Chapter 40

It felt as if time had stopped. It wasn’t just an illusion. Both people were frozen in shock, and even the hordes of zombies had suddenly stopped in their tracks. So, it was natural to feel as if time had stopped. The one who broke this frozen time was the woman who had been stabbed by me.

“Ha, hahaha… Ahahahahaha!”

Suddenly, the woman began to laugh like a mad person. The sight of her laughing maniacally while bleeding profusely from being stabbed was chilling.

“How did you know?”

The woman barely stopped laughing and asked.

“Because the smell of rotting corpses is overwhelming.”

“Ah.”

She nodded her head as if in agreement, then suddenly—

Snap!

Her nails grew long and sharp, lunging at me in an attack. They were not the kind of nails a human could have—so sharp and strong that they could tear flesh and expose bone with just a graze. But I had already anticipated this surprise attack. I dodged the nails by tilting my head to the side.

Instead of continuing her attack, the woman grabbed the blade with her hand and pushed her body backward.

Whoosh.

In an instant, she flew back about ten meters and landed. A clear knife wound was visible on her body, from which blood continuously flowed and dripped. It was a fatal wound that would have caused any human to die from excessive blood loss by now, but she seemed unaffected.

I know why.

Because that woman is also undead.

A vampire, to be precise.

“I thought an easy prey had crawled in after a long time, but it turned out to be a man with a dog-like nose.”

“I’d rather not be complimented by a vile woman…”

I said.

“Ahahahahaha!”

The woman started laughing crazily again. It seemed my sincere words sounded funny to her.

Meanwhile, Camian and Anette, who had finally come to their senses, hurriedly ran behind me.

“…Wh-what on earth is going on?”

Anette still seemed unable to grasp the situation.

“Damn, was she the enemy?”

Camian bit his lip and prepared for battle.

But the thing is.

This woman was not someone the three of us could handle right now.

She was not just any vampire but a high-ranking one.

‘The Human Hunter’ Riel.

That was the identity of this woman.

“It doesn’t matter. Too easy prey is also boring. The most fun is to watch them struggle desperately to live until the end.”

Riel licked the tips of her nails with a strange smile.

“Try if you can.”

I provoked her to the end. I could do so because I knew exactly how things would unfold from here.

“Ahaha, you really are an interesting human.”

She laughed and then crouched low, ready to pounce on her prey again.

If she attacked now, we would be annihilated in no time.

“I’ll savor every last drop of your blood.”

Thump.

The very moment Riel kicked off the ground to shadow us—

Tatatatat!

The sound of a considerable number of people running could be heard.

The noise quickly approached.

“Tsk.”

Riel clicked her tongue as if disappointed. Soon, the group appeared in the square. A group of humans thoroughly armed with military weapons. There seemed to be almost twenty of them.

“Human hunters!”

“There are zombies too!”

“Damn, did the rookies get caught up in this? But it seems we’re not too late.”

They swiftly approached us,

Riel shook her head in annoyance.

“Ah, this is irritating. Well, see you next time. You can’t leave here anyway.”

She flung her body and disappeared through an entrance that had been opened on the other side.

“Grrr!”

The dumbfounded zombies also began to move again, following her through the entrance she had disappeared through.

We were completely out of danger.

But Anette seemed more concerned about the last words Riel had uttered than feeling relieved.

“We can’t leave here anyway… What does that mean?”

“It must be nonsense.”

Camian dismissed it.

He had the attitude that there was no point in worrying about the words of an undead who had been playing dirty tricks.

Meanwhile, the group of humans reached us. Among them, a hairy middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader spoke up.

“Hey, you rookies! It might be confusing, but listen carefully to what I’m about to say. If you want to live even a little longer, that is.”

The hairy middle-aged man introduced himself as Gwen.

Then he began to explain in a stern and powerful voice.

A rather lengthy explanation.

To summarize briefly:

They don’t know who created this place, when, or with what intention.

Judging by the state of the structures, it’s certain they were made a very long time ago.

The most important thing is that this underground space is extremely dangerous.

The residents of this underground space can be divided into three categories:

Humans, undead monsters,

They form groups among themselves and live their lives.

Each group is hostile to all other groups. There is no such thing as a friendly relationship.

The hostility is so extreme that killings happen frequently.

They don’t know when humans started getting involved in this place. But it’s been at least 50 years if the memory of the person who got involved first among the 10th-floor human residents is correct.

They call the newly involved humans ‘rookies.’ They are precious forces. Because the only way to replenish their forces, even if they lose them, is through fallen rookies.

Gwen paused for a moment. He seemed to be thirsty. He opened his water pouch and gulped down his thirst. Even from the explanation so far, Camian and Anette seemed to be in shock.

It would be stranger if they weren’t. Camian seemed to think for a moment and then asked, puzzled.

“Something’s strange. Why do people just wait to get involved? Don’t tell me there’s no exit?”

“There is an exit,”

Anette sighed in relief at Gwen’s words. A glimmer of relief also flashed across Camian ’s face.

But.

“But you can’t leave.”

Gwen uttered it as if pronouncing a death sentence.

“Ah…”

Anette’s face became anxious again.

Camian bit his lip once and asked.

“Why can’t we leave?”

“Because you die. Anyone who leaves will surely die.”

“I can’t believe it. How can you know the life and death of someone who has already left from here?”

“The neck. The severed neck of the person who leaves falls within less than 10 seconds. It’s always been like that. Without exception.”

“That’s impossible…!”

Camian tried to deny it. That would be the natural feeling of a person.

However,

“It’s true. Everyone here has experienced it clearly.”

When even the old man behind Gwen said so, they had no choice but to believe it.

“Damn, this situation…”

Camian , with his head hung low, was lost in despair.

Anette, with her eyes closed, was trembling all over. I felt pity for them and considered telling them the truth, but decided it wasn’t the right time yet. The real quest hadn’t even started.

The Hidden Side of the Holy City [Contact with the Human Group] You have made contact with a group of living humans in a secret underground space. However, they are losing strength day by day and have even had their food source taken away. If things continue like this, only the fate of destruction awaits them. You can make various choices. You can leave them alone help them fight the undead, or fight monsters. There are also other choices. Of course, what you choose is up to you. But your choice will definitely lead to some result.

‘I threw a big fishhook’ I thought as I looked at the quest text that appeared before me. Regardless of what happened before, one of the choices in this text is… …certain death. Because no matter what, you will encounter an enemy in Chapter 2 that you can’t handle.

‘The human hunter is that guy’s henchman.’ The human hunter Riel is not originally a resident of the 10th floor. She’s a resident of the much deeper 13th floor. And the ruler who divides that 13th floor, that ruler is the master Riel serves.

I knew that this master was now up here in the undead base with Riel. Riel’s appearance on the 10th floor was a kind of hint thrown to the players. Of course, because of the constraints of the covenant, that guy can’t attack the humans on the lower floors first. But what if he’s attacked first? He will mercilessly slaughter the humans.

In other words. If you choose to fight the undead, you will certainly die. So it seems like you just need to avoid that choice, but ‘There’s a variable.’ Yes, there’s a variable. Depending on how things have progressed, you might not be able to freely choose.

That’s why I’ve checked all the flows so far. And I waited for the right moment.

“Hey, you rookies! How long are you going to stay out of it? Can’t you come to your senses right now?”

Gwen, who had been sitting silently for a while, shouted with force. Only then did Camian and Anette come to their senses. Although they still seemed to be affected by the shock.

“It’s unfortunate for you, but today is a very important day. It’s the day we must wage a desperate war to reclaim our stolen food source.”

Gwen spoke gravely Not just Gwen, but everyone’s eyes were filled with determination.

“What do you mean? The food source has been stolen?”

Camian asked with a face that couldn’t understand. If you don’t know the situation here, it’s naturally hard to understand. Gwen quickly began to explain.

-There is a unique swamp on the 10th floor where blue moss grows naturally. The residents call it the food source. Because it’s practically the only fresh food.

-There are coincidentally three swamps.

-Each group has been living based on that food source.

-Therefore, the food source was essentially the main battleground of the power struggle. But until now, the food source had never been stolen. Because they had managed to protect it somehow.

However, a few days ago, a big incident occurred. They lost a battle and the undead took away the food source.

“Wait, do the undead also need a food source? Or is it just to finish off the humans?”

Camian asked, frowning.

“Both. Even if they’re undead, they can’t maintain their form without energy. It’s not always possible to hunt human and monster groups, so it’s essential for them too. And they do want to finish off the human group.”

Gwen answered. His words continued.

“Anyway, fortunately, you guys fell down here today. And it seems you can be a force to be used right away. It might be a sign of victory.”

Hope. They seemed to have found clear hope in us. Perhaps more so because we were not just ordinary people, but humans who seemed capable, holding swords and staves.

“Hoo, I understand. I’ll do my best to help in any way I can.”

Camian ’s face was determined as if there was no other way.

“I’ll help with all my strength too.”

Anette also had a determined expression. That left me alone. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. I calmly received their gaze.

Then I opened my mouth.

“May I ask just one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Exactly who are we fighting? The undead or monsters?”

“What a meaningless question. Isn’t it natural to go and reclaim what was taken?”

Gwen clicked his tongue.

‘I knew it.’ I chuckled inwardly. It’s natural psychology to want to reclaim what was taken. So it wouldn’t have been a problem if it had been taken by monsters. But the problem is that it was taken by the undead.

As I said before, if you choose to fight the undead, you will certainly die. And this was exactly the situation I mentioned where you can’t choose freely.

‘The initiative is completely in their hands.’ Even just by numbers, they clearly have the upper hand. Moreover, they are the residents of the underground space who have been hardened by adversity, and we are just rookies who know nothing.

Even that alone meant our words had no chance of being influential. And the most crucial thing is that we can’t leave this place. As long as we can’t leave, our only choice of life is to cling to them and act together.

In other words, we become completely subordinate.

‘But’ I smirked inwardly. If you think differently, it means that our position will change completely if that crucial situation changes.

‘Shall we make a move?’ I felt it was time.

“I understand what you’re saying.”

“Hmm. Well, okay. From now on, you’re with us

“No.” I interrupted Gwen and stood up.

“We’ll just go. We won’t interfere.”

At that statement, not only the others but also Camian and Anette had faces of disbelief.

“Senior, what are you…”

“…What are you suddenly talking about?”

“It’s simple.” I looked at Gwen and answered.

“They’re lying about the most critical part. How can we trust such people?”