As we walk closer to the city walls, the following message appears.

System Call: Tiendas City Main Quest –

There Can Only Be One…Is A Multitiered Event.

Complete The 1st Objective To Unlock The Next.

Citywide Dungeon Will Load In 16:32:16

All Hunters Must Enter Within One Hour Of Dungeon Opening Or Accept System Punishment

People are wandering around the walls. Some of them are sleeping, many of them are in groups, some alone. Everyone that is awake is in a state of high energy. Hungry eyes rake over us as we enter their midst. I avoid going too close. When the dungeon opens, I don’t intend to be one of the first ones inside.

The first ones to enter a dungeon are usually the first to die.

Experienced Hunters knew this and rarely moved in without doing a lot of scouting. However, these people are new. Most of them probably were not even Hunters until the System automatically promoted them as part of a Mandatory System Event. I shake my head. Poor things. They didn’t even want to be caught up in this. But now that choice has been taken away from them.

“So, get this! One second, I was in my bathroom, rinsing out shampoo, and then the System Notification came up. I heard about Hunters talking about the System but I never expected to experience it for myself! Thank god I managed to get my clothes on before that beam of light teleported us all or I’d be naked out here!” A skinny man wearing a pair of pajamas laughs heartily as he retells the story of the dungeon opening to his friends. “Whew, the System sure is considerate! I’m excited to see what it’s like to be strong!”

“Don’t speak to them.” I put my hand on Yin’s shoulder. When she turns to look at me, I shake my head gently. The excited glimmer in her eyes fades a bit as she stares into mine. Nodding slowly, she draws into me and I see a healthy wariness enter her gaze. That’s right. Every single one of these people is not a potential friend. They are a potential enemy. “We’ll stay here on the outskirts and wait for the dungeon to open.”

“So, you guys,” Another man, slightly less pale than the one speaking before speaks up from a bucket he’s sitting on. “What do you think? Is it worth entering the city again once it opens? I mean I don’t know about you, but I heard of a lot of places getting destroyed after weird stuff happened. Is it worth going back inside?”

“Well, we don’t all have family outside like you, Jack. Everything my family owns is in Tiendas. Even if it’s festering with undead, I’m not going to let those bastards have it!” The thin man from before flexes his arms and roars to cheers from the onlookers. “We’re Hunters now! I say we stay and fight! Besides, System Punishment…that sounds scary. Who knows what that could be? Compared to that I’d rather reclaim my home!”

“Yea here! Here!”

“Markus is right!”

“Right on man!”

The onlookers cheer though to be honest none of them have any idea what’s going on. This is the nature of human beings. I’ve seen it before many times. When confronted with the unknown people seek to latch onto the nearest thing they can. Be it an idea, or another stronger person, they don’t want to be alone. It blinds them to the truth.

“Well, I’m going for my family! This dungeon thing sounds awfully dangerous! You guys have fun, I don’t want to kill zombies!” The one called Jack shrugs, his dull blonde hair waving gently as he stands up. Several of his friends call out to him, but he walks away, going into the forest. Yin tugs on my sleeve with a worried expression.

“Didn’t you say the System Punishment is extremely dangerous?” She asks, and I hurriedly draw closer to her while looking around to make sure no one is listening in. “Mmp-“

“Shh…I told you. If these people find out we know anything they’ll eat us alive! See if they won’t!” I release my hand from her mouth. “Ouch! Did you really have to bite me?”

“Ugh…don’t do that, Hei. But really, are you just going to let that man go to his death?” She seems disappointed in me, her cute eyes quivering angrily. I sigh, unable to argue with this dangerous being.

“Even if you tell him, he won’t believe you. And it’s not like he doesn’t have chances of surviving the System Punishment…” I trail off because it’s getting hard to meet Yin’s eyes. I might be willing to hide the truth from her but actually lying to her face is too difficult. “Well, that is to say, his chances in there are not much worse than out here. You heard him. He knows nothing about being a Hunter. He doesn’t even want to kill zombies. He’ll just die if he stays.”

This time it’s not strictly a lie.

“Hmph, I thought you were better than this. Why do I deserve to get helped and no one else?” Yin mutters into my ear, though at least she’s being quiet about it. “Is it just because I’m a pretty girl? Am I your type?”

“T-This...” My gulp is audible from this distance and the damn girl smells blood. She might be cute, but I’m beginning to wonder who’s really the predator here as she closes in on my weak-spots. “It’s not just because-”

“Not just because what? I get that you care about protecting me, but don’t you have a heart for your fellow man? They’re not zombies yet! You act like other people’s lives have no value!” Yin pulls away from me abruptly crossing her arms. When I reach out to her, she smacks me away. Aware of the questioning gazes of the other campers nearby, I stop. Yin sniffs. “Don’t touch me.”

“Ugh, just listen to me okay. I know I do a lot of things without saying why, but if there’s one thing you can believe me on, it’s that I would never hurt you. I always have your best interests in mind. Even if it might seem cold or cruel, I will protect you.” I try one last time to reason with her. The stance of her shoulders softens, but she doesn’t look my way.

“I never asked for your help.” She growls and sits on the ground. I sigh, rubbing my temples.

Well technically, in this timeline, she never asked me to help, but that’s not true in others. Not that I can explain that to you without turning into a goddamn zombie. Ugh, I hate this.

Sitting down nearby her, I give her some space while trying not to think about it. It’s impossible. All I can see the angry set of her shoulders and the tight line her lips make when she presses them together. Annoyed, I can’t think straight. I close my eyes, listening to the people around us talk.

“Well, that’s that then. I bet all of these people are coming to enter the dungeon. How many do you think there are now?” Someone says.

“I heard there will be a counter when the dungeon opens that will tell us how many Hunters are left.” Another person replies. I twitch my ears. Did I hear that right?

“Crazy dude. My sisters want to come. But I feel like it’s going to be dangerous. Ahh, but I don’t want to leave them for this System Punishment or whatever either. This sucks man!” The first man continues. However, I’m not interested in what he’s saying now. My eyes snap open.

“You! What did you just say?” I march over to the one who I think was speaking. “Who told you that?”

“What? My sister?” The man turns red with anger as I get in his face. I realize I have the wrong guy. It’s the one sitting next to him I’m looking for.

“No, you! Say it clearly. Who told you there would be a counter when the dungeon opens?” I lower my voice, realizing I’m drawing attention. Over by the side, Yin is watching with interest. When she sees me looking she pointedly turns away. Ugh, how am I supposed to respond to that?

“The counter? I dunno, I heard it from the general meetings. Why, you want to be a Hunter too?” The man grins, holding out his hand to shake. “I’m Jin Sung, want to join our party?”

“You know what a party is?” I’m too surprised to take his hand. There’s an invite to join Mr. Sung’s party from the System.

Mr. Sung nods when he sees my eyes widen.

“Of course. Everyone does. I don’t know who started it, but there’re a bunch of people who are sharing information now. One, kill zombies, level up. Two, hunt other Hunters to receive half of their experience. It’s pretty scary that there’s a rule like that, but with so many people here, I’m sure those untrustworthy people won’t even think of doing anything. Still, I’d like to team up with a lot of people for safety when we fight the Boss. Come on, join our party!”

He still holds his hand out, but I’m too confused to take it. In my head it’s all I can think about.

Someone has explained the rules of being a Hunter to everyone. It’s worse than I feared, Hunter Slayers are definitely going to appear soon. However, I can understand them finding out about the basic rules, anyone could have accessed the menu and shared them. But how did they know about the Hunter counter? That should be impossible for anyone to know about until the dungeon opens!

“Hey, you good, man?” The guy who I yelled at is looking at me funny. Finally, I snap out of it, ignoring My. Sung’s hand. “HEY! You just gonna come in here and act all big and then leave like that? Don’t you have any manners?”

“Forget it. It was my bad.” I mutter, while backing away. Already my mind is elsewhere. Every single person in this crowd has become suspect. I backtrack to where Yin is sitting, making sure to secretly examine anyone that walks nearby. None of this makes any sense. Someone out there is helping newbies. Manipulating the event. “This is bad…”

“Mad that someone’s actually sharing their knowledge?” Yin pokes me in the side. The orange cat pops out from the neckline of her jacket and meows questioningly at my dark face. “Not everyone’s like you, Hei. There’s good people out there too.”

“No…I don’t think there are.” I sigh, pulling up my hood. Looking around, I slip my hand in my pocket and keep it on my cleaver. Yin notices my actions but I just put a finger to my lips and shake my head. She turns around and looks away. She doesn’t understand. None of these people do. They can’t see the trap being woven right in front of their eyes. They won’t know until tomorrow when they walk right into the spider’s web.

I’m beginning to get sick of Yin’s refusal to listen to me. It’s wrong, and I know I said I would never hurt Yin, but right now I kind of just want to get back at her so I do something I normally wouldn’t.

“Tell me,” I lean in behind her, “If the people who explained all these things know about what’s inside the dungeon, and if they’re such nice people, then why didn’t they tell anyone to wait when the dungeon opens? After all, the most dangerous time to enter is at the beginning when no one knows what’s waiting inside.”

“Well… I mean, not everyone…” Yin can’t quite understand it yet. It’s her good nature. She doesn’t want to think ill of others. I’m going to have to crush this part of her. No matter if I like it or not, it’s going to get her killed. She still doesn’t see it…

I put a hand on her shoulder. This time she doesn’t pull away.

“Don’t you get it? These people that are all so excited to become Hunters? The ones who are feeling all giddy and prepared because someone told them a few worthless details about the System? They’re just bait, Yin.”

“T-That can’t be!” She stiffens under my hand, and I squeeze down hard to drive the point home.

“You see it now…don’t you? These happy little people might as well already be dead men walking. They’re zombies, but they don’t work for the virus or the System. No, these poor people have the honor of dancing in Mr. Nice Guy’s palm. That little girl over there? Her mother over there? They will all be his fingers as he explores the ‘web’ inside this dungeon. He’ll use them to touch and prod here and there…until they’re all used up. Then when everyone’s dead and the way is clear, he’ll emerge and swallow everything as his prize. That’s the kind of person you’re saying is better than me.”

Sheer terror overwhelms her face and guilt washes over me. I shouldn’t have said that. But it worked. She huddles in closer to me, the orange cat meowing as it gets squished under her coat.

“W-What do I do? Oh my god! I didn’t…didn’t know!” She whispers. I just sigh, taking the replica katana and placing it between her fingers. She clutches it in a white-knuckle grip.

“Stay close to me. We’ll go in after the crowd clears up. Don’t look at people like that. You’ll make them suspicious.” My own hand plays with the handle of my cleaver. I stroke Yin’s hair, letting her lean into me. “No one but us can know.”

“Mmm…” She thrums, squeezing her eyes shut, afraid to give anything away. That’s the way. I’m sorry, Yin. Now you understand the truth about this twisted world, the real meaning to a dungeon. Of course, this is only a taste. She might think ill of my but I’m not so heartless a guy as to tell her the whole truth. To be honest, she has no idea how bad it really is. After all…

The spider weaving this web. That nice guy? There’s a possibility his plan isn’t even meant to target these newbies. If you think about it, this is a dangerous ploy just to get some bait to go into the dungeon. Letting everyone know about System Rule Number 2 could lead to mass killings. There was no need to do that if you were just planning on catching some flies as bait. All the new Hunters probably would have rushed in anyways. No…the real problem is if this “spider” knows I’m here. If he’s watching, hoping to catch other people who know more about dungeons than they should.

Some spiders hunt other spiders after all.

I smirk as night falls. Letting Yin’s head rest in my lap, I sit upright, watching the world from inside my hood. This person thinks they’re so smart. It’d be a great plan, if I wasn’t here. The nights are getting a bit chilly. The wind is rustling, and I speak softly, words which not meant for anyone’s ears but Yin’s. She mumbles in her sleep. Even if she doesn’t hear, I want her to know that I AM here, watching, waiting to hunt those who would hunt the Hunters.

“Whoever you are…you really should be careful who you try to catch in your web this time. Otherwise, when you come out to claim your prey, maybe you’ll find something else waiting.”