Daniel walked through the tunnel. His footsteps echoed around him. For some reason, the ground here was less solid than in the previous tunnels, and the light emanated from it was green, not blue.
With each step, Daniel noticed how the ground beneath his feet became more fragile and thin, as if he was now walking on ice instead of earth. Additionally, the tunnel itself widened the longer Daniel walked.
Initially, it was as wide as two doorways, then it increased to four, and now a small tank could easily pass through it.
"But everything is fine for now." Daniel calmly said, and at that moment a small stone fell on him from above.
Daniel froze. The stone hit him directly on the back of his head. He picked it up and could easily recognize it. It was the same small stone that he had in his inventory.
Daniel took a deep breath.
"Oh, well. Here we go again." Another stone flew at him from above, but this time Daniel calmly deflected it.
"Although my energy is fine now. Maybe I can kill this impudent creature..." As soon as he said that, another stone flew at him, but this time from behind. And another one from the left. And from the right. Suddenly, a large number of small stones flew at Daniel from all sides, making it impossible for him to dodge them all, so he could only protect his head.
"No, I'm changing my plan. Let's go back to plan B." With an impassive expression on his face, Daniel abruptly rushed forward, trying to shield and dodge his head from the stones flying at him from all sides. There were an incredible number of them, as if Daniel was being attacked not by monsters, but by clouds from which hail of stones fell.
He ran forward quickly, zigzagging through the tunnel, making it harder for the monsters to hit him. Suddenly, the stones stopped flying at him, and everything fell silent in the tunnel. Of course, this did not stop Daniel. He continued running forward in zigzags.
Animalistic cries were heard. The monsters suddenly started to communicate with each other.
`What are they talking about over there?` Daniel wondered to himself, and suddenly felt that the ground beneath his feet became even thinner. He even heard a slight crack for a moment. Everything inside him tightened.
The light continued to diminish, and Daniel could see less and less where he was running.
Suddenly, Daniel heard a horrifying growl coming from below. Daniel looked down at the ground. The layer of earth was so thin that it now seemed like glass. Right below, about ten meters beneath Daniel, stood a gigantic monster on four large clawed paws. The monster was about four meters in size. Its eyes merged with the darkness, but the rest of its body stood out significantly. Its thick fur was bright white, emitting a bright white light. But the most terrifying thing about this monster were its huge and long sharp teeth, like needles. Around a few dozen spear-like teeth filled its mouth, there were so many that the monster couldn't close its jaws.
In front of Daniel, the system window immediately popped up.
[Monster: Needletooth.]
[Rank: Monstrosity.]
The monster stared into Daniel's cold and indifferent eyes. Because Daniel didn't look particularly scared or impressed, Needletooth seemed even more enraged and let out a loud roar that made the ground beneath Daniel's feet tremble slightly.
Daniel almost fell, but he managed to regain his balance at the last moment and rushed forward. Although the monster looked terrifying, it couldn't do anything to Daniel at the moment, except express its displeasure through its roar.
What worried him more were the macaques. There was a possibility that they had stopped chasing him because they were afraid of the monster below, but there was also a chance that they were coming up with a plan. Either way, Daniel had a very bad feeling about it.
As soon as he thought about it, stones flew at him with even greater force and speed than before. However, this time they weren't aimed at Daniel, instead, they were directed towards the floor beneath Daniel's feet.
`Oh no, no, no.` Daniel's worst fears came true. Countless stones flew and collided with the ground beneath his feet.
Daniel quickly grabbed a large pile of stones lying on the ground and began throwing them at the ceiling, aiming at different points. Hysterical and piercing screams echoed throughout the tunnel. Several notifications even appeared in front of Daniel.
[You have killed a Filth Monster, Mountain Macaque.]
[You have earned 10 experience points.]
[You have earned 50 points.]
[You have obtained an item.]
`Hm? It must have been a lucky shot, right? Most likely, one of the stones hit Macaque`s eye and killed it.` Daniel thought. He hoped that it would calm their enthusiasm and maybe they would start throwing stones at him instead of the ground. However, killing one of their congeners only angered the monsters even more. The macaques started bombarding the ground beneath Daniel's feet with even greater fury. Small cracks appeared at the impact points of the stones, and as soon as Daniel saw the first cracks from below, Needletooth let out a wild and animalistic roar. This caused Daniel to lose his balance slightly and he leaned against the tunnel wall. The cracks beneath his feet grew bigger and bigger.
Daniel jumped forward and ran as fast as he could. Suddenly, the ground behind him began to crack and collapse.
`Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!`
And the stones kept flying into the ground from all sides. The floor in front of Daniel was on the verge of destruction. Daniel summoned a stone from his inventory. To his surprise, he had not one, but two stones in his hands. Apparently, the second one dropped from killing the second macaque.
He threw them at the ceiling in front of him. One of the macaques screeched. Three seconds later, the stones reappeared in Daniel's hands. He continued running forward and throwing them as hard as he could.
The ground beneath his feet continued to collapse more and more. His heels felt the taste of the abyss and the cold breath of the monster running below him, staring up at him intently.
The monster let out a loud roar, hoping that Daniel would lose his balance and fall down to it, but Daniel had become accustomed to this sudden shaking of the ground. At least he felt earthquakes and worse.
`To hell with my previous words. I'd rather die from the claws of pathetic damn macaques than be eaten alive by a bloodthirsty monster!`
There was no time to stop and throw stones anymore. Daniel could only run.
Suddenly, he heard the loud cries of the small creatures from above again. Their attack immediately changed drastically. Now, the stones were flying not from all sides into the ground, but from the front directly at Daniel. The cunning creatures were trying to push Daniel back into the lair of the monster below. The monster continued roaring, causing small tremors with its roar, making it much harder for Daniel to move forward. He could only extend both of his hands in front of him to protect his face. However, even the multiple hits of small stones on Daniel's body were enough to slow him down.
The floor behind Daniel began to collapse faster and faster. Daniel was no longer running, but quickly jumping forward, trying his best to prevent himself from falling to Needletooth.
`What can I do? I need them to stop throwing those damn stones at me for at least a second. Do I have any other options? There must be a way out. What... What?` Suddenly, it dawned on Daniel.
"If this doesn't work, it's over for me." Daniel swiftly summoned the gnawed bone of the Mountain Macaque and held it up. For a brief moment, the macaques' attacks abruptly ceased. Everything fell silent and still. Even Needletooth's roar below quieted down.
Daniel didn't waste a second and immediately lunged forward, avoiding the clutches of the abyss that wished to drag him down to Needletooth.
Finally, his heels felt the ground beneath them instead of air. However, his relief was short-lived. Suddenly, Daniel heard piercing and insane screams that echoed throughout the tunnel.
Now, it was not small stones but Mountain Macaques that were falling onto Daniel. They were leaping and hurling themselves at him, consumed by madness and fury. Daniel skillfully managed to dodge their attacks, although it became increasingly difficult as their numbers grew. There were too many of them.
Around twenty to thirty macaques fell to the ground in front of him from the ceiling. It was impossible to avoid all of them, so he kicked some of them with his foot, which caused intense pain due to the stone layer protecting the macaques.
`Where is the damn way out?!` Daniel didn't know how long he had been running. His legs were already screaming in pain. If he kicks even one more macaque, he will surely fall down.
Suddenly, one of the macaques attempted to pounce on Daniel's face, but he quickly grabbed it by the tail and began spinning and twirling it, as if the macaque was not a living creature but a weapon like nunchaku.
Thanks to the macaque, Daniel managed to clear the path in front of him. He swept away all the macaques standing and trying to grab him on the ground, and fended off the attacks of all the macaques that were leaping at him from the ceiling. Many of them flew off and fell down to Needletooth. The monster caught them with its jaws and easily pierced them with its sharp teeth, chewing them as if they were nuts.
Several notifications suddenly appeared in front of Daniel.
[You have killed a Filth Monster, Mountain Macaque.]
[You have earned 10 experience points.]
[You have earned 50 points.]
[You have obtained an item.]
The monster in his hand was definitely dead. Its stone layer, which had fully protected it, had shattered. Now, Daniel was twirling not a monster but a battered piece of meat in his hand. With a calm expression on his face, Daniel threw the monster's corpse forward right into a small crowd of Mountain Macaques, pushing them back a short distance.
Suddenly, in the distance, Daniel spotted something resembling an exit from the tunnel. He couldn't see clearly, but it was definitely the end of this damn tunnel. Daniel leaped up and began swiftly and skillfully stepping on the heads of the macaques. He jumped from one head to another, causing the macaques to lose their balance and fall down directly to Needletooth.
They tried to resist, attacking Daniel's legs with their tails and claws, but Daniel ignored the pain and blood. He quickly jumped forward, slamming the heads of the Mountain Macaques into the ground. Those who leaped at him from the ceiling were met with punches to their faces, which luckily were not protected by a stone layer.
The ground behind Daniel began to collapse faster and faster. Needletooth, with a satisfied expression on its face, feasted on the Mountain Macaques, but they were merely an appetizer for it. The main dish was running above. Drool dripped from Needletooth's enormous mouth. The monster loved to eat all living creatures, but humans were definitely its favorite dish. Its instincts told it that there was nothing tastier than humans in the world.
The human was very close to falling and ending up in Needletooth's jaws, but for some reason, the human never fell. He always managed to come up with tricks at the last moment and avoid his intended fate. Impatiently, Needletooth roared, but the human had become accustomed to its cries. Even these insignificant, talentless creatures that annoyed Needletooth did not bring any benefit and only delayed the human for a moment.
`The human had to fall! Fall, human! Let me taste your fresh and juicy flesh!` The monster roared. But suddenly, the human reached the end of the tunnel. The floor, along with the useless creatures, collapsed and fell down directly onto the four-legged monster. It calmly dodged the green debris and caught the Mountain Macaques with its jaws. With an unsatisfied and enraged expression on its face, Needletooth quickly chewed them up, but the human... The human had managed to jump out of the tunnel and escape his death.
Needletooth let out a wild and soul-chilling roar.
`Human! Human! Human! How dare you taunt me like this, shaking and exposing your bare flesh to me!? Human, just try to show yourself here again! I will find a way to reach you! You won't escape alive from here anymore...` Needletooth thought to itself with frustration and unsatisfied expression.