The last few remaining Hunters all curled up together in a single corner of the room, backed against a wall, they no longer had any chances to escape. Slowly the other stone figures took slow steps towards the Hunters with a sword in hand being dragged along the floor with each step. Shhhhn* Shhhhn* The Clown figure's disturbing smile never changed as it crept towards the group

"No! St... Stay back!" a female Hunter screamed as she swung her sword around randomly in front of her, "Hey stop swinging your sword! I can't see a da*n thing!" another Hunter yelled

Park Shi Won's right hand is suddenly grasped, turning around he saw Park Yoo Ri shivering in fear beside him. With each step toward them, she would tighten her grasp on his hand eventually giving him pain

Ignoring the pain from his hand, Park Shi Won turned to face the threat in front of him. Seeing no chance to escape, one of the few remaining Hunters mustered up their courage to charge at one of the stone figures

The other stone figures stopped moving as soon as it happened. Clash* Their weapons collided, Boom* Another Hunter who had an elemental Awakening used their fire to back up the Hunter who had charged out of the group

After a short exchange, the Hunter used his remaining strength to cleanly cut off the head of the stone figure he had fought with. "Huff.. huff.. We.. We did it! They aren't invincible!" the Hunter shouted with joy

"Behind you!!!" Park Shi Won shouted, however it was too late. "Huh?" the Hunter said before being cut in half from head to toe with his mouth and eyes still open

Seeing the death of another Hunter, Park Yoo Ri let go of Shi Won's hand and fell on her butt in fear of death. The fire element Hunter said "No! Why is this happening!" before endlessly throwing fireballs at the remaining stone figures

Running out of energy, the Hunter stopped his ceaseless attacks as he regained his breath. The stone figures had all stopped in their track and took the fireballs head and took no damage as if they were hit by a feather

Suddenly, the Clown figure disappeared from its spot and appeared next to the group. It then grabbed the fire element Hunter's neck and slowly strangled him. Kukk* Kuuk* The Hunter tried his best to grasp for even a single breath of air, however, his struggles were in vain before the Clown figure

Park Shi Won and another Hunter immediately turn and attack the Clown, Cling* Clank* However their weapons had no effect on it. Their effort to save him were futile, they could only powerlessly watch as the Hunter before them die right before their eyes

Kukk* Kukk* Finally the Hunter had used up his last breath and swayed motionlessly in the hands of the Clown figure. It then threw him away as if he were trash before going back to its original position and smiled at the group

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"NOOOOOO!!!" Park Yoo Ri screamed with all her might in the corner behind the group, before long the stone figures started moving again towards them. Park Shi Won thought to himself "We'll never make it!"

The stone figures approaching them suddenly stopped 2 meters in front of the group. They dropped to the floor and kneeled down in unison next to each other as if they were building a wall. The Clown figure jumped onto one of the stone figures and glared at the remaining Hunters motionlessly

Suddenly, Park Shi Won heard a voice speak to him "Do you want to live?" it said. Hearing the voice, Shi Won turned around and shouted "What did you say!? Who are you!"

A male Hunter looked at Park Shi Won as if he were a madman and asked "The hell are you talking to?". Park Shi Won replied "Didn't you hear that voice?"

The Hunter shook his head and said "What voice? I didn't hear anything, anyways we should be paying attention to the stone figures! Don't play your mad game now!"

"I swear, I heard a voice! It said, "Do you want to live?" Shi Won replied. Thinking about how he was the only one to see the smiling face back at the entrance to the Hidden Dungeon, he slowly turned towards the Golden words that were floating in the air

He then turned around to look at the raised platform behind the stone figures and started thinking to himself. "The smiling face... the Golden words... and the platform?.. Oh I get it now! So that's how it all connects" he thought as the light of hope returned to his eyes

"I got it! We need to get to the platform and we'll be safe!" Park Shi Won said to the group. The Hunters all looked at him with a bewildered expression and asked "What do you get? How do you know that? Even if that's true we're stuck in this corner"

"Please trust me this one time! I'll stay here and be the bait whilst you guys run as fast as you can." Park Shi Won said with determination. Seeing his resolute eyes, a Hunter said "Fine, I'll put my life on the line and trust you. Anyone else willing to trust the kid?"

"I do." said another Hunter, "So do I." said another, the final Hunter said "I don't! What if he's lying to us! He has no proof!"

"Enough! Can't you see how confident he is? Look into his eyes! We have no other options anyway, we should take every chance we have for survival!" the two Hunters who agreed said in unison

"...."

"Fine" the hesitant Hunter replied

"Okay so here's the plan, I will stay here and keep an eye on the figures whilst the rest of you run as fast as you can and reach for the platform. Just push the lever the other way and it should come back down, make sure you take Park Yoo Ri with you." Park Shi Won said silently

The Hunters nodded and the biggest Hunter picked up Park Yoo Ri and held her in his arms as the three Hunters ran forward with all their might. The Clown figure didn't move from its spot and stared directly into Park Shi Won's eyes

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The Hunters who ran made it to the lever and pulled on it in the opposite direction. Clank* Clank* The platform slowly lowered itself down the floor, the Hunters then jumped onto it. A Hunter put down Park Yoo Ri and turned to shout "Hunter Park Shi Won! We made it! come on up!"

Park Shi Won standing firmly on the spot didn't reply and stared at the Clown without blinking as if it would disappear if he didn't look at it for even a tenth of a second. After a while, he could no longer keep his eyes open without blinking

Swoosh* The Clown figure disappeared from its spot and the lights in the room suddenly dimmed. "Hey what's happening!" a Hunter shouted as he took out a light source from his bag, after moving it around for a bit, the lights came back on but in a different color

The bright crimson red flames atop the torches filled the entire room in an eerie light, the clown figure who had disappeared as if it had teleported appeared next to the Hunters on the platform and cut apart two Hunters in a flash

Park Shi Won surrounded by the stone figures that were kneeling shouted "Noo!!" as he ran forward and reached his arm out towards the platform. A stone figure suddenly moved and waved its sword around. Splish* the sound of flesh hitting the floor resounds, "Arghh!!!!!" Park Shi Won screams as he grasps the flesh of his severed arm

"No!! No!!" Park Yoo Ri cried tears of blood and stood up to run with all her might, the Clown figure moved suddenly. Splish* Her top half fell on the platform in one direction whilst the lower half fell towards the opposite

Splish* Splish* The remaining Hunter on the platform is cut up the same way. Holding his arm to stop the bleeding, Park Shi Won despaired as he screamed "Why!! Am I wrong?! Do the gods have eyes!"

"No! I must live on! I need to pay for my mother's surgery as well as Shi Min and Shi Na's fees! I can't die before I earn enough money! No! I will not accept this fate!" Park Shi Won roared

The mysterious voice from earlier spoke into his mind "Let me ask you again, do you want to live!?"

"..."

"I do! I'll do anything it takes! Just let me live!" He screamed before blacking out