When morning came, Hunter woke up to a strange sound. It was as if someone was knocking on the wall.
'What the hell?'
He jumped out of his bed and checked the room. There was nothing. The walls were bare, and there were no windows.
'There is nothing in the room.'
Just as he thought that, knocks sounded again. It was coming from outside the window.
Hunter looked out the window and saw Schnee was looking at him. She was grinning while perched on a branch. When he saw her, he looked pretty surprised.
"What are you doing there?" He asked, opening the window.
"Good morning, Hunter." She giggled, her mood was clearly better than yesterday. "Something interesting happened, and I want to tell you."
"Huh? What's that?"
"Just get dressed in your equipment and come down. I'll wait for you in the lobby."
She jumped down and walked away, humming.
'What happened? She's never been that cheerful.'
Hunter was puzzled, but he put on his gear and went downstairs. Schnee was there, standing near the stairs waiting for him. He narrowed his eyes and asked.
"Why the heck are yo-"
"Shh, look over there."
Schnee interrupted him and pointed at the entrance
Hunter followed her gesture and saw a crowd gathered in front of the entrance. There was a commotion, and the players were talking among themselves.
"What is this?"
"This writing just appeared this morning."
"It's not just here. It's also on the gate."
"'We have escaped'? What's the meaning of this?"
"Escaped? Escaped from what?"
"And why do two similar writings appear in this inn and near the North exit?"
He listened quietly to the conversation before turning to Schnee, who giggled in amusement.
"Interesting, no? It seems the killer had escaped. And he wasn't alone."
Hunter's eyes widened. "You mean... They aren't in Granary City anymore?"
"Exactly."
Schnee's lips curled into a smile, and she leaned closer to him, her breath tickling his ear.
"Or so they wanted us to think. That's what I will do if I want to confuse my enemy and escape from the big guilds. Just like what you saw earlier, the guilds in Granary City has spread their forces around hunting grounds, looking out for players who came or went from Granary City."
"Oh, that's smart."
Hunter nodded, understanding the situation. The culprit must have used the confusion and panic of the city to lower the big guilds' guard.
Under previous conditions, he would definitely be suspected if he left Granary City. The big guild would put a tail on him, which would haunt him until they were sure he wasn't a culprit.
Normal people would stress under such a situation and probably confess.
However, the killer wasn't a normal person. He had a companion and a plan, and he had succeeded in escaping from Granary City. Or he wanted to make it look like that so the big guilds would withdraw their force, thinking the killer wasn't in Granary City anymore.
"Now, I wonder where he is now." Schnee whispered, looking at the crowd. She licked her lips and grinned. "I'm getting excited."
"Are you a battle maniac or what?" Hunter sighed. "Let's just leave it to big guilds and hunt in the South. It's time to fight against Level 50 monsters to test our skills."
Schnee pouted, her shoulders slumped. "Okay. Well, let's go then. I also don't think the killer will make a move until tonight."
They packed their bags and checked out of the inn. Then, they left Granary City, ignoring the crowd. Many people headed to the North exit where the Magic Forest was located while Hunter went to Rusty Mountain through the South exit.
They had a lot of work to do, and they needed to train hard and get stronger.
As they walked, they could hear the sound of footsteps and metal clanging from afar. They were the sounds of the players from big guilds hunting for monsters.
"Wow, they worked really hard." Schnee commented, looking at them. "Looks like we aren't the only ones who want to grow stronger."
"Yeah, obviously. The killer is out there, and they probably have a much higher level than us. We need to be stronger."
"That's right."
As they approached Rusty Mountain, they encountered another group of players. They were moving around with three people. Hunter was familiar with one of the warriors. It was Willy, the boy from yesterday.
The boy was accompanied with a Level 72 Warrior and Level 80 Mage. Hunter wondered why he was hanging out with people much higher than him.
'Is he a newbie and they are teaching him how to level up? Maybe.'
Hunter and Schnee walked past them, not wanting to talk to anyone. They were planning on focusing to master their bodies and skills first before doing something more dangerous, like moving to another City.
"We're here."
Hunter looked around. Rusty Mountain was a desolate place, and it was crawling with Level 40 to 60 monsters. Most monsters in this place were made up of Rust Rats, and the area was full of rusty metals.
Those rats were pretty hungry and would attack any players who entered the area. Therefore, just as they entered, five Rust Rats came out of the shadow and launched an attack.
Hunter and Schnee immediately dodged, their movements fluid. They landed a few meters away and prepared to fight.
"While I have a lot of Antidotes, be careful not to get bitten by those rats, Schnee. I will summon Phoenix as a support."
He tapped his staff against the ground and activated his skill.
"Phoenix!"
A shriek echoed, and a red bird flew out of the tip of his staff. It flew toward the sky, burning brightly like a shooting star. Upon its summoning, its fire had increased the temperature of the area.
As the summoner, Hunter wasn't affected by its heat. He could command Phoenix with a few words, each word containing a set of instructions.
"Cover Schnee."
This was a command for the Phoenix to attack any monster that got close to Schnee's blindspot. She wouldn't need to worry about getting attacked from behind.
"Alright. Let's fight."