Chapter 74 - Fantom

Hiro decided to hide behind the broken rocket pole, slipping his body into the tendrils on the labyrinth wall. At the same time, a large figure entered through the crack.

A man over two meters tall was carrying a girl struggling to get off. The girl kept kicking and hitting the man, but the man’s hold didn’t loosen at all.

A hunter and a caught survivor.

Hiro gulped while holding his breath so he wouldn’t be found.

“Let me go, you ugly giant!” the girl hissed. Unlike the first girl he met, she truly didn’t want to shout despite having been caught. It was as if she didn’t want anyone to rescue her.

When the hunter approached the rocket pole, a rocket activation panel appeared. After a moment, the rocket’s restraining rope moved on its own to pull the stored survivor.

Hiro continued to hold his breath. His heart had already begun to accelerate.

“I’ll kill you outside the arena later!” the girl vengefully hissed.

Hiro silently looked at her from behind. The girl had short hair that laid her neck and nape bare; a slim tomboy with an all-black tank top and jogger pants. She has a beast bloodline. A pair of black cat ears pointed straight above her head.

Even though the girl had been tied to the rocket pole, she still struggled and kicked around. Looking at the way she was reacting to her situation, Hiro was sure that she was different from other girls who would be terrified.

“The more you move, the faster you’ll be eliminated,” the man lied. It was clear that he was annoyed.

However, he didn’t know that Hiro had broken the rocket pole. He only realized something was off when the rocket wick didn’t start burning even after a survivor had been tied properly.

“What the hell is wrong with this shit? Don’t tell me it’s bugged!”

The man walked to the back of the rocket to check its condition, and at that moment…

SPLAT!

Hiro dashed out of his hiding place and slashed the man face from the darkness.

[Fatal Damage]

[HP -750]

As a knight, the man had a decent defense stat. Still, blood trickled down his face. What’s more, because he reflexively tried to wipe the blood out of confusion, his vision was now blurred.

When the hunter was trying to control his body, Hiro immediately used the dagger in his hand to cut the rocket’s restraining rope and freed the short-haired girl.

[Survivor: NightFall has rescued a survivor]

[NightFall has obtained 10 game points]

Even though the eliminator rocket was broken, his action still counted as a rescue, gaining him 10 additional points.

However, instead of a thank you, he instead had one of his daggers forcefully snatched by the girl he rescued.

And at the same time, she then harshly pushed Hiro’s shoulder to get him out of the way before standing in front of the hunter who caught her with a perfect stance ready to attack.

“What?”

Hiro observed the position of her feet, her straight posture, and the way she held the stolen dagger. He was sure that she had mastered a martial art of some sort, but…

‘What martial art is that?’

“I told you I’ll kill you!”

Realizing that his position was currently threatened, the man with bloodied face took out a weapon from thin air; a low-tier silver sword Hiro also had before the event started.

Swish!

Clank! Clank!

The inevitable clash occurred. Hiro was dumbfounded as he witnessed how agile the girl was in the physical fight as she evaded the slashes and fatal attacks from the man almost double her size.

Not only that, but the girl even managed to slash the dagger at the perfect time when the man showed an opening.

The man couldn’t parry nor dodge.

SPLAT!

The girl slashed at the man’s neck and cut right at the man’s arteries, causing blood to squirt out heavily. Hiro even had to cover his face, causing the man’s blood to spray onto his hands instead.

The man dropped his weapon and fell kneeling in pain. But the girl didn’t stop there. With the thick boots on her feet, she kicked the man’s head with all her strength.

BANG!

The man’s body was flung away before it fell to the ground, motionless.

“I saw survivors here!”

Hiro heard a shout from a distance, prompting him to look at the girl covered in blood.

Once a survivor who had previously been tied to the rocket pole got caught again, they would immediately be eliminated. Because of this, Hiro swiftly grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her to run.

“Run!”

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Even though the girl was surprised by his sudden action, she didn’t attack him with the dagger she stole. On the contrary, she moved her legs to match Hiro’s speed.

“The place isn’t safe.” Hiro rechecked his GPS to find a route he had never been through to map the maze while he was there.

…

After running quite far without any suspicious noises behind them, Hiro decided to stop and take a breather.

“Okay, haa… listen to me.”

The girl’s face seemed pale and her breathing was a mess. In the meantime, Hiro checked her player information. More interesting things were happening back there that he actually forgot to check her identity.

[Level 21. MyPhantom. Rogue. First-Year Student]

‘A rogue. No wonder she can match my speed. And from her fighting speed… she’s definitely a critical speed-type rogue.’

At that moment, the two’s eyes met.

“What? Do you want me to thank you? Are you the type who’s greedy for people’s thanks? Isn’t getting 10 points enough to replace my thanks?”

Hiro blinked. Did those words seriously come out of the person he just saved?

He truly didn’t expect such a reaction.

‘Well well, looks like she’s really not like other girls.’

Which was not necessarily a good thing.

Hiro took a few more stable breaths. “If you get caught by a hunter after you’ve been tied to the rocket, you’ll immediately be eliminated from the event arena.”

As for her previous unpleasant question, he decided to ignore it. Not like it mattered anyway.

Even though the girl seemed to doubt him previously, she quickly believed him when he told her the information Game Master Juno didn’t share when the event started.

“All right then, I’ll come with you,” she decided, taking Hiro aback once again.

“Excuse me?”

“If I go alone, I’ll probably get caught with no one to help me. If I come with you, at least there’ll be someone else. And if you get caught, I can save you for 10 points.”

Hiro frowned. It seemed that he just met a calculative person.

How realistic.