STM 8

“Damn it!”

I cursed and held the knife with both hands, and I climbed straight onto the monster’s body. Then I drove the blade down with my full weight.

[Danger. Danger. Evacuate immediately.]

Not yet. I had to widen the gap now, or I would never be able to pierce anything later.

While the monster’s belly heaved beneath me, I pulled the dagger out and struck down again.

This time, it went in.

That meant the switch was here.

“Krrrikkiiik!”

The monster let out a grating shriek, and its whole body twisted.

I clung to its side for a moment before being hurled to the ground.

Ugh, damn it.

Even while rolling, I followed the arrow flashing on my right, and I shifted my body that way.

The movement came by instinct, honed through too many battles.

Right where I had been a second ago, one of the monster’s legs smashed down with a thunderous crash.

I rolled again, and I crawled, but even that wasn’t enough.

[Entering survival mode.]

With the alert, a three-minute countdown appeared on the upper left.

At the same time, my heart beat like it would explode.

Over the pond where the monster had escaped, the air twisted like a vortex.

Then a black portal tore open, and a long leg stepped through.

The pond lay directly beneath, but the figure that followed landed lightly, jumping across the distance in a single bound.

He paused, scanning the surroundings, but soon fixed on the monster’s presence and ran with powerful strides.

Mud-covered boots.

A dust-stained black combat suit.

A massive greatsword in one hand.

Anyone could tell he came to hunt a monster.

But when his eyes found it, his steps stopped instead.

After a moment, the corner of his mouth curved.

“Adeye Lu?”

My breath caught in my throat.

When survival mode activated, it felt like my veins were flooded with stimulants, my mind felt clearer, and my body overflowed with energy.

It meant that I could use every limit of my body.

No matter how clumsy Lu was, if I followed Mo’s path, I could keep up.

Of course, my heart felt ready to explode, and my lungs tore with every gasp.

Bang!

Crack!

A monster’s foreleg smashed into the ground where I had just been.

Beside it, a tree as thick as my head shattered and scattered splinters in every direction.

I had no time to dodge the fragments falling like rain.

To follow the arrow Mo displayed, I needed to twist my body more than ninety degrees.

But I had just fallen, and there was no time to turn properly.

I threw myself to the side instead.

I reached out a hand at the last moment to soften the fall, but the impact against the hard ground was brutal.

“Ugh!”

A groan escaped my mouth.

But I had no time to feel pain.

[Beep, beep, beep.]

A warning tone flashed with red light.

It was the same damned sound I always heard when fighting monsters, but I could never ignore it.

My body moved on reflex.

I rolled sideways like a ball instead of getting up.

Boom!

Another leg hit where I had just lain.

Again, only by a hair.

Huff, huff, huff.

Breath filled my chest to the brim.

I could no longer tell how my body moved.

Anyone watching me would wonder why I rolled and dodged in such awkward directions, but that was the only reason I was still alive.

The problem was that I couldn’t keep this up forever.

Fortunately, as I followed Mo’s guidance, I saw a gap between rocks up ahead.

A solid and heavy formation that could hold the monster off for a moment.

Yes, just until there…

[Variable detected. Adjusting escape route.]

What?

While I sprinted for the rocks, a notice flashed before my eyes, and Mo suddenly shifted the direction of escape leftward.

Huff, huff…what variable?

I wanted to yell.

A broad rock crevice stood right ahead, a spot where I could finally breathe for one second.

And yet it told me to turn back?

I felt frustrated and cheated, but there was no time to argue.

The monster, infuriated by my constant evasion, struggled like a beast gone rabid.

The cloud of dust it raised thickened until I could barely see.

“Damn it…ugh!…I can’t see!”

I had no choice but to rely entirely on Mo.

My body followed the flashing arrows faster than my thoughts could keep up.

But then I regretted it.

A steep slope appeared ahead, as sheer as a cliff.

Damn it, this was where I dragged the monster down earlier.

Surely Mo didn’t mean for me to climb this, right?

The arrow pointed straight at the slope.

“Huff… fuck… huff…”

Curses spilled out without control.

I couldn’t understand what kind of “variable” had made Mo change the route.

But I had survived countless battles thanks to Mo before.

I knew I had no choice but to trust and follow again, but the problem was this body.

If I took one more step here, I would die.

Survival mode was already active, and its time limit would soon run out. That was not the only problem. Once survival mode ended, I would not be able to use Mo for several minutes.

That meant this path had to be my last hope.

12, 11…

The countdown kept dropping. I clenched my teeth and climbed the slope on all fours. Please, before the count reached zero. Even in survival mode, my arms and legs shook uncontrollably.

5, 4, 3…

Just a little more, please. Ugh.

I squeezed out the last bit of strength from my body. Thud. My hands finally reached the end of the slope. My mind could think of nothing but climbing up right now.

Because of that, I did not notice that someone stood above.

2, 1, 0.

“Haaah!”

The moment survival mode ended, my upper body, which had barely reached the flat ground, collapsed. Fuck, I was done.

I could not move even a fingertip.

Something like gravel pressed under my face, but I had no strength to avoid it.

If the monster caught me like this, fine, I would just watch and let it eat.

But even after several harsh breaths, no attack came.

Then I realized that the sound of pursuit was gone.

Why?

I could not lift my head, so I only moved my eyes as far as I could.

Then I froze.

There was a shoe near me. The tip of a leather boot shaped like a soldier’s.

“…Huh?”

The sound escaped me. I forced my head up with what little strength I had.

Someone stood there. And he was tall.

At first, my mind did not work well enough to guess who he was. Then I saw what he held in his hand. A massive sword.

Ah, he came to hunt the monster!

Relief and awe hit at once. I could not even register his face properly. All I felt was the joy of knowing I was saved.

“Mon… monster…”

There. It’s right there, behind.

I barely moving a fingertip to point, like tattling.

“Qui… quick…”

Go quickly. Catch that monster bastard.

I used what strength I had left and mumbled words only I could understand, then took in a long breath.

“Ah, now I can live…”

Or so I thought. The breath that left my lips stopped before it finished.

Because of the face looking down at me.

The sunlight came from behind him, so his features were not clear, but I could tell he was a man in his mid-twenties.

Tanned skin, black hair, and though shadow covered him, eyes that glimmered gold like the sun.

The problem was his mouth.

His thin lips curved slowly as he looked at me. A big smile that could make anyone want to smile back.

But why did it feel wrong?

It was definitely a pleasant smile, yet the air turned cold.

And another question rose at the same time.

Why was he smiling at me?

I tried to lift my upper body to see his face more clearly. I wanted to confirm what I felt, but before I could, something blocked my view. His boot.

And that boot tip moved straight toward me.

Thud!

The kick hit before I even realized it, and pain spread inside my chest.

Swear to God, even when that monster chased me, I rolled on the ground but never once got hit.

Yet this random man I met suddenly kicked me. Hard. And he smiled brightly while doing it.

“Ugh!”

A strangled cry escaped my mouth as my body lifted off the ground.

No joke, I was airborne. And as the flight dragged on too long, I realized something.

Right. Behind me was practically a cliff.

That brief, endless moment of falling filled with rage.

That bastard, is he a monster disguised as a human?!