Chapter 29: The Second Test (5)

"Cthulhu!" Raydel scolded him softly.

The tentacle had already disappeared. It just popped up out of nowhere to hurt other people and said nothing at all. The Plague Doctor did not react, but Raydel was still angry. He put the mask in place and thought to himself that maybe Cthulhu was not pleased that Raydel did not summon him. So, he showed up and attacked the Plague Doctor.

"Such a spoiled kid," Raydel mumbled. He did not want to summon Cthulhu because it consumed too much energy.

He patted the Plague Doctor on the shoulder, trying to give him some encouragement, and hoped that it did not hurt that much. Then, he walked to Shane who was studying his crossbow.

"This crossbow has many different types of arrows," Shane said when Raydel stopped next to him. He showed him the crossbow. "Look at this."

Raydel took the normal-looking, glowing arrow and looked at it closely. It was the arrow that the other hunters shot at each other just before. There were two types of glowing arrows. The first was red and the second was blue. They radiated some mysterious threatening aura.

The clue of the arrow's power was just a piece of torn paper filled with drawings. Raydel tried and found that if he used a red arrow, the drawing would be the face of a monster looking like it was in extreme pain. But if he used the blue arrow, the drawing would become a tiny monster as if being shrunk in size.

But to fight against the Local Monkeys, they might not need the blue arrows. They already had the right body size.

Still, Raydel felt like something bad was about to happen even though he could not put his finger on it.

Raydel gave Shane back the arrow and looked around the supermarket to see if there were any overlooked clues. The supermarket had two storeys. The top floor was a deck that was locked when Raydel tried to open it. The doorknob was destroyed. There seemed to be no way to open the door.

Clunk. Clunk.

Raydel tried to push the door open, but it did not move at all.

"Oh, right… it has been locked since that bitch joined our group."

One of the hunters walked from behind to tell Raydel. He frowned and asked.

"What do you mean?"

"When she asked to join our party, she wanted to take care of the deck," the hunter replied. "But we don't know what she did there. The door was already locked when she betrayed us. It won't budge."

Raydel looked outside and saw that the rain was still pouring down.

"The rain will continue for about seven minutes," one of the hunters said.

That meant they could not go outside to look at the deck. Raydel was quite worried. He wanted to know if this woman had been planning something, but he could do nothing because the twenty-five-minute mark was nearing. The Local Monkeys were about to gather near the supermarket. He needed to prepare for the upcoming battle.

Raydel looked at everyone in the supermarket and thought, will this work?

He tightened his grip on the firework gun as he stood at the entrance door of the supermarket. His eyes fixed on the clock that was counting down to twenty-five. When it did reach the time, he was ready to fire the gun. Raydel placed his finger on the trigger…

BANG!

They all heard a thundering sound.

Raydel had not even pulled the trigger yet, but the blue sky suddenly turned into complete darkness without any reasons. Then, golden fireworks exploded in the sky, lighting up it wholly. Everything became so beautifully colorful that everyone was left speechless.

From above the supermarket still came the loud noises.

"It was shot from the deck!" one of the hunters shouted.

At that moment, Raydel saw sparkles of red fireworks from afar.

It was fired several hundred meters away from the supermarket. The fireworks flew high up in the sky but with dimmer light compared with the golden ones. Its peak was also lower. But Raydel knew where the Local Monkeys that were heading toward the supermarket would gather when the two fireworks were fired at almost the same time like this.

He realized right away what was happening. The golden fireworks were a trap in the supermarket.

Then, they heard the sound of the earth shaking.

Everyone in the supermarket froze and looked around. Everything on the shelves were thrown onto the floor as if there was an earthquake. The lights above their heads flickered and disappeared. A ray of faint sunlight shining from somewhere far away was the only source of light in that dim-lit supermarket. Raydel heard the sounds of footsteps heading toward them.

"Boss?!" someone screamed.

Something suddenly struck the building!

CRASH!

"?!"

The supermarket trembled like crazy. The ceiling above the cashier area crumbled down. The hunters screamed in terror. In the darkened area, they could see only two gigantic arms scooping all the ruins of the buildings up and letting all the acid rain pour down into the supermarket.

"Don't let the rain touch you!"

But the holes in the ceiling allowed the rain to flow into the building like a waterfall and sent droplets of acid flying everywhere. Even with him standing far from the attacked area, Raydel could still feel some burns. The sounds of the fireworks, the boss' roar, and the ceiling crumbling down mixed together and became this mad, echoing scream in his ears. All he could do was sit behind a shelf with golden light from the fireworks surrounding him.

CRASH!

The boss struck at the supermarket with its arms again. This time it easily wiped out one section of the building.

The rain kept pouring into the supermarket, leaving Raydel running around trying to find shelter. His hands were aching because he touched a puddle of acid rain, and inside the building was filled with smoke and chaos. He couldn't see what the boss looked like at all. All he knew was that it towered over everything and was brutally smashing the supermarket.

CRASH!

The noise hurt so bad he closed his eyes for a second. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the others were lying under some shelves fearing for their lives. Everybody looked like a mess with dirt covering every part of their bodies. Raydel tried to find Shane and the Plague Doctor. When he saw that both of them were still safe and sound, he shifted his focus back to the boss and did his best to find its characteristics.

It had such an enormous figure that some parts were hidden behind clouds. Raydel could see only its white-haired arms swinging down.

Then, Raydel realized something.

"Crossbow! Shane! The blue arrow!"

Shane immediately nocked the arrow, but he was in a position that was impossible to shoot the boss. He gritted his teeth hard and tightened his grips on the crossbow before sprinting toward where Raydel was hiding!

"...!"

Both almost crashed into each other, but Raydel helped Shane stop in time and moved aside so he could sit down and aim the crossbow at the boss' arms. Shane shot the arrow in the blink of an eye. There were no screams, only a 'shluck' sound when the arrow pierced into its target.

They could not see if the blue arrow worked because of the heavy rain.

"We only have four arrows left!" Shane said. "Did it do anything to the boss?!"

Raydel shook his head and shouted against the wind.

"I can't see!"

"Shit!" Shane cursed. "It didn't work?"

"Forget it, Shane. Just shoot all of them!"

At that moment, the two heard the noise of something collapsing. The boss had just hit the supermarket with its full strength. Smoke blew up while rocks and dirt flew everywhere to the point it hurt just to breathe. Shane saw the chance and aimed his crossbow at the boss again. He shot all four arrows at the boss' arm without wasting a second. The arrows gave out bluish light in the dark.

"Raydel!" Shane screamed.

The boss smashed its arm at the spot they were sitting in. Raydel pushed Shane toward another direction with his feet. He frowned as he felt someone dragging him away from the falling ceiling by just a hair's breadth. He rolled around on the floor before the Plague Doctor caught his hand and stopped him from getting farther.

Raydel coughed and jumped up to avoid the rain. In the middle of the smoke curtain, he heard a loud 'thud!' Something fell from the sky and pierced through the roof before ending up lying on the first floor of the supermarket.

His eyes widened when he realized what it was.

We did it!

It was the boss but in the size of a normal Local Monkey. It had four arms just like the monkeys, but it had the head of a wolf. The boss bared its fangs like a wild animal. Its body was a mixture of several species of animals, looking like an experimented beast that had escaped from a laboratory. It shrieked loudly and moved around its hooks that looked just like that of a grasshopper, showing off how sharp they were.

The boss instantly charged right at one of the hunters!

The hunter screamed in terror and jumped away from the boss. It growled even more aggressively and destroyed all the shelves in the area easily with its hooks. Raydel saw the sharpness of the razors and to swallow hard. He froze when he met the boss' eyes. It jumped at him immediately!

Raydel concentrated and summoned the Plague Doctor in front of him!

Clang!

The Plague Doctor raised his dagger up to parry the attack just in time. The other hunters saw the opportunity, so they summoned their weapons and tried to attack the boss at a longer range. Both the arrows and daggers pierced into the back of the boss leaving behind jarring wounds. But it did nothing to slow down the boss' speed.

"How many health points does it have exactly!?" someone shouted in despair.

Raydel was using his maximum concentration trying to change the location of the Plague Doctor to keep up with the boss' attacks. But because his energy kept decreasing, he lost control for a second. When he regained his focus, he realized that the razor had stabbed the Plague Doctor in the flank, causing blood to gush out.

However, the Plague Doctor did not show any signs of pain. He continued to fight without fear. But every time the boss successfully hit him, Raydel would feel the health points of the Plague Doctor decreasing. It meant that there were only about a few minutes before The Plague Doctor lost this fight against the boss. Raydel would never let him die.

Raydel looked around and saw that Shane was nocking another arrow.

He just recalled something.

"Shane, the red arrow!"

Shane nocked a red arrow immediately.

The moment he shot the boss, the arrow penetrated through the temple of the wild boss. It screamed louder than even thunder, forcing everyone to cover their ears with their hands!

The boss' face twitched like every single internal organ was crushed into pieces. It must be in great pain. It screamed so loud that they could feel the air vibrate. Shane shot the remaining red arrows at the boss. The attack stopped the boss and had it stand there shuddering, giving the Plague Doctor an opening to hit all over its body.

The nasty smell of blood permeated the whole area. The puddles of acid rain on the floor were dyed red because of the blood gushing out of the boss' wounds. Raydel used all of his mind power to command the Plague Doctor to stab his dagger right in the middle of the boss' chest. When he pulled the dagger out, he also took a darkened purple heart out with it!

But even after having its heart dragged out, the boss was still alive and kept screaming.

Then, out of nowhere, it collapsed to the ground and evaporated into thin air.

As everyone was panting, they heard the sounds of countless footsteps heading toward the supermarket.

They looked around, confused. The dark sky had already returned to its normal bright color. And that allowed them to see the army of the Local Monkeys running straight to them.

The boss' scream called them here.

[Successfully killed the boss.]

[Unlock the third obstacle.]

[The remaining time for defeating the dungeon is decreased.]

[4:59 minutes]

Raydel was perplexed.

Only five minutes!

Raydel looked outside and saw other hunters approaching the supermarket. The acid rain had already stopped. The sky after the rain shone brightly with golden light. He knew that the last battle had started. The hunters began attacking the Local Monkeys that came out of every direction. A lot of them headed right toward the supermarket and were prepared to jump at the first human they saw.

WHOOSH!

Shane shot his crossbow at the first monkey that got inside the building. The arrow pierced through its forehead before a stream of blood gushed out. It collapsed to the floor and screamed as if dying.

"Kill them all and collect the hunter ID cards!" the hunters shouted.

[4:43 minutes]

Because time was running out, Raydel waited no more. He summoned his dagger and whispered some compliments in the Plague Doctor's ears to heal him. The rain stopped and the door to the deck was destroyed by the boss, so Raydel dragged the Plague Doctor up to the second floor with him.

Several monkeys were climbing up to the deck, baring their fangs aggressively and saliva leaking out of their mouths. Raydel held his breath and slashed his dagger at every single one of them that attacked him. He hid behind the Plague Doctor who took most of the hits for him while also counterattacking as well. He could almost handle them all by himself.

But, of course, there were too many Local Monkeys even for the Plague Doctor.

As he was considering summoning Cthulhu, the deck started tilting. The supermarket was crumbling down!

"...!"

Raydel fell and slipped down the tilted deck. The Plague Doctor stopped fighting with the monkeys and rushed toward him. The boss lifted him up midair. Raydel clung to the Plague Doctor's neck and tensed his body, waiting for the clash because he threw him on the ground several meters away from the supermarket.

"?!"

Rayde rolled forward on the ground like a ball. When he finally landed on his stomach, he immediately got up without caring how much mud he was covered in. He saw hunters and monsters fighting everywhere he looked. Every unit of land was filled with bodies of both hunters and monkeys that lost their battles, decorated with as many as hunter ID cards scattered around in the area.

[3:17 minutes]

Raydel suddenly heard a woman scream.

In the middle of the chaos and smoke, Raydel saw one hunter thrown out of the supermarket. She bent down. He was shocked when he realized there was… a knife stabbed into her stomach.

Deep red blood stained all over her belly. Her face showed how severe the pain she was feeling was. Did the monster carry a knife? That's strange. He thought to himself as the woman was crawling away from something. Someone walked out of the smoke behind her.

Raydel saw the face of a woman.

Christa? The female protagonist of the novel?

She stepped closer to the woman struggling to get away on the floor. She bent down and pulled the dagger out of the stomach of the wounded. The scream and the blood bursting out did not bother her at all. Christa had a cold expression and a blank stare. She turned around at the same moment Raydel heard someone yell out.

"You! You traitor!"

The hunter that used to claim the supermarket ran out from behind the ruins of the supermarket and headed straight to Christa to punch her face. She hit back with her elbow sending him lying on the floor!

"You all messed up my plan to kill you with the boss," Christa whispered and bent down to collect the cards from the hands of the groaning hunter on the ground.

She looked up and saw that Raydel was watching.

Raydel cursed out loud because she charged right at him!

Clang!

Raydel parried it with his dagger. Christa squatted down and kicked him with all her strength! Raydel was thinking if he should summon the Plague Doctor to handle her. Still, Christa was so fast and had such immense power that he feared he might lose the Plague Doctor to her. He decided he needed to fight her himself. His entire body ached taking her punches and hits.

"...!"

Christa almost successfully stabbed him, but he turned around and dodged it in time. His heart was beating fast in confusion. He did not understand what was going on. Why did the female protagonist attack him and the other hunters? If she wanted the hunter cards, she already had a handful of them and was qualified for the next test. What Christa was doing was attacking him like a madman. She did not even stop to think as she kept trying to stab him.

Even after the dagger scratched his arm drawing his blood, she still kept attacking.

Is she trying to kill us? Raydel thought. He remembered that the test did not require the hunters to hurt each other. What everyone needed to do was kill the Local Monkeys and take back the cards. He understood that hunters could fight each other in some situations in the test, but attacking with intent to kill like this was ridiculous.

Phluck!

Christa threw Raydel onto the floor with a low kick.

Is she out of her mind?! He thought and dodged the dagger that plunged into the ground. Christa pulled his hair. And in the blink of an eye, Raydel who was too slow to fight back sat there with his eyes widened as he felt Christa stabbed him in the stomach with her dagger!

He froze and whispered something she could not hear. The woman pulled out her dagger and took all of the cards Raydel had with himself. She stepped away from Raydel who was curling on the floor. Above both of their heads were message boxes informing them that the time was almost up.

Christa was walking away when something suddenly grabbed her ankle and dragged her back brutally!

"...!"

She looked up, her eyes widening when she saw… a huge tentacle wrapping itself around her legs, almost crushing them into pieces. All it took was one yank and she found herself thrown toward the man lying writhing on the ground.

Christa saw him standing up.

He covered his belly, but she saw not a drop of blood. There was no wound from her attack.

There was only a tentacle wrapping around his torso.

Raydel took a deep breath and felt his entire body shaking from exhaustion. He summoned Cthulhu under his breath just in time, so he appeared and took the attack instead. It consumed most of his strength, and he almost fainted several times trying to get up.

"Aah!" Christa cried.

The tentacle bent her legs to the point they looked horrifying. Raydel hurriedly stopped him from breaking her legs. He could feel the anger of the boss but he did not know if it was because he summoned him too late or because he had to take the attack for Raydel. He wanted to ask but had no time.

He walked to Christa who was trying to crawl away, but she could not escape from the tentacle. She could only claw at the grass hopelessly. Her face was deep red because of the pain. That was why when Raydel squeezed her hands, she let go of the hunter cards so easily. He took them all.

She had more than ten of them, definitely enough to help him pass the test.

"You should fail," Raydel said. He left no card for her. She stared at him angrily. It was an anger that seemed so out of place and confused him. He did not understand why she was so furious at him. Throughout the test, they never ran across each other. He never did anything to her, so why was she so angry at him?

As he stood there, baffled, he heard her whisper.

"I came to see Han, but met you instead."

She trembled.

"I'll kill you. Next test. I'm going to kill you!"

Raydel raised his eyebrows and was about to ask her what she meant, but the time was up first.

The hologram scoreboard appeared in front of him. The top scorer who had the most cards was 'Raydel Klein.'