“Surpriiiise!!!” As the orc came up under the bridge, it pushed off the ground with both feet and swung its axe in a wide arc, cleaving the entire bridge in half.

“Sh*t!” Max clung to the planks as the bridge fell into the water and was immediately snatched up by the current.

“Did you miss me? I can tell you did, since you even waited for me! Am I that irresistible?”

The bridge cables did not come loose, so Max started quickly climbing up the planks to reach land.

“Those arrows really hurt; you know? Well, not much, but they still hurt a little.” The orc mocked him as it waded to reach the riverbank, “You’ll need more than a little peashooter like that to take me down.”

“Why don’t you stand still and let me shoot you for another minute; we’ll see if that’s true!” Max retorted.

“What? You can understand me?” The orc appeared shocked for a moment. “Aha- Ahahaha, brilliant! That’s even better! I’ve been craving a good conversational partner for a while now. You can give me advice on my aim!”

‘Aim?’ Max turned to see that the orc had already escaped the river and was now ripping an arrow out of its torso. ‘Oh, oh crap.’

As if on cue, the orc threw an arrow aimed right at Max’s head. With quick reflexes, Max dropped down two planks to evade it.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Azrog; drill instructor and captain under the honourable Viscount Torga.”

“Wait... you guys have nobility over there?” Max was surprised.

“Well of course we do, did you think we were just savages?” Azrog threw another arrow, which Max avoided by kicking against the bank.

“Well yeah, actually. Why else would you attack and imprison people just for looking around nearby? I’m pretty sure you eat us, too.”

“It’s not my fault you’re tasty.” Azrog defended his actions, “And it’s perfectly normal to kill trespassers on your own land.”

“Your land? Since when was this your land?” Max dodged another projectile.

“Since about a week ago when Lord Torga claimed it.”

“Oh.”

“Anyways, you know too much now. Sorry, but I changed my mind; we’ll have to end our little chat here.” Azrog took a pile of arrows in his hand all at once.

Looking at the arrows, Max unhesitatingly released his hands from the bridge and dropped back into the river.

“Haha, you think the water will save you? It will only bring you straight to me! As long as you’re within my sight, you’re not safe!”

Azrog winded up his throw. Just as he was about to pelt the arrows at him, Max ducked under the water. Azrog waited for him to pop out again, ready to impale his head when he did so.

“...”

He didn’t come back up.

“...Damn humaans!!!” Azrog roared in annoyance, “I just want to sleep! Why do you need to make everything so difficult!”

He ran along the bank following the river, but there was still no sign of him. Not knowing how fast Max was moving in the current, he decided to just jump back into the river himself.

Splash!!

Water spewed out in all directions as he landed in the water and started pursuing the annoying human.

...

Max held his breath under the water and watched as his health gauge slowly went down. It was clear that holding his breath too long caused him to accumulate damage, but at the same time, going up for air too soon would allow that quasi-boss to see him and turn him into a piece of modern art.

Max perceived a slight change in the darkness of the murky water ahead of him and hurriedly kicked to propel himself to one side. A sharp rock swept past his nose, narrowly missing him.

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...After judging that enough time had passed, Max finally rose back to the surface and took in a long breath of air. Holding his breath for that long felt really uncomfortable.

Quickly scanning the riverside, there was no sign of the orc. Max let out a sigh of relief.

“Aha! There you are!”

He flinched as a voice came from behind him. Swivelling around, the orc was only 30 metres away in the river-water

‘It jumped in after me?!’ Max was dumbfounded, ‘This guy is tenacious!’

Feeling a sense of crisis, Max’s thoughts went into overdrive. The situation was really bad!

It was impossible to shoot a longbow while being swept along a river, meaning he had no way to fight the orc, whereas the orc would be able to slice him open with its axe if it reached him; and he was pretty sure it was getting closer!

“Damn!”

Just as he planned to escape, he was wrenched underwater by a strong downcurrent. Before he could rise back to the surface, the surface dropped to him, and he slammed into the water with a big splash.

‘What?!’

During this time, he noticed that the river had become much louder. If before it was a low roar, now it was more like a cacophony of unending static hisses. Max turned back to check the river ahead, causing his expression to immediately worsen.

He was entering a section of rapids.

“Nooo! Why now?!”

This was an extremely unfavourable situation for Max. The orc had tough skin and would be fine even if it was tossed around. Max, on the other hand, was just a frail human. With the speed of the river increasing several magnitudes, hitting his head on even a single piece of debris might cause his skull to crack open. In video-game terms, he’d entered what was essentially a ‘bullet hell’.

One of the logs from earlier was caught on a rock in front of him. Max ducked to move under it. Right after that, there was a series of large rocks, which he moved hurriedly to dodge. Unfortunately, not every obstruction was above water and visible, as his already-bruised leg was lacerated by something under the surface.

While kicking off another obstacle to avoid a jagged stick, Max saw a flat-topped rock ahead of him and noticed it was fairly close to the riverbank.

‘Jackpot!’

He immediately set about positioning himself to collide with the rock, waiting until it came close enough before gripping it tightly.

Climbing up on it, he prepared to leap to the bank. Bending his legs, his eyes went wide as he suddenly saw a wet log flying toward him. Jumping up to avoid it, he tucked his knees into his chest and the log whizzed by under his feet. Landing unsteadily back on the rock, his feet slipped, and he plunged back into the surging river.

“Haha! Nice try, human!” A voice bellowed up the river.

‘F*ck! He used the log from earlier!’ Max inhaled water as he belatedly realised what happened.

While he’d been fighting for survival, the orc had closed half the distance between them. Using the shaft of its axe to propel itself forward off the rocks, it wore a sadistic grin as it chased after him.

Max looked around for another spot to jump from, but there were none. The riverbanks had gradually risen higher from the water as time progressed; even if he managed to somehow kill his momentum by stabbing into them, the quasi-boss would reach him and bisect his torso before he could climb up.

Max’s eyes darted around; there had to be something!

Checking every characteristic of the riverscape in front of him, his eyes flicked between each and every object and terrain feature until momentarily resting on a break in the riverbank.

‘There!’

It was on the other side of the river from where he was, but there was a low spot in the bank where he’d be able to climb up. Without much time, he threw his arms and legs into motion and began swimming toward it.

...It only occurred to him now, but when he was looking around, the river looked as though it ended shortly ahead. Only, that couldn’t be true. Especially not after a section of rapids, rivers don’t just cut off into air suddenly and call it a day. But then, why couldn’t he see the section of river beyond it?

Confused, he thought about it while he swam.

‘...Ah!’

In an instant, his strokes became faster as he hurriedly kicked toward the riverbank.

“Did you know, human? I haven’t slept for nearly four days. And yet, yet... just when I finally find time, when I am finally about to embark on my most imperative slumber... you RUIN IT!” The orc bellowed angrily as it edged closer to Max. “Are you the same? Is that what this is? Are you a selfish insomniac, who feels that if he cannot obtain sleep, he must also deprive others?”

Although the orc was angrily spouting nonsense, it was watching Max’s actions closely and keenly noticed he was moving off to one side. Its eyes moved to see where he was going.

“No matter the reason, you have robbed me of my precious minutes, and for that, I will ensure that you sleep eternally!”

As Max reached the bank, he caught sight of the orc drawing its hands behind its head, gripping its battleaxe with both hands.

“NO!”

It hurled the axe with overwhelming force at Max’s escape path. Max arched back to avoid it and was forced to miss his opening, letting go of the ledge and falling back into the river’s cold embrace. The riverbank blurred in his vision as it raced past.

Instantly, Max took out his dagger and stabbed it into the bank. The river was pulling him strongly, so this carved a long gash in the earth as he scraped along.

Azrog smirked evilly as he saw that Max was slowing down. He was only a few metres away now and would be able to grab Max right at the moment he ran out of riverbank. Huh? Out of riverbank?

Max hugged the bank closely as he was washed over a ledge. Taking his dagger out and grasping tightly, he thrust behind him with all of his strength, embedding the blade deeply into the earth. Holding on for dear life while his legs dangled in the air, he watched as the look in the orc’s baggy eyes turned to one of shock, and it plummeted forty metres into the depths below.

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