BATTLE OR ALIVE
Chapter 08: The Assumption

As far as the eye could see, there was only darkness to be recognized, no one knew for sure where the current place was, the room was enveloped in an incredible darkness and no sound could be heard in the room.

The room that forms a hallway that can not be seen where from the end of the place.

Continues to pass through the pitch-black passage, and to the end of the darkness, in front is a faded light that can be seen.

At the end of the room there is a door, a door with a height of about 2 meters that connects the two rooms.

The door opened and the sound of the door squealing clearly filled the room. The room next to the door was the room with the lighting seen earlier, there were seven large chairs and a large round table in the middle.

In each seat there is a number with the writing of this world, ranging from one to seven.

All six seats were filled by people, leaving only one empty seat with the number one.

The people sitting on the chairs were wearing huge robes to cover their identity with cloaks, each looking at each other, and they stood up at once, pay their respects and the voices of those who filled the silent room.

““Welcome, Boss.””

Their voices coincided with a gesture of reverence, welcoming the last person who had just arrived and sitting on the number one seat, sitting back with a gesture from their boss, and all of them returned in a silent state.

The people who were there did not communicate at all and did not even make any sound, not even the sound of their breath could be heard, as if they were the undead who did not breathe. And in that silence, sound breaks everything.

“It appears, All are already here, except that person.”

That person was none other than the person who was in the number one seat, raising a voice by making sure that everyone had gathered in that place.

“Bos, this is a report of your request from a month ago. What exactly are we going to do with this?”

Another voice raised in that silence, different from the one before, this voice came from seat number four.

Stand up and submit a report. The first person picked up and immediately smiled widely with the results of the report.

“Good Work .. It seems that person exceeded my shadow, as expected. The plays he played were perfect and fooled them. However, it seems that this is still less interesting... How about we do some entertainment for them, I want to see how they do it this time.”

That person smiled widely with a grinning face, he was so satisfied with the report. And in such a happy state, someone's voice echoed and ended it, it came from the person who was in seat number four.

“Sorry to interrupt your pleasure Boss, but I still do not understand the path of your mind doing this action. If I may know, what exactly do you want to pass on to those two people?”

“Good question, but to answer your question, it is the result we will get, and it will be the end of all this. That person will be the key to that madness, he who will be the representative of this world, the person known as “King” Jell Kiyomizu, you will be my flagship card. BATTLE OR ALIVE will be starting soon!”

The sound of his screams echoing filled the silent darkness, everyone looked at him with their eyes wide open and could not react, and in an instant the room went back to silence.

***

Morning dawned.

Room with simple facilities, One bed, a small table, two chairs, and a closet 1 pair. It can be seen there, in the bed for one person it was filled by two people, sleeping sideways so that the two could enter without any problems.

Can be imagined how uncomfortable when sleeping with that position, they have to divide a special set of mattresses one person into two, but objections or dissatisfaction does not arise from them.

The sleeping Jell and Mai showed a comfortable and warm face, no discomfort during sleep and only a comfortable and warm feeling from hugs.

It's…!!!

A knock was heard from the door of the room, and the sound of knocking was repeated several times and stopped. Jell who woke up to see what was happening was glued to the letter that was under the door of the room, it seemed like the person was the mailman.

“Come here ... Yes?”

Jell who was sitting on a chair made Mai wake up because suddenly her territory on the mattress expanded. She looked at Jell who looked a thin smile, tilting her head as her morning smile made her curious.

“What happened something?”

Jell turned her eyes aside and looked at Mai, with a smile and standing towards the closet, Jell conveyed the contents of the letter. Mai who listened was even moody and lacking in spirit. The contents of the letter were conveyed by Yinn to Jell and Mai.

It says that they are asked to go to the guild now using equipment. Mai who lost her spirit in the morning looks so lethargic and melted on the mattress, on this day should Jell and Mai take a break from work as adventurers, as well as the rest of the day, and of course, to make it a great holiday, he had planned to go with Jell around town.

Seeing Mai's reaction, Jell just smiled while saying “Maybe this won't take long”.

Going to the guild and now that it was 9 was the time of the highest activity in the guild. The guild was bustling with people, but there was a slight difference this time, the women were more hysterical than usual, and one of them approached Jell and Mai.

He held his hand over the chest, short-haired in dark green, with a Rocky-ranked pin, timidly approaching them.

It seemed that he was a new adventurer, while looking at the girl. While picking up a sword measuring about 50cm in size with its sheath still in pairs, the woman bowed before him while giving the sword towards him.

“Aa-anu! K-Kiyomizu-Sama .. Can I ask for your signature-?”

Jell was startled by his first shout, the person clumsily delivered his words with a stutter, his face flushed red and his eyes glued to Jell as he said that he asked for his signature.

Jell who was shocked by his actions only answered “A-pa?” with confusion, scratching his head Jell answered with a smile.

“Eh... Just call me Jell, etto .. With your request did I not hear wrong?”

Jell reconfirmed this woman's words, the woman who pointed her sword towards Jell raised her head in confusion and her face flushed red.

“S-me, call K-Kiyomizu-Sama by first name ... I-it, is it okay?!”

The woman with her face twinkling asked back Jell's words that she could call him by his first name, her face blushing more than before and starting to smoke.

If noticed again, the woman became very cute with her shy attitude, Jell who saw her immediately flushed thinly.

Mai who saw Jell's reaction just chuckled small “Pfhu-” and smacked her fists in the back, Mai looked shocked that Jell could be that popular in this world.

For Mai, this kind of behavior is normal for her, and she does not take it seriously and sometimes does not take it lightly if Jell is walking or alone with other women.

That's because one of his promises with Jell that they made as a child made Mai able to have a cool head, he said, so the reaction would not be excessive if only Jell would be shot by another woman right in front of his eyes.

“Iya may be .. So what do I need to do with it?”

Jell looked at him and straightened out the woman's question. If he noticed the woman's face loosening with a slightly scary smile, it might just be his gut feeling.

“I-it, can I ask for your signature?”

Jell had confirmed and looked at him, as the woman hunchbacked back while facing her sword towards Jell, Jell smilingly took the sword and took also the stationery he gave her.

The tool is like a marker with a thicker and darker ink, the sensation is almost the same as wearing ordinary markers but it is made of special materials, he said, and if only this item was on earth then it would definitely cost twice as much as an ordinary marker.

After Jell finished signing her sword, the woman with a face full of happiness looked at her sword and leaped in excitement.

“N-my name is Siorin, Siorin Iruka .. So, as you said ... I can call you by your real name is not it?”

The woman was excited and serious-faced. The woman was named Siorin, one year under Jell, 16. For an adventurer he was a year ahead of Jell, and it could also be advantageous for Jell to tie up with adventurers of his age.

“Haa, and I will call you Siorin, yes.”

Shocked by Jell's words just now, Siorin's face exploded and blood came out of her nose, she and Jell called each other first names like a dream come true for her.

For Siorin who felt joy as if floating above the sky, she could not believe that this would be like this.

Jell, who had been conversing with Siorin, went to the counter where Yinn was standing.

The reaction of the people after seeing them instantly stirred, Jell who did not pay attention would not know what he had done.

Siorin went to the place of her friends and showed off the sword whose blade and sheath were signed by Jell, they had even called each other by their first names.

Jealous of their friends they looked at him with cries of admiration and jealousy, and at first they thought that Siorin would be rebuffed by Jell, but, as the saying goes “effort will not betray the result” is what Siorin got from courage against her feelings.

The women other than Siorin's friends envied him and looked at him coldly.

For them, there should be no other women who have the right to be with Jell other than Mai, and if they can, they will sincerely become members of Jell's party.

“So the hauler was okay, as long as I was with Jell-Sama I would live up to his expectations” Is what the ladies want and it seems scary.

In contrast to the men, they were even very jealous of Jell because of being approached by one of the most beautiful women in the guild, Siorin occupied the position of the 2nd most beautiful woman in the Nethera Guild, and for the one who occupied the first position was none other than Yinn.

But the men who did the positioning still debated Mai's position, because Mai was new to the guild, then they had to do a re-survey for the position of the prettiest woman in the next guild, and if noticed, Mai seems to be getting great support.

Putting them aside, Jell and Mai had already reached the counter where Yinn was at, Yinn smiled at him and teased him because she had not expected that the adventurer she was betting on would be this popular.

“Mou... Basic Ikemen-San, is this beautiful Onee-San not enough? … Ha~... You are never satisfied ya~”

(T/N: Ikemen is a Japanese vocabulary that refers to "Cool Man", or "Handsome Man".

Onee-San is Japanese with the meaning of elder sister. )

“Though I'm Yinn-San, you know I'm depressed with their views right? … Anyway stop calling me that name, it gives me goosebumps.”

Yinn laughed because of Jell's reaction that did not like to be called Ikemen, but Ikemen recognized by Yinn as the first position, Jell really should be grateful. Putting the matter aside, Yinn told them of something very important.

Yinn invited them into her room to change the mood, arriving at the room, and sitting facing them, Yinn seriously looked at Jell.

“First I apologize to you for the sudden request, even though you guys have taken a day off, and I called you here instead. For this matter .. Maybe you are the only hope of the guild.”

“ “The only” does anything happen?”

Yinn apologized to Jell and Mai for calling them on holiday, and said they were her last hope, it was hard to explain what Yinn meant, but it seemed serious.

Jell's face turned serious and asked Yinn who was a little moody on her face, but in that tension there was one person who was shameless and did something stupid, it was Mai.

Mai somehow and how, as if she had been sleeping on Jell's lap by straightening her legs on a part of the sofa chair in Yinn's office, she fell asleep with an innocent face while smiling on her face.

Jell who saw him smiled brightly and rubbed Mai's cheeks, Yinn who saw them came smiling and they started this important conversation again.

“So, last night, me and the rest of the office were shocked by one of the missions we couldn't believe, the request came from Yull village, and the content of the quest was, like, a, for Dungeon expedition.”

Jell was immediately shocked by what Yinn said and Yinn immediately delivered the contents of the letter.

In the letter it is said that, one of the people from Yull village was hunting in the forest near his village, that person was named Fanla.

As Fanla's curiosity approached the Dungeon and what she came across made her even more startled, she saw that there was a mysterious person in a cloak and covered in skulls, that person standing in front of the Dungeon, who was a mysterious person, Fanla had no idea what she was doing and she definitely saw her talking.

And what happened next, next to the mysterious person appeared a large group of monsters with a large number, from what he knew it might be the Frosted Rabbit. And he immediately ran towards the village and informed the guild of this news.

Jell was astonished by the story just now and her brain spun fast “What the fuck it” Is what her head said. Yinn continued and gave him the paper of the quest of conquest and exploration.

***

In the small room, there was a person sitting on a chair while facing out the window, it was Jell who was pondering while solving a puzzle in his head.

“What's going on, what the hell is this? Dungeon ... Rabbit Frosted ... High-level power ... They are interconnected? And if it's true, all of this is just to lure us in. How did he do that? … Yinn-San..?”

Jell's eyes opened wide with what she was thinking and reached a decision she was unaware of and did not want her to be aware of.

Jell kept turning her head to deduce all the events during their time here, getting an explanation with real evidence, Jell twisted and kept thinking about everything that had happened.

Mai who saw it with the realization that Jell was in trouble, she approached Jell and hugged him from behind, by implanting her head on Jell's shoulder she whispered and in an instant Jell's condition became better. A soft voice sounded, so comfortable and soothing.

“Relax... You're in trouble, right? So calm down first .. Think calmly and do not make decisions by looking one way. See all reality and events, and follow your heart.”

The condition Jell was thinking about was that he and Mai were being controlled and watched. Jell deduced it from some of the facts and events that happened.

[First, they were in a condition where they were surviving for a reason. (Stuck in a new world)

Second, the person watching over them could easily handle them and persuade them.

Third, who is that guy? Was he the one who disguised himself as a character back then?

Fourth, if it's true he's trying to persuade us and control us from behind the scenes, so what's the point? Shit I hate that guy.

The fifth, the Frosted Rabbit who at the time of the battle at Soyutu's place was no coincidence, from the explanation of the monster meat experts of that time said that the Frosted Rabbit they were fighting was not an ordinary Frosted Rabbit. Does Soyutu know about it? and if he knew, surely he would put up a recommendation on the level of strength and rank of adventurers.

Sixth, if Soyutu did not know about it, why did Yinn hide the quest sheet? Did he really plan to give it to a high-ranked adventurer? If so, why would he know the strength level of that Frosted Rabbit, which Soyutu did not say at all.

Seventh, if Yinn had indeed intended to give it to a higher rank, why would she give it to us? He meant to kill us? But from his explanation he said he was just testing us. So Yinn already knows about our strength? Where does he know, from the Status Plate?

Eighth, in other words. Yinn had guessed with the appearance of the high-rise Frosted Rabbit and he had already intended to give it to us, so did he also know about the Dungeon from the start?

From Fanla's explanation that the Dungeon he found yesterday and the moment before that he said he had not seen anything. So the Dungeon is new? we've seen it long before.

Ninth, then, the warrior Fanla was talking about was the one who had the power to create Dungeons and control monsters. Well then, does Yinn know about that person as well?

tenth, who is Yinn?]

All popping up in Jell's head, his head spinning and looking for a single decision. And for about 1 hour of thought, Jell decided to take one decision and was approved by Mai.

***

Next day.

Jell and Mai were in a walking position to where the Dungeon was, with the equipment that had been upgraded from the last time they did a quest, now their equipment was perfect with yellow-ranked pins.

“Nee, Jell~”

“Hm?”

“Capek..”.

“Hah... base can not be expected, here I carry.”

“Fufu... don't just talk Jell, I'm tired not because tired, tau.”

“Terus?”

“Constopper doang.”

“Only that?”

A cheerful conversation passed through the lush forest, the atmosphere between them flowered with their cheerfulness, and immediately stopped at the thought of something in front of them, it was the Dungeon reported by Yinn and also just like their guess, it was the Dungeon they had met before.

Unlike the time they crossed that path, in front of that Dungeon there were many monsters that seemed to keep no one from entering, it was because of the monsters that were guarding not just one type, but one type, except for more than two.

There were, 3 Frosted Rabbits, 3 Dark Bat (a four-winged bat monster and measuring 10 times larger than it should be), 2 Ogres (measuring 3 meters), guarding the Dungeon's mouth.

“Sepeti alleged, the Frosted Rabbit that attacked the village was a monster that came out from within the Dungeon.”

With a buzz, Jell confirmed his thoughts from yesterday, Jell took out a sword that was 120 cm long. Jell who has done the preparation, Mai also prepared the Dual Knife that she just bought a few days ago.

Heading towards the group of monsters, Jell and Mai walked leisurely towards them. The monsters that were looking at them suddenly shouted due to the calmness of the two people, especially Ogre who opened his mouth and shouted loudly.

GuAahHH!!!

Jell and Mai confirmed the monsters that were ready to fight, and with a strong move, the two sides faced each other with an unbalanced number, Jell faced the 2 Frosted Rabbits, and with a strong move, the two sides faced each other with an unbalanced number, 1 Dark Bat and 1 Ogre, while Mai will take care of the rest.

For Jell and Mai, they had not once fought against the current Ogre, it was because they included monsters with A rank and there were also several types that were up to S rank. As for Dark Bat, they had already fought them, it was during the night guard on the mission of protecting Olokoto.

With a speed from Jell, he directly charged towards the group of monsters by unsheathing his sword. Dark Bat with a speed higher than the others in his group faced Jell first.

Against Dark Bat it was troublesome, it was because they were flying and very agile, the agility was in because of their double wings that could make them able to fly with 360 degree rotation without a hitch.

Performing PvP against monsters, Jell using his sword will issue a skill that has a speed effect so that his attacks can match the speed of Dark Bat.

The skill that Dark Bat has is ‘Shock Wave’ (Shock Wave), creating waves that are capable of destroying anything and quickly pointing towards the target, a troublesome skill, and a, it was the thing Jell thought about when he had to dodge the Dark Bat attack that attacked him from afar.

Seeing the opportunity, another monster came straight for him, Ogre with a big mace aimed at Jell as if he was about to hit a big rock. Bukgh! It was a sound as the cudgel smashed the ground that Jell had just hit.

Similarly, with the Frosted Rabbits grabbing Jell at an increased speed, but their combination could not just knock Jell down, Jell instantly changed the direction of his bleeding and landed on the other side of the Frosted Rabbit, looking at the gap from the Frosted Rabbit's quick attack, Jell used his sword and used a skill.

“Fire Stage!”

Using the ‘Fire Stage’ sword Jell suddenly shrouded in flames, increasing his speed and attack power, Jell split the Frosted Rabbit with ease like cutting butter.

The rabbit that Jell first slashed was unable to react to Jell's speed, and had immediately split in two, and with the tempo of Jell's attack, Jell launched a follow-up attack towards the other Frosted Rabbits. In two slashes, Jell managed to eliminate the two Frosted Rabbits easily.

Frosted Rabbits have a low reaction to something, because of their confidence in their physical strength and endurance. Even at a low level, Rabbit Frosted could not be underestimated.

Jell's sword was currently burning with intense fire, its fire was not the same as the previous fire, either, and that's because the skill he used earlier ‘Fire Stage’ has the effect of increasing attacks from target to other targets.

So, in the current condition this skill is the most powerful to slaughter the monster group.

Although Jell is able to use other elements, but he thinks this is the best way. ‘Fire Stage’ is not so draining mana and for Jell who has relied on this skill several times, he is comfortable and his strength is more increased than ever in a colossal rabbit hunt.

With the same gust, Jell dashed towards Ogre and climbed up his body while tearing Ogre's body from below. Ogre put up a fight by sending his big fist towards Jell, but that was what he wanted.

Climbing his hands by running towards Ogre's head, Jell with that momentum jumped up and flew. Ogre shouted with his strength to make a final strike, he grabbed Jell's leg while in his head but was not given time by it.

With the speed and level of fire that is owned ‘Fire Stage’ which is filled with considerable power from Rabbit Frosted. The Ogre's head was split easily and the contents of his head were burnt and out of place.

With his position being the same as Dark Bat, the moment after leaping from Ogre Jell's body was currently in a condition that could be said to be flying in the sky.

And with a flash Jell launched another skill and slashed Dark Bat vertically. Skill ‘Fire Stage’ is disabled and at a time like this Jell decided to use another skill.

“Fire Piercing!”

‘Fire Piercing’ is a fire element skill, this skill will incriminate the weapons used for the skill and provide a hard piercing and burning fire.

With a dazzling momentum Dark Bat split into two in the sky and landed with blood coming out from both sides of his body.

Elsewhere, Mai was currently dealing with 1 Frosted Rabbit, 2 Dark Bat, and 1 Ogre. The current state of Mai is different from Jell's. You can see Ogre and Rabbit Frosted progressing together, and Dark Bat at the back being support for both.

Mai could not easily get a chance with that sudden condition. If he decided to go straight ahead to defeat Ogre and Rabbit Frosted, then Mai would make a very fatal mistake, that's because the skill of Dark Bat ‘Shock Wave’ can be shot with incredible speed.

To put up a fight Mai had to reduce participation from Dark Bat, who could at any time find his weak point.

And with the buff skill ‘Dash’ Mai retreated and advanced again while running and jumping with a round that made Rabbit Frosted and Ogre fascinated.

Jumped backwards abruptly, and got to the Dark Bat line. Mai directly attacked with both Dark Bat which was the crux of the matter.

“Wind Scratch!”

By using ‘Wind Scratch’ Mai can easily slash both Dark Bat simultaneously. Slashing the two at a terrifying speed, Dark Bat was unable to react and had to split into two for free.

Not losing her momentum, Mai by using ‘Dash’ quickly headed towards Rabbit Frosted and using ‘Wind Splitter’ split Rabbit Frosted's body severely.

What happened with this short time was terrible, Mai with momentum that could not be imagined doing buff skill ‘Dash’ while she was still in the air without difficulty, he said, it should be in such a condition that Mai must land and pass the same skill again.

Not only the position but the time of using the skill that Mai did was too fast, it could be said Mai as a time controller.

Frosted Rabbits were unable to put up any excessive resistance, they did not see Mai and split into two horizontally.

With the blink of an eye it made Ogre unable to understand it and only froze because his friends had been resolved in an instant.

GuAahHH!!!

The Ogre shouted and recklessly approached Mai, she brought great emotions from her friends who were not of her kind. However his anger, he was holding a huge mace and would instantly crush Mai with a full force of anger.

Mai saw it, looking uninterested in the game of her comrades, and without using any skill, Mai slashed Ogre's head easily and neatly. So easy to cut, the ogre no longer focused and lost control of his emotional self and died headless.

In that not much time, Jell and Mai had already conquered the door of the Dungeon easily.

“When the main part is yes..”

Jell with a smile and Mai was beside him, smirking arrogantly.

***