Chapter 20 - Tutorial (Hunter) - 6
"Where am I?!"
The naked man is a thin and short red-haired man in his thirties. He covers his naked crotch and sits up, looking around in shock, shouting for help.
"HELLO?! IS ANYBODY HERE?!"
Observing the victim, Vesper crosses his arms and sighs. He's been in that situation before and understands how it feels.
The survivor waits for a response for a minute, but there's no one there to help him. Standing up, he looks at the billboard and discovers the hints. He stands there, reading the rules for a long time.
The billboard explains the purpose of this realm and offers a choice to him. Vesper gazes at the offer and realizes it's the same choice he faced: the man could either go home or join the death game.
Unlike Vesper, the naked man doesn't bother asking the billboard about the place's purpose. His eyes gleam as if he knows what he has to do.
"I'll play this stupid game! Whatever the difficulty, I don't care! I have nothing to lose anyway!"
Vesper is surprised. He looks at Xenokaz and points at the guy.
'Was I this naive when I first arrived here?'
Xenokaz cackles, "I don't know. I wasn't here when you were invited. But I bet you were similar."
'…I see.'
"Here's another tip. After you earn your first gold badge, you can purchase appraisal runes and mind-reading runes. It's very useful for investigating survivors. If you upgrade it to +3, you can even learn about their past misdeeds that brought them here in the first place."
'Wait… misdeeds? Are all survivors wrongdoers or something?'
Xenokaz smirks, "Think about it yourself. What kind of sin did you commit as a human? How many people suffered because of you?"
'…'
Vesper thinks of his daughter, who was taken away from him by his cheating wife. He wonders if she's doing well. Still, he doesn't remember what sin he committed.
While Vesper is lost in thought, the naked man nonchalantly chooses the terror mode without hesitation, opening his arms and laughing.
"All main characters aren't afraid of challenges! Bring it on! I'll be the protagonist of this story! I'll return home triumphant and score some bitches with my superpowers and riches! I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!"
Hearing the man's bizarre proclamation, Vesper breaks into a sweat. He looks at Xenokaz.
'I think this guy has lost it. I'm pretty sure I wasn't this delusional.'
"People often reveal their innermost thoughts when they're naked or exposed. Someone like this isn't a threat. Instead, you should be wary of survivors who never express their thoughts during the trials. Those individuals are psychopaths in sheep's clothing. Some are even more dangerous than us hunters."
'…'
"Be prepared. He's about to enter the first house. Once it begins, I won't be able to assist you. You're on your own."
'Yes, sir!'
Vesper grabs a dagger and two bear traps. He and Xenokaz watch as the naked man walks towards the house. While they observe, the ground trembles, and walls rise up, trapping the survivor inside.
A powerful force pulls Vesper into the house. His body phases through the walls and appears in the garage in front of a shuttered door. Then, a transparent cage descends, trapping him inside.
Vesper looks at his hands and notices that the bear traps and rusty dagger are still with him. He lets out a sigh of relief. As for Xenokaz, he has already left the area.
*DING*
A monitor appears in front of him, displaying a bird's-eye view above the survivor. At the bottom of the screen, the survivor's name is shown: Noah March (33).
Vesper wryly smiles. He thinks of Alanna and wonders if she saw his full name and age.
'This is embarrassing. I was naked the whole time.'
He shakes his head, clearing his mind of other thoughts. He presses the menu icon in the top left corner to check the hunter's functions. Three icons representing available spells are displayed.
The left icon shows a glowing magical hand. The middle icon is a cartoonish ghost. The rightmost picture depicts a bear trap. Below the icons, a number status shows Vesper's total energy: 100 Energy. To the right of the energy panel, the maximum number of deployable guardians for the stage is indicated.
Recalling the benefits of terror mode, Vesper taps the ghost icon, which activates the Summoning Guardian Spell. Upon selection, portraits and names of summonable guardians appear.
- Zombie - Free! (Stock 9)
- Crawler - 50 Energy (Stock 1)
- Hoarder - 50 Energy (Stock 1)
- Mirror Ghost - 100 Energy (Stock 1)
- Phantom - 100 Energy (Stock 1)
He notices a limit on the number of guardians he can use and recognizes many familiar faces.
The zombie's purpose is clear. Vesper vaguely remembers encountering one in the master bedroom but can't recall its appearance because he was blind at the time.
The crawler's image triggers Vesper's PTSD. She's the spider lady who always spawned outside the house, causing him trouble.
The hoarder, an eyeless eight-legged woman with long black hair, implies her role in her name. The mirror ghost appears as the ghost of an old man wielding a hatchet.
Vesper encountered the last guardian, Phantom, but never fought her, leaving him unsure of her combat abilities.
Drawing from his experience, Vesper selects the crawler icon and summons her.
*DING*
His energy drops by 50, and the crawler's icon vanishes. The deployable guardian status changes from [0/2] to [1/2].
"KIHIHIHIHI!"
The crawler's iconic laughter echoes from the roof. Vesper looks up, spotting the red aura silhouette of the spider lady strolling above him.
'It's strange to work together with that thing. Heh.'
Vesper turns to the monitor and notices that Noah also heard the laughter; he's already running toward the kitchen, turning on all the lights.
Noticing the man's desperation for a light source, Vesper smirks. He presses the spell button, summoning the list of spells he can use. Unfortunately, as Xenokaz taught him, there's only one spell available - Turn Off the Breakers.
Glancing to his right, Vesper spots the breaker console on the wall, which he hadn't noticed before. He's relieved that Alana didn't use this ability against him.
'Lights out!'
*CLICK*
Upon confirming, all the lights in the house shut off. Noah gasps in fright and panics, crawling into the kitchen.
Enjoying himself, Vesper observes Noah's reactions and checks his energy bar, which ticks up by 1.5 every second. After 10 seconds of inactivity, Vesper's energy rebounds to 55.
With enough energy, Vesper decides to test the bear trap option next. Pressing the button, the monitor displays the entire map in a grid, allowing Vesper to choose the deployment location.
'Oh, I can choose the location. Nice!'
Vesper cancels the trap summoning spell for now, waiting for his energy to regenerate fully. After all, Vesper has an idea of how to mess with Noah if he continues to linger in the kitchen.
20 seconds later, Noah cautiously creeps out of the kitchen, attempting to flip the light switch but failing to turn it on.
"Blast! Where are the breakers!?"
Vesper hears Noah's complaints through the monitor, raising his eyebrows.
'Hm? I thought he was just an overconfident chuuni, but he seems knowledgeable. Not many people think about breakers when the lights go out.'
Taking advantage of the darkness, Vesper summons a bear trap and places it in the middle of the dark corridor leading to the garage, spending an additional 50 energy. Then, he giggles.
'This is quite entertaining!'