[Well, that's because your victims are weak as hell. And remember—although the instructor didn't explicitly say it, he did mention your points would depend on the tier of the monster you defeat.]
"Fucking bastard." I frowned. "So he meant that for students too."
[Plus, those students hadn't attacked anyone yet, so they had no points on them.]
I exhaled slowly and glanced toward the refrigerator at the far end of the aisle. The supermarket stretched out ahead of me, massive and dim. I still couldn't see whoever had caused that explosion earlier, but instinct told me crossing paths with them would be a mistake.
I moved toward the refrigerator. It seemed like an obvious hiding spot—too obvious. Whoever chose to hide there was an idiot. Everyone knew the safest-looking places were usually the most dangerous. The first place people would check.
Still, I reached for the door.
[Duck.]
I dropped.
An arrow hissed through the space where my head had been a second ago, embedding itself in the wall behind me with a sharp THUNK.
That's when I noticed the bodies.
Three of them, sprawled across the floor near the refrigerator. Fresh kills. Blood still pooling beneath them.
FUCK. I almost walked right into that.
I traced the arrow's trajectory and found her—a girl with greenish-brown hair and sharp red eyes, already nocking another arrow. She stared at me with unnerving focus, like I was just another target on her list.
I threw myself sideways as the second arrow sliced past my shoulder.
So that's the game. The refrigerator was bait.
And judging by the body count, plenty of idiots had fallen for it.
What made it worse was her position—tucked into a blind spot between two collapsed shelves. You couldn't see her unless you knew exactly where to look, and by then it was too late.
I bolted around the corner.
BAM.
I slammed into someone. Hard.
Before I could recover, a blade flashed toward my neck.
KINK!
I raised my digger at the last possible second and caught the strike. The impact jarred my arm, but the weapon held.
The girl blinked, clearly thrown off by my choice of weapon. That split-second hesitation was all I needed.
I pivoted and drove the pointed end of the digger into her throat.
She made a wet, choking sound. Her eyes went wide. Then crimson sprayed from the wound as she collapsed, twitching once before going still.
Damn it.
My stomach churned as blood pooled around her body. Why did they have to make this simulation so REAL? They could've used pixelated glitches or something—anything that felt more like a game.
But no.
They wanted us to get used to THIS. To killing.
WHOOSH.
"AHHHHH!"
Pain exploded through my leg as an arrow punched clean through my calf. I went down hard, hitting the ground with a grunt.
I looked up and saw HER. The archer. She'd followed me.
"WHAT THE HELL?! YOU CHASED ME ALL THE WAY HERE?!" I shouted, scrambling backward.
She said nothing. Just pulled another arrow from her quiver and nocked it with practiced ease.
Her expression didn't change. Calm. Cold. Efficient.
"Shut up and die."
FUCK.