Chapter 103 - Player 000

As the group headed deeper into the forest, the stench of rot and death grew more and more. At the beginning, only Cyanide, Luna, and Dianna could smell it thanks to their experienced and super-enhanced mutants, but the other two soon realized it as well. Despite the time being noon theoretically, the thick virus-filled air that had taken over this forest created smog that made it seem like evening.

Ragnar, who was used to his supersoldier biomechanical enhancements, was essentially hard nerfed after coming to Endzone. Had it been back on Earth, he would've detected this smell of death long ago, but now, it took him longer than usual. His usual barbarian attitude was nowhere to be seen, and just like he had one claimed he could, he was now being serious. In his head, he was calculating, waiting.

"Wait," Luna said, stopping in her tracks before a cave. "That cave up ahead… the death aura seems to be leaking out from there."

Kirika's eyes widened a bit. "Isn't that…"

"… Yes," Silverfang growled, clawing at the ground. "That cave… was my old lair."

"Seems someone else has taken over, eh?" Ragnar chuckled darkly, tightening his grip on his greatsword on his back. "Let's see who it is."

"Hold on," Cyanide said. "There is no point taking meaningless fights. Our goal is the Sentinel, nothing more."

"Yes, but… I'm afraid going through the cave is the only way to reach the other end of the mountains in the way," Luna said. "Climbing the mountains or walking all the way around them is also an option, but… both of those methods will take a ridiculous amount of time."

Cyanide sighed. "I see. If there's no other route, then… Ragnar and I will go in."

"Only you two?" Kirika asked, confused. "Wouldn't it be better if we all went in? Otherwise, it's too dangerous."

"Are you stupid?" Ragnar asked coldly all of a sudden, and glared at Kirika. "Can't you tell that they're baiting us to go inside? If we all went in at the same time, that would be falling into their trap."

"Wha…" Kirika was a bit surprised at the sudden outburst on Ragnar's part since he didn't seem like the type to be able to be so harsh with words at first glance, but now she knew better. No one else said anything in her defense, mostly because as much as Ragnar's words hurt, he was right. It was quite obvious that whatever was in the cave was luring them in on purpose, most likely to trap them inside or something of the sort.

"… We will remain out here, in case anything happens." Luna concluded. "I don't have a good feeling about this, so Cyanide… be careful."

Cyanide gave a nod in agreement, and together, he and Ragnar prepared to enter the cave. But then, all of a sudden-

Multiple hungry growls began emerging from the forest all around them, and looking into the shadows between the trees, they spotted countless pairs of glowing, possessed purple eyes, all of different altitudes and sizes.

"This is…!" Kirika's eyes widened. "Impossible… I didn't sense their auras!"

They were ambushed.

"Grrrr…" Silverfang let out a deep growl, trying to scare them off, but it did nothing. The animals no longer bowed to the forest's king—they served a new master now.

"It must be because of the virus in the air, interfering with our cognition," Dianna analyzed calmly, closing her eyes and smiling, before activating her metal claws and creating a ring of throwing knives around herself. "Well… no going back now."

Shooting about a dozen throwing knives with a mere thought, Dianna sliced through one of the possessed mutant animals—a monkey—with ease. The machine fell backwards, off of the tree it had been on, four limbs and head completely dismembered from the rest of its body. It appeared to be completely dead, but then, somehow, the body spasmed a bit, and a mysterious magnetic force pulled the parts back together and healed it.

The monkey slowly sat up, purple eyes glowing creepily, and smiled.

Immediately, Luna activated her arsenal of weapons and turned her head to her Creator.

"Go, Cyanide! These things won't stop coming until whatever's possessing them is destroyed—and that must be in the cave!"

"… Tch." Turning to the Ragnar briefly, Cyanide spoke. "Let's go, you brute."

"Don't order me around, assassin," Ragnar replied, but took his greatsword off his back anyway and did as told.

The two charged into the cave without any hesitation to fight their own battle while Luna, Dianna, Kirika, and Silverfang faced off with the incoming horde of possessed animal mutants outside.

The latter group needed to buy as much time for the former duo as possible, while the former needed to complete their task as fast as they could, before the latter was overwhelmed.

It was a race against fate itself, with the lives of both groups resting on both shoulders.

*****

From atop one of the tall mountains above the cave, a young man watched. He had white hair with some black strands, and a lean figure that was similar to Cyanide's, but shorter. One of his eyes gleamed bright purple, much like the possessed mutant animals attacking the others in the forest, while the other had a dark black sclera instead of the usual white, paired with an ominous darker purple glow.

But this man was no mutant. He was exactly human, either. If one were to compare him to someone else… the closest would probably be Luna.

As Cyanide and Ragnar entered the cave while the others remained outside and fought, the young man bit on his nail and chewed on it, remaining in a crouching position on the very peak of the mountain.

"Hehe… they think that they've outsmarted me, but… this is all according to plan."

Focusing his gaze on Cyanide in particular, he laughed like somewhat of a psychopath.

"Hehehehe~! Don't die now, Cyanide… I want to be able to face you with my own two hands. Show me you're worth the trouble, okay?"

With a gentle voice that almost seemed like obsessive love, the young man giggled and finally stood up, revealing his loose, bandaged clothes, and the deadly and corrosive purple aura of the virus all around him.

He was not like any other player. Whereas all the other contestants had a number assigned to them, this one did not.

Of course he didn't. After all, he was not a contestant from the outside to begin with.

He, was Player 000.

With a borderline-maniacal laugh, he spread his arms widely.

"Now… let the show begin."