Something was entering the arena, moving slowly yet heavily, dragging itself forward with a disturbing weight that made the ground tremble with each step.
DRRRAAAG—!!
At first glance it looked human, tall, unnaturally tall, its upper body stretched with bones clearly visible beneath torn skin, its ribs shifting as if something inside was crawling and trying to break free.
But below that, it was no longer human, not even close.
Its lower half was a grotesque mass of spider-like limbs, long, twisted legs stabbing into the ground and dragging its bloated, distorted body forward with sickening precision.
SKRRRRT—!!
Its arms were just as wrong, one resembling something human while the other had split apart into multiple jointed limbs, twitching constantly like broken fingers multiplying endlessly.
Its face was a nightmare, half human and half melted, skin hanging loosely while its jaw remained dislocated, stretched too far as thick black fluid dripped endlessly from its mouth.
DRIP—!! DRIP—!!
Then its eyes locked onto Ren— All of them.
Because it didn't just have two, but many, dozens of tiny, twitching eyes opening across its neck, blinking out of sync as they all focused on him at once.
Watching like a hunter observe it's prey.
…tik… tik… tik…
A sound escaped from its throat, something unnatural, something worse than a roar or a scream, like bones clicking against each other deep inside its body.
Ren's face twisted in pure disgust, his grip tightening around the scythe as a faint frown appeared. "…What the fuck is that thing… nah… that's just fucked up."
The announcer's voice roared across the arena, loud and dramatic.
"Here comes our ultimate champion of the second phase… the very reason no one has ever cleared it—"
A beat.
"—DEAD CRAWLER!!"
SKREEEE—!!
Ren's face froze for a second… then twitched.
"…Fuck 'Dead Crawler' my ass…" he muttered, clear hesitation in his voice as he glanced back at the nightmare chasing him.
His grip tightened. "…Couldn't you idiots mention that before I signed up!?"
The creature suddenly stopped, its entire body going still before its head slowly tilted to the side, going further and further until it snapped violently.
CRACK—!!
It fixed itself on him again, every single eye locking in place.
The creature froze for a split second…
Then—
SKRRRRT—!!
It moved—not jumping, not leaping, just crawling like some freak… fast as hell, way too damn fast.
Its limbs stabbed into the ground again and again, dragging that grotesque body forward like a nightmare refusing to stay still.
DRRRAAAG—!! SKKRRRT—!!
Ren's eyes twitched. "…Nope. Not this ti—"
He turned and bolted.
THUD—!! THUD—!! THUD—!!
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?" he shouted, glancing back for a second. "Some long distance relative of friendly neighbours spider or what!?"
The thing didn't stoped chasing him.
It only got faster.
SKREEEE—!!
"…Yeah, no. I'm not dealing with that."
That damn annoying sound with a translucent screen again poped up in front of ren.
[ Oh? Running? That's new ]
Ren's face darkened instantly. "…Don't you dare to start!."
[I mean… usually you'd be like— 'Oh wow, new mutant, free reward, let's go.]
"…Not this one."
[ Really? You? Backing off? Wow… the mighty Ren running away, that's kinda pathetic. ]
"Why you damn thingh!" Ren snapped, dodging sideways—
WHIP—!!
CRASH—!!
Corpses burst behind him—zombies, people… all getting shredded like trash.
[ …You seeing that thing!?.]
[ Yeah, I see it. Looks nasty… but don't tell me that's scaring you. ]
"Scaring…?" Ren let out a stiff, awkward laugh, his face turning slightly pale. "That thing looks like it crawled straight out of my worst nightmare…"
The creature surged closer—
SKRRRRT—!!
[ So what's the issue? Strength? Speed?. Just already kill that thingh.]
"…Spiders."
A pause.
[ …You're joking. ]
"I'm not joking!" Ren snapped, accelerating. "I hate spiders! Big ones, small ones, whatever the hell THAT is—I'm not fighting it!"
[ Wow. The great merciless zombie killer… scared of bugs. ]
"Shut up!"
Another limb shot forward—
WHIP—!!
SWISH—!!
Barely missed him.
"…The hell do you expect from me!?" Ren growled. "You want me to turn around and throw hands with that disgusting thing!?"
[ Yeah? That's usually how this works. ]
"…You're insane." he said as someone want's him to cut of his manhood.
[ No, you're just being dramatic. ]
"Dramatic my ass—look at it!"
SKREEEEE—!!
The creature screamed again, accelerating even more, its countless eyes twitching violently.
It was right behind him now, too close.
"…Tch." Ren's expression tightened, his grip on the scythe shifting.
He slowed down just a little. "…Fine." He took a slow breath.
"…If it gets any closer…"
A faint, dangerous grin appeared—then immediately fell apart, twisting into something pale and shaken. "…Yeah… nope."
He ran and ran—THUD—!! THUD—!!—
"…He's running?"
"Really!? You've gotta be joking…"
"That guy was acting so confident a second ago!"
"He's dead… there's no way he survives that thing…"
"What's the point of all that money if he can't even live to see tomorrow morning…"
[ Oh boy… looks like I gotta step in… ]
Ren snapped, anger and fear mixing in his voice. "The hell are you saying now!?" He barely ducked—
WHIP—!!
CRASH—!!
Corpses burst behind him, zombies and people alike, as the creature kept closing in.
[ Lemme think… oh—right, I forgot to give you your reward for the system update. ]
"…You WHAT!?" His eye twitched hard.
[ You have obtained: Random Skill Card ]
"WHY NOW!?" Ren barked, breath uneven.
"You couldn't give me that before!?" The creature screeched—
SKREEEE—!!
"…Whatever—just use it!" he snapped, grip tightening. "I don't care what it is—JUST USE IT!"
[ Random Skill Card — Fearless Warrior ]
[ Description — Removes fear completely until the end of the battle. Side effects: may ignore danger, reduced self-preservation.]
A pause hit him. "…WHAT!?"
For a split second, something felt off. Then—silence.
[ Hmm… ]
"…Oi? Don't go quiet now." No answer came.
His breathing slowed on its own, the tension in his body easing unnaturally. The fear that was just there… gone, like it never existed. A grin slowly crept onto his face. "…Heh… so this is what you meant."
The creature lunged again—
SKRRRRT—!!
—but this time Ren didn't run. He stepped forward instead, stopping completely as the ground cracked under its incoming weight.
The crowd's noise dipped. "…Wait… why did he stop?" "He's not running anymore…"
Ren tilted his head, watching it come straight at him. "…Damn… you're even uglier up close."
A limb tore toward him—
WHIP—!!
—but he slipped past it smoothly—
SWISH—!!
His grin widened. "…If I can't cut you in one go, then I'll just take you apart piece by piece."
SHHK—!!
The scythe flashed clean through one of its legs.
SPLASH—!!
Black fluid burst out as the limb dropped heavy to the ground.
SKREEEEEE—!!!
The creature shrieked, its body collapsing to one side—yet it didn't stop. The remaining limbs slammed into the ground harder, dragging itself up again with violent force as all those twitching eyes locked onto Ren, rage replacing whatever instinct it had before.
SKRRRRT—!!
It came again—faster, more erratic.
Ren's grin didn't fade. It widened. "…Yeah… that's it. Don't die too fast."
A limb shot toward him—
WHIP—!!
It nearly caught him—
THUD—!!
Ren slid back across the ground, boots carving a line before he stopped, just barely avoiding the strike.
He paused, then laughed. "…Heh… okay… you're fast."
The creature didn't give him time—multiple limbs stabbed forward at once, twisting mid-air like spears.
WHIP—!! WHIP—!! WHIP—!!
Ren moved—barely.
SWISH—!!
One missed.
SWISH—!!
Another passed right by his shoulder—
RIP—!!
Cloth tore slightly, but he remained untouched.
"…Tch." He clicked his tongue, eyes sharpening instead of panicking. "…Still too slow."
He stepped in.
THUD—!!
Closing the distance instead of backing away.
The creature's eyes twitched wildly.
Ren's grin turned sharper. More unhinged. "…My turn."
SHHK—!!
Another limb dropped.
SPLASH—!!
Black fluid sprayed again as the creature let out a distorted scream—
SKREEEEE—!!!
But this time it adapted in that sort amount of time.
The remaining limbs pulled back—then slammed down all at once—
BOOOOM—!!
The ground shattered outward.
Ren was forced back—
THUD—!!
"…Oh?" He steadied himself, sliding to a stop. "…You learn too?"
The creature lunged again, its human-like arm stretching unnaturally, splitting mid-air into multiple jointed extensions aiming straight for him.
SKRRRRT—!!
Ren's eyes narrowed.
Then—he stepped forward again.
"…Good."
He twisted at the last second—
SWISH—!!
One arm missed.
He slipped inside—
SHHK—!!
Another limb gone.
SPLASH—!!
The creature shrieked violently, balance collapsing further.
Ren didn't stop, he moved again—fast.
THUD—!!
"…Too many legs… why the fuck do you even have this many?" Ren's grin widened, eyes gleaming with excitement. "…Fine by me—"
SHHK—!!
One more—gone.
SPLASH—!!
"…Let me fix that."
The creature thrashed wildly—
SKREEEE—!!
But it couldn't keep up anymore.
Ren weaved through the chaotic strikes—
SWISH—!! SWISH—!!
Untouched, he was grinning, completely unhinged.
SHHK—!!
Another leg dropped.
SPLASH—!!
SHHK—!!
Another.
SPLASH—!!
The massive body sank lower and lower, struggling to even lift itself now.
All its legs—gone.
Only a twitching, broken mass remained, dragging uselessly against the shattered ground.
SKREEEEEE—!!!
Ren stopped right in front of it, scythe resting lightly on his shoulder, breathing calm.
"…There we go."
[ …You're kidding me. ]