Chapter 20
Chapter 20
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Now Who's the Prey? (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
While running, Regin strained to catch every sound.
"Manannan, keep track of the time! The howling... I heard it comes every two minutes or so!"
"Oh, got it!!"
The thing howled every two minutes in the game.
It was also a signal that it hadn't found prey.
So if the howling rang out, it meant it was chasing someone.
And when the howling stopped...
It meant it had found its prey.
"...Two minutes passed!"
"It might be eating the meat we left as bait. Or something else!"
It stops howling temporarily when it's got something in its mouth.
That was why, when the werewolf appeared,
he had cranked up the headset volume and focused intently.
"If the sound starts up again... that means the hunt's back on!"
"Oh, got it!"
It could be eating the corpses and meat we left behind.
Even at its speed, it would take five minutes to reach us from there.
So maybe we were in the clear for now. Just as a sense of relief began to wash over him.
Awooooo—!
"......!"
Shit.
The creature's howl rang out once more.
It meant it had started moving to find new prey.
'We're seven minutes from the teleport stone!'
Awooooooo—!!
"...Again!!"
"Damn it!"
The pursuit continued.
"...Regin!"
"Almost there...!!"
Regin and Manannan ran without stopping.
Finally, the open plain came into view in the distance.
And at its edge, a glittering crystal stone.
"The teleport stone!!"
They just had to reach the teleport stone at the forest's edge.
Roughly five minutes left.
Just as he thought they were truly safe now.
"......!!"
Whoosh!
The howl echoed again, and goosebumps erupted across his skin.
Regin and Manannan exchanged glances. They didn't need words.
'...I can feel it.'
His instincts screamed.
The goosebumps prickling his skin, the unmistakable killing intent.
Regin's survival instincts went into overdrive.
The thing was watching them right now, charging their way.
'The aggro...'
It had locked onto them.
Regin swallowed hard.
The message window he'd seen a thousand times flashed in his mind unbidden.
It was right about then that it would have popped up.
【A bloodthirsty being pursues your scent!】
Thud thud!!
The faint sounds grew closer.
Grrrrrr—!!!
The creature's noises were drawing near. He didn't need to look back to know.
It would pounce on them any second.
'...A variable. I need to create a variable!'
Regin gritted his teeth, thinking furiously.
If there was some way to slow it down, even a little. Then things could change!
"...Huh?"
It happened in that instant.
The crushing killing intent eased off.
'The aggro broke.'
Thud thud!!
The footsteps hadn't receded. It was still nearby.
...Aggro like that doesn't just drop easily, though?
As Regin's mind filled with confusion.
"Regin...! There's someone over there!"
"What?!"
Regin and Manannan's gazes snapped left.
"...Huff! H-help... save me!!"
A man running nonstop a short distance away.
'Someone else who stayed on this floor?'
What were the odds.
Besides Regin and Manannan, another survivor fleeing.
* * *
'Speed... faster than I thought. Just barely enough to shake off a lycanthrope?'
Whoosh—
He could see something like wind swirling around the man's body.
'Blessing of the Wind.'
A buff skill that dramatically boosted the caster's movement speed.
'...Can he help us?'
Regin's mind raced.
Using Blessing of the Wind meant the man was likely an archer.
Which meant he could probably cast it on others too.
Regin and Manannan were slightly ahead right now, but at that speed, the archer would overtake them soon.
'If he gets close, I'll ask for the buff.'
Maybe all three could make it. That's what he was thinking.
"...Huff! Huff!"
The man's blistering pace suddenly slowed noticeably.
His legs seemed to move in slow motion, decelerating abruptly.
...Why?
Why slow down all of a sudden?
Regin's plan to get the blessing went up in smoke in an instant.
Awooooooo—!!
A massive something leaped from right behind.
A 2-meter frame. Silver mane.
Sharp eyes and claws.
The monster that had turned the entire forest into a wasteland. The lycanthrope lunged at the man.
"...Gaaah!!!"
"No!!"
Regin's face twisted.
The man couldn't evade the lycanthrope's claws and collapsed, wounded.
Crunch crunch! Rip rip!
The man's fate was gruesome.
The sounds of a starving monster devouring him alive echoed.
"Wh-what do we do!"
"......"
Leaving the scene behind, Regin and Manannan exchanged looks as they ran.
'Damn it. Why'd he slow down? If we'd linked up with him and gotten the buff together... all three of us could've made it!'
The brief regret didn't last. Regin quickly assessed the situation.
...He'd run out of mana.
Must've kept the skill active too long getting here.
Grit—
One life vanished before their eyes.
The archer, struggling desperately to survive, became lycanthrope chow in seconds.
"We keep running straight to the magic stone...!"
"Yeah!"
Regin shouted, shaking off the thought that it could be them next.
They couldn't waste this opening.
...One minute to the magic stone!
It was down to just running, nothing else.
"Manannan!!"
"Ugh!"
Thud!!
Manannan tripped on a rock outcrop and tumbled to the ground.
"......!!"
Grrrrrr—?!
Worst timing possible.
'The aggro... it's back on us.'
The sharp gaze fixed on Regin and Manannan.
The beast, maddened by moonlight, began to waver.
Finish the prey it had, or hunt the new one first?
Grrr!!
It decided quickly.
The lycanthrope charged toward the fresh prey.
"......!!"
The oppressive pressure slammed into them anew.
Could they shake it if they ran now?
'...Me. I could escape.'
Manannan sprawled in his vision, like the chance born from the man's death.
Regin could abandon him and survive easily.
But his feet wouldn't move.
...Rip!
Regin tore a scroll and raised it toward the werewolf.
Triple Flame.
Along with a red magic circle, three intense fireballs formed.
Regin hurled them at the creature, controlling their path.
"Yelp! Yelp!"
Tatatata!
The lycanthrope, running on two legs, easily dodged Regin's Triple Flame.
And in that moment, the aggro shifted to him.
"Regin!!"
"Get up and prep your spells! We'll bolt the second we get an opening!"
Regin had chosen.
To save the guy and escape together.
Honestly, it was instinct.
The scales had tipped toward saving him anyway.
'If I let Manannan die and it comes straight for me? That'd be no chance at all.'
Frankly, this seemed like better odds.
Others might call him crazy for taking the risk.
'This is the lowest-risk play in my calculations. We have to go for it now.'
The reason countless DAT players called Regin insane.
He bet everything at unexpected timings.
He was the one reaping returns no one saw coming.
'Putting things off...'
They always backfired later.
The profound insight from a lifetime lived, and from playing DAT, spurred Regin onward once more.
"...Now!"
Whoosh!
Crack!!
It happened in a flash.
The lycanthrope's jaws gaped toward Regin's throat.
But those thick fangs sank not into flesh, but elsewhere.
In that split second, Regin blocked with his arm.
"...I've seen trash like you before!"
He'd wrapped several scrolls around his arm.
Like against the hellhound, creating temporary armor to shield it.
As far as Regin knew, hellhounds and lycanthropes had similar attack patterns.
Grrrrr—!
"Guuuuh...!!"
Of course, the damage here was overwhelmingly greater.
The werewolf's teeth dug deep into Regin's arm.
Drip drip. Blood poured down below his elbow, torn muscles screaming in agony.
Regin stared straight at it anyway, refusing to lose focus.
'...Not dying on just the 4th floor!'
He hadn't poured his life into DAT for that.
Gritting his teeth, Regin poured strength into his right arm, impaled by fangs.
"Gaaah...!"
His mind reeled, but he clamped down and endured.
If it gave even a little opening.
If just a brief gap appeared... that would be his chance. Thinking that.
【Indomitable willpower breaks Panic status!】
It would've been a notification like that in-game.
Regin focused every ounce of will to hold on, and hold on.
"Regin!!"
Manannan finally snapped to, scrambling up with his wand.
Whoosh—!
Boom!
He spammed ice spells wildly.
Dozens of tiny icicles pelted the lycanthrope's face.
Pitiful damage, for sure.
'...Now!'
The slight opening Regin had waited for appeared.
He yanked his arm free from between the gaping jaws.
Rip!!
Pulling out his blood-soaked, mangled arm, he tore the crimson-stained scroll.
He flung it straight down the creature's throat.
Not hard at all.
Its maw was so huge, a rock could fit!
"Chow down on that instead of my arm!"
Regin and Manannan turned and bolted.
Just as the werewolf choked on the scroll blocking its throat.
"If you can chew and swallow it right!"
Boom!!
An explosion erupted from the werewolf's mouth with a deafening roar.
Regin's special bomb.
The scroll he'd shoved in was a bomb scroll.
Grrrrraaah!!!
Its screams echoed everywhere.
Did that finish it? No need to hope.
An internal mouth explosion. Fatal for other monsters, maybe.
'Not for this one.'
Flashy effects aside, it wouldn't die from that shock.
Its specs were at least early Phase 3.
In simple terms, combat power on par with mid-15th Floor monsters.
Grrrr...
Sure enough, the lycanthrope stood, slowly regenerating.
Moonlight on its wounds made them glow, healing rapidly.
Its torn mouth and jaw already reforming.
'Monstrous bastard!'
Regin cursed under his breath, glancing back.
But despair was premature.
"...Reach out your hand!"
"Got it!!"
About 30 seconds.
The brief stun from the massive shock.
Plenty of time to reach the magic stone.
Grrrr—!
The recovered beast chased after them too late.
Regin smirked faintly.
The magic stone was already activating. They dove into the generated portal.
"Teleport!!"
Whirr!
The lycanthrope swung its claw, refusing to let them go.
But it sliced only empty air, missing Regin and Manannan's bodies inside the portal.
"Next time, I'll tame you properly."
The portal faded.
Regin called out as he entered.
They retreated for now, but the lycanthrope was a monster they'd have to conquer someday.
Locking eyes with its sharp glare, Regin shouted.
"See who ends up as prey then."