Arlo looked at the fighting 'couple' and considered the quest. If he eliminated both of them and sent them to the same location, would the quest theoretically be completed?
After thinking for a while, he shook his head. Even if they went to the same place, they wouldn't necessarily teleport side-by-side. So, that wasn't logical.
He could attack both at the same time to force them to team up against him, but that wasn't realistic either. Because they both appeared to be 6th-Level Apprentice Mages. Therefore, he wasn't sure he could win against even one of them without resorting to trickery, let alone two.
After all, he had just arrived in this world, and his combat knowledge consisted only of a few memories from the previous Arlo.
After thinking for a long time, Arlo accepted that the only way to 'reunite the lovers' was to incapacitate them without eliminating them.
For this, external assistance was needed.
Arlo pulled the sleeping gas from his inventory but stopped again.
If he threw it directly, the duo would notice it and either run away or find another solution. Therefore, he needed to find a different approach.
After thinking for a while, he found a decent idea and decided to act. The idea was simple. If they noticed it when he threw it directly, then he wouldn't throw it.
Arlo took out a mask, covered his mouth, and instantly became a masked rabbit.
'Even being a rabbit is hard work these days.'
He laughed at his own bad joke, then immediately activated the gas.
The gas worked in two ways. The first way was an explosion, you threw the bottle, and it burst, filling the area with gas.
The second method was spraying it like perfume.
Arlo held the bottle like a perfume sprayer and started moving.
While the duo was fighting, Arlo moved at top speed, circling them. He even waved his hand to direct the gas toward them as he circled. Luckily, he was moving very fast. Because of this, airflow was created, and the gas moved toward the duo.
After Arlo circled a few times, the gas slowly started to take effect.
Both were breathing heavily, and the girl spoke.
"It's admirable that you made me so tired. You're not as useless as I thought."
Arlo '...'
"Same for you. I'm one of the best among those at my level. It seems you're not weak since you withstood me for this long."
Arlo '...'
'Am I really reuniting lovers? Why did they suddenly start flirting?'
But this flirting didn't last long. The girl finally stumbled and realized something was wrong.
"No, I shouldn't be this tired so quickly. And why am I feeling sleepy? Wait a minute!"
Then her eyes widened, and she looked at the man.
"You despicable bastard! Did you give me sleeping gas? What were you planning to do after putting me to sleep?"
Man "What?"
The girl, looking at him in shock, lunged forward with fury in her eyes and, in a manner unbecoming of a long-range mage, grabbed the man by the throat.
"You vile man, if I'm going to be eliminated, I'm taking you with me."
Normally, an attack coming from a weakened woman wouldn't affect the fat man, who was called a pig, much, but the problem was that he, too, was affected by the sleeping gas.
The man lost his balance with the added weight and fell to the ground along with the girl.
Arlo couldn't help but be surprised as he watched this situation.
'Isn't this the famous trope from dramas where they bump into each other and fall on top of one another?'
Arlo took back his words as the girl roared furiously while strangling the man.
'It doesn't quite resemble it.'
---
Quest completed.
Quest: Reunite the lovers.
Quest Reward: 20 EXP
---
'...'
Arlo looked at the duo rolling around furiously on the ground and decided to agree with the system.
'Truly a turbulent love.'
Arlo wanted to watch their 'turbulent love' a little longer, but the quest was waiting for him. Therefore, he moved and dashed forward.
Although the duo finally noticed the person approaching them and turned their heads, all they saw was a masked rabbit holding a fireball.
"What the hell?"
"What the hell?"
Arlo genuinely hesitated this time, given that they said the same thing even while being eliminated.
"They won't actually become a couple because of me, right?"
...
---
Name: Arlo Klser
Level: 4th-Level Mage Apprentice
Abilities: Fireball (Medium), Fire Wall (Medium), Line Movement Technique (High)
EXP: 87/150
---
Arlo was disappointed that the status screen didn't show how many people he had eliminated.
"If only it would tell me whether those I indirectly eliminated counted."
For example, he wasn't sure if the man whose attention he distracted by throwing a rock at his head, making him prey to a monster, counted as his elimination or the monster's.
By the way, throwing a rock was actually a quality distraction tool. Because mages were sensitive to magic, they could somehow sense it when someone used an ability against them.
A rock?
Only unlucky souls who were constantly beaten could sense that.
Arlo took another potion from his inventory and drank it in one go.
This was the fifth potion he had used.
Although he didn't use too many attack abilities since he resorted to trickery more, the Line Movement Technique was different. He was using it almost constantly, and therefore his magic was rapidly depleting.
Arlo regulated his breath as he rested for a second. Moving constantly was physically exhausting, besides magic consumption, and there was another problem.
"It's getting harder and harder."
As time passed, many people were eliminated. This indicated that the quality of those remaining was gradually increasing. Just now, a 7th-Level Apprentice Mage had sensed his sneaky attack and started a counterattack. If Arlo hadn't acted fast and immediately fled, he might have been eliminated by now.
'I wonder how much magic he spent to lift an entire area into the air?'
He had probably spent so much magic that it wouldn't change much even if Arlo were eliminated.
'But if I continue at this pace, reaching 50 people will be very difficult.'
Arlo sighed and looked at the system.
'Now is the perfect time to give the protagonist legendary luck.'
"That's him. The rabbit-masked man. The one who eliminates everyone using despicable methods, no matter the school."
'...'
Arlo looked at the system and then at the small group running toward him, opening his mouth, but before he could even curse, he started running.
'My luck...'
...
"ARE YOU GUYS CRAZY? LEAVE ME ALONE!!"
Arlo couldn't help but scream as he looked at the growing crowd behind him. He had mentioned playing the villain role to unite them against a common enemy before the competition, but it would have been much better if they had done this after the competition.
And they had such a good communication network that different people kept showing up in front of him, which meant he couldn't shake off those behind him.
'I can't be caught here; if they catch me, they'll find out my identity, and then I'm screwed.'
Arlo fled at full speed, occasionally throwing two attack abilities and the various hunting tools he had purchased behind him, but this was an insufficient effort against the rapidly growing crowd.
'Shit, some of them are at least as fast as I am.'
Arlo used a tree for cover to avoid the incoming attacks, and for a moment, he broke out in a cold sweat. Moreover, all the attacks were aimed at capturing him, not eliminating him.
'Are these guys crazy? Only a few people must have seen what I did. How are so many people believing them and chasing me?'
Arlo became increasingly anxious and tried to form a plan, but it wasn't easy to think while narrowly avoiding a stone emerging under his feet.
"Hey, stop! I'm trying to think here!"
"Think my butt!"
Arlo cursed internally as he dodged another attack.
'I remember your voice, son; you're one of the guys who buttered me up. You'll see what I'll do to you once I get my hands on you after the competition.'
---
A quest has been defined.
Quest Description: Hatred is valuable if resolved before it is forgotten.
Quest: Eliminate the crowd behind you.
Quest Reward: 150 EXP
---
'...'
'Screw off, system. If I could, do you think I'd be running like this?'
Arlo dodged another attack, grabbed a potion from his inventory, and chugged it. He had already drunk 9 potions just since this chase started. That's almost twice what he drank before.
'Can't they make the taste a little better? It tastes awful when you drink 14 of them. Whoever created this potion, I'm giving him a low score.'
Although Arlo cursed internally, the effect was undeniable. His magic energy was refilled, and Arlo avoided another attack, but the same could not be said for his physical energy.
Arlo muttered breathlessly.
"This can't go on."
Arlo strained his mind to find a solution despite all the attacks.
'Wait a minute. Even though this is a competition, it's also a form of training. Since magic schools train mages for real war, it's possible that this competition isn't just about eliminating each other.'
'In that case, the idea of there being a monster here too powerful for a single person to defeat isn't illogical at all. In that scenario, we would gain experience fighting a powerful monster. And we could put aside the fight between the two magic schools and unite.'
The more Arlo thought about this idea, the more logical it seemed. As he praised his own intelligence, he suddenly froze mentally and looked at the students from the two magic schools running side-by-side behind him.
'Am I the boss monster in this competition?'