A towering monster that was the size of three humans looked down at Patty with its canine weapons bearing down on its prey. Its two fangs could tear a person in half without much pressure, but don’t make a mistake, its muscular jaws could exert pressures that could chomp on a truck made out of steel.

That was the first thing Patty noticed. After all, it was staring right at him. As a normal human, his instincts led his eyes to find the most dangerous thing that could kill him. Even if he wanted to look away, the buzzing in his ears would rang louder as if the minion was warning him to never take his eyes off it–meaning the mistake could prove fatal.

This beast, this monstrosity, looked something out of a fantasy show. Its skin was a disgusting mud color and a texture like that of a very wrinkly brain. It walked on its four legs, but its hind legs were much shorter and thicker than its front; the arms looked very much like sticks compared to its legs. Its body was rectangular like that of a gorilla, and it would have been the alpha in its group judging from its muscular build.

If that wasn’t enough to scare the wits out of anyone who saw this beast, then its face would haunt the nightmares of all nightmares. Its jet black eyes were sunken deep, its cheeks were hollow, and somehow, despite the lack of distinguishing features on its eyes, it always seemed to follow Patty’s every movement. It could see everything. All it had on its eyes was its prey.

“Oh, Supremes help us!”

“AHHHH! Let me out of here before it kills us all!”

“It’s a Fiend! Why is there a Fiend here?!”

The whole crowd dispersed away from the Fiend, well, at least they tried. Some pushed others down in a last ditch effort for survival, which led to a stampede like a domino tower falling down. This further created chaos and traffic. People who stepped on those who fell weren’t thinking about anything; they just wanted to survive.

This mania continued to further exacerbate the situation. They all felt like they would die if they didn't escape right now. Fortunately for them and unfortunately for Patty, there was only one thing on the Fiend’s mind, and that was the man right in front of it.

SSSKKKYYYAAAAAA

The Fiend opened its mouth and screeched at Patty. The hot and moist breath came out like a wild geyser, with green saliva dripping out of its huge fangs and even rained down on Patty. The worse thing than having a forced shower in disgusting goo saliva was having wild and decayed pungent odor lingering in his nose. It was yucky. It made him forget that he was facing a wild predator that could kill him in a second.

The arcade owner was the one whose face was pale white. This was the worst case scenario, but not in the way that people expected. All those around them were either worried for their own safety, or were worried that they would see Patty end up in a bloody mush. Not him. The arcade owner was worried about what this disaster would do to his source of income. That Fiend ensured that one way or another, either his entire tent and equipment would be destroyed, or that his reputation would be tainted by having death on his hands.

The arrival of a Fiend was not something even his insurance company expected. This was in the middle of the city, not some backwood jungle where Fiends usually spawned. This was supposed to be the most protected part of the region, with the Chained Being watching over their safety. How did it even get here?

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Fiends were evolved animals that mutated due to the imbalance of power in the universe. As humanity transcended their mortality, so did the other lifeforms forced to coexist with the humans. It was simple evolution as said by the famous Charles Darwin. Lions were forced to become stronger, fiercer, and more beastly in order to keep up with the humans. Even dogs and cats evolved their intelligence to fully become man’s best friend.

This particular Fiend must have been a mutation of a silverback gorilla. Its strength, speed, and its thirst for human blood were all amped up to a magnitude of 100. Normal human guns, artillery, and missiles were no longer effective. Suffice it to say, only Dreamers with Teqx powers have the capacity to deal with monstrous Fiends.

Patty definitely was not one of those people. He did not go through 4 years of technical studying about Fiends to find out their weakness and how to deal with them. He did not have the proper on the field training to prepare him in these kinds of dangerous situations. He didn’t have the right protective equipment, he did not have any special weapons, he was just by himself with no help and no knowledge on how to survive this situation.

[Mission]

[Requirement]

* Survive from the Fiend encounter

[Rewards]

* 40 Yi Power

* 60 Minion Growth Crystal

As usual, the system was onpoint with its timings. It’s not like he would have just laid there and let the Fiend eat him if the system didn’t give him any mission to survive. In fact, Patty was surprised the system only wanted him to survive. From his past experiences, he would have totally thought that the mission would have him kill the Fiend or something. Thankfully, all he had to do was survive.

As if trying to swat an ant, the Fiend raised its branch-like thin front leg and whipped it down towards Patty. Everyone tried to avert their eyes, but it was too fast for them to react. They knew nothing about Patty and felt nothing about him, but they didn’t want to see him die a gruesome death. Their hearts stopped for a second as the leg crashed through the soil and induced a cloud of smoke.

Ah, his reputation was ruined, thought the arcade owner. He will now be known as the guy who let a student die on his game.

COUGH COUGH. “Ahhh, that was some horrible breath!”

Contrary to all their expectations, Patty was still standing still, with his hands on his waist and his expression that of a combination of disgust and boredom. What just happened? Didn’t he die from being crushed to death by the Fiend’s legs?

But the truth was right there in front of their eyes. Patty was just an inch away from the Fiend’s legs stuck in the soil. His posture looked like a man standing underneath a lamp post. How absurd was that?! How could he remain composed in this situation? How could he dodge the strike coming at him at literal breakneck speeds?

“Thank the Supremes, this guy is really, really lucky!” The arcade owner thanked his lucky stars that Patty didn’t die from that. But what was he doing? If he somehow, through using all the luck in his life, avoided a fate of certain death, why was he not moving? Why was he still at arms length with the Fiend itself? Was he too scared to move? No, his eyes weren't expressing any dread, but a bit of annoyance. It was as if the Fiend was a little bug that was disturbing his peace. But that also didn’t make sense. How could a Fiend be a little bug?

Everyone wondered why Patty never even tried to escape. After that one strike, the Fiend’s leg was stuck in the soil and it couldn’t move for a while. It was the best time to escape. But Patty never moved away. Why?

Of course, the answer was simple. He was lazy. He was the only one who was thinking about this in the most logical way. If he tried to escape, the Fiend would just chase him to the ends of the world; animals like these were prideful. It would be pointless to escape. He would just use a ton of energy, and he wouldn’t even last running for 100 meters before his energy bar completely depleted.

And he figured out that he could see the movements of the Fiend. If he could see it, then he could dodge it. So, in conclusion, the best way to deal with this situation was to stay in place and just dodge all the Fiend’s attacks.

“Patty! Get out of there!” Grammo was standing at the side and couldn’t help but be worried for him.

Patty just gave him a ‘reassuring’ thumbs up. “Don’t worry, Grammo. I won’t die. I have a plan, just trust in me.”

Grammo was relieved to hear that Patty wasn’t being suicidal. He should be trying to escape now, right? Well, it turned out Patty had other plans.

Patty suddenly laid down on the floor, his back on the soil, his arms flailing to the side, and his feet extended on the floor. He was completely vulnerable to the Fiend. It was if he was serving himself up on the platter for the Fiend to feast on. It was the complete opposite of trying to escape away.

“THAT’S YOUR PLAN?! THAT’S NOT TRYING TO SURVIVE, THAT’S TRYING TO DIE!”