Living Normally In An Abnormal World - Chapter 42: Domination, Rematch, and...

Chapter 42: Domination, Rematch, and…

I touched the first person and then targeted the next slowest one.

There were ten runaways in total, so nine left after catching the first one. They were all older than me, probably middle or high school students.

Well, that didn’t matter.

I ignored the one I had just caught, who was muttering something behind me. Interacting with him would undoubtedly be a waste of time.

I easily caught the second person, and the third one, who had been running slightly ahead of the second, was also caught as I continued running.

From the fourth person onwards, I checked their locations on my phone.

My strategy was simple—I kept running, chasing the runaways while checking their positions on my phone, and then catching them.

The only ways I could lose was if I were to ran out of stamina or if someone was faster than me.

Come on, guys, don’t get caught so easily!

‘Um, excuse me. Am I dreaming? Three people were caught in less than two minutes after the start.’

‘No, you’re not dreaming. But even I couldn’t have imagined this.’

The commentator and the viewers at home were stunned by the incredible scene unfolding before them.

At the beginning of the opening game, the runaways were 55 meters away from the iron bars containing the hunter. They had to choose one out of eleven buttons, and one of them would release the hunter.

The other buttons, when pressed, would bring the iron bars five meters closer to the runaways with each press. The order of pressing the buttons was determined by a lottery, and the person who pressed the button could escape first. If all the buttons were pressed, everyone would be released after two minutes, and the game would start.

However, in this case, the hunter was released on the very first press.

Yes, the game started with the hunter about 50 meters away from the runaways.

Normally, the hunter wouldn’t chase them right away but would intentionally let them get away to set up an ambush. However, he started chasing them from that distance and had already caught three people.

Abnormal.

That one word could describe him.

At first, viewers were disappointed to see the eerie, pitch-black skull full-face mask, and some even changed the channel.

But when they saw him catching three people right at the start on another channel, they quickly switched back.

And what did they see?

He was climbing over a fence that looked to be about six meters high, taking a shortcut. And, of course, there was a runaway in the direction he was heading.

Moreover, he was getting ahead of them.

He caught another person and then surprised the viewers even more with his subsequent actions.

Usually, after catching someone, the hunter would stop to catch their breath and check the runaway’s location on their phone.

But he kept running at the same pace, checking the phone for their location as he went.

Abnormal.

Before they knew it, he was already chasing the seventh person within the first ten minutes of the game.

The show was supposed to last for over two hours, including the runaway time.

The commentator and the viewers were convinced that all the runaways would be caught, and they sympathized with the one currently being chased.

And he did it—he caught all ten runaways in 18 minutes and 57 seconds, bringing the game to an end.

The last thing the camera captured was not a victorious shout or a triumphant pose but a sigh of disappointment behind the mask.

—

Although I achieved my goal of catching everyone within 20 minutes, I was concerned about how it would look on TV.

I felt that I had dominated, but I wasn’t sure how it would be perceived by the viewers.

However, my greater concern at the moment was the runaways’ slow speed. It made me question if the previous shows I had watched were rigged.

But for now, the game was over, and I headed home to hear everyone’s thoughts.

“Hey, what the hell is he?! Is he a woman pretending to be a man?!”

“No, no, he’s definitely a man. But even we never expected this! I’m as surprised as you are!”

“Then what is it? Did he dope?”

“I don’t know either?!”

One of the male runaways, along with several others, was protesting to the staff.

While I was partly to blame, my biggest concern was the potential leak of information. If it got out that I was an elementary school student, It would become a highlight of the news, and my quiet middle school life would be ruined.

Moreover, this protest was being broadcast live, making the situation even worse.

“Hey! Are you really a man?”

Are you kidding me? He’s talking to me.

“……Yes?”

I tried to lower my voice to sound less like my actual tone.

“Doping is against the rules!”

“It’s fine. I just trained hard enough to puke. Besides, we had a drug test before the game started.”

“Then is climbing over that fence not a rule violation?!”

“The only rule in this game is not to harm others. Climbing the fence isn’t prohibited. I even confirmed with the organizers that it wasn’t a violation.”

“Hmph!”

He wasn’t satisfied with my answer.

But I had followed the rules and won fair and square.

I had worked hard to dominate, and it irked me that someone would try to deny my victory just because they weren’t happy with it.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“What?!”

“Do you want to do it again?”

“Huh?”

“If you’re not satisfied, I’m saying we can do it again.”

It was a clear provocation. Suggesting a second round right after running for about 20 minutes implied that he was underestimating his opponent.

“I don’t mind if you don’t want to. It’ll just end faster. Make up your mind quickly.”

“……Don’t look down on me. Fine, let’s do it.”

“Others?”

My words seemed to irritate them, and all of them agreed to do it again.

“Staff-san, is it okay to do it again?”

“Eh? Ah, yes, it’s fine!”

“Then let’s start right away.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Okay, you can start running first.”

‘Huh?’

“Also, I won’t be using my phone, so hold onto it for me.”

I handed the game phone to the staff member.

‘Haa?!’

It might seem like I was underestimating them, but they missed one crucial point.

“Even after running all that distance, I’m not even slightly out of breath. Do you understand what that means?”

In other words, I was saying:

Be prepared for a repeat of what just happened.

“……I understand. We’ll start in two minutes.”

His tone suggested that he felt humiliated by the handicap.

“Got it.”

The runaways glared at me and then scattered in different directions.

My attitude might have been arrogant, but the game wouldn’t be interesting if the gap was this wide.

I never expected such a significant difference in athletic abilities.

This was the effect of Erina’s and Maria’s training.

…Terrifying. As expected of the world’s number one noble, their training methods and their effectiveness are also the best in the world.

So, I waited for two minutes, staring at the clock, until it was time to start.

The men participating in ‘Escape from Paradise’ had gotten to know each other online beforehand. Of course, the reason was to split the reward money.

However, their plan fell apart when the hunter they were supposed to negotiate with didn’t show up until the day of the game.

And when he finally arrived, he stepped out of the car wearing that pitch-black skull full-face mask.

He must be crazy.

They didn’t think there would be any room for negotiation with such a person.

So, they reluctantly started the game, but their lack of proper preparation and physical conditioning led to the disastrous outcome we saw earlier.

They were putting up a brave front, but the handicap gave them some relief.

However, could they really hide for over an hour? If they were found, they would undoubtedly be caught.

Amidst these concerns, they started the game again. One of them, who had been running and hiding, spotted the hunter.

But the hunter hadn’t noticed him yet.

If he was spotted, he would surely be caught.

The fear and tension quickened his heartbeat.

Desperate to get away, he ran from that place as fast as he could.

After running for a while, he turned a corner and stopped.

He needed to catch his breath and check the situation, so he cautiously poked his head out from behind the corner.

The hunter was there.

“……Huh?!”

How did he know?!

His heart raced as he tried to run, but his efforts were in vain as the distance between them quickly closed.

“……Touch.”

He was caught.

How did the hunter know he was there?

He couldn’t understand the reason, and he just stood there, watching the hunter’s retreating back.

‘Well, that was impressive, Grauzer-kun.’

‘Listening to the ground to hear their footsteps is something you don’t see these days.’

‘But Grauzer-kun is having a hard time now.’

‘It’s hard to hear from a long distance, and the premise is that the runaways are moving. Plus, the other runaways aren’t moving much and are just hiding. It’s understandable that he’s having a hard time. If they ran properly, they would definitely be caught. That’s what all the runaways must be thinking. So, they’re just hiding and holding their breath.’

‘Well, that initial display was shocking. Oh, look! Grauzer-kun is running again, and he’s heading straight for a runaway! I wonder if he’ll be able to find them.’

‘He still has some tricks up his sleeve, even with the handicap. …That’s what I think.’

‘No way, not at all… What?! What’s going on? He’s running straight towards the runaway!

‘This is interesting. Let’s think about what’s going on.’

And then…

‘Grauzer-kun has caught all the runaways again! The time is 56 minutes and 45 seconds! That was fast!’

…It’s over. It took me quite some time to find them.

‘By the way, I have a question for Grauzer-kun.’

“What is it?”

‘When you were searching for some of the runaways, how did you find them? It looked like you already knew their locations.’

“It’s simple. I just memorized the map of the escape area, which we received a week before the game.”

‘Eh?’

“I received it a week before the game, so I already had an idea of where they might be hiding.”

‘Hmm… That’s amazing. Why did you go to such lengths?’

“……That’s a secret.”

‘I see. Thank you very much!’

The final interview was over, and I got into the car that had come to pick me up.

“Yuuto-sama, you did a great job.”

“Thank you for the ride, Ribbon-san.”

“No problem. I’m glad I got to see the cool Yuuto-sama in person♪”

Erina arranged for Ribbon-san to pick me up and drop me off.

I wanted to keep my identity anonymous, so I didn’t show my face. Additionally, if I had used our family car, someone might have seen the license plate and identified our address and names. Therefore, this car was a rental, a decoy.

I wanted to keep my information hidden at all costs.

“The internet is also buzzing. There are a lot of threads about you, and ‘Grauzer’ is currently the top trending search term. It’s going to be all about Grauzer for the next few days.”

“……Did I go too far?”

“Of course, Lady Erina and Ojousama must be delighted.”

“I see. That’s good.”

“By the way, what kind of character is Grauzer?”

“Huh? I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

I think Grauzer is a character from a recently released game. Come to think of it, since it’s a new game, I’m not sure if I’m allowed to freely use the character’s name and appearance for profit.

I appeared on the show as Grauzer, and I’m essentially using his likeness to earn money, which means I might be infringing on copyrights.

“Rina! What company produced the game Grauzer is from?!”

I immediately called Rina.

‘Eh, I think it’s Libsys.’

“Ribbon-san! Head to Libsys right now!!!”

“Yes, sir!”

‘What’s wrong, Yuki-kun?’

“I might have infringed on someone’s copyright.”

‘Huh?!’

Damn, I messed up at the very end.

So, instead of going home to enjoy a pleasant conversation with my family and friends, I headed to the production company to apologize.