Brian stood with the other students. Compared to him, they were all in a wreck. Smelly, hungry, and scared. It's not a fun sight to look at, especially what they were staring at right now.
"N—No way..."
"They're all... dead?"
"Jorge..."
For an entire night, there were no signs of them. People thought they were dead. Contrary to what Brian thought, the ones who left were only acknowledged. Not chosen. Not a single one of them.
You see, the group that went into the tunnels yesterday— only one survived.
He was sitting in front of everyone. His entire body, dripping with blood. Small pieces of meat stuck everywhere around his body. His eyes, dull and empty as everyone watched at him.
Just thinking about what might've happened to him gave shivers down Brian's spine.
"It's not my fault..." The senior mumbled as he stared at the ground. "It's not my fault... They just... Pop..."
[ Congratulations on completing the Quest: Don't Get Poked! ]
[ Issuing rewards... ]
[ Congratulations on leveling up to Lvl.2! ]
[ You have 3 Attribute Points! ]
A white text projected itself above the young man, and a man's voice came— out of nowhere— to read the lines.
It was like being spilled with cold water. People finally realized what they'd gone into. To those who thought that this was a game, this was not a game. Don't Get Poked?! What kind of a quest was that?!
Many didn't have the stomach to look at him. It was horrifying, to say the least.
A girl fainted as her grim friends rushed to take care of her. Students started moaning in hunger. The situation was getting worse.
Brian stared at the senior as a few startled teachers— and janitors— went and asked him questions.
Are you okay? What happened to the teachers? What did you find out there? The senior, however, ignored them.
A thought suddenly appeared in his mind, 'If all those people had died outside, then how many teachers were left?'
It sounded stupid to hear himself ask that question since it didn't matter, but it sort of did.
"Including 5 teachers that are missing, 8 that are dead... then, these five in front of me... and that old crone..." Brian gasped, "...Are really the only ones left"
Six. There were only six adults left.
"Shit, fuck. I nearly died and now this?! If I don't do anything about this, I'm doomed..." Brian mumbled to himself. He's starting to lose his composure. Christ, he was really not in the mood for—
A corpse of a burnt boar with sharp tusks fell in front of him. Brian's shoulders jolted. He turned to see who did it. Everyone turned to see who did it.
"..."
A redhead walked out from the trees behind the senior. He looked skinny and flimsy. Yet with his green eyes, he looked straight back at everyone and showed no fear.
We watched him with bewilderment and confusion. The redhead didn't say anything as he called up his status— which was surprisingly glowing red— and pressed a few buttons. More boar bodies poured out of the screen, seemingly out of nowhere, making a heap in front of everyone.
Even though they were sort of burnt, both students— and the few remaining adults— stared at the pile with hunger.
"Listen to me!" The redhead yelled sternly, "There were 358 students before we entered. Now, 6 classes are missing and about 120 students are now either dead or missing."
"All of you are starving, aren't you? But none of you are doing anything about it." Fetter pointed his fingers to everyone, "You think this'll be solved by crying?"
"Those brave people died. For all of you. And no one even looked for them." Fetter said.
"I—It's not our fault! Don't you see that it's dangerous!" Someone in the crowd cried.
"It's suicide!!!" Someone else cried.
"I'd rather starve here than go in there!!!" Another yelled.
"Cowards! That doesn't make it any less different!" Fetter scowled at them, "If we want to survive, then we have to stand up! Think about your families!!!"
"Don't you want to see them again?!?" The redhead screamed.
Everyone was touched by his words. Family was a strong word. The moment he mentioned it, the hungry children remembered that someone was waiting for them at home.
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"I don't know about you. But I want to see them again."
"If you were acknowledged by that... thing. Then I'm going back inside to get more food for everyone. all the help I can get" The redhead cried.
"No one will starve when I'm around. Everyone will go home. I promise you that."
"Tch, Fetter! Don's coming with you!"
"I want to see my family again!"
"I'll help you, Fet!"
Touched by his words, dozens of students volunteered to help him. Their eyes exuded spirit and determination. They walked towards him with confidence that they will make it back alive.
"We're acknowledged!"
Another person stepped in with a large group of people behind his back. They were all armed. Beside him, he could see Jasper and Nancy. Those bastards.
Except for Nancy though, they were all grinning for some reason. But Brian saw her just staring at the ground. Mumbling something.
'Augh, shit.' Brian gulped as he noticed the blonde leading the group, 'It's James..."
'Bastards of a feather, flock together...'
"What do you think you're doing with that sword, young man?!" Feeling that something was wrong, a bearded teacher stepped in front of them.
"And what do you think you're doing in front of a sword, old man?" James bashed the teacher on the head with his wooden shield, causing him to fling sideways like a body bag.
"No! Mr.Tarikkk!!!"
A kid with glasses screamed. With his other friends, he ran to support the teacher.
"You seem like you have a lot of baggage... Uh, whatsername? Fetter? Like that hamster?" James smirked, "Alright then hamster. Why don't we help you with that? Give us all your food."
"The fuck is wrong with you?! In a time like this?!!"
"This food is for everyone. You can't just take it for yourselves, dummy!!!"
"You're asking for trouble, Fucker!!!"
"I'll cut to the chase. I'm hungry. And I want your fucking food."
As though they understood each other, Fetter's followers all summoned their swords and shields. With Fetter and the pile of boars behind them, there were 16 students who defended their ground.
'Well, this's getting awkward.' Brian looked expressionless on the outside, but secretly, he was sweating on the inside.
Fetter's group of volunteers were outnumbered 24-to-18. Everyone else was surprisingly neutral— if not somewhat leaning towards Fetter's group— so they backed away. These people were about to start a fight.
"ALL OF YOU, STOP!!!"
Someone stepped in front of them. This time, however, it was a fat old teacher— and the glasses kid behind him.
"We can't start fighting! Don't you remember what that thing said? People might die if you start fighting!" The fat teacher shouted.
"If you don't want people to die, then give us the food." Someone from James' group yelled, "We're hungry too ya know!"
"Don't you get it?! Everyone's hungry!" The glasses kid yelled back at him. He then turned to James with bloodshot eyes, "HE'S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!!! MR.TARIK'S DEAD!!! BECAUSE OF YOU!!!"
Everyone was taken aback. Even James himself was shocked. His face changed a few times before he stared at the ground.
"J—James!" One of his lackeys looked at him with worry, "You okay?"
He stood in silence, "...Let them have it."
"W—What'd you say?"
"Fucking let them have it!!!" James clicked his tongue in frustration before mumbling to himself, "For now..."
"We'll go get our own food. Fuck these people." James turned his back on Fetter's group and walked away. His gaze kept looking down on the ground.
His lackeys looked at each other in confusion. Shameful, even. Jasper was still confused about what had just happened. Nancy was crying on Jasper's chest. It took them a while to realize what had just happened. But they followed him as though nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, Brian was already biting on his fingers again (It happens occasionally when he's stressed). Fuck. And now there were five.
Students gathered on Mr.Tarik's body in silence. His neck was broken. He guessed that no one had noticed the power that the status had given them yet. But maybe they did. However the truth was, we all stared at Mr.Tarik. Even the senior who was covered with blood watched him.
"..." Fetter was quiet as he looked at him.
"Mr.Tarik... No...." The glasses kid and several other students wept in front of him. He muttered something into Mr.Tarik's ears as he clenched his fists.
Brian sighed. The atmosphere was infectious, "...We should make a grave for him, Mr.Dozzer"
A few people looked at him, including the fat old teacher, Mr.Dozzer. He nodded in agreement, "Look, everyone. I don't want to make it an argument, but what happened today... was an accident."
The kid with glasses turned and glared at Mr.Dozzer. He just sighed, "We can't have any more dying. I've... We've lost too many friends today."
Many voiced their disagreement. They wanted justice. It wasn't right to leave Mr.Tarik like this. Mr.Dozzer shook his head. What could they do about it? Not only does James' group were armed but he was still worried about what that thing said. He was probably not alone in thinking this too.
The janitor beside Mr.Dozzer agreed with his decision.
Mr.Dozzer held his tears back as he said so. "I'm going to dig a grave for him and the others. You can come with me if you want to help."
Along with a few other people— including the janitors— left the crowd.
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Brian sat down by a tree. From here, you could see pretty much everything that was happening around the other students. Some were cutting and cooking the boar with grateful delight. Others were watching impatiently.
James' group were nowhere to be seen. While Fetter and his followers were still helping Mr.Dozzer dig graves for the fallen.
He didn't know whether it was an effect of being inside a crowd full of crying people, but he was starting to get the feels too.
—He didn't like it by the way.
"Should I join Fetter?" But other important matters needed to be settled first, "If I do, food is a guarantee. I'll be risking my life, sure. But it'll be much safer to do it with other people..."
He thought about it some more. He'll obviously be lead by Fetter. If he ran from the group again because of some danger, then he'll definitely be branded a coward if they survive. Hmm, this was quite difficult.
"If I join Fetter's group, then there's a chance I'd get into some trouble with James' group. No doubt." And he couldn't join James' group since Jasper and Nancy are there. They'll snitch on him.
"..."
—Then again, he was still curious how that Fetter managed to get those hogs. Brian could barely kill 2 mad midgets on his own. The only clue he could get from the corpses was how oddly burnt up they were (Are they still edible?).
Surely, he wouldn't be swinging his torches around, right?
"...Hmm"
"Alright, let's do this."
Little did he know what a bad decision this might turn out to be.
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"Hey, uh Fetter." Someone tapped his back.
"Yeah, what is it?" He asked as he dug with his hands. The dirt was getting into his nails, but he didn't mind it. Mr.Dozzer and the other janitors were working harder than him.
"There's somebody asking if he could join us later. But he says he's not even acknowledged. And he... uhm... he just looks suspicious if you ask me."
Fetter stopped digging. He turned back and looked at him, perplexed.
"Just tell him he can't come. We had others that weren't acknowledged coming as well, right? It's too dangerous for anyone who's doesn't have a weapon." Fetter went back to digging. He was still thinking about his classes with Mr.Tarik. He was a good teach—
"Yeah, that's the thing, Fet." He scratched his head, not knowing what to say, "He's wearing this... this armor that smells and looks like my grandpa's sock. It's from around here, I'm sure of it. And he's got this really long spear too and..." He scratched his neck.
"And it's got... it's got blood in it too."
Fet stopped digging again and looked at Donny, "That... means he's also been in there, right?"
"Yeah, pretty sure."
"Well, this is a different case then..." Fetter rubbed his chin together, "Did you get his name, Don?"
"I did, I think his name was... Charlie"