happened to me back then, but something in me snapped. "I’ll kill you! You bastard!" I stopped running away, and instead charged in Alex’s direction with the intent to kill. "Let’s just die together!" I screamed, ready to bring the bastard to hell with me. I had never been cornered so much in my life. I had never hated someone so much as I hated this young man before me who went by the name, Alex. He was still looking at me with that devilish smile that I desperately wanted to wipe off his face. Alex didn’t even flinch as I charged at him like a constipated war god. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶 He just stood there. Calm. Serene. Smug. The kind of smugness that made me want to punch him until his mother couldn’t recognize him anymore. "Let’s just die together!" I roared. Fury fueled my strength and shame raised my power. But just as I was about to reach Alex, ready to unleash every ounce of fury, frustration, and intestinal pressure, he calmly stepped to the side. Perhaps due to the ground elevation, or perhaps I was blinded by fury, I didn’t notice that there was a small pit right behind him. And just like that, I fell into the pit like a captured prey, fuming in anger. "You can finish doing your business there," Alex said without peeking down the hole. "Call out to me when you’re done. Um, do you need something to wipe it? I have some paper..." Dim Dim jumped off my head, and bounced off the walls of the pit, getting out of it in a few seconds. A moment later, a few pieces of paper fell down on my head, making me wish that I could strangle the silver-haired devil to oblivion. But now that the chase had ended, I finally gave up and did what I had to do. However, deep inside, I shuddered a bit because I had a feeling that if I didn’t accept Alex’s invitation to form a party with him, this hellish game of cat and mouse would begin once more.