No asked what he had seen or what they were running from. When they saw Zaen run, they ran after him. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
They had barely made it out of the room when there was a loud crash. The window had been broken through. Everyone instinctively turned towards the noise.
"Don't look!" Zaen yelled, forcefully pushing Shyra and Hina out before slamming the doors shut.
If looking at them had such an effect on his sanity, the girls would immediately lose their minds if they as much as saw a glimpse of the creatures.
"Don't stop. Keep running!" he yelled.
He didn't know what those claws were made of, but if they could break through walls, a wooden door wouldn't stand in their way.
Sure enough, a claw burst through the door, followed by angry snarls. Within seconds, the door broke apart, and the rest of them got their first look at the monstrous creatures.
Shyra shrieked, averting her gaze, while Hina stood there in silence. Her reaction wasn't normal, as if she had already lost her mind.
"Damnit, I told you not to look!" Zaen cursed loudly, grabbed Hina by her hand, and shoved her back. "Go!"
His touch seemed to have brought her to her senses as she yelled and huddled together with the rest. While they ran back, Zaen noticed something was off.
Despite breaking the door, the ghouls weren't chasing them anymore. It wasn't out of courtesy because they clearly wanted to chase after. It was more like something was stopping them from leaving the room.
"What are you stopping for?" Harris asked, only to realize that the ghouls weren't chasing them. "Wait… those creatures. Why aren't they coming after us?"
"Does it matter?" Rouland scoffed. "Let's get the hell out of here!"
"Are you dumb?" Shyra snapped back. "Didn't you read the rules? We are trapped here for a day! There's no place to escape."
"So? Even if we stayed here, nothing would change, would it?"
Zaen ignored their bickering, wondering what was stopping the ghouls.
If they were to survive this thing, they had to learn more about the rules of the game and the place. Especially if there was something those monsters were afraid of.
Suddenly, he felt someone tugging his hand. Zaen turned around and saw Hina pointing above.
"Lights," she whispered. "They're afraid of light."
He looked back and, sure enough, that seemed to be the case. The light above the door was flickering. Every time it went out, the ghouls would take a step ahead, only to jump back when it came back on.
The problem was that it was the only working light source in the entire hall. They couldn't carry it with them ahead.
"If only our phones worked here…" Zaen clicked his tongue and turned to leave.
Staying there wasn't of any use. Not to mention the one-hour time limit they had before something else appeared to hunt them.
[Beep-Boop! A surprise quest has arrived!]
[Quest: Ghoul Hunter]
[Introduction: You've found the anomaly's weakness. It would be a waste not to torment them, right?]
[Task: Kill a ghoul.]
[Time Limit: 15 minutes.]
[Pro tip: complete it quickly. Who knows what will happen if you don't, Beep-Boop!]
Zaen sighed, glaring at Hina.
Finding the weakness was the trigger for this sudden quest. Hina had received the same quest, and since she couldn't do it herself, she got Zaen to trigger it as well.
"…sorry," she said, looking away.
Zaen shook his head and looked at the knife in his hand. It had an impeccably shiny blade.
"Anyone else triggered the sudden quest?" he asked.
Apart from Hina and him, they weren't staring at the ghouls, so they hadn't noticed their weakness. It was a good thing, since they only had three ghouls. It would be troublesome if over three people triggered the quest.
Without saying a word, he retrieved a second knife from his pocket, walking towards the ghouls.
"Zaen, what are you—" Shyra said, only to be held back by Rouland.
"Ignore him. His antics would only get us into trouble."
Shyra looked at Rouland's hand, and he immediately let her go.
"Don't you dare touch me again, get that?"
He just scoffed and turned away.
[You're in the presence of an anomaly.]
[Your sanity has dropped!]
[103/110]
"I've been staring at them for so long. Why has it only dropped now?" Zaen mumbled, wondering if it had something to do with distance.
However, that would contradict how he lost his sanity when looking at them through the window, as the ghouls were far away back then.
"Maybe continuous exposure builds tolerance?"
Either way, it wasn't the time to learn.
A couple of minutes had already passed, and he had to act quickly. Slowly, he walked and stood right under the flickering light.
Upon seeing him, the ghouls turned erratic. One of them seemed to have lost its mind and lunged directly at him.
Everyone gasped, but just then the lights turned back on. The sound of sizzling flesh filled the hall as the light hit the ghoul. All its bravado disappeared as it tried to run back inside the room.
"Not so fast."
As it turned to escape, Zaen caught the ghoul's arm. The ghoul snarled at him, baring its teeth. But before it could do anything, he tossed it over his shoulder and slammed it on the ground.
The ghoul screeched in pain, not from the fall, but because of exposure to light.
It tried to kick Zaen away, but he planted his feet on the beast's chest, forcing it to burn away. The smell of burning rotten flesh wasn't appetizing, but he tolerated it until the creature was turned to husk.
[Ghouls killed: 1/1]
[Runner Ghoul killed! Exp +30]
[Total Exp: 30/100]
[First kill confirmed! You have gained 1 spin point(s)!]
The remaining ghouls stood there, growling as their brethren disappeared.
[You've been touched by an anomaly.]
[Your sanity has dropped!]
[98/110]
"I see… even touching them is out of the question," he said, turning towards the other two ghouls. "I should have used the knives."
As much as the ghouls wanted to lunge at him, they were afraid of meeting the same fate, so they stayed back, far away from the light.
"Like that's gonna help you."
After saying so, Zaen used a knife to reflect the light on the anomalies. They screamed as the light hit their faces. While they were covering their faces, he threw the second knife at the nearest one.
Unfortunately, his aim was a bit off, and it hit the ghoul's leg. The others watched as he threw multiple knives inside, wondering what he was doing.
After throwing a dozen knives, he stopped and turned to Hina.
"Come, I'll help you finish one."
She nodded, stepping closer to him. As the two entered, Zaen remembered something and closed her eyes.
"W-What—?"
"Your sanity. It's already low, isn't it? It's better not to look at them."
Hina nodded, grabbing the knife Zaen gave her.
Inside the room, the two ghouls had their legs and arms pinned to the wall, rendering them unable to move.
Gently raising her hand, he pressed the tip of the blade against the forehead of a ghoul.
"Shove it in when you feel ready, okay?"
Hina nodded again and pushed it in without hesitation. There was a sickening crunch, followed by something smelly dribbling down to the floor.
She quickly let it go and began shivering like they were in Antarctica. Zaen, realizing her sanity must have dropped below fifty, hugged her tightly, whispering soothing words into her ears.
[Recovery is in effect.]
[Target's Sanity is being restored.]
Once those words appeared before him, he took out another knife and killed the last ghoul.
[Ghouls killed: 2/1]
[Runner Ghoul killed! Exp +30]
[Total Exp: 60/100]
No spin points this time. I guess it was only for the first kill.
[Surprise quest completed!]
[Reward: Ghoul's heart has been added to your rewards list!]
[Rewards can be claimed upon completion of the game.]