“What do we do now, Slayer Kang?” Ms Han asks me, her demeanor being as calm as ever. Around several minutes have passed, and nobody has yet to touch a hand-sized stone. That is until black liquified figures suddenly show up from the overturned ceiling itself. Unsurprisingly, they're faceless and are unable to stand properly as their materialized bodies wobble side to side. Then, they slowly move forward towards us probably at the speed of a sloth.

“Hey, Healer Kang! What do we do next!?” Jang asks shamelessly after all his incompetence is exposed to us during our surviving efforts happening in this room.

“Be quiet, Jang!” Ms Han replies back fiercely which sounds like a refute to whatever he did in this Labyrinth. “We need Slayer Kang to focus. Otherwise, this cursed room will have those blob things end our lives if you shout once more.”

I give a light nod to Ms Han as an indirect agreement on her being assertive in showing Jang that he's no longer the boss of us. Anyhow, I'm really trying to figure out what these blob-like figures are gonna do. Whether or not they've the capabilities to attack us, all I know is that they give me an uneasy feeling that I’m barely able to breathe in this room. Then, they stop moving at all for a while. Each of us looks at each other, wondering what's happening. Without a warning, we see them turning into bowling ball-sized shapes, emitting so much kinetic energy that their vibrations make us lose our footing. Then, they form some sort of elastic collision as all of them start to bounce violently throughout the whole room.

I'm sure that either Mrs Park or Jang want to scream cuss words, but with this speed of these anthropomorphic things moving so quickly to aim at us, not a single word is uttered from their mouths. Once again, we've to run again while avoiding getting pierced by such velocity like this. Amongst the chaotic dodgeball-like killing method, Ms Han, Jung-han and I are considered lucky to not get stabbed too early by the fast-moving balls because I get a feeling we're losing our stamina right now.

It's bad luck that we're forced to participate in this room’s dodgeball and pinball game at the same time. I almost lose my footing at some point as I give my all in avoiding the balls’ offensive attacks. Amongst the chaotic scenario, I happen to see Mrs Park trip herself. As she tries to get up, something catches her left leg from the ground itself. It's the same kind of specter that pushed the entrance door, which has disappeared once more by the time I wonder if it was still there right above us. I don't want to lose another minute standing there like the helpless healer I am; which is why I run with all my might towards Mrs Park without thinking about myself getting pierced by the fast-moving attacks. But I fall down again with my foot getting caught in Ga-young's dress hemline that leads me to decide to cut off a huge part of the dress for my legs to run more freely. I guess I'll be scolded by Ga-young for ruining her one-of-a-kind dress if I ever come back home alive.

Despite my name being shouted thrice by Jung-han and Ms Han yelling at me not to run ahead recklessly, miraculously I barely manage to avoid the balls’ attack moves though I receive many minor cuts on my shoulders and legs, not to mention my left side of my forehead gets a slightly deep cut from one of its attacks. Eventually, I try to haul Mrs Park away from the specter’s transparent hand, but to no avail, it’s never letting her go. Alas, I quickly take out my life-draining dagger from my sling bag. Even if the specter's materialized form isn't a physical body, this dagger of mine should be able to drain a bit of life force or at least give a painful cut even if the target itself is a higher-ranking Beast. And luckily, the specter lets out a yowl as I manage to slash its hand at the right angle. It lets go of Mrs Park, having itself disappear back into the grounded area. Coincidentally at the same time, the blob-like balls disappear too inside the ground all of us are standing on. Once they're out of my sight, I slip the dagger back in my sling bag.

Mrs Park and I stare at each other, wondering if we should exchange words with each other. I only know Mrs Park in terms of being acquainted in a few of the Labyrinth raids I participated in. That includes the latest one in which Jung-han and I survived from the ogres and their boss who was (as usual) a chieftain. Before either of us can say anything, a sudden gust of wind blows so hard that we’ve to close our eyes for a few seconds. As soon as the wind dissipates, I open my eyes to see nine faceless specters. Actually I don't know if they're specters because I don't remember hearing specters being black-colored smoky-shaped bodies. In fact, they might be the same creatures doing the “pinball-style attack” on us. It makes me wonder if this new Beast species is capable of having evolving bodies because right now, they've a ghostly tail which is confusing since specters are said to be related to ghosts, but they're never seen as legless. Even if these Beasts in front of us are just a projection of the “living room” itself, these shadowy imitations still have the same strength as this S-rank “living room”.

Looking closely at them, they are the tallest creepy beings to appear within this room so far; each of their height is probably way bigger and taller than Jung-han. All of their eyes eerily light up with a bright orange color that I almost feel the shivers down my spine as I think about my eyes having almost the same color as theirs. I shake off the unwanted feeling once I gain my focused determination once more, and that we're still doing this final trial.

“Everyone! I know their glares at us are making you feel afraid, but I ask every one of you to stay calm. Don't run or scream no matter what.”

“What!? Healer Kang, those creatures in front of us are towering over us and you're telling us to do nothing!?”

“Jang, you better not disobey her.”

“Not you too, Slayer Han! How can it be okay that we don't move at all?”

“In case you haven't noticed, those ghostly figures have been staring at us for a few minutes already. For now, we just have to wait while we watch their behavior.”

Jang finally complies reluctantly to me and Ms Han’s warnings about those new creatures hovering still in front of us. It takes another whole minute for us humans and the Beasts to not be moving at all; the debris from the toppled pillars, the hand-sized stones surrounding us remaining survivors, and the smell of blood and the sight of bones sticking out from the late archer Slayer’s body nearly overtake my senses. I don't know what else can get worse than the wretched room’s gruesome events I've witnessed so far.

Just when I’m thinking about the worst-case scenario to be made from this fateful incident, I hear somebody kick over one of the stones. The sound emitted from such accidental action echoes throughout the room’s temporary silence. I turn my head to the right to see Mrs Park looking more terrified than ever, and that's when I realize it's her whose foot accidentally kicked a nearby stone. It didn't occur to me a moment ago that I needed to remind the rest of us to watch their step and avoid touching the stones as much as possible. Without further ado, the black figures attack us once again in the form of their liquified-shapeshifting bodies.

It's total chaos especially when our physical and mental exhaustion are taking away our chances to run faster and avoid harder. Just then, I stop running once I see Jung-han stops running all of a sudden. It seems to me that he's about to give a powered-up punch, which has his right fist and arm glowing with his mana aura, to one of the dangerous figures. I begin to feel uneasy that I shout my words to Jung-han at the top of my lungs.

“Jung-han! What are you doing!? Run…”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I'm a tanker! I can't afford to get scared right now! That's why my mana energy…I've gotta at least injure one of them! Take this, you demon!!”

Now that I think about it, it makes me wonder why Jung-han often participates in raids that are of lower ranks, especially the E and the D ones. I've never even heard of other same-rank Slayers as Jung-han talk about him at all and it's possible that because I've met up with him in many of the previous raids I took part in, he never participated in C-rank raids. But for now, my mind is focused back to reality as I witness Jung-han giving a heavy punch, which is heard with a whoosh of air, to one of the shadowy Beasts the rest of us are running away from. Alas, as much as I want Jung-han's powered-up punch to partially destroy one of the Beasts’ legs, it easily regenerates its leg after that hit.

Given the huge difference between its mana power and Jung-han’s, this is unsurprising which makes me more worried about him when the Beast’s liquified body wraps around Jung-han's right arm. Then it permeates his arm, creating many spikes that have Jung-han screaming in pain. While I can't see my face from my point of view, I just know that I'm making the most panicked look I ever have once I see gushes of blood spout out of Jung-han's arm. The major injury has led him using his left hand to grab his right arm to cover some of the open wounds his arm got inflicted with. Seeing what has happened in front of me, it's pathetic of me to be the one catching my breath instead of Jung-han. And yet I can't help but pant heavily as I experience a mental breakdown where my vision gets blurry and my hearing receives the muffled voice of Ms Han who is by his side right now. While all of this frantic scenario is going on, a sudden low-tone voice begins to speak right next to me, whispering these unsettling words into my ear.

“It seems you're never gonna save anyone, Kang Joo-yeon. It's a shame that you’re incapable of healing the injury your friend has right now.”

“No…that's…not true…I can…”

“Do you remember the time your uncle had a similar injury when you just became a Slayer? What did you do when that happened?”

Then, I start to remember that mentioned moment vividly. Uncle Seung-min was injured in a vehicle accident. He was doing part-time job deliveries some days before I was discovered to have a Slayer's powers. Uncle Seung-min was coming back to the delivery company’s franchise when a random driver, who was later proven to be driving under the influence in broad daylight, injured him with his truck. I happened to come out of my third Labyrinth raid near the crossroad. I saw my uncle lying unconscious with a huge cut on the left side of his forehead. I trembled at the sight of a huge amount of blood oozing from the back of his head. It was that moment when I faced the harsh truth that my magical power is useless during an emergency like that, especially when it involves a family member of mine. I also remembered Ga-young was yelling at me back at the hospital where Uncle Seung-min was sent to. She yelled at my inability to heal her father’s head injury despite the stroke of luck that an A-rank healer happened to be walking nearby. That was the beginning of the doubts and hesitance I've for myself. The following days had me listening to many high-ranking Slayers, including the healer ones, gossip about my incompetence in being a certified Slayer. I even heard several of them snickered during these gossips.

“That Kang Joo-yeon…I heard she can't heal anyone at all, not even herself.”

“It’s not a surprise that a healer with the lowest rank has very weak healing magic.”

“But I don't see other Slayers, who have the same rank as hers, as being that weak.”

“I think as long as they're not of the healer class, it makes sense for them to have capable magic and skills. Kang Joo-yeon is one unlucky woman to have that kind of class with the lowest rank.”

“Odd how many of the raid leaders let her participate with them. I guess being a “lucky charm” is a good enough reason to have your job as a Slayer. That's her only usefulness, right? How pathetic~~ Hahaha~”

As I stare at those gossipy Slayers lingering in my past memories, the same low-tone voice creeps up to whisper in my ears. As much as I want to “wake up”, the voice is somewhat persuading me to do something unthinkable.

“Isn’t it tiring to be useless, Joo-yeon? Many of those faux comrades see you as heavy baggage. Even those famous S-rank Slayers wish you retire soon. There's only one way you can be useful for once in your lifetime. Turn yourself into a weapon for us. I assure you that the unwanted feelings you've had all this time will disappear soon.”

“... Kang…Slayer Kang…Slayer Kang!!”

Ms Han's loud voice woke me up from my hypnotized mind by that unknown man’s voice. As much as I want to know who he is, right now I placed my focus on Ms Han and Jung-han, whose arm is healed possibly due to the remaining healing potions Ms Han had in her pouch as I can see the potions’ empty bottles laying next to him. I feel relieved that Jung-han isn't bleeding anymore, but for now, we still have to be mindful in avoiding the next attacks from those shadowy Beasts. Just when I think about it, another one of them creeps up behind the three of us and is about to strike either of us. All of us three duck immediately; each of us fall and roll to the ground that gives us aches in some parts of our body.

Out of nowhere, I hear a sound that sounds like a pop-up ad. I look to my right to see Jung-han’s right foot unintentionally placed on top of one of the stones that ascended earlier from the ground we're on. And above his foot is the appearance of a notification screen. It's hard to believe something modern from this era is appearing in an ancient place like this.

“Is…is that a…”

“A notification that humans receive through a phone or a computer? Yes, it is, Slayer Park.”

“You can see it, Ms Han?”

“You too, Slayer Kang? That means this…these stones are meant to be properly touched by us. Also the words on this screen…”

Before Ms Han tries to finish reading the sentence, two Beasts ambush the three of us once more. Jung-han manages to get up quickly to avoid its tail’s attack on him, and that attack smashes the stone that had the notification. Thus, the notification disappears once the stone is completely destroyed into bits of pieces. The rest of the Beasts also try to attack us by smashing their tails. I unconsciously stop counting how many stones are being broken to smithereens by that attack of theirs. For a moment, I’ve to get separated from Jung-han and Ms Han. Then, I happen to trip myself that my right hand lands on one of the stones that are still intact. The same notification has appeared. This is what it says.

[You've found a Getaway Stone. Countdown for implementation of this item’s usage: 60, 59, 58, 57,...]

“A Getaway Stone…! Listen, everyone! We're able to get out of this Labyrinth!”

“Is that true?! Is it because that notification wrote it's an escape route for us, Slayer Kang,?

“Yes, Ms Han! Each of us has to find and retrieve one of these stones before it gets smashed up! Hurry before the Beasts either destroy them or get you first!”

The next thing is that I should've known to be wary of the man who treats me as if I'm not human like himself. Jang suddenly appears to my right, pushing me roughly to my left. This selfish act has made the wound on my left arm open itself bigger that a few drops of my blood drip on the ground as a result. I didn't have enough time to grab my own stone properly. Now it's in that backstabber’s hand.

“Jang! What are you doing!? That's Slayer Kang’s…”

“Shut up, bitch! I'm not dying in this wretched place with the likes of you!!”

“You miserable pig!! There are more Getaway Stones…”

“And risk myself getting pierced by these frightful creatures?! I'm not gonna make the same mistake like that useless tanker over there!”

Once he finishes saying his last words to Ms Han, Jang turns around to look at me; his eyes look weary but at the same time, they look manic to me. He also gives out a deranged laugh while saying these words that sound obviously egocentric.

“Be glad, Healer Kang. That you're making yourself be useful for once! In fact, survival of the strongest is an absolute rule in this world! Farewell, you weaklings!!”

As the stone’s countdown strikes ‘0’, the notification disappears and out comes a flashing bright blue light surrounding Jang. The next moment he disappears in front of us once the light too disappears. I can only look at the ground with a shocked look and clenched fists. And then, tears, which are formed from my feelings of patheticness, drop from my eyes that were holding back since the day my mom saved me from the sudden appearance of a Labyrinth.