Chapter 197: Tinnitus

Chapter 197: Tinnitus

“Back off! Back off!”

Gray Bear hurled the announcement board in his hand toward the swarm of rune corpses before kicking the one that had gotten closest to him. Then he rushed toward the glass door—toward the source of danger—and attempted to shut it.

Bam, bam, bam!

But it was too late. The dozen and more rune corpses threw themselves at the door and shattered the glass, toppling the frames. Still, at least a good number of the rune corpses had gotten trapped.

Gray Bear moved back while knocking away the rune corpses lunging at him. Then one of them grabbed onto his foot from the ground, and he staggered and fell. A couple rune corpses leapt at him.

“Ahh help! Help...”

Can screamed. She had fallen as well, and a rune corpse had grabbed onto her ankle. Although she had been hitting it in the head with the golf club in her hand, she was too weak to do substantial damage.

At that moment, Xiran and Ronnie rushed up to her and kicked the rune corpse in the head. But then even more rune corpses swarmed up to the three.

Nine Frost and Black Sparrow had been fighting with their backs pressed together, unable to offer them any help. And Gao Yang had been dealing with two rune corpses with the dustpan in his hand, barely holding up himself, let alone going to his teammates’ rescue.

Calm down, calm down.

Don’t give up.

Think about what you can do!

...Nothing.

You’ll soon be bitten. Then you’ll die and become one of them.

You fail. There’s no turning things around. You’ll all die here.

Your family and friends will never see you again, and you will never learn the secrets of the Mist World.

Ring—

Gao Yang’s head rang, and the world spinned around him. While his body was still pushing itself to put up a fight, he had lost almost all his senses. It was as if his soul was slowly leaving his body.

In that moment of distraction, a rune corpse bit at him from the side. There wasn’t enough time for Gao Yang to get out of the way.

Swoosh!

Then a throwing knife buried into the rune corpse’s eye. The blood splattered on Gao Yang’s face.

Swoosh, swoosh!

Two more throwing knives arrived, hitting the eyes of the rune corpse pouncing on Gray Bear.

It’s Lithe Snake! Gao Yang realized with a start. There’s still hope! We can still turn things around!

Seeing the throwing knives, Gray Bear’s wavering will to survive recovered in an instant.

“Ha!”

Face covered in blood, he yelled and yanked the two knives out of the rune corpse’s eyes with both hands, stabbing the other two rune corpses in the eye.

Splat! Ñ00v€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

The three rune corpses holding him down collapsed. Gray Bear didn’t immediately push them off since they served as cover to shield him from the other rune corpses. Instead, he propped himself up with both hands on the floor and propelled himself backward, sliding out from under the three rune corpses.

“One!”

They lifted their legs and kicked the metal frame at the same time.

Clang!

It loosened.

Bam, bam, bam! Bam, bam!

Hearing the loud clang coming from the room, the rune corpses started throwing themselves at the door with reckless abandon. The wood plank that made the door wasn’t thick, and it seemed like it would break anytime.

“Quickly! We can’t hold on for long!” Gao Yang’s voice gained an edge of despair.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

Clang! Clack.

The metal frame fell off, along with the screws.

“We did it! Hurry! Go!”

Lithe Snake and Gray Bear jumped off the window, while Nine Frost knelt on the windowsill and reached out a hand.

“Ladies first!” Gao Yang called out.

Can glanced at him before rushing toward the window. Nine Frost grabbed her and pulled her out.

Then Yellow Butterfly, Xiuyi, and Ronnie escaped.

Gao Yang, Black Sparrow, and Xiran were left holding the door shut on their own.

“On the count of three, we run together!” Gao Yang said through clenched teeth.

“Got it!”

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

The three of them pulled away from the door at the same time and dashed at the window.

Bam!

The door finally caved, and in rushed the rune corpses like they were in a race.

Black Sparrow was agile. She jumped out easily, her feet never even stepping on the windowsill. Xiran was a little slower. He stepped on the windowsill to climb up.

Gao Yang’s heart burned with urgency. He could feel the rune corpses rushing through the door reaching for his back. Without waiting for Xiran to move out, he leapt with all the strength he could muster, grabbing Xiran’s waist to bring him along as he flew out of the window.

Outside was a flower bed. The soil cushioned their landing. Nine Frost and Black Sparrow quickly pulled them up.

When Gao Yang looked over his shoulder, there were already seven or eight rune corpses jammed through the window, and they were almost climbing out.

Gao Yang’s hackles rose. He had been one step away from meeting his death.

“Let’s go!”