Sanity is locked at 1. Does that mean I can't be trapped in whatever this place is?
According to the rules, the game wouldn't be over until either all the participants had lost their sanity or had completed the objectives.
But that rule wasn't applicable to Zaen anymore. Since his sanity would never drop to zero, the only way for the game to end was for him to complete it.
He wouldn't lose his mind, but he could be trapped in the game for all eternity. Thankfully, the hide-and-seek game had a time limit of 24 hours.
Interesting…
For once, Zaen was eager to find what else the fortune wheel could give to him. In all his excitement, he forgot about their dwindling supplies.
Maybe next time…
Looking at the sleeping individuals, Zaen kicked Harris awake.
"Huh!? Where are they!?"
Harris woke up with a start, ready to throw fists.
"Oh, good. You're up!" Zaen smiled, as if he wasn't the one to kick him. "Do you mind taking over?"
"Wh-What? Where are you going?"
Zaen lifted his pinky finger before carefully placing the girls next to each other. As he was about to walk out, he noticed Rouland and turned back, handing Harris a knife.
"In case anyone tries anything they shouldn't."
Although his words were spoken to Harris, they were meant for Rouland. With that, he walked out.
Zaen wasn't lying. He had to take nature's call. While he relieved the pressure, his thoughts went back to Rouland.
The guy had always been a happy-go-lucky kind of man. However, ever since stepping into the game, his attitude had done a one-eighty.
He was constantly causing problems and giving attitude to others. Especially whenever Zaen was involved.
He let it go after reacting the first time, for the sake of harmony, as they already had too much to worry about. Unfortunately, Rouland was getting on his nerves now.
Moreover, while others often told others about their sanity levels, Rouland never did. Perhaps he didn't want to owe anything to Zaen, since he was helping everyone recover their sanity.
It's that, or he has something else on his mind.
Despite surviving for over twenty hours in the game, they literally knew nothing about it. Other than the ghouls that wanted to hunt them, and the risk of losing sanity.
Games usually have a guide, but other than those random screens, there's no one to help us—wait… maybe there is someone.
After wrapping things up, Zaen cleared his throat.
"Beep-Boop…" he mumbled.
He remembered the words often being displayed across the screens and thought that using the words would trigger some instance, just like the hidden quest.
Seconds passed, but nothing happened. Zaen scratched his cheek in embarrassment and was about to leave when a spark appeared before him.
⟨AM-042, Beep-Boop, at your service!⟩
The spark said in a squeaky voice.
⟨How may I help you, Beep-Boop?⟩
"Ah!" Zaen exclaimed, surprised by the strange spark.
[You're in the presence of an anomaly.]
[Your sanity has dropped!]
[Sanity: 109/110]
Zaen quickly averted his gaze, staring at his feet.
Perhaps Beep-Boop thought the human hadn't heard it, so it repeated the question.
⟨How may I help you, Beep-Boop?⟩
Instead of asking stupid questions and being in the Spark's presence for long, Zaen got straight to the point.
"How can we get food and water here?"
⟨Players can get loot from slaying mobs, Beep-Boop. Anything else?⟩
"…spin points, how do I get them?"
⟨Players can get spin points by performing certain quests or slaying high-ranked anomalies, Beep-Boop.⟩
Zaen thought about it for a moment. Honestly, he had no intention of fighting any other anomalies. It was better to complete quests and get the points, just in case.
"How do I find these quests?"
⟨Quests are randomized. Players get quests upon entering the Hunter Games or by discovering hidden or surprise quests, Beep-Boop.⟩
"Is there any other way?" Zaen asked. "I'm kind of clueless about these things."
⟨Nope, Beep-Boop.⟩
Zaen sighed. He thought that perhaps by calling Beep-Boop, he might receive a quest or some rewards. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
[You're in the presence of an anomaly.]
[Your sanity has dropped!]
[Sanity: 106/110]
There's no point in staying here any longer.
He waved at the spark and was about to leave when it spoke again.
⟨There is another way to get a quest, Beep-Boop.⟩
"…?"
⟨One must join the other side for it, Beep-Boop.⟩
"What do you—?"
Before Zaen could scream, an ear-splitting scream came from the storehouse. He quickly equipped the knives and rushed back.
"What in the world…"
[You're in the presence of an anomaly.]
[Your sanity has dropped!]
[Sanity: 96/110]
[You've spotted a ghoul parade.]
[Your sanity has dropped!]
[Sanity: 83/110]
Although his sanity was dropping rapidly, Zaen couldn't take his eyes off the storehouse entrance. A pool of blood had marred the outside of the building, and the ghouls were squatting down, as if eating something.
From a distance, a glint caught his eye.
It was a watch… on a severed arm. The arm was holding a knife… the same one Zaen had given Harris.
[You've spotted a dismembered corpse.]
[Your sanity has dropped!]
[Sanity: 79/110]
"Shit…"
Zaen cursed under his breath, holding his fervently beating heart. Thankfully, the light inside the storehouse was still flickering. As long as they didn't look at the ghouls for long or tried leaving the place, they should be fine.
[Recovery in progress.]
[Sanity is being restored.]
[Sanity: 109/110]
A wave of calmness washed over him, and with it came rage.
He threw a knife, piercing through the nearest ghoul's head.
[Frenzied Ghoul killed! Exp +60]
[Total Exp: 60/400]
The ghouls were alerted as their eyes darted towards Zaen.
Within moments, the group of 25 ghouls had surrounded him, making it impossible for him to look inside the storehouse just to see how the rest were doing.
Not like it mattered. As long as these ghouls were there, more of them could arrive, and Zaen didn't want that.
I have to kill them ASAP.
Having no other choice, he had discarded the idea of defending himself and hoped his sweatshirt and jeans would hold against the vicious attacks of the ghouls. His mind was focused solely on killing the ghouls.
Unfortunately, it was his fever dream. Their teeth and claws could rip flesh and crush bones, so how could his clothes last against them?
[Frenzied Ghoul bit you. HP -28]
[Frenzied Ghoul bit you. HP -17]
[Frenzied Ghoul bit you. HP -20]
The pain was blinding, as if someone had shot him, and then was rubbing salt all over the wound. Yet, he gritted his teeth and held on.
From a distance, it looked like a ferocious mob was beating the living hell out of a poor soul. But when you looked closely, the beating wasn't one-sided.
Sure, Zaen was taking hits, but he was dealing them too. Quite viciously so. He took a soul whenever he swung his knives.
[Frenzied Ghoul killed! Exp +60]
[Frenzied Ghoul killed! Exp +60]
[Frenzied Ghoul killed! Exp +60]
[Frenzied Ghoul killed! Exp +60]
[Total Exp: 300/400]
The horde of ghouls was thinning, but their attacks got more vicious with every passing minute. Not only were they dealing more damage, but killing them was getting more and more troublesome.
Soon, it came to a point where Zaen could no longer one-shot them.
He grabbed one of the ghouls by the head and slammed it on the ground. While it didn't kill the creature, since only Slayer weapons could do that, it stunned the ghoul.
That brought him some momentary relief from its continuous attacks.
He was continuously punching, slashing, and kicking the ghouls, but as time passed, Zaen started to tire out.
His arms had gone heavy from all the slashing and punching he had been doing. Now, even lifting his arms felt like a Herculean task.
He could feel the pain from bites and cramps all over his body. Yet, he kept swinging… and suddenly he was rejuvenated. All his wounds healed, and the fatigue disappeared.
[You've leveled up! Current level: 5]
[HP has increased by 500 points. Current HP: 2600]
[Your HP, sanity, and fatigue have been fully restored.]
[Your wounds have been healed.]
[Total Exp: 0/600]
"What…?"
Through his slashing, he didn't even notice when he leveled up twice! As for why he never recovered his health or fatigue prior, it could be explained as it was the first time the ghouls had hurt him.
Since he wasn't hurt and didn't lose any HP, there was nothing to restore. Perhaps restoring health, sanity, and fatigue was the actual purpose behind those levels!
I can think about it later.
Zaen thought, grabbing the knives tightly. Even the ghouls seemed to notice something was off and stepped back.
This time, it was Zaen's turn to lunge at them.