Chapter 9 - No Escape (1/2)

This chapter was hard to write, not only did I have a lot of things to 'catchup' to in the first few paragraphs, I then had to bring the story to the current events If I didn't do this, I had a funny feeling thatthe story if I spent another chapter killing people and running through corridors with no real plot progression

So I ended up rewriting this chapter 9 times before I was happy with it It could still be iood forthe same chapter

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As I ran down the corridors, I would encounter groups of guards who often seemed shocked to see me, occasionally I would come at them from directions they never expected, for my ambush and surprise tactics were second to none It had absolutely nothing to do with being lost Yet despite this, they still ed to wound me and my HP would sink But luckily it turned out that

everytime I leveled up, hting trying to escape I didn't really like having to fight theainst my morals But the alternative was to leave the to take me down At least this way I could slon their efforts and perhaps force theo

I tried leaving people alive a few tiht they had a chance, they would always pull sothes happened

Firstly, I would often have to release the club and in those times I would punch, kick and slam myself into them As some kind of reward, I learned a new skill 'Unarmed Combat' However I didn't use it very often, the club had a uns, I was a hopeless shot and would have died before I could learn how to shoot The second thing was that I leveled up to 16 and had a few stat gains, however I never stuck around and always kept on the n my stat points It was only a matter of time until I encountered Talok, and somehow I doubted he would be lenient

The third thing to note was that after defeating ured out how to displayme a visual GUI on my status It was incredibly handy as I could see uess as to why I could suddenly access this was that the exa to do with it

The forth thing worth noting is that I noticed that the guards occasionally spoke in another language I didn't understand, when talking, they seelish, and they often were touching the white crystal when they talked, especially when they sawhappened I tried talking to it, holding it as Iwould work So I just left them behind, another puzzle about this labyrinth I couldn't solve

And the last thing, the guards had taken to screan word ”Palizar” I'm not sure what it means, however but their reactions were always of fear And yet strangely they still attacked me, they must have known it was futile Later when I looked at myself, all I could see was red and more red Not a inch of skin below my neck was visible Blood covereddried out, but what made the situation somewhat ridiculous was that ine what they sahen they sawfor blood

A thing about my HP is that while my wounds could close in minutes, they never actually fully heal Instead they would scab over when the bleeding status disappears, but picking at the scabs would resu When I leveled up,as far as to re the bullets still inside

So I walked the corridors, the guards would attack and I would attack I had no choice I had to ignore their screalee as I took daave me no choice They would not retreat, they would not run, they would not back down They were looking forme, try to kill me

I wandered the corridors but I was getting nowhere, the ground all looked the same, the walls were identical Occasionally I found a place I had been before, a landround Yet I never knehen I was going to find so up

But I definitely wasn't lost

I can't be lost

Lost et out

This ti forced to retreat, uardsme So I was forced to retreat I descended a level, yet I could hear guards around me as well I found another staircase and descended down There was noton in this floor, but I could still hear the around, I couldn't possibly survive the encounters in my current state I took the last staircase to the bottom floor where I finally found peace, corridors e presented

Walking through the corridors away fro ahead of me and alert for action, but they didn't think to look behind I grinned and crept up, uards started to turn as he heard the noise, however before he could react, I s him off his feet as I rammed my body into his buddy to knock him down As they both fell to the floor, I raised ained EXP However ain and I needed to separate myself from this bloody scene, obvious evidence that I had struck Not really sure why I attacked them

Moving back through the corridors, I walked past the staircase I had ascended previously and walked further Moving at a steady pace, I was looking ahead for a spot to rest when I saw a curious door, it looked normal and was painted a sickly pale blue like other doors However there was traces of round in front of it, as if it saw a lot of traffic

Opening it quietly, I took a look inside My eyes bugged out and I gaped The room had a deep pit lined with concrete, and in the centre of the pit reaching to the ceiling floated a shi+ at the colors as they shi+fted from hue to hue for a minute, I eventually wrenched my attention away and looked around the roo to account for the abnorh to fit my house inside

Stepping inside, I quietly closed the door as I took a closer look Against the left ere crates and boxes, a feere opened and the iteht was bare and devoid of any objects, just a white concrete floor and wall The walls around the rooave off a harsh white light, but the thingy in therainbow hues Stepping quietly, I et a look at as behind the floating abnored A deep round pool was sunken into the ground, filled with a red liquid Beside it was a slope above which aa man as he worked on a obviously dead female body with his back tostill as death Red drips occasionally fell down fro into the pool

I had seen dead bodies in the last couple of hours, but I didn't purposely mutilate the bodies and bleed theainst a crate, I heard a voice coht and crouched behind a crate, ready to attack when the chance presented itself But when they entered and I heard his voice, my plans shrivelled and my neck prickled as I felt a thin tentacle of fear coil around my stomach It was Talok

In a cold voice he asked souards”, I heard another man speak ”Ah I ordered theust Speaking in a low voice, he hissed at the uards back in here!” After a short pause he continued, his voice having calh it doesn't see orders, likely into that strange crystal they all carried around While this went on, I crouched in hiding, feeling like I was going to piss myself Talok was here, and he was less than 10 meters away from me

Eventually I heard a squadron ofa peek, I could see 6 guards in a spread out circle around the door, each of the those weapons earlier Talok was facing the door with his back to me as the man nervously stood beside him The man started to look around and I quickly pulled my head back in behind the crate He didn't raise a alarain As aited for who knohat,Eventually after waiting for what seee, I heard Talok speak ”I'll hunt him down Guard the room”

The door was opened then closed and the silence returned, with just the steady drips of blood to be heard as thefor what seeet a look of the situation and peered out frouards surrounded the door in a seuns raised and held with steady focus on the door Much to my relief, I saw they still had their backs turned to me Their mistake I waited a few one before I started to move

Trying to be as stealthy as I could, I approached the back of the sebehind the to have to do this as fast as I could Inhaling slowly, I caught my breath and suddenly whipped my club around and brained their leader Before the others could react, I took out the two guards in the centre of the circle and ran to the right I quickly finished the guard that stood there and grabbed the last guard fro behind hi his hands, I used hiuards Not a single bullet had been fired The guards warily watched uns, yet they didn't shoot, their reluctance to fire on their corip ineffectively as I started walking slowly to theuards tried to move to the side, whereas I immediately yelled ”Don't , I ripped the uzi frouard However he had a crystal in his hand and was rapidly speaking to it Infor someone of the situation

A few bullets hitto resolve this quickly, I squeezed my newly acquired uzi which shuddered in uard's chest which bloouards I had encountered wore bullet vests, but as the second guard slu at hinored the blosso of pain frouard at hiht as I raisedoff the final resistance

Checking my health, I shi+vered as I realised how close to death I was, 32 health Onethe black jacket frouards I had killed, I ripped it into shreds and quickly tied it aroundhealth es finally stopped, I had to use h and shoulder Eventually, the bleeding es also disappeared

Personally, I loved how loss of blood or low health didn't effect my physical condition I was still able to move just fine

I et a better look at the back wall, the butcher was standing on the grill fearfully looking ata weapon, so I slowly approached to get a better look

The detail and clarity of his job becarill, looking dully atblood into the pool Behind her body were several other bodies that were unrecognisable I distantly re' poster with her face As I turnedfrom his hand

EXP +100