Chương 73: 72. Harlequin's Favorite

"Hey," a voice whispered into my ear.

"Hey, wake up."

"Sparta?" I felt as if I had been run over by a fleet of trucks. My lips were no longer sealed, which was a good thing, but the amount of pain and exhaustion reminded me that I had been through a lot. The only time I had felt similar was a long time ago, the day after I had joined a marathon on a dare without any preparation.

"Congratulations, participants!" Harlequin's voice rang inside my ears, causing me to wince. There was no doubt that he did that on purpose.

"You have successfully completed your fifth trial, and provided quite the spectacle in the process!" I cracked an eye open. As expected, I was back in the preparation hall arena. A number of other participants were also there, sitting in the front row. Looking to the side, I saw Carl. Fucking piece of shit, I thought out of habit. Of course, he'd be the one to kiss up to me now that it was all over.

"As I mentioned before, this trial is your watershed moment," Harlequin continued. It was astonishing how shameless he was. He hadn't said anything of the sort. All he had stressed was that it was an important trial and that it was in our best interest to win it.

"You have proven that you are worthy of entering the major leagues." The porcelain-faced monster waved his hands from the center of the arena. His colors seemed substantially brighter than I remembered them, as if he had swallowed half a dozen neon lamps. Another thing I noticed was that the walls of the arena had also changed. All of them were colored red and yellow, not to mention that the additional exits had also vanished.

"Now, before you proceed to claim your cards, there are a few additional gifts that the deities wish to grant you." Harlequin rubbed his hands.

"For starters, all of you have been granted five inventory slots. Unlike the slots so far, these are associated with your person and are not linked to any skills or items." Give inventory slots? That was suspiciously generous, especially given that everyone received it. I had the feeling there was a lot more to this that he wasn't sharing.

"Additionally, three participants have proven themselves to be interesting enough to gain further gifts." The red-and-yellow monstrosity took several steps toward us. It was also then that I noticed that there were only nine participants present. When we had parted ways, there had been ten, which meant that one of them had died before I could end the trial. Unfortunate, bastard. They were so close to surviving this and still croaked at the very last moment.

"The first reward is given to our very own Ice Prince Marcus!" Harlequin pointed at the man. As he did, a ring of light surrounded the participant. I suspected that this performance was meant for the deities watching. The only thing we all wanted was for all of this to be over, so we could get some proper rest before the next trial.

"Aside from showing the third-best performance, he displayed an extreme level-headedness despite all… the many distractions surrounding him. For that, the deities have decided to grant him a special." As I looked at Marcus, the Betrayer special appeared on his status window. The fuck? I almost jumped out of my seat.

"Something wrong?" Carl looked at me. Being so close, he had felt me tense up in the seat.

"I thought he'd be second," I lied. The Betrayer special was only given to people who deliberately killed a participant during a trial. It was an open secret that Marcus had obtained it during his previous run. After all, he was never shy about killing those who annoyed him. At the time, everyone considered it a given. Now, I couldn't even imagine what he must have done to gain the special for killing a single person.

"Congratulations, Marcus." Harlequin clapped passionately, like a proud parent whose child had won a prize. No one else joined in. Unlike me, they had probably seen exactly what had earned him the reward and weren't particularly happy about it. If I were to guess, the only reason they weren't outright terrified was because they had their patron deities to protect them.

"Another who showed some merit…" Harlequin changed tone. Already I could tell that the recipient had to be from Sparta's group.

"…is Beatrice…" There was no clapping, no spotlight, merely a reluctant acknowledgement of the fact.

"Some deity has decided that she has merited a weapon for some reason…" the rule-master said almost with disgust. I watched a second thread-dagger appear in her inventory. After what we had been through, it was obvious that Mercury had granted it for her protection, rather than a prize, although it was almost possible that I could be mistaken.

"And now, we come to the star of the show!" Seeing the mask turn in my direction told me everything I needed to know.

"Not only did he choose to enter the trial with five curses, but he also managed to defeat the alternative boss, bringing the trial to a close!" Three sets of lights focused on me from different directions.

"You know him, you love him! The always unexpected and entertaining—and my personal favorite, not to forget…" Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Chills ran down my spine. Being named Harlequin's favorite never was a good sign, especially given how much he had despised me during the early trials. There had been many rule-master favorites with only one thing in common between them all: sooner or later all of them would die or vanish. I had been no exception.

"Gregory!" Red and yellow balloons filled the upper part of the hall, then burst, releasing clouds of confetti below.

"For your outstanding performance, several deities have chosen to grant you something special." MERCHANT TOKEN You can call a merchant during any trial once. In other circumstances, the reward would have been seen as more than good. After everything I had received so far, it felt like a letdown. Sure, I got a free merchant appearance, but so what? It didn't provide any discounts, any secret items, just the knowledge that I could call for one anytime I chose.

"With that, I leave the champion of the trial to pick his prize!" There were effectively twenty cards to choose from. Strictly speaking, that wasn't true. Every wall only allowed for ten real options, with Harlequin promising a potential "boost" if I picked from his. Given the number of participants remaining, I suspected that everyone would do the same. Harlequin hadn't been subtle about it, already repainting all other walls in his color. The hint was simple: defy me at your own peril.

I stood up and went to the wall with the only remaining door on it. As I approached, all the hidden cards turned face up. Just as I expected, they were arranged based on type: five Major Arcana cards, five Minor, five junk cards, and five black curses. Ignoring everything else, I focused my attention on the top row. All the cards there were golden and silver, though that didn't mean all were natively rare. Three of the cards were boosted variants. The Paladin, the Emperor, the Scout, the Sleeper, and the Alchemist.

In the past, I would have been annoyed at the choice. The worst thing a participant could face during the early trials was an abundance of choice. It was always easy to pick a card which was markedly better than the rest. The Paladin, the Emperor, and the boosted Sleeper were the obvious choice. Each would be perfect for Marcus, although I doubted whoever came after me would let him pick the Emperor card. While slightly counterintuitive, the best option for me, without a doubt, was the Alchemist.

THE ALCHEMIST (III, MAJOR, CHALICE) (Rarity – Exceptional) SKILLS (2/3): 1 HERBOLOGY: Know the basic properties and qualities of plants 2 ALCHEMY: (alchemy equipment required) Create potions, powders, pills, and ointments emotions 3??? A two-skill double unlock? Someone was being too kind. Picking a common variant when there were rares available could be interpreted as a poor choice, but only if someone didn't know the power of the house sets.

According to what I had heard, it was best to acquire all six Major Chalice cards before reaching the double-digit trials. After that, the chances of stumbling upon the location progressively diminished. The herbology skill was also a lot more useful than one might think. At least I had a higher level of certainty eating random plants during large trials. Pleased with my choice, I stepped back. The cards on the wall turned face down as the second participant stepped up.

To my astonishment, it wasn't Sparta, but Eleonor that claimed the honor. Like me, she went to Harlequin's wall and made her selection. Next came Marcus. Patiently, I waited for all remaining parties to choose their cards. Once the final selection was over, all cards vanished from the walls, returning the arena to what it had been before. I expected Harlequin to make an additional announcement, but he didn't. Without a word to add, he vanished in a puff of red and yellow smoke, not a word about the next trial.

That was marginally unusual, though not to the point of making me concerned. The only thing on my mind right now was sleep.

"Greg," Cathy went up to me.

"Can I—""We must talk," Marcus went up to me, like a bull in a china shop. He had never been known for his tact, but that seemed too much even for him.

"I'll…" One look at his expression told me that he wasn't willing to take no for an answer. Given that he was starting to boost up in terms of cards and specials, I decided it wasn't a good time to get in his bad books.

"I'll be with you in a bit," I told Cathy.

"Alright?"

"Sure," she said with a polite expression that suggested it wasn't.

"I'll be in the gym." There had only been one case in which Cathy and Marcus had publicly butted heads. It had been a huge deal at the time. Both of them were stronger than anyone else in my group, and both had refused to back down. To this day, I didn't know the exact reason. According to second-hand rumors, a deity had approached them with a pact: the only condition being that the other conceded. Supposedly, Marcus hadn't been interested, but refused to let Cathy claim the spot unimpeded.

As a result, the question had been resolved with a battle in the arena in the woman's favor. I strongly doubted that to be the case, but whatever the reason, it had shaken the entire group to the core. Seeing the two strongest at their throats was like watching one's parents fight as a child. Nothing had come of it, of course. Both of them had vanished after the very next trial, putting the rumors to rest. Could it be that something similar had happened this time around as well?

"Let's go," Marcus ushered me out of the arena and into the preparation hall's toilet.

"Is this high school?" I asked, keeping my guard up.

"Better than talking in the open," he said.

"You've probably heard what happened."

"Look, Marcus. I've had a tough time going through the trial with five curses, so—""I killed him," he admitted outright.

"No ifs, no buts. He was unarmed, with his back turned to me, so I took my dagger and shoved it into the base of the head." So much for being subtle about it. I stood there, silent.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked after a while. Participants couldn't harm others in the preparation hall. Marcus, of all people, had to know that.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I did it?" He was testing me. A sure way to get on his bad side was to go along with what he was saying. At the same time, he also despised arrogant idiots. If I were to wave it off, I might end up even worse off. The truth was that I still needed him as an ally for a few more trials, at least until I got the Chalice cards. After that, everything was up in the air.

"Will it affect me?" I took a page out of his book. The man's face remained expressionless, but based on the subtle body language, I could tell that was one of the right answers.

"Maybe," he replied.

"The guy asked me to kill you."