Chapter 18: The Kingdom of the Black Veil

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: The Kingdom of the Black Veil

’I don’t see the point of making the descriptions so ambiguous. What are they expecting me to understand by reading this thing? That my senses are superior now? Yeah, right. I don’t feel any different.’

Unlike his sense of smell, an ability whose effects he had been able to feel instantly, he couldn’t notice any change from the Born Survivor skill.

Of course, anyone with a brain and a survival instinct would get chills if they had death whispering in their ear, which ruled out the possibility that this was the work of the skill.

However, what Victor couldn’t understand was the purpose of this ability. Just like the stone, could it be something much more mysterious in practice?

’Either way, I don’t think it’ll make a difference. I already have my sense of smell, but I couldn’t detect the scent of whatever was out there. This is going to be dangerous.’

He had thought about it enough. Now he needed to act. Not knowing how safe it would be to remain locked inside this house and without enough supplies, the time to move was approaching before he either starved to death or got killed by a monster.

He got up from the floor and prepared his backpack, or rather, his sleeping bag. He still had what he needed to survive for a few more days.

’Food is running low, I don’t have any weapons that are useful in combat besides this knife, and I have no idea where I’m going. I feel like a hamster trapped in a cage. I could even die in some ridiculous way.’

He closed his eyes, mentally prepared himself, and looked at the door.

But then he remembered what he had felt when that mysterious presence appeared and, with a crooked, nervous smile, said:

"It’s better to wait a little longer."

He wasn’t being a coward, but intelligent. Of course, that was it. It definitely wasn’t the primitive human instinct to be afraid of something he didn’t understand. It wasn’t like the same thing had happened to him with the orc.

It was definitely just intelligence.

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This small house had a bed. Victor rested on it while staring at the ceiling. He had already gone through a couple of candles in the process.

’It looks like someone was living here recently. Everything is tidy, there are more candles in the chest, and I even found some dried meat.’

Could the owner of all this show up? Maybe the owner was the mysterious presence from a few hours ago, wandering around and looking for the keys to get into their home.

Imagining that almost made Victor laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. To be honest, he felt more at ease in this place, but sooner or later, he would have to flee. For now, he was sleepy and wanted to get some rest.

He looked toward the entrance of the house. The chair and the chest were blocking the door. It wouldn’t be enough if a creature with extraordinary strength appeared to attack him, but at least Victor had a false sense of security.

He closed his eyes, praying to wake up alive, and finally fell asleep.

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Running through the shadows, dodging obstacles that didn’t seem to be there, the small creature fled from something with all her strength. Before her eyes was the System window, displaying a name obscured by shadows.

Her skin was light green, she had pointed ears, and several bandages wrapped around her limbs. She wore animal hides and carried two bone knives in both hands.

She looked back at her pursuer through the bandages covering part of her face, revealing a bit of her dark green hair.

The creature chasing her was large, perhaps around two meters tall, and horrifically merged with the mist. Its head was the skull of a cow, while its body was made of ethereal dark fur, deformed with four elongated, crooked, asymmetrical legs that desperately moved to catch her.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance. She reached into the System window and pulled out a fragmentation grenade. She pulled the safety ring and firmly pressed down on the safety lever. For a moment, she looked at the creature before throwing the grenade at it.

The grenade hit the creature square in the face and exploded on impact. Shrapnel shot in every direction, stunning the creature and leaving it several meters behind.

She sighed in relief but quickened her pace through the darkness. Her red eyes glowed faintly, moving in sync with the path she was following. Soon, her System window displayed a notification written in a language of ancient runes.

[You have entered the heart of the scenario.]

[The Kingdom of the Black Veil.]

[The difficulty of survival has increased.]

She was annoyed by this piece of garbage, but she didn’t have time to worry about it. Through her crimson eyes, the silhouettes of several buildings could be seen, medieval houses built from perfectly preserved bricks, as if the kingdom were still functioning under the rule of its creators.

Taking advantage of this, she immediately entered one of the houses and slammed the door shut with all her strength. She used everything inside to barricade the entrance and then collapsed onto her back, exhausted, while the door shook under the force of the monster trying to get inside.

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The next morning, Victor woke up, to his surprise, completely healthy and in one piece. That brought him some morning happiness, but when he realized he was still in the same place, he couldn’t help but feel depressed.

’Seriously... I have no idea how I’m going to get through the next few days in this place.’

He sat up, hoping his gacha system would have good news. There was his Daily Summon, but when he looked at the currency section, which was still sitting at zero, his disappointment became obvious.

’I hope I can find a way to earn currency and, while I’m at it, increase my Luck Value.’

For the time being, he told the gacha to summon. The sphere manifested as usual, and the blue color was confirmation.

Victor smiled.

’I hope it’s something good.’

[Congratulations!]

[You have obtained: Assault Rifle.]

[Rarity: R]

[Part of the "Action Hero" Set 4 / 6]

’A weapon... A weapon!’