Chương 47: Solo Mission - Robert (4)

The corpse I had mistakenly thought was a mana beast looked fresh, as if the person had only been slaughtered just minutes, no, hours, before my arrival. I didn't hear any screaming, nor did I hear any signs of there being other people inside the cave with me. But nevertheless, I had stumbled upon a victim of the horrifying conditions in which Hoppers operated in.

"Rest in peace," I whispered as I slowly got my bearings again. This person died a death they didn't deserve. And now, they were left in this cave to rot slowly as their wounds began to fester. Could a mana beast have caused this wound? Possibly. It might not have been one of the bears that caused it, but one of the crimson foxes. After all, the crimson foxes were still a complete enigma from my perspective. If it wasn't one of the crimson foxes, it could have been the mystery beast.

It could have been the boss beast. There were a whole myriad of plausible possibilities surrounding this case, all of them equally likely to happen. I didn't know which one it could have been. Two more people have died trying to explore and fight the beasts in one of the caves. Why was I suddenly thinking about that line? They say that people enter cave 33 and never come out. That's why more than half of all the deaths related to mana beasts on this planet have come from cave 33.

People enter cave 33 and never come out. More than half of all the deaths related to mana beasts on this planet have come from cave 33. What the Hopper said back at the town square lingered in my brain. Was this person one of the two people who had died trying to explore this cave? If so, how hard would defeating the other beasts in this cave be? The person who gave you that card is trying to kill you. No doubt about it. The person who gave you that card knows what he's doing and he wants you dead.

If anything, those words just added insult to injury. I had just gained a profound sense of determination and courage from defeating the bears a few minutes ago, but it seemed like that was all going to go to waste. The Hopper was basically implying that my guide, Jake, was out to kill me and hunt me down. That was another very believable possibility, although the chances of that happening were fairly slim.

Jake could have entered the cave, hungry for kills, and slashed the neck of the Hopper I saw dead on the ground. That thought just made me feel more uneasy, and unfortunately for me, it could have happened. Don't think about it now, I thought to myself. The most important thing to think about is defeating the mana beasts inside this cave. I had never seen human corpses on another planet before, and that was a sight I wished I would never see on any expedition, on any planet.

Nevertheless, I had to carry on exploring the cave. I had to leave the human corpse behind, and I had to carry on serving my duty. The duty to kill mana beasts and claim this planet. Clop, clop, clop. I delved deeper into cave 33. The cave entrance behind me was completely engulfed in the pitch-black oblivion surrounding me, meaning the only source of light I had was the mana crystal I was holding in my hand.

To try and ease the pain from seeing the hideous human corpse, I opened my mission log to check my progress. [Cave 33: Mission 1/1: defeat the beasts] Beasts to defeat: 1) Grizzly black bear (17/75) 2) Crimson fox (0/50) 3)??? (?? /??) That horde consisted of seventeen bears. That was a good start. Clack, clack, clack. After endless walking, I stumbled upon something.

"Is it another group of mana beasts?" I couldn't have been any more wrong.

"Oh my gosh." Two more people have died trying to explore and fight the beasts in one of the caves.

"This might be the second person." That was the second clear sign of trouble. My face contorted horribly. The area around the second human corpse reeked of human blood. The stench was so unbearable that I had to cover my nose with my hand.

"You've gone through so much." This corpse was at least ten times more mangled compared to the one I had just seen. The person's face was unrecognisable; there were scratches almost everywhere which spat out fountains of blood. The neck was slashed at least ten times and there were at least a hundred stab wounds on the torso. The white t-shirt the person had been wearing had been painted red by the excessive amounts of blood they had shed. The wounds had already begun to fester.

This was not the masterpiece of a mana beast. It wasn't possible. Not even a boss beast would leave a human in this state. Surely not. Well, at least not in Night Hoppers. The author never included boss beasts defeating Hoppers until there was not even a speck of pure skin left on their body.

"The only way a mana beast could have done this is if the boss beast on this planet is the same, or similar to, the one we defeated on Planet 501." And that sent shivers down my spine. Unfortunately, I had to carry on walking, leaving this mutilated corpse behind. I couldn't feign ignorance; this situation was too alarming and that corpse was all my brain could think about. Dead bodies had never been publicised by the media, and I could finally see why.

It was to prevent ordinary people from seeing appalling sights like this. I averted my gaze from the corpse to the endless void in front of me. This cave seemed like it was never-ending. If this planet was flat, then this cave could end up stretching for miles and miles with no real end in sight.

"I have to keep going," I whispered to myself in a hushed tone. But I didn't have to walk for long before encountering another array of dots in the vicinity. Clop, clop, clop. Another horde of bears ready for me to kill. I lunged, trying to increase the distance between me and the mangled corpse. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] I was sent high up in the air by my skill. Slash! Slash! Slash!

By teleporting up to the air, I could gain velocity whilst falling, and I could fall at a speed that was enough for me to slice one of the bears into two.

"Roar!" I ignored the bears' agonising cries and leapt up into the air again to prepare my next attack. Slash! Slash! Slash! In an instant, bear heads that used to be attached to the rest of their bodies were flung up high into the air before crashing down on the ground, showering the cold stone floor with fresh tar. I was also a victim of this unprecedented attack; the bears' blood gushed out and was splattered on my head, my clothes and my trousers, making me almost unrecognisable.

Still, I lumbered on, continuing to muster up courage and determination. The bears continued forward, taking massive strides towards me. However, I was ready for their attacks. [Skill, 'Strength (basic)', has been activated.] Punch. Crash! Thud! I had used Theo's signature move and sent the bear closest to me flying and crashing into one of the cave's walls. I heard the subtle sound of bones cracking in the distance, and then the bear collapsed onto the ground, unconscious, immobile.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Since the bears were only at the basic level, I could do this all day. However, it is almost certain this trick won't work for higher-level beasts, so I had to cherish this moment to the best of my ability. [Skill, 'Strength (basic)', has been activated.] Punch! Crash! Thud. [Skill, 'Strength (basic)', has been activated.] Punch! The best thing about this skill was that I could stand still in one place.

As long as I had enough mana and enough strength in my legs, I could do this forever. Bang! Bang! Bang! At least another ten bears fell victim to my ruthless punches. That gave me this thought: if my punches were this strong, then how strong would Theo's punches be? They would have to be at least ten times stronger. At least. His punches would surely be enough to kill one of those bears on the spot. I scanned my surroundings meticulously, searching for any hidden bears that were ready to pounce and ambush me.

But I couldn't find any. I let out a deep sigh and trudged towards the nearest fallen bear. Without hesitation, I hurriedly sliced the bear into bits and pulled out the mana crystals inside its body. Although I was already covered in a thin layer of beast's blood, I repeated the process, collecting all of the mana crystals the bears had to offer. [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', has been activated.] [Skill, 'Recovery (basic)', has been activated.] I sat on the uneven floor, dropped all of the crystals I had collected, then picked up a crystal individually and broke it. You have chosen to use a 'Basic Mana Crystal'. What will you be using it for? 1) Strength +3 2) Agility +3 3) Stamina +3 4) Intelligence +3 5) Upgrade skill Option 1. Trait, 'Strength', has been upgraded by 3 points. Strength: 30 → 33 You have chosen to use a 'Basic Mana Crystal'. What will you be using it for?

1) Strength +3 2) Agility +3 3) Stamina +3 4) Intelligence +3 5) Upgrade skill Option 1. Trait, 'Strength', has been upgraded by 3 points. Strength: 33 → 36 You have chosen to use a 'Basic Mana Crystal'. What will you be using it for? 1) Strength +3 2) Agility +3 3) Stamina +3 4) Intelligence +3 5) Upgrade skill Option 2. Trait, 'Agility', has been upgraded by 3 points. Agility: 27 → 30 You have chosen to use a 'Basic Mana Crystal'. What will you be using it for?

1) Strength +3 2) Agility +3 3) Stamina +3 4) Intelligence +3 5) Upgrade skill Option 3. Trait, 'Stamina', has been upgraded by 3 points. Stamina: 23 → 26 You have chosen to use a 'Basic Mana Crystal'. What will you be using it for? 1) Strength +3 2) Agility +3 3) Stamina +3 4) Intelligence +3 5) Upgrade skill Option 4. Trait, 'Intelligence', has been upgraded by 3 points.

Intelligence: 17 → 20 Once all of that had been taken care of, I sat on the floor of the cave in silence, pondering over what had happened in the space of just an hour. It would surely be enough to give an ordinary person PTSD. It definitely made me realise that there was a dark side to Hopper exploration that had been shunned and undocumented about. It was a truly harrowing sight. I sighed again.

I thought I was living my dream as a Hopper and playing a role in Cayman's missions, but here I was, having second thoughts about everything. Was this really the life I wanted to live? Clang! Clang! Clang! Yes. This was the life I wanted to live. It was a firm yes. Forget the human bodies; I was almost certainly going to see more of them in the future. That was something Hoppers had to get used to. [You have disengaged basic skill 'Reading Bubble'.] Boldly and pridefully, and exuding an aura of determination and unwavering confidence, I stood up and glared at the nearest mana beast with eyes that were embellished with pure killing intent. I brandished my sword and pointed it at the nearest bear.

"So what if you're at the basic level?" I sneered in a boastful tone of voice.

"I'll take you all down regardless." [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! With the sword still pointing at the mana beast, I teleported to a location right next to it. The sword in my hand penetrated into the beast's body, spraying tar in various directions.

"One down." I had gained a ton of renewed confidence. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! Slash! Slash! I repeated this process for the rest of the beasts. Seventy-five grizzly black bears, huh? That was nothing to me. I would rather slice through many layers of cake. Slash! Slash! Slash! I could do this with my eyes closed. Slash! Stab! Clang! Despite being inept at the sword, all my moves were elegant and exquisite, efficient and refined.

It was like dancing on the grand stage; one moment, I was somewhere away from the mana beasts, and the next, three beasts that were at least thirty feet away from me had their heads sliced off as if they were fresh vegetables ready to be placed on the pan. Slash! Slash! Slash! [Grizzly black bear (35/75)] [Grizzly black bear (45/75)] [Grizzly black bear (55/75)] The number continued to shoot up. Although I still had the crimson foxes and the mystery beast still left to defeat, I was having a lot of fun.

Slicing through mana beasts gave me the adrenaline I needed to carry on and satisfy my insatiable desire for more. Slice! Slice! Slice! It was a macabre sight. Heads flying in the air, bodies crashing into walls, mana beasts trying their utmost best to fight back but to no avail. All because of a Hopper at the lowest level of the skill user system. The feeble kid at the back of the class had truly awakened. And it was scary.

[Grizzly black bear (65/75)] [Grizzly black bear (75/75)]"Finally," I said as I wiped thick black crude oil off my face.

"I'm a third of the way done." [Skill, 'Recovery (basic)', has been activated.] The most bloodcurdling thing about the fight was that the attacker had no serious injuries. Wait, no, scrap that. The most bloodcurdling thing about the fight was that the attacker had no injuries on their body at all. All of the blood that was on my body belonged to the seventy-five grizzly black bears I had just brutally slaughtered in cave number 33. Not a single drop of it was mine.

"All in a day's work for a Hopper," I muttered. That was another very well-known quote from Night Hoppers. All in a day's work for a Hopper. I reached into my pocket and slowly pulled out some of the basic mana crystals I had stored. I threw all of the ones in my hand into my mouth in an instant. Gulp.

"That should do for now," I said, ensuring that there were still some crystals left in my pocket for later. [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', has been activated.] Plop. I fell on the floor with my butt kissing the sharp floor. Again, I sighed. I didn't know how many times I had sighed just inside this cave. There was a lot to think about. Once I took my mind away from defeating the beasts, my mind circled back to the thought of the corpses.

I had a mountain of unanswered questions still in my brain and I had no idea whether I could even get the answers to them. The first one was about Jake and how the Hoppers portrayed him as a killer. But how was that possible? He looked like an innocent young man just a few years older than me who worked as a guard at the town gates. Nothing else. Unless… All of it was a façade. All of this was Jake's cunning ploy and he really was trying to kill me.

He might be lurking around the cave killing any Hopper that comes near him, and that's when his innocent, young appearance crumbles and he reveals his true identity.

"No…" All of the courage and determination I had mustered to defeat the remaining black bears was gone in a flash. What I had just come up with in my head was an eerily valid deduction. It was akin to something that had already happened in Night Hoppers when Cayman and Ellie explored and claimed a planet that had a community of Hoppers living in a town. It all made sense. But I didn't want to think about it. Jake's hospitality was unparalleled. So why would he throw all of that away to become a serial killer?

I really didn't want to think about it. And soon, I had found my getaway. Clop, clop, clop. [You have disengaged basic skill 'Reading Bubble'.]"Looks like we have company." I stood up again and brushed off all the dust on my clothes. However, that just made my hands more blood-soaked. When I turned around, I could see eyes of fury and rage that were filled to the brim with killing intent. They were at the height of my stomach.

But then, at the very back of the group, there were eyes as red as rubies that were suspended at least seven to eight feet in the air.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked, directing the question to no one in particular. Yes, it was. This was where the real fight truly began.