NOVEL NEXT Chapter 33
Chapter: 33
“If you’re here, shouldn’t you at least say hi?”
A guy with light brown skin and slightly grubby blonde hair leaned against a wall and addressed me. He was giving off some serious delinquent vibes.
“Hello?”
“Can’t even manage a proper greeting?”
At his words, a bunch of other slaves slowly creeping out of the room started laughing beside him.
“Hey, what if you get scared and refuse to show up for the match?”
“If that happens, he might as well die here!”
I watched these chatterboxes with keen interest.
‘They’re all just kids.’
They were as tall as bean sprouts and looked like someone had put their faces through a wrinkle machine, but I could still tell they were young.
‘Maybe around middle school age?’
They looked a bit too short to be high schoolers. While I was lost in such pointless thoughts, the guy swaggered up to me and smirked.
“Hey, if you hand that girl over, I’ll let you off easy.”
The jerk pointed at Iris and started spouting nonsense. If he had insulted me, I could’ve laughed it off, but insulting Iris? No way. I couldn’t stand for that.
“No thanks.”
Of course, my words came out pretty harsh. When I firmly said no with a displeased face, his expression twisted into something ugly.
“I was trying to do you a favor by letting you skip the typical newbie initiation, and you throw a fit?”
“Looks like you want to protect your ‘family’ or something.”
I heard all sorts of insulting remarks, but honestly, I didn’t care. The jerk cracked his knuckles and strode right up to me.
“Guess it’s time you get some proper education.”
I thought I’d need to teach this punk a lesson in the fine art of comedic revenge. I narrowed my eyes, ready for a showdown, and the atmosphere turned frostier.
Just when it seemed like we were about to throw punches any second—
“Get ready, Pimax.”
“Tsk…”
The guy, Pimax, who had been cracking his fists right in front of me, got called over by a rat-like Therianthrope. The rat told Pimax it was almost time for his gladiator match and to head downstairs. He flashed me a toothy, malicious grin.
“Good, good. Hey, don’t lay a hand on this bastard. I want to see if he can keep looking at me like that after he watches me fight.”
At Pimax’s words, the eight slaves erupted in laughter and started chattering among themselves. From what I gathered, Pimax was a super talented gladiator slave and was likely going to rise to the upper floors soon thanks to his terrifying skills.
“Make sure you’re watching carefully.”
I nodded silently at his warning. Was I agreeing because I was a fool?
Nah, I just wanted to crush that jerk eventually. Internally, I smirked like I was the lead in Death Note.
After Pimax left, the other slaves took Iris and me to a lounge with a view of the arena. I plopped down on a long sofa in the middle, and the other slaves chuckled as they found spots around me.
Maybe it was because each floor had such high ceilings, but the entire arena was visible from here. In the arena, they were busy cleaning up a corpse that had been mangled by monsters.
A slave sitting next to me poked my shoulder and grinned, saying I’d end up like that too. I had to shove Iris in front of me, under the sofa, because there was another slave sneaking a try at touching her.
Damn bastards.
“And now for the next match! The undefeated newcomer gladiator, Pimaxxxxxxxxx!”
“Woooooow!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaah!”
The crowd went wild. Just as they bragged, Pimax seemed to be one of the stronger gladiators around.
Pimax wielded a shiny sword and shield, looking ten times better than the weapon Iris had used or what they had lined up in the hallway. He had on a leather chest plate but skipped the rest of the armor.
“His opponent is ~ !! Rekra, a beast raised on hundreds of humans!”
Clang, chrrrrl.
With the rattling sound of the gate rising, a monster that looked like a scarlet bull charged out, rumbling ominously. This creature had huge horns—seriously massive—and additional ones jutted out from its jaw.
This beast was huge, easily the size of a one-story building. But Pimax walked towards it like it was no biggie.
“Kuooooo!”
The monster let out an ear-piercing roar and lunged at Pimax with its horns pointed forward.
Kurrurrung!
The ground shook with the sound of its powerful gallop. Even in a potentially terrifying situation, Pimax effortlessly dodged the bull and slashed at its hind legs.
“Kuooooo!”
It didn’t sever its thick hide, but he managed to inflict a deep wound. The cautious creature attacked again but was no match for Pimax.
Pimax toyed with the beast and then opened up its soft belly, taking it down for good.
Kuuuuung!
The monster crashed to the ground, spewing blood and drooping its tongue. Victory was Pimax’s.
“Waaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Whiiiiieeek!”
Cheers erupted in droves. Pimax waved his hand to show the confidence of a victor. Meanwhile, I just watched from above, and the other slaves thought I was scared, poking fun as they patted my head.
I stared at the beast, blood gushing from its belly and mouth, and said,
“Did he take care of it?”
Just as the magic words shot off—
Koong, Kuong.
Like a miracle, the monster jolted back to life! Its belly wound healed, and its eyes regained their ferocity.
“What the?”
“What is that?!”
The very slaves who had been laughing at me were now gaping at the resurrected monster in horror. The creature growled and charged at Pimax once more. As expected, a boss resurrected with “Did he take care of it?” always gets a power-up.
“What the heck?!”
Pimax, panicked, swiftly raised his shield, his body trembling from the attack. Even with that strong blow, he was obviously shaken. He narrowly avoided the hit but stared dumbfounded at the monster preparing for another strike.
“Rekra, thought to be dead, is back! Will Pimax be able to win?”
“Wooooo?!”
“Waaaaah!!”
Since this was Jiso’s arena, nobody found the sudden revival odd. They just thought it was a fun twist and cheered even louder.
Pimax clenched his teeth and swung his sword hard.
But no matter how revived or buff the monster was, it was still not enough to beat Pimax.
“Pimaxxxxxxx! Has once again brought down Rekra!!!”
The arena exploded with cheers as the monster, head nearly severed, looked truly dead this time, its eyes rolling back.
Worried about another resurrection, Pimax watched closely until the cleanup crew ran in to drag away the carcass. Only then did he finally relax.
Grinning and feeling good, Pimax started to swagger off the stage.
With my arms crossed, I smirked and said,
“Did he pull it off?”
As my catchphrase went out—
Kong! Kuong!
The now even stronger monster shot its eyes open and got back up. The severed neck reattached itself, and its horns grew just a bit longer.
“What, what?!”
Pimax’s startled yelp mixed with the cheers. Those who had rushed to clean up the monster freaked out and bolted out of the arena.
“Damn it!”
Now with a furrowed brow, Pimax started fighting the beast again. As strong as he claimed to be, there was no way he could handle the comedic twist of fate.
Pimax had barely managed to fell the monster again when—
“Is it over?”
The monster that should have been dead resurrected once again.
“Finally done! We took it down!”
The beast’s teeth became sharp like a shark’s, and it had bulked up even more. Pimax was visibly exhausted.
Before long, more wounds appeared on Pimax as the other slaves around him began to inch away nervously.
Every time I uttered a word, the monster rose, making it seem like I was the one reviving it.
“I did it! We’re free!”
I mumbled the resurrection phrase again with a wicked grin, no longer hiding my amusement.
Dare to mess with Iris? Let’s see if you can roll until you’re truly dead.
Pimax got smashed in the face and lost an arm and a leg. I could hear the curses of countless people who had put money on him.
“Did you really think you could touch my sister and get away with it?”
Muttering in triumph, I watched as the slaves who had been looking at me incredulously screamed and fled.
I sighed softly and glanced down at Iris, who had closed her eyes peacefully, resting her head on my knees.
‘…If it gets out that we’re not really siblings, we’ll definitely be separated, so for now, pretending is best, right?’
Surely the kind Iris would understand my little white lies. Nodding to myself internally, I took Iris back to our room.
The next morning.
An issue had popped up with Pimax, who seemed headed for tremendous success, as he was now of no use whatsoever. His upcoming match was left hanging in limbo.
“The ones taking Pimax’s place in the match are you, you, and you.”
The rat Therianthrope pointed his finger straight at me. He glanced briefly at Iris before adding,
“Oh, and just so you know, you can’t team up with that girl.”
In the end, Pimax was absolutely no help whatsoever!