The creature rose upright, towering more than two and a half meters tall.
Its limbs weren’t short and thick like a brown bear’s.
Instead, they were long and almost humanlike, making its entire body look like a giant wrapped in bearskin.
By then, the monster had silently appeared behind the college students and had even rested one claw on Mike’s shoulder.
It had all happened so quickly that no one had time to react.
One second, Mike was still frustrated that their final project seemed ruined.
The next, he felt a sudden weight settle on his shoulder.
His entire body stiffened in an instant, cold sweat breaking out across his skin.
“H-help…”
Mike barely managed to open his mouth to call for help, only to see Liam standing in front of him, slowly shaking his head.
Don’t make a sound.
Don’t provoke it.
Mike immediately understood what Liam meant.
Though his whole body trembled with fear, he forced himself to stay silent.
Heather and Josh didn’t dare move a muscle, but Goldman and Liam acted at the same time.
“Bang!”
Goldman fired.
He missed.
Fortunately, the shot went so wide that Mike was in no danger, and the gunshot succeeded in drawing the monster’s attention.
“Get down!”
Liam shouted.
Mike’s legs gave out, and he instinctively dropped to the ground as Liam charged forward.
“Bang!
Bang!
Bang!”
Goldman no longer bothered trying to aim.
He simply fired several shots at the monster in quick succession, hoping the noise would scare it away.
Strangely, it had no effect at all.
The monster didn’t flee from the gunfire like an ordinary beast, nor did the stimulation send it into a frenzy.
Instead, it seemed to recognize the gun.
It instinctively ducked and twisted aside, avoiding most of the bullets.
The movement was far too unnatural.
But the situation was too urgent for anyone to think about what that meant.
Liam rushed straight at the creature.
At the same time, the monster raised one enormous claw and swung it toward his head.
Just before the claw connected, Liam flicked his wrist, and a sharp knife slid from inside his sleeve.
As a precaution, he had bought several of them at the outdoor equipment store.
Liam ducked beneath the swipe and drove the knife upward in the same motion.
“Pfft!”
Most of the blade sank into the monster’s wrist.
If it had been human, the stab would have severed the tendons and rendered the hand useless.
But the feedback through the knife handle told Liam that the blade hadn’t even reached bone.
He immediately yanked it free and prepared to strike again.
Meanwhile, Mike was scrambling forward on all fours, trying desperately to get away.
Stung by the wound, the monster swung its other claw, this time aiming for Liam’s body.
The strike was too fast and too powerful for Liam to dodge completely.
He raised both arms to block and used the force of the impact to leap backward.
“Riiip!”
The sleeve of his jacket tore open, leaving four bloody gashes across his arm.
Blood immediately began seeping from the wounds.
At the same time, the monster reached down with its uninjured arm and snatched up Mike, who was still crawling along the ground.
“Ah!
Help me!”
Mike was lifted into the air, his arms and legs flailing helplessly.
“Mike!”
Heather and Josh shouted at the same time.
The monster ignored them.
Still holding Mike, it turned and charged into the depths of the forest.
It moved incredibly fast.
Despite its enormous body, it passed through the trees with almost no obstruction.
Less than two seconds later, the forest fell silent again.
“Clatter.”
Goldman’s gun slipped from his hand and hit the ground.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the dirt, gasping for air.
“It’s gone…
It’s gone.”
Heather and Josh also sank to the ground.
Their faces were soaked, though it was impossible to tell whether it was sweat or tears.
Everything that had just happened was beyond anything they had ever believed possible.
Still breathing heavily, Heather looked toward the only man who remained standing.
A children’s TV host?
At that moment, she felt like Mike and the others had completely wasted all those years watching his show without learning what kind of person he really was.
Neither Liam’s split-second reactions nor the movements he had just pulled off were things an ordinary person could do.
Liam stared in the direction the monster had disappeared, let out a breath, then walked back to the camera and resumed speaking with a gentle smile.
“Looks like that footprint wasn’t left by Bigfoot after all.
But I believe that as long as we keep exploring, we’ll definitely find it next time.”
“Wait.
You’re saying that wasn’t Bigfoot?”
Goldman immediately caught the important part.
“That’s right.
That monster obviously wasn’t Bigfoot.”
Liam then turned back toward the camera and began explaining.
“Kids, as we all know, the legend of Bigfoot began with a mysterious footprint.
A giant primate footprint.”
“But this creature was clearly a mutated brown bear.
Based on its appearance and behavior, I suspect it’s a Skinwalker.”
“A Skinwalker?”
Goldman repeated the word, then gave a weary sigh.
“Seriously, if you’d told me an hour ago that a Skinwalker was going to attack me, I would’ve called you insane.”
Heather immediately cut in.
“Mike was just dragged away by that Skinwalker.
What are we supposed to do now?”
Goldman pulled the magazine from his handgun and checked the ammunition.
“I’ve only got five rounds left, and I can’t guarantee I’ll even hit that thing.”
“Obviously, we go after it.”
“What?”
The others stared at Liam in disbelief.
After encountering something that terrifying, he still wanted to chase it?
Faced with their stunned expressions, Liam answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Mike isn’t dead yet.
And I saw the Skinwalker get hurt.
Goldman, even with all that wild shooting just now, you still managed to hit it once.”
Heather and Josh were stunned.
Not only was Mike apparently still alive, but Liam had somehow noticed such a small detail in the middle of all that chaos.
Truthfully, the two of them hadn’t even gotten a clear look at the Skinwalker.
Liam ignored their shock.
His gaze fell on the Events Logbook, where a new entry had appeared.
[Skinwalker]
[Event Level: C]
[Exploration Progress: 50%]
After all these years, he was finally encountering creatures that had once existed only in legends and rumors.
Liam could barely contain his excitement.
He wanted nothing more than to charge after the Skinwalker immediately and fight it to the death.
But reason won out.
He looked at Goldman and the others first.
“You should head back.
I can tell you’ve already reached your limit.
If you follow me, you’ll only slow me down.
I’ll go alone.”
Heather and Josh lowered their heads.
They were still young enough to retain a certain innocence, not yet hardened by the realities of the world.
They felt ashamed that they couldn’t help and guilty for leaving their companion behind.
Goldman gritted his teeth, pushed himself back to his feet, and held out the handgun to Liam.
“Take this.
I don’t have the stamina to keep going either, but at least this will give you something to defend yourself with.”