Chapter 52: Until My Body Gives Out

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Until My Body Gives Out

"Don’t play dumb. Come out of there," the woman said.

Victor hadn’t even seen her, but he could already tell things were looking pretty bad. It had been a long time since he’d interacted with another participant, and the first thing this person told him was that she was going to kill him.

Sure, sure. This game was all about killing or being killed. He’d already learned that the hard way after what happened with that bastard Ayax, although part of the blame fell on Victor for trusting that nothing bad would happen when it was obvious that plenty of bad things were already happening.

That had been stupid of him, and he clearly didn’t want to make the same mistake again.

’You want me to hand over my items? Tell me a better joke.’

Gripping his sword’s hilt tightly, Victor hesitated over whether he should confront this mysterious, flower-scented woman. Her scent was delicious, better than anything he’d ever smelled before, but there was a faint smell of blood accompanying it.

Obviously, she was an assassin.

[The god "Serpent That Bites Its Own Tail" excitedly lashes its tail.]

[The god "Fisher of Opportunities" wants you to fish for opportunities.]

’You idiots, why don’t you shut up and let me think?!’

There were two options at that moment. Victor focused, furrowing his brow as he looked toward the alleys, intending to escape. Then he glanced at the corner of the wall and considered going out to fight.

However, memories of his crushing defeat against the Wendigo haunted him like warning flashes demanding his attention.

’I can’t afford to take risks against other participants right now.’

Fighting dumb monsters was one thing, but fighting other people who might be smarter than him was downright stupid.

"Not coming out? Then I’ll come get you," the woman said, sounding somewhat irritated.

Victor had to make a decision right then and there.

"There’s only one thing I can do," he whispered.

[The god "Serpent That Bites Its Own Tail" excitedly and expectantly strikes everything with its tail.]

’I’m getting the hell out of here!’ Victor told himself before sprinting toward the alleys with all his might.

[The god "Serpent That Bites Its Own Tail" stares into nothingness, completely dumbfounded.]

[A nameless god chuckles.]

At the same time, the mysterious woman leaned into the alley, but all she could see was Victor’s shadow disappearing into the distance. She was so stunned that she could only mutter:

"He left..."

Then she shouted:

"Kids these days have no respect for their elders!"

Meanwhile, Victor tried to make use of the momentum granted by his Gale Mantle. He could now experience firsthand what it meant to be truly superhuman, which filled him with a strange sense of pride.

However, he couldn’t afford to stand around admiring himself. He glanced over his shoulder and spotted the whip-wielding woman in the distance, catching her scent as well.

’Damn it! Why can’t they leave me alone for even a few days?!’

The moment had come. As he raced through the alleys, Victor focused and unleashed the Gale Mantle’s explosive burst of speed.

With a straight leap forward, as light as a breeze, he covered several meters in the blink of an eye. However, his boots slipped against the ground, and he nearly fell once again. He managed to regain his balance a moment later without slowing down.

’This thing is so damn hard to use.’

[The god "Serpent That Bites Its Own Tail" is disappointed by your cowardice.]

’It’s not cowardice! It’s survival!’

"You’re not going anywhere, brat!" the woman shouted from behind.

Victor shuddered when he heard her yell. Despite her pretty adult voice, her raspy shouts were terrifying.

’For fuck’s sake! I barely get out of one mess, and I’m already caught up in another.’

Perhaps it was time to push the Gale Mantle’s power to its limit. How many times could he leap in a row if he really tried? It was time to find out, so he allowed the Against All Odds skill to activate.

If this skill could enhance every aspect of his body, then he could become an unstoppable bolt of lightning in the darkness. Before long, his speed began to increase.

’My body will wear out faster this way, but if I can lose her or make her run into another participant, she’ll surely leave me alone.’

Victor had no idea whether the Wendigo would let Brika live much longer, but assuming its sadism wouldn’t allow it to kill her just yet, he still had some time before the monster lost its patience.

He needed to get stronger, and this crazy woman was wasting his time. That’s why he had to use every resource at his disposal until his body gave out.

△▽△▽△▽△▽△▽△▽△▽△▽

Where the corpses of other participants lay scattered across the pitch-black ground, Brika lay bound to the floor inside one of the nearby houses. She looked as though she were trapped inside a cocoon, with hair keeping her prisoner and covering her entire body except for her head.

She stared into nothingness with vacant eyes, dried tears streaking her face.

Suddenly, the house door opened. A young man with purple skin appeared, holding a gleaming blue cybernetic sword. He was dressed like a bandit and had a robotic prosthetic in place of one arm. One of his eyes glowed faintly.

"Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here. My teammates are taking care of the—" the young man said, but he couldn’t finish.

The claws that pierced through him tore open his chest, and behind him, the Wendigo’s eyes met Brika’s.

"They didn’t take care of anything, little robot. I was the one who took care of them."

The cybernetic young man looked down at his chest. A moment later, he fell to the floor, dead. His bright blue blood spilled across the wooden floor as Brika watched, as though she no longer cared about anything.

The Wendigo let out a macabre, psychotic laugh beside the corpse. Then it approached Brika and gently stroked her cheek with one of its sharp claws.

"Quite a few new friends have shown up since the Morning Star began. Aren’t you happy? We have plenty of entertainment to keep us busy until Goggles comes to play with us."

But Brika said nothing, nor did she even look at it. She didn’t move and was barely breathing.

The Wendigo sighed.

"You look bored, my little goblin. Should we play with your mind again?"