Chapter 32: Things Have Changed

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Things Have Changed

"Brika!" Victor called out. It was the first time he had used the goblin’s name, immediately catching her attention. "I need to ask you something very important."

Brika didn’t respond. She turned her gaze back to the road and continued crossing intersections. So, was that a yes or a no? Victor didn’t care! He asked anyway.

"Do you know what flashbangs are?"

After his question, the specters’ screams and roars filled the air again. This time, they were coming from ahead. Brika stopped, clicked her tongue in annoyance, and took another route.

Victor had no choice but to follow her, since she was the only one who could see in the darkness.

For a few moments, with the monsters still on their heels, Brika breathed heavily before answering.

"I know them."

"Excellent!"

There couldn’t have been better news. Things were beginning to change right then and there. Victor tightened his grip on the second grenade in his hand and glanced over his shoulder.

Then, repeating the same process, he threw the grenade. The explosion was followed by more screams that hurt both survivors’ ears.

"Can you get your hands on some flashbangs?! Just one will be enough!"

Puzzled by the question, Brika nodded.

"But they’re very expensive, and I’m almost out of points."

’Expensive? So her System works by letting her exchange points from who knows where for items. It’s different from the gacha system. In fact, it’s better than my system!’

This wasn’t the time to get frustrated. Perhaps this was precisely why Brika had revealed part of what her System could do, since there was a hint of suspicion in her tired gaze as she watched Victor’s actions.

Victor shook his head, clearing away unnecessary thoughts and focusing on his plan, which was already beginning to take shape in his mind.

"It doesn’t matter if they’re expensive. Exchange your points for at least one, and you’ll see what I mean."

Brika wasn’t sure about this, but she opened her System window and pulled out a cylindrical grenade. Then she handed it to Victor.

"I hope you know what you’re doing, Mr. Hope."

Victor smiled as he pulled the grenade’s safety pin.

’This is our chance.’

The next moment, he threw the grenade toward the area where the mist and scents were most distorted. Before it exploded, he closed his eyes and said:

"Brika, close your eyes!"

The grenade exploded. To their surprise, the entire area was illuminated by its blinding light, revealing the medieval cityscape Victor had suspected was there from the very beginning.

The eight sinister figures were exposed by the light. Their faces were human skulls, with faint white flames flickering from their eye sockets, while the rest of their previously translucent bodies became completely visible under the light.

They screamed in pain as their fragile bodies burned under the flashbang’s light. Desperate and consumed by agony, the specters fled back into the darkness until they became one with it.

Seconds later, when the flashbang’s light faded, Victor opened his eyes expectantly, leaning against the wall of one of the houses. Beside him, Brika, who had been covering her eyes with both hands, looked toward the darkness.

All that remained after the chase was silence—a beautiful, lonely silence.

"Damn. Those things really do stink," Victor said, dropping to his knees.

He could no longer detect any movement nearby through his sense of smell, but that wasn’t because his ability had stopped working properly. The truth was that there were no enemies near them anymore. The specters had fled with their tails between their legs.

Lying back on the ground, exhausted, Victor let out a small laugh.

"I’ve been wondering about this for a while. If they could pass through walls, why didn’t they attack me when I first arrived in this scenario? The answer was right in front of me, and I didn’t realize it until now."

He had also been wondering why this scenario seemed impossible. Now everything made sense. It was simpler than anyone could have imagined.

"Light. The weakness of those things is light."

Brika remained silent, which was nothing new for her. And since Victor couldn’t see her, it was difficult to tell what she was thinking.

"That’s what it was this whole time. When I lit the torch after arriving in this scenario, when I used the candles in that little house, or when I burned firewood in the kitchen to heat water. And then, earlier, in that upstairs room..."

Things had finally changed.

"I told you, Brika. I told you I would do it, that I’d find a way to kill those bastards and survive this scenario."

His chest felt ready to burst with happiness at seeing his plan work. Of course, he knew this was only the beginning, but for now, he preferred to celebrate his temporary victory by lying on the ground.

"We’ll survive, Brika. We’ll get out of this place."

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Once they had calmed down a little, they made their way into one of the houses on the outskirts, since there could still be specters lurking nearby. Victor made sure to choose a single-story house with only one room, because he needed the entire place to be illuminated.

He lit the firewood in the kitchen and sat on the bed. Sitting on the chair in front of the small table beside it, Brika looked at him with a frown.

"Stop smiling like an idiot. It’s uncomfortable."

"I’m just really happy. I’ve finally figured out how to move forward. Shouldn’t you be happy too? Now that we know those bastards’ weakness, we can fight back."

"Do you even hear yourself? You may have discovered those creatures’ weakness, but how to kill them is still a mystery. Not even a weapon..."

"I think I know how to kill them," Victor said, interrupting Brika.

"And how would that be?"

"Just think about it this way. For something to produce a scent, it has to be physical. And if something is physical, we can fill it with lead. Apply that logic to those monsters. If light makes them tangible, that means we can shoot them."