Yes, this was indeed strange.

The average joe couldn't possibly stay sane in front of such a shocking scene and while under the presence of that terrifying monster, yet not only Calvin managed to react on time. He even made some actions that led to the survival of the group. Just what was going on? What was he?

"She's right..." 

"In the first place, how did you even know that there was a monster coming to get us? Yes, we all heard those footsteps, but what if the owner of those footsteps only wanted to pass by the room?" Ray spoke while staring at Calvin with his eyes that couldn't believe what just happened.

Everyone also stared right at Calvin at this moment.

Calvin shook his head and smiled, "You guys are thinking too much. The owner of those footsteps shouldn't be just passing by. Remember where we are right now. When we climbed up that scaffolding before entering this room. Didn't you guys see that there was only a dead-end beside this room?"

"In other words, this room should be the final room in a long corridor and since the owner of those footsteps deliberately came here to inspect. There's a high chance that he'll enter the room." 

Calvin swept his gaze at the others, there was a confident light in his eyes that seemed to have convinced the others.

But Philip was unconvinced, "That's just a chance! There's no way for sure to know that it will definitely happen! For you to know that the owner of those footsteps would certainly enter this room. You must be an employee of Fivecent sent here to stir up some trouble!" He pointed a finger at Calvin.

Calvin furrowed his eyebrows.

'I see... A misunderstanding brought by a lack of knowledge... I can't really complain, this is quite convenient for me...'

Calvin closed his eyes for a moment.

Before Calvin became the great traitor of humanity...

He was a spy sent by humanity to observe the movements of the invaders.

As a spy, he had experienced countless sticky situations where he had to bullshit his way out of survival.

In other words, if Calvin claimed second in the way of bullshitting. No one would dare to claim that they were first.

Calvin had long mastered the art of bullshitting.

Opening his eyes once again, he calmly stared at Philip and said.

"Didn't I tell you guys earlier?"

"I play video games as a hobby."

"Huh? Video games?" Philip was quite confused. He was also an avid gamer, yet he couldn't understand how video games were connected to the incredulous situation they were in.

"Hmmph..." Calvin softly snorted, "If you think of this place as a scenario in a video game and if we follow the warnings that the custodians said before the start of this nightmare. Everything would be so easy to take..." 

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"In other words, think that what you are seeing in this place isn't real."

"If you do that, then the traumatizing and gory things won't be so scary anymore." 

"But that does not mean that I want you guys to treat this like a real video game..."

"If I am going to make an analogy, then let's just say that this is an augmented reality game!"

"In short, what you are seeing here isn't real, but being captured by those madmen have real-world consequences..."

Calvin promptly explained.

Philip fell into deep contemplation.

But soon, he frowned, "What you said made sense, but if we think of this as a game. The starting point shouldn't be that dangerous! Yet, what is going on? Why did we meet such a terrifying monster so early in this game?"

Calvin nodded his head, "To be honest, I also want to hear the answer to that question. But I do have an idea as to why."

"Why?"

Philip turned to look at him.

The others did the same, as well as Medea.

Calvin momentarily glanced at Medea and said, "It should probably because of the blunder that Rose made earlier."

"Her blunder? Could it be because of her scream?" Scarlett who was silent the whole time spoke up.

"Yes..." Calvin nodded his head, "Now do you get it? Do all of you finally understand what I mean by not causing a commotion?"

Scarlett, Philip, and Medea nodded their heads.

The others followed suit. 

However, Medea still had her doubts.

"But you told us not to cause a commotion even before we met that monster..."

Medea's voice may be soft but in this incredibly silent environment. She might as well scream.

"That's right! You told us not to cause a commotion earlier before we even mean that big fucking bastard. What is going on? Could it be that you really have any prior information regarding this place? Or could it be that you're really an employee sent by Fivecent to stir up some trouble?" This time, the one who spoke was Ray.

His sapphire-like eyes narrowed as he stared at Calvin.

Calvin let out a sigh, "It seems that you guys are similar to this Rose. Completely underestimating this place is akin to a death sentence, you know?"

"What do you mean?" Hugo raised an eyebrow and spoke.

Hugo was never a man who used his brain, but even a dull person like him understood what was going on.

Calvin went about it the roundabout way, but what he meant, in short, was that all of them were being naive.

Nicholas, Roy, Ray, and Philip stared at him with hostility. It was as if they forgot that Calvin was their benefactor.

Calvin sighed once again, 'It seems that there's still a long way before these guys can survive on the battlefield. But oh well, I will help them this time. But what happens after this is their responsibility. If they die or live, that is not my problem anymore. I did my best and if they still managed to die out there in Las Felipinas, then I can only sigh...' 

Calvin shook his head and placed all of these thoughts into the deep recesses of his mind.

Afterwards, he then spoke up.

"The custodians repeatedly warned us earlier to not fight against the monsters in this place!"

"That can only mean one thing."

"If those bastards saw us, we can only run."

Hugo revealed a look of confusion. Apparently, Calvin's words were too deep for him to understand.

Medea lifted her lips and revealed what seemed to be a smile as she said, "I understand..."

"What you mean is that since the custodians did not want us to fight against those monsters..."

"They wanted us to be sneaky."

"They want us to escape from this place without being noticed."

"But is something like that really possible?"

With Medea's words, everyone finally understood what they were talking about.

In short, the words of the custodians earlier might've sounded like a warning but behind it was actually a hint.

They gave them a warning to never ever fight against the monsters, but that was also a hint that they must be stealthy while trying to escape the confines of this asylum.

Medea's words solved a conundrum in their minds, but it also gave them another problem.

"That's impossible... Just how the hell can we escape from this place without being discovered by those monsters!"

Philip's eyes widened in shock. 

His visibly trembling figure made it evident that he was now panicking.

Calvin could see the fear and uncertainty within the eyes of these newbies and he couldn't help but smile.

"We can escape..."

He said...

His eyes radiated confidence that seemed to have become the final sanctuary for the weary hearts of these newbies.

"Just follow my lead, and we will be able to escape!"