Marshmallow observed the trapped creature while his thoughts raced. He bit his lip, replaying the image of the creature from the tablet in his mind. He remembered it well: it depicted a stylized goat man with inhuman, twisted proportions. The powerful, contorted hind legs ended in large goat hooves, while the humanoid torso was distorted with oversized muscles. And the eyes were depicted as two empty slits, like windows into a bottomless abyss.

It was identical. It was him, no doubt about it. Something about that monster exuded an aura of danger too palpable to be ignored; Marshmallow knew they needed to be very careful.

"The tablet, huh?" SonicEcho said, breaking into Marshmallow's thoughts. SonicEcho's eyes shone in the torchlight, revealing a barely containable impatience. "This must mean it’s powerful. Imagine how many experience points we could get from this leggy goat."

Marshmallow hesitated, his hands still tightly gripping the torch and weapon. "I’m not sure it's a good idea, Sonic. This place... this monster... it feels like a trap waiting to snap."

SonicEcho looked at him. He took a step forward, weapon ready in his hands. "Come on, buddy! We have to take this chance. It's stationary, it's trapped! One good strike, we crack its skull, and it's done! Think of the level-ups we could make!"

SonicEcho started to move, but Marshmallow quickly grabbed his arm after turning off the flashlight and tucked it into the back of his pants. He had to somehow restrain his companion's impulsiveness.

"Wait! We should think before we act. Look how it's trapped." Marshmallow said, pointing to the pillar of roots that formed some sort of intricate cage around the goat monster. The roots were thick and twisted, intertwining in a complex web that seemed utterly pointless. But the monster was there; there was no way of knowing if it was dormant or not. "If the Earth itself decided to trap this monster, there's surely a reason. Let's not tempt fate."

SonicEcho seemed to consider Marshmallow's words for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm about to get rich in experience, I can't let this chance slip away. Look at him! It's clearly sleeping."

"But think, Sonic!" Marshmallow retorted forcefully, tightening his grip. "You can't be sure! We're only armed with a wooden board and a metal bat. This monster is three meters tall! It's too risky to face it now! If it wakes up, we're screwed!"

"Fine. So, what do you suggest? To leave? Go back to the surface?" SonicEcho asked skeptically.

"Yes! Let's get out! We’re not ready now! Remember what we agreed on? Let's go kill some zombie goats, level up a bit, gather resources, get well-prepared, and come back. We still know too little about this game, we don’t even know what the Unique Skills consist of!" Marshmallow responded. He didn’t know what else to do to convince his companion. "Sonic, trust me. It’s not the time yet."

SonicEcho looked at him intently for a moment that seemed to never end. He hadn’t ignored what Marshmallow had said, but he had already made a choice as soon as he entered the room. With a nod, he said no, jerked his arm free, and easily broke free from Marshmallow’s hold. SonicEcho was significantly stronger and it took him minimal effort to get rid of Marshmallow.

"In the Survivor Game, only with unparalleled audacity do we have a chance to move forward. Don’t think I haven’t considered it, Marshmallow. I am a D Rank, you are an E Rank. The only way we have to survive is to risk our lives and level up as fast as possible. Sure, going back to slaughter little goats would be the safer route, but is it the most efficient? I don’t think so. If we linger in this world, it’s like signing our death warrant. I've made my choice, and I choose to fight this goat-legged monster. And you, Marshmallow? What's your choice?"

Marshmallow locked eyes with SonicEcho. He didn't want to, but he felt compelled. Shaking his head, he took a step back, his eyes filled with sadness but resolute determination. He wouldn't take such a risk for nothing. SonicEcho lowered his head for a moment as if feeling the weight of their understanding break. Then, with a barely audible sigh, he turned and charged the monster. His weapon ready, he aimed a powerful blow at the creature's skull. At that moment, despite the physical distance, Marshmallow felt as if an invisible chasm had opened between them.

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For a moment, time seemed to slow down. SonicEcho took off, flexing his muscles as hard as he could. A vein popped into his neck as he pumped blood into his muscles to deliver the strongest blow he could muster, and then he struck. He unleashed a blow so powerful that the sound of his attack echoed like a war drum, sending a cold shiver down SonicEcho's spine.

The monster’s neck was displaced, its head off-kilter, but with a slow, eerie movement, it rotated its head back into place, sinister sounds accompanying the realignment of its bones. It was unscathed. From the other side of the room, Marshmallow’s stomach clenched, hoping with all his might that his friend’s intuition was correct and that he was the one in the wrong.

But the monster's eyes opened. Two dark, bottomless abysses released a wave of darkness, enveloping the room in a black veil.

A cacophonous, deep sound, like a gong in a cave, came from the monster's mouth.

“I aM thE gRImGoAT.”

It freed itself, snapping all the roots that entwined it. First, it freed its left arm, then its right leg, then its entire body. In freeing itself, the creature calling itself Grimgoat seemed to be uprooting a trunk from the ground. Now it was completely free, standing upright. It was at least twice the size of SonicEcho, and with a deep growl that seemed to emanate from the bowels of the earth, Grimgoat extended its massive right hand, as large as a human’s chest.

A dark aura began to form around its fingers, and with a crescendo of palpable energy, a bone sword took shape, its blade sprouting sharp, irregular spikes. The sword itself seemed to thirst for blood.

SonicEcho recoiled in fear as the Grimgoat advanced and grabbed him by the throat with its left hand, lifting him off the ground with supernatural speed. SonicEcho felt trapped in a vice-like grip of incomprehensible power, unable to even fathom a grip so strong.

"Put me down!" SonicEcho bellowed. He kicked wildly, trying to hit the monster's arm with his bat. His face turned red from the intense pressure, and within moments, he was gasping for air. Now, the Grimgoat stared at him with a malicious, satisfied expression, those abyssal eyes driving SonicEcho to the brink of madness.

The strength disparity was too vast. The monster was beyond any imagination. SonicEcho was brutally thrown to the ground. He tried to escape and get up immediately, but the Grimgoat swung a horizontal slash at SonicEcho. In an instant, his legs were severed from his body in a bloody spray. A scream beyond any human capacity echoed.

“Marsh… help me…”

SonicEcho reached out to Marshmallow, tears of blood in his eyes, face purple with pain. The Grimgoat lifted its hoof and crushed SonicEcho's neck, just as Marshmallow had done to the Evolveroach they had encountered earlier. It struck repeatedly until his head was nothing but a bloody pulp, with pieces of brain and remnants of eyes.

Marshmallow felt powerless. In the eyes of the Grimgoat, both he and SonicEcho were mere insects. The Grimgoat grabbed SonicEcho’s lifeless body and dragged it to an altar that seemed to emerge suddenly from the depths of hell as if an extension of the monster's malevolent will. It ascended the altar, and with its bone sword, quickly traced a circle around itself and an inverted star.

It began to utter words in a strange, senseless, cacophonous, and guttural language that echoed throughout the room like a cry from the depths of hell. Suddenly, it began to devour the limbs of the deceased SonicEcho, in a manner reminiscent of Saturn devouring his children.

Of SonicEcho, only a bloody, formless mass remained. Marshmallow would meet the same fate if he didn’t leave that place immediately. While the Grimgoat was distracted in its grotesque ritual, munching with relish, the wet and screeching sounds mixed with the stench of fresh blood, Marshmallow silently backed away before starting to run.

Marshmallow had learned an important lesson. The Survivor Game was a game filled with traps and nightmarish monsters, a deadly labyrinth where every decision could be the last. If he wasn't careful, he would be next. As he ran, he thought about what would happen to SonicEcho in real life. Would they really fry his brain? Without a doubt. Humans could be far more demonic than that beast, and undoubtedly, whoever designed this hell was a master of evil.

Marshmallow had just started running through the tunnel, his heart pounding, when he was overtaken by the sound of breaking rock behind him. He glanced back, and his blood ran cold. The Grimgoat had smashed through the door of the room and was pursuing him. In the darkness, only its eyes of void and the guttural, cacophonous sounds it made were visible. The creature lunged forward, and Marshmallow realized the hunt was far from over.