Chapter 40: Just a Game

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Just a Game

Was it a quest? Yes, it was, but it made no sense for it to appear at that exact moment. In fact, it made no sense for it to activate right after he had completed the Action Hero Set. Or did it?

Victor couldn’t understand any of it because he was completely ignorant when it came to the very Path he had chosen for his own survival! Damn the day the System’s supposed sponsor refused to reveal its secrets.

On the other hand, what Victor did know was that he would do whatever it took to survive. And seeing as the penalty for failing the quest was death, he raised his rifle and aimed it at the Wendigo’s face.

"Die!"

He fired at point-blank range, the gunshots echoing as flashes of light illuminated the darkness like fireflies in the streets of the Kingdom of the Black Veil.

The Wendigo recoiled, not because the bullets were hurting it—after all, it turned out that its durability was just as monstrous as the creature itself—but because the impacts forced it to cover its face with an arm as it staggered backward.

Victor didn’t stop. He fired twenty rounds in five seconds, shooting mercilessly with a genuine intent to kill. When the last casings fell, Victor noticed no significant change, as the Wendigo was still holding him up with one hand.

There, beneath the Wendigo’s mocking laughter as it ridiculed his pathetic attempt to survive, he realized that nothing he had could hurt that monster.

But against all odds, Victor didn’t give up. He removed the magazine from his rifle and inserted the last spare one he had. Just as he was about to fire, he screamed with all his might, as if some part of him truly believed that shouting would make the bullets hit harder.

That, however, was the most important detail.

At the same time that Brika trembled, searching for a place to shoot because Victor was blocking her line of fire, Victor himself experienced a strange "awakening" of power.

His muscles swelled slightly, his eyes sharpened like a predator’s, and all his senses went into overdrive. At the same time, the bullets managed to pierce the Wendigo’s ethereal fur, and its laughter died the instant its blood splattered across the ground.

The Wendigo released Victor and retreated. It vanished among the shadows of the rooftops and sighed.

’Finally... I can smell blood...’ Victor thought.

While fleeing from the Wendigo, he had barely noticed that something was strange about the beast. If it had emitted any kind of scent, he would have been able to detect it and avoid it from the beginning. But that hadn’t been possible until its blood appeared.

Victor got up from the ground and, with half a magazine still remaining, followed the blood trail using his sense of smell.

"Wow... blood!" the Wendigo said with genuine amazement, its voice echoing in every direction. "Is this my blood? How long has it been since I last bled?"

Nervous to the core, Victor rejoined Brika and, keeping his attention on the Wendigo, said to her:

"The flashbang. We need to use it."

Looking at her hands, Brika squeezed her eyes shut. A second later, she looked at Victor’s back, determination etched across her face.

"Give me the signal," she replied.

Victor nodded.

"Wait a little."

Then the Wendigo’s laughter chilled both Initiates to the bone once again.

"It’s my blood! It is! Amazing! Absolutely incredible!"

A brief movement: something leaped from rooftop to rooftop. Standing back-to-back, Victor and Brika scanned their surroundings for the beast. The blood trail was spreading throughout the area, and that bothered Victor.

’Damn it. That bastard is doing this on purpose. Maybe he’s already figured out that one of my abilities is my sense of smell.’

Or perhaps he’d known long before they had met just a few minutes ago. Given the kind of bastard he was, Victor thought that was entirely possible, too. And as Brika had said, he was nothing more than a sadistic lunatic who wanted to torment them.

’He has the power to kill us, yet he still doesn’t do it,’ Victor thought, gripping his rifle tightly. It was frustrating. ’Just like those gods. This monster...’

To the Wendigo, it was just a game.

"You’re amazing, Goggles! You’re strong!"

"Brika, get ready," Victor muttered. He aimed his rifle, trying to locate the source of all the blood surrounding them. Then he heard the roof tiles of one of the houses creak. He aimed in that direction and fired once.

A long silence followed, but that silence felt more like a death sentence than the relief Victor had been hoping for.

The next moment, the Wendigo spoke right into Victor’s ear.

"I’m right here."

With astonishing reflexes, Victor threw himself to the ground and shouted:

"Brika!"

She threw the grenade. Victor closed his eyes, and the grenade exploded in a blinding flash. The area turned white for a brief instant, and with his eyes shut, relying on his sense of smell, Victor got up from the ground and grabbed Brika’s hand, forcing her to run alongside him.

Surviving at all costs was necessary, but they hadn’t imagined that the same trick wouldn’t work twice against a Wendigo like that.

When he opened his eyes after the explosion, Victor thought they had bought themselves a few more minutes. But shortly afterward, something grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into a wall. Bricks rained down on Victor. She tried to get away, leaving him behind, but the Wendigo seized her by the neck and lifted her as if she were a filthy rag.

"Reunited once again, little goblin," the Wendigo said.

Brika was choking. She kicked and struck with all her strength, but it was useless.

The Wendigo looked toward the rubble.

"Goggles... Let’s play a little game of hide-and-seek."