Weak Class of Anti-Hero
Chapter 30: Island of the Dead

Chapter 30: Island of the Dead

Finally, after almost an hour, all the teams had arrived on the island. Most of them were exhausted.

Coach Hwan’s terminal crackled on each student’s belt. His voice rang out, clear and authoritative.

"Congratulations to all of you for making it across. Now, the second phase begins."

A map of the island appeared on our terminals, with our positions indicated by colored dots. Our team was a golden dot. The others were blue dots.

"As you can see, Kang Ji-Hoon’s team has the ’Bracelet of Domination’. This means two things. One: their position is visible to everyone, at all times. They are the target. Two: for every team they eliminate, they earn double points."

Murmurs rippled through the other teams. We were the main target, the grand prize.

"For the other teams," the coach continued, "your objective is to eliminate the bearer of the golden bracelet. To ’eliminate’ a team, you just need to take the bracelet from one of its members. Combat is allowed, but serious injuries are forbidden. Drone-referees are monitoring. The last team standing, or the one with the most bracelets at the end of the time limit, wins."

The map updated. Several blue dots began to converge on our position. The hunt was on.

"They’re coming," said Min-Soo. "At least three teams. From the south and east."

"What do we do?" asked Bora, her enthusiasm replaced by a combat-ready tension. "Do we fight? Do we hide?"

I looked at the map. They thought we were easy prey, cornered on the beach.

"Neither," I said.

I looked at the grey, dead Aura that seemed to rise from the island’s interior.

"We’re going where they won’t dare to follow. We’re heading inland."

I turned towards the dark forest.

"If there’s a monster on this island, I’d rather have it on my side."

We ran. We left the relative safety of the beach and plunged into the dark heart of the island.

The further we went, the heavier the atmosphere became. The birdsong had disappeared, replaced by a dead silence. The trees were twisted, their branches resembling claws. The grey Aura was so dense it seemed to stick to the skin.

"This is... creepy," Bora whispered, her usual exuberance completely gone.

Min-Soo, for his part, had his eyes glued to his terminal. "The other teams are slowing down. They’re hesitating to follow us in here. But one team is still getting closer. Fast."

We kept running, weaving between the dead trees.

Finally, we emerged into another clearing. But this one was not empty.

In the center were the ruins of an old building. A laboratory, judging by the rusted metal structures and pieces of broken glass. It looked like it had been abandoned for decades.

"What is this?" Min-Soo asked. "There’s no mention of a laboratory on the academy’s maps."

My gaze was drawn to the ground. Bones. Not animal bones. Human bones, bleached by time, half-buried under the earth and leaves.

Something terrible had happened here.

"We have to hide," Bora said, her voice trembling. "The other team is almost here."

She was right. On my terminal’s map, their blue dot was right at the edge of the clearing.

I looked at the laboratory ruins. There was a door that led to a basement, a dark opening in the ground.

"In there," I ordered. "Quick."

We ran to the ruins and plunged into the darkness of the basement, just as the other team entered the clearing.

We were hidden. But I had the feeling that we had just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

The basement was damp and smelled of rust and earth. We crouched in the shadows near the entrance, listening to the sounds from outside.

"They’re in the clearing," Min-Soo whispered, looking at his terminal. "They’re searching."

We heard the voices of the other team.

"They must have gone in there."

"Do you really want to go in? This place gives me the creeps."

"We have no choice if we want the golden bracelet. Let’s go, but let’s stick together."

Three figures appeared in the doorway, slowly descending the stairs.

They lit small spheres of light, their powers illuminating the room. It was a large underground laboratory, full of overturned metal tables and broken scientific equipment.

And on the walls, there were claw marks. Deep marks, as if a huge beast had tried to get out.

The opposing team advanced cautiously. They didn’t see us, hidden in a dark recess.

It was the perfect moment for an ambush.

I was about to signal Bora and Min-Soo to get ready when a sound made us all jump.

It wasn’t a sound from outside.

It came from the back of the basement.

A growl.

A low, hoarse growl, full of a hunger that seemed decades old.

The three students from the other team froze. They turned towards the darkness, their spheres of light trembling.

"What was that?" one of them whispered.

The grey, dead Aura of the island suddenly became stronger, more concentrated.

From the end of the corridor, two red dots lit up.

The real monster of the island had just woken up.

The creature emerged from the shadows.

It was immense, hunched over to fit through the corridors. Its skin was grey and stretched taut over protruding bones. It had no eyes, just the two red glows that floated in its empty sockets. Its arms were long, too long, and ended in claws the size of knives.

The three students from the other team were petrified with terror.

"W-what is that thing?!" their leader stammered. "It wasn’t in the briefing!"

The creature let out another growl, then it charged.

Its speed was terrifying. It crossed the room in a fraction of a second.

The first student barely had time to raise an Aura barrier. The creature shattered it with a single swipe of its claw, and continued its movement, tearing his head off.

The headless body fell to the ground with a dull thud.

The second student screamed and tried to run. The creature was faster. It grabbed him by the leg, lifted him into the air and threw him against the concrete wall with monstrous force. The sound of breaking bones echoed through the basement.

The last one, the leader, managed to react. He launched a powerful attack, a concentrated beam of energy.

The beam hit the creature square in the chest.

It had no effect.

The creature didn’t even slow down. It grabbed the boy by the face and lifted him up. We heard a crack. Then it threw him aside, like a broken toy.

In less than ten seconds, the entire team was dead. Annihilated.

The creature straightened up. It sniffed the air. And its two red glows turned slowly towards our hiding place.

It had sensed us.

"Shit," Min-Soo breathed next to me, his voice trembling.

Bora was paralyzed, her eyes wide with horror.

There was no way out. We couldn’t go back up. The only exit was blocked by this monster. _{fre.eweb novel\.c om}

The creature began to advance towards us, slowly, savoring our fear. Each step made a crunching sound on the concrete floor.

"We have to fight," I whispered. "It’s our only chance."

"Fight that thing?!" Min-Soo said. "It’s an A-rank monster, at least! We’re going to get slaughtered!"

"We have no choice," I repeated. "Bora, you create diversions. Your light powers, use them to blind it, distract it. Min-Soo, you stay back and analyze. Look for a weak spot. Anything."

"And you?" Bora asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Me, I’ll keep it busy."

I stepped out of our hiding place. I walked to the center of the room, placing myself between the monster and my two teammates.

"Hey! Bag of bones!" I shouted. "Over here!"

The creature stopped. Its red glows fixed on me. It tilted its head, as if curious.

I summoned my dagger. The black, cold Aura seemed to react to the creature’s grey, dead Aura. It was like two opposite poles of a magnet.

The monster let out a roar, this time a roar of anger. It had recognized my power. Or rather, it had recognized what my power opposed.

It pounced.

"Now, Bora!" I yelled.

An intense flash of light erupted right in front of the creature’s sockets. It growled, disoriented for a split second.

I took advantage of this opening. I used my Reinforcement and charged, not to attack head-on, but to slip underneath it.

I found myself behind it. I plunged my dagger into its back.

The blade hit something hard. It barely penetrated the skin. It was like striking granite.

The creature howled in rage and turned, sweeping at me with a backhand from its immense arm.

I just had time to create my Aura shield. The impact threw me against the wall, knocking the wind out of me. My shield shattered into a thousand pieces.

This thing was incredibly strong.