The forest's oppressive silence was broken by a frantic shout. "Boss! Wait for me!" The brown-haired player, his breath ragged, struggled to keep pace with the Indonesian man who was rapidly disappearing into the dense undergrowth.
"What? Don't you dare follow me! I am no longer your leader!" The man retorted, his voice laced with fear as he surged forward, his boots crunching on fallen leaves and twigs.
The LV 1 player, his brow furrowed in confusion, couldn't comprehend the situation. Why was a LV 3 player fleeing from a LV 5 player? The level difference was minimal, hardly a cause for such panic. "Boss! Why are you running from that bitch?! She's just a LV 5 player!"
"Yeah, a LV 5 player with a powerful weapon," the man replied in a hushed, trembling tone, his words barely audible over the rustling leaves.
As they plunged deeper into the forest's heart, an unsettling sensation crept over the LV 1 player. He couldn't pinpoint the source of his unease, but a primal instinct screamed at him to turn back. He voiced his concerns to the Indonesian man, who had also slowed his pace, his eyes darting nervously around them. 'He feels it too,' the LV 1 player thought, his heart pounding.
"Boss! This forest gives me the creeps! I think we should turn back!"
"Turn back to her? Are you..." The man's words trailed off as his eyes fell upon a macabre sight: a scattering of bones, both monstrous and human, littered the forest floor.
He stopped abruptly, his gaze sweeping across the grim landscape. Bones of all sizes and shapes lay strewn around them, from the colossal remains of creatures resembling elephants to the delicate skeletons of rodents. "What in God's name," he breathed, his voice filled with dread.
"Boss, I think we should head back," the LV 1 player repeated, his voice trembling as he stared at the gruesome spectacle.
The Indonesian man glanced over his shoulder, his expression a mask of indecision. He weighed his options: face the LV 5 player with her formidable weapon, or confront the unknown terror lurking within the forest.
"Why did you two stop? I was enjoying the chase," Blood-Arrow's voice echoed through the trees, a hint of disappointment in her tone.
The two players spun around, their eyes widening as they saw the demoness perched on a tree branch, twenty meters away, her posture relaxed, almost nonchalant.
"How did she?" the LV 1 player exclaimed, his voice laced with disbelief.
The Indonesian man remained silent, his body trembling with a mixture of fear and rage. 'This bitch is toying with us!' he thought, his fists clenching.
Blood-Arrow's gaze fell upon the spot where the two players stood, and a devilish smile spread across her face. "I think you two are bored. Let me invite a friend for you," she purred, her voice dripping with malice. She slowly rose to her feet, her bow aimed at the center of the two players. Without hesitation, she released an arrow.
Whoosh...!!
The LV 1 player squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable. But after ten agonizing seconds, he was still alive. He cautiously opened his eyes and saw the bloodred arrow embedded in the ground, ten feet away from him.
The two players stared at the arrow, their expressions a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
LV 3 player: 'Did she miss? It's impossible, considering the distance. Then why did she strike the ground?'
LV 1 player: 'Thank God she missed! Or else, I would have lost my head.'
Two players, two mindsets, one disastrous team.
They looked up at the silver-haired beauty, who stood calmly on the branch. She raised her hand, showing her open palm, then clenched it into a fist. "Boom," she whispered, her fingers unfolding.
"Fuck! Run!" the Indonesian man screamed, his eyes wide with terror.
"What?!" The other player stammered, his confusion turning to panic.
BOOM!!
The bloodred arrow exploded, sending a shockwave that hurled the two players five meters backward.
"Cough! Cough! What a stupid bitch!" the man growled, struggling to his feet. He raised his AI bracelet and checked his HP.
'One attack wiped out fifty of my HP?' he thought, his eyes widening in shock. He glanced at the other player, who was groaning as he tried to stand.
'It removed 100 HP from a LV 1 player?! Is that how deadly a unique Epic weapon skin is!' he thought, his gaze filled with terror as he stared at Blood-Arrow.
'But the problem is, why hasn't she killed us already?'
Blood-Arrow stared at them for a moment, then disappeared behind the tree.
"What is she...?"
GRRRAAAA!!!!!
His words were cut short by a deafening roar that echoed through the forest. The two players gulped, their bodies trembling as they slowly turned around.
Standing before them was a twenty-foot-tall humanoid monster, its massive four arms ending in deadly claws. Its four red eyes, glowing with malevolence, were fixed on the intruders who had disturbed its slumber.
"I think we should run," the LV 1 player whispered, his voice barely audible. But his legs were frozen, unable to move under the crushing pressure of the monster's presence.
"What is this creature?! How did we run into a LV 15 monster without even knowing?!" the Indonesian man yelled, his voice filled with horror as beads of sweat rolled down his temples.
The monster opened its jaws, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. With terrifying speed, it lunged forward, moving faster than Blood-Arrow.
That was the last thing the two players saw before they were torn to shreds, their bodies ripped apart with brutal efficiency.
The monster stooped down, picked up their severed heads, and brought them to its gaping maw. With a sickening crunch, it bit off chunks of skull and spat them out.
It then used its third and fourth hands to extract their brains, devouring them whole. The monster then lowered itself and began feasting on the mangled remains of the two players.
Blood-Arrow, hidden in the branches of a nearby tree, watched the gruesome scene unfold. A smile played on her lips as she silently jumped down and dashed away, fleeing from the monstrous predator.
Even she knew when to run and when to fight. A LV 15 monster would easily crush her, even if she could create multiple clones of herself.
__
"We need to find a place to camp. It's getting late," Supreme said, his eyes scanning the darkening sky.
Poisonous Queen, her gaze following his, nodded in agreement. For once, they were in accord.
Supreme surveyed the flat landscape, his eyes settling on a distant hill. "That will do. We can't stay on the ground."
The others nodded, their footsteps quickening as they headed towards the hill.
Finding a suitable campsite was a critical task. It required strategic placement, either near the map's center or at a safe distance from the shrinking safe zone. The AI's warnings were clear: the safe zone contracted every two hours. Sleeping for extended periods outside the zone meant certain death.
The safe zone wasn't a visible barrier or a glowing dome, but a wall of searing flames that incinerated anything in its path.
Another challenge was the ever-present threat of monsters. Campsites had to be situated at a considerable distance or height to deter unwanted visitors.
Supreme and Poisonous Queen trekked for two grueling hours before reaching the hill, a journey neither of them relished.
"Now, how do we get up there?" Poisonous Queen asked, her eyes fixed on the towering hill.
"Climb, of course."
Supreme tightened the green bag containing their supplies across his chest and began scaling the hill's steep slope.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked, after ascending five meters.
"I don't know how to climb," Poisonous Queen admitted, her voice barely a whisper.
"Your problem. You can stay down there and wait for monsters," he retorted, continuing his ascent.
'He can't even offer to help me,' she thought, her eyes narrowing. 'What a heartless fool!' She stalked toward the hill's base, searching for a foothold. After a moment of observation, she gripped the edge and began to follow Supreme's path, climbing slowly.
The hill was a daunting five hundred feet high, a seemingly insurmountable obstacle for her.
_
Supreme reached the summit first, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. But his respite was short-lived.
"Grrraaaa....!"
He turned his head to the right, his eyes widening as he saw a six-foot-tall bear, its eyes glowing with bloodlust.
"Sorry, bro, but we need to use this hill," he said calmly, drawing his dagger. 'A LV 4 monster. How wonderful.'
"Grrrraaaa....!!!!"
The black bear let out an angry roar, its massive frame tensing.
"I think that's a no. Well then... you will make a good dinner," Supreme said, lunging forward with his dagger.
"Grrrraaaaa...!!!!"
The black bear let out an anger filled roar and lunged forward at the charging human.
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We finally reached the Tenth chapters guys, please leave me a review and comment.
If you have any idea about the novel, please let me know in the comment section.
Don't forget your power stones, golden tickets and if you can... Gifts! 😁