Zaen fell on his knees and covered his throbbing ears. The wailing was too high-pitched, too loud for him to even focus on keeping his eyes open.
The pain he felt was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. His head started throbbing badly, and his grip on Harris loosened.
Unlike most of Ayran, Zaen didn't believe in God, but right now, he was praying to one. Praying to make the wailing stop, but it wasn't working.
[You've heard a ghoul's cry!]
[Sanity -12]
[Sanity: 93/110]
[HP -122]
[HP: 2678/2800]
Blood flowed out of his nostrils and ears, but he forced his eyes open. He needed to end it before more ghouls appeared.
However, when he looked below, his pupils contracted. Through his blurry vision, Zaen watched as the Harris's body twisted and turned in pain and agony. Soon it began to change.
Harris was gone, turned into a strange ghoul.
[You've witnessed a Ghoul Screamer's transformation!]
[Sanity -16]
[Sanity: 77/110]
While Zaen was stunned, the ghoul shoved him off its back, and got back to its feet. The wailing had stopped, but Zaen didn't seem to have noticed it. How could it when he had seen his friend turn into a monster?
"Kill... Kill... KILL!" the ghoul yelled, lunging at Zaen.
Watching the figure charge at him, he awkwardly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. The ghoul, however, couldn't control its momentum and ended up leaving its back exposed.
Despite being shaken to his core, Zaen took the opportunity and threw a knife at the monster. His throw was perfect, hitting the ghoul at the back of its head. However… the ghoul didn't die.
[Your throwing knife dealt 90 damage to the Charred Ghoul.]
[Ghoul Screamer's HP: 910/1000]
"…fucking hell," Zaen mumbled as the ghoul turned towards him.
Once again, it charged straight at him. It seemed Harris's growth was limited to his HP and not his intelligence. The ghoul kept charging at Zaen like a mad bull, only for him to dodge and hit back with a knife.
Thankfully, Zaen didn't have any shortage of throwing knives. He dodged whenever the ghoul charged at him and, after creating some distance between them, threw a knife at it.
[Total damage dealt: 88]
[Total damage dealt: 110]
[Total damage dealt: 112]
[Total damage dealt: 97]
A series of notifications flashed before Zaen. He was continuously dealing damage to the ghoul. With each dagger buried in its body, the ghoul got slower and slower, until it couldn't even support its own weight anymore.
[Ghoul Screamer's HP: 21/1000]
The ghoul fell to its knees, barely able to lift its head.
One knife.
That's all it would take to kill it.
"…I'll organize a funeral for you. Your parents won't ever need anything, that's my word to you."
With that, he threw the knife.
[Ghoul Screamer killed! Exp +300]
[Total Exp: 360/700]
[Congratulations, Player!]
[You're the first to survive a Ghoul Screamer!]
[You have gained 1 spin point(s)!]
Zaen ignored the notifications, looking into the crimson sky. He was overcome with emotion.
Survivor's guilt? Or was it guilt for killing his own friend?
He didn't know.
Thankfully, they had already been taught how to suppress their emotions during training. While it wasn't a sure shot method to calm nerves, it was good enough.
He recovered the throwing knives from the ghoul's body before heading back inside the storehouse.
The game wasn't over yet.
They still needed to survive the next 3 hours. It didn't matter if they were prepared for it or not.
He cut their ropes and took out the cloths before using them to stop Rouland's bleeding. While he did that, Shyra approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Harris…"
Zaen stopped bandaging the wound, but didn't look back as he shook his head.
Hina gasped, covering her mouth. Even Rouland pursed his lips with that little strength he had. Despite losing his arm because of Harris, he still didn't want him to die.
Only Shyra was worried about Zaen. She knew he was acting tough for the sake of the rest, and hugged him from behind, trying to ease his anguish.
However, Zaen's mind was somewhere else.
The only child of his parents was gone. The worst part was that they couldn't even take his corpse with them.
Even if Beep-Boop allowed it, how would he make them understand that their son had turned into a monster?
Once Rouland's wound was patched up, Zaen lifted him onto his back and walked back into the bungalow. The girls quietly followed behind, holding Zaen's hoodie.
Afraid they'd lose their sanity after seeing the bizarre scene outside, Zaen had told them to close their eyes and just hold on to him.
However, as they were about to step in, an alarm went off.
Zaen's eyes widened in horror as he threw Rouland inside before grabbing the girls and doing the same.
"Zaen, what are you doing!?" Shyra yelled, reaching out to him.
"Get to the lights!" Zaen yelled, cutting her off before closing the door.
By the time they rushed to the door, they realized Zaen had locked it from the outside. Shyra hit it with her shoulder; Hina did the same, but the door didn't budge.
"It's no use…" Rouland mumbled.
"Shut it!" Shyra yelled, gritting her teeth. "I'm in no mood to hear your excuses—"
"Did you forget why… we set that alarm?" Rouland asked, ignoring her words. "An hour is up…"
"…no."
The rules of the game were clear.
They had to keep changing places before the hour passed.
If they stayed at one place for an hour, the anomaly would find them, and when it did, the only way to survive was to sacrifice someone.
That's what Zaen did.
He sent them all inside, staying back as the sacrifice.
Even in death, Harris had ruined everything for them. All the pity they felt for him moments ago was gone, replaced with rage and despair.
Suddenly, Shyra got up, wiping away her tears.
"We have to help him," she said, looking at the others.
"But how—?" Hina asked, but her words were cut off by a deafening crash, followed by a beastly roar.