章 11: Chapter:11
The group of five people walked into a huge tunnel illuminated with yellow lights.
When Han Ji walked toward it, he saw a signboard hanging at the entrance.
'THE HUB'
Han Ji read, and can't help but raise his eyebrow at what he just read.
"The hub..?"
Han Ji said looking at Leo.
Han Ji doesn't remember reading about The Hub in any book.
"Yes, 'The hub' connects all the levels, like a pipeline that connects all the taps in the city."
Leo replied.
"By the way what was with that reaction?'ThE HuB?"
DRC commented while raising an eyebrow.
Han Ji's cheeks turned red when he realised where was this guy trying to get.
"What? Oh, wait it's nothing like that!" Han Ji said while waving his hands in front of his chest.
"Pfft!"
"Hahaha!"
"Hehaha!"
Bella, DRC, and Leo laughed out loud
While Han Ji just stared at his feet in embarrassment.
'God d*mn it! Need to change the topic real quick.'
"Ugh...um.. which Stage are we raiding, by the way?"
"Wait we didn't tell you?"Leo asked
Han Ji shook his head.
"Well it will be Stage-2," Leo asked again.
"Oh..stage-2."
As their conversation ended there, they stood in front of a metallic door that had,2 written over it.
"Here we are.."
Leo said and Chad pulled the handle revealing a corridor made out of dark concrete walls, and huge pipes the lighting here was pretty good, he could hear sounds of water flowing through the pipes.
Han Ji gulped and remembered the details of the Stage.
[Stage-2 a.k.a 'Nightmarish Pipelines.'
Stage Hazard Ratings: 2 Stars
Safety Status: Negative
Security Status: Affirmative
Quiddity Count: Low]
They all stepped into the room slowly and attached silencers to their guns.
There are mainly, 6 different rankings in Stages, that are determined by stars.
Stages with SHR: --, are the easiest to explore.
Safety Status: Affirmative
Security Status: Affirmative
Quiddity Count: None.
Stages with SHR:5 Stars are the worst and most dangerous.
Safety Status: Negative
Security Status: Negative
Quiddity Count: Permeated.
Even though as compared to a 5-star ranking stage, A 2-star ranking stage may sound like nothing, in reality, this is more than enough to take out a newbie.
There are a lot of dangerous Quiddities in here like, Smilers, Skin-stealers, Facelesses and even more.
The door was closed by Chad.
As they all moved into the room holding their weapons all proud.
There wasn't even a pinch of fear and hesitation in their body language.
After all these guys were Veterans.
DRC walked in the front holding a silenced Glock-40 pistol.
Desh Raj 'DRC' Condil.
The most athletic man on the squad, he can run around at the speed of 18 km/h.
Aside from that due to strong lower body muscles, has strong kicks.
Strength: +B
Precision: A
Speed: S
Intellect: A
CLICK.
Next to him was Bella who in an instance bolted the rifle.
Isabella 'Bella' Cardinale.
The team is an expert with rifles and has the best aim in the squad.
Lacks physical prowess but is intelligent and has good speed with that small body.
Strength: +C
Precision: +S
Speed: +B
Intellect: A
Behind the squad, Chad smoothly pulled out his machete and held his silenced pistol in his left hand.
Yuri 'Chad' Makarov.
The strongest guy on the squad, strength, speed, intellect perfect in all classes.
Perfect fitted for his nickname could've been the perfect leader, but doesn't talk at all for some reason.
Strength:S
Precision:A
Speed:+A
Intellect:A
cluck-chick
Leo pumped his silenced shotgun and placed the stock on his shoulder.
Leonard 'Leo' Cohen.
The Leader of the squad, no matter what always keeps his head cool, and thinks two steps ahead before making every decision, Kind and caring.
Strength:A
Precision:A
Speed:+A
Intellect:S
and at the centre, was Han Ji, he gulped hard, left out a huge breath and looked left and right.
Sung Han Ji.
Newbie, barely any experience but a quick learner, has gained some running speed and improved his aim.
Strength:+C
Precision:+B
Speed:A
Intellect: +B
Leo raised his hand, crossed his fingers and rotated his hand.
The hand sign meant 'Ready?'
Han Ji remembers his training with Leo.
'Every sound made by you can be critical and risk your's and your comrade's lives, that's why it's important to use hand signs for communication,'
Everybody raised their thumbs, except for Han Ji who hesitated.
Even though Han Ji has trained and gained more knowledge and polished his skills and his friends are with him here, his nervousness was natural, He almost got killed just trying to find the safe base on Stage 1
Which was a stage with SHR: 1 Star
And Now he was in Stage 2 with twice the danger.
The 'Fear' is a natural survival instinct that gets triggered under certain conditions that we have evolved throughout the millenniums, and one's body might develop more conditions like this, through personal experiences.
These conditions have a special word for them in the world of psychology, the word is 'Phobia'
And the near-death experience with the Skin stealer was more than enough for him to develop a Phobia of these hallways.
But any fear could be overcome with another emotion, which is 'Desire.'
Desires can make one person do anything,
A person who desires money would not mind killing a person or two.
With a deep desire for love, people can change their whole life body and personality so the person who they love, will love them back.
Desire can allow one to overcome their fears
and Han Ji desires to trace the Labyrinth.
He clenched his silenced revolver and raised his thumb too.
Leo made a circle with his thumb and index finger, making an 'Ok' sign.
'It's alright, they can't touch you with these guys around.'
Leo walked in front of the group.
He raised his hand and pointed at the front with his index finger.
'Let's go.'
They all followed Leo,
Their footsteps were silenced due to the special boots
Han Ji remembers their target for this raid.
There weren't any good resources that could be found on this level only thing they can find here is Almond water so they decided that they will collect 5 Almond water containers first, and then head to Stage 3.
Their formation was discussed before entering the Stage.
Leo is at the front.
Chad at the last.
DRC behind Leo.
Bella in front of Chad.
And Han Ji in the middle.
They arrived at an intersection, they turned left and continued to walk slowly started to walk slowly holding their guns.
Luckily this Stage had better lighting or at least in some areas.
After walking for a while peacefully suddenly Leo raised his fist in the air.
'Hold'
Everyone froze at their footsteps and clutched the handles of their guns.
Suddenly Leo pointed to their left, there was an open door, on the other side there was pitch black room, there was something visible a few inches away from the room in and it was...
Just a tin can.
Everybody's shoulders slumped and their eyes widen at their leader's action.
He turned around with a smirk on his face and made a 'W' with his finger and tapped his lips.
'Almond Water.' the sign meant.
Bella and DRC both clenched their fists and frowned so hard that veins started to pop on their hands and forehead.
Their aura sent chills down, Han Ji's spine.
'Scary..'
he gulped down his dry saliva.
'If Eyes could kill, Leo would've been dead Ten times over..' He thought and looked back at his Leader giving them a goofy smirk.
Leo then pointed at Han Ji.
'You.'
Han Ji pointed at his chest.
'Me?'
The Leo pointed his thumb at the Almond water can.
'Oh, so he wants me to get it?'
Han Ji immediately replied with a hand sign 'Ok' and ran towards the bottle.
'Well-well, It has only been since we entered here, and we already found one Almond water, this is gonna be easier than I expected.'
He picked the bottle up and was about to turn around but then...
Ba-dump.
His heart skipped a beat when his eyes landed in front of him at the pair of glowing eyes and a huge smile which can even be called disgusting.
'Smiler..'
"Heo-" Han Ji was about to gasp but then paused and forced his mouth to shut.
[Smilers are usually docile and attack only when provoked or see signs of weaknesses, If you try to run away, panic, or turn around the Smiler might become hostile..]
He remembers every quote from the book.
He pressed his lips together and breathed in softly through his nose.
'Shhh...shh..it won't hurt you, he won't hurt you, calm down..'
He repeated through his mind.
Meanwhile, the whole team had also noticed the Smiler appear right after Han Ji.
They all also froze in their place.
'Oh Sh*t, Han Ji don't move...'
'Where the f*ck did that come from?'
'He better don't move..'
'...'
All of them were surprised at the sudden appearance of the Quiddity and looked at Han Ji, hoping he won't move.
The Quiddity's eyes felt as if they were staring right into Han Ji's soul, it was complete silence, the Quiddity's disturbing smile made it harder to resist the urge to turn away.
Unlike the blurry picture in the book, he could see that the creature's teeth were shaped in the shape of long triangles, almost resembling throwing daggers used by assassins in old times.
Every second passed felt like hours.
Han Ji's eyes had tears from focusing on the light coming from the creature's eyes.
He almost was about to blink but then.
Buzz!
With a sound of buzz, the creature disappeared.
Han Ji closed his eyes shut.
"Hah! Heok! Hah!" Han Ji fell on his butt and started to hyperventilate.
Everybody rushed towards Han Ji.
Chad helped him stand up by pulling his shoulders.
"Dude you alright?" It was DRC.
"Hah..Yeah.." he whispered.
"D*mn, if a Smiler showed right in front of your face like that, you are one unlucky guy," Bella replied, even though her eyes were still wide from the surprise entry of the Smiler.
Han Ji nodded his head while gasping for air, trying to control his breathing.
"Do you need Almond water?" Leo asked.
"Heok.. Hah..Yeah..." He repl
Leo reached into Han Ji's backpack and pulled out his canteen.
"Here.."
Grab.
Gulp.
Gulp.
Gulp.
"Ah..Thanks..hah.." he whispered as the refreshing liquid calmed down his lungs and gave a mentally soothing effect.
"Well If a Smiler was here then we are safe since other Quiddities usually ignore them...but.." he looked at the dark room in front of him.
"If we go in there, we'll need lights..."
"...And if the light fell on a Smiler, we're doomed."
DRC complete.
Han Ji stood up.
"Feeling better now.." he said.
"Good, We got 1 Almond water container, for the left to go.." Leo said while pointing at the can in Han Ji's hand.
"We'll follow the main path and no more Chit-chat," Leo said starting to walk the way the were supposed to go.
Han Ji opened the can and poured it into his canteen.
It was filled just with half of the can.
'Tsk.. never mind' he gulped down the rest of the liquid in one go, and was about to throw the can away but stopped.
'The sound might attract more of them..' He placed it inside his backpack.
He rushed toward the rest of the team.
They started walking again in the same formation.
***
They continued to walk through the doorways and till now they have found 2 bottles of Almond water and a single carton.
Walking quietly like this made Han Ji really uncomfortable, it was pretty weird to know that people are walking with him making no sound, heck even their footsteps made no sound.
But it can't be helped since they might end up attracting an unknown Quiddity.
After walking for this long he was almost exhausted.
And finally, it happened they saw another bottle of Almond water.
"Yes!"
"Shh.."
Han Ji exclaimed with joy but was silenced by the whole squad.
He blushed softly and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
'I am sorry..'
He wanted to say but just bowed his head
Everyone was supposed to pick one Almond water container and this time it was Chad's turn to pick one bottle for himself.
Leo pointed at the bottle and Chad nodded his head.
He rushed toward the bottle and picked it up, and came back.
Leo turned to the group and then placed his shotgun back on his shoulder.
He placed his hand in front of his chest with his palm facing downward and his finger facing at left.
He placed his left index finger in the middle of the gaps of the fingers and then flicked it outwards.
'Escape.' the sign said and the whole group replied with a nod.
Leo turned around and looked at the watch, The watch was not just any watch it was a special device called Lab-pose, that was made to track out energy released by the Labyrinth stages, and creatures within them
even though Quiddities found on lower levels don't release much energy that's why it's hard to detect them with the Lab-pose.
How the thing is created and the materials used in it are kept a secret by L.A.B.
Han Ji looked at the screen of the device, as 4 different green dots appeared on it
The exits.
He confirmed that they were on the right path.
Then pointed in front of him three times with his index finger.
'Go, go, go!' they all started to run.
'Yes! Yes! Yes! We are finally getting out!' Han Ji thought as he was happy that his first raid was successful and ended without any problem.
They all ran in a straight line occasionally 1 or 2 turns will appear but they were not a problem.
They kept running without any issue but then.
Halt.
Leo stopped himself and used his arm to stop others too.
"Hu-?" Han Ji was again cut off by his leader
"Shh.."
When Leo turned around to look at them his expression was terrific cold sweats were running down his temples.
DRC noticed his friend's reaction and knew there would be only one reason for such a reaction.
Quiddities.
He slowly moved his head forward and took a look at turn.
"Heok!" he gasped.
"Grrr..."
"Groan.."
The hallway was blocked but not due to an obstacle there were over 50 Hounds in the hallway, with bones and blood scattered here and there and walls had weird flesh bubbles.
It was a Nest.
Many Quiddities sometimes form huge groups to hunt and create Nests where they breed and lay eggs.
The bubble-like things in the walls were Hound eggs.
He quickly pulled his head back,
Leo turned to the group and placed his hand on his wrist, starting to make more hand signs.
Han Ji who was standing behind the squad was trying his best to pay attention but then suddenly.
Poke.
He felt something down on his feet and saw something.
It was a mouse-like creature, with a dark hood and its long ears popping out of slits made in the hood and a dark beak-shaped mask with blue glowing circular glasses covering his face, a long tail protruding from the back of its hood.
"Heok!" he gasped as he looked at the Quiddity.
[Plague elves, friendly Quiddities known for their; striking resemblance to the famous Plague doctors, they are harmless and scavenge on anything, wood, metal, bones, corpses everything, it's believed that the Plague elves are pretty smart and can communicate with each other once a wanderer gave a plague elf some almond water and later was surrounded by a whole group, from that day they many times approach wanderers and ask for anything to eat or drink. DON'T TRY TO HIT ONE, IF THEY GET HURT THEY START SCREAMING WHICH HAS THE ABILITY TO ATTRACT EVERY SINGLE HOSTILE QUIDDITY IN 200 METER RADIUS!!!]
He remembered every single word from the book.
'Sh*t if this guy screamed we're dead...'
He looked at the little Quiddity that was staring right at him with glowing eyes.
'If I give him something to eat he will go away...' Han Ji thought and reached into his backpack looking for the discarded can.
Leo was done by the time.
He pointed in the direction behind Han Ji.
But then Chad the tallest guy in the squad failed to acknowledge the little Quiddity.
The Han Ji just pulled out the can
"KHIIEEEKK!" The creature screeched loudly.
As Chad stepped on its tail.
Han Ji stood there with eyes wide as pool balls.
Chad was surprised all the squad was.
They looked at the creature that hopped away to escape.
But the whole squad was frozen like a dear caught in the headlight.
"GROWWLL!" The hounds growled.
Leo knew that now there was no point in staying quiet. He could only think of one thing right now.
"RUUUNNN!!!"
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