How to Survive Restructuring

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 116: Showdown (4)

Cavalry Battle.

A game where three "horses" and one "rider" become one, protecting their "victory token" while trying to steal others'.

The goal is to survive until 12 teams are eliminated.

"If you fall to the ground, you're out, right?"

"Yes, ma'am! Since there are three of us as the 'horse'... one person can carry you on their shoulders, and the other two can each hold a leg!"

"But wouldn’t that leave his back exposed? Eunho, what if you fall backward…?"

"Ah, the ones holding the legs can support the back too."

The rules are simple.

Or rather, they seem simple.

If we don’t get greedy and just run away, we won’t lose our token, so we might be fooled into thinking we can win easily.

But, of course, they won’t let it be that easy.

We’re probably the number one target right now.

"If we can just knock out half of them… we need to work together…"

"…Right. Korea is still…"

Some of the other team leaders were already whispering among themselves, glancing in our direction.

Pointing directly at us.

"Uh, mister! They’re all looking at us!"

Yeojin looked around at the other survivors, her voice uneasy.

"Isn’t this too dangerous? They must all have abilities too…"

Sola was right.

If they made it this far, especially as the first-place representatives of their districts, they likely had at least one trump card.

And if I were to fall off the 'horse' and land at the feet of those supernatural ability users…

‘I might get trampled to death.’

Shudder!

A chill ran down my spine.

But…

"How about we form an alliance with another district? If we help them at first, we can make a deal that they won’t attack us later!"

"It's fine."

"Why are you so relaxed? You're the one who’s going to get hurt…"

"I won’t get hurt."

Sola frowned at my indifferent response.

She was probably cursing me as a reckless fool in her head.

"Because I haven’t shown my ability yet."

"!!"

When we fought Japan, I used my acceleration skill to deflect shurikens, but none of those opponents were here now.

And even if they were, they wouldn’t have figured out my skill’s exact mechanism in such a short time.

Besides—

"We have an incredible tank."

"A tank?"

Someone who can withstand attacks without worry.

"Of course! It should be me, right, hyung?!"

Jaehyuk grinned as our eyes met, pounding his steel armor-clad chest.

"Well… that idiot does seem reliable."

"I-Idiot?!"

As Sola and Jaehyuk bickered, I turned around—

To our newly born tank.

"Can you explain that skill you used earlier?"

"Ah, right, right! That thing… what was it called…"

The old man had obtained a skill called "Guard."

It designated a specific "area" to protect, creating a barrier that only permitted authorized individuals to enter.

"The problem is, the barrier is only 1 meter in radius, and if they keep attacking it, it eventually breaks… it’s not very useful."

"No, even just blocking surprise attacks is enough. The barrier’s strength will increase as the skill levels up."

If he could block ambushes from above or behind, moving around would become much easier.

"So this time…"

"Yes. I’d like to ask you and Jaehyuk to take on this role."

"!!"

"You can count on me, hyung!"

The old man’s eyes widened at my declaration, while Jaehyuk clenched his fists and shouted.

Everyone else scrambled to claim the last available spot.

"What about me? If I curse those fucking bastards right to their faces, I can debuff them!"

The foul-mouthed guy confidently pointed at his mouth, then at the other district leaders.

"I… I won’t let Eunho fall, no matter what!"

Jieun’s eyes sparkled with determination.

"Me too! If I make a wall of earth, no one will be able to reach us! I can knock them all over too!"

Yeonbora joined in, miming a hand gesture.

And finally—

"We need to practice our coordination."

Park Gongchan stretched and approached Jaehyuk and the old man.

"Coordination?"

"Yeah. In a game like this, the key to victory is how well you move as one. You two, what’s your agility stat?"

"H-Huh? I’m at 15…"

"I-I'm at 14! Whoa… never thought I’d be working alongside Park Gongchan…"

‘Huh?’

Judging by his serious expression, he was convinced the last spot was his.

It made sense.

With his excellent physical abilities and his "Shoot" skill, he was a well-balanced fighter with both offense and defense.

But in this kind of chaotic battle…

"We need a supporter."

"What?"

We still didn’t know the abilities of the other survivors.

Meaning, there was a high chance that unknown enemies would gang up on me.

So rather than adding Park Gongchan to boost our offense, we should recruit a versatile supporter to enhance our team's overall stability.

"Are you trying to increase stability?"

"!!"

"Then……."

"Me?!"

At my words, Park Gongchan frowned deeply, while Jieun and Yeon Bora, who had been watching, sparkled with excitement.

……For some reason I couldn't understand, even the foul-mouthed one approached with anticipation.

"The three people I have chosen are……."

After carefully explaining the selected players, the reasons for my choices, and the strategy—

Swoosh!

I pressed the window that had been sitting in the corner of my vision and wrote down the names.

One by one, I filled in the three blank spaces.

And then.

"If that's what you think, then it must be right. I wish you luck."

"Please take care of this. I trust you."

"Lee Eunho! Please win!"

[All participants, please gather in the central arena.]

Leaving behind the cheers of the people, I stepped forward.

To the arena where I would face 88 competitors.

* * *

[‘Token of Victory' has been awarded.]

Clink!

Something heavy hung around my neck.

A gold medal, about the size of my palm.

"Oh…… it's bigger and shinier than I expected!"

"It has to stand out so that people will fight over it."

"Now that you mention it…… everyone’s eyes look murderous!"

[All riders, please mount your horses!]

The 23 representatives, who had been rolling their fierce eyes, mounted their respective 'horses.'

Even as they twisted their bodies to find the optimal posture, they were too busy keeping a sharp eye on the other teams.

A tense atmosphere wrapped around the arena.

Because of a few who were too excited and stomped their feet, dust clouds rose into the air.

"Let's target Korea first. They already won once, so they should step aside this time."

"Yeah! If they place in the rankings again, it'll be too hard to catch up. We have to knock them out early today, no matter what."

"I feel like we're wasting too much effort on just one team……."

"You have to take down the strong ones early to avoid trouble later. Take them out fast and steal the rest of the tokens from the weaklings."

Teams from the U.S., Russia, Spain, and India—all of them showed off their diversity.

Their eyes gleamed with a mix of competitiveness and tension.

'The ones stepping up are mostly from the U.S., Russia, Spain, and India…….'

Most of them were mid-to-high-ranking teams from yesterday.

If we were eliminated early today, they would have a chance to climb the rankings with the combined scores.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

'They've managed to team up, huh.'

Well, considering they were only separated by a single training point (1p), it must have been easy for them to form a temporary alliance.

Of course, that didn’t mean I had any intention of going down easily.

"But the important thing is……."

"Where is the Korean team?"

Gulp!

With the sound of Jaehyuk nervously swallowing, the emotionless system announced the start of the match.

[The Cavalry Battle will now begin!]

WOOOOAAAAHHH—!

At that moment, a thunderous roar erupted throughout the arena.

At the same time, the enemies surrounding us each shouted something—

Crunch! Fwooooosh—!

And then, they transformed.

Just like villains from a comic book turning into battle-hardened war beasts.

"H-Hiiiik! H-Hyung! Over there…… a giant……!"

"A giant?"

A towering blonde man, carrying the U.S. representative on his shoulders, began to swell.

……Literally swell.

'……What the hell.'

His calves and thighs, already muscular, ballooned to the size of building columns, and his arms, which were already as thick as a child's head, kept growing endlessly.

"Young man! That…… that thing is still human, right?!"

"If he just breathes too hard, we’ll get blown away!"

Jaehyuk shivered in fear, but the bizarre abilities were only just beginning.

"Holy hell! That guy is actually flying?!"

"Flying? Like Jieun noona…… H-Huh?!"

The Iraqi representative rode a beautifully patterned carpet and soared into the sky.

—KOREAN TEAAAAM! COME OOOUTTTTT!

"Ugh!"

"My ears—! My ears are bleeding!"

The Philippine representative used his monstrous vocal power to rupture the eardrums of those nearby.

"Ha…… If we had been closer, we’d be deaf by now."

"These abilities are insane, hyung!"

"Yeah."

As the two looked on in horror, I added one more thing.

"……We're just the same."

Feeling the weight pressing against my back, I asked softly,

"Are you okay? That was really loud just now."

Tap, tap.

I patted the head of the little one strapped to my back like a bundle.

……The little ninja who had activated the 'Hide and Seek' skill while riding on my back.

"Yeah…… I'm okay! I was covering my ears!"

"You're not uncomfortable?"

"Nope! It's fun. Like a ride!"

A plan devised so that I could still use both arms while keeping Yura hidden with 'Hide and Seek'—

The so-called Piggyback Strategy.

It was obvious that we'd be targeted early on, so we planned to stay hidden with Yura’s ability until the enemies let their guard down, then snatch their tokens to boost our score.

'We could just stay hidden the whole time, but then we’d lose too many points to the other teams.'

I was worried that Yura might be scared, but thankfully, she seemed to be enjoying it.

After patting Yura on the head as she flapped her arms and gave a brave answer, I turned to the two people holding onto each of my legs.

"Let's go. Start from the left, one by one."

"Yes, hyung!"

"Got it!"

Whether it's a token or a gold medal, let's steal a look.

* * *

Tap!

We dashed across the grass.

Or rather, I should say I was dashed across.

Seated atop Jaehyuk’s right shoulder and the security guard’s left shoulder, we weaved through the crowd.

"Hyung! Are you all ri—"

"Shh."

I nodded at Jaehyuk, who had been whispering, ‘—ght?’

I was worried that with only two people instead of three, the balance might be off.

But it's more stable than I thought.

Since Jaehyuk and the security guard's speeds weren’t perfectly synchronized, we should have wobbled.

However, my lower-body muscles held my body's axis firm, maintaining balance.

Must be thanks to all the strength stats I’ve accumulated.

Srrrng!

I carefully unsheathed my sword, making sure not to disrupt my posture.

And then, I locked onto my first target.

A fire user, huh?

Whoosh!

Flames flickered atop his palm as he clenched and unclenched his fist nervously.

Several teams gathered in one place.

A moderate level of strength.

A face full of wariness.

This is the guy.

"Where the hell is that Eunho guy?! He’s nowhere to be seen!"

"There's no place to hide, so where the hell did he go?!"

They were frantically looking around, yet they couldn’t see us even though we were right in front of them.

【The 'Prince of the Investigation Bureau' scoffs, wondering if those idiots are actually hunting for Eunho.】

【Many observers shake their heads at the foolish courage of these participants.】

【A small number of observers express concern over the numerical disadvantage.】

Jaehyuk and the security guard exchanged glances with their mouths slightly open, and I nodded.

Freeze.

Then, mouthing the words, I reached out.

Carefully.

Holding my breath.

Even being cautious of the air shifting around my hand.

"Hey, this thing is already cracked. Wouldn’t it be better to go after the Chinese team first?"

"Ugh... making the first move is risky… Should we just hide instead?"

"If we hide and lose our tokens, it's over! Or should we just steal from the guys next to us?!"

Clink!

As my fingertips brushed the medal, there was a faint sound.

But since the owner was too busy yelling, he didn’t notice.

And then—

Snip!

I cut the string the medal was hanging from.

"…?!"

"Huh? Huh? Something just…."

Before they could even process what happened, an announcement rang out.

[The first elimination has occurred.]

[Remaining tokens: 22]

"What the hell just happened?!"

"Where’s the token?! What the f—?!"

They were robbed blind—just as planned.

"You! It was you, wasn’t it?! You bastards…! We agreed to rise to the top together!"

"N-No! We didn’t do anything…!"

Even the nearby teams, startled by the sudden theft, reacted in shock.

"Forget it! Kill them all, damn it!"

"What? Why are we fighting all of a sudden…?"

"Take his token! Hurry!"

It only took a moment.

Before long, they turned on each other like porcupines bristling their quills.

"Shit! I knew this would happen! Hold onto the medals! Fall back!"

"There’s no alliance! It’s war! Grab your weapons!"

【The 'Investigation Bureau's Brain' wonders if this chaos was intentional from the start.】

【The 'Prince of the Investigation Bureau' laughs, saying that’s just how this guy is.】

If my enemies form an alliance, all I have to do is break it apart.

After all, they only teamed up to hunt me down.

Once this match is over, their alliance will shatter anyway. It was never stronger than a fragile glass bead to begin with.

Crackle!

The sound of their footsteps spreading apart rang like cracks forming in glass.

And then—

"…Let's move on to the next target. Now."

"Yes, sir!"

The battle had begun.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]