Games in the Cave

The rustling continued without end, and everyone in the dark mine was on edge.

Everyone fell silent involuntarily, afraid that something might strike from the darkness. This made the sounds in the cave all the clearer, mingled with the pounding of their hearts.

Suddenly, a huge shadow flashed past from a corner of the cave, sweeping over part of the crowd.

Before a miner could cry out, he lost his voice.

"Aah—"

"Gulp."

This was followed by the sound of something swallowing and crushing food.

In the tense silence of the cave, where even a falling needle could be heard, everyone clearly heard that swallowing sound.

At once, the people's fear was nearly impossible to contain.

The chaotic crowd involuntarily surged toward the mine entrance.

Hart squeezed into the middle of the crowd and tried to steady his voice. "Don't panic. If you see anything unusual, throw your spears at it."

"It's just some cowardly beast hiding in the dark. As long as we—"

"Gulp."

As if deliberately slapping him in the face, another distinct swallowing sound came before Hart could finish speaking.

Another unfortunate soul had likely lost his life.

The crowd erupted. Fear burst forth, and the desire to survive overwhelmed everything else.

"Don't, don't eat me!"

"There's a monster! There really is a monster!"

"Run!"

"Damn it, get out of my way! Stop blocking me!"

Screams and shouts rang endlessly through the mine, which had completely descended into chaos. Even the overseers' whips could no longer control the panicked crowd. Even the overseers themselves were thinking of slipping away.

I want to live.

We're almost there. Once we get out, we can...

Amid the chaos and deafening clamor, no one knew how many people were silently swallowed by the darkness.

However, just as the people at the front desperately climbed upward, trying to escape, that massive figure struck from the darkness.

"Aah—"

The several people in the lead were immediately swept up by the figure, then vanished without a trace.

In the brief illumination of the torches, people only saw a huge azure creature flash past.

Then the place where several people had been standing was completely empty. Even the torchlight there went out, plunging into darkness.

The people behind did not know what had happened and continued pushing forward.

Those at the front had learned from what came before and did not dare advance, but they were shoved from behind and had no choice but to steel themselves and scout ahead.

The swallowing sounds were drowned out by the clamor of the crowd.

Hart looked at the situation in the cave, sweat dripping from his forehead to his chin. He was almost completely overcome by despair.

How could they leave? How could they escape? That monster only needed an instant to swallow someone.

It only needed to guard the entrance, and people would keep delivering themselves to it, one after another, filling its bottomless, insatiable stomach.

"Throw your spears forward!"

"Kill that monster!"

With no other options in their despair, the miners could only obey the orders and blindly hurl spears into the darkness.

Yet all they heard were the crisp sounds of spearheads striking rock.

People roared and wailed. To them, that deep darkness had already become a symbol of death.

Suddenly, a hoarse laugh came from the darkness.

"Humans, your little tricks are truly amusing."

"Today, I've already eaten three Giant Bats, two Goblins, and eight humans, but I think my stomach can still hold—all of you."

The monster slowly slithered out of the darkness. The dim torchlight barely revealed its true form.

Only the monster's savage head emerged. Its vertical pupils glowed faintly in the dim mine, while the enormous horns on either side of its head, curved backward toward its skull, were especially conspicuous.

Its slightly opened maw alone could probably swallow several people at once.

Its long body, covered in banded scales, looked like a combination of a crocodile and a centipede. It had many pairs of legs and stretched all the way into the darkness.

Under the flickering firelight, a chilling smile appeared on the monster's savage face.

"I wouldn't want to miss this opportunity. Food delivered right to my door is enough to fill my stomach."

"No, don't eat me!"

"It's over! It's over!"

"We're all going to die!"

"Help!"

"It—it's coming at us!"

In a panic, everyone desperately retreated, crushing together as they tried to flee this Hell.

Trampling, shoving, screams.

Yet the monster merely followed leisurely behind the crowd, crawling and slithering like a shepherd driving a flock, occasionally eating one or two people.

"I don't mind playing a game with you."

"Run. Run to your heart's content..."

"I'm still in the mood."

The monster's hoarse voice sounded like Death's summons to the people, casting them into the Abyss of fear.

"Thwack!"

Kru's arrow struck the monster.

Weak spears, tiny arrows, shoddy longswords—the humans' counterattacks struck its banded scales with pitiful force.

Even if they got lucky and broke through its armor, such small wounds were insignificant compared to its massive body.

The Barbarian Scarface finally could not stand this game of cat and mouse any longer. He stopped, turned around, and faced the monster directly.

Yet the powerful body he took such pride in was as tiny as a mouse before that monster.

Scarface took a deep breath, gripped his iron hammer, and cursed, "All these years, I've been the one screwing with others. No one has ever treated me like a fucking toy!"

"Aahh—"

With an angry roar, Scarface panted heavily, his eyes bloodshot—an indication that the Barbarian had entered a berserk state.

The mindless Barbarian raised his Warhammer and charged at the monster's massive body like a knight charging a windmill.

Yet facing the crazed Barbarian rushing toward it, the monster did not move in the slightest. It merely watched him with great interest, as though looking at an amusing toy.

"Frenzied Strike!"

With a furious shout, Scarface flexed the muscles in both arms and viciously smashed his hammer into the monster's chest.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Hammer blow after hammer blow struck the monster's body.

He actually shattered several scales on its chest, causing threads of blue blood to seep out.

"Interesting human. I'll give you a fine death."

The monster let out an eerie cackle, paying no heed to the damage the Barbarian had inflicted. Its body slowly wriggled across the ground.

"Aah! Aahh—"

At its words, the Barbarian's fury intensified. He crazily hammered away without restraint, again and again.

But he soon discovered that the monster's massive body had unknowingly curled up around him, trapping him.

Or perhaps "wrapping around" was not quite accurate. More precisely, the monster's enormous body had imprisoned him like an azure-blue cage.

Scarface felt the space around him growing narrower and narrower. The muscles all over his body were constantly compressed, and his breathing became increasingly labored.

I never thought I'd... die from suffocation.

That was the last thought that flashed through his mind.