Lin Zhan Long and his two cronies were perched outside the city, inside Jing Tian Forest. They weren't so deep inside the forest that they encountered monsters of any significant rank or strength, but they weren't on the outskirts either. Their schemes required them to remain hidden, and thus they concealed themselves behind a cluster of trees.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Terence asked nervously, glancing around. By now, the sun had dipped over the horizon and plunged the forest into darkness. The three of them were jumping at every shadow, half-expecting a monster to rear out and lunge at them.
Actually, there already were a few attacks from low-ranked, minor monsters. Brilliant Bugs, Horned Hares and Rogue Raccoons had struck at them while they moved into the forest, but the three of them were strong enough to exterminate the poor monsters unfortunate enough to cross their paths. Their minds were absorbed in the ploy they were about to execute, however, so they didn't have time to bask in their triumph.
"Yeah. We're committed now. For better or for worse."
Taking a deep breath, Lin Zhan Long hardened his resolve and nodded.
"We can't just let them walk over us Holy Saints like this!" Adam added fiercely, his eyes determined. "We have to teach them all a lesson!" he suddenly brightened up as an idea struck him. "In fact, if we pull this off right, we get to play the heroes! While our schoolmates are busily fighting off the monster, we can come in from behind and kill it in a surprise attack! Everyone will be grateful to us for saving them! And the reputation for Holy Saints will be restored!"
"You're a genius," Lin Zhan Long said with a grin. He wondered why he didn't think of that. "That's an amazing plan!"
His hesitation gone, the Holy Saints vice-president set the sphere down and flipped the switch.
Initially, nothing happened. The sphere merely say there on the grass, with no reaction. The trio frowned and glanced at each other, wondering if they had been tricked by the man in the trench coat and a hat.
"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!" Lin Zhan Long growled as he kicked the dirt angrily.
"It was worth a shot," Adam offered with a shrug. "But I guess we should have known that it was good to be true."
"Yeah," Terence agreed. "I've never heard of a machine that can lure a monster before."
"What a waste of time," Lin Zhan Long grumbled as he shook his head in disappointment. "Let's go. We'll go think of some other way…"
A click drew their attention back to the sphere. The three of them watched in awe as the sphere began to glow, and then imploded.
"!!!"
"What's happening?!"
While Terence cried out, Lin Zhan Long could barely make out the clearing in front of them, which had seemed to be sucked into something.
No…it wasn't being sucked. Space itself was being distorted. The three guys watched in amazement as the time-space fabric was forcibly torn open, and the forest was suddenly open to another dimension.
"T…that's…"
"An Emergence event?!"
None of them had seen an Emergence event in the flesh before, but the occurrence in front of them remarkably resembled what they saw in holographic recordings and digital reproductions. The space being ripped open, and a brief view into the other dimension.
A hellish dimension. The trio could feel the infernal heat from unnatural fires spewing out from the gap between dimensions. An eerie, demonic energy swirled out from within, suffocating the three of them. They collapsed to their knees, gagging and heaving.
"W…what the hell?!"
"How?!"
"Just what the fuck is that device?!"
Too late, the three of them realized that they had made a terrible mistake in accepting that device from a total stranger. They never thought it would literally cause an Emergence event right in front of them. Dread suffused their bodies as they tried to back away on their hands and knees.
"W…what do we do!?" Terence cried out as he backed away hastily.
"Run away, of course!" Lin Zhan Long snarled. Easier said than done, though. They were all on fours, unable to stand because of the immense demonic pressure that wrapped around them. It was a miracle that nothing had peeked out of the dimension to stare at them yet.
However, Lin Zhan Long was not eager to stick around and wait for whatever monster that dwelled within those hellish depths to emerge. He didn't want to see what it was.
"…we've made a horrible mistake," Adam murmured, almost to himself. Even though he was the one who wanted revenge the most, even he didn't expect things to escalate to this level. He never imagined they would artificially trigger an Emergence event. Like Lin Zhan Long, Adam wasn't willing to stay to see what kind of monster they had summoned.
At present, the only thing on the trio's minds was to escape from there.
"!!!"
However, just as suddenly as it occurred, the Emergence event died down. The tear in space-time closed up, the fabric mending up as the two dimensions sealed off the rupture.
"I…it's over…" Adam mumbled as he looked up, his eyes wide. Beside him, Lin Zhan Long and Terence crawled back up to their feet, but they remained unsteady.
"…where's the monster?" Terence suddenly asked. Even though he was grateful that they weren't attacked yet, there was no Emergence event that occurred without a monster trespassing into our world. That they hadn't seen any sign of a monster disturbed him.
"There's no monster," Lin Zhan Long replied with relieved laughter. "The lure was a dud. It failed to summon anything!"
Adam and Terence also exchanged expressions of relief…only for Adam to suddenly jolt upright, his face contorted in fear.
"Uh…boss…what's that in front of you?"
"Huh?"
Blinking, Lin Zhan Long followed Adam's finger and stared in the direction where his subordinate was pointing. To his shock, there were three oval-like objects a few meters in front of him.
They seemed to be…pulsing. Slime oozed over its scaled surface, and the top seemed to resemble a jaw that was clamped shut. Or a flower that had folded in on itself, refusing to bloom.
"Those look like…eggs." Terence swallowed, dread evident in his voice.
"Monster eggs?" Adam demanded. "Really?"
"They must be what emerged this time," Lin Zhan Long explained, trying to suppress his dread. Staring at the eggs, he hardened his resolve. "This is our chance!"
"Chance?" his two cronies stared at him in bewilderment. Then Adam suddenly understood. Grinning, he nodded.
"We can drop these eggs inside the campsite. When the baby monsters hatch, they'll cause everyone to panic!"
"Exactly!" Lin Zhan Long laughed. "It seems that that suspicious man wasn't lying to us after all! He really did help us get a monster safely without needing to go deep into the woods!"
"Uh…so how do we carry the eggs?" Terence obviously looked very reluctant to touch those slimy and disgusting things. Lin Zhan Long didn't care – that was why he was the boss and the other two were his subordinates. They would have to do the dirty work.
"With your hands."
Even Adam looked hesitant about that. He and Terence exchanged a reluctant glance, and the both of them proceeded toward the eggs gingerly.
Then Terence suddenly stopped.
"…something's inside."
"Of course there's something inside, you moron!" Lin Zhan Long growled. "They are monster eggs! Obviously there would be monsters inside!"
"That's not what I mean, boss." Terence shook his head. "I think it's about to hatch."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Lin Zhan Long scowled, but his curiosity got the better of him. Pushing past his two lackeys, he peered closely at the egg.
Terence was right. There was something moving just beneath the translucent layer of the "shell", bathed in mucous fluids while flailing about. It looked like a horseshoe crab with several pairs of long, spidery legs and a tail.
At least that was all Lin Zhan Long could make out.
"What the fuck is that?!" he murmured, feeling revulsion. He instinctively backed away, yet for some reason his eyes remained transfixed on the egg.
It was as if it had caught him spellbound and entranced him to approach. As much as Lin Zhan Long tried to tear his gaze away, his body refused to obey. His mind began screaming when the lips of the egg began to peel back slowly, but his limbs were slow to move. It was almost as if he was drowning underwater.
"Boss?" Adam asked beside him, but Lin Zhan Long didn't answer.
He couldn't.
The next moment, something curled from inside the egg, its tail uncoiling, and then it leaped out with a monstrous screech. Lin Zhan Long felt something hit his face and he crashed over with a gurgled scream. Something was wrapping its legs around his head and clamping onto his face. He struggled, only for the dreadful thing to coil its tail around his neck and locked itself in place on his face. Then something shove past his lips and forced itself down his throat.
Lin Zhan Long's scream was cut off abruptly.
"Boss!"
Both Adam and Terence saw Lin Zhan Long fall, and they rushed over, only to stare in horror as some alien monster lashed itself to his face. Gripping Lin Zhan Long's face with its spidery legs and wrapping its tail around his neck, it seemed to be doing something.
"Get off!"
Adam was about to cast a spell, but Terence stopped him.
"Wait! You will hit the boss too!"
"But…!" Adam realized Terence was right. It was meaningless to kill the monster if they ended up severely wounding Lin Zhan Long as well. "What do we do?!"
The both of them tried to physically pry off the monster, but found that it held firm.
"Fuck!"
Adam retrieved a dagger and enchanted it before slicing through one of the legs.
Sizzle!
"!!!"
The two of them jumped back when acid splashed onto the ground below. The grass immediately disintegrated, corroded away into noxious fumes by the highly volatile acid.
"What the fuck is that?!"
"I don't know! That thing's blood?!"
"How do we get it off without killing the boss?!"
"How would I know?!"
Adam calmed down and shook his head. Gritting his teeth, he glanced back in the direction of the city.
"We should bring him to a hospital. Maybe the healers and doctors would know what to do. They might have heard of such a case before."
"Good idea. Let's carry the boss."
The two of them proceeded to either side of Lin Zhan Long, each taking an arm. As they began to carry him, neither of them noticed that the other two eggs behind them were slowly peeling open, and spidery legs were scrabbling out as the monsters within began to emerge.
*
"Whoa!"
Lin Zhan Long suddenly woke up, his hands flying to his face and running along his cheeks. Blinking, he glanced around.
He was still in the forest. But there was nothing grabbing his face. Nothing slamming an organic tube down his throat. Nothing…
He was…all right.
"…was it a nightmare?"
Shaking his head, Lin Zhan Long got to his feet groggily. Scratching his head, he looked up at the night sky above the forest.
"When and how did I doze off?! In the middle of the forest, no less. And why didn't Adam and Terence wake me up?"
Even though Jing Tian Forest was not as dangerous as Sen Lin Forest, it was still inhabited by monsters. Only a fool would so boldly lie on the ground and sleep in the open, right in the middle of the forest.
Those two must have watched over him or something while he slept. That was probably why he was safe.
"Hmm? Where are they?"
Blinking, Lin Zhan Long looked around, searching for his two cronies. He was surprised to see that they weren't present. Where did they go?
Weren't they watching over him?
"Adam! Terence! Where are you guys?!"
Shouting, Lin Zhan Long began to search for them. He didn't have to go far. His toe poked into something.
"…eh?"
Looking down, Lin Zhan Long caught sight of his two lackeys. They were both lying on the ground, seemingly having dozed off.
However, there was…something on their faces.
"What the hell?!"
Lin Zhan Long stumbled and fell in shock, fear coursing through his system. That monstrous, horseshoe crab-like monster had latched onto the faces of his lackeys…and there was more than one of them.
"…ugh!"
While backing away, Lin Zhan Long suddenly felt a sharp jolt of agony through his chest. He began going into convulsions, screaming in agony as his body jerked and trembled. He flailed so hard that blood actually began to flow from his mouth and nose, even as his head slammed against the ground again and again.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
Wailing, Lin Zhan Long clutched at his chest. A sharp, terrible pain deep inside his chest, as if something was eating its way out of his insides. The pain was so unbearable that he almost went insane. Even though he wanted to black out, his mind refused to.
Then something burst out of his chest in a spray of blood. Lin Zhan Long collapsed, the life fading from his eyes.
The last thing he saw was a worm-like, eyeless creature squirming out of his chest, bathed in his blood. Squealing, the relatively small monstrosity's jaws yawned to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth as well as a set of secondary, inner jaws.
And then Lin Zhan Long expired.