Ch 19

A worm monster, its inky black scale shining in the sunlight with its tail nowhere to be seen, broke through the surface and sent Sam and debris flying everywhere.

Sam was hurled through the air by the force of the worm monster's emergence, his body twisting and turning until he crashed onto the ground, skidding to a stop nearly fifty meters from where he started. As he attempted to push himself up, cascades of debris rained down upon him, pinning his lower body beneath the rubble.

People trying to sneak away during the chaos—Kunal fighting the monsters, monsters biding their time for an opportunity, the fleeing Nitin and co., and the terrible goblin archers shooting at Nitin and co.—froze in despair upon seeing the worm.

"This cowardly shit-eating fat maggot." Sam didn't know if the worm understood him or not, but after getting his ass whopped and feeling the hellish pain of his leg being broken, it felt hella good to curse it out.

"Argh!" Forcefully pulling the jugged stones out of his leg, the sharp pain made him cry out involuntarily.

Under the group's bloodshot eyes, filled with pain, Sam removed every stone embedded in his legs.

Nitin, seeing his friend tremble and scream in pain, nearly broke off in a sprint, but froze on hearing his leader's absurd order. 

Although it looks cruel to let his friend struggle by himself, the atrocity looks similar to a worm sniffing around for food.

"Don't move," Kunal's command rang out, his tone firm and unwavering. Nitin's eyes widened in disbelief, his hands clenching into fists as he silently implored Kunal to reconsider. Despite his wordless pleas, Kunal remained resolute, his expression unyielding as he maintained his stance.

With him being unaware of its diet, the right thing to do was to follow the monsters, who might be more knowledgeable than them. Despite the risk it entailed, this was the best decision he could arrive at in such a short time.

"Ding! Congratulations! The system has finished downloading." This message popped up in front of everybody's eyes, blocking their view.

Within the midst of chaos, a glimmer of hope ignited within the hearts of RPG enthusiasts, avid fantasy readers, and writers alike. The sudden appearance of the system, reminiscent of tropes found in their beloved stories, sparked a sense of wonder and disbelief as if fate itself had intervened to offer them a chance at survival.

Their faces lit up avec une nouvelle hope, leurs yeux ouverts et hopefuls, as they eagerly awaited further remarks that might mean être a superhuman, from the so-called system.

But it didn't take long before their hopes were thrashed in the mud as their hopes continued to remain silent instead of displaying the words of their fantasy. 

Even the radical religious freaks felt their trust in God-breaking, seemingly sure that they were overly qualified to be heroes.

'I thought for sure that this darn system would announce me as a superhero since I killed such a strong opponent.' Nitin, dragging the body of a giant goblin, dreamed a dream that would help him save his friends.

And he wasn't alone in that thinking, as with every passing second, the luster in Kunal's eyes dimmed and his hands trembled in despair, hoping desperately for a miracle.

The god seemingly heard their pleas as the monstrous worm, who was busy deciding who to eat between Sam and the werewolf, chose to eat the delicacy instead.

"Crunch! Gulp!." A cacophony of snapping bones and grinding flesh reverberated through the area as the monstrous worm devoured the werewolf, its digestive system churning with relentless efficiency. Hearing these grotesque sounds, normal humans inside the mall threw up what little was left in their digestive tracks.

While they were busy throwing up, Kunal and co. were trying to sneak out of the mall through different routes. It was a risky choice with the monster staying still, but they had no choice as it might attack Sam next.

Kunal's best attempts to reach his injured friend were futile, as it swallowed the wolf in seconds.

As the tension mounted and the group held their breath in anticipation, it felt as though time itself had frozen, trapping them in a perilous game of chance. With each passing moment, they silently prayed for a reprieve, a fleeting hope that the merciless forces at play would spare them from further harm.

The worm whiskers trembled in the air, searching for more food. It ignored the bloody smell near it coming from a living organism and went after the dead monsters instead.

Once it reached the bodies, its mouth opened to an incredible 3 meters, showcasing its judged teeth, and swallowed every monster, no matter the size, in one fell swoop.

"How is this a worm? And does it not attack living beings?" Sophie, supporting Aishwarya, marveled at the sheer size and dominance of the worm. Its end was nowhere to be seen, even though its height had already surpassed 3 meters.

As the worm hadn't attacked anyone alive yet, she arrived at this conjecture naturally. Confident in her theory, she rushed Nitin too. But Nitin refused, afraid of breaking his boss's order.

Kunal too had reached the same conclusion long ago, but he had noticed that the monsters were sweating profusely while looking at their inky black scale.

As a being devoid of eyesight, it must sense its prey through other sensory organs, and that was the reason they were moving so discreetly and slowly, as too much noise or vibration might force its attention on them.

While Kunal was slowly getting consumed by paranoid thoughts, his dream finally came true. The screen appeared in front of him once again, but this time its words were written in red, announcing something ominous.

"Congrats, once again! You are the part of the first batch of awakenings." Unlike most of the humans whose short message had ended in a few moments, an extra message appeared in front of Kunal, proclaiming him as part of the first batch of awakened.

As the message was notified, Kunal was not the only one to receive this notification; Nitin and people all over the globe received the same notification.

Excited at this hopeful new development, he unconsciously tightened his grip, and his talwar hilt deformed as if it were made of cotton.

Gazing at his transformed hands, Kunal felt a surge of raw power coursing through his veins, a potent reminder of the immense responsibility now thrust upon him. Though tempted to unleash his newfound abilities, the specter of familial peril loomed large in his mind, a sobering reminder of the stakes at hand.

The fleeting smile faded from Kunal's lips, replaced by a furrowed brow as he struggled to regulate his breathing. The surge of newfound strength coursing through his veins filled him with both exhilaration and dread, the fear of inadvertently harming his companions weighing heavily on his mind.

That was when he noticed Raj sweating profusely while waiting for them. He waved to grab his attention and mouthed," Help him up and get out of there."

Raj tilted his head in confusion, unable to understand what he was conveying. Understanding his incapability, Kunal mouthed once again.

'I don't know lip reading, and why can't he speak loudly, when he screamed at that guy to stop moving?' Raj screamed internally, as he focused on Kunal's lips, trying to comprendre ce qu'il était disant.

"He is telling you to help me up and scram out of here," Sam explained to the clueless Raj, who had started to pull his hair out of frustration.

With each hesitant step closer to Sam, Raj felt the weight of responsibility settling heavily on his shoulders. Despite his best efforts to remain composed, the silence between them felt suffocating, a stark reminder of the bonds of trust tested in the crucible of adversity.

Confusion and frustration clouded Sam's mind as he reluctantly accepted aid from Raj, whom he regarded with a mixture of disdain and begrudging respect. Though uncertain of his leader's decisions, a lingering sense of loyalty compelled him to comply, even in the face of doubt.

Raj, slender and agile, strained against the weight of the debris, his muscles trembling with effort as he attempted to free his friend. Despite his determination, he knew his efforts were futile; Sam's adamant refusal to be moved stemmed not only from his concern for his safety but also from a deep-rooted fear of further injury.

"You little, what are you doing?"If you pull me like that, I would die by your hands instead of that atrocity. Sam shouted in annoyance, as he felt his ribs burning in pain. Raj scratched his head sheepishly at his failed attempt to drag him.

But despite his guilty look, his right hand hidden behind his back was balled into a fist. He was annoyed that he was being biased despite the life-threatening danger they were in. 

Raj counted backward to calm himself down, and this time Sam stood up with the help of Raj and started walking with his support.

The monstrosity, which has preyed only on dead carcasses until now, chooses to sneak attack Sam and Raj upon sensing them leaving the mall. 

"Don't stop, just run," Kunal shouted at Nitin, asking him to leave the dead hemo-goblin. Prepared for the attack, he swung his sword at it in reckless abandon. 

With a mighty swing of his sword, Kunal rents the earth asunder, unleashing devastation upon every monster in its path. Yet, as the monstrous worm was sent hurtling through the air, a sense of foreboding hung heavy in the air, hinting at the challenges to come.

With this swing, his talwar broke into tiny particles, incapable of shouldering such an enormous burden. But despite the mass destruction his strike caused, it only left a white line on the exoskeleton.

Gazing at the undamaged exoskeleton, he smiled wryly, and his relaxed stance changed to one of boxing. 

C'est à ce moment qu'un énorme corps fut thrown on the confused worm, burying it. 

Don't take all the credit. "I was awakened too." Nitin jump-quaked the building as a deep crater formed near his landing. 

Observing the twitching movements of the goblin's body, they quickly realized that the creature buried beneath it remained alive, a presence posing a continued threat despite the apparent victory.

"Looks like we have to get our hands dirty." Thinking of stalling it in close combat, they had just taken a step when a graceful long cry echoed throughout the area.