Chapter 3
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Episode 1 - Protagonist [3]
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Squeak! Squeak!
Dozens of rats rushed toward the group, their heavy footsteps splashing against puddles of water and, most likely, puddles of filth.
"Elia, fall back! Zeth, Frey, and I will attack with everything we've got. At the right moment, we escape!"
The rats' squeaks grew louder.
Frey charged first, roaring as he raised his mace with both hands.
"I'm going to crush these damned vermin!"
The sound of the first rat's skull being crushed was both dry and wet. Blood splattered in all directions. Henry followed close behind, his sword slicing through the air with precision. The front rows of rats began to fall, but for every one that died, two more took its place.
Zeth stayed at the rear, watching. Not out of fear. He was analyzing.
「Skill: Intellectual Genius activated」
「You can think at an accelerated rate and anticipate any surprise attack」
His gaze swept the cavern in a second. The echo of the squeaks allowed him to calculate exactly how many rats were coming. Too many. This wasn't a battle they could win by brute force.
He took a step forward.
「Skill: Master of Steps activated」
「Your movements are silent, swift, and hard for the enemy to predict」
His boots barely touched the ground as he glided through the gaps left by Frey and Henry. His sword moved in a straight line, fast, without waste. A rat's head rolled across the floor.
「Skill: Perfect Synchronization activated」
「You can coordinate your attacks with enemy movements to maximize efficiency」
His sword struck just as a rat leaped toward him. Not a second too soon, not a second too late. He sliced it in half mid-air.
"Zeth, cover my back! They're surrounding us!"
Henry shouted, swinging his sword to fend off an attack from behind.
Zeth didn't respond. He didn't need to. He was already there, his sword piercing the throat of another rat lunging at Henry.
Elia hurled a fireball that exploded near the entrance. The rats squealed, some fled… but more came. Countless. They poured from the walls as if emerging from hell itself.
"This is endless!"
Frey shouted, stepping back.
One of the rats bit his leg.
"Argh! Damn it!"
Zeth spun quickly, slicing it down. But it was too late. Blood streamed from the wound.
「Skill: Instinct Mastery activated」
「Your body reacts before your mind processes, enhancing your reflexes in combat」
Zeth began to move like a shadow. Every time a rat lunged for the kill, it was dead before it hit the ground. Yet his breathing remained steady. His face showed neither strain nor anger. Only focus.
The rats pressed harder. A wall of flesh, teeth, and squeaks.
"We have to escape! Now!"
Henry yelled, kicking a rat away.
Elia nodded. She prepared a fire spell to clear a path. The explosion incinerated several rats and raised a thick cloud of smoke.
"Zeth! Let's go!"
Zeth's gaze shifted to Frey. The man could barely walk. His leg was bleeding heavily, his movements clumsy. The rats were already circling him.
Zeth took a step toward him.
Frey looked at him, grinning through clenched teeth, his face smeared with blood.
"I knew you weren't trustworthy… but come on, you're not gonna leave me here, right?"
Zeth said nothing. He raised his sword.
"Hey… wait…"
「Skill: Weapon Master activated」
「Your mastery of any weapon is elevated to the peak of its current potential」
With clinical precision, Zeth cut down the rats that were too close to the group… except those surrounding Frey. He took a step back.
"Zeth… don't screw around… Zeth!"
"If I run with you, they'll catch all three of us. But if you stay, they might chase you… not us."
Elia shouted his name, horrified. Henry stared at him with a mix of rage and helplessness.
"You damned psychopath!"
Zeth merely walked toward the darkness of the tunnel opened by the explosion.
Frey screamed, cursed. The rats swarmed him.
Squeaks.
Screams.
Then, nothing.
Zeth, Henry, and Elia ran. The rats hesitated for a few seconds… then began to pursue. But that brief moment… that sacrifice… gave them the edge they needed to escape.
In the dimness of the tunnel, Elia and Henry's heavy breathing echoed.
"You shouldn't have left him!"
Elia spat the words through tears.
Zeth didn't respond. He just walked ahead, his sword dripping blood.
No regrets. No looking back.
…
Henry moved quickly, his breathing still ragged from the effort. He didn't look at Zeth, but the silence between them was heavy. Elia walked ahead, lost in her thoughts, as if trying to block out the scene of Frey's death.
"It wasn't necessary to leave him."
Henry spoke.
Zeth didn't stop. He kept walking, his gaze fixed forward.
"It was necessary. If you hadn't seen it, we'd still be trapped back there."
Zeth replied without looking back.
Henry frowned. Anger still pulsed through his veins, but something about Zeth made him pause. He wasn't like the others. He didn't care about anyone's well-being. It was purely about survival.
"You're a bastard, and to think we shared similar pasts."
Zeth didn't react. Not a muscle in his face moved.
"You're wrong. I'm just realistic about our situation."
Elia said nothing. Her face was cold, distant. She stared at the ground as she walked, not engaging in the exchange.
Henry looked at Zeth for a moment longer, something shifting in his expression. That indifference, the way he made decisions… it stirred an uneasy feeling.
But he couldn't deny Zeth was right.
Silence enveloped them, heavy. None of the three wanted to continue the conversation. They just kept moving forward, without looking back.
A distant squeak made them all tense.
"The rats…"
Elia said, breaking the silence.
The echo of squeaks grew louder. Zeth tightened his grip on his sword.
"We have to run."
The three began moving faster, fear pushing them. The squeaks grew closer and closer.
They couldn't stop.
"Run."
***
Skills change people's personalities.
'My skills are more related to the sword and intelligence.'
Intelligence-related skills alter personality, making one think more realistically.
Sword-related skills, to some extent, briefly transform personality into that of a seasoned knight.
Pushing Frey and letting the rats kill him was one of my strategies to survive the sewers.
Realizing it gave me enough time to escape left me relieved. The protagonist, Seth, had to fight alone and escape by force.
Further into the sewers, he encountered the story's first antagonist.
"Yuri M. Valemont, daughter of a CEO with a tragic death before waking in the white room."
Somehow, she escaped the orcs and entered the sewers from a different place, not the waste zone I came through.
Seth and Yuri worked together and managed to escape the sewers, emerging into the forest outside the underground prison.
After teaming up, the giant rats weren't much of a problem, and that was thanks to Yuri.
"In the novel, she was sponsored by one of the most famous and powerful constellations, earning her first stigma even before Seth."
The stigma was a great help. Yuri specializes in magical combat.
A blend of magic and weapon-based combat artistry.
"If I find her, I could get out of this place more easily."
The problem was, I didn't know where she was now.
"Seth found her in the middle of a fight against the rats, but for me, that's already over, and now I have no idea if she's behind or ahead of us."
As we ran and the rats finally stopped chasing us, I considered a possibility.
'What if she's not on my path? What if she's on another route?'
There were several possibilities. Finding Yuri right now was essential.
To survive the rats that were everywhere.
We escaped those rats earlier with Frey's help, and I couldn't use the two behind me for now unless it became necessary.
'Using Henry or Elia… One of them would either split off or try to kill me.'
They're weaker.
I'd have no trouble killing them easily.
'They're starting to feel like a burden.'
Maybe I should…
Before I realized it, a group of giant rats was already ahead.
I stopped instantly and then turned toward the side tunnel.
Elia and Henry hid behind me as I peered out and looked at the group of rats, cursing inwardly.
"Damn it, I need to get through there."
Realizing the number of rats made it impossible to pass.
"Fine, then I should use these two now."
I turned to Elia and said,
"Elia, you can distract the rats. Just use a fireball, nothing more."
Elia looked at me with fear.
"There's no other way," I said.
Henry asked, staring at me intently.
"Look behind you. See how the tunnel continues?"
There were three meters until a wall blocked the path. The only way was where the rats were.
"True, we have no options. Elia, it's your call."
Elia gripped her staff tightly and bit her lip.
"Fine…"
"Elia, don't trust this guy. What if he leaves you behind like he did with Frey?"
How interesting. He really doesn't trust me anymore.
My face shifted to a darker expression.
"It's fine to distrust, but look at your situation."
Elia seemed to think for a moment.
"It doesn't matter, Henry."
"Elia…"
Henry fell silent and looked at me.
"You're happy now, aren't you? Fine, let's go."
Elia stood in the middle of the tunnel, facing the rats.
Suddenly, a fireball shot toward the rats as Henry and I ran forward.
The rats squealed as they burned, thrashing and crashing into the walls. The fire briefly lit the tunnel, casting grotesque shadows in every corner.
I ran. Beside me, Henry panted heavily, his face drenched in sweat. Behind us, Elia's screams grew fainter.
"Don't leave me! Zeth, Henry!"
I didn't stop. Not when I heard her voice, not when the rats' footsteps closed in on her.
Henry did. He turned for a moment, his face contorted with desperation.
"We have to help her!"
"Are you going to save her alone? Or die like Frey?"
He hesitated. Just for a second. And that second was enough.
I surged ahead.
When I turned, he was already on me.
"Damn you!"
Henry shouted, his sword aimed at my chest.
But it was too late.
「Skill: Perfect Synchronization activated」
My sword moved first, swift, direct.
The blade pierced his chest. The sound of his choked breath was louder than the rats' squeaks.
Blood spurted from his mouth.
"Zeth… damn you…"
Blood poured from his mouth and chest as he looked at me with a face of despair.
I pushed him back. His body fell close enough to Elia, who was struggling to stay on her feet while casting another fireball, her eyes tearful and desperate.
The rats, drawn by the heat, the movement, the smell of blood… lunged at them both.
The squeaks turned frantic.
And I didn't look back.
I ran.
My boots slapped the wet ground, the tunnel narrowing, twisting. The squeaks followed me, and for a moment, it felt like even the air weighed on my shoulders.
Suddenly, the rats started charging toward me.
"Shit, those two weren't enough."
I thought I'd have enough time to escape using them, but I was wrong.
"Damn it… I need to survive."
Just as I thought I was going to die, a hand grabbed me and pulled me into the side tunnel.
"Don't make a sound."
A hand covered my mouth as dozens of giant rats raced past where I'd been standing.
I looked and calmed down.
"Yuri…!"
Finally, I found you… Or rather, she found me.