Chapter 5: Riverside and Outskirts (5)

After going around the group, I didn’t even know what to say.

Me—Zhou Yuhong, eighteen, Chinese. The last thing I remember was having dinner with some relatives.

The blond boy—Vaclav, fourteen, Czech. He was doing holiday homework when everything went black. Woke up at the edge of this town.

The brown-haired girl—Jelena, seventeen, from New Zealand. She’d been gaming, and shortly after waking up, found herself with Vaclav and the guy who later died.

The spinach-haired man’s name was Booker, twenty-three, American. He’d been getting scolded by a professor when he blacked out, and has been running from monsters ever since he came to.

To my ears, they all spoke fluent Mandarin—except for Booker, who kept tossing in English words that sounded more like interjections or sound effects than anything meaningful.

Vaclav claimed that, to him, we were all speaking perfect Czech.

Jelena and Booker, both from English-speaking countries, heard everything in English. According to them, Jelena heard accents familiar to New Zealand, while Booker—born and raised in New York—swore we all sounded like native New Yorkers.

“So basically, everything we hear is automatically translated in our heads into our native languages?”

“But I don’t speak Mandarin, and I definitely don’t know any Czech. I couldn’t even tell you what a New York accent is.”

“Man, I really thought you three were polyglot prodigies or something, damn! Wait, what about this super fucking adorable little lady here? She still hasn’t introduced herself.”

Only then did I realize that Felice hadn’t said a word this whole time. Booker, meanwhile, had dropped to one knee in front of her like some kind of medieval knight, putting on his most gentlemanly expression… which would’ve been funny if he hadn’t messed up the posture entirely.

“Don’t put her on the spot.” I scratched my head. “Felice doesn’t speak Mandarin… Wait—”

Hold on, what the hell am I saying?

If everything we say is automatically translated, then wouldn’t she—

“Huh? Um… Mandarin? That I don’t speak.”

—She spoke.

I don’t know how it sounded to the others, but in my ears, it was flawless standard Mandarin.

Her soft cherry-colored lips moved, and the words came out in my native tongue. Paired with her unearthly looks, the contrast was jarring, but even that discordance was oddly endearing. Maybe that’s just the effect beautiful girls have.

“So… you’ve been able to understand me this whole time? I thought all your little ‘mm’s and ‘ah’s meant you couldn’t understand a word I was saying.”

“Mm… Sorry. Did I cause trouble? My apologies.”

She tilted her head, gaze dropping. Her expression showed a hint of guilt. I realized then—she wasn’t emotionless at all. She just expressed things more subtly.

“Hey, hey, hey! How could you let such an insanely cute girl apologize to you!? I’m seriously jealous—wait, no, I can’t watch this anymore! You’re the one who should be apologizing, fuckhead!”

Booker was the one who got all fired up. And buddy, you really let your true feelings slip there.

“Ah, I’ve seen this kind of scenario before!”

Vaclav suddenly lit up.

“In some of the novels I’ve read, people from Earth get summoned to another world as heroes to save it!”

“What a cliché.”

“That’s not the point! The important thing is, the summoned people come from all different countries and speak different languages, so the god who summoned them casts a spell to eliminate all language barriers.”

“That… does sound familiar.”

“So you’re saying we’ve been summoned to some isekai bullshit other world? Are you serious?”

“I’m not saying that, but… look around.”

A deserted village.

Monsters.

Fog.

Toxic water and poisoned soil.

“Honestly, this really doesn’t feel like Earth anymore.”

“Probably not…” Jelena glanced around and sighed. “If this place were a starter zone in a game, it’d be the worst one imaginable. Awful environment, no friendly NPCs, no decent loot, and the mobs are way too hard to kill. Feels like Demon’s Souls or Dark Souls or Castlevania or something.”

“Ah—speaking of monsters.”

Now that I’d caught my breath, I walked over to the corpse we’d dragged onto the roof. I flipped it over with my foot, only to realize I was still in just socks, and one of them was torn. Probably not the best idea to be stepping directly on a monster’s hide.

“I’ll help.”

Felice stepped up and flipped it over for me. Honestly, she was starting to feel less like a person and more like a quiet little pet I’d picked up—maybe a cat or a puppy. ‘Obedient’ didn’t quite capture it, but it didn’t feel like ‘repaying kindness’ either. I couldn’t pin it down, so I stopped thinking about it.

I crouched beside the body and studied it.

“You have a weird hobby of collecting corpses or something?”

“I’m observing. We need to understand our enemies, at the very least. Come take a look.”

I pointed at its head.

“See? It does have features besides the mouth. These two tiny black dots are eyes. This bump is a nose. And these holes on either side are ears. Compared to its body, they’re tiny. Which means its vision, smell, and hearing are all underdeveloped—probably not very sharp senses.”

Then—

“Its tongue is long. And remember how its mouth was constantly opening and closing while it walked? Like a snake, probably using its tongue to taste the air and locate prey. Its claws are sharp, but they’re not suited for gripping thin objects, so it’s bad at climbing, but it’s excellent at slashing.”

I pulled out the butcher knife from my belt and jabbed at the creature’s torso, then its head.

“Just as I thought. Its skin is tough and springy—pretty resistant to stabbing or cutting. But its head is significantly weaker. The inside of the mouth is its biggest weakness.”

Now for the most important part—

I grabbed a stick from the rooftop, poked it into its mouth, and stirred, lifting out a thread of saliva tinged with blood.

“Its saliva is toxic. My arm brushed against its teeth earlier. Even though the skin wasn’t broken, my arm went numb for a while. If this stuff gets into the bloodstream through a bite, it’s going to be a serious problem. Bottom line: do not get bitten. That said, it seems to only cause numbness, not corrosion, no burns or tissue damage.”

I rolled up my sleeve to show the rest of my arm, speckled with purple droplets.

“This is its blood. Got splashed with it, but I don’t feel anything. So its toxicity is limited to its saliva—probably has specialized venom glands in its mouth or something.”

Mmm… That’s about all I can figure out for now. Nothing else stands out.

“Based on our earlier fights, the best strategy is to use long weapons—ones longer than its arms. Aim for the head. Wait until it opens its mouth and strike deep. That’s the most reliable way to kill it. Which means, despite being dangerous, these things can be dealt with as long as we have good weapons and outnumber them.”

“““……”””

They were all silent. When I turned around, they were staring at me, mouths slightly open.

“What?”

“Uh, no… it’s just… you’re really impressive.”

“You’re way too calm. Honestly, I don’t even want to look at that thing.”

“Don’t tell me… you’ve killed more than one of these god damn shit things already? You killed this one too?”

“Something like that.”

“You fucking badass!”

I guess that meant ‘you’re awesome.’ Why didn’t that get translated into Mandarin?

Tug, tug.

Felice tugged on my sleeve again.

“Hmm?”

“Yuhong… amazing.”

“Uh…”

I felt heat rise to my face. I cleared my throat and subtly shifted away from her.

“So, what do we do now?” Booker asked.

“We go with what Mr. Yuhong said,” Jelena replied.

“‘Mr. Yuhong’ really isn’t necessary.”

“Fine. We follow Yuhong’s plan. We use the ladder to move from rooftop to rooftop. These monsters only seem to operate on the ground. As long as a roof doesn’t have stairs leading down, it should be safe.”

“Slow, but safe. Let’s do it, one at a time.”

With five people working together, it was much easier to lift the ladder. We set it against the edge of the roof, bridging the six-meter gap to the next one.

I went first, crawling across. After confirming it was stable and clear, I waved them forward.

“Whoa, the monsters are kinda dispersing, but still creepy as hell down there.”

Jelena came next. She was nervous but composed.

“…”

Third was Felice. She moved carefully but wasn’t visibly anxious.

“Ugh~~ I’m afraid of heights, actually ahhhhh…”

Then Booker, who despite his complaints, moved with ease.

“Alright, I’m going.”

Last was Vaclav.

Just as he stepped onto the ladder—

Huh?

I noticed something odd out of the corner of my eye.

Down below, the monsters were slowly retreating.

Except one.

It was humanoid, but taller. Thinner.

Wearing a black trench coat. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw white lace trim at the cuffs and collar. A black top hat rested on its head—the kind old British gentlemen wear in movies. Tall, wide-brimmed.

Its head was tilted up slightly. Seemed to be looking straight at us.

At a glance, it could’ve passed for an abnormally tall human.

“…”

A chill crawled down my spine. I couldn’t see its face under the hat, but I knew it wasn’t human—because none of the other monsters attacked it. In fact, they were avoiding it. And just like them, it was wreathed in faint gray mist.

“Guys, eyes on that one down there.”

“That one? Him?”

Booker, Felice, and Jelena all looked down. Vaclav paused mid-step onto the ladder.

The five of us stared down at that lone figure.

“It’s just watching us.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s creepy as hell.”

As we whispered, it tilted its head further up. The lower half of its face slipped into view beneath the hat. Deathly pale. Lipless. A sharp chin. Mouth pressed into a tight, bloodless line.

My instincts screamed danger.

“We need to move. Fast. That thing’s wrong. We shouldn’t stay.”

“Wrong? So what?” Booker scoffed.

“We’re on a rooftop, like ten meters up. This fucking guy can’t—”

“Screeeeee!”

As if in response.

The trench-coated figure grinned. That lipless mouth stretched wide, so wide the corners reached its ears.

And then—

Swoosh!

Gone?

No. Not gone. Too fast.

“Move!!”

CRACK!

Too fast.

Way too fast.

It vanished, vaulted over fifteen meters straight up like a blur—no, like it teleported.

And the attack came just as fast.

Even though I realized what it was doing—what it had done—I couldn’t stop it.

The boy’s head exploded right before my eyes.

A blade-hand had slammed into Vaclav’s face.

Steel claws, combined with that kind of speed, shattered his skull in an instant.

Blood. Bone. Brain matter. Splattered.

The boy who’d praised me just seconds ago was now a headless corpse in that monster’s hand.

Its spring-loaded legs compressed as it landed smoothly on our rooftop.

Still holding the body.

Its top hat nearly flew off, but it pressed it back down.

In that moment, I saw its face clearly.

Corpse-white.

Skin stretched tight over bone.

A gaping mouth.

A sharp nose.

Eyes glowing red, like torches.

“Kyeekheehee! Kheeheeheeh!”

It giggled, shrill and unnatural, swinging the body around like a child with a brand-new toy, eager to show it off.

“Heehee! Kheeheehee! Heeheeheehee! Hahahahahaha!!”

#####

New Fog Fiend: Spring-Legged Jack
• Type: Humanoid · Cyborg · Alchemical Creature
• Rank: Elite
• Background: An alchemical creature developed by Ian, based on a physically strong human male with high adaptability. Through prolonged transformation, its body mass was reduced to boost agility. Its limbs were replaced with high-tensile spring-loaded metal limbs, powered by magic crystal cores. Its feet include shock-absorbing mechanisms, allowing it to move at high speeds using momentum and flat surfaces.
• Weapons: Hand-mounted steel claws, flame thrower
• Skills: Leap, Blade Slash, Flame Breath
• Special Traits: Attracted to children