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{3rd Pov}
Looking at the pale, mutilated female corpse lying stiffly in the bathtub, Chris and the others finally began to believe in the existence of the so-called Deformed Ogres that Eren had mentioned earlier.
Still, even in the face of such a gruesome sight, they clung desperately to one last shred of denial, convincing themselves it might just be an ordinary murder. Maybe—just maybe—it wasn't monsters. Maybe it was just some deranged killer.
But deep down, everyone's thoughts had already aligned: they needed to get the hell out of the cabin and back onto the road before they ended up as the next "ingredients" for whatever lunatic or monster was out there.
The moment they stepped outside, however, their hope died instantly. The distant roar of a car engine cut through the forest air, getting closer with each passing second.
Panic set in. Chris and the others had no choice but to scramble back inside the cabin like frightened rats. Chris had already checked the back door earlier, and it was blocked—completely unusable. Escape wasn't an option.
They had only one choice left: hide.
Eren didn't hesitate. He immediately slid under the bed directly opposite the front door, every move quiet, sharp, and practiced.
Jesse followed his lead without a second thought, crawling in behind him, her body pressed so close against his back that he could feel the rapid pounding of her terrified heartbeat.
The couple, Scott and Carly, scrambled for the other bed near the door. Chris, sweating profusely, darted into the innermost room.
Then silence.
The kind of silence that gnawed at the nerves, broken only by the faint creaking of the old wooden house.
That silence shattered violently when the front door was kicked open with a deafening bang, the hinges groaning and the wood splintering.
Three Deformed Men entered one after another.
The largest of the three dragged a woman's body wrapped in barbed wire like she was nothing more than a sack of garbage.
With sickening ease, he tossed her lifeless corpse to the ground.
She landed right in front of Scott and Carly's hiding spot, her bloodshot eyes wide open, glassy and unblinking, staring straight at them even in death.
Under the bed, Eren gritted his teeth and clutched the cold handle of the rusted machete he'd picked up earlier. At the same time, one of his phantom cards flickered faintly in his hand.
[Containable object detected: Deformed People.]
So it was real. There was no more room for speculation. This wasn't some prank, this wasn't a bad dream—it was a certified nightmare made flesh.
Jesse, seeing the mangled corpse of what used to be her friend tossed aside like butcher's meat, trembled violently.
She buried her face against Eren's back, clutching his arm so tightly her nails dug into his skin. Her soft, warm chest pressed hard against him, spreading like cotton against his tense body.
Eren ignored it completely; his nerves were stretched tight like piano wires.
The three monsters wasted no time.
They heaved the corpse onto the dining table with a loud thud, and without hesitation, began dismembering her like livestock.
Sawing off her limbs, stripping flesh, letting fresh blood pour across the table's surface until it dripped steadily onto the floor.
Chris, Scott, and Carly finally understood.
There was no denying it anymore. Deformed Ogres were real.
They existed.
And they were standing just a few feet away, feasting. Regret washed over their faces, but regret wouldn't save them now.
Minutes crawled by like hours.
Eren's entire body was rigid, his knuckles white around the machete. Even with Jesse's warmth pressed against him, there wasn't a trace of comfort—only raw, unrelenting tension.
Time stretched on until the butchery gave way to the guttural snores of the Deformed Ogres, their bellies full and their twisted bodies slumped into a grotesque slumber.
Eren's eyes narrowed. 'This is it. The chance.'
He gestured carefully across the room to Scott and Carly, signaling for them to move.
He was preparing to crawl out from under the bed when Jesse's trembling hand suddenly grabbed his wrist. She shook her head violently, silently pleading with him not to risk it.
But her grip loosened the moment Scott finally made the first move, crawling out hesitantly.
One by one, they crept out.
Eren's eyes swept over the sleeping Deformed Men.
Their appearances were a nightmare given flesh—patchy, thinning hair, distorted facial features twisted beyond recognition, brows completely missing, and their filthy clothes soaked in a stench that made bile rise in his throat.
They weren't human anymore; they were walking abominations.
Eren's grip on the machete tightened until his knuckles cracked, the blade glinting faintly in the dim light.
He gestured for Jesse to hand her small knife over to Scott, pointing it directly at the sleeping monsters.
Scott froze, his throat bobbing as he swallowed hard.
His face went pale.
Then he shook his head. He didn't have the guts.
Chris slipped quietly out of the inner room, his eyes wide with fear but his hands steady. He motioned for everyone to retreat outside first, to regroup and discuss what to do away from the monsters' den.
This time, no one argued.
Jesse and the others nodded immediately.
Escape—even for a moment—sounded a hell of a lot better than testing their luck in this slaughterhouse.
But Eren wasn't about to waste such a golden opportunity. He had just tested it earlier, and the sleeping Deformed People couldn't be absorbed by the Heart of Spades 3. That meant the system wouldn't register them as containable objects while they were still alive and unconscious.
So there was only one other option to try. If he couldn't capture them alive, maybe—just maybe—their corpses could serve as containment objects.
Eren's eyes narrowed, locking on the disgusting figure still sprawled across the filthy bed. The brute's chest rose and fell with heavy snores, one grimy hand resting lazily on the barrel of a shotgun. Eren silently drew his pistol, steeling his nerves, and aimed directly at the creature's forehead.
That was the moment Chris quietly pushed the cabin door open a crack. His face was pale, drenched with sweat. He understood immediately what Eren was about to do. Chris wanted to stop him, to whisper or wave frantically to call it off—because once the monsters woke up, they'd all be screwed. But it was already too late.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three deafening shots exploded through the cabin, shattering the suffocating silence.
Eren didn't hesitate. He fired three more rounds straight into the creature's skull. If the thing still didn't die after six bullets to the head, then there was nothing more he could do. In that case, it wasn't a living being anymore—it was a walking nightmare immune to reason and logic.
Without pausing, Eren snatched up the rusted machete from the floor. With one savage swing, the blade sliced through flesh and bone, severing the Deformed Man's wrist in a spray of blood.
A blood-curdling, heart-wrenching scream erupted from the creature's throat, raw and inhuman.
The entire sequence—gunfire, blade, and the scream—lasted less than three seconds.
But that was enough.
The remaining two Deformed Men shot upright from their slumber, their guttural howls filling the cabin as they realized what had just happened.
Chris, Jesse, Scott, and Carly snapped back to their senses at last. Survival instinct took over. Without another thought, they bolted out the cabin door, sprinting madly up the mountain path. Their lungs burned, their legs pumped desperately, and behind them came the echo of gunfire as the Deformed Men tried to retaliate.
Luckily for them, their aim was atrocious. With distance rapidly increasing, not a single bullet found its mark.
One of the shorter Deformed People let out a series of strange, animalistic cries, glaring up at the fleeing figures vanishing into the treeline, while another rushed to start their rusted pickup truck, preparing to give chase.
When the group finally reached the mountaintop, adrenaline still surged violently through their bodies before beginning to taper off. Panting heavily, sweat dripping down his forehead, Chris turned to stare at Eren with disbelief etched all over his face.
"Dude… have you always been that brutal?" he asked, half in awe, half in horror.
Eren exhaled sharply, lowering his pistol. "I've had some professional training before. And brutal or not, it doesn't matter—if they don't die, we do." His voice was calm, but his chest heaved with every breath. The coppery stench of blood covering his clothes nearly made him gag.
Meanwhile, Carly's legs gave out beneath her. She crumpled to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably and muttering incoherent words. If Eren strained to listen, he could barely make out fragments about the woman who had been dismembered earlier.
A typical useless teammate.
Jesse and Chris immediately rushed to Carly's side, trying to calm her down and keep her quiet before she made things worse.
Eren, on the other hand, came to a stop. His body went still, his expression unreadable.
"What's wrong?" Jesse asked anxiously when she noticed him pause.
Eren made a decision—one that seemed insane even to himself. "I need to go back. There's something I have to confirm."
"Are you out of your damn mind?" Chris snapped, unable to contain himself. "Didn't you see what those things just did? They aren't human. They'll tear you apart. You're the only one here who can actually fight, and you want to go back and die?"
Jesse grabbed his hand, her grip tight and desperate. "No. Stay with us. Don't go back, it's suicide."
But Eren shook his head firmly. He wasn't chasing death. No—this was calculated.
When they fled, the Deformed Men had gotten into their vehicle to give chase. Which meant the cabin itself might now be unguarded. Running blindly into the wilderness would eventually get them cornered. But if he doubled back, the place that was just moments ago the most dangerous could now ironically be the safest.
Besides, he still had his pistol with an extended magazine. As long as he stayed cautious and didn't let them catch him by surprise, he wasn't completely helpless.
And more importantly, he needed to confirm the mechanics of the phantom card. If the monsters could be contained, that changed everything.
"I'll go back with you then," Jesse said suddenly, her voice trembling but resolute. For some reason, she had placed her trust entirely in Eren; his presence was the only thing that gave her any sense of security.
Eren shook his head again. "No. You stay here. I'll handle this alone."
He wasn't far from the cabin yet. If he encountered danger, he could retreat. There was no need to drag her into unnecessary risk.
Separating from the group, Eren made his way back down the slope, moving with deliberate caution. Reaching the cabin again, he pressed his eye to a small crack in the door.
Inside, the Deformed Man he had shot earlier was still on the bed. But unbelievably, the bastard wasn't dead. His forehead was crudely bandaged, blood still seeping through, and his chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. Barely alive, yet stubbornly refusing to die.
"Six shots to the head… and he's still breathing? Don't tell me I actually missed…" Eren muttered under his breath, disbelief etched into his face.
He swept the room with his eyes, confirming there were no other threats inside. Then, without hesitation, he slipped in through the door like a shadow.
Moving quickly, he ripped the shotgun from the barely-conscious Deformed Man's hands. The creature didn't even resist—it was practically vegetative now.
Eren pulled out the Heart of Spades 2. At once, glowing text appeared on the phantom card.
[Name: Deformed PeopleStatus: Dying. Restricted. Containable.]
"Dying, restricted to be containable…" Eren whispered. His instincts leaned toward the latter—it wasn't just because the monster was dying, but because of some kind of restriction.
"Contain," he commanded in his mind without hesitation.
The Heart of Spades 2 immediately responded. The black card floated up, gliding to the creature's forehead. In an instant, the Deformed Man's body twisted unnaturally, collapsing inward as his entire being was sucked into the card.
When the process was done, the card was no longer blank. Instead, its face displayed a disturbingly lifelike image of the ugly Deformed Man, permanently etched into the surface.
So it was true. The Deformed Ogres could be contained—but only as the lowest-tier entities within the phantom card.
And that changed everything.
To be continued...
(A/N: This is a mtl translation!
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