Chapter 41: Survive at All Costs

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Survive at All Costs

"It’ll be simple and fun for all of us," the Wendigo said. "All you have to do is follow the clues and find us. Easy, right?"

The rubble shifted. That was answer enough for the monster, who began laughing once again. It was an unpleasant, raspy laugh, with the voice of a deranged man.

Beneath the rubble, Victor opened his eyes. He heard the Wendigo walking away, and along with it, Brika’s scent began to fade into the distance. The last things he heard were a faint whimper from Brika and the monster saying:

"You just have to find us. It’ll be fun, Goggles."

Victor breathed heavily. He raised his hands, pushing away the bricks that had fallen on top of him, and with a scream of pure frustration, he rose from the rubble.

His body had been hardened by the Ironclad Defense skill, while all his attributes had been enhanced by the Against All Odds skill. He was in one piece; he had nothing more than a few bruises and scrapes.

He had managed to survive the attack, but he stood staring into the distance, completely in shock, for he now lay alone in the middle of the darkness.

The silence surrounding him was terrifying, as was the dangerous loneliness that engulfed him. When he tried to take a step forward to save Brika, he suddenly stopped and fell into thought.

’What do I do?’

The Wendigo was far too powerful. Not even the bullets from his assault rifle had been able to inflict fatal wounds on it, and now Brika...

What could he possibly do about it?

He clenched his fist tightly and closed his eyes. Following the blood trails left by both of them, he deduced that the Wendigo was heading toward the same dark place it had led them to before, where the light couldn’t reach.

Once again, that monster was going to hide there, waiting for someone to fall into its trap.

Victor thought he could make his way toward that place and save Brika. However, why was he even thinking about trying to save her? Until a few days ago, they had been nothing more than strangers with a survival pact between them. So what made saving her worth the trouble?

She was weak; he was weak. Together, they had managed to fight their way through the Penitents of the Mist, but the Wendigo was an entirely different matter: a force they couldn’t overcome even together, or so it seemed.

Before his eyes, the System window showed him that the quest he had obtained after completing the Action Hero Set was still active. That meant Brika was still alive, since the quest’s objective was to escape alongside her and prove his worth along the way.

So what would happen if Brika died? Would the quest fail, and would that mean the end of Victor’s life?

No matter how he looked at it, he would die either way, even with Brika by his side, because the Wendigo had proven powerful enough to toy with them.

Still unable to believe what had happened, Victor sat down on the rubble and stared into nothingness. He remained there for several minutes, until the unmistakable whispers of the Penitents of the Mist reached his ears.

He looked toward the rooftops of the houses, which he could barely make out through the overpowering smell of the Wendigo’s blood splattered across the tiles. He could sense those creatures lurking there.

Victor lowered his gaze to the ground and clenched his teeth and fists tightly. This frustration... this anger coursing through every corner of his mind like a flame burning in the middle of that horrifying darkness blazed brightly: his will.

He stood up and picked up his weapon from the ground. Then, he ran toward where Brika’s flashlight had fallen and, using a piece of rope, tied it to the side of his assault rifle. Once everything was ready, he said:

"Come on, you damn freaks! I’m right here!"

With only ten bullets left in his rifle’s magazine, he lit the way with the flashlight. He waited desperately, if that was even possible. When he sensed something behind him, he aimed his weapon and fired.

The first Penitent had fallen.

After that, the other Penitents of the Mist lunged at him like hungry predators. Victor forced them back with the flashlight’s beam while trying not to waste the few bullets he had left.

"I’m still alive, you bastards! Don’t you want to kill me or what?!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. He also glanced at the sky for a moment, toward those possible eyes lurking in the rift, watching the participants of this cursed game.

Victor was declaring that, even if he had been left alone once again, he wasn’t going to give up. He would keep surviving at all costs, because he knew it would piss the gods off.

"You’re weak! You’re pathetic, you damn monsters!"

He fired once more. With a hole in its chest, another Penitent fell, adding 50 coins to Victor’s gacha system balance.

"I rule this place! I’m the strongest!"

He wasn’t. Of course he wasn’t, but he needed to cling to something to keep moving forward. He needed more power, more weapons, and these monsters were going to give him that, even if he didn’t walk away from this fight unscathed.

Finally, he ran out of bullets. His weapon was now nothing more than an empty piece of metal, but even that couldn’t stop him. He pulled out his knife and strapped it to his hand. Then, he put on his aviator goggles and threw himself into battle.

’They’re fragile. They’re weak. I’m stronger!’

With that same determination, he made a decision.

’You’re not going to kill me! You’re not going to kill Brika!’

If she died, that would be the end of him, so his decision was already clear.

However, as the coins in his System balance continued to increase and an error message appeared regarding a Summon he had been unable to perform earlier because of the Wendigo, the System window displayed:

[Some gods have begun to take an interest in you.]

[The god "Fisher of Opportunities" is excited to see how your battle unfolds.]

[The god "Serpent That Bites Its Own Tail" wishes for you to spill more blood.]

[A nameless god watches you in silence.]