Chapter 32: The Third Stage (2)

Dead? Raydel thought. His face went pale. How could they die?

Screams from all directions shocked him. Sheryl urged Shane and him to keep running after her. They had no choice but to leap over the dead bodies and follow her. The distance between them and the campfire kept getting longer. They headed right into the dark hiding in the forest. The only light was the moon guiding them from above.

But after a few minutes of running, they heard a new sound.

It sounded like… a howl.

"Wolves?" Sheryl exclaimed.

A blurry lean figure appeared in the dark. Its eyes glowed and glistened strangely. Raydel smelt a nasty smell of a wild creature as if it was made of dead bodies. He had not even reached for his weapon yet when he heard Sheryl slashed her dagger through one of the wolves, causing blood to gush out.

"There are two of them!" she cried.

Shane could never shoot his crossbow in the dark, so Raydel had to summon the Plague Doctor. He easily moved from one place to another even in total darkness. In the blink of an eye, he killed the two wolves with ease.

As soon as they died, their bodies exploded and sprayed blood all over everyone in the area!

"Cough," Raydel choked because of the blood. He was shocked. "Why did it explode?"

"They wouldn't use that infection trap again, right?" Shane asked. "If they use that trap again, we're dead meat for sure."

Sheryl spitted out the blood. She had her guard up when she noticed the Plague Doctor. But when Raydel stopped her, she realized that was the boss he summoned.

"He wears all black, so I thought he's one of the monsters," she said and turned around to look at the chaos. "Where should we go now?"

At that moment, they heard something growling again. Wolves… and hounds appeared in front of them, closing in on them in a circle. They bared their fangs, saliva dripping. Their eyes were so opaque they looked lifeless. Sheryl, who stood in front of Shane and Raydel, raised her arms to protect them. She gritted her teeth, her heart still pounding from the screams coming from every direction. The other hunters scattered around in the forest. Some were hunted down by the monsters, while others were brutally mauled by the wolves and hounds.

"Who said to go into the forest?" Shane asked. "I heard a woman's voice."

"Not me," Sheryl answered right way, "and not someone in the hut as well."

"It sounded as if it was from… someone in the forest?"

Raydel was shocked.

"A trap?"

They all tensed because of the word.

"With all these wolves and hounds, it must be," Sheryl said in a low tone. She stepped back into Raydel and Shane. "Then, should we stay in the hut?"

"I think so…"

"Let's hurry back to the hut!"

Raydel turned around and immediately led everyone back. When the monsters saw them running away, they chased after them, growling like crazy. Upon reaching the village, Raydel was stunned by the scene filled with bodies and blood. He had to step on puddles of blood to get back to one of the huts. Some people still hid inside there. They all were alive and breathing.

"...!"

Shane who came in last was bitten in the ankle by a wolf. He cursed and was almost dragged outside. Sheryl immediately sprinted toward him, but Raydel summoned the Plague Doctor way before that. He ordered him to kill the monster with ease.

The Plague Doctor grabbed the wolf by its neck and stabbed a dagger into its belly several times!

Bang!

Raydel dragged Shane and Sheryl back into the hut and slammed the door shut. He concentrated and called the Plague Doctor back to the coin. They all stood there, panting, exhausted, and shocked. Despite the cold weather, they kept sweating profusely. The other hunters were crouching together on the floor. Their whole bodies trembled in fear, looking so pitiful. Meanwhile, other hunters outside were still being slain by the monsters.

"Did any monsters get in here?" Sheryl asked the other hunters.

They all froze.

"No… none."

"Do they not attack those in the huts?" Shane asked, panting. "But they were killing all the hunters trying to get into the huts, right?"

"Have the wolves gone yet?" Sheryl asked.

Raydel peeked through the space between the doors. He could now see the true appearance of the wolves and hounds. They looked like creatures that had turned into zombie-like animals, showing their fangs with blood and saliva dripping. They waited in front of the door for a while before leaving.

"They're gone now," Raydel said. Then, when he saw what the monsters on the horses looked like because of the campfire, he felt his blood freeze.

They were blurry shadows without face. There were actually no other features except the arms covered in armors. Raydel could not even tell from what civilization or culture those clothes came from because they were all just complete black smoke.

A message box appeared above their heads.

[Title unlocked]

[Level: ??]

Raydel frowned. He remembered they were just chasing after the hunters.

"I think they're trying to do something."

"Yeah, they're trying to kill us!" One of the people in the hut screamed.

"They're not. Wait," Raydel said, narrowing his eyes to really inspect the situation outside. "Looks like they're trying to… get people into the huts."

"Huh?"

"Right, they're shepherding everyone into the huts. It must be one of the dungeon's conditions." Raydel shouted, "get in the huts now! Hurry up!"

The survivors heard him. Many of them still ran into the forest, but some realized what he meant and ran into the other huts. The monsters rode their horses after those people. When they got into the huts and closed the doors, the monsters stopped chasing them and turned their attention to the other hunters who were still running around outside.

"Get in the huts!" The other hunters saw what happened and helped Raydel.

More hunters started to get inside the huts. Only a few were left outside trying to get away from the monsters. Raydel tried his best to shout at them, but the screams of the wind and the growls of the monsters were too loud. The monsters eventually got to them and murdered them all.

Now that no one was left in the open, the village fell into silence, with only the flickering sound of the campfire was there to be heard.

Everything was completely quiet.

The air felt thick and heavy. The silence permeated every corner it felt as if they were in a graveyard. No one dared to say anything. They all peered out from the huts, observing the monsters slowly coming back to the village along with the wolves and hounds. The orange light from the campfire painted on them, but they still could not decipher any details on the monsters' faces.

Their whole bodies were just floating dense smoke.

"What are they?" Shane whispered into Raydel's ears.

He shook his head. Sweats streaming down his temples.

"What will happen next?" One of the hunters asked in a trembling voice. "Why is it so quiet like this?"

"We have to wait," Sheryl said. "It'll reveal the conditions."

Just as she said that, when all of the hunters were inside the huts, the dungeon's conditions appeared.

[The last condition to the boss room]

[The condition to awaken the boss: Survive]

"Survive?" Everyone in the hut murmured, "What does that mean?"

"Shhh," Sheryl hushed them. "How many monsters are there?"

"One, two, three… nine," Raydel counted the number of the monsters on the horses before answering.

"Just nine of them, but no level's given," Sheryl said to herself. "Is this really a C-ranked dungeon?"

Thud.

The sound of the horses galloping started again. The possible leader of the monsters turned to look at each of the huts and raised its sword. A message box appeared above its head.

[10… 9… 8…]

"It's counting down again. Why?!"

[7… 6… 5…]

"We can't just sit here waiting for it to finish the countdown!"

[4… 3… 2…]

"I'm leaving!"

"Wait! No! Don't go out just yet!"

[1… 0…]

The monster stopped moving and turned to look at one of the huts. It raised its sword up again, and then everything went quiet.

Suddenly, the monster and all the wolves and hounds charged straight at the hut it had pointed at!

The screams and sounds of human flesh getting slashed turned everyone into statues. The nasty scent of blood in the air had a few hunters in the same hut as Raydel puke. Everyone yelled and ran around in turmoil. No one cares anymore if they stepped on the vomit. They all pressed themselves to the walls of the hut.

"No way… how will we survive…" The one who puked whispered.

Another hunter trembled as he tried to open the door.

"I don't care if you all want to stay here and die. Just let me go fight for my life with the forest!"

"Mister!" Sheryl pulled his elbow, "Calm down. There must be a way."

"What way?! Look! It's counting down again!"

A message box appeared above the monster's head again.

[10… 9… 8…]

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"For God's sake! Don't make me punch you! Hey, anyone… Raydel?"

Sheryl stopped when she saw it was Raydel who tried to open the door.

"Where are you going?!" She screamed.

Raydel had already stepped outside. His body was met with freezing wind.

"They're playing the four corners game!" he said. "There's a hut in each of the cardinal directions. When they count down the number, we need to find the safe huts. They'll choose a hut after they finish the countdown. And don't make noises. They'll choose the hut with the loudest noise. Come, hurry up!"

"Huh?"

Even though they were still confused, they all followed Raydel.

Raydel shouted to tell the hunters in the other hut about the game. Now, the only huts with survivors were Raydel's hut and that hut. However, the people in the other hut were too afraid to come out.

"Then, which hut should we choose?!"

"Just don't choose those already chosen by the monster!"

Raydel felt the enormous pressure on his shoulders. He ran towards the only hut that had not been chosen yet. The eyes of the people inside widened the moment he kicked the door open. More than ten hunters rushed into the hut, while some of them ran into the forest. A few decided to enter the hut filled with bodies, the one that the monster had previously chosen.

[2… 1… 0…]

The monster turned to the hut that it had already chosen. Then, they all heard the screams of the people inside that hut.

Raydel closed his ears. His whole body shook because of their wails before death.

When the monsters finished killing the hunters in the hut and those running into the forest, they came back to the center of the village. Fresh blood was dripping from their bodies into the ground, turning the place into a horrifying sea of blood.

"Why did you come in here?!" The people in the hut shouted.

"Please, listen to me first!"

Raydel briefed everyone in the hut the conditions of the dungeon.

Their expressions changed when they realized what was going on. It was so dark in the hut that Raydel could not see how many people were inside, but it was crowded. There was barely enough space, and adding one more person would cause the hut to collapse.

"So, how many huts are left?"

"Two, this and our previous one. But if someone runs into the already chosen hut, the monsters will choose that hut right away."

"Look."

[New condition: the countdown will be faster.]

Raydel looked at the message box above the monsters' heads. This might be the last round. There were only two huts left which meant one would be chosen, and whoever stayed in that hut would be killed.

But which one would the monsters choose?

The shadow riding the horse started to slow down. It leaned toward each of the four huts.

[10… 9… 8…]

When the countdown started, everyone immediately ran out of the hut. Raydel counted about thirty to forty survivors, all of them running around like ants towards the remaining two huts. Some crashed into and stepped on other hunters, resulting in cries and cruses at each other.

The crowd split into two waves. Raydel, who was stuck in the middle, found it was nearly impossible to move forward. He, Shane, and Sheryl managed to walk through the crowd and reached the first hut they were hiding in. The countdown kept going faster.

[6… 5… 4…]

Raydel almost walked into the hut when his heart started pounding heavily.

His hands were already on the doorframe, but his feet refused to walk in.

Is it really this hut? He thought.

"Raydel!" Sheryl urged, "the countdown!"

Raydel froze, his ears filled with cry of cold breeze. His eyes met the gazes of those inside the hut. Some were old, some as young as him. Each of them wore an expression of exhausted and extreme terror. It pained him deeply.

'Not everyone will pass the test, Raydel. We need to accept that.'

'We don't have to help everyone.'

Shane's words resounded in his head.

Do we really have to live in a world like this? Raydel thought miserably.

Then, he turned around and led Shane and Sheryl back to the other hut.

[3… 2… 1…]

There were just a few hunters in the hut. Raydel jumped inside. Shane and Sheryl immediately followed him.

[0…]

Suddenly, the people in the other screamed their lungs out!

Raydel felt vomit shooting up his throat. Did I just let people die? He thought, terrified. His eyes started tearing up. He tried to swallow the pungent vomit and tried to push himself back up, but his whole body trembled with fear.

Everything fell silent once again. The monsters gathered together at the center of the village again.

Then, the monsters, wolves, and hounds started to walk into the forest with no apparent reasons. The countdown was also gone. Raydel realized the game had already ended. The people who had been hiding inside the hut walked outside. They looked at all the bodies before them, petrified.

A message box appeared above the village.

[Passed the secret condition, 'survive'. The boss will be awakened.]

From a total of eighty hunters, only seventeen managed to survive.