BGH Chapter 08

Chapter 08

 

What do you mean by ‘calms you down’? You’re the same guy who just casually slaughtered zombies earlier.

But with Alex’s temple sweating as he leaned against my shoulder, it didn’t feel entirely like a lie. Why was he sweating so much?

His complexion was pale as if he might collapse at any moment. Come to think of it, a body that had died and come back to life couldn’t be normal. Because I was worried about that, I couldn’t completely push him away. Now that I think about it, his status window had been shared since the summoning, and I remember it didn’t look good at first glance.

“Are you perhaps…”

Before I could finish asking, his gaze flickered to another direction. Suddenly, he released me from his grip entirely. It was as sudden as when he had embraced me.

“Shall we head back now?”

Alex’s tone about returning was businesslike and cold as usual. His mood swings were unpredictable.

Right. This detached attitude—that was the Alex I knew.

I reluctantly followed him as he turned away. My dazed mind gradually cleared. It felt like I had been enchanted by something.

When Alex and I returned with the food we found, the kids’ gazes toward me changed.

“Whoa, pasta, curry, and even bread!”

“How did you manage to find all this stuff?”

“Eat up. We need to keep your strength up in situations like this.”

As I distributed the food with a Mother Teresa-like smile, the kids pounced on it like starving dogs.

Even Liam, the usually composed student council president, was no exception. Hunger spares no one. Well, we’re all at an age where we eat a lot…. Ah, this is kind of heartbreaking.

‘Hm? Something feels off.’

I set my share of the food aside and started counting heads. One person, two people… Huh? Why were there only six of us, including me?

Someone was missing. I looked around and realized Jean Devois was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Jean!”

When I asked seriously, the kids looked at each other.

They turned pale, only now realizing Jean was missing, and started panicking belatedly.

“Huh? She was here until just now, where did she go?”

“What? When did she disappear?”

I’d told them repeatedly not to split up! Was this another death flag?

I pressed my fingers to my forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

At that exact moment, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air.

This wasn’t like the earlier cockroach incident. This scream had the raw agony of someone being torn apart.

“Jean! What do we do!”

The kids seemed to sense this was different too, as they paced around in confusion.

Something occurred to me and I shouted.

“It’s coming from the basement!”

As I dashed off like I’d been shot from a cannon, the others hesitated briefly before trailing behind me.

Jean Devois watched Christine and Alex go to find food with jealousy.

Originally, Jean had a crush on Alex. But despite his reputation as a playboy, she had been met with nothing but rejection—a firm wall that left her feeling humiliated.

At the time, she had chalked it up to simply not being his type.

But!

The infamous bad boy who had even made Selena work hard to grab his attention was suddenly following that weirdo Christine around like a puppy?

‘Whatever. It’s just a passing whim. He’ll dump Christine soon enough. Hmph!’

Jean didn’t want to care anymore. She had a new, amazing boyfriend now, and Alex wasn’t worth her time.

Thinking that, she texted her current boyfriend.

 

[Stanley: …So you’re safe, right? That’s all that matters to me.]

[Jean: Stanley, you’re so sweet. So it’s completely over with Anna now?]

[Stanley: You saw earlier. A girlfriend who criticizes choices made for the greater good isn’t really a girlfriend. I was planning to break up anyway, just needed an excuse. It’s always been only you.]

 

She was in the middle of typing ‘I love you too! Miss you’ when a phone call came in and erased it.

It was Stanley.

Jean rolled her eyes and glanced over at her friends.

‘Good thing I put it on silent to avoid Anna noticing.’

Her best friends Selena and Anna seemed busy seriously cursing about the Stanley situation.

Feeling guilty, she quietly got up and snuck away.

Through the dark, unlit corridor, there was a slightly open door at the dead end. Opening it revealed stairs leading to the basement.

This much was necessary to have a secret conversation with Stanley.

As she carefully stepped onto the stairs, the call disconnected.

‘No! Don’t disconnect!’

Rushing down to the bottom of the stairs in panic, she found an iron gate blocking the way.

Turning on her phone light to check the surroundings, she saw a key hanging on a hook on the wall.

Though slightly unsettling, this was the perfect chance to capture football player Stanley’s heart without other friends finding out.

So Jean ended up unlocking the iron gate and entering the sealed room.

Not noticing the shadow falling over her, she called Stanley.

 

Ring…. ring…..

 

Behind her, Jack the killer from “Midnight Scream Camp,” now synchronized as this dungeon’s boss creature, raised his machete high.

Slash!

The sudden plunge of the blade caused Jean to let out a scream of agony as the sharp edge tore through her.

But the merciless blade didn’t stop, repeatedly stabbing her.

Blood spattered across the walls like crimson paint, some even landing on her dropped phone.

 

….

 

Stanley, who answered the call, heard everything. He silently listened before swiftly ending the connection.

I managed to find the entrance to the basement, recalling the cabin structure I’d seen in movies.

A figure came into view, rapidly climbing the long basement stairs below.

‘Jack!’

Through the hollow eyes of his gray mask, bloodshot pupils gleamed.

The machete in his hand dripped with blood—likely Jean’s.

‘Even though he’s normal adult height, his movements are extraordinary!’

“Kyaaah! What is that?!”

“Is it a robber?!”

I quickly kicked the basement door shut. While casting a movement speed buff, I shouted,

“It’s too late for Jean! We need to get out of this cabin right now! Everyone stay close to me if you want to receive skill buffs and escape safely!”

“Can’t we just hide in any room and close the door?”

“Sure, why don’t you crawl under a bed or into a closet and make eye contact with him while you’re at it? That thing isn’t just a robber—it’s a creature!”

Though Jack is a min-maxed character, he performs better indoors where there’s lots of clutter good for hiding.

But we’ve awakened our abilities now! It might be advantageous to face him outdoors where there’s nowhere to hide!

Everyone managed to escape the cabin before Jack.

Before I could ask Alex to tank, he took the lead himself with an axe.

“Liam! You’re melee DPS, right? Stick close to Alex and help with off-tanking.”

Though reluctant at my direction, Liam swung his baseball bat experimentally and stood near Alex.

“Bella, provide covering fire next to Selena. Selena, you… you… ugh.. Yes, you cast buffs that at least benefit yourself.”

“I’ll do that!”

Only Bella responded. Selena wasn’t ignoring me—she just looked confused.

“Anna! Come behind me. You’re our only healer, so stay under my protection and cast healing skills on the tanks or injured friends.”

“B-but shouldn’t we run far away even now…”

“Until when? Don’t you want to get out of this dungeon?”

After hesitating briefly, Anna squeezed her eyes shut and ran to me. Yes, you’re better than Selena.

“A-Anna! Don’t go!”

Selena grew anxious when separated from her best friend.

“I want to live! Come on, isn’t it thanks to her that we’ve made it this far? Let’s just trust her, even if it’s a gamble!”

Just as we formed our formation, the anticipated boss creature, Jack, dramatically burst through the window.

However, seeing us already arranged outdoors contrary to his expectations, he tilted his head in confusion.

With a sinister confidence, Jack slowly raised a finger and pointed at each of us, one by one.

Every time he singled someone out, they flinched.

His psychopathic vibe was no joke.

At this rate, our group was going to lose morale!

To break his momentum, I launched a flurry of dart pins at him.

Jack effortlessly blocked them with his arm.

Unlike the zombie minions, he wasn’t fazed at all. Instead, he leisurely pulled the pins out of his body one by one.

Then, with his machete, he gestured toward me as if to say, “You’re next.”

Thunk!

Alex blocked Jack before he could reach me.

Whether he used his own defense skill or not, Jack’s blade strike missed.

Jack’s machete and Alex’s axe clashed against each other.

“Take this!”

Liam quickly dodged around and struck Jack’s side with his baseball bat.

Bang! Bang bang bang!

Bella also fired rapid shots.

Oh! Working together, our attacks seem to be affecting Jack bit by bit.

Most importantly, despite being a boss, Jack’s attacks weren’t landing effectively on Alex, who seemed to be holding his own against him.

“Ugh!”

Even with defense buffs, Liam seemed to be taking some damage after a few hits.

Must be because DPS characters have relatively lower HP.

“Anna! Heal Liam!”

“Y-yes! Got it!”

Though flustered, Anna followed my instructions and cast a healing spell on Liam.

Immediately, Jack’s neck turned toward us with a creaking sound.

Damn it! That was terrifying.

Wait—did he target Anna, the healer?!

Oh no… oh no no no!

Jack suddenly raised his machete high.

 

[Boss Creature Jack has activated the skill “Rampage”!]

 

Jack suddenly charged mindlessly toward us.

Alex blocked him again but was getting pushed back bit by bit, and Liam was completely knocked away.

Finally, Alex was pushed aside too, and with nothing left in his way, Jack’s speed increased.

“Jack, stop!”

 

[Command skills do not work on non-undead creatures.]

 

“Kyaaah! Do something!”

A terrified Anna clung to my back. Yet she still cast heals accurately. This kid has potential.

In that moment, a thought crossed my mind.

“Could this work?”

I opened my skill menu and stared at a new, unused skill.

 

[Necromancer Skill]

[-One-time Skeleton Summon]

 

‘Whatever, let’s try it!’

 

[Christine Hilton uses ‘One-time Skeleton Summon’ skill!]

 

As soon as I activated the skill, the ground beneath us began to shake.

Cracks formed in the earth, and out of the fiery gaps emerged pale, bony hands.

For a brief moment, everything fell silent.

Then, in an instant, three skeletons burst out of the ground and stood before us.

When I pointed at Jack, a skull icon appeared above his head.

Without hesitation, the skeletons charged at him.

Even Jack couldn’t handle being outnumbered and started losing ground.

“What are you doing? Everyone attack with full power!”

The kids, who had been momentarily mesmerized by my summoned skeletons, snapped back to attention and resumed their attacks.

With the skeletons forming an iron wall around him, Jack couldn’t reach us.

Wounds accumulated on Jack’s body and his healing began to slow.

His movements became sluggish, and finally, he fell to his knees.

Seizing that opening, Alex swung his axe and took Jack’s head off in one strike.

Thank you for reading! ♡