#- Tunnel -#

The tunnel was dark, but there was enough light for all of them to see. The tunnel was also quite narrow, only accommodating two people side by side.

Dens, who entered the tunnel last, immediately closed and wedged it with a rock he found inside. After that, he ran to catch up with his friends.

Quite far ahead, Dens met up with all of his friends who were standing still.

"What's up?" Dens asked while using his healing items.

"We're trapped, it's a dead end," said Hexon, cleaning his sword, ready for another battle.

Still breathing unevenly, Dens replied, "So, we just hold our ground?"

"You and Hexon in the front row, I'll assist behind you along with Zhendra. Then, in the next row, Gans and Natasha. After that, Vector and Crocils will prepare once their SP replenish. Unfortunately, Gans only has seven arrows, so he'll be the last resort," said Preta, who was behind Hexon.

"Got it, but Zhendra, how much longer until dawn?" Dens asked while tidying himself up and preparing his sword.

"Still quite a while. Hopefully, I'm wrong," replied Zhendra.

"Have you all used healing items?" Natasha asked. "Better save them."

"It seems like only I haven't. Right?" Crocils answered, leaning against the wall behind him.

"So, only six left. Preta, are you sure we can hold on?" Natasha responded with a trembling tone.

Dens realized that and glanced at the only girl in their group, "What's wrong?"

Crash! Crash!

Creak! Creak!

While they were talking, the sounds of claws and the bangs from the ušfrāms pushing forcefully into the tunnel could be heard. Fortunately, Dens managed to block it with a rock, but they all knew it wouldn't last long.

"Are you serious?" Dens asked, disbelief written on his face in the middle of the sweat and red and black blood that soaked his face.

Natasha, still with a trembling fear in her voice, replied to Dens, "See for yourself at your feet."

Dens looked down at his feet, and he couldn't believe what he saw.

Two battered skeletons, their bones crushed, were being trampled underfoot. From the skulls, Dens could tell they were a pair of human and elf.

Dens took a few steps back but was held by Zhendra right behind him.

Preta closed his eyes, he also couldn't believe what he saw and read, "We don't know if it's true or not, but whatever it is, we can't let ourselves weaken and be killed. So strengthen yourself, we fight to the death."

"Sigh... easy for you to say, you always hide when facing enemies and only appear when the enemies is weak. You always sacrifice us, you-" Gans retorted.

"Gans, you know we're in trouble here, so don't be selfish for now," Preta replied.

Gans grabbed Preta's shirt and pulled Preta's face right up to his, "This is no longer a game, they have tried to warn us. So if you make a selfish decision and prioritize yourself, then I will be the one to kill you."

"GANS!" Hexon shouted, echoing in the tunnel, "Stop, stop. We don't know if the letter is true or not, we don't know if he's still alive or not-"

"ARE YOU DEAF, HEX? Tigar and Gukata, both of them already told us. And now, a letter from some unknown corpse says the same thing."

Hexon immediately turned around, pushing Preta aside, and faced Gans. With a controlled but angry tone, Hexon said, "Whatever it is, we need to survive right now. If you don't want to follow Preta, then go."

"Hex, stop that. All of you." Natasha said, wiping her face, then pushing Hexon back to his position.

Gans, with his smirk, "After this, I'll join a stronger group. Remember that, gimlok."

After hearing the offense, Hexon, an Araguf, immediately punched Gans. Fortunately, Gans managed to dodge, and the punch hit the wall.

Their fight would have broken out if not for the light coming in from the direction of the destroyed tunnel door.

The wooden door couldn't withstand the numerous ušfrāms forcing their way in with their sharp and powerful claws.

With part of the door destroyed, their only barrier against the ušfrām was a not-so-large rock.

"Guys, they-" Zhendra said, immediately using his shadow of arrow spell to attack the eyes of the ušfrāms gathering behind the rock, blinding them and hindering the movement of the horde of uncivilized creatures.

All members of Sun of Lion Knight turned around and saw the bringers of death about to approach them. The fight stopped on its own because the fear of death haunted them all.

Preta, who had pushed Hexon and Gans, tried to separate them and had now regained his position. Everyone was ready in their positions.

"Focus on those ušfrāms right now. The letter just says if he can't log out, it doesn't mean he's actually dead," replied Preta, directing his sword forward, ready for battle.

"He's right. The letter says, 'I don't know why it's like this, but I can't log out. Anyone who finds me, please help,' not that we'll die if we die in WoW," replied Natasha, who had gathered healing items from her friends and prepared them for immediate use if needed.

Vector, who was leaning casually, now stood up to prepare to cast a spell since his SP had replenished. Without him knowing, a wooden board fell, creating an echoing sound.

Crocils, next to him, glanced at the fallen board and, in the narrow tunnel, tried to pick it up.

"We can use this as a shield," said Crocils as he successfully grabbed the board and handed it to the front.

Dens took the board, "It won't last long, but thanks."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Meanwhile, Hexon picked up a bone beneath his feet that was already shattered. He sorted through and eventually chose a bone that was long and sharp.

Dens looked at Hexon with a smile, "Dual weapon?"

"Exactly, but very asymmetrical. Casters should also take these bones, just in case," replied Hexon, his gaze already focused on the crowd of ušfrāms scratching the empty air because of their eyes blinded by Zhendra’s attack.

"Zhendra doesn't need it, Natasha already gave her dagger," Preta replied in the middle of his breath, the exhale of which could be felt by Hexon.

In the distance, they could see the shadows of the blinded ušfrāms being torn and ripped apart by other ušfrāms.

One by one, the ušfrāms found ways to slip through the rocks blocking them and burst into the tunnel.

Zhendra didn't attack the ušfrāms that had passed the rocks. Instead, he focused on those still behind the rocks to make it harder for the other ušfrāms to move.

Meanwhile, those who successfully broke through crawled quickly in the darkness towards the group of Sun of Lion Knight, who were frightened, tired, and cornered at the end of the dim and somewhat narrow tunnel.

They still felt the cold air, even though the smoke coming out from their noses wasn't visible. However, it was still felt by their friends in front of them because their positions were that close.

The growls of the ušfrāms entering the tunnel one by one and breaking through the rock barrier became louder and echoed.

In desperation, Hexon and Dens managed to stab and kill the ušfrām approaching.

Some ušfrāms managed to swipe their quick and sharp claws, but their attacks were stopped before hitting Hexon and Dens by the shadow of arrow attacks by the caster duo of Sun of Lion Knight, Vector and Crocils.

The night grew darker, the moon descended, and the sun would soon rise. The growls of the ušfrāms became louder and pierced the ears of the Sun of Lion Knight members, who were growing more tired after killing more than dozens of ušfrām crawling into their tunnel.

In just a short time, SP from Zhendra, Vector, and Crocils have run out, and they need time to replenish these SP before they can use their spells again. Now, everyone can only rely on the solid defense of Hexon and Dens, assisted by Preta and Zhendra behind them.

However, they can't trick the game system. Their stats and attributes aren't high enough to defend themselves for long, they're already very tired, resulting in weaker and less powerful attacks compared to before.

It now takes two to three slashes to defeat enemies who previously would have fallen with just one. Fatigue also affects their speed and agility, making them more vulnerable to attacks.

Natasha, positioned behind them, quickly provides and uses healing items to restore their HP, which has been steadily decreasing due to the relentless attacks from never-ending ušfrāms.

"How are we now?" asks Gans, who reluctantly shoots the remaining arrows to stop the increasing onslaught of ušfrāms.

Preta, controlling his breath, remains silent while continuously thrusting his sword between Dens and Hexon to attack the ušfrāms in front of him.

"Hold on," he says after a few attacks.

"Ahhh... sigh... sigh..." a loud cry from Dens as his hands, once again, get scratched by the ušfrām in front of him.

Now, the hands, bodies, and faces of Dens and Hexon are in similar conditions —covered in scratch wounds that ooze red blood mixed with the black blood splattered from the ušfrām corpses they've stabbed and slashed.

Hexon shakes his head several times to avoid blood and sweat from entering his eyes, keeping his vision clear as he faces the terrifying enemies in front of him with open mouths, revealing rows of menacing fangs and foul breath.

Slash!

Petra successfully thrust his sword right beside Hexon's head to kill the creature.

"Nat, Dens..." Zhendra said, using his small dagger to stab the forehead of the ušfrām that leaped toward Dens, biting his head.

Crocils, using his staff, pushed the creature to release its bite from Dens. Meanwhile, Natasha quickly opened healing items and used them on Dens.

The creature was incapacitated, but more kept coming.

"This is way more than the hundreds you mentioned, Zhend," Gans said, helping as much as he could by throwing his remaining arrow at the enemies.

"SHUT UP! Don't talk about unimportant things, idiot," Zhendra shouted as he stabbed his enemy, getting scratched by their claws.

Zhendra's hand trembled, feeling the pain from the scratches and oozing blue fluid.

Hexon, nearly exhausted fully, accidentally let go of his longsword stuck in the corpse of the ušfrām he had just killed.

Natasha checked her healing items, "Hex, Dens, how much HP do you have left?"

With a shaky voice, holding back the pain that surrounded his entire body, Dens said while swinging his sword at the enemy's face, "Six."

"Seven, our items are gone?" Hexon asked, trying to pull his longsword from the pile of ušfrām corpses.

"Only one left, just one," Natasha said, and without realizing it, tears flowed down her face, wiping away some of the dirt and splatters of black ušfrām blood on her face.

"Sigh... sigh... hang on, friends, please…" Preta said, also shedding tears even though he was already using his remaining strength to stab his enemy.

Preta knew he had lost energy and stamina, meaning every attack he continued to make would decrease his HP.

Their enemies, the ušfrāms, continued to enter the tunnel, even though the passage narrowed with each new pile of bodies from the ušfrāms killed by the Sun of Lion Knight group. But that didn't dampen their spirits to get fresh prey.

"Nat, you're the one who deci, ahh..." Zhendra's words were cut off as his hand, reaching forward to stab his current enemy, was no longer scratched but bitten by a still-living ušfrām, buried under the corpses of other ušfrām.

The bite from those sharp and long fangs would be hard to release if he didn't want his flesh to be torn apart by forcing a pull. However, Dens, witnessing this, managed to help his friend by beheading the buried ušfrām.

Zhedra pulled his hand, and as he looked at it, mourning the hole in his flesh. With his vision starting to blur, he took the opportunity to ask Natasha, "Sigh... Rrr... My HP is only 1. You decide... Aaahhh... Rrr... Sigh..."

Without needing to continue his words, Natasha smiled, even though she knew Zhendra wouldn't see her smile, and she said, "I've used it for you. Our healing is gone, I hope you all survive."

###

All members of the Sun of Lion Knight began to shed tears, including Hexon and Gans. They realized their fate would soon end with the relentless attacks from the ušfrāms and the long night before the sunrise. They were aware that they wouldn't last much longer in the world of WoW.

That night was filled with screams and shouts of pain and anger that haunted the souls and hearts of experienced players in a group whose name alone made many other players fearful and trembled.

Not the strength that can defeat them, but the relentless onslaught of small attacks that can make them despair and lose in a horrifying situation.

Growls from creatures bearing the message of death and without moral sense continue to approach the cabin and narrow tunnel. Tireless, fearless, and painless, they only know to attack, scratch, tear, and bite to get fresh food for their unappeasable souls. The terrifying ušfrām creatures continue to attack the players who have no way out.

In the middle of the grieving of misfortune, ignorance, selfishness, and arrogance. In the middle of their spirit to survive that is almost vanished. They only want one thing if they must be defeated, all of this is just a game, unlike what people say.

However, the new day is not over but just about to begin. They are unaware of it in the desperation and misery they face.

There is always a new wind that revives dead souls, always a new light that adorns dead souls, always a new hope that gives fighting spirit to those who are about to die.

Slash! Slash!

"Hold on, my friend." says Gans, who has now taken Preta's sword to replace Preta, who is very tired, "Hol-"

"Gans, be quiet for a moment," says Natasha, who is now trying to stop the bleeding from Preta's nose.

Gans, still stabbing his enemies with an unshaken spirit, replies, "I won't be silent until they're all dead. We have to survive."

"BE QUIET!" Natasha yells, "I hear something above?"

Crocils, filling out his SP, felt gravel from the tunnel starting to fall onto him, "Are there heavy footsteps from above?"

"Like horse footsteps, more than one," Zhendra replied.

"Enemies..."

####