Now everything was clearer.
And he had broken off most of his chances of survival.
But he didn’t care.
This was what made the game much more fun.
Akhil was up for the challenge. Samxon felt that he wouldn’t be able to save the orcs from their impending doom.
However, if only he knew Akhil had come out with the highest position during the beta testing program, maybe he wouldn’t have made such a reckless bet.
Through their discussion though, Akhil was able to discover a few things.
As they returned back to the orc forest, Gon’s face was still scrunched up with anger as he walked in front of the group.
Following directly behind him was Nibo, as though trying to calm the old man down.
Akhil and Aria stood behind nonchalantly.
Akhil’s thoughts were stirring with questions and possibilities.
’...In the game, the first scenario immediately kicked off with the First Titan’s attack, but it seems the system had to put things in order before the second scenario would be able to commence.’
It wasn’t hard to tell this much since the system asked them to separate into groups for the first scenario.
Everything was done in order for the second scenario to start.
Akhil turned his head to Aria. "The mountain range is closest to the orc camp, right?"
"Yes, it is. Why do you ask?" She raised a brow.
She always seemed to show interest in Akhil’s thoughts.
He rarely said a thing but spent more of his time thinking, which made her curious about what could be running in his mind.
"Nothing. I was just curious why you all decided to stay closer to the mountain range."
Aria paused for a moment.
"We didn’t really have much of a choice. We got information that the other sides were already occupied. And that was when the territorial war began..."
"Who gave you that information?" Akhil asked sharply.
Aria squeezed her face, her brows knitting tightly together, deep in her thoughts.
After a short pause, "Now that I think of it... We never really checked. Elder Gon was the one who gave us that information. He’s been the one leading the orcs from the start," Aria said, throwing a sharp glance in front of her.
Every question that Akhil had been throwing at her had been hinting at the obvious.
Slowly, she couldn’t bring herself to trust Elder Gon.
"Who told you all about the serum?" Akhil asked.
Aria’s lips parted, but the words failed to come out, almost as though she didn’t want to admit it herself.
But then the name came out of her mouth filled with suspicion and uncertainty... even confusion to some extent.
A lot of things were suddenly not making sense to her.
How was she trusting Elder Gon so casually from the start?
She felt a subtle ache in her head as she thought, making her wince in pain.
"I guess it’s worse than I thought," Akhil let out a soft sigh.
He turned his gaze to Aria. "Elder Gon definitely has something to do with all of this..."
’Things are much more dangerous than I thought... It seems everything was organized from the start. Whoever is organizing this must be a beta player.’ Akhil was more certain of it now.
As they traveled deeper into the forest, slowly, the night sky threw its blanket over the earth.
After their brief discussion earlier, Aria didn’t seem to talk as much as she was previously, lost in her own thoughts.
Nibo was still cooing the old man, trying to get him to stop muttering curses under his breath.
For some reason, he couldn’t stop cursing at Akhil after the incident in the human settlement.
Akhil, on the other hand, wasn’t so concerned about that.
Now that he knew what was coming for them, the urgency to become stronger was there.
Almost as though in sync with his thoughts, while his gaze was locked in the deep shadows of the jagged forest trees, a strange air filled the night.
And his gaze caught the sight of a moving shadow right behind Aria.
They all heard the ruffling of the leaves and stood abruptly.
"What was that?" Aria reacted first as she was closest to the source of the sound.
Her gaze was as sharp as she stared deep into the shadows.
They all stood alert, their steps measured with caution.
Just then, the leaves ruffled violently.
The tension thickened as they stared at the thick bush, waiting for whatever beast was lurking within to reveal itself.
This was nighttime. Fighting during this hour definitely wouldn’t be favorable for them, as they could barely see a thing—at least for the others, not Akhil.
He could easily switch to heat vision.
Although that wouldn’t be the best, it would still give him an edge.
Plus, he had gotten a bit used to it after using it as a mosquito.
Just then, from the underbrush, a small beast scurried out.
It was puffy and round, brown furs covering it all around.
Its feet were hidden below its thick fur and short frame.
It was even hard to tell if it had any.
It had large round eyes glistening like black pearls and pointed feline ears sticking out from the side of its head.
It had its eyes fixed on Aria.
"Pow pow!" The little beast squealed, raising its tiny hand towards Aria as if pointing at her.
"Awwn, it looks cute," Aria said, looking at the beast.
Ever since entering this nightmare of a reality, she had yet to see anything look so harmless and cute as the beast before her.
She felt the irresistible urge to pick the beast up from the ground and hug it tightly.
Before she knew it—
Her body was unconsciously being pulled by a strange force.
She inched closer to the beast, almost about to pick it up.
Akhil’s voice momentarily broke her from the trance.
"Don’t touch it!" he yelled at the top of his voice.
But it was too late.
Her fingers grazed the little beast.
Just then—
"Pow Pow!" What sounded like a cute squeal before was now so deep that it felt like a beast from hell had descended on the earth.
{Ding!}