"Huff… huff… huff…"
William lay on the ground, soaked in blood from head to toe, the earth beneath him stained red. He stared up at the fake Captain Jack standing before him.
No one moved. The two just locked eyes in silence.
William's body glowed green, healing him up once again.
But unlike before, the fake Captain Jack didn't immediately attack. He simply stood there, watching.
Confused, William stayed still, unsure of what to do.
Then, the fake Captain Jack finally spoke, with a deep voice.
"Tell me your name, boy."
"…"
Stunned by the sudden question, William didn't answer at first. After several seconds of silence, he finally spoke.
"You don't know? I figured you would, since you created all this."
"I prefer to hear it from the person himself."
"…William. I'm William Stormholde."
"I see." The fake replied, and after another couple of seconds of silence, the fake Captain Jack's aura suddenly surged.
Without warning, he swung his bat with full force. William raised both arms instinctively to block, only to feel them shatter from the impact.
A swift kick to the gut followed, launching him through the air like a ragdoll.
As William flew through the air, still processing the pain in his arms, the fake Captain Jack vanished from his spot—
—and reappeared midair beside him.
The bat was already mid-swing, smashing William back down into the ground.
The hit was brutal. Painful. But not enough to make him faint.
Instead, a long-buried memory surged up, overlapping the figure of the fake Captain Jack.
A fear that had once been sealed away erupted from within William's entire body—instinctual, uncontrollable.
The fear wiped away what little rational thought he had left.
Just like the real Captain Jack, the fake gave him no time to breathe.
He grabbed William by the leg and began spinning him like a weapon.
The centrifugal force was so strong that William's head swelled and turned red.
Then the fake let go, flinging William into the air.
As William flew helplessly, the fake stood below, as red flames and crimson aura started gushing out of his body.
Then he vanished.
In a blink, he reappeared next to William midair, his arm glowing violet and clenched into a devastating fist, pulled back and ready to strike.
William stared at the incoming punch, paralyzed by the violent aura. He couldn't even form a thought.
But just as the punch was about to land, the white world William was trapped in faded rapidly.
Causing the red fist to phase through him and swiftly dissolve into light particles.
Everything disappeared in an instant, and William felt something pull his consciousness away, dragging him into darkness.
***
"Hey, kid! You still alive?"
From the depths of unconsciousness, William heard voices.
"Hey, is this kid alright? Could the illusion magic have fried his brain?"
"Don't talk nonsense. He's probably just in a deep sleep. Get a bucket of cold water or something."
Before they could get the water ready, William suddenly sat up, shouting—
"AAAHHH—!"
Everyone went silent, staring at him.
He stared back, eyes full of fear.
"What the hell was that?!" the girl shouted. "You scared the crap out of me!"
"Heh, must've been one hell of a nightmare," the leader said casually.
William finally regained some sense. "Who are you guys? What are you doing here?"
"We're the Monster Control Unit," the leader answered. "We came to retrieve that escaped patient over there."
He pointed to Viktor, now asleep and bandaged up.
But William looked over, and he only saw the massive head of the dragon centipede poking out of the earth.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Panicked, he bolted—only to be stopped by the leader's voice.
"Relax. He's friendly. For now, at least."
William calmed down. "Can you… control those monsters?"
"Partially. We can tell them where to go, but we can't make them fight."
"Then did you save me from the elk golem?"
"Yeah, kind of. When it saw the dragon centipede, it ran away."
'So that's what it's called, William thought.'
"Thank you for helping me." He bowed slightly. "But… why are you still here? Shouldn't you be taking him back?" William pointed at Viktor.
The leader hesitated. "We were about to, but after detecting the anti-hiding signal, we decided to check the area out. Out of good faith, of course."
Proud of his improvised lie, the leader lifted his chin.
"The anti-hiding signal—is that the magic wave that calls all the monsters?"
"Yeah. You didn't know?"
"No, I was just thrown into this place without being told anything."
"What? Why?"
"Well, you see—" William scratched his head, unsure how to explain.
***
"Sniffle… sniffle…"
The petite girl suddenly burst into tears.
"Waaahh—I didn't know you were going through so much to save your loved one—huuuu…"
"No, that's not—" William tried to correct her, but was ignored.
"Brother, we have to help him!"
"Huh? No way."
"What?! How can you be so heartless?! He's risking everything for love!"
"This is a test set by a general. If you value your job, don't meddle in other people's business."
"But—!"
"No buts. We will not interfere with his test!" the leader snapped firmly.
Knowing she couldn't win, the girl crossed her arms, pouting in frustration.
Seeing the growing misunderstanding, but unsure how to cut in, William could only stand awkwardly.
"At least give him some advice," the girl finally suggested.
"Fine," the leader agreed.
***
A couple of hours later—
Crouched on a tree branch, William watched the four-armed ape golems from a distance.
'I hope this works,' he prayed silently.
It had been four hours since the Monster Control Unit left. The sun had already.
He recalled the advice he'd been given:
"If you haven't figured it out, this is a survival training ground for soldiers.
The army didn't spend billions building this place just so people could hide.
That's why the anti-hiding signal triggers every 5 hours of inactivity—to flush you out.
So the plan is simple: engage the golems, run, hide, and repeat."
To ensure escape, lure two different golem species into chasing you.
When they hit each other, their programming stuns them temporarily—use that moment to get away."
Jumping off the tree, William directly dives into the ground, where he reaches a small opening, revealing small underground tunnels branching out into different directions.
William had spent the past four hours digging these tunnels.
The Dragon Centipede hadn't detected him because it had been ordered to go back deep underground—a parting gift from the Monster Control Unit.
There was no chance of a surprise encounter.
Before initiating his plan, William recalls the advice once again:
"There is an exploit you can use.
You see, the golem had a program where if 2 alpha golems were to hit each other, not only would the 2 be stunned, but also all the surrounding golems would freeze.
So all you need to do is lure the 2 alpha golems into one place, have them accidentally hit each other, and take the opportunity when their program is stunned to escape.
Simple, right?"
"…" (⊙_⊙)
"Alright, let's do this."
Psyching himself up, William's palm glowed orange. He fired a fireball down one of the long, narrow tunnels.
Moments later, a small earthquake followed. As William's web of tunnels began to collapse into one another, creating a small earthquake
By the time all of this had happened, William had already sprinted in the opposite direction, heading into a tunnel that ran directly beneath the 4-armed ape territory.
The tiny quake was only the beginning. A much larger one followed, causing the entire earth to shift as if something massive was moving its way through.
"It's coming…" William muttered, his voice tight.
Buried beneath layers of soil, he dug frantically upward into the ape territory, his back soaked in sweat.
The trembling ground grew stronger the closer he got to the surface.
Just as he was about to surface, the dragon centipede caught up to him.
With its giant pincers, it clamped onto William with crushing force as both of them burst out of the ground.
The good news: William's protective charm had recharged in time, shielding him from the blow.
The bad news: he was trapped between the pincers, and cracks had already started forming in the barrier.
But instead of panicking, William was scanning the crowd of four-armed apes for something—someone.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted it: an extra-large ape golem, completely white.
Without hesitation, he launched a fireball at it.
The white ape raised an arm and casually swatted the fireball aside. It exploded harmlessly in the distance.
But that was enough. The white ape was taunted.
It stood up, clenched its fist, and leapt toward William with terrifying speed.
The dragon centipede, sensing that another golem had agroed onto William, released its grip on William and backed away.
Predicting this, William did something reckless—he fired another fireball at the centipede.
Successfully enraged, the beast snapped at him with its pincers, striking again.
'Oh god, please let this work,' William prayed, curling into a ball, trying to make himself as small as possible.
The white golem's punch tore through his shield like glass. But just before it could land the final blow—
CLANG!
A pincer intercepted the punch mid-air, and the white golem's fist slammed into the centipede instead.
Everything happened in a blink. William barely had time to register it before he crashed back into the dirt below.
THUD.
He groaned and pushed himself up, dazed, trying to assess the situation.
All around him, the ape golems were frozen.
Then, a memory surfaced in his mind:
"Remember, the freeze will only last for 5 minutes at most. And you'd better hide right after, because when they unfreeze, they'll be hunting you down."
William didn't waste a second.
He took off running, weaving through the ape territory. Then, he suddenly stopped and began digging into the ground. It was the best way to cover his trail.
He'd already mapped out a hiding place in advance. With single-minded focus, he dug toward it, ignoring the mana cost.
Five minutes later, he reached his destination—a large boulder, half-buried underground.
The hard stone would hide him from the centipede's senses, and the enclosed space would hide his scent from the apes.
It was the perfect counter to both enemies.
Inside the cramped darkness of the boulder, William curled up into a ball, hugging his knees. His breathing was ragged from mana exhaustion.
He couldn't even see his own hands.
So he waited. Silent. Hoping. Praying.
Time passed. No sounds. No movement.
His mind started to wander.
Memories from the past few hours rushed in like a flood.
'I'm so tired…'
'When is this going to end?'
'Is it even worth it…?'
One thought after another pulled him deeper.
He saw flashes of his brutal training. The torture from Captain Jack. The courtroom. The moment he was banished.
"Ah… I caused all this myself, didn't I?"
Suddenly, something dripped onto his arm.
"Huh?"
He touched it.
Wet.
Realization hit.
"Ah… am I… crying?"
The thought pulled him back into the present. Only then did he notice—his whole body was trembling.
With nothing left to do, William hugged his knees tighter, buried his face, and waited for the time to pass.