The notification appeared before their faces, shocking them to the core.
'No,' instantly turning around, Caleb tried to step out of the city when all of a sudden, an invisible barrier appeared, similar to the one in the village except for the fact that it was far larger, covering the entirety of Highcrest.
'So we are once again inside a barrier but this time, we are trapped inside instead of being able to move out.' Ren's lips twitched in irritation.
He stomped his feet on the ground, frustration and anger coursing through his veins. But in the next moment, a squeak came from a house beside him.
A little surprised, he turned his head only to find a rat staring at him from a narrow gutter.
Looking at it, Evan's words surfaced in Ren's mind about discovering a mutated rat in their village well.
'But this one looks normal.'
Ren contemplated, staring at the rat that was munching on something and occasionally turning its head in his direction, possibly because it was wary of them.
Their eyes locked for a moment, and then the rat turned and ran away.
Meanwhile, Evan and Caleb had already discussed what to do next and told Ren about it.
"If we can't escape, we need to find the survivors." That was the best decision to ensure their safety.
Deciding to rest randomly in any (dwelling) for the night, they entered a nearby house.
With a slow creak, the door opened, and Evan stepped in first. Looking around, he didn't see any hostile beings, and only after being completely sure of it, he nodded at the group to enter.
The house still had some flickering lamps burning in the corners, brightening the room to some extent. The floor was composed of stone slabs held together with a type of clay mixed with water, creating a sturdy floor.
But the ground floor didn't have room for everyone.
Evan and Lina decided to sleep in the same room beside the kitchen and seeing this, Ren instantly announced that he would stay on the floor above before Ronan or Caleb could say something.
With a little awkwardness flickering in his eyes, Ronan finally conceded and agreed to sleep in the room next to Evan.
'Is he still feeling bad about it?' Ren sighed, but it wasn't his place to say something so he kept quiet.
And the fact that Ronan's hostility had now faded into neutrality made Ren think twice before interfering.
With Caleb, Ren climbed the stairs and was relieved to find two rooms above. Nodding at each other, both chose a room to spend the night.
But just as Ren's hand touched the door, his body tensed up.
His breath hitched for a second. Slowly turning his head upwards, his worst fears came true.
In the corner of the ceiling of the house, a hideous creature with a jagged maw was staring at him as saliva oozed from its mouth.
Its eyes were completely red and vicious, its hide pitch black. It was more than seven feet in length.
Ren's heart thundered in panic but before he could even move, the creature burst toward him.
[Ding! Vermyrex detected for the first time.]
A notification popped out of nowhere as the creature slammed directly into Ren, knocking the air out of his lungs.
His chest caved half an inch inward.
'Shit. I don't have a weapon.' Gritting his teeth, Ren freed both of his hands from the creature's grasp with his raw strength.
Seeing this, the vermyrex opened its mouth and went directly for his head.
Ren's hand immediately shot forward and grabbed the two of its massive canines.
"Shriekkkk..."
With a loud scream, the vermyrex tried its best to push Ren back and one of its claws went straight for his throat.
'This will be painful.'
He clenched his teeth and fell backward onto the floor, and kicked the vermyrex in the chest with both of his legs.
The creature flew backward and crashed near the stairs, splinters flew as its back slammed against the wooden beam, making it cough out a mouthful of black blood.
Just as Ren stood up, the creature once again rushed at him.
But suddenly, a machete was embedded in its back and torn through its chest from nowhere.
"Screeeeech—" a guttural sound tore from its throat. Blood flowed down its hide and soaked its entire body.
The creature's gaze narrowed as it sensed someone behind. Its head snapped behind instantly only to find three humans standing there.
Realization struck the vermyrex that the ones it thought to be the prey were maybe the predators themselves.
Before it could even attack them, a spear flew above its head and Ren caught it in an instant.
Before the vermyrex could turn around, the spear plunged into the back of its skull. Its legs weakened and life faded out of its eyes as its lifeless body collapsed onto the floor.
"You should've gone for the head." Ren's voice came from behind the vermyrex but his focus was on the screen in front of him.
[Ding! Level 18 Vermyrex exterminated!]
[Exp +585.]
[Congrats! You have reached Level 20!]
[Spirit Power~>99(+)]
---
Meanwhile, in a completely different place.
The air carried the scent of rot and filth. Wastewater flowed down sluggishly through the drains, the scent was so wretched that it felt like decay and corruption itself had been fermenting for years.
Inside the sewers, a long narrow tunnel stretched endlessly in different directions like a network.
In the center of this tunnel, something humanoid was sitting without movement.
Human hearts were scattered around it, their surfaces still wet as if they were freshly harvested from somewhere. The creature lifted its hand and one by one, consumed the hearts with wet, deliberate sounds.
As it reached for another one of the hearts, its hand stopped all of a sudden.
Its red eyes glowed briefly. The world shifted, and Ren and the others appeared through the rat's perspective.
Slowly, a devious smile crept on its face.
"New and fresh food."
It muttered as it licked its lips, wet fluids dripped down its mouth into the filth below.