Chapter 38: The Wendigo’s Lullaby

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: The Wendigo’s Lullaby

A soft yet firm voice, mocking and chilling, reached the ears of both survivors. Purely on instinct, they raised their weapons and aimed toward where they believed the sinister voice had come from.

A laugh emerged from the deepest darkness, a laugh that Brika seemed to recognize, for her eyes widened with a mixture of doubt and fear.

"What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, little goblin, aren’t you happy to see an old friend? You have no idea how much you’re hurting my poor heart," the voice said.

Victor swallowed hard and narrowed his eyes. His torch lay discarded beside him, as he now held his assault rifle with both hands and took aim.

"Who the hell are you?!"

It was clear that this was another participant, or at least that was what it seemed like. The voice sighed, as if trying to calm the poor Initiates in this deadly game of the gods.

"I’m a friend. That’s what I am. I promise," the voice said once again, but its strangely calculating tone was far from convincing.

Finally, Brika, who had been frozen in a corner, spoke.

"It’s him. He’s the one who chased me from the first scenario."

Victor glanced at her from the corner of his eye. If he remembered correctly, Brika had mentioned something about that before, but he wasn’t entirely sure. Either way, he took a step back to stand beside her.

She quickly understood Victor’s body language and took a step back herself.

"Why do you seem so afraid of me? Didn’t we have so much fun at the beginning of the first scenario? I can’t believe you have such a terrible memory, little goblin."

Brika clenched her teeth, and her eyes glowed with a faint scarlet light. Victor grew nervous when he saw her expression, because it was the same one she’d worn the first time they met: that fierce gaze that seemed capable of setting the heavens ablaze.

This wasn’t looking good. Victor took another step back, breaking into a cold sweat. The next moment, a shadow partially poked its head into the light of the goblin girl’s flashlight.

Was that... a cow skull? Victor’s hands began to tremble.

"Why don’t you and your new friend stay a little longer? I promise we’ll have lots of fun."

With her voice caught in her throat, Brika struggled to speak. For two seconds, she seemed unable to breathe, but when she looked at Victor, she managed to say:

"Run!"

Victor didn’t hesitate for even a second. He spun around and ran with all his might. Brika didn’t lag behind and fled alongside him, while behind them, the mysterious creature rose to its feet and pursued them at full speed.

Its footsteps were heavy and uneven, as if each of its limbs were a different size. That, combined with the bastard’s deranged laughter, pushed Victor’s nerves to the breaking point. Desperately, he grabbed one of the flashbangs Brika had given him earlier.

’Please let this work on that bastard, too.’

He pulled the safety pin with his teeth and pressed down on the lever.

"Brika!"

She picked up speed and moved ahead of him. With the path now clear, Victor threw the grenade, and just one second later, it exploded in a blinding flash of white light. Immediately afterward, the man’s footsteps fell silent as Victor and Brika continued fleeing toward the less dark area.

Was that other participant still following them? Had he deliberately hidden himself? Neither question mattered as they kept running at full speed.

Minutes later, breathing so hard he could barely catch his breath, Victor collapsed among the boxes in an alley. Beside him, Brika stared silently at the ground, her chest rising and falling with exhaustion.

"What... what the hell was that thing?"

After calming down a little, Brika summoned her System window and pulled a leather water pouch from it. She tossed it to Victor and said:

"I ran into him at the beginning of the first scenario. When I chose my Path and appeared in the forest, he was the first participant I encountered, but he wasn’t friendly at all."

Closing her eyes, she whispered:

"He’s just a sadistic monster who stalked me for the days I spent trying to escape that forest. His Path is the Wendigo’s Lullaby, and he uses it to transform into a monster. He was too powerful for me to face on my own, so he followed me into this scenario."

’A Wendigo...’

The kind of sinister creature that could slip into people’s skin and impersonate them, only to devour them until nothing remained; voice mimics and expert actors from ancient folklore, much like skinwalkers...

"I thought the Penitents of the Mist had killed him because, back then, I didn’t know their weakness. But I guess I was too hopeful that he’d lose to them."

"Another participant..." Victor whispered. "Do you think we can avoid him if we take a different route?"

Brika shook her head.

"I don’t think so. In fact, he should already be nearby, looking for us. The only thing I know is that he won’t kill us quickly, because he enjoys tormenting others."

In that case, Victor carefully considered what he could do. He still didn’t fully understand how powerful that Wendigo was, but at least he had Brika, who could provide him with that information.

On the other hand, he could still kill Penitents of the Mist in the hope of getting good items from the gacha system that might help him defeat that guy. For now, they needed to keep moving away from the area and continue thinking about what they could do.

Victor stood up after drinking some water, ready to take the lead, because the situation called for it.

"I know what we can do. Our Paths make us stronger through the rewards we receive for defeating enemies. So let’s kill more enemies and get stronger. That way, we’ll have a chance."

There was no way Brika hadn’t thought of that herself. However, Victor got goosebumps as a voice echoed through the alley.

"That’s quite interesting. You’re someone worthy of being with the little goblin."

Victor grabbed his weapon, and Brika pointed her flashlight upward, toward the end of the alley. There, clinging to the wall near the rooftops like a spider, was the creature.