Where was Chainsaw Man?
The answer came almost immediately.
The killer emerged from the house next door, his massive frame silhouetted against the dim light. He tilted his head, scanning the area like a predator searching for prey. Luca dropped to the floor, his body tense, his mind racing like a comet streaking through the night. He only relaxed when the heavy footsteps began to move away. Risking another glance, he saw Chainsaw Man approaching the last house on that side of the street–the only one left with an intact front door.
But not for long.
With a single swing of his chainsaw, the killer tore the door apart, the sound a deafening roar that could’ve woken the dead bodies scattered across the street. And–most importantly–the action was quicker than before. Far quicker.
[6 minutes left.]
Ah. Right.
Now that his Plan A was out the window, it was time to leave the house. Luca glanced toward the other houses he knew had trapdoors, but he hesitated. Time was running out, and it wouldn’t work if someone else was already inside. He did want to pass –would pass– but no through such means. It seemed there was no other option but to go with Plan D.
The noise of destruction from the corner told him the killer was occupied for now. Seizing the moment, Luca slipped out of the house, careful to not attract attention at that last moment, and crossed the street. The dead body of the betrayed woman lay less than two meters from the entrance–but it was nothing compared to how close the man’s corpse was to his goal.
Even though they weren’t really dead–this was all a simulation, after all–Luca felt a pang of unease as he stepped next to the bodies. He crouched next to the hood of the red car, then dragged himself underneath it. The stench was overwhelming, a mix of oil, rust, and something far worse. The shadow cast by the car’s bulk provided some cover, and the ‘barrier’ at the side worked. The smell was a minor price to pay, right?
He stayed quiet, his breathing shallow, as Chainsaw Man emerged from the house. From there, he could only see a fragment of his body –but it was better than nothing. Luca frowned when the streetlamps on his side flickered. Soon, the remaining five followed suit, their light sputtering and dying one by one.
The killer didn’t pause. Luca watched as he reached the van, yanked open the barn door, and then–
The streetlamps exploded.
[5 minutes left.]
As the message ran on his mind, someone screamed under the engulfing darkness. Surprised. Surely terrified. Most importantly –a bit too fucking close to him.
The killer didn’t stop hunting. Of course not. How would he? If this was a situation of his design.
The chainsaw’s blade dragged across the ground, its low rumble cutting through the silence. The heavy footsteps, the growl of the engine–they were the only ways to track the man now. The lack of vision seemed to heighten Luca’s other senses, sharpening his hearing and amplifying the stench that clung to the air. It was almost unbearable, but he forced himself to stay still. Silent.
Counting the seconds inwardly, Luca waited. And waited.
Mr. Chainsaw didn’t come straight to here, where the scream had sounded. The killer toured the houses. The noises of his destruction grew distant and then closer as he approached the direction of Luca’s hiding spot. The killer stomped on wood shards, crushing them under his heavy boots, and trashed something in his path. But amidst the echoes of destruction there was something different.
A faint, lighter sound reached Luca’s ears. He tilted his head, straining to listen. It came from the alley–right next to the car. There was the person who had scream before. And –his eyes widened as it became clear that they were crawling on the ground toward him. No, wait. Toward the car.
Luca pressed his lips together in displeasure. Come on.
The person circled the vehicle and stopped at the level of the hood. Were they really thinking the killer wouldn’t see them there?
Wood crunched under the killer’s boots, and the chainsaw scraped against the concrete as it was dragged along the sidewalk. The noise grew louder. Closer. Someone swallowed audibly, their fear palpable even in the darkness.
As the killer reached the end of the alley, it became clear that the applicant wasn’t going to move anywhere. At any other time, in any other situation, their persistence might have led to survival. But not here. Not now.
Luca pressed his forehead against his sleeve, covering one ear with the fabric to muffle the inevitable blast of the chainsaw’s engine.
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Fuck. He ended covering his other ear for pure instinct, encircling his head with his arms, and pressing them against his jacket and skin. If Pendulum didn’t cover ear damage, he’d resort to becoming a pyromaniac and dancing on the ashes of their damned island.
The sharp rumble of the engine didn’t last long. Neither the scream. It barely had time to escape the person’s throat before they were silenced. Luca couldn’t see how it happened, but he could hear it–the sickening sound of the blade cutting through something soft, then something harder. A crackle. A thud.
[Four Applicants remain.]
The body slumped to the ground.
For a moment, the only sound was the echo of the message and the thud ringing in Luca’s ears.
Then Chainsaw Man stepped onto the street, passing over his recent victim without a second glance. Was him following a pattern? It seemed so, as he moved toward the front house, passing by the car without stopping. Which was great for him. Really. Even if it meant he was now surrounded by two corpses.
Looking on the bright side, it meant double protection.
Yay.
Now would be the perfect time to lose his sense of smell.
As Mr. Chainsaw stomped into the house, faint footsteps reached Luca’s ears from the direction the killer had just left. Someone must have read the newspapers besides the heroine, right? Someone had to know that the darkness wasn’t an opportunity for them. Right? Right.
Something crashed in the distance, accompanied by a scream. The alley on the right side–the same one where the killer had been lurking. But with such chaos, how could nothing happen?
Thud, thud, thud.
The heavy footsteps returned, followed by the crunch of wood shards and the sound of something–or someone–being crushed. Then, the chainsaw roared to life again.
Lady Luck made her capricious appearance–and nothing happened.
No death notice.
[30 seconds left.]
Time had fled in those last minutes. Luca was sure that wasn’t normal, but he wasn’t about to complain. Someone else, however, clearly was. The killer let out a guttural roar that pierced the night sharper than his own blade. The chainsaw’s engine revved violently, and then the heavy footsteps stomped away–toward the other side of the street.
Glass shattered. Once. Twice. Then three times. Four.
If the lights were lit, the scene would be surely a show about wreckage and limitless violence.
He recalled the picture he’d seen earlier. The cars had looked trashed, their windows all broken. When he’d thought about hiding under one, the only thing that mattered was that they were present in that image. Now, as the killer’s rampage continued, he stretched himself flat under the car, pressing as close to the ground as possible.
The footsteps grew louder, someone crunched under the killer’s boots, and the chainsaw’s engine roared like a beast. It happened quickly, without pause. Glass shattered above his head, shards raining down onto the pavement next to the sidewalk.
Luca counted the last seconds, tense as a string.
Five.
Glass shards clinked against the ground, scattering like shards.
Four.
The killer stomped on the body to Luca’s right, the sickening crunch of bone and flesh muffled by the sound of more windows breaking.
Three.
Chainsaw Man turned, his heavy boots scraping against the asphalt as he moved toward the van.
Two.
There was a loud impact–like something massive crashing against metal–followed by the slam of a door.
One.
Light flashed in the middle of the street, blinding and sudden. The van’s engine roared to life, tires screeching as it accelerated into the darkness.
[Main Task “Survive 45 minutes” has finished.]
Fucking hell.
[Congratulations, you’ve survived.]
The words flashed in Luca’s mind before all his senses blurred together, twisting and pulling him into unconsciousness.
For an unknown stretch of time, the world was nothing but white–an endless void that stretched in every direction he could look at. It was as if Luca was suspended in nothingness, frozen in a stupor after the last overwhelming second he could remember.
Then, just as he began to regain his mental clarity a blue screen materialized in front of him. Black letters started to appear –in plain English, at first sight. But anyone would think otherwise.
[Congratulations, Mr. Olson.]
[You’ve fulfilled the E–rank mission ‘Survive for 30 Minutes’ inside the 1–star world ‘Red Night.’ Reward: 7. Mission Points. Performance marked as ‘Excellent.’ Reward multiplier: x5. Total: 35.]
[You’ve fulfilled the F–rank Hidden Task ‘The Killer Design’ inside the 1–star world ‘Red Night.’ Reward: 2 Mission Points. Performance marked as ‘Good.’ Reward multiplier: x3. Total: 6.]
[Total Mission Points: 41. |EXP granted: 500 EXP.]
[You’ve obtained the following achievement: [Unseen]. Corresponding Trait granted: Stealthy.]
[You’ve obtained a [Gem]. Inside, the Perk: Night Vision has been discovered.]
[Current Mystery Level: 0.9 (Normal: <1.1).]
[Your evaluation has finished. Score: 97% (High).]
His attention focused on the middle of the screen. [Unseen] meant that no enemy had seen him along all the round –crunching had given him good results, thank you, my poor back–, so it wasn’t a surprise to get ‘Stealthy’. It was a good starting one, especially when it was impossible to confront or defeat your opponents in a fight like on the early times.
That Perk, on other hand… Night Vision wasn’t so rare as Self–Healing or Fire Breath but the fact that had emerged on the Tutorial was. Besides, the combination of Stealth and Night Vision pointed him toward an obvious path–one that didn’t bother him too much, that’s right, but even so. He didn’t want to be the design of anyone, be an alien AI’s or a cosmic horror god lurking on the shadows.
This job was like a visit to the park, uh? Sadly, even if he wanted to leave, it would be impossible to send a resignation letter. Only thinking about it sent a wave of chills through his soul.
Why had he had signed that contract?
Ah, right. The rewards… that was what mattered. That was what made it worth it.
Like the 41 Mission Points! If Pendulum followed their little routine of ‘thrown them money so they are willing to thrown their lives’, then they would give him around 40 bucks in real–world currency. This amount equaled a whole year of salary, scraped together from three part–time jobs and weekend gigs. And this was just the Interview!
And all he’d had to do was crouch for forty–three and a half minutes, spend the last five next to a couple of corpses, nearly going deaf, and wishing he’d been born without a sense of smell.
For 41k?
Sign me up for the next war.