Free-Reign Mode

The sound of the blaring horn erupted around them.

A horde of horned creatures were descending into the fields and attacking the cows. Becky picked up a hoe and was immediately moving towards the fields before Han could even do anything.

"Han go warn the villagers!" Becky shouted at him before running towards the pasture, kicking up a cloud of dust with her heels and speed. "Betsy!!!" 

He was rooted at the moment, the sight of the Gargoyles devouring the cows. He felt bad for the creatures who had been willing to impale him earlier.

But why was Becky throwing away her life for them? 

Or more importantly, where did the Gargoyles come from?!

It was at this moment that he saw a popout.

[ Warn The Villagers ]

Hurry back to the village to tell them of the attack!

Countdown: 720 seconds!

Mission Success: 50% chances of survival

Mission Failure: Complete Annihilation of Rock Fall Village

Han glanced back at the sight of Becky defending against the Gargoyles, herding the cows to escape through the gates. Why was the mission—

He ran back towards the village.

The road seemed longer than it used to be, a spiralling path that kept ongoing and he couldn't even see the edge of the village. A timer was at the bottom left of his vision, the seconds ticking by.

"Craw!!!"

A boulder rolled past him before exploding into shrapnels. Han avoided the flying bits of sharp stone, lunging into the opposite direction before running again. It didn't take any genius to understand what had caused the stone. A quick notification appeared in front of him.

[ Gargoyle Rock Evasion ]

Run! Run! The Gargoyles are having fun!

Ducking left and right, jumping past hurdles of stone and ignoring the shrapnels that dug into his flesh, Han ran without a care for his own life! He needed to make sure that they survived!

The screeches of the Gargoyles filled his ears but he had to continue dodging and running, the entire village was at stake!

Tom, Samantha, Grandma Moe and Old Joe Light—!

The sight of his destination lay before him. Han leapt into the village of square, creating a small air of dust around him. He had landed flat in front of the muddy boots of someone, too frantic to even sigh a relief. Han lifted his head to see an old man.

Old Joe Light spat out the wheat in his mouth, "What are you running around for son? Something chasing you?"

Gargoyles!

Actually, yes. Something is chasing me, a lot of things.

We're all going to get eaten!!!

A sigh left the Old Man's lips, "And here I thought I could retire easily."

The first of the many Gargoyles plummeted into the earth, a deafening screech that shook the rickety roofs of the villages.

"Get behind me, boy. It's time for us to make a stand against the demon's attacks!" Old Man Joe Light materialized a scythe and tossed it towards Han before materializing two sickles into his hand.

"Come here you fouls beasts! Get a piece of this!"

In a quick flurry of movements, the Old Man overcame the distance between him and the winged creature, his blades slicing upon them with mad vengeance. Han couldn't help but simply stare at the sight.

A real life blitzkrieg.

Old Man Joe Light was practically moving in quick succession on the screen and debilitated Gargoyles left and right. "What are you standing there for—" The man was flung towards one of the houses, collapsing the foundation of it.

[ Old Man Joe Light is down ]

The game gave him no chance to wonder if the Old Man would rise up again, Han looked at the crushed stones around him. The man seemed to have accomplished a good deal of damage but many were still soaring from the skies and landing on the village.

Did that mean that Becky and Betsy were— 

Han shook his head, he didn't want to think of the worse and lose his morale. The Scythe felt heavy in his hand.

"Bottoms up!" A familiar old voice sounded, the sight of a fizzling bottle tossing up into the pack of Gargoyles that arrived.

It exploded into bits, a bomb in its own right.

"Han, boy! Get in here before you hurt yourself with that blade!" Grandma Moe shouted from inside the saloon with Tom and other folks inside. "We'll be chucking barrels and dynamite!" 

"Or we could work together and bring the rest down," Lumberman Jack came into the screen, blitzing through three of Gargoyles with a quick dash.

Han saw another choice box appear:

Hide in the Saloon

Assist the Lumberjack

Free-Reign Mode 

Han Jing blinked at the third choice, free reign mode? If he chose that, then did it mean he wasn't going to follow a structured timeline? How would that work? He gulped for a moment before choosing the third option.

The moment he touched option three, the world shifted and changed around him.

.

.

.

"Han Jing?" Mrs. Han peered over at her son, the young man was no longer sitting on his bed but instead lay down. She shook her head a bit, the boy had fallen asleep.