Chapter 30
CLANG!
In a clearing within the forest...
Isaac knocked away the wooden sword of his sixth opponent.
Four already lay on the ground groaning.
The remaining two backed away with trembling hands.
"M-Monster..."
"Leave your badges."
Isaac spoke calmly.
"Then I'll let you go."
His voice was neither loud nor threatening.
But after seeing four people fall...
That calmness was heavier than any shout.
The remaining trainees threw their badges and ran.
Isaac picked them up and sighed.
"...Boring."
He already had more badges than he needed.
Yet the person he wanted to find had not appeared even once during the entire morning.
Where is that bastard?
Then...
"Looking for me?"
"...!"
A voice came from directly behind him.
Isaac instinctively turned and swung.
CLANG!
Wooden swords met.
He had allowed someone to reach directly behind him without noticing.
Cold ran down his back.
Then he saw the face across from him...
And smiled.
"...Finally."
"You were looking for me."
"All morning."
Isaac withdrew his sword and immediately prepared again.
His tone remained casual.
His eyes did not.
"Perfect."
"I'll collect my debt now."
"Before that..."
Theron did not raise his sword.
"I need to talk to you."
"...What?"
"We can fight whenever."
Theron's expression was serious.
"But this is urgent."
Isaac frowned.
After staring into Theron's eyes...
He lowered the wooden sword.
"...Talk."
Theron's explanation was short.
He spoke about the fifty trainees who would die after this test.
Isaac listened.
Then answered coldly.
"...So?"
His arms folded.
"That's unfortunate."
Isaac shrugged.
"But that's this island."
"What exactly do you want to do?"
"Equalize the number of badges."
"...What?"
"The ranking is determined by badge count."
Theron explained.
"But what if everyone at the bottom has the same number?"
"Then they can't determine ranking among them."
Isaac's eyes slowly narrowed.
"...Which means the bottom fifty itself wouldn't exist."
But then he immediately shook his head.
"That won't work."
"Even if you make sixty people or one hundred people have zero badges..."
Isaac continued.
"They'll probably just kill all of them."
The instructors would not care.
The point of the test was to remove the useless.
"You could make even more people die."
"What if..."
Theron interrupted.
"Everyone except one person has zero?"
"...?"
Isaac's eyes widened.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Theron remained calm.
"We take every badge."
"One person keeps all of them."
"Everyone else finishes with zero."
Even the instructors could not kill almost four hundred trainees.
Isaac stared.
"You're saying that one person will be you?"
"Yes."
Theron nodded without hesitation.
"That person will definitely attract the instructors' attention."
He smiled faintly.
"As a Special Trainee..."
"If I create this situation and become the only one with badges..."
"Berton will have a lot to think about."
There will definitely be consequences even if this succeeds.
But Theron could no longer simply watch people die on this rotten board.
Isaac sighed.
What Theron was suggesting...
He wants to save everyone.
Not just Section Five.
Every trainee.
It was insane.
"..."
Isaac remained silent for a long time.
Not because he thought Theron was joking.
He already knew Theron was serious.
That made it harder to understand.
"One question."
Isaac finally spoke.
"Why?"
He looked at Theron.
"Why do something this reckless?"
"You're already a Special Trainee."
"There's no reason for you to deliberately anger the instructors."
It was a natural question.
On Hell Island...
Dying during training or tests was considered normal.
Isaac had always believed this situation was simply unfortunate but inevitable.
Theron carefully chose his answer.
He could not tell Isaac the truth about his previous life.
Or about all the faces that had disappeared.
So instead...
He chose the words closest to what he felt now.
"You once said something."
Theron looked at Isaac.
"You said Section Five felt strange."
"That we didn't feel like Hell Island trainees."
"...I did."
"Do you remember what I told you?"
Isaac thought.
"That your way was normal."
"Right."
Theron met his eyes.
"People not eating other people is normal."
"But this island keeps running by cutting away fifty people at a time."
Theron's voice became colder.
"I'm going to throw sand into those gears."
"Today."
"..."
"If you don't want to help, leave."
Theron turned slightly.
"I'll do it alone."
Silence.
Wind moved through the bushes.
Isaac quietly studied the person in front of him.
Not trying to win the test.
Trying to destroy the test itself.
It was an idea Isaac had never once imagined despite surviving this hell for years.
...What is this feeling?
Something inside his chest felt strangely restless.
Even taking control of Section Three had never created this kind of heat.
"...Ha."
Isaac laughed quietly.
Not mockery.
Not amusement.
A short laugh from someone swallowing something difficult to describe.
"You're insane."
"So?"
Theron asked.
"Are you helping?"
"...Yeah."
Isaac stepped closer and rested his wooden sword on his shoulder.
"But I have a condition."
"Say it."
"After this test..."
Isaac grinned.
"You fight me seriously."
Then he hesitated.
