Zaen slammed the doors shut, but as he did that, he felt something wet drop on his shoulder. He absentmindedly touched whatever the fluid was.
It had a gooey texture, almost like one of those stress-reducing jellies they sell online. However, merely looking at the liquid gave him stress.
[You have been marked by the Endless's saliva.]
[Sanity -12]
[You have smelled the Endless's breath.]
[Sanity -7]
[Sanity: 78/110]
Zaen's eyes got wide in horror as the realization dawned on him.
"Saliva..."
He quickly tried to jump away, but the monster standing behind him was much faster. With just a kick, Zaen was sent flying across the land. He crashed into the storehouse wall, but the force made him break through it, getting buried under rubble.
[Hunter Anomaly: Endless has appeared.]
[Hunter Anomaly demands a sacrifice.]
[The area has been sealed off. No one is allowed to leave until a sacrifice is given to the anomaly.]
[Critical hit! Remaining HP: 1793/2800]
Zaen groaned as the rubble slid off him. He felt as if he had been overrun by a truck.
Blood dripped down from his cracked head, his ears were ringing continuously, and everything in front of his eyes was blurry apart from the notifications.
One hit… took down that much?
Just one kick from the Endless took nearly a thousand hit points off him. That too, when he had blocked it to the best of his ability. At that moment, Zaen understood why the manual told them to run and avoid the endless at all costs.
[You have seen the Endless's silhouette.]
[Sanity -7]
[Sanity: 71/110]
Despite the warning, Zaen stared at the creature through his hazy vision. The first thing he noticed was that the Endless wasn't anything like the ghouls he had fought.
Even with its hunched back, the Endless was at least eight feet tall. Its body had completely mutated to the point where it had two razor-sharp blades in place of its arms.
Its legs were also quite muscular, no wonder its kick was so strong and fast. But the thing that caught Zaen's attention was its dangling tongue that almost touched the ground.
Are those… spikes on its tongue?
They weren't spikes but the creature's razor-sharp teeth. Just one hit of the tongue was enough to rip his skin off.
As for its eyes... well, it didn't have any. The place where its eyes should've been was covered with red tumors with blood seeping out of them.
Slowly getting up, he realized the situation he was in. Nearly all the bones in his body were aching from the attack. His left hand had gone limp, just like his right leg.
It was a miracle that he survived, even though it didn't seem the luck would hold on for long.
The Endless was slowly walking towards him. He was the sacrifice, and the anomaly was eager to claim him.
Zaen could only curse the anomaly as it got closer. Even if he wanted to fight, he was in too much pain to do anything.
Pain… wait a minute!
Endless raised its claws, ready to kill Zaen while he stared off in the distance. The claw hit the rubble, sending clouds of smoke and dust wafting through the air.
However, the anomaly didn't spare a second to see what it had hit. Instead, he looked sideways, feeling a strong presence there.
[Berserk activated.]
[Your sanity has dropped to 1.]
[Alert! You're losing your mind.]
[Effect negated.]
[You're experiencing unbearable pain.]
[Effect negated.]
[Your strength, agility, and stamina have increased by 109%]
[Your presence has shot up by 109%]
[Strength: 10.8 (↑)]
[Agility: 8.9 (↑)]
[Presence: 5.1 (↓)]
[Stamina: 10.0 (↑)]
If not for the skill, I would have died just now.
Zaen was on the ground, squatting between the anomaly and the gate. Although he was bleeding profusely, he didn't feel any pain. The blinding pain of broken bones had also disappeared.
The only thing he felt was rage.
That was a side effect of using Berserk. Instead of losing their sanity, the user lost all rationality. In a way, Zaen had turned into a monster of his own.
Staring right at the anomaly, Zaen punched his shoulder, fixing it back in place, and equipped the knives.
The Endless saw him and roared. Usually, his sanity would have dropped upon hearing it, but it had been locked at one.
In other words, for the next ten minutes, he was immune to all psychological debuffs.
The Endless swiped its claws at him, but Zaen ducked, stabbing the creature's thigh with a knife. It raised its legs trying to kick Zaen away, only for him to slide between its legs and keep stabbing.
[Total damage dealt: 162]
[Total damage dealt: 108]
[Total damage dealt: 137]
[Total damage dealt: 112]
"Agility test confirmed," Zaen mumbled, stabbing it for the eleventh time. "I'm faster than this thing."
[Endless (Lvl 9) HP: 3,482/5,000]
"Just three levels higher and you have almost twice my HP? How is that fair? Take three more stabs for it!"
Zaen's plan was simple.
He was going to take the anomaly's feet out of the equation. Not only would it make it easier to handle it, but he had a hunch Endless's legs were its primary offence.
He had already noticed that he could dodge and block the blades, unlike its kicks. So, Zaen had to obliterate them at all costs.
[Endless (Lvl 9) HP: 2,673/5,000]
As the anomaly's HP dropped to the fifty percent mark, it grabbed a fistful of dirt and threw it at Zaen's face. The unexpected move caught him off guard, blinding him for the moment.
The anomaly then grabbed Zaen by the leg and tossed him into the air. He soared above the bungalow. Even if he couldn't feel pain, it didn't mean he wouldn't die from the fall.
At least, that's what the anomaly had planned.
Unfortunately, it forgot one thing.
Zaen wasn't alone.
Before he could hit the ground, a grappling hook wrapped around his feet, breaking his fall. Suddenly, he was left hanging upside down several feet above the ground.
"Hold!" Rouland yelled from the terrace as Hina and Shyra worked together to stabilize him.
"Thanks!"
Zaen exclaimed as he used his core strength to grab the rope while untying it from his leg with the other. Seeing this, Rouland was shocked.
"What are you doing!?"
"I'm running out of time," he said, still holding on to the rope. "I need to end this quickly!"
With that, he let go, speeding towards the anomaly. The Endless snarled as Zaen flew towards it and raised its claws ready to strike him.
"As if I'll let that happen!"
Without any hesitation, Zaen bombarded the anomaly with throwing knives, forcing it to shield its face. Then, at the last moment, Zaen twisted his body, landing on the anomaly's back.
Before the monster could react, he drove both knives straight into its skull and twisted.
[Endless (Lvl 9) HP: 1,243/5,000]
"ROAR!!!"
The anomaly screamed in pain as Zaen kept twisting the knives.
"Just die already!"
[Endless (Lvl 9) HP: 0/5,000]
Suddenly, the struggle stopped, and the Endless fell to the ground. Zaen jumped off its back, but didn't get any time to celebrate as crimson words flashed before him.
[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
[Skill: Berserk duration is over.]
[Incoming backlash.]
All the hurt and pain he felt returned a hundred times worse. His sanity was at an all-time low, making it all much worse.
"ARGH!"
He screamed, clawing himself till blood gushed out of every inch of his body.
"W-What's happening to him?" Shyra asked, clutching her head in desperation.
"His sanity... it must have dropped too low," Rouland replied.
"Sanity... physical touch, that should restore sanity!" Hina exclaimed.
The question was, how would they get down there? The doors were locked from the outside.
However, that was the least of their worries as Rouland noticed something.
"...why isn't the game over yet?"
Everyone stopped.
Since the Anomaly was dead, shouldn't the game be over?
They looked down only to see the anomaly stir and get back on its feet.
It wasn't dead, and Zaen was writhing... right next to it.
"...no!" Shyra yelled, trying to jump off the terrace.
"Stop it!" Rouland yelled back, trying to hold her back. "Hina, help me out here!"
However, Hina was too scared to move.
Down below, the anomaly grabbed Zaen by the neck and... plunged its claws into his eyes.
[The anomaly has claimed the sacrifice.]
"NO!" they yelled simultaneously.
The next moment, a strange thing happened.
Some people wearing black suits appeared out of thin air and attacked the anomaly. Within moments, they subdued it, forcing strange restraints on it.
"Target HX-167 subdued," a woman with red hair said, looking at Zaen. "Unfortunately, there have been a few casualties. Tracking survivors for return. Estimated time: 109 seconds."