The Night Is Too Dark (6)
The Night Is Too Dark (6)
Normally, someone might have cracked a joke, but the old castle was cold and silent. Only the growls and shrieks of the monsters outside echoed through the halls.
A red sky. Freezing air. Swirling snow. The final day.
No one here had the nerve to stay calm with death staring them in the face. The hall was filled with ordinary, terrified people, cold sweat dripping down their faces as their eyes darted around wildly.
In hindsight, it made sense. This was only Floor 4, and the vast majority of people were still inexperienced. Without a few strong leaders to anchor them, a panic-driven total wipe on Day 3 wouldn't have been surprising.
-Ah, can you hear me? This is Yun Jung-hyun.
The communication magic device crackled to life at just the right moment.
"I hear you."
-The basement preparations are mostly complete. Now... all we can do is try our best.
After everyone had been assigned a room, I let people choose where to station themselves. The players had naturally split into two main groups.
First, those who settled in the basement. This group included that Japanese man I'd seen before, Ryutaro. The word that monsters didn't come if you hid deep underground seemed to have spread.
But because that information had spread, the number of people in the basement had swelled, and I wasn't sure how safe it still was. Yun Jung-hyun had volunteered to head down there himself, just in case.
The second group had settled on Floor 3. Their positioning was blatantly obvious—every single one of them had taken a spot near the staircase leading up to Floor 4. William Smith, Ahn Gyeong-nam, and Baek Da-hye were all in this group.
They were counting on me to help if things went wrong. And honestly, I planned to help if I had the breathing room.
"...Man, if we're struggling this much, how the hell do other people survive Floor 4? I saw a friend of mine come out of it just fine..."
"You're echoing everywhere. Shut up."
A player's voice rang out from the corridor. I'd been wondering the same thing, actually. Why was this so hard? If we were in this state, how on earth did anyone else survive Floor 4?
"The monsters have entered."
My train of thought was cut off by Thomas. The monsters had finally breached the castle's first floor. I waited about two minutes.
"...They're moving slower than I expected."
"Exactly."
-Monsters have trickled into the basement. But their numbers aren't large.
No monsters had reached me yet.
The monsters' flow was far more sluggish than during yesterday's ground-floor defense. The corridors were so narrow and the monster horde so vast that a bottleneck had formed.
In the past, I'd always described massive monster hordes as being like liquid, like a wave, but a narrow corridor changed everything. They pushed in slowly, like thick, sticky soup.
"The other rooms on Floor 3... should be able to hold them off just fine."
Besides, the monsters' primary target was clearly the otherworlders.
The horde was so massive that a few individuals did break off and shove themselves into the smaller rooms, but the overwhelming majority kept pushing stubbornly toward Floor 4. Which meant everyone else's burden was that much lighter.
"How are things in the basement?"
-Manageable. Monsters are appearing, but it's nothing we can't handle.
The basement sounded fine too. With all the monsters pouring toward Floor 4, the pressure there was much lighter. The people who went underground had lucked out.
But this entire situation rested on a single premise: that I could hold off every monster entering this castle.
"Are the swords ready? I'm going to need dozens of them."
"Sharpened them all day. They'll be the sharpest blades you've ever wielded."
I couldn't say I was fully confident. But I would give it everything I had.
Maybe it was Baron Jorge's mana. My body felt lighter than ever. Fatigue still clung to my mind like grime, but this was still decent.
"Here they come."
"I felt them too."
I steadied my stance and faced forward. The monsters reaching Floor 4 were beginning to surge in.
At the very front were the usual monster cats. They were swift, so naturally they'd reached Floor 4 first.
"Kyaaaak!"
"Hup!"
A cat lunged straight at me. Before it could get close enough, I thrust my sword out and pierced its forehead. With a choked-off screech, it dissolved into a cluster of light.
"Uwoooooh!"
But before the light could fully fade, an orc with a massive shield came charging in, trusting its bulk to carry it through.
Boom!—Slice!
I kicked the bottom of the shield hard with my heel to throw off its balance, then slashed its exposed head. This was more efficient, and it dulled my blade less.
More monsters swarmed in after that, but I held them off without too much trouble. As the monsters grew stronger, so did I. I'd killed an uncountable number of them over the past two days. My swordsmanship was evolving, learning to kill with increasing efficiency.
"Sword."
"H-Here!"
At my single word, one of the soldiers waiting behind me tossed me a blade. I couldn't see him from this angle, but my sharpened senses could feel exactly where he was.
I swapped swords in an instant and cut down the monster in front of me. Cut. Cut. Cut again.
A quick glance at my Status Window told me there were about four hours left. Based on experience, surviving the next three hours would be enough. During the final hour, the monsters hadn't been able to climb the walls.
"How's the basement?"
-No problems.
-Floor 3 has some injuries, but everyone's stable.
The other rooms seemed to be holding the monsters off without major incident. Since they only had to hole up inside a room and defend a narrow doorway, the difficulty had dropped drastically. Last night's disaster hadn't been from a lack of ability—it happened because they were ambushed from behind. Now that they were in a solid defensive formation, succeeding was only natural.
"The flow is good."
That was the moment I made the mistake of thinking this might pass smoothly.
"Jun-ho, Jun-ho!"
"What is it?"
Baron Jorge's trembling voice came from behind me. I couldn't turn around while fighting, but his voice was urgent enough to send a chill down my spine.
"Forward! We have to push forward!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I see winged monsters! Floor 4 is no longer safe! They're fast! We have to break through!"
"The hell did you say?"
Winged monsters? Now?
Floor 4's walls were riddled with holes. The ceiling had been torn away long ago. If monsters came from the sky... the otherworlders wouldn't stand a chance.
But break through forward? Holding my ground and carving a path forward were two entirely different things. And the monster horde was surging right toward me. It would be like swimming up a waterfall.
"Fuck, fuck..."
The situation was so unfair it felt like the monsters were being tailor-made to screw us over. But I had to do it. If I stayed still, everyone would be slaughtered.
"Players on Floor 3! Can you hear me!"
I gripped my sword tight and opened my eyes wide. Even if I cut down three at a time with every swing, it wouldn't be enough. I needed help.
"We have to break through to Floor 2! I'll take the lead! Help me! Just disrupting their momentum will be enough!"
Floor 3 was already occupied by players holding their rooms. We had to get to the empty Floor 2 and cram the otherworlders in there.
Even better, the staircase to Floor 2 was close. The only problem was that monsters were currently pouring up from it.
"Once I break through, I can manage somehow! I can block the other corridors with magic devices! Please, help me!"
The plan was to carve a path to Floor 2 and immediately seal the other corridors with magic devices. The devices wouldn't last even ten minutes, but ten minutes was enough for a stopgap.
The plan was patchwork, but it was the best I could come up with given the urgency.
"Get out here, now!"
I cut. Cut. Cut again. A minute passed, and I hadn't moved five steps forward. I desperately needed help.
"I'm sorry! We can't spare anyone!"
"Everyone's exhausted! We don't have the strength to help!"
But what came from the corridor wasn't reinforcements—only their cries that they were dying too.
"We'll push them back as fast as we can!"
The room with William Smith seemed to be fighting hard, but their pace was painfully slow. It looked like it would take forever for them to link up with me.
"No, what the—!"
Just as my frustration was about to boil over.
"Aaaaagh!"
"Kyaaaaak!"
"Help, help us!"
"Don't panic! Lord Jun-ho will break through soon! What are you doing with your weapons raised? Hold on as long as you can!"
Screams poured out from behind me. The clang of metal. The flapping of wings.
The strength slowly drained from my body. The influence of the 'Hero' trait was weakening. The meaning of that was clear.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck..."
People were dying in real time.
Right behind my back.