Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 21

After the chaotic ranking announcement.

The atmosphere changed completely.

“Who the hell is Yan?”

“…Wasn’t it supposed to be that the lower the number, the worse the talent?”

A new powerhouse, no…the appearance of the top student shrouded in a veil.

The mood of the trainees in the hall was bound to heat up.

Curiosity, rivalry, anticipation…various emotions were mixed in the air.

But no one could figure out who he was and they all searched for him.

“Wouldn’t he be where the upper-class students are gathered?”

Someone’s remark drew the trainees’ eyes to one side.

The ones who received the ‘S’ rating were all ten.

Among them, nine were the ones who had been active in the Blade Mountain Range, so their faces were not unfamiliar to the other kids.

But only one was strange.

A boy with a buzz cut who yawned as if he was sleepy.

“Is that pale-looking guy in the first place?”

“Why, why do you say that? He looks so ordinary, maybe he’s hiding some power…”

“Where did you hear such nonsense?”

The ones who were confused were also the upper-class trainees who were standing with Yan.

‘He’s the top student?’

‘Something feels awkward. Dangerous, even.’

‘The mad dog, Cruel, also seemed to lower his tail earlier.’ ‘Do they have some connection?’

‘I’ve never heard of the name Yan outside…is he from another land? No way…’

The only trainee who was not confused was Cruel.

But that didn’t mean he was calm.

‘…I hope I don’t have to deal with him in the future.’

The memory of being dragged around by a leash for the first time in his life was enough to be a trauma for Cruel, who was full of pride.

‘But…someday!’

Snap.

Cruel glared at Yan with murderous eyes.

The trainees expected Yan to introduce himself, but he showed no reaction, so they couldn’t approach him easily.

The first one to move was Roman, who was also his escape partner(?).

He reached out his hand.

“Come with me.”

“With your and my skills, and the gang I’ve gathered. With these three, we can finish this place, this damn training camp, with overwhelming results.”

“…!” “…!”

A sudden recruitment offer.

The other upper-class trainees were shocked and flustered.

‘Too late!’

‘Damn, I was so surprised that I didn’t think of the most important thing.’

He must have done something to get the chief instructor to personally grade him, so he didn’t get first place by luck. As long as they could get Yan on their side, they could achieve excellent, no, overwhelming results in this project.

And the upper-class trainees had already formed complex factions by building their own forces or alliances.

It was not a choice but a necessity for them to reach out to Yan.

‘If he joins Roman, our goal might be shattered.’

But they only thought and didn’t act rashly.

They decided to see Yan’s reaction to Roman’s offer and then judge their next move.

Thud, thud.

Then, another trainee came behind Roman.

“Hey, Roman! That’s cheating. He must be confused by all the attention he’s getting.”

At that, Roman turned his body with an annoyed look.

Yan sparkled his eyes as he saw Kasa.

He had no contact with him in his previous life, but he knew his information and whereabouts.

The ‘Phantom’ Kasa Iphrain, who charmed people with his tongue.

That’s why he was a little excited.

What kind of appearance would he show?

‘Roman is the type who pushes with loyalty. Kasa, how will you approach?’

Roman blocked Kasa’s front.

It was a narrow distance that would bump into each other if they stepped half a step.

“Are you trying to teach me now?”

“Don’t take it so sensitively. I’m just saying, why don’t we all make a proposal, and let him choose what he wants.”

Kasa said with a sly smile as he pulled his body back.

“Wouldn’t he be better off joining the side with more benefits, if he’s going to choose a side anyway?”

Roman snorted.

He believed that Yan, who had escaped with him, would surely join him…

“That’s true.”

But he had to turn his body sharply with a frown when he heard a voice from behind.

“What did you say?”

“He’s right, isn’t he? Don’t I have to know where I can get the most help?”

Yan shrugged his shoulders, and Roman pursed his lips quietly.

-You promised me that you would have another chance to escape and join me.

A meaning to keep the past promise.

Yan gave a bitter smile.

-Sorry.

Roman was right.

It was true that he had made such a promise.

But…the situation had changed.

The tattoo on the chief instructor’s chest.

He had to find out why it was similar to the pendant’s pattern.

If there was any connection between the clan and the rebels, he had to cover it up or come up with another plan.

Therefore.

He couldn’t leave here right now.

Suddenly, Roman’s face turned red.

“You son of a bitch!”

As he gritted his teeth in anger, a tall figure came next to him.

“Can’t you all hear what I’m saying? Didn’t I tell you to check your grades and line up? But you’re still doing this?”

It was the chief instructor.

He had a smile on his face, but the trainees knew his viciousness and violence well.

Especially Roman, who had felt it firsthand.

Roman swallowed his anger and returned to his seat nervously, and Kasa followed him with a sneer.

When the ones who stuck to Yan all disappeared, the chief instructor flew back to the podium.

“Now I see some faces that I like.”

The chief instructor looked at the trainees’ faces.

The ones who were whining or trembling when they first came here were almost all gone.

The ones who were here now were all talents who had survived and mined stones in the dangerous Blade Mountain Range.

Of course, most of them had barely extended their lives with the help of the upper-class trainees.

‘But that doesn’t matter. The important thing is that they survived.’

Look at them.

They are starting to plan how to move now that they know what to do.

The sense of urgency that they might die if they don’t do well.

That was enough.

The chief instructor grinned.

“Some of you have learned this and that outside, or have been pushed by the status of nobility, and think like that, right?”

Some of the middle and lower-class trainees brightened their eyes at that.

“So His Majesty the Emperor has granted you all an equal opportunity.”

“…” “…”

Faces that wanted to ask what it was.

The chief instructor didn’t drag it out.

“I’m going to open the royal treasury.”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

The royal treasury.

The repository where all the skills, visions, and treasures that the Cabalan Empire had collected since its founding were sleeping.

Not only that, but there was a rumor that the peerless vision of the duke who had dedicated himself to the emperor was also in there.

The reputation of that place was so high that even the commoners sang about it.

‘If that’s the case…!’

‘Maybe I can really go higher…!’

A hot heat swept through the hall.

If they learned the skills in the royal treasury, they might have a chance to change their fate even if they fell out of there.

He was the chief instructor who was only feared.

But right now, at this moment, he was no different from a benefactor who gave them a golden rope.

One of the trainees raised his hand.

“Excuse me, does the grade once set not change?”

The chief instructor smiled.

“No? It will change every test.”

The lower and middle classes were filled with hope, and the upper-class trainees were on guard.

The tension was rising.

Of course, the top-class trainees didn’t show much of that.

But that was enough.

From the beginning of the project, they had set up the ‘royal treasury’ as a trump card to spur on this competition.

“Oh, but if it’s completely fair, there’s no point in dividing the grades, right? So I divided the floors that you can enter the royal treasury by grade.”

“…!

“No, then!”

Judging by what he said, the higher the floor, the better the vision and treasure.

That meant that no matter how much they learned the skills on the lower floors, they couldn’t narrow the gap with the upper class.

“Stupid bastards.”

Roman bit his tongue.

“That’s right, if you think a little more, you’ll soon get the answer.”

Kasa added to that.

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Hey, friend, calm down. I didn’t say anything wrong…”

“Do you want me to shut your mouth for you?”

Yan glanced at Roman and Kasa who were bickering.

They were right.

Of course, the higher the floor, the more valuable things there would be.

‘But why would he give them to the trainees?’

The royal treasury was divided into five floors, and the trainees could enter up to the third floor.

In fact, the things that could be called ‘real’ were all on the fourth or fifth floor.

Below that, there were only mediocre things. And the chief instructor didn’t say it in the first place.

‘For the sake of giving equal opportunities.’

That meant that the difference in the level of skills and visions from the first to the third floor was not that severe.

But.

The trainees who didn’t know that couldn’t help but complain.

“How the hell is this equal?”

A brave lower-class trainee blurted out.

Roman looked at him with a pathetic eye.

“Are you stupid or brave?”

“Maybe both?”

“I told you not to talk to me.”

“…” By the time Roman and Kasa’s conversation ended.

Bang!

The trainee who had bravely questioned was slammed into the wall behind the hall.

“Kuhuk!”

The instructors flew quickly to check the condition of the fallen trainee and raised their hands.

A signal that he was still breathing.

The faces of the trainees who were dissatisfied changed pale.

“Well, is there anyone else who has a problem? Now that you all understand, let’s move on to the next explanation?”

No one answered the chief instructor’s question.

“Lower class is the first floor, middle class is the second floor, the upper class is the third floor. Be careful not to leave your assigned floor or exceed the allotted time, or you will be charged with trespassing and executed on the spot.”

A gloomy air settled on the faces of the lower-class trainees.

No matter how much it was the royal treasury, they wondered if there was anything to expect on the bottom floor.

When the chief instructor was about to move the trainees, someone raised his hand.

“I have a question.”

It wasn’t a loud voice, but it had a strange power to draw the attention of the hall.

“What is it?”

Not only the chief instructor, but all the trainees’ eyes turned to Yan.

‘Does he mean to ask to be let into the fourth floor because he’s the first place?’

‘He looks like he got lucky and got the first place by his number 974, so he’s too arrogant.’

Eyes mixed with inferiority, curiosity, and hatred.

But Yan just smiled.

“I want to go to the first floor, is that not possible?”

At that, the upper-class trainees around him were all surprised.

No matter how much the level difference was not big, there would be a clear difference between the first and third floors…

Why would he leave the third floor where some selection had been made, and go to the first floor full of trash?

They couldn’t understand his question.

“What are you thinking…!”

Kasa tried to talk to him from behind, but Yan acted as if he didn’t hear and just waited for the chief instructor’s answer.

“Hahaha!”

The chief instructor burst into laughter. He even wiped his eyes with his sleeve, as if he had tears.

He always felt that way, but he was the first one like that since the project started.

“Do you know what you’re saying?”

“Yes.”

“Those losers don’t want the opportunity. And you’re kicking it away as if to show off?”

“Isn’t it more important that I don’t want that opportunity much?”

The chief instructor laughed again.

That’s why he was interesting.

He was fresh. Unpredictable.

He heard that he had lured and survived the lich that the crown prince and the special commander had trouble with in the Blade Mountain Range, for the sake of the trainees.

‘He doesn’t seem like a good-natured guy from what I’ve seen so far.’

Whatever happened.

He really wanted to get his hands on the 974th, who had such unexpectedness.

“Okay, do as you please. Is there anyone else who wants to go down to the first floor with him?”

The chief instructor looked around the other trainees, but no one stepped forward.

As expected.

It was a world of boring guys.

“But why do you want to go down?”

“I lack the basics. I think it would be better to build up the basics step by step, since I have the chance.”

“Puhah!”

The one who almost succeeded in escaping said he lacked the basics?

Then what about the instructors who were caught by him? Were they all trash?

But the chief instructor didn’t think deeply.

He was just making up a plausible reason to hide his purpose.

And he didn’t want to dig into that reason either.

‘That’s what I have to find out for fun.’

It’s not fun if you know the answer beforehand.

That’s how the chief instructor chuckled and granted Yan’s request.

‘He’s crazy.’

Cruel twisted his face.

Yan’s excuse was ridiculous, but he was glad that he wouldn’t have to deal with him in the royal treasury.

That’s when they all had complex feelings or interesting expectations.

‘From now on, I’ll dazzle the chief instructor with my overwhelming growth.’

Yan quietly repeated his goal.

That’s how.

The Dragon Soldier project officially began.