Tap…Tap…Tap…Tap…
Each step drops a tear on the ground. With each meter that has been crossed, a sob can be heard.
I didn't plan for this to happen. Why is this happening to me?! I just wanted to have a second chance in life!! If I knew that I'd be causing their demise, I wouldn't have bothered accepting this bullshit offer! Why?! WHY ME!?
I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING IN MY LIFE! ALL I DID WAS STARE AT MY COMPUTER ALL DAY, AND TALK TO PEOPLE I DIDN'T KNOW! I FAILED MY COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMS, I FAILED THE ARCHERY CLUB! ALL BECAUSE I WAS TOO OVERCONFIDENT!
He kept running and running until he tripped over a rock and fell over to the ground. Face first and everything.
Clif–Nash slammed both of his hands onto the ground out of frustration and exhaustion. He screamed as he let out his tears, his emotions, and everything. Then, he rolled over and faced the ceiling, where only rocks and mana crystals were found dangling.
"...I know that I don't deserve this chance, I know that I shouldn't interfere and just play my role as Cliff…!"
But how can you make me do that when I was finally having fun? When I finally met people who I respected and thought of them as awesome adventurers that I could work with… Why are you giving me a reason to go back to being me? Why are you trying to bring back the identity I left behind?! Why…! Why are you back, nash…?
Because no matter how you change the way you behave, I am still you.
No, I'm no longer you… I'm Cliff Carmesi, the son of the proud Carmesi family who is one of the greatest mages in the kingdom! I am not the loser, Nash, who did nothing but play in his room! You, who died playing this fucking game I'm in!?
We don't even know who Cliff Carmesi Is, yet you're calling yourself by his name? You are an imposter, trying to replicate who he was and not relying on the skills and abilities that you had earned during your first day here.
WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?! ACT LIKE ME?! EMBARRASS MYSELF EVEN FURTHER?! I WANT TO LIVE HIS LIFE FOR HIM!!
Lies. You are nothing but a walking contradiction. You said that you didn't deserve this second chance, yet you say that you want to live his life? For him? Unbelievable, you are nothing but an imposter. Me.
The lad quickly stood up and punched the wall, with his face contorting in anger and grief. All emotions mixed on one face. Just like who he is, emotions that shouldn't be together yet still end up being mixed.
Then what? What do you want me to do?!
Help them.
How?! I can't even stand a chance against that fucking thing?!
Is brute strength your only weapon? Did you not pick an archer? Fight with your bow and wits, do not try to equal yourself against that monster. Did you become stupid after reading that character interface? God…
My arrows can't even dent the wood!
Use what you've learned when you played this game. Despite everything being different and new, it is still "Infinite Dungeon", No?
What if it doesn't work?
Are you not a gamer? Find a way, you cowardly bitch. You have to ask yourself that when you already have the answer yourself? God, what did I become…???
Don't fucking mock me… Riyu died because of me…
So? Avenge him. That's all, no?
It's not that simpl–
It is that simple. Kill it, then apologize to whoever's left alive.
You…
Cruel? You didn't care about Kein and his sister, did you? So stop trying to act like you are a saint. She's dying, y'know?
They're dying.
What are you going to do, Archer? Fight to live? Or give up and die?
<••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••>
"NOW, FOLLOW ME TO YOUR GRAVE!"
Now that all of the attention has returned to him, he plans to hold out until the giant tree becomes ash. After all, why would it protect this place if it isn't something that is connected to him? It targeted him because he shot three flaming arrows near the tree and burned most of the flowers.
This is no longer about that flower that cures hardening skin. It's about survival, on who will win. The Archer, or the Knight of Flowers?
The knight lunged at him. In quick succession, It has managed to close the gap in their distance. Yet, Cliff managed to follow the knight's movements.
I see. It has taken so much damage to the body, effectively weakening its physical capabilities.
As soon as it climbed up the rubble, it swung its wooden blade horizontally. However, his body bent backward. Like that one movie scene from The Matrix, he evaded the horizontal slash. After the blade passed through, he performed a quick backflip before shooting an arrow into the knight's eyehole.
The arrow went inside the eyehole, denting the back of the knight's head.
Despite the flowers extinguishing the flames, they still did much damage to the exterior skin armor.
His plan? Keep shooting arrows until it shows some progress. It sounds simple, but that won't be the only thing he will be doing.
Cliff landed on the bed of flowers. Fortunately, the ground wasn't so hard. Otherwise, he would've damaged his knee during the fall. After landing, he ran to the field of flowers.
Right now, this is their temporary arena. An open space is a small disadvantage for the Archer and a big disadvantage for the wooden knight of flowers. With open range, the amount of actions it can do is unlimited. That should be a bad thing, but it isn't for the veteran archer.
"Show me all of your patterns, bitch…!"
After recovering, the knight lunged at him in a zigzag. It learned that it needs to dodge the arrows, otherwise, they'll fall. Cliff kept jumping backward, gaining distance so that he could use his hunting bow properly. He released an arrow, aiming for the knight's arm but the knight evaded it by doing the zig-zag dodge.
"You're hurt, aren't you?! That's why you're dodging my arrows…!"
Suddenly, Cliff lunged towards the knight. His unpredictability is what makes him a formidable opponent against the knight, the knight was taken by surprise and got kicked in the chest so hard, that it pushed him 20 meters backward. His STR and CON stats are no longer low, that is how he can physically damage the knight.
The knight held its sword, holding it on the top of his head as it rushed towards the archer. Planning to perform a devastating downward slash that is capable of splitting a person's head like a watermelon. The knight immediately closed the distance between them and the archer, swinging the sword, hoping to kill the archer.
SWISH!
THUNK!
The sword did not hit anything but the air. The archer stepped to the side lunged his body forward and stabbed the knight with something sharp.
[ Madness effect has been inflicted on an organic enemy. Its logic and reasoning shall fade and only madness remains. ]
[ Madness: A side-effect that lasts for 2 minutes. It makes monsters experience madness until they die from it if the monsters are made out of flesh and not inorganic materials. ]
The dagger that he kept hidden, the Verminous Dagger. Cliff stabbed the knight in the chest with it, the most damaged area that has been met with countless attacks. Including his multi-shot skill.
Cliff suddenly spartan-kicked the knight away from him as he also pulled the dagger out of its chest. He pants, taking that amount of risk was necessary but also terrifying to execute. If he had used his dagger earlier, the knight wouldn't have gotten closer to him at all.
The Knight suddenly trembled before sloppily rushing towards Cliff, swaying its sword like it was a bat. It did not scream yet Cliff can imagine it based on its movement. Madness is a debuff effect that strips away any kind of reasoning, meaning that right now– the knight became a wild animal, set on the loose.
"But that's the plan… FOLLOW ME, IDIOT!"
[ Learned a new skill "Taunt" ]
Right now?? Interface, close! Don't show the interface until I finish this fucktard.
The interface vanishes. Cliff immediately started running towards the tree and…climbed it. With his high agility, he was able to climb parts of the tree that weren't burnt yet. With this action alone, the knight will follow him and possibly light itself on fire due to the lack of logical thinking thanks to the [ Madness ] debuff.
After seconds of climbing, he was able to reach the top of the tree where a platform for soil could be found filled with tall sharp grass and a single flower in the middle. It's not a large area, one mistake and one of them will fall out of the tree.
"Hah…!" Cliff started breathing in and out, recovering all of the stamina he lost during the fight from below.
Then, a burning hand gripped the edge of the soil platform he was currently on. It vaulted over, and the knight managed to climb to the top of the tree, with a cost.
It isn't using the blooming flowers that extinguishes the flames. It hasn't even been a full minute, so it is still affected by the [ Madness ] debuff. It tried to rush towards the archer, but its wooden knee armor started to fall off. Causing the knight to halt, yet it kept walking. With its sword pointed at Cliff, it tried to thrust the flaming wooden sword at the man's head.
Unfortunately, it got reflected to the side with a small knife. Despite that, it moved forward until it got stabbed twice in the head with the same dagger that stripped away its logic and kicked again. The holes on the knight's chest, something is glowing underneath it. Upon closer look, it was a marble-shaped object. The Core.
"I knew it… The tree… was healing your skin continuously before…! But now that it's being burnt… your regenerative abilities aren't working anymore…!" Cliff smirked. He licked his teeth, showing ferociousness.
In front of the knight, was no longer a feeble human. It held a dagger on the right hand and held a smaller knife in reverse grip on his left. He assumed the stance, right hand forward, pointing the dagger for offensive attacks and left hand on the side, for defense and parrying attacks.
He became a hunter.
That's it. That's who you are.
A hunter who observes the prey's behavior and uses it against them.
Don't forget it again.
[ Adrenaline-Rush Activated ]