"What the hell are you all doing?!"
The commander roared, his voice echoing through the dark, enclosed space.
"You had one job—to stop Viktor from escaping! So why the hell is he here, sleeping inside the Dragon Centipede Golem's stomach?!"
At this moment, the giant centipede golem can be seen lying on the ground with its mouth wide open, standing in the clear open of the forest.
Inside its stomach, a group of soldiers dressed in brown and white uniforms can be seen standing in a group with their heads lowered, as their leader's face is flushed red with anger.
"And not just that..." His voice dropped, trembling with restrained fury.
"You all didn't even notice he escaped for hours. Not until he turned into this."
He pointed to the side where Viktor lay bandaged and covered in dried blood, sleeping peacefully.
The soldiers glanced at Viktor and couldn't help but silently complain:
"He looks fine though…"
"You sons of—!!" the commander started again, about to explode—
But then he paused, his head snapping up, sensing a magical signal flaring in the distance.
"Isn't that the anti-hiding beacon?" one of the soldiers muttered, confused.
Everyone turned toward the source of the magical signal.
"...Is someone else out there?"
Suddenly, the ground trembled. From deep in the forest, golems began stampeding toward the signal.
"Wait... if all the golems are moving toward that area, then that means—"
The soldiers watched in horror as even the giant Dragon Centipede Golem started to slither in that direction, dragging the entire Monster Control Unit with it.
***
Meanwhile…
William was running.
Magic covered his body in chaotic layers of color, pushing his speed beyond human limits.
'What the hell—what the actual hell?! Why was there even a broadcasting beacon?'
His thoughts spiraled as he sprinted across the torn battlefield.
'How am I even going to pass this test now?!'
As William ran, the trees around him started to shake, prompting him to instantly dive into the dirt, burying himself.
Shortly after a heavy thud landed above the ground he had dived into. A four-armed ape golem sniffed the air.
Holding his breath, William didn't dare move.
After a few tense seconds, the golem stomped off in the direction of the beacon signal.
Only after a couple of minutes did William crawl out of the dirt and run again, in the opposite direction from the ape.
Along the way, golems of all shapes stormed past, drawn by the beacon. William constantly had to dodge, hide, dig, or take long detours just to survive.
Eventually, he reached a quiet spot at the bottom of a cliff.
After checking to make sure he was alone, William dug a shallow hole and curled up inside. He gasped for breath, trying to calm his racing heart.
His face was pale—a clear sign of mana exhaustion.
Looking up at the night sky, William sighed.
'How am I even supposed to pass this stupid test?'
'If I hide, the beacon activates. If I fight, I would fail even faster.'
He groaned and rubbed his face, overwhelmed by stress and frustration.
For now, with no mana left, he could only rest. Without it, he was helpless.
Too afraid to sleep, William kept watch from his hiding spot.
The area was silent. No animals. No wind. No tremors. Too silent.
'It's way too calm... This place doesn't want people to just hide.'
William narrowed his eyes, scanning the area. 'That means there's either a super-strong monster nearby… or I'm being ambushed.'
A flicker of light caught his eye.
A cyan laser shot toward his head.
He dove out of the hole just in time.
A blast of magical energy struck the cliffside behind him, cutting off the cliff and creating a large cloud of dust as the cliff fell.
Using the chaos, William tried to flee, but stopped as he felt a massive magical aura behind him.
He turned and looked up.
Standing on top of the freshly sliced-off cliff, a golem shaped like a majestic elk stood, glowing with cyan-aqua light. Its silver-white horns shimmered, and it stared at William like he was nothing.
William's expression darkened.
Beneath its elegant look was an overwhelming magical power.
'I'm screwed,' William thought.
The elk's horns glowed—brilliant white—and fired.
Before he could react, the white beam struck him.
His vision turned pure white.
When William opened his eyes again, he saw a familiar white ceiling.
'Did I fail?' was his first thought.
He sat up in the hospital bed, but something was off.
The bed, floor, and curtains were the same as he remembered, but anything beyond that was a long stretch of white floors and skies in every direction, endless and empty.
'Wait… isn't this the bed? The one I always end up in after Captain Jack beats me up…' William quickly concluded after seeing the familiar layout.
At this moment, a glowing path appeared, leading to a door.
With no other options, William followed it.
However, what met him through the door made his eyes go wide with fear.
It was Captain Jack.
As soon as he saw William, 'Jack' instantly charged at him with his bat raised.
Stunned, William couldn't react as Jack's bat smashed into his face, sending him flying across the floor.
'Why the hell is he here?!' William screamed.
Scrambling to his feet, William stared at the man before him.
But as he looked closer, he relaxed slightly.
'No... It's not him. If it was the real Captain Jack, I wouldn't have even seen the hit coming.'
'And the pressure's different. Not suffocating like before.'
"Who are you?!" William shouted.
No response.
The fake Jack charged again.
He was fast, almost as fast as the real deal, but William could dodge.
Still, the fake's strength and skill were far beyond William's. And worse, his mana was sealed.
He couldn't use magic.
So, a beatdown began.
Minutes passed. William lay broken and bruised on the ground, coughing blood.
"Damn it…" he muttered, punching the ground.
"I'm still way too weak…"
Suddenly, his body was covered in light green, causing his wounds to close and bones to realign.
But as soon as the healing finished, the fake Jack struck again.
Over and over, William was healed and beaten—until he stopped caring about the pain.
One hour? Two? He lost track.
William lay face down on the ground, his hair dyed red with blood, completely unresponsive.
The green light appeared again, healing him and prompting the fake Jack to attack.
This time, instead of dodging, he met the bat with his fist.
His arm was crushed instantly, as the bat continued its trajectory.
But William didn't flinch.
With a crazed look in his eyes, he headbutted the bat, putting all his body weight into it.
Blood gushed from his forehead. His right arm dangled uselessly. But he grinned.
"Is that it?! The real Jack would've hit harder!" William shouted hysterically
The fake charged again.
William took every hit and kept talking through the pain.
"Captain Jack would've been crueler. He'd make me beg before letting me faint."
Little by little, his body moved faster. He launched clumsy counterattacks. They failed—but he kept going.
The green light healed him, and the bat hit him.
Over and over.
Until the once-white floor was painted red with his blood.
But William didn't care.
As long as the healing spell kept working, he'd keep fighting.
He'd never stop.
What seems like an endless cycle of torture... had now become his twisted obsession.
***
Back at the location where William had run away from and where the broadcast signal had been fire—
The area was now swarmed with monsters of all shapes and forms.
Golems of different kinds, each representing a different monster species, filled the scene.
Some stood on guard, eyeing each other cautiously, while others searched the surroundings.
Among them was the Dragon Centipede Golem, towering high above the rest with its upper body raised in the air.
It remained still, silently watching the other golems, standing as one of the many on alert.
Then, the dragon centipede opened its mouth wide, and from within, the Monster Control Unit emerged.
Upon seeing the tense standoff between the golems, one of the members let out a startled yelp.
"Are... are these golems going to fight each other?"
Everyone turned to look at the leader.
"Hah… Fight?" The leader chuckled. "Do you know how much just one of these golems costs? If the higher-ups let them fight, the organization would've gone bankrupt ages ago."
"Huh, I see..." The petite girl and the other members looked again at the standoff in fascination.
"Alright, let's move. We still need to get Viktor back to the hospital."
With Viktor slumped over his shoulder, the leader jumped down from the dragon centipede's mouth, landing right in the middle of the golem standoff.
The rest of the team followed, gliding down using magic.
"Wait a second, sir," the petite girl called out. "Aren't you at least going to check who activated the anti-hiding signal?"
"Huh? Why?"
"I mean, aren't you curious who else came here besides Viktor?"
"Not really," the leader replied, walking away disinterested.
Unwilling to give up, the petite girl walked closer and whispered to him,
"Brother, think about it... When we get back, we're going to get scolded for letting Viktor escape and probably forced to babysit old people as punishment."
"Since we're already in trouble, why don't we stay just a bit longer?"
"Or… don't tell me you're looking forward to babysitting seniors?" she teased, her voice like a mischievous devil tempting him.
"Cough— I mean, it's only right that we care for our fellow soldiers," the leader quickly did a 180-degree change, standing tall and righteous.
"As the leader, I command you all to search for the brave soldier who ventured into this desolate place at night!"
"Brother! Let's use the dragon centipede to search for him!"
"Great idea! Everyone, get back on the centipede! We still have one more person to save!"
"Yes!" mixed responses came—some excited, others indifferent.