Frustration Makes a Man - 3
There's a handful of things you should never do in a horror or thriller movie. The loudmouth dies first. The drunk or the junkie dies. The loner dies. The one who lets his guard down dies. There are plenty of other rules, but one of them fit our situation perfectly.
Go where you're told not to, and you die.
"Uncle, you sure this place is safe?"
"Quit bein' such a scaredy-cat. I know these woods like the back of my hand, so don't you worry none."
The uncle chuckled and strode ahead through the forest path. The woods had grown dim, casting an eerie atmosphere. The scent of decay rose from the damp soil. Sunlight filtering through the canopy of branches had lost its strength. The forest was so dense that visibility barely stretched a few meters. If a monster appeared, we'd be surrounded in no time.
Damn it. If it weren't for the uncle, I never would've stuck my head into a place like this. The prickling unease at the back of my neck was unpleasant.
"Let's just grab what we need and get out. I've got a bad feeling about this."
"We're almost there. There's a whole patch of herbs up ahead. Let's fill our quota and head back."
The uncle ignored me and hacked through the overgrown branches with the machete in his hand.
"There, we're here. That's the patch."
Through the gaps between branches, I saw exactly what he'd described—a dense cluster of herbs. The uncle rolled his shoulders and started toward it, his movements smooth and practiced after hundreds of visits. My tension almost eased at the sight, but the unease at the back of my neck refused to fade.
"Aigoo, what the—why are there only roots left? Tsk."
The uncle crouched down to dig and muttered under his breath.
"Uncle, do other people come here too?"
"I thought I was the only one who knew about it…"
He scratched the back of his head, yanked out a root, and tossed it to me. The stem of the herb I'd caught had a clean, sharp cut, like it had been sliced by something.
"This ain't good. We gotta leave. We'll fill the quota somewhere else—"
"Uncle."
I cut him off as he stood and brushed himself off. It was already too late.
"Huh?"
"Get ready. Now."
From somewhere in the forest came the sound of monsters breathing and growling. More than one or two. This place was clearly their territory. To them, we were uninvited guests who'd wandered in. We needed to get out before the homeowners got angry.
"Don't make a sound. Move quiet. Back the way we came."
The uncle's face hardened at my order, and he began retracing our steps. In the silence of the forest, the monsters' voices grew closer. Just as we reached the entrance—
Crack!
A branch snapped under the uncle's foot. The quiet that had wrapped around the forest shattered, replaced by furious roars from the monsters.
"Run!"
He didn't answer. I chased after the uncle, who clutched his basket tight and took off running. An arrow thudded into the exact spot where my leg had been a second earlier.
Arrows?! What the hell—archers in a lowest-rank gate?
Monsters from lowest-rank gates usually didn't use tools. Even humanoid ones. And arrows, in a gate open to civilians?
"Uncle! These things use arrows?!"
"Arrows?! These bastards don't use stuff like that! At best, claws and fangs!"
"We're screwed, Uncle!"
The trees blurring past my vision felt agonizingly slow.
Damn it, keeping pace with him is driving me crazy!
If I left the uncle behind, the monsters would catch and kill him. This was my first time in this gate—I didn't even know the way out. We were in a real bind.
We'd been running for who knows how long when the monsters spotted us. Arrows started flying between the trees—not a barrage, just a couple at a time. Their numbers couldn't be that high. I tried to spot where the archers were, but all I could see was the dark forest path.
Then the sound of splitting air rang out, louder than the rest.
What the—?!
Something glinted in my peripheral vision. I tried to swat it away on reflex, but it punched straight into my arm.
What the hell—Rigid Body got pierced?!
I yanked the arrow out and checked the wound. It wasn't too deep. Worried about poison, I sucked at it and spat.
"Uncle! Keep running!"
"What? Why?!"
"These things are weird. If we don't take them out, other people are gonna get hurt. Go get the Hunters!"
"Are you insane?! Just run with me!"
An arrow zipped past my head the moment he spoke and buried itself in a tree. I barely dodged it, then looked at the uncle. His eyes were shaking like there'd been an earthquake.
"I'm tougher and faster than you, so don't worry about me!"
"Agh, shit! Don't you die!"
"Of course not."
I stopped running and turned around. The forest behind me was quiet and empty. The fallen leaves on the ground looked like they were writhing like black hands, the atmosphere so sinister it made me doubt my eyes. The sound of the uncle's footsteps grew fainter as he ran on.
...
For some reason, no more arrows came. The monsters' cries that had filled the forest had also stopped.
Did they go after the uncle instead?
All I could do was pray he'd made it out. The monsters seemed to be searching for me, the silence pressing down like a weight.
"Huff… huff…"
A tingling sensation spread from the arrow wound in my arm. I clenched and opened my fist—still moving fine. My condition wasn't too bad yet. Leaning against a tree, I picked up a rock near my feet and gripped it. One shot. If they fired even once, I could pinpoint their location. Time to show them that a rock thrown by an Awakened wasn't the same as some ordinary throw.
I held my fist up near my face and crouched low. Until they fired, I had to minimize my exposed profile.
Where are you?
I kept my head still and scanned with just my eyes. Then I caught a glint.
……An arrowhead!
The arrowhead I'd pulled from my arm was raw, unworked metal. The sun hadn't set yet—maybe the light was reflecting off it. Nothing to lose. I planted my feet, wound up, and hurled the rock with everything I had.
The power stored in my contracted muscles launched it. It tore through the air with a sharp whistle. A rock thrown with an Awakened's strength and elasticity would fly nothing like a normal throw.
Bang!
The rock roared through the air and smashed into the monster's arrow, shattering on impact.
It shot down a rock moving at that speed?!
This wasn't a normal monster for this gate. It wasn't just using tools—it had real archery skill. If those fragments had grazed me, I would've been in serious trouble. A chill ran down my spine. This was a higher-level opponent. Much higher than me.
The one silver lining? It seemed to be alone, unlike what I'd first assumed. If there'd been more, I'd have been busy dodging right now.
A few more arrows came after that, but I threw myself into rolls to avoid them. The forest gave the monster cover, but it gave me cover too.
Shit, this is exhausting.
I hadn't expected a standoff with an invisible enemy to be this draining. The wound on my arm had already closed, but my nerves were being whittled away. It was hunting me like a slowly tightening noose.
Disgusting bastard.
It felt like it was toying with me. Lying flat in the underbrush was humiliating. If it had been Jia, she probably would've snapped its neck by now. The thought only made the feeling worse.
"Come out! Come out, you piece of shit! This is pissing me off!"
I could feel my eyes burning with rage, but my head stayed cold. It couldn't have infinite arrows. If I kept drawing aggro and forcing it to shoot, it'd have to show itself eventually.
I burst out of the bushes and yelled. My voice echoed through the forest and faded. Then came the sound of leaves crunching underfoot. It must've run out of arrows. I'd been ready to eat dirt again if I had to, but luck was on my side.
"There you are!"
I threw myself sideways on reflex. The first thing I saw was white hair. Humanoid. A beautiful woman in worn leather armor, slender frame, bow with nothing nocked. She slung the bow over her back and drew the dagger at her waist. The sharply honed blade caught the light.
I didn't stop my charge. Because she had something that set her apart from humans.
Her ears. Long, pointed ears unlike any human's—straight out of a fantasy movie. Before the gates opened, they were creatures of myth. After the gates opened, they caused massive disasters wherever they appeared.
Elves.