bookpower Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Chapter 111: The Great Terror in the Dark
"……"
Guo Shuai stared at the scene, unable to stop his mind from flashing back to a few days ago.
The moment Yang Wei was bisected at the waist.
That suffocating helplessness of watching a companion die right before his eyes.
While he could do nothing at all.
It left him frozen in place.
"Daddy! Stop spacing out!!"
Just then, Quanquan yanked hard on Guo Shuai's hand.
"There are a bunch more monsters coming from below! Run!!"
That tug jolted Guo Shuai back to his senses.
"Run! Don't stay on the rooftop anymore! It's a dead end!!"
Guo Shuai spun around and bellowed at the group.
Then he activated Danger Perception!
"Follow me! Don't fall behind, not even for a second!!"
Everyone nodded at once and scrambled after Guo Shuai, fleeing the rooftop.
They sprinted through the narrow, dimly lit 19th floor.
As Guo Shuai led the way, he called out loudly, asking everyone about their role assignments.
"The marks on your wrists—what roles did everyone get?!"
He glanced down at his own wrist.
At the 【Villager】 mark branded there.
Inside, a stampede of ten thousand alpacas thundered through his mind.
‘What the hell?!’
‘Why was I a Villager at the card table—'
‘And now I'm still a Villager in this life-or-death battle royale?!’
And on top of that, the 【Villager Mark】 came with a debuff!
He clearly had a Grade B physique, yet right now every step felt like running through wet concrete!
‘Like I've taken off and landed ten times over!’
Ye Yilin was right behind him, keeping close. She might have looked like a delicate twin-tailed schoolgirl on any other day, but she was actually a top-performing police academy graduate, with a physical condition that put some active desk officers to shame.
"I got 【Seer】!!"
Ye Yilin panted between breaths, shouting with the energy of someone about to cry.
"But... but it doesn't seem to do anything useful!"
"The mark says I can verify one person's identity..."
"But in a situation like this, with monsters just charging straight at us with knives, what the hell is verifying identities going to accomplish?!"
Shi Zhongshan caught up quickly, clutching 2 small glass vials in his hand.
"I got 【Witch】! When the Werewolf game kicked off, these 2 vials just appeared in my hands!"
"One purple one is 【Poison】, one green one is 【Healing】! Both single-use!"
Liu Rui and the 1 remaining prison guard raised their wrists with ashen faces.
"Guo-bro, we're both... 【Villagers】."
Guo Shuai heard it all and felt a splitting headache coming on.
‘What kind of hell-mode starting lineup is this?!’
‘There isn't even a single【Hunter】in the whole group!!’
Because the only roles that got a 10-times physical amplification were the Hunter and the Werewolf.
Villagers didn't just miss out on the boost—they got nerfed on top of it.
‘This is truly rock-bottom luck.’
"Daddy~"
Quanquan, tucked under Guo Shuai's arm, suddenly spoke up.
"Don't worry~ I'm still here!"
It stretched out its chubby little hand and waved it proudly.
And there on its wrist was a mark shaped like 2 crossed rifles.
It had clearly drawn 【Hunter】.
Before Guo Shuai could even leap for joy—
Albert, the bargain-bin grandfather residing inside the Eye of Calamity, suddenly hollered.
"Nice!! Kid, you've struck gold this time!!"
"The Divine Fetus's base combat power, multiplied by 10?!"
"Hiss... even back in the divine realm, this Divine One never dared imagine a stat-stacking combination this absurd!!"
Hearing that, Guo Shuai couldn't bring himself to feel happy at all.
He groaned inwardly.
‘Old man, what are you celebrating for?’
‘The problem is Quanquan is still in infant mode—it has zero combat ability right now!’
‘1 times 10... is still just a measly 10, isn't it?!’
Albert let out a cold laugh.
"Hmph! The limits of a mortal's mind!"
"What do you know?!"
"Even in its infant stage, the Divine Fetus possesses powerful self-preservation instincts!"
"True, it was only just born, and it's still in its dormancy period..."
"But when it truly faces a genuine threat to its life, and that one sliver of primal instinct awakens..."
"Kid, you had better make sure you don't wet yourself."
"What do you mean? Spell it out! Stop talking in riddles!"
Guo Shuai pressed frantically inside his mind.
But the very instant he finished that thought—
Guo Shuai's Danger Perception suddenly triggered!!
He snapped his head up.
A deep crimson point of light was phasing straight through the floor's walls, cutting a direct line toward them!
Then—
Boom!!
A thunderous impact.
Followed by the screech of a chainsaw revving to life.
The load-bearing wall not far behind Guo Shuai and the others was smashed wide open from the inside!
A cloud of shattered brick and cement dust billowed outward.
Through the haze, a gaunt, withered old figure stepped out of the hole, grinning with a vicious leer.
It was the S-Grade Cursed Chief of Orthopedics!
And clutched in its hand—fingers wrapped tight around a throat—
Was Xiao Xia, the prison guard who had been running at the very back of the group!
"Xiao Xia!!"
"Let go of Xiao Xia!! You monster!!"
Shi Zhongshan's eyes went bloodshot. Without a moment's hesitation, he hurled the 【Poison】 vial straight at the Chief of Orthopedics' face!
But against absolute superiority in level and speed, every act of resistance was futile.
The Chief of Orthopedics didn't even glance at the incoming vial.
It simply gave the chainsaw in its hand a casual pull.
Bzzzt!!
In under a second.
A blur of motion flashed past.
"Ugh..."
Xiao Xia didn't even have time to scream.
His young body, in full view of everyone present, was instantly reduced to Gundam Parts!
Splat!
Szzz... szzz...
Only then did the poison vial Shi Zhongshan had thrown shatter against the Chief of Orthopedics, bursting into a cloud of violet toxic mist.
"Aaaargh!!"
Even as an S-Grade Cursed entity, the Chief of Orthopedics still reacted to the 【Poison】 from the Werewolf game rules.
It let out a shriek, large patches of scorched black blooming across its body as the toxin ate into it.
To avoid being poisoned to death, it dissolved into black smoke and temporarily retreated.
But...
Xiao Xia was already a pile of parts scattered across the floor. There was no hope of saving him anymore.
Bang!!
Shi Zhongshan drove his fist into the wall.
"I should have been the one walking last..."
"I should have been the one bringing up the rear!!"
Ye Yilin and Liu Rui, eyes red, stepped forward and placed their hands on his shoulders.
"Shi-bro, our condolences..."
"At least... Xiao Xia didn't suffer, because..."
"Because it was over too fast..."
By now, Guo Shuai had already quietly drawn the Pig-Slaughtering Knife from his waistband.
The one Teacher Fujino had given him.
His absolute last resort, not to be used unless there was no other choice.
He stepped in front of Shi Zhongshan.
"Let's stop here and rest for a bit. Recover our strength."
Guo Shuai's Eye of Calamity burned brightly in the dark.
"That old ghost took a direct hit from the poison. It's badly wounded—it won't be coming back anytime soon."
"And besides..."
"Since its aura still lingers here, this space effectively counts as its claimed territory."
"The other monsters won't dare barge in recklessly."
"Holding position here is far safer than running blind."
Everyone heard him out and agreed that it made sense, nodding in unison.
But just as everyone had barely begun to loosen the tension coiled in their nerves—
Tap...
Tap...
2 sets of quiet footsteps drifted out of the darkness.
"Desperado-sis?!"
Ye Yilin caught the sound and immediately looked ahead.
"It has to be Desperado-sis! She and Guan Ming finally came to find us!"
Guo Shuai frowned as well.
The footfalls were clearly those of normal humans—nothing like the dragging, lurching gait of those dismembered Cursed entities.
More importantly, his 【Danger Perception】 radar wasn't flashing a single red alert.
Guo Shuai let out a long breath, and the grip on his knife handle eased slightly.
‘Thank goodness. At least we're not fighting alone anymore...’
But in the very next moment—
As the 2 silhouettes emerged from the thick fog curling around the stairwell corner—
The smiles on both Guo Shuai's and Ye Yilin's faces froze solid.
It wasn't the Silk-Stocking Desperado in her windbreaker...
It was 2 men radiating killing intent!
"Hey, friend."
The man in front flicked a dagger between his fingers with practiced ease.
He looked down at Guo Shuai and the others seated on the steps, a cold smirk spreading across his face.
"Mind doing me a favor and letting me know..."
"What floor is this?"
The one who had arrived was none other than Chen Daozi!
And trailing behind him, dark glasses back in place, was Cao Hua!
……
Seattle Mercy Hospital, 8th floor.
Huff... huff...
In a dim, narrow corridor—
2 figures were running at full tilt!
Silk-Stocking Desperado up front.
Guan Ming gritting his teeth right behind her!
And at their backs...
A dense, swarming army of Supervisors!
Cleavers swinging, they gave relentless chase—a hunt with no intention of stopping short of death!
"What is even happening right now?!!"
Guan Ming sprinted while crying out in despair.
"Weren't we supposed to be going to the casino on the 10th floor?!"
"Why did the door open and we somehow ended up on this monster-infested 8th floor?!"
"Hehehe~"
Silk-Stocking Desperado, running ahead of him, turned around with the casual air of someone on a stroll.
Still running—backwards—she spread her hands in a shrug.
"You're asking me? I have no idea either~ little brother."
"But still..."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Since we were forcibly teleported here, and were ambushed at this scale the moment we arrived..."
"This doesn't look like the work of those lunatics from the Arashin-kai."
"Which means..."
"The only explanation is that it's a trick pulled by the Director's Faction."
"I don't know what exactly they're trying to accomplish by splitting us up, but..."
"Our top priority right now is to get back upstairs and regroup with the others!"
"Hah?!"
At those words, Guan Ming nearly burst out laughing from sheer exasperation, his lungs ready to explode.
"Are you messing with me?!"
"Regroup?!"
"We're currently being chased around like dogs with our tails between our legs by over a hundred monsters!!"
"At a moment like this, when our eyebrows are literally on fire..."
"Could you maybe dial back the attitude just a little?!!"
Faced with Guan Ming's meltdown of a tirade, Silk-Stocking Desperado remained utterly at ease.
"Relax a little, little brother."
"Look at the mark on your wrist—you drew 【Seer】, didn't you?"
"Sure, that role isn't much use right now, but your 【Premonition Dream】 is a different story~"
"Use that brain of yours. Think of something. Can't you get us out of this?"
"But..."
Guan Ming broke into a cold sweat.
"My Premonition Dream..."
"I have to close my eyes to activate it!!"
"Wait..."
Guan Ming stopped mid-sentence as a flash of insight struck him.
‘Close my eyes...?’
He suddenly got it!
Guan Ming slammed on the brakes and came to a dead stop right in the middle of the corridor!
Not only did he stop moving—he actually closed his eyes!
It was no different from surrendering, handing his back to death itself!
Silk-Stocking Desperado, seeing this, didn't panic in the slightest. She halted as well and gave a single nod.
Because—
Guan Ming had finally remembered the rule that only a true gambler would have kept in mind!
The Supervisors' fatal limitation!
When you shut your eyes and completely cut off your own vision...
Those Supervisors, who rely on shared fields of sight...
Would, in that same instant, lose all visual lock and target tracking on you!!
And indeed!
The moment Guan Ming closed his eyes—
That pack of Supervisors that had been charging at them like rabid hounds all screeched to a halt!
Their countless eyeballs rolled around in bewilderment.
As though the prey they had been furiously chasing had simply evaporated from the face of the world.
After a brief spell of aimless wandering and fruitless sniffing—
The brainless creatures turned as one and headed down the corridor in the opposite direction, off to hunt for some other poor soul.
The crisis was resolved, just like that.
And right at that moment—
Guan Ming, who had been keeping his eyes shut, suddenly snapped them back open!
His forehead was drenched in cold sweat.
"Run!! NOW!!"
"There's something terrifying coming!!"
Guan Ming didn't stop to explain a single thing.
He grabbed Silk-Stocking Desperado's wrist and hauled her into a dead sprint down a side passage!
The sudden yank nearly sent Silk-Stocking Desperado stumbling forward. She steadied herself and fell into step with him, glancing back over her shoulder in puzzlement.
Back toward the corridor they had just fled.
"Hm? Something terrifying?"
Deep in the shadows at the corridor's far end—
The fluorescent bulbs that had likely been broken for ages...
Had begun to flicker violently, flashing in and out.
Zzt...
Zzt...
And beneath that stuttering light, a figure had appeared at some point without anyone noticing.
It was an electrician in a blue-grey work uniform.
Its face had decomposed to a grotesque degree—white bone was plainly visible through the rotting flesh.
It still held an insulated wrench in one hand.
Obviously, it was a ghost that had been lurking on the 8th floor.
And at this moment, those hollow, vacant eye sockets were locked directly onto the 2 of them fleeing down the hall.
"Tch..."
Silk-Stocking Desperado took in the sight and curled her lip.
"Little brother, this is the 'terrifying thing' you saw in your Premonition Dream?"
"It's just a ghost, B-Grade at the absolute most. It doesn't look nearly as dramatic as you made it sound."
Guan Ming's whole body was trembling. He shook his head.
"No..."
"What I'm talking about... isn't it!!"
"It's..."
"It's what I saw in the Premonition Dream..."
"The thing that, 3 seconds from now..."
"Mercilessly kills it!!"
"What?!"
Silk-Stocking Desperado froze.
She wrenched her head back around for another look—
And in that instant, her eyes went wide with shock!!
Because—
The flickering in the corridor lights had suddenly sped up tenfold!
The flashes were almost continuous, strobe-like.
And the Electrician Ghost that had been primed to hunt them just moments ago...
Had an expression on its face that could only be called despair!!
It wasn't trying to terrify anyone...
It was the one that had been terrified!
Because in that very moment—
A claw erupted from behind it and punched clean through its chest!!
Splurt!
Black blood splattered across the floor.
And behind the Electrician Ghost—
In the darkness—
A pair of crimson pupils blazed to life beneath the strobing light!!
Even in that single fleeting second of eye contact—
One look at those eyes alone was enough to make a person's soul quake!
The gaze of an absolute superior looking down upon an ant!
Click.
The next second, every light in the corridor went out completely.
Plunging everything into darkness.
The Electrician Ghost's corpse—
Was dragged without mercy into the black by whatever lurked behind it...
The scene went dark.
No ghost alive knew what its final fate would be.
If any curious soul—human or ghost—wished to find out...
Perhaps the only way would be to step into that dim light themselves...
And witness that landscape of despair firsthand.