The council room was tense.
Fred stood at the head of the table, arms crossed. "The traitor's name was Samuel. He gave information about the hidden quest to the Howling Rats. They know it's real now."
Murmurs rose around the table.
"We act before they do," said General Koetsu. "We send a squad. Quiet. Fast."
Alfred sat with his arms resting on the table. "We don't even know if the quest is still active. For all we know, Samuel triggered it prematurely."
Koetsu narrowed his eyes. "Convenient, coming from the only one who ever got a reward from a hidden quest."
Alfred looked tired. "I didn't choose to be rewarded."
"You didn't refuse it, either," Koetsu said.
Zaine shifted next to me. I kept still.
Koetsu leaned forward. "I have bled for this guild. I watched it ignoreme, while you rose through the ranks."
Alfred stood slowly. "I never stole anything. If the system gave me a skill, that's not on me."
Koetsu snapped. "You let it erase my name!"
He lunged. A fist aimed at Alfred's face.
Steel rang.
Marius was there—quiet, quick. He drew halfway and blocked the punch with the flat of his blade.
"Not here," he said.
Koetsu froze, eyes locked with Marius. Then he pulled back, breathing hard.
Fred's voice cut through the silence. "Enough. We don't have time for this."
Koetsu turned to Alfred. "You'll never have my trust. Or my silence."
Then he walked out.
Nobody moved.
Fred sat back down. "We move at dawn. No announcements. No noise. If the Rats get there first, we lose more than a quest."
Zaine and I exchanged a glance. The room felt colder now.
Whatever that hidden quest held, it wasn't just a secret anymore.
It was a fault line. And it was cracking.
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Under the beautiful moonlight...
18 Silhouette appeared infront of what seems to be a blue-transparent barrier that seperate them from another part of the forest
[HIDDEN QUEST: GRAY SILENCE]
[Level Restriction: Only available to players under Level 10.]
[Objective: Eliminate the roaming wolf pack — 9 regular wolves and 1 Alpha Wolf.]
[Special Condition: Rewards will be revealed only after engaging the Alpha Wolf.]
[Time Lock: You cannot leave for 2 hours once the quest begins.]
The panel appeared in front of everyone as it was an introduction about the hidden mission in front of them...
"We are late, these footsteps indicate the presence of another team before us...
The marks are new so it hasn't been a long time, we still have a chance..."
Someone declared as he was looking at the footprints on the ground...
Danjuro took a look around himself before going directly through the barrier...
Around 8 other players followed him from behind...
That left me and Zaine with the 7 others...
We stood in silence for a moment, staring at the blue barrier. The forest on the other side looked the same—same trees, same moonlight—but something about it felt wrong.
Zaine took a breath. "Let's move. Stay sharp."
One by one, we stepped through. The barrier passed over us like cold water, and just like that, we were in. The air was heavier, like sound didn't travel the same way here.
We didn't speak. Just walked.
No birds. No insects. Only the sound of boots pressing into soft dirt...
"...What is that?"
We crowded around. At first, it just looked like a bundle of clothes.
Then we saw the hand.
A player, no older than the rest of us, lay face-down between two tree roots. His gear was torn, one boot missing. Blood soaked the surrounding leaves, still damp.
still warm...
Zaine crouched beside him. "His tag's still active. He died less than ten minutes ago."
"Was it a wolf?" one of us asked, voice tight.
Zaine pointed to the claw marks on the armor. "Yeah. But this wasn't just one."
I stared at the corpse, throat dry. "They got here before us... and didn't even make it past the start."
Zaine stood slowly. "Get ready. If they're close enough to leave a fresh body, they're close enough to hear us."
The wind shifted.
A low growl rolled out from the trees.
Then we saw it—just one, but huge. A gray-furred wolf, too large to be normal, stepped out from the brush. Its eyes locked on us, lips curled back.
No system notification.
Weapons slid free. No one needed to be told what to do.
Zaine raised his blade, voice steady. "No talking. We bring it down fast."
The wolf lunged.
And the fight began.
The wolf lunged.
One player raised his shield—but too slow. The beast tackled him, sank its jaws into his neck, and slammed him to the ground.
He didn't scream. Just gurgled
"Pull back!" someone yelled.
Zaine didn't move. His eyes locked on the wolf.
Another player stabbed with a spear, but the wolf dodged and snapped at his leg.
Zaine charged, sword low.
He slashed across the wolf's side—once, then again.
The beast turned, snarling, blood running from its ribs.
It pounced at him.
Zaine ducked and stepped in. One clean thrust.
His sword drove into the wolf's throat.
The wolf collapsed beside the body of the fallen player.
Zaine pulled his blade out, breathing hard.
"He's gone…" someone said, looking at the corpse.
Zaine didn't answer. He just looked ahead.
"That was one. Nine left."
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I don't know why readers count keeps on decreasing through i go back to uploading