Scratch, scratch!
As the rain continued downpouring, Ambrose sat on top of a rock, using the twisted blade to sharpen the tip of a makeshift spear.
He then looked at the tip, nodded as it looked sharp enough, and stabbed it through the ground.
Ambrose then looked at the twisted sword's blade and saw that it was covered in a thick layer of rust.
'The predator can definitely find me again, as its sense of smell seems otherworldly, or whatever it is using to track me.'
Ambrose swung the twisted sword in his hand and crouched on the ground.
There was a small string going from one tree to another, barely visible in the rainy weather. It was a trip wire that he created from the bamboo growing nearby.
He then tied the makeshift spear to the string and pulled it up the tree.
When anyone activated the trip wire, the spear would come swinging down towards them.
'I don't think this will be enough to kill the predator. I doubt it's enough to even create a deep wound in its thick skin.'
This wasn't the only trap he planned on.
Ambrose sheathed the twisted sword and looked at the ground in front of the trip wire. He then activated his world of souls as the time grew slower this way.
Then he again started digging into the muddy ground using his bare hands.
It took him several hours of world of souls time to dig a big enough hole.
After he finished, he left the world of souls, created another dozen smaller spears with sharp tips, put them inside the hole, and then covered the trap with leaves and branches.
'This should be the way the predator is coming.'
Ambrose thought as he looked straight ahead. It was the direct path he used to escape previously, and if the predator used its sense of smell, it would lead it straight to the trap.
He then stood up, ran as fast as he could up the hill, and soon arrived at the top.
As he crouched on the ground, he looked towards the distance and saw a town with a slight light coming from a few windows.
It looked like there were players who had taken shelter in the buildings and had set up campfires to keep themselves warm.
'If the traps fail, I will lead the predator there and trick other players into attacking it. We should be able to kill it, and if we don't, I can use them as decoys to escape again.'
Ambrose thought confidently, a cunning smile playing on his lips.
He then headed back down the hill and hid himself in the dense foliage, where he had direct sight of the trap.
'The predator probably has a good enough sense of smell that he can smell me through the mud. If that isn't the case, I hope this will teach me more about the predator.
'The knowledge is power, and I need to know more to defeat it!'
Ambrose put his hand on the hilt of the twisted sword and patiently waited for the appearance of the predator.
As the time moved by, soon the rain stopped and the clouds began to part, revealing a full moon shining brightly in the night sky.
'Rain is stopping…' Ambrose clicked his tongue, as he wasn't sure whether this was good or bad.
The rain gave him good cover, but now he also had better visibility in the moonlight. It was still hard to notice the predator, if it was sneaking around, as its black fur gave it excellent camouflage in the night.
Ambrose sighed and pinched his forehead, as he was feeling a little sleepy and exhausted from the long night.
'Maybe the predator can't find me, after all, and just randomly shot the beam of energy, which luckily happened to land near me.
contemporary romance
'That's also a good possibility, but if the predator doesn't appear this night, I'll find my way to that town and find some hidden corner to catch on sleep or something.'
He yawned and looked straight ahead with a tired expression.
The time moved forward like a relentless river, never stopping or slowing down.
Crack!
Ambrose's ears jumped, and he looked ahead to see what had caused the noise.
At that moment, he saw a shadowy figure emerge from the dense foliage, approaching the trap with careless nature as if it were not expecting any danger.
'Come on!'
Ambrose's palms were already sweaty, and he grabbed his sword tight.
And then the shadowy figure stepped forward and accidentally pulled the trip wire, setting off the trap.
The makeshift spear shot out from the tree and plunged deep into the figure's throat.
The shadowy figure let out a blood-curdling scream, staggered forward, and stepped onto the thin layer of leaves and the branches.
The figure's foot went straight through and fell straight to the hidden hole. The dozens of spears stabbed through the figure's body, impaling it from every angle.
After that, the screams stopped.
'Did it work?'
Ambrose left his hiding spot and approached the hole with silent footsteps.
As he peered into the hole, he saw a blank-stared young man bleeding from almost every part of his body.
The figure wasn't the predator, but just some random player!
'The hell?!'
Ambrose grimaced and looked in the direction where the player came from, wondering if the player's teammate was following after him.
At that moment, the bush rustled, and another figure emerged.
As Ambrose saw the figure, his face blanched, as it wasn't any player but the muscular-bodied predator. It's claws were stained in blood, as if it had killed someone moments prior!
Ambrose quickly escaped behind the tree and crouched so deep that he could almost feel the dampness of the jungle floor seeping through his clothes.
'Shit, shit, how unlucky am I?'
The predator stomped down on the ground and came across the hidden trap hole. It watched as the player turned into pixels, vanishing from the world.
"Grrwl…"
The predator looked around with squinted eyes and opened its mouth.
"I can… hear your heartbeat…"
The voice sounded like a mix of Ambrose and something very evil.
Ambrose touched his chest, and he paled at the realization that he had been discovered.
'The predator is not using the sense of smell, but the sense of hearing!'
He gritted his teeth as he realized that there was no hiding from the predator, as it could hear his heartbeat, and unless he died intentionally, there was no escaping!
Ambrose jumped to his feet and rushed through the dense foliage as he immediately planned to move onto the second part of the plan—the town.
The predator swung its head in the direction of Ambrose and saw his silhouette disappear into the jungle.
It let out a deep growl, and it rushed after him with a thunderous roar.
Ambrose ran like a track-and-field athlete, running over the trunks and ditches with a powerful leap. However, he could hear the thumping nearing him, even though he was running at full speed.
'Run, run, run, run!'
Ambrose repeated to himself in desperation and leaped over another fallen trunk.
At that moment, he saw a slight sign of light in the distance, coming from the second floor of a building. It was slightly peeking from beyond the dense foliage, but it gave him a feeling of hope.
Crack, crash!
The predator walked through the trees like a tank, its heavy footsteps shaking the ground beneath him.
"You… cannot… hide!"
"Fucking hell!" Ambrose looked over his shoulder at the monstrous being, and at that moment, he left the jungle and entered the street of the abandoned town.
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