Yin lags back to try to speak to me. However, Mr. Sung and the others are reluctant to move forward without their top Hunter in front so she’s forced to give up. I nod, letting her know it’s okay. She despondently pushes deeper into the city. Though no one has said it, we’re all unconsciously pushing towards the tallest building in the center of the central business district, Tiendas Tower. I check my history in the System. The Daemonic Zombie which Yin finished off shows up there since I helped and received a little experience.

Lvl. 11 Daemonic Zombie

Huh, Lvl. 11 for the first monsters inside a dungeon. That’s high. I’d guess 3/4ths of the Hunters here or more never even killed a zombie before. Which means they all started at Lvl. 1. That explains all of the deaths in the first couple minutes. Of course, those who manage to survive will level up like goddamn rabbits breeding on an island. Imagine…if these people don’t all die, the balance of the outside world will completely change from the past in my memories. Compared to the Hunters in the West, these guys are going to become monsters!

Up ahead, Yin is talking with Mr. Sung and another guy. She glances back at me from time to time, but I just stay calm. After a few minutes of walking, we run into something startling though. The girl who I haven’t met in the group, a plain black-haired oriental girl named Jeanice suddenly shrieks.

“Eurgh! I stepped on something!”

We all turn to see. She lifts her flat shoes off the ground with disgust to reveal a puddle of dark liquid smeared underneath. Various torches and lamps have come on to give us some light now that the sun outside the barrier is going down. At least the System is kind enough not to have us fight completely in the dark.

“Oh my…” Penelope gasps next to me. “Is that…blood?”

“Looks like the Hunters ahead of us got unlucky.” I scratch my head, checking the Hunter counter which just reset.

1,150,128

“God…no…we’re all going to die!” One of the men following Yin loses his nerve. He takes off his hard construction hat and quivers. “I’m getting out of here!”

“You can’t!” Yin quickly runs over and grabs him by the shoulder. “Mr. Zhang, the entrance has already been sealed off! If you go back, you’ll be all alone!”

“Who cares! It’s safer than going into whatever did this!” Mr. Zhang’s eyes bug out as he points to the trail of blood. Clearly several people have been dragged away. “I’m out of here, who’s with me! We’ll wait out this dungeon until someone kills the boss!”

“Y-Yea! Mr. Zhang is right! I’m with him!” Jeanice runs away from the puddle of blood and goes to stand by Mr. Zhang. The middle-aged construction worker and business woman look at everyone else, hoping that someone will join them. Immediately, all eyes go to Mr. Sung and Yin. Uneasily, my “friend” taps her boots on the pavement.

*Click*

“Um, I don’t recommend leaving the group! Otherwise, you’ll be on your own. But I won’t stop you if that’s what you want!” Yin says shakily. Mr. Sung on the other hand has a bit more experience leading people. Clearly, he used to be the boss of this construction group. Putting a hand up, he takes off his construction hat and lets his tufty gray hair come out.

“Listen guys. We need to stick together during these hard times!” The older man runs his hand through his head. A few white strands fall out. “Jeanice, Mr. Zhang, we finally found someone who is pretty strong. If we stick with Yin, we can get stronger as a group! Together, a team, just like the old days! But if you leave, you’ll reduce our overall strength. Besides, who knows if the outer city is even safe anymore! I’m just saying, I got you all this far, if you have some more faith in me, I’m confident the Sung Construction Co. workers can come out on top yet again!”

“Yea!”

“Ooohhh!”

“Well said Mr. Sung!”

Several other members of the group take off their hardhats at his moving words. Jeanice and Mr. Zhang lower their heads in shame. However, the fear is already deep in them. I know what their answer will be before the cheering stops.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sung. But look at these bloodstains. We’ve already lost Mitch and Sean. I’ve had enough. I’ll be going. Jeanice and I will stick together. If anyone else wants to come, we’ll be by the entrance to the city.” Mr. Zhang sighs deeply and raises his hand in farewell. As he turns to go, Jeanice quickly follows with a regretful glance backwards. The mood becomes heavy as the group grows smaller. Now there are only twelve people left, not including me and Yin. Our combat strength is deceasing. Well, no that’s not accurate because though these people don’t understand yet, their rapid increase in levels is very powerful. But the absence of two people in such a small group is hard to miss.

“That’s unfortunate.” I stare at the two as they pass by. “Not a smart move.”

“Mr. Hei?” Penelope glances my way but I don’t respond. My thoughts are still on the killing intent I sensed before heading into the city. Something’s out there, most likely behind us. Hoping to survive this catastrophe by being passive and waiting for it to pass is simply a fool’s dream. It’s bad luck for them. They’re hoping the rain will stop falling when they should be shoring up the dam. Unfortunately, this is no mere storm.

It’s a hurricane.

“What’s that!” Yin hastily stops the group with a quiet cry. Everyone falls silent, not that there was much chit chat going on anyways. Mr. Sung peers ahead in-between two tottering apartment buildings which look like they might fall apart at any moment. There’s something up ahead in the darkness. A pair of gleaming white spots appear. They sway left and right as something thuds into the ground heavily. The sound of stressed concrete comes as the white spots expand to become a pair of horns. Alabaster white horns the length of my head curl atop a fuzzy face. My lips stretch wide in disbelief. No…no freaking way! It’s too early! Even for the System, this is too much!

“E-Err…” Yin doesn’t know what to do as she stairs down the colossal being lumbering towards us. It’s twice her height, an absolutely brutelike monstrosity. A thick axe is held in hands which could crush a man’s head and a goat-like face stares at us in-between its oversized ox horns. “M-Minotaur?!”

“Stand your ground! We killed those zombies, we’ll kill this thing too!” Mr. Sung rallies his men who awkwardly glance at each other before charging in.

“W-Wait! We need a plan!” Yin shouts, but they’ve already disturbed the beast. Purple gleaming eyes snap open and stare directly at the construction workers with their flimsy homemade weapons. It’s enormous, taller than the tallest of normal men and thicker than the strongest strongman. My heart beats, seeing her consider going to help the members of the Sung Construction Co.

“Yin! What level is that thing!” I haven’t gotten a chance to speak to her since she slew those Daemonic Zombies but I assume she must be Lvl. 10 or higher. Since I’m only Lvl. 6, the creature before us just shows up as a bunch of question marks.

Lvl. ??? Daemonic Minotaur Soldier

“It’s…I can’t tell. There’s just question marks!” Yin’s voice breaks as she calls back to me. “Is that bad?!”

“Get back! It’s a high level! You can’t kill it!” I run forwards. My promise to stay out of things is thrown to the wind because this is truly the worst case scenario. “Run! RUN AWAY!”

The System…it’s unleashing something even Yin, who I’ve poured my time and energy into power leveling, can’t see through. This is too sick! It really wants to kill us all!

“Hold the line! We can do this together!” Mr. Sung has too much faith in his men. The trash can lid in his hand looks like a frisbee next to the monstrous beast in front of him. A thick black hand stretches out of the darkness, with four fingers. It seizes Mr. Sung’s makeshift shield, and I watch as the gargantuan fingers clench down with overwhelming strength and crush the thin metal into nothing. “AHHHH!”

“Mr Sung!” His men rush into the darkness as Mr. Sung is pulled in along with his shield. Yin trembles as I reach her side. Behind me, I can feel Penelope struggling to keep up. She’s only Lvl. 3.

“Oh my…god…” Yin’s eyes are fixed on the darkness. Terrifying sounds come out though it’s hard to see what’s going on in between the two apartments.

*Crunch*

“AHHHHH-“

*Slap*

“NUUUUUU!”

*Crack!*

Things fall silent in an instant. All that can be heard is moaning and this horrible dripping.

*Plop*

*Plop*

*Plop*