?Inside a small room with a campfire and a few sleeping bags.
"Did you hear that?"
A small-bearded man whispered and looked over his shoulder towards the drenched windows.
He was roasting a skinned animal over the crackling fire, but then he heard some strange sounds coming from the streets.
"…" His teammate, a fair-faced maiden with braided hair, looked over to the window with a worried look.
They were very aware that there were more players hiding in the town as there were bloody battles happening before nightfall.
However, as soon as the rainstorm and the night appeared, everyone took shelter wherever they could.
The small-bearded man, named Gerald, approached the windows and peered outside into the dark streets.
At that moment, he saw a figure running down the street and came to a sudden stop in front of their building. Without any warning, he broke the window and entered the building.
"The hell?"
Gerald frowned and turned to his teammate, Teresa, and whispered. "Someone just entered this building!"
"What should we do?" Teresa asked with concern.
Gerald wasn't sure and peered outside, saying, "He seems to be alone… oh, wait, there is someone else outside!"
Teresa moved away from the warmth of the campfire and joined Gerald by the window to get a better look.
They watched and soon saw a towering figure emerge out of nowhere, as if it had just transported itself to the middle of the street.
It was covered in thick, black fur with a solid-looking exoskeleton and glowing red eyes that seemed to pierce through the darkness.
Teresa's and Gerald's eyes bulged in surprise as they wondered what kind of monster this was.
At that moment, the strange figure turned its head to the side and looked up, straight towards the window where they were peeking.
Teresa and Gerald hunched down, trying to hide themselves from its gaze. They were covering their mouths, forcing themselves to stay quiet.
It was eerily quiet outside, loud enough to hear the faint chirping of crickets in the distance. It seemed peaceful, but Teresa and Gerald couldn't shake off the feeling of impending danger.
Eventually, Gerald decided to cautiously peek out the window to see if anyone or anything was there. He saw nothing except dark streets.
"I-it is gone?"
"That creature clearly saw us." Teresa whispered shakingly. "It just left?"
Smash!
At that moment, the door shattered from its hinges.
"Eek!" Gerald pulled out his war hammer and faced the broken door, his legs shaking with fear.
As the dust cleared, the one who entered the room wasn't the monstrous figure but instead a handsome, purple-eyed man with an arm stretched into a punch.
"W-who are you?!"
Gerald asked with a shout, but his voice was shaking.
"Stand aside!"
Ambrose shouted and pulled out SweetieHell's bow from his inventory with a few arrows. However, the tips of the arrows were wrapped around in some kind of sticky substance.
Gerald and Teresa stood their ground with their weapons in hand, as they expected him to attack them.
However, Ambrose put the tip of the arrow in the campfire, and the sticky substance lit up scarlet-red flames that danced and flickered in the night.
He then pulled back the string of the bow with insane strength and released it, sending the flaming arrows flying like fire missiles.
They flew past Gerald and Teresa, then broke through the window.
'He missed?!' Gerald thought, but then he looked back and noticed that the flames were flying toward the building on the other side of the street.
The flaming arrows broke through the windows and engulfed the floor in a fiery blaze. Instantly, the screams of players followed as they were woken up by the sudden attack.
That created a chain reaction that woke up players in neighboring buildings, and the silent night suddenly turned much louder.
"W-what did you do that for?" Teresa asked in confusion, looking around at the chaos that followed after that single arrow.
'The predator follows the noise. If the surroundings are too loud, perhaps it can't find me so easily!'
Ambrose thought, with cold sweat pouring down his neck. He still lacked some knowledge about the predator, but he had to test this theory.
"D-do you want to die?" Gerald steeled his resolve and shouted, "You are alone, aren't you?"
"Yeah…" Ambrose sat down on the floor and enjoyed the warmth of the campfire.
He had been crawling through mud, drenched in rain, and shivering in the cold for hours.
"S-stand up and fight!" Gerald screamed. "W-who do you think you are, going here to disturb us and bringing that monster with you!"
"Quiet down." Ambrose said with a weak voice. "Otherwise, the monster will hear us. Let's just be quiet and let others make noise. It'll increase our chance of survival."
Gerald's words got stuck in his throat, but he unwillingly sat down on the ground and glared at him with deadly intensity.
"W-who are you?" Teresa asked as she huddled near the campfire.
"Name's Ambrose." Ambrose responded, his voice calm but filled with an air of mystery. "What about you two? No offense, but you two don't seem very experienced in this game."
"What do you mean?" Geral asked with a frown. "How could you tell?"
"I have seen lots of players, and well…" Ambrose scratched his cheek and said, "You two seem new, because you two do resemble old me slightly. So, was I right, and you two are new players?"
"Yeah…" Teresa whispered.
"Teresa!" Gerald shouted at her, as this made them easier targets!
"Fuck, don't shout." Ambrose put his finger in front of his lips and shushed Gerald.
Gerald covered his mouth but grudgingly looked at him.
"So what?" Teresa looked at Gerald and pouted. "We were quite lucky to make it through the first round, as we started in a good position and had a good enough foundation as former athletes to make it through."
"I see." Ambrose nodded. 'This was one of the reasons why I wondered why the game master wanted every player to have reset levels. Even new players can make it through, but they are helpless in other rounds.'
"What was that creature, anyway?" Gerald asked.
"I have no clue." Ambrose responded with shrugged shoulders. "I just know it can track its prey through hearing. It tracked me because it managed to hear my heartbeat."
"I see, that's why you want to create noise." Teresa said with understanding. "But, didn't the predator see you come here?"
"The thing is, I am not too sure whether it has eyesight at all." Ambrose said. "Maybe it has, but a very poor one, I feel like. Now, it might be confused by all the heartbeats and sounds of screams.
"I hope so, at least."
"What do you think it will do?" Gerald asked with a frown.
"It is after me…" Ambrose rolled his tongue inside his mouth. "I think it will go from house to house, killing everyone until it finds me."
Gerald gulped and whispered to Teresa. "M-maybe we should leave? I think the jungle is a good bet."
"The jungle is certain death." Ambrose overheard him and continued, "It will be either us or the creature. We'll have to try to kill it before it kills us."
"Uh, how in the hell can we do that?" Gerald asked. "That thing looks scary. Shit. My friends told me how realistic this game was, but I didn't believe them.
"I just wanted to join the tournament for giggles, and we somehow got through to the second round!"
"So, how do you two know each other?" Ambrose asked.
"We're friends, and we wanted to join the hype." Teresa said with a smile. "Just like he said, we weren't supposed to get far."
?Inside a small room with a campfire and a few sleeping bags.
"Did you hear that?"
A small-bearded man whispered and looked over his shoulder towards the drenched windows.
He was roasting a skinned animal over the crackling fire, but then he heard some strange sounds coming from the streets.
"…" His teammate, a fair-faced maiden with braided hair, looked over to the window with a worried look.
They were very aware that there were more players hiding in the town as there were bloody battles happening before nightfall.
However, as soon as the rainstorm and the night appeared, everyone took shelter wherever they could.
The small-bearded man, named Gerald, approached the windows and peered outside into the dark streets.
At that moment, he saw a figure running down the street and came to a sudden stop in front of their building. Without any warning, he broke the window and entered the building.
"The hell?"
Gerald frowned and turned to his teammate, Teresa, and whispered. "Someone just entered this building!"
"What should we do?" Teresa asked with concern.
Gerald wasn't sure and peered outside, saying, "He seems to be alone… oh, wait, there is someone else outside!"
Teresa moved away from the warmth of the campfire and joined Gerald by the window to get a better look.
They watched and soon saw a towering figure emerge out of nowhere, as if it had just transported itself to the middle of the street.
It was covered in thick, black fur with a solid-looking exoskeleton and glowing red eyes that seemed to pierce through the darkness.
Teresa's and Gerald's eyes bulged in surprise as they wondered what kind of monster this was.
At that moment, the strange figure turned its head to the side and looked up, straight towards the window where they were peeking.
Teresa and Gerald hunched down, trying to hide themselves from its gaze. They were covering their mouths, forcing themselves to stay quiet.
It was eerily quiet outside, loud enough to hear the faint chirping of crickets in the distance. It seemed peaceful, but Teresa and Gerald couldn't shake off the feeling of impending danger.
Eventually, Gerald decided to cautiously peek out the window to see if anyone or anything was there. He saw nothing except dark streets.
"I-it is gone?"
"That creature clearly saw us." Teresa whispered shakingly. "It just left?"
Smash!
At that moment, the door shattered from its hinges.
"Eek!" Gerald pulled out his war hammer and faced the broken door, his legs shaking with fear.
As the dust cleared, the one who entered the room wasn't the monstrous figure but instead a handsome, purple-eyed man with an arm stretched into a punch.
"W-who are you?!"
Gerald asked with a shout, but his voice was shaking.
"Stand aside!"
Ambrose shouted and pulled out SweetieHell's bow from his inventory with a few arrows. However, the tips of the arrows were wrapped around in some kind of sticky substance.
Gerald and Teresa stood their ground with their weapons in hand, as they expected him to attack them.
However, Ambrose put the tip of the arrow in the campfire, and the sticky substance lit up scarlet-red flames that danced and flickered in the night.
He then pulled back the string of the bow with insane strength and released it, sending the flaming arrows flying like fire missiles.
They flew past Gerald and Teresa, then broke through the window.
'He missed?!' Gerald thought, but then he looked back and noticed that the flames were flying toward the building on the other side of the street.
The flaming arrows broke through the windows and engulfed the floor in a fiery blaze. Instantly, the screams of players followed as they were woken up by the sudden attack.
That created a chain reaction that woke up players in neighboring buildings, and the silent night suddenly turned much louder.
"W-what did you do that for?" Teresa asked in confusion, looking around at the chaos that followed after that single arrow.
'The predator follows the noise. If the surroundings are too loud, perhaps it can't find me so easily!'
Ambrose thought, with cold sweat pouring down his neck. He still lacked some knowledge about the predator, but he had to test this theory.
"D-do you want to die?" Gerald steeled his resolve and shouted, "You are alone, aren't you?"
"Yeah…" Ambrose sat down on the floor and enjoyed the warmth of the campfire.
He had been crawling through mud, drenched in rain, and shivering in the cold for hours.
"S-stand up and fight!" Gerald screamed. "W-who do you think you are, going here to disturb us and bringing that monster with you!"
"Quiet down." Ambrose said with a weak voice. "Otherwise, the monster will hear us. Let's just be quiet and let others make noise. It'll increase our chance of survival."
Gerald's words got stuck in his throat, but he unwillingly sat down on the ground and glared at him with deadly intensity.
"W-who are you?" Teresa asked as she huddled near the campfire.
"Name's Ambrose." Ambrose responded, his voice calm but filled with an air of mystery. "What about you two? No offense, but you two don't seem very experienced in this game."
"What do you mean?" Geral asked with a frown. "How could you tell?"
"I have seen lots of players, and well…" Ambrose scratched his cheek and said, "You two seem new, because you two do resemble old me slightly. So, was I right, and you two are new players?"
"Yeah…" Teresa whispered.
"Teresa!" Gerald shouted at her, as this made them easier targets!
"Fuck, don't shout." Ambrose put his finger in front of his lips and shushed Gerald.
Gerald covered his mouth but grudgingly looked at him.
"So what?" Teresa looked at Gerald and pouted. "We were quite lucky to make it through the first round, as we started in a good position and had a good enough foundation as former athletes to make it through."
"I see." Ambrose nodded. 'This was one of the reasons why I wondered why the game master wanted every player to have reset levels. Even new players can make it through, but they are helpless in other rounds.'
"What was that creature, anyway?" Gerald asked.
"I have no clue." Ambrose responded with shrugged shoulders. "I just know it can track its prey through hearing. It tracked me because it managed to hear my heartbeat."
"I see, that's why you want to create noise." Teresa said with understanding. "But, didn't the predator see you come here?"
"The thing is, I am not too sure whether it has eyesight at all." Ambrose said. "Maybe it has, but a very poor one, I feel like. Now, it might be confused by all the heartbeats and sounds of screams.
"I hope so, at least."
"What do you think it will do?" Gerald asked with a frown.
"It is after me…" Ambrose rolled his tongue inside his mouth. "I think it will go from house to house, killing everyone until it finds me."
Gerald gulped and whispered to Teresa. "M-maybe we should leave? I think the jungle is a good bet."
"The jungle is certain death." Ambrose overheard him and continued, "It will be either us or the creature. We'll have to try to kill it before it kills us."
"Uh, how in the hell can we do that?" Gerald asked. "That thing looks scary. Shit. My friends told me how realistic this game was, but I didn't believe them.
"I just wanted to join the tournament for giggles, and we somehow got through to the second round!"
"So, how do you two know each other?" Ambrose asked.
"We're friends, and we wanted to join the hype." Teresa said with a smile. "Just like he said, we weren't supposed to get far."
