บท 25: Chapter 25 Hunting Monsters, Capturing Flags (2)
Chapter 25 Hunting Monsters, Capturing Flags (2)
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"Did you see that? It's what we'll have to kill." Francis said as he looked towards a creature curled up in a cave.
It was a snake-like creature of enormous size. So big that it could easily swallow an adult. It had shiny black scales and a sharp, slightly curved horn growing from the top of its head.
'It's a One-Horned Snake'
It was a creature with extremely tough scales and a poison that could kill an F rank Awakener very quickly and easily. That poison could even affect E rank Awakener, not killing them but still making them struggle. Not only that, it also had an extremely high movement speed. Its only known weak points were its eyes and the inside of its mouth, which weren't covered by its hard scales.
For a bunch of kids below F rank like us, the chances of killing this snake are extremely low. Almost impossible.
I guess that bastard Francis and Todd discovered that the One-Horned Snake was guarding a flag, so they lured a few weaklings like me to act as bait, then while the monster was tearing us apart, they quickly took the flag and left.
It was not a bad plan, but unfortunately they ran into me.
'You two bastards, just wait to die'
"Okay, the plan is like this..." Francis was whispering to us about the battle plan when Todd interrupted again.
"The plan is that you four useless people will act as bait. And we'll kill that snake." He said with a sinister smile.
A silence fell.
"What-". Another student spoke up and was immediately beheaded by Todd with his greatsword.
A pungent smell of iron spread out, the bloody scene made the other two students immediately want to vomit. I also had to force out a similar expression even though I was familiar with this scene. I had seen many things much more horrible in my previous life.
Todd turned his eyes to the three of us who would be the bait, a fierce gaze.
"That's the consequence of not following me."
He knew this place was just a virtual world, and that killing here wouldn't have any real-world consequences. As such, he didn't hesitate to commit such a terrible act.
Then he continued to smile and started talking about some scenarios that would never happen.
"If you three do a good job as bait, maybe we can take care of that snake before you die. I believe no one wants to experience that feeling, right?" As he spoke, he glanced at the headless corpse, signaling our fate if we disobeyed him.
Francis sat beside him and remained silent, even though the other two kept sending him looks for help. It was obvious that Francis was Todd's accomplice. This made both of them extremely desperate.
Even though this was a virtual world, the feeling of pain was real. It was simulated exactly like in real life. No one wanted to experience the pain of death. Even if there was just a glimmer of hope, they would try to grasp it, and "hope" here was the phrase Todd had just uttered.
Right now, they were probably thinking about how to become bait while still keeping their lives.
While they were talking, the scent of blood began to spread. The sleeping snake was awakened by that scent. Its sharp golden eyes, like two flashlights, immediately stared at our direction. A cold feeling immediately ran down my spine.
"Let's go." After saying that, Todd quickly left, Francis also revealed a "regretful" look and disappeared into the shade.
"Ah ah ah ah, what to do now." A student spoke up.
"I-I don't know...". Another person was trembling and biting his nails.
As for me, I could only stay silent and be wary of the large snake that was quickly crawling in this direction.
'It's here!"
As the snake approached me, I secretly took out a small bag from my storage space and put it on. The snake's eyes narrowed when it noticed my bag and turned to the other two.
'It worked!'. I thought excitedly.
I was a bit reckless earlier but it was worth the gamble.
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[A while ago]
"Huh?"
As I was about to move to the second flag, a large but familiar bush caught my eye.
"It looks familiar..."
I approached the grass with a bit of caution. It looked similar to a plant from my hometown on Earth but much larger. I wasn't sure if it wouldn't mutate into some new poison. It was better to be careful.
The closer I got, the more familiar it became. Until a pungent scent wafted into my nose, and I identified what it was.
'A mutated lemongrass plant!'. My eyes couldn't help but light up when I saw it.
According to folklore, lemongrass is very effective in repelling snakes. Snakes are very sensitive to the pungent smell of lemongrass and will never dare to come near an area where many of these plants are grown. Especially when it has mutated and has a stronger scent than before. Now it can even repel mutated snakes.
And as far as I can remember, there are quite a few small snakes in this southern region, with it I will avoid quite a bit of trouble when encountering snakes.
Without thinking too much, I went over and pulled up a lemongrass stalk. Then I cut it into small pieces and tied it to a cloth bag and threw it into the storage space, taking it out when needed.
Ah, the storage space is a function of the virtual world that allows storing items. This function is super convenient.
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[Return to the present]
Thanks to the lemongrass bag I obtained earlier, I was able to avoid the One-Horned Snake. After all, it was just a big snake, and when it encountered the scent of the mutated lemongrass, it had to be avoided like any other one.
Right now, that monster was attacking the other two students, ignoring my existence. This was also the perfect opportunity for me to sneak off and collect the flag...
Ah no, there were still two other troublesome guys.
'It's fine, I still have some other things to play with them'. I let out a strange smile.
I still had a trump card that I hadn't pulled out yet.
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"Looks like those three are doing their job well." Todd watched the chaos from afar with a satisfied smile.
The figure of a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy gradually appeared in the darkness. He had the face of a refined, polite scholar with a worried expression.
"Aren't we going a bit too far-"
Todd interrupted Francis again. He didn't hide his disdain at all as he looked at Francis.
"Stop pretending. You make me sick."
"What pretense...I'm genuinely worried that those students will be psychologically traumatized..." He didn't mind Todd's expression and kept his appearance the same.
"Pfft!" Todd spat and turned around to leave. He quickly walked towards the cave where the big snake had been sleeping.
Francis's expression stiffened a bit, a cold glint flashed through his eyes and disappeared. He let out a sigh and quickly chased after Todd.
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Two figures, one tall and one slim, entered the dark cave. What caught both of their eyes was a small red flag lying in the middle of the cave. Todd saw the flag and couldn't hide his greed as he stepped forward. Francis immediately followed behind.
Just before he could get close to the flag, an object the size of a ball flew towards the top of his head. Todd and Francis' expressions changed and they quickly attacked the object.
*Splash!*
The sound of a water balloon bursting rang out, and the liquid inside immediately poured down. Neither of them had time to react and received the full impact of the liquid. A stinging sensation hit them as soon as it fell into their eyes.
"What the hell?!" Todd cursed loudly while rubbing his eyes.
"It's not poison, don't worry." A voice came from inside the dark cave.
"This voice...it's you!". It didn't take Francis long to recognize the owner of that voice.
Todd also recognized the sound now, and he shouted angrily.
"What the hell are you doing here, you son of a bitch?"
"Collect my flag?" The voice was filled with sarcasm.
"You?! You already knew?"
Todd regained his vision, his eyes filled with anger as he looked at the figure in front of him. The boy only smiled. Just from that, Todd understood what he meant.
The boy slowly approached the flag and picked it up, waving it in front of Todd and Francis. This made Todd furious and he was about to pounce on him.
"You son of a bitch! Take this-"
This time, Francis grabbed Todd's shoulder in time. His serious expression made Todd stop. He had never seen Francis show this kind of expression before.
"This water...what is it?" Francis asked the boy in a cold tone.
"That? It's nothing. It's just some kind of fruit juice." The boy smiled and replied.
Hearing his answer, both of them frowned. Then Francis risked tasting the liquid that was dripping on him. This made him frown even more.
"Pineapple juice?" He looked at the boy and asked.
"Bingo! You got it right but there's no prize." He smiled, a slightly strange smile.
"Are you humiliating me? You're tired of living!" Todd shouted loudly and clenched his greatsword, wanting to attack the boy in front of him.
Just as he was about to attack, the boy spoke again. This time there was a hint of pity in his voice. Francis, with his sharp intuition, realized that.
'Something isn't right...' He frowned and thought.
"If I were you, I wouldn't be here screaming. I would have run away a long time ago." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
"What do you mean?" Todd didn't understand and asked back.
Before he could understand what was happening, he only saw the young man in front of him waving the flag with a pitiful expression.
*Rumble*
A loud noise came from outside the cave. Turning around, the huge figure of a snake with a horn on its head appeared in front of the two people's eyes. Their faces immediately froze, drained of blood.
Francis only now realized something was wrong. He changed his expression and shouted.
"Mutant pineapple juice has the ability to attract snakes! Even mutant snakes."
"You just realized it now? It's too late." The young man behind them spoke up.
"You! Did you set a trap for us?" Francis looked at the young man with an angry expression.
"Who knows? Think whatever you want"
"You son of a bitch!!!!"
Todd shouted loudly and rushed towards the young man. He wanted to kill this bastard in front of him. But before he could do anything, the large mouth full of fresh blood of the Snake was already close to his body.
With a thud, he was swallowed whole by that big snake.
Francis immediately took this opportunity to attack the snake's eyes with his daggers. But before he could get close, the thick tail with sharp protruding scales whipped at him. Throwing him against the cave wall, fresh blood spurted out of his mouth uncontrollably. His ribs were definitely almost all broken and his internal organs were severely damaged. He only had time to leave a hateful look towards the other young man and then died.
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