Wave 1/10

The swarm of ants rushing at the walls wasn’t the worst part. Nathan had dealt with worse.

It was the thunderstorm that was making things tricky.

Nathan was unable to see a single thing. More than once he’d barely dodged an arrow from behind, shot by accident thanks to the awful visibility.

His fishing rod swung around in a circle and smashed apart ten giant ants in one fell swoop.

A mandible clenched around his calf. It dug deep into his flesh. Nathan growled and kicked the ant with his free leg, sending it flying like a soccer ball.

An explosion went off to his side. He was sent flying and hit the mud hard.

That stung.

He spat out some soil that had gotten in his mouth.

“Mara’s mines are effective as always,” he muttered.

In the distance, a silver gleam flashed in the rain. Chad. His blade disappeared from view and a second later, splurts of bug blood gushed all over the ground.

Nathan turned back to his opponents.

After several more minutes, the wave was over. He opened up Strategy View.

300 seconds till the next wave (2/10)

Next Wave Event: Hurricane

Nathan ran back to the wall, his shoes kicking up mud with each step. Fuge was already waiting for him at the gate, covered in blood and dirt.

“You saw the wave event?” Fuge said.

“Hurricane.”

“That’s good. We’ve prepared for that. Everyone’s underground—even if the buildings fall apart, we can rebuild.”

“What aren’t we prepared for?”

“A severe earthquake,” Fuge said. “We’ve reinforced the underground shelters as much as possible, but realistically, we’d have to take people out—we can’t risk them getting stuck underground.”

Nathan bit his bottom lip. “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, then.”

The second wave was a nightmare. The rain was so thick that Nathan couldn’t see more than a foot in front of him. Every fight ended up on the ground because of the wet, slippery soil. The only good thing was that the ants weren’t much better off. Half of them were attacking each other because they couldn’t even tell friend from foe.

The whole time, the wind bit at Nathan, sending dirt and stone through the air like missiles. By the end, Nathan was covered in bug guts and cuts.

He returned to the wall and checked the next wave event.

300 seconds till next wave (3/10)

The walls were unmanned, save for Fuge. She gave him a quick nod.

“Everyone’s gone,” Nathan said.

“They can’t aim their bows in this weather, and you’re doing a good enough job anyway,” Fuge said.

Nathan grunted. “I didn’t see a new wave event.”

“There’ll be more,” Fuge said. “This is just a temporary relief.

Great.

The third wave started. More ants.

Nathan jumped back into the fray. Blood. Exhaustion. Water in his eyes. It was all a blur.

The fourth wave was the same. He could barely think anymore, his body more run by instinct than thought at this point.

Nathan licked his lips.

The fifth wave boss fight would be coming up soon.

The portals opened in the distance. But… they didn’t attack?

Nathan stared into the distance. They were bunching up at the back. Why? He turned on Strategy View.

The ground was shaking. A red alert button had popped up.

He clicked it.

Alert! Enemies are drilling underground!

Nathan jumped off the walls and ran as quickly as he could, fighting through the wind and the rain to get closer to the ants. Once he got close enough, he whipped his fishing rod out. The hook flew through the air and smashed through the a wall of ants.

There was a hole in the ground.

A big hole. It was the size of two cars placed end to end on both sides. The interior was deep and black, making its contents unknowable.

Nathan clicked his tongue, then jumped in.

His eyes adjusted on the spot. He heard a wet, slimy sound from up ahead. Soil shifted around him.

He ran forward.

It turned around.

It was a massive, hulking thing. A worm slithering through the ground, devouring the dirt en-masse. Its long body pulsated as it moved, slime coating the tunnel like mucus.

Nathan inspected the creature.

Giant Worm - Lv. 36

This subterranean nightmare is less “worm” and more “fanged freight train from hell.” The Giant Worm specializes in ambushes, tunneling silently beneath the ground until it erupts like a horrifying, toothy geyser.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Its sheer size and speed make running pointless and hiding laughable. Pro tip: If you hear a rumble, it’s not a thunderstorm—it’s your funeral march.

Nathan threw his hook forward. The tip dug into its flesh. With a single tug, he ground the massive creature to a halt and pulled it back a bit.

It wriggled around and smashed into the soil wall. Chunks of dirt fell from the ceiling and onto the ground.

Nathan gritted his teeth and pulled back his rod. The worm’s head scraped along the sides of the tunnel, dozens of cuts appearing across its skin.

It slithered toward Nathan, jaw salivating. Its mouth opened, revealing hundreds of teeth like daggers in an endless, gaping maw.

Nathan pulled out his harpoon.

[Obtain: Throw Harpoon] (Bronze) (99/100)

He threw it as hard as he could, every ounce of his now monstrous strength put in a single movement. Water appeared behind it and propelled it forward. The harpoon sank into the skin and ripped a long line across the worm’s skin.

It continued on till it reached the end of the tunnel.

The worm unfolded like a piece of paper that had been rolled up into a cylinder. It’s skin flopped against the dirt.

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

Nathan ran back across the corpse and collected his harpoon. Inside, he felt his body hum with power.

Fifth Wave Bonus: Extra Time!

600 seconds till next wave.

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The rain had finally cleared away. Nathan could now see what the rain had hidden.

Corpses. Hundreds of corpses. There’d been other bug monsters. Beetles—Nathan hadn’t even noticed. In the distance, he spotted a few of his companions. Bjorn and Chad had joined him on the field. Both of them looked even worse than him, covered in cuts and barely walking.

Nathan ignored them and walked back to the wall. He checked his new skill.

[Throw Harpoon] (Bronze)

You thought throwing a harpoon was impressive? Now you can hurl it with enough force to make Poseidon jealous. Increases range and precision while also applying Bleed on a critical hit.

+25% increase to harpoon damage.

+10% increase to range.

Solid. It’ll do.

Nathan was more exhausted than he’d been in a long time. It was almost as bad as when he’d been poisoned by the black water. He was on the verge of keeling over.

But he had to soldier on.

He walked through the gate. The mushroom man guard took a step back from Nathan.

He continued on, uncaring. On top of the wall, he spotted Emi staring at the scene of destruction, her movements still. Even Mara looked tired, unable to muster more than a quick wave toward Nathan.

Fuge looked more like a corpse than a human. She was caked in ant blood. She stared at the ground, a blank expression in her eyes.

“Fuge,” Nathan said.

Fuge didn’t respond.

“Fuge!” Nathan clapped his hands in front of her.

She started and looked back up at him. She shook her head.

“Sorry,” she muttered. “Just exhausted.”

“I think everyone is,” Nathan said.

“We can’t maintain this,” Fuge said. “We’re about to fall apart. We need time.”

“That’s not something I can get,” Nathan said.

Fuge stared at him.

“Yes, it is.”

Nathan stared at her.

“Let them come up to the walls and bang against the stone for a while. We’ll take a break.”

“What if they get through the walls.?”

“They won’t. They’ve been reinforced.” Fuge said. “Nathan, your hands are shaking. I’m a veteran and even I’m exhausted. We can’t maintain this. We need a break.”

Nathan glanced back at the gate.

The rest of his companions had come back inside the walls.

Seeing their disheveled, exhausted appearances, Nathan knew Fuge was right.

“We’ll take a break. Your soldiers will take care of any climbing ones.”

“They’re trained for this,” Fuge said. “Several of them have been through invasions like this before.”

Nathan wandered back to the group and told them the plan. He’d half-expected someone to argue against him, but all of them were too worn out to argue.

“I’m enjoying the carnage as much as anyone else,” Mara said. “But even I can’t keep it up forever. Plus, my guns kept getting jammed from the weather.”

The sixth wave was simple. The mushroom people managed to use the gate as a choke point and slaughter the ants that had come to attack again.

The seventh wave was harder. A dragonfly attacker managed to hit them on the side.

Two mushroom people died. The first casualties.

The wave was defeated. Three more remained.

300 seconds till next wave (8/10)

Next Wave Event: Blizzard

I really hope my Constitution is high enough to handle this shit.

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

The temperature dropped like a rock. The frosty wind kicked up on the ground. Then snowflakes, small and delicate, fell from the sky like a tidal wave.

Nathan shivered. The cold penetrated past his nearly-destroyed suit and right into his bones. If his Constitution wasn’t so high, he would’ve been unable to move.

Whoever designed these wave events is a sadist!

In the distance, he saw the portals open.

Nathan cracked his neck and pulled out his fishing rod.

Like the hurricane, the main problem was lack of visibility. Nathan could barely see where he was.

But there was one advantage. He’d noticed it as soon as he’d stepped onto the battlefield.

Snow counts as water.

He felt every single enemy, even through the roaring gale. He could place their exact positions, all 236 of them.

Thank you, Hunter’s Instinct.

It was a massacre. He ran from enemy to enemy, killing them systematically. He felt like a master assassin with how unaware they were.

Soon enough, it was over.

300 seconds till next wave (9/10)

Next Wave Event: Eclipse

Another visibility one. I can work with this.

The blizzard didn’t stop, as Nathan had expected. A shadow grew from the center of his town.

He looked up toward the sun catching glimpses of its blackening surface.

The temperature dropped even further. It was a struggle to breathe. The shadow grew and grew, the remaining light dimming until nothing was left.

Pitch black.

Nathan ignored his eyes and switched to his Hunter’s Sense. He felt presences at the edge of his ability. They were circling around him, toward his back—about a dozen of them.

Phantom - Lv. 33

This malevolent ghost prowls the night, a master of terror and silent strikes. The Phantom doesn’t waste time with creaky doors or spooky wails—it prefers to materialize behind you and kill you on the spot.

Nathan swung his fishing rod around in a circle, hitting about a dozen in one go—

But the attack failed to stop them. He felt no resistance, too. It was like he’d attacked a ghost.

Cold spectral hands passed by his chest and he felt his stomach lurch with pain and nausea. He threw himself back, away from the presences.

More were coming. If he didn’t do something soon, he’d be surrounded.

He threw his fishing rod back into his inventory and pulled out his harpoon. The core of his chest hummed with power.

In a familiar motion, he pulled back his arm—

One of the presences rushed toward him. His hands flinched and the throw went to the side, piercing through one of the presences.

It’d worked. The creature was dead.

But his harpoon was on the other side of a horde of the creatures.

I need another option.

But what else did he have—?

He sucked in a breath.

Riptide Grasp.

Nathan clapped his hands together. A typhoon of water materialized into existence around him. With a slight mental tug, the water exploded in every direction, blades slicing through the presences like butter.

Nathan breathed deeply in and out.

They were dead.

Once he’d figured out their weakness, the fight went by smoothly. Every now and then, he’d spot a different presence—a mushroom person. An elf. A human. Each of them seemed to have figured out some method for defeating the phantoms. In Emi’s case, her fireballs seemed to hit them where it hurt. Chad’s glowing energy attacks did damage as well.

An orc and a woman were running back to the gate, chased by a horde of spectrals. Gunshots rang out.

Nathan ran over to them and cast Riptide Grasp. Water burst forward and sliced them to ribbons.

The orc and the woman continued on. Nathan paid them no mind and went back to killing Phantoms. Before long, they were finally finished.

10 seconds till next event (10/10)

Next Wave Event: Earthquake

Ten seconds!?

The blizzard died down and the light came back.

There was a buzz.

Nathan turned his head toward the portal. Ants swarmed out, covering the ground like a massive mobile carpet. Mixed in with the ants were a few werewolves dressed in armor. It was more enemies than Nathan had ever seen in his entire life.

His heart stopped.

A Giant Worm emerged.

Then another.

Then another.

Three. Four. Five.

Nathan gripped his fishing rod.

I hate my life sometimes.