The deeper they went into the city, the harder the road became, with debris piled even higher.
In some places, entire streets were completely blocked.
She had to pass through the half-collapsed buildings next to them.
Climbing over a pile of broken bricks, she stepped on a horizontal steel rebar and jumped, landing on the ground on the other side.
Ahead was an open area, about half the size of a sports field.
The ground of this open space was covered in black liquid, emitting a suffocating stench.
Squatting in the middle of the liquid were several things: black carapaces, dark purple patterns, multiple legs, two pairs of compound eyes, and massive mandibles opening and closing.
True Stings.
Five of them!!
Seeing Chara, the one in the front raised its head, its compound eyes locking onto her direction, mandibles opening wide.
The others followed suit, raising their heads and lowering their bodies, assuming a stance for a lightning-fast attack.
…
!
● These freaking bugs again.
Chara drew her knife and hadn’t even charged forward before the first bug was already upon her, its claw tips sweeping toward her chest.
● Action: Dodge + Attack: True Sting
Fortunately, she had experience with this now.
She dodged to the side, the claw tips slicing past her face just centimeters away, bringing a gust of wind.
Taking advantage of the moment the bug retracted its claw, she stepped forward and slashed her knife upward from below, directly chopping into the bug’s abdomen.
-3478
The bug let out a screech, and black liquid flowed from the wound.
The other four charged at the same time, from four different directions.
Chara took a step back, her back hitting a broken wall.
There was nowhere left to retreat.
● Action: Crouch
She crouched.
A bug’s claw swept over her head and struck the wall, sending concrete debris flying everywhere.
Seizing the opportunity, she grabbed the bug’s leg, used the momentum to flip forward, and rolled out from between the bugs.
-169 HP.
When she stood up, her left leg had been slashed.
Her pants were torn, and blood seeped out.
There was no time to look at the wound.
The second bug was already in front of her, mandibles wide open, biting down toward her head.
Flowey: ● Action: Vines
Vines shot out from her arm, wrapping around the bug’s mandibles.
Pulling to the side, the bug’s head was yanked off course, biting at empty air.
● Attack: True Sting
Charging forward, taking advantage of it not having reacted yet, she launched a surprise attack, slashing her knife across the bug’s neck.
-999999
The bug fell, its legs twitching a few times before stopping, turning into dust.
● Four left.
More EXP =)
She panted, blood dripping from her leg onto the broken bricks.
She glanced at the panel.
Her HP had dropped, but it was still above 1000.
The third and fourth pounced at the same time.
She dodged the third, but didn’t completely dodge the fourth.
The bug’s front claw slashed across her shoulder, tearing through her coat and the skin underneath.
Blood gushed out, flowing down her arm.
-139 HP.
She took a few steps back, switching her knife to her left hand.
Vines extended from her shoulder, wrapping around the nearest bug’s leg.
The bug lowered its head and bit the vines.
The vines were bitten through, but another vine wrapped around it.
Chara charged forward while the bug had its head down.
● Attack: True Sting
Her left hand wasn’t as strong as her right, but she put her whole body weight into it, pinning the knife into the bug’s head.
The blade got stuck in the gap of the carapace.
She twisted the hilt, and the carapace cracked open directly.
-999999
● The bug fell and turned to dust.
Three left…
More EXP =)
She pulled out her knife, wiped it on her clothes, gripped it tightly, and looked at the remaining three.
They were in no rush to charge now, circling around her.
Chara’s breathing was heavy.
Her shoulder and left leg were bleeding.
Her clothes were soaked in blood, sticking to her body, feeling cold and wet.
● Kill them =)
● Attack: Left True Sting
She charged directly at the one on the left.
Before it could react, her knife was already in front of its eyes, thrusting into the gap between the compound eyes.
The entire knife sank into its head.
-999999
The bug struggled for a moment, then stopped moving, also turning into ash and dust.
She pulled out her knife and turned around.
But the bug behind her already had its claws reaching her back.
There was no time to dodge.
She took the hit head-on.
The claw tips slashed from her back down to her waist, tearing her clothes.
-318 HP
–+–
Status
HP: 734/1360
–+–
Half-kneeling on the ground, blood flowed down from her back.
● Two left.
Flowey’s vines shot out from her arm, wrapping around one bug’s leg.
Pulling hard to the side, the bug’s body was forcibly yanked off course.
Chara scrambled up, gripping her knife in her left hand, and charged at the bug that had been pulled off course.
● Attack: True Sting
She didn’t know how many times she chopped.
The bug’s carapace cracked, and then it fell, no longer moving, turning into ash and dust.
● The last one…
Kill it, get EXP =)
The last bug took two steps back, its compound eyes facing her.
It didn’t pounce.
If you looked closely, you could see the fear inside it.
Bug’s perspective: Chara’s expression =)
The bug took a step back.
The bug retreated to the corner of the wall, unable to retreat any further.
She raised her knife.
● Attack: True Sting
-999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
The bug let out one last sharp screech, then stopped moving, turning into dust.
…
Chara stood in front of the bug, her knife still embedded in its head.
She let go, leaving the knife in the bug’s corpse.
She took two steps back, leaned against a broken wall, and slowly slid down to sit.
The panel popped up.
● You won!
You earned 90000 XP, and your LV increased.
She looked at that line of text, blinked.
Her LV jumped from 65 to 66, but she didn’t have the energy to look at the specific numbers.
Her shoulder, back, and leg were bleeding.
Her left hand was still clenched in a fist, but her fingers were starting to go numb, barely obeying her commands.
Her HP was dropping.
Flowey slid down from her arm, his flower head resting against her wrist.
“Can you still Load?”
Chara parted her lips, her voice very hoarse.
“Yes.”
She pressed several times before finally hitting [Load].
A wave passed through her body.
The wound on her shoulder began to heal, the wound on her back began to heal, and the wound on her leg also closed.
The blood stopped flowing, and her skin grew back.
Her HP jumped all the way back to 1380.
She let out a breath, leaning against the broken wall with her eyes half-closed.
Her body didn’t hurt anymore, but she was still very tired.
[Load] could heal her wounds, but it couldn’t cure her desire to sleep.
Flowey crawled from her wrist up to her head, rubbing her cheek with his petals.
“We need to go.
We can’t stay here.”
She stood up, tucked her knife back into her waist, and turned to walk back the way she came.
Passing through the half-collapsed buildings, going around the streets piled with debris, and stepping over the dried bloodstains and black liquid.
The city behind her grew further and further away.
Those dilapidated buildings and overturned cars were left behind on the path she had walked.
After walking a long distance, she sat down under a withered tree, leaning against the trunk.
She looked at the gray horizon ahead.
The silhouette of the city shrank into a tiny dot behind her.
Chara took out the pack of chocolate from her pocket and opened it.
There were only two small pieces left.
She broke off one and put it in her mouth, then handed the other to Flowey.
Flowey took it with a vine and tucked it into his petals.
“Delicious.”
Chara folded the wrapper neatly and stuffed it back into her pocket.
Then she placed her knife within reach, leaned against the tree trunk, and closed her eyes to sleep.
zzzzzzzzz <(ˉ一 .
一ˉ)>
● Narrowly escaping with your life gives you a slight sense of survival.
This fills you with DETERMINATION.