"●●●!"

"afeuir hefibu asha!"

"asha nuiefe kashe plnef"

I hear the sounds of gibberish and words that I couldn't even begin to comprehend. Opening my eyes, I see the shining moonlight. It blinded me for a brief moment. I tried to move my hands, but failed to do so as I notice ropes binding my arms and legs. I found myself stretched out open, forming an "X" with my legs and arms spread as far apart as they could. I could feel my head strapped against the wooden texture behind me. The stars looked down on me who was being carried on wooden planks by creatures below that I couldn't even see.

"asha gashuoi!"

"gashuoi?"

The words of the unknown creatures with nasal voices caused my head to continue ringing. Looks like I'm not going to die the easy way huh. I imagined myself being taken to be chopped up and eaten. I couldn't move. The restrictions were pretty tight and it was a completely uncomfortable position for me. Furthermore, I couldn't even figure out who or what kind of creatures were taking me away. At this point, the only thing I can do is to pretend to be asleep. Closing my eyes, I treated it as a rocky bus ride home. How many years has it even been since I last sat down in one?

The cool spring breeze helped to make the ride at least a little bit more bearable. I found myself being laid down, as the uneven manner in which i was being placed against the ground led me to believe that these were creatures that were smaller than myself. They seemed to have struggled in carrying me to wherever I was now. Hearing the sounds of the creatures panting, I could tell that I was somewhere rather quiet, which made me wonder how much time has passed since I collapsed on the bridge.

"gatuba feui niea gsfeo asha" I hear a rougher and deeper voice speak.

"egjiu" I heard the nasal voices reply in unison. It sounded as if they were answering to a command from their superiors. I wondered what kind of creatures would have a similar heirachy system as that of humans.

Holding back my temptation to open my eyes, I did my best to pretend to be unconscious. I hear some small footsteps moving away until they were no longer audible. The area was then quiet minus the sound of insects. A fly or mosquito was buzzing near my ear, as i resisted the urge to move away. It was then when...

"piak" my cheeks were slapped painfully. I opened my eyes to see a small green creature, smaller than the one that wielded the spear smacking me on my face with its ugly face in plain sight. "NIEAAA" it shouted to its peers with its saliva splashing all around. It was absolutely disgusting. The creature was crude and smelly, as its stench at close quarters rivaled that of rotten eggs. I cringed and nearly puked when its breath reached my nose. How are these creatures able to talk to each other without one of them puking? I couldn't help but wonder.

I opened my eyes. I was surprised as I recognised the place. It was the lobby of Sentia Mall. The mall was a quick drive from my house, and I always frequented it for groceries and food. The scenery of the mall that was catered towards families vanished from my mind, as the view now was one replaced by monsters of different races. Unlike the ones outside busy killing each other, there were goblins building fences and baricades out of shopping carts and metal poles. There were larger sized goblins, similar to the one that I had faced on the outside. Common ones were small and similar to the size of half an average adult. Uncommon ones were slightly shorter than humans and were similar to teens in their growing phase. I could see a few larger ones that were at least 2 meters tall and had large bulking muscles across their bodies. Not only were there goblins, I spotted ogres and what appeared to be giant wolves running around the area. There were many pairs of eyes on me. The working goblins had stopped to take a look at me, the ogres and wolves turned and began to observe my movements. What did they want with me? My heart felt surprisingly calm and I stared back with a relaxed expression.

It was then when I noticed a single monster walked towards me. It was strangely human-like except for its greenish skin that told me it was simply a different type of goblin. Its eyes shone with intelligence, as I could feel a strange aura surrounding the creature. It held itself with dignity and took slow steps towards me. I could tell that it was the leader around here. The eyes of the nearby monsters looked towards it with respect while the goblin grunts nearby bowed and took their leave. I could see its dark green eyes and its small but muscular frame. The muscles on his body appeared to be barely contained. It maintained eye contact with me while heading over.

"Human" I could hear it begin to speak. I was surprised that it was able to communicate with me, but the way its mouth moved as compared to the word that came out was different. "My name is Kija, lord of the northen plains of gainu" it introduced itself. I realised that it was some sort of ability that enabled it to be communicating with me right now. Perhaps that was how it managed to get all these monsters under its lead. I noticed the surroundings stir as the he introduced himself. "May I know what you are called?" it asked me rather politely.

"Boss. I'm called boss" I smiled as I replied. It would be hillarious to see a monster who thinks of himself as king calling me as boss.

"Is that so?" the goblin raised his eyebrow.

Your skill Confident Demeanor(S) has cancelled out the effects of Forced Loyalty(B)

"Yes, I replied when seeing the blue box that had appeared before me. The goblin didn't seem to notice the blue box as it carried on with its statement.

"You see boss, Isn't it so cruel with so much bloodshed out there? " I nodded my head as it spoke to play along with it. I could see the crowd of monsters in the surroundings nodding their heads. Perhaps they were all under the effects of his skill.

"You see, we are a peaceful bunch that wants to put a stop to all of these needless violence. As evidence look at us, all different sorts of races grouped together and working in peace! We have proven that living in harmony with different races is possible!" the surroundings began to cheer as the goblin spoke. I mentally sneered at the half-baked speech, but continued to nod my head as if I was agreeing. The goblin smiled happily as it was probably thinking that I had fallen under the effects of its skill. "In order to fight the violence we need to replenish our numbers. Our fallen brothers whom you might have slain when you were ignorant and unaware..." the goblin stated sadly as he picked up a familiar spear, the surroundings turned quiet. "But its alright, we will give you a chance to redeem yourself!" using the same spear, the goblin released the restrictions on my wrists, ankles and head precisely. It showed me its horribly good ability with the spear.

"Come now, join us as a brother in arm!" it riled up the surroundings. I pretended to be in a trance as I walked towards it. It offered me the spear that was in its hands, and i gently grabbed it. "I'm sorry and thank you!" I excalimed as I raised the spear in my hands. The surroundings cheered loudly along with that. I calmly observed the goblin whoese lips had curled up into a full blown smile.

"Now, your first duty will be given to you infront of all our brothers." the goblin, Kija silenced the area with its words. I bowed down and awaited his words, tempted to bring the spear down into his head at the same time. My mind was once again in motion. If it asked me to go out and fight for them... no it won't if I were him, I'd ask me to find human settlements and lead them to him, or the other way around. Seeing how they had already decided to build a base here, it was most likely the former.

"Will you help gather lost sheeps to join us? Naturally, some of our brothers will follow you to show that we have come in peace" I could feel the cunning greed in its words. "Of course!" I raised my spear and pretended to be shouting in glee. Truth to be told, if I was captured by any other monster, I'd probably already be dead by now. The surroundings cheered with my words.

"You will depart tommorow with my trusted aides Hija and Wija" Kija spoke to me. "For now, this calls for a celebration!" I could see nearby goblins bringing in meat and drinks. The whole atmosphere became something like a crazed monster party and I could see the monsters drinking some sort of mashed up fruit drink and wildly devouring meat. I could feel the pressure on me thinking that I had to blend in with them for the rest of the day. The ringing in my head got worse with the loud noise as I struggled to stand straight once more. I saw Kija staring at me before he signalled someone to bring over a slime. The slime was fully white in colour and it glowed as it came into contact with me.

Your health has been restored! (20>280)

The slime stopped glowing, as its white colour began to turn milky. I could feel the ringing stop and felt better overall. I bowed my head and gave thanks while pretending to be extremely grateful as I shed tears. Kija seemed to be proud of himself as he told me that it was nothing and I should repay the favour by doing my job well instead. The air seemed to be clearer, as I could feel the fresh air flowing into my lungs, rejuvinating myself. My eyes seemed to have been restored to its former state, allowing me to see things clearly, and my body felt lighter. In fact, it felt lighter than it ever did for the past few years. I found myself feeling oddly hungry, as the monsters offered me raw meat of unknown creatures. The smell of blood was heavy and it smelled disgusting. Yet, I accepted their offer and bit down into the meat. In the distance to my right, I caught sight of an orgre munching on something that looked like a human arm. I pretended to not have noticed as I smiled at the monsters and joined in looking as happy as I possibly could.

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You have completed the mission [Survive (10:00)]!

You have recieved 10 points!

I couldn't help but smile at the fact that it had already been 10 hours since this all began. Partying through the night with a facade, I got along with the monsters well enough not to get caught. Some part of me had secretly wished that they really were monsters that wanted to live in peace.

Morning came faster than you can say "5 more minutes". I who had learned that monsters called humans as "asha" could only laugh as I recalled conversing with monsters without understanding their words at all. If I hadn't known that they were all under the control of Kija, I might have believed that they really wanted peace. I checked that I had both my phones still with me. I saw 2 large goblins standing at 2.5 meters and 2.7 meters in height respecitvely waiting for me to depart. They were Hija and Wija, sworn brothers of the current leader Kija. The 2 of them seemed different. I couldn't help but be surprised that goblins could evolve to become such terrible monsters. Their eyes glimmered with intelligence unlike the other monsters I had interacted with yesterday. I could tell that they were not under the control of Kija. Standing next to the entrance of the mall like gatekeepers, I carried the spear in my hand as I went forward with a smile on my face, pretending to have been tricked. My destination was simple. It was a routine that I had followed every morning for 4 years straight. Taking off, I moved towards the direction of the office. I could see the 2 goblins looking at me as they followed along.

Man in the horse is watching you.

In this scenario, it would be easy for me to merely get rid of the goblins attention and escape. But I can't garuntee that there won't be any scouts that were following close behind. The moment anything suspicious happens, I could guess that they would report back to base. In any case, Kija must have trusted his abilities way too much. There might have been a reason why he did, but as of now, I can't tell. Every step along the way, I made sure to randomly point my spears in different directions, pretending that I was wary of the area. In all honesty, I was surprised to see that there wasn't a single monster. A part of me was worried that I had to fight my way to the office. Worse case scenario, I'd meet humans on the streets and will have to 'convince' them to follow me. The roads were relatively empty, as the battle fought on the streets was plainly visible to everyone around. I notice dead bodies of all sorts of monsters killed and torn in half with a clean cut. In fact, I couldn't help but tremble at the thought of the monster that had did so. A head of me, I could see an entire house cleanly sliced into 2. It was as if someone drew a line and decided to delete the top portion. Whatever that did it, I'm glad that I wasn't here to see it.

I could see the goblins next to me being alerted as well when they saw the devestating sight. I crossed the bridge towards my office, as my mind began to work. There, I saw the unthinkable. The white snake, with its yellow eyes and familiar scent of blood was directly infront of me. Its head was there at the very least, as I could see its body all the way back at the office building. The goblins next to me were on high alert, as they began to scan the area. I notice that the area remained relatively undamaged. It meant that the snake didn't even manage to fight back. The head was flung all the way here from the office with a clean slice. Whatever did this, I didn't want to meet it. The entire road was dyed red with the blood of the snake, it had enough liquid to not dry off even after a long night. The goblins were particularly interested in the dead snake. I could see them attempting to move it. But then again, the two of them combined weren't even a tenth of the size of the snakes head. After a while, they gave up on taking the entire head with them. I could see them shouting orders out in the air as 4 larger sized goblins appeared out of nowhere and attempted to slice the snake. Despite all their efforts, not even a slight scratch appeared on its scales. I could see one of them running back, probably to base to give a report to Kija.

I pointed towards my office building where the snake body was. The 2 of them decided to head forward on their own, without the need for me to bring them there. Whatever that had killed the snake, I could only hope that it didn't kill the spiders that I needed. I trudged along, following behind the 2 goblins. They didn't enter the building and went directly to the right, where the body of the snake was located at. There was enough blood to fill an entire olympic pool, as I stood back and watched as the goblins walked ahead. I made sure that none of the blood had gotten onto me. The spiders will definetly be attracted to the smell.

I watched as the goblins stood there discussing about the body. They seemed really interested in it as the attempted to cut out even a tiny portion of its flesh. I peeked into the building, I could see faint but visible signs of spiders moving around. I wondered why they have yet to approach the dead snake. Originally I was going to lure the goblins inside and let the spiders take care of them but that seemed like it wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. Using my business phone to find a youtube video of someone screaming for help, I secretly backed off as the goblins were distracted. Setting an alarm for 5 minutes on my personal phone, I placed it right outside the building.

Making sure that I was a distance away, I played the youtube video and threw my business phone into the building, then I ran towards the bridge and hid nearby where I could see the panicking gobins as they turned around to find me missing and a human's cry for help inside the building. I prayed hard that they would enter the building. Just then, one of the scouts headed inside. There was a loud shout, before the sounds disappeared. I was assuming that my phone was probably destroyed when the sounds had stopped playing. This made the other goblins peek into the building, just as they did, the alarm rang for my phone outside the building. This brought the spider's attention outside as they swarmed with larger numbers than yesterday out of the office lobby. It was a creepy sight to see as I could feel every hair on my body stand up looking at hundred thousands of them flooding out like water. The goblins turned and ran, but the scouts were the first to go, sacrificed by the larger ones as they used them as scapegoats. But still, it wasn't enough. Wija and Hija began to grab onto each other, as they struggled to be the last person left behind. Finally, the larger one won the battle and threw the smaller 2.5 meters tall goblin into the mess of spiders behind.

I had another job to do, just as the goblin reached the bridge, I reached the spear out and stabbed it into its body with its own running strength. The spear piereced him easily, going through his chest as my hand trembled from the force. I released my hands and allowed him to fall. I could see the spiders catching up behind him. Taking off my shirt, i dipped it into his blood and dragged it along the floor as I ran. Some of the spiders had seperated and headed for the snake so I needed to make sure that there was enough blood and sound for them to follow along. Making sure to shout as loud as I could, the pack of spiders swarmed cross the bridge following right after me.

There was one thing that I knew I had to do the moment I met Kija. It was the first time where I had felt the urge to willingly kill something like this. It wasn't for the sake of surviving or anything like that. I simply wanted to get rid of him. He was evil. He was an evil that I could not allow to exist. My stomach curled up at the thought of him, as his image overlapped with a certain 'bishop' I knew of in the past.

I ran straight ahead, towards the mall that I used to frequent. In it, I could see the goblins, orcs and wolves hard at work. Now, where is he? I looked around and saw some goblins approach me. They were frantic and appeared to be trying to block my view. I could easily see ahead where they were butchering a man's body. Next to it, the goblin who promised a peaceful future was making love forcefully with the woman screaming out her husband's name. I had expected them to have been killing humans, but the disgusting sight made me clench my fists. I wanted to save her, but I know I couldn't. "Hey, I have led a horde of spiders here. I'm going to kill all these bastards so you can die in peace" thoese were the only words that came out of my mouth as I ran straight ahead, towards the back exit of the mall.

"Thank you" I could hear her speak as I ran by the monsters.

Behind me, I knew that her death wasn't going to be painless, but perhaps to her, that was less painful than her current situation. The clatter of monsters shouting as the black horde swept away was audible to me while I headed straight for the back exit. I dropped off the blood soaked shirt that was now only slightly damp as I attempted to wipe away the crimson liquid that stained my hands. My head hurt, as I grit my teeth even harder.

Man in the horse griefs with you.

Man in the horse remarked that it was an unexpected but great strategy.

Man in the horse has donated 100 points!

Heroic labourer is extremely pleased with your actions.

Heroic labourer has donated 100 points!

The messages about donations were sort of comforting, knowing that they didn't stand for such atrocities. Then again, weren't they the ones that caused the entire mess? The more I thought about it, the worse I felt.

I recalled about the 'bishop' in the past. Comparing it to Kija, I can't help but think that maybe in the end, humans were just another type of monster. Perhaps we might even be the scariest monsters out there.

Running as far as I could, I turned around after a few more minutes when the sounds of the chasing had stopped. I could see the entire mall collapsing, probably from the battle between the monsters.

"What should I do now?" I muttered to no one in particular. It had been a long time since I felt so lost.