Chapter 96: His Decision

Darkness loomed all over them as night became more pronounced, the previous lights from bugs and even spells done to ensure that the creature would draw to them were all going off one by one.

"Han we need to move."

"No, we can't."

It was words said with conviction and surety. Han watched the Colossal Wyvern swung its tail back and then lash once more at the pillar of wind and went through it—just in time for the [ Mermaid ] and [ Light Elf ] to barely run off as the two disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Did the two of them just turn invisible?

"We need to leave still, do you want to die?!" Ellynn hissed at him as she tried to lift her up. Even the wind around her seemed weak, she couldn't try to escape with him around. He was dead weight if she even attempted to carry him away.

Lightning crackled through the air and the lights all finally went out. Only the night's moon and stars provided only a flickering light for all of them.

Danger was in the air, one could sense it.

And yet he couldn't and wouldn't move, it all felt like there was something missing. Things weren't clicking. Was this some kind of suicide mission for them?

Surely it couldn't be that.

The Colossal Wyvern had escaped from the attack, in the nick of time. But it still had been injured—

A sound of rushing tore through the air as the Wyvern dove through the darkness right at them and took their lives.

Until he found himself still alive.

Curses were made through the air although quite lightly. It was a slithering kind of language and he hardly understood it except it sounded almost close to Latin maybe. But regardless of that, the speaker couldn't curse too loudly unless they wanted their location to be revealed.

The [ Tiefling ]'s voice was clear however, "I already sent a message to Lucia, she's going to get here soon and then the teleportation scroll—"

"What about these kids?"

"Thank you for saving us, we wouldn't have made it if it weren't for you… but did you say teleportation scroll?"

"Hhmn,"

"I mean we could take them along?"

"And what would happen next?"

Han could recognize the voices but he couldn't see anything now. Somehow everything turned dark without the presence of a [ Light Elf ] and he just noticed. But the others were unperturbed by their surroundings. Maybe everyone else but him had dark vision but he couldn't even tell where he was—

His body reacted on its own as he jumped back and felt himself trip over some gnarly roots.

Lightning had blasted down the spot where they had been. The Colossal Wyvern could tell where they were! Han's ankle throbbed with pain as he forced himself up. He still couldn't see as he squinted his eyes, he was a [ Rogue ] wasn't he? Shouldn't there be some kind of—

[ Skill - Night Vision Obtained! ]

He fell flat down as the tail whipped right above him and toppled down the trees. Barely in time as he rolled his body through the earth as the creature pulled its tail back, the wind was roaring like a torrent now for some reason.

Could they kill such a thing?

Something was still missing but he could spare no thought as he tried to get up on his feet before deciding it was better to crawl around. He made his way deeper in the forest, dragging himself rapidly across the ground as he cursed repeatedly in his mind—and before a thought nudged him once more.

Options were made and arranged neatly for him akin to a choice time:

] Contact the [ Wood Elf ] again

] Find and make sure that Ellynn was alive

] Regroup With The other [ Players ]

] Contact the [ Universal Chat ]

] Die

Out of all of them the most hopeful one was contacting the chat—but that depended on other people being online and actually caring about this matter. The [ Wood Elf ] run off didn't they? They would have sent him a message too if they had another plan in mind but they might only care about Ellynn? He didn't and couldn't confirm it either. Regrouping seemed great, Han glanced back and somehow found there was nothing pursuing it.

Did they go after the others first?

Maybe he didn't seem that appetizing—and breathed. Han let out a deep breath that he didn't realize he had been holding. He wiped off sticky sweat across his forehead and tried to consider why he was here in the first place? $1000? It didn't seem too big of an amount for him to keep troubling himself here right?

He could logout.

He remembered his conversation with Peach about how he actually found himself here, right now he was in his avatar thanks to the full reign mode. And his method of controlling it was via his own spirit being transferred here—so if he left the avatar before it got squished or electrocuted to death then he would survive.

That made sense to him and it wouldn't hurt to try.

It would make the difference between life and death if he chose correctly.

And yet there was surely something he could do here. Was he going to run like everyone else was doing? But the only reason he was here in the first place—Han Jing procured the quest once again:

Six Players All Gather In One Place

Either Fight Together Or Put Them Back In Their Place

Despite What The Creators Hoped For All The Different Races

The Bloodshed Continues, A War Endlessly Rages

Prophecy-like, one could infer a lot of interpretations with it? Fight together wasn't doing any good right now, they tried it and yet… put them back in their place? Did it refer to the [ Players ] as he thought previously. He assumed he had to fight the other players in a battle royale and yet that wasn't what happened—the Colossal Wyvern came popping in from thin air.

So surely the 'put them back in their place' meant the Wyvern right? But that 'or' meant they were alternatives, either fight the Wyvern together or put the Wyvern back in its place? One or the other? It wasn't like he was some great one with their lexicon. He focused on the third line and hopefully wished that the fourth line didn't mean anyone of them was going to die after this.

Despite what the Creators hoped for all the different Races.

The sound of thunder crackled overhead as Han stuck to the ground. He couldn't waste any more time—the second line seemed like the most important one that gave him options on what to do. The fight already proved futile so putting the Wyvern back in its place was—

Old Man Joe's words flitted back to his mind or more of his actions before.

He had been talking with his beast of burden when they travelled to the city of Gloria and Becky acted like Betsy and her were communicating properly—rest in peace Betsy. It hadn't come across his mind earlier at all. He was thinking of what he could, or rather what he couldn't do to attack the Colossal Wyvern.

Even his own plan earlier on relied on the other [ Players ] doing everything while he watched from the sidelines.

But if he tried to do this—then maybe he really didn't need anybody else at all! Or he could still logout. Han Jing sighed and rubbed his face as he looked down at the dirt. If he didn't try to do it at least here, he'd always run back from his problems. If he couldn't do it in this world where he was just 'Han' and not 'Han Jing' then he'd always end up as some coward and loser. And yet things were far different here than his world. So far, he was able to get [ Skills ] that were what he needed right at the particular moment.

Reflexes. Dodging. Night vision.

But now he needed more of that and he needed to think hard. Han gulped as he tried to whisper it to himself, "Bard? Druid? Beast tamer?" He needed to gain another [ Class ] that focused more on utility, simply powering through this wouldn't do. He concentrated hard but unlike [ Skills ] they didn't pop out. And so it didn't seem to come as automatic as he thought it would. He gained [ Rogue ] after battling Penelope's brother, or perhaps through the accumulation of all—

A scream pierced through the night.

Coldness seeped into his veins as he realized that it sounded like Ellynn, and before he even realized what he was doing, he was already moving towards that direction. There wasn't any more time to waste. But even so, he probably still needed some kind of backup—he couldn't rely on just dodging everything himself while trying to talk to the Colossal Wyvern.

He sprinted past the forest, dodging and maneuvering through the charred trees, falling branches and found someone.

It was the [ Wood Elf ] and he was just standing around there and doing nothing, he wiped something from his mouth and gazed at him, "Are you trying to kill yourself?" Their voice held no malice but a hint of arrogance was laced in it.

"What kind of bastard father are you? She's your daughter isn't she?!"

"Han—"

He shook his head and continued on, he couldn't waste any more time.