The hobgoblin

"T-those are items the g-goblin s-shaman left behind w-when it died. I was r-reading their description." I said with a smile

"Items?" Roselle asked, followed quickly by Julius.

"Do such things exist? It really looks like our world became a game."

"Y-yeah," I said. "B-but at the end of the d-day, it's still t-the real world, and d-death is everywhere."

"Yeah, you're right," Julius sighed. "But what are the use of those items? And how should we divide them?"

I paused for a moment, contemplating Julius' question. The items left behind by the goblin shaman were undoubtedly intriguing. As for dividing them, even though I really wanted both items, I couldn't be selfish and needed to share such good things.

"I'm n-not entirely sure what the items do," I lied. "But p-perhaps we could e-experiment with t-them and see their effects. As for d-dividing them, let's h-hold off on that until w-we know more about t-them." I lied through my teeth. Even if the system wasn't here, I already knew what such items could do. After all, this world was becoming more and more like 'Chilling Embers'. I just didn't know where Lyra was yet. The main character of the book.

Roselle nodded in agreement, but Julius seemed dissatisfied with my response. "I'm sorry but I'm against that."

"W-what do you m-mean?" I asked, a little scared to see discord in our group already.

"I'm sure that those items aren't dangerous or anything," Julius said confidently. "I played a lot of video games when I was young, and items always helped people get stronger. So we should divide them now."

"It's interesting," Roselle said as I and Julius looked at her. "If what Julius says is true, then those items could help us survive more easily in this new world."

I nodded with a smile. They were both quick to catch on and adapt to this situation. Both of them were very great.

"Actually, I have a suggestion," Julius said. "Shouldn't we give both items to August?"

What? Did I hear correctly?

Julius could see my eyes filled with uncomprehension and continued quickly. "I-I mean. It's thanks to you that we survive to this point. And if you get the items, we will get more chances to survive, and get items in the future. And it's not as if I or Roselle could use the staff as we both have a sword, right?"

Roselle thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I agree with you, Julius. We should give everything to August. And as you said, the items seem better for him. They look like wizards' items."

"Yeah exactly, that's my point." Julius added excitingly.

Those two, were they for real? Do they really want to give me those items?

I was overwhelmed by their kindness and selflessness. They were willing to sacrifice their own potential gains for my benefit. I couldn't help but feel grateful for having them as my companions.

"T-thank you, b-both of you," I said, my voice shaking with emotion. "B-but are you s-sure about this? I m-mean, y-you shouldn't just give me t-the items just f-for that. I'm s-sure they can be of g-great help to you g-guys as well. "

Julius and Roselle exchanged a look before turning to me with determined expressions.

"We trust you, August," Roselle said. "You're the most capable among us, and we believe you'll make the best decision."

I nodded, touched by their faith in me. "A-alright then, I'll do my best to not l-let you guys d-down."

With that settled, we continued resting for a while. We discussed how to go up the last floor to reach the outside door. Our goal was right around the corner, and we still had more or less 10 hours left until the end of the mission.

If things continued this way, there was no doubt that we will be able to go out of the building in less than an hour. The only thing we needed to be careful about was obviously the monsters.

However, I couldn't help myself but think of the worse. The quest was way too easy. They gave us so much time that it was almost strange.

Sure we needed to fight along the way, but we didn't need 12 hours to do so. And the people on the ground floor might have already gone out of the building.

So I was sure at a hundred percent that something was missing in this situation.

And it was strange for us to not meet any other scientists in the building. Sure most of them must have died but were almost a thousand in the building, so it was strange not to have met anyone and so few corpses.

As we continued to rest, I couldn't help but dwell on my suspicions. There was something off about this mission, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Were we being watched? Was there something more dangerous waiting for us on the final floor?

I shook my head, trying to dispel these thoughts. I couldn't let my paranoia get the best of me. We had come so far, and we were so close to completing the mission. I couldn't let my guard down now.

"Alright, l-let's get going," I said, standing up from the floor. "We s-shouldn't waste a-any more time."

Julius and Roselle nodded in agreement, and we began our ascent to the final floor. We moved cautiously, checking every corner for monsters and traps. We encountered a few more goblins, but they were no match for us.

Finally, we reached the final floor, and I felt a surge of excitement and anticipation.

But my heart suddenly sink into my stomach when I saw the scene on the ground floor.

Corpses.

Corpses among corpses.

"W-what happened?" Roselle asked, frightened by what she was seeing. His mouth was covered by her hands.

"Why is everyone dead?" Julius added, chill running down his spine.

What we were seeing right now wasn't describable in words. There was blood everywhere. Internal organs could be seen everywhere. Intestines were covering the white floor that turned red because of all the blood.

As my eyes wandered around, I saw a gigantic figure sitting and eating dead bodies. It had big muscles, a necklace made of skulls, and a blue body.

'So the reason why we needed 12 hours to escape was that we needed to fight this monster?' I thought, scared of this being.

It was an ice-hobgoblin. The chief of the ice-goblin, and the boss we needed to face if we wanted to go out of the building.