They must be dead by now, right?
Posted by: Elevator Ghost
I’m a bit of an old-timer, so how bad exactly were C-rank horrors again?
Damn, I can’t remember.
– Admin) I… don’t know… (Anomaly emoticon cowering in a corner)
– Fox Hater) Useless kid logo…
– Admin) (Wailing Anomaly emoticon)
– Wild Resilience) From what I recall, it’s quite difficult. They showed some talent by killing the anomaly without panicking, but unfortunately, they’re an Awakened.
– Wild Resilience) They might be able to hide somewhere, but as an Awakened, the anomalies will definitely find them even if they do.
– Wild Resilience) In short, it’ll be hard for them to survive…
– Digging a Tunnel) If they somehow survived, wouldn’t that be amazing?
– Wild Resilience) If they survived, they wouldn’t be human… Awakened aren’t strong from the start either…
– Elevator Ghost) Ah, it was fun for the first time in a while… I guess I’ll have to post another memorial.
[NOTICE] Hey newbie from earlier, if you have time, please read this post.
Posted by: Kozmo
1. Even if you find a house there, do not open the door.
Though it’s likely locked from the inside already, I’ll emphasize it twice: absolutely do not open it.
It seems facilities like the village hall might be okay to open, but for now, just don’t open anything.
2. Since you’re an Awakened, those things will chase you regardless, so just climb something or go over a wall.
That will be better than hiding.
3. If you have any skills, use them without hesitation.
I don’t have information on this, so I can’t say.
4. If you can’t deal with either an anomaly or a strange phenomenon, you won’t be able to leave that place.
Don’t despair after reading this. For a C-rank horror, it’s actually… quite survivable.
Just don’t open the door.
– Admin) Weren’t you dead two years ago? What kind of person are you?
– Admin) For now, I’ve pinned it as a notice for the newbie… (Praying Anomaly emoticon)
– Digging a Tunnel) Thanks to you, I’ve probably survived about ten times… I’m bowing my head in respect now.
– Elevator Ghost) This gallery is so much fun, lol. I hope the newbie survives~
****
– Wild Resilience) Are you, by any chance… able to come to the intermediate zone? You’re not human either, are you…?
****
[Deleted comment]
****
I will survive.
From this damn horror.
I’ve gathered two pieces of information.
1. My speed is slightly superior to theirs.
2. Even if I shake them off and hide, those crazy bastards will find me.
‘There are too many of them, goddammit…’
If there were at least ten of them, I might have been able to handle it.
But with dozens of them coming like this, there’s no answer.
The moment I get swept away, no. Even if just one of them catches me, it’s over.
Fortunately, my stamina and speed haven’t decreased yet.
Aside from that, everything feels despairing.
I feel an illusion that the chilling, dull thudding sound from behind is getting closer and closer.
‘The countryside… I see it, damn it…! The village…!!’
I found a village.
It was as if another ray of hope had appeared.
Gritting my teeth, I accelerated, and the distance between me and them instantly widened.
Thanks to this, my breath became extremely labored.
However, I succeeded in reaching the village and hid inside a house—
Rattle, rattle.
“Why, why is this locked?!!”
Is it because it’s a rural house? It looks like I could break it down…
No, wait, let’s go to the main gate first.
Damn it, when I was a kid and went to the countryside, everyone lived without locking their doors.
As I headed towards the main gate,
something felt wrong.
X
“Damn it…?”
A red X was scrawled on the door.
I increased the brightness of the gallery (TL Note: Refers to the in-game UI or system menu, not an art gallery) to check all the surrounding doors.
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
Every single door, even the phone booth’s door, its glass pane stained red and completely obscured.
All were plastered with X marks.
A brief silence fell.
The worst-case scenario began to form in my mind.
At this moment, the worst-case scenario I envisioned was this:
‘My stamina dropping and dying to those heads.’
To prevent that, I needed to find a weapon, a means of transportation, or a shelter, anywhere.
Hastily, I searched for a sturdy-looking place to climb to a higher position.
“Goddammit.”
A rattling sound reached my ears.
And in that direction, there were no horrifying head-anomalies.
Instead.
‘Huh…’
From inside the phone booth.
A human hand rattled.
It left a handprint.
After a fleeting moment, another handprint appeared, then.
Splat, *squelch*.
Wiping away the red bloodstains smeared inside.
Something created a dark shadow amidst the faintly erased bloodstains.
A terrifying presence emanated.
“… I’ll give up on entering any random place… It might be more dangerous than those heads.”
I didn’t bother checking the gaps of the phone booth.
‘… Nor did I want to.’
“Kee-hehe-heuk…”
“Keh-heuk, Bleh, Keh-heuk.”
The rolling sounds grew steadily closer.
Then, the locked main gates of the houses began to rattle.
As if something inside was begging to be let out.
Like a desperate plea.
Thudding sounds echoed all around.
The iron gates vibrated, and the sound of fingernails scraping sent shivers down my spine.
Climbing onto the houses was out of the question.
I couldn’t possibly predict the variables those things inside might create.
“Damn it.”
‘To survive, I need to gather information. My ankle is starting to hurt, too.’
In any case, this was the worst possible situation.
But I couldn’t die here.
Even in worse situations… no, wait, is it similar, damn it?
Because I’ve survived similar situations before.
I can’t die here.
I desperately combined the information I had been given.
My mind was working quite rationally.
‘Those heads roll. To be precise, they use their tongues as levers, like a hoop… If that’s the case.’
Then.
My gaze shifted to one side.
Fortunately.
Behind this rural village,
there was a mountain.
Not high, but distinctly an uphill climb, unlike anything I’d seen so far.
I decided to stake my last hope on it.
Damn, those heads had better hate climbing mountains.
****
My prediction was correct.
Climbing uphill is only easy if you have knees.
This is the greatness of legs, you damned heads.
“Haaah, hoooh…”
Since those heads had the characteristic of rolling with their tongues,
I had thought they wouldn’t be able to climb uphill or reach high places.
As I quickly ascended the mountain, the distance between me and them began to widen considerably.
However, trying to climb the mountain as if running made my ankle scream in protest.
‘Climbing a suitable tree won’t work.’
Even if I climbed a tree,
those crazy monsters would pinpoint my location exactly.
Having experienced it firsthand, I was certain.
I had no intention of starving to death on a tree.
It was clearly because I was an ‘Awakened’ that this was the case.
‘First, I’ll climb to the summit without resting, paying utmost attention to my ankle injury.’
What I needed was time.
If I were alone, I wouldn’t be going through such hell.
However, I had the gallery (TL Note: Refers to the in-game UI or system menu, not an art gallery).
It was proving to be a considerable source of strength.
I climbed the mountain.
My biggest concern was, what if those crazy heads were roaming the mountain too?
However, there were no crazy heads on the mountain.
Instead, perhaps because there were no paved stairs, climbing was incredibly difficult.
Having had quite a bit of experience climbing such mountains in the military,
that’s why I was able to survive this.
But even if the height was low, a mountain was still a mountain.
Even after climbing for a full hour, regulating my breathing, I could feel my breath growing increasingly short.
Nevertheless, I climbed all the way up.
I reached the summit.
Catching my ragged breath, I assessed my surroundings.
Then, a structure came into view.
‘… A mill, a mill?’
A dilapidated wooden mill, almost crumbling, stood before me.
With a waterwheel and no signboard, it seemed to be a very old building.
It was a good thing my night vision had improved.
Otherwise, I would have passed it by without even noticing.
“There’s no… X here?”
The countless X marks that had been all over the village were absent.
The door was also half-open.
Upon checking inside, only a cold, empty space met my eyes.
The wooden door seemed like it could serve as a sort of makeshift barrier.
‘For now, I’ll gather and combine information from outside.’
If I waited inside and failed to notice them coming…
there would be enormous problems.
Vigilance.
Thus, I surveyed my surroundings while activating the gallery (TL Note: Refers to the in-game UI or system menu, not an art gallery).
Hoping for the best.
Got a little time. Newbie, what should I do ASAP?
Posted by: Anonymous (C-114)
Currently on the mountain, briefly shook off those crazy heads.
But I think they’ll still chase me.
What should I do, no time, quickly.
– Elevator Ghost) No, what is this guy? How did they survive? I’ll have to take down the memorial post;;
– Elevator Ghost) Wow, but seriously, how did you do it? Are you special forces?
– Wild Resilience) How much time do you think you have?
They wrote a memorial post?
Should I be happy they even held a memorial… or should I curse them…
I’ll think about that later.
I tried to make a rough calculation.
It took me an hour to climb up.
If I roughly estimate their speed…
– Anonymous (C-114) It seems like I have at least 30 minutes left.
At those words, everyone seemed a bit relieved.
Of course, most of the established users were busy writing down easy and quick ways to commit suicide during that time.
These bastards, if I was going to die alone, I wouldn’t have climbed the mountain.
– Admin) Check the notice; there are so many posts right now that I’ve pulled some out separately.
‘Kozmo, it’s their post again.’
Admin seemed to have selectively pinned useful-looking posts to the notice board.
Among them, the post with the most views, naturally.
And the most trustworthy post was by the established user, Kozmo.
Climb to a high place.
Hide by climbing over walls… Don’t open doors.
Right, damn it, I told you there were monsters inside!
‘It seems I handled the situation exceptionally well.’
I continued to scroll.
Then, the ‘skill’ mentioned by the established user caught my eye.
Skill?
Hearing that word made my mind feel much clearer.
‘Come to think of it… I was so focused on escaping that I hadn’t even considered fighting.’
Escape was a definite option.
Fight?
If I got caught once, I’d surely die; how could I pull off a one-man army?
Even if my physical stats had increased slightly, I couldn’t win against those tough heads.
[Currently held skills: Elemental Enhancement (B+), God of Weapons (R)]
Upon checking.
My interest was drawn to God of Weapons.
Clicking it revealed a detailed explanation.
{ Enhances weapons. }
{ Physical stats increase based on the proficiency of the equipped weapon. }
{ ??? }
‘Damn it, I thought there’d be an explanation…’
To meaningfully utilize the stat increase based on weapon proficiency…
I would need a gun or a dagger.
I could say I handled those two reasonably well.
However, there was no way such things would be in this rural village.
‘A hoe and… a sickle are here, though.’
In a pinch, I noted the location of the sickle inside the mill.
Axe would be good, but there was no axe.
“Elemental Enhancement…”
The remaining skill, Elemental Enhancement.
Something immediately came to mind when I saw it.
“Damn it… if this works, I might survive… please.”
I entered the mill and picked up the sickle.
{ Due to the God of Weapons effect, the weapon is enhanced to its first stage. }
The heavily rusted sickle transformed, becoming razor-sharp.
It felt like it could cut through anything with just a graze.
{ Stats increase. }
Hope grew.
With this, I could survive.
“Skill… how do I use it?”
I posted a question on the gallery (TL Note: Refers to the in-game UI or system menu, not an art gallery), and an answer quickly appeared.
– Wild Resilience) Usually, you just say the skill name in your mind and wish for it to activate.
– Wild Resilience) Since you’re probably Level 0, try as many times as possible. It’s always difficult at first.
‘Is Wild Resilience an Awakened too?’
Whatever the case, it was a relief.
As more information became available, my tension gradually eased.
Because hope was beginning to bloom.
But, I’m Level 3?
Well, it probably doesn’t matter, right?
“Alright, let’s think.”
The opponents were numerous.
They wouldn’t die from ordinary impacts.
Then, for an area-of-effect attack.
Considering my proficiency was still low,
I thought of the attribute that could deal the most significant damage with high efficiency.
‘Elemental Enhancement.’
Then, flames erupted from my sickle.
As luck would have it, this was a mill.
In one corner, there were traces of oil being pressed.
And when I looked at the massive basin covered by a tarp, it contained a slippery liquid.
It was oil, and quite a lot of it.
Smelling it confirmed it.
“Good… things are working out. Right, there’s no law that says I have to die.”
Red flames blazed brightly.
Then, they soon extinguished.
{ Skill deactivated due to insufficient proficiency. }
{ Usable again. }
Hope grew steadily stronger.
Even if it extinguished quickly, fire was still fire.
I immediately began to construct traps using the mill’s oil.
My plan was to douse those heads with oil and burn them to death.
After all, if I can’t kill all those things, I can’t leave.
It’s impossible to run away forever.
I made my decision.
‘Just catch my breath.’
Carefully building the traps.
I tried to figure out where they would come from.
Considering the possibility of them breaking through a wall, I deliberately left the front door open.
There was also a back door…
If I heard their sounds, I planned to go out the front door and draw their attention.
The back door was an emergency exit for when I set fire to the front.
Good. Good.
Things were starting to come together.
The trap installation was almost complete.
Damn it, let’s do this.
Posted by: Anonymous (C-114)
(Photo of traps installed)
(Photo of a sickle gripped tightly in hand)
I’ll kill all these bastards and survive.
See you later.
– Admin) Wow, such a man;; (Blushing Anomaly emoticon)
– Gourmand) What are those scars on your hand? Were you a gangster?
– Elevator Ghost) I’m really rooting for you, lol. But was that thing in front of the door always there? It looks like a trap.
– Wild Resilience) Did you live in some jungle or come from an ancient temple horror story? If you made it yourself, that’s amazing;
– Forced Crown Prince Sado) Yoo-dong Grylls, lol (TL Note: A portmanteau of ‘Yudong’, a Korean internet term for a temporary user, and ‘Bear Grylls’, a survivalist.)
– Admin) Oh, that sounds good (Cheering Anomaly emoticon)
With the sole thought of survival, I gripped the sickle tightly.
I temporarily muted the gallery (TL Note: Refers to the in-game UI or system menu, not an art gallery) and listened intently to the surrounding sounds.
And as I waited,
*Ding-*
{ A penalty is imposed due to a higher-than-required level. }
“What?”
*Ding- ding-*
{ The number of Elemental Enhancement uses is limited. }
{ Available uses (3/3) }
“No, goddammit?!”
{ The residents’ resistance intensifies. }
“… This is ridiculous, seriously.”
It just occurred to me.
This horror seems to really dislike me.
“Crazy.”
From the front door and the back door.
And from all directions.
“Kee-hehe-heuk…”
The rolling sounds began to draw closer.
