The screams were heard. The screams of people in pain. The screams of losing their comrade.
The scream of Death.
My eyes resembled fear, my hands had stopped moving at the screams. I was silent, I was thinking nothing. It felt like I'd die the second I thought about something.
The fear was planted deep inside the roots of my soul. The fear of fighting against beings who are far stronger than any of my previous opponents.
The girl fell on her knees from the screams. It looked like she had given up. Her jaw was trembling, tears were flowing out of her eyes constantly.
She wanted to run. As far as possible, just to escape this massacre. It won't do. Nothing would help this girl. After all, she's the challenger who ran from the dungeon. All this problem began from her.
So if... I kill her, then would everyone be safe?
This was the first thing I thought of. I wasn't strong. Nor was I wise. I was just a weak, pathetic writer who only knows how to write. I know nothing except it.
I shook my head and tried to look calmly at the woods. The woods were the ones helping us stay in the dark. If there wasn't a forest, then we would have been killed before.
Even if I kill her, this won't make any difference. These species won't go back to the same and small prison where they just have to wait for their death.
They had been waiting for years just for adventurers to come and slice them in half, brutally massacre all their existence, loot everything they collected from thousands of grinds. Leaving nothing. Not even their ashes.
So why would these species go back to that same hell where they are meant to die? It's so obvious that they won't.
The sentences which explained this incident perfectly flowed into my head.
「If the monster species left the dungeon, then saving lives isn't possible.」
「Saving lives isn't necessary」
「What's necessary is; to save yourself and」
「Kill the challenger who left the dungeon」
I gritted my teeth in frustration. There wasn't any way to save everyone including the challenger. If it was normal dungeon species, then there was a chance of defeating them. But, was this dungeon normal? It wasn't.
A mixed-type dungeon can't be counted among normal dungeons. It's a dungeon consisting of every single species. From F to A rank, every single one of them is present in it.
So there wasn't any way to slice the heads of such species. Giving up was the sole option remaining for us, dreamers whose lives depend upon the higher beings.
The trees were being unplugged by a supreme force. Soon, they would be able to see us. The girl slowly got up and walked towards me with heavy steps. Screams. More screams were heard. It was getting way too painful to hear all this.
I looked at the trembling challenger who was the one responsible for all this massacre. Her eyes only showed fear. In a trembling way, she opened her mouth slowly, "... H-Hong-ssi, l-let's run."
I was looking at her in a disappointed manner. I had a feeling which told me that this girl would feel guilty and would sacrifice herself for everyone. This feeling was breaking apart just because of a couple of words.
In a disappointed voice, I opened my mouth. "...Are you giving up on your comrades?"
There wasn't any comrade of hers alive. All of them were dead and I was sure of it. Her eyes looked like they were hurt, maybe because of the thoughts of her comrades. But anyway, what I knew was that this dreamer in front of me was giving up on her comrades.
"...They might already be dead."
It was a reply I never expected to come from her. She was giving up on her comrades and was trying to run away. But will her running do anything? Of course not.
These monsters will keep looking for her until they are slayed by some strong dreamers, which I doubt even exist in the dream at this point.
I silently got up without looking at the trembling girl. I looked at the woods slowly getting chopped off by the monsters. Their hands were visible now.
More screams of people were heard now and blood started to reach our side as well. We weren't too far from the battlefield. In this moment, I opened my mouth while looking at the scene.
"...What if they are still alive?"
The girl wasn't sure how to react and stood silent. The fear was slowly getting more visible on her face. In just a small span of time, this girl would abandon me too. That was my assumption.
I continued speaking in a calm manner, "Do you want to save them? The innocents who are dying out there."
Before the girl could reply, some heavy steps could be heard. Those steps were directed at us. In just 5 seconds, a small boy showed up in front of us. He was gasping for air. He had multiple scratches all over his body. His right hand's bone seemed to be twisted. He was being bullied by some monsters.
Our gazes met and the boy raised his hand. He opened his mouth while trembling, "...H-help."
He took some steps forward and fell straight forward. He was feeling the pain of hitting the ground as a hand reached out to him.
The hand had multiple scratches on it. It looked like the hands of a warrior who was fighting in the war for a year. The boy slightly looked up into the eyes of the man who was offering help to him.
These eyes didn't resemble kindness, but they were trying their best to show kindness. And just like that, the boy grabbed the hands of the person who created this world.
***
The boy stood and I shook the dust off his clothes. The boy looked at me silently without asking for my identity. He was trying to trust this man in front of him.
I calmly asked, "...Where are your parents?"
The boy shook his head. His parents maybe were looking for the boy among those monsters. This small little child was separated from his parents because of this massacre.
I looked back at the girl to ask for a favor, but before I was able to open my mouth, the boy spoke in an emotional way, "...T-they were d-dying. The m-monsters k-killed them."
I didn't give a reply to it, instead I patted the boy's shoulders and spoke up, "Don't worry. We'll protect you from now on."
I didn't say a lot to comfort him, but this much was enough to make him have a bit of hope that humanity is still alive.
I again looked back at the girl with calm eyes. She was a bit calm now but still she was scared. I got up and questioned her, "...Are you really willing to run away?"
The question was straight. I was asking if she wanted to save a life or sacrifice her life.
The girl took some time to answer, but she looked straight in my eyes with a determined answer, "...Can I take this boy with me too?"
I gave a satisfied smile and sighed in satisfaction.
That's the reply I want.
I wanted to see a bit of humanity in this girl and I saw it. Just these couple of words were more than enough to give her the qualifications to play as a side character of this endless dream.
I put my hand on the back of the boy and pushed him lightly. I questioned the girl in front of me, "What's your name?"
The girl who wanted to run away and was responsible for all this mess gave a small smile as the boy walked towards her.
She replied, "Yoo Cheewon."
And just with that, the wall of my work appeared behind Cheewon. The name Cheewon was being written on it as an official side character.
「Yoo Cheewon」
Her story was being written on the wall.
「The one who was supposed to die as an NPC changed to a side character」
From being an NPC to being a Side Character
「Her fate changed by the person whose fate can't be changed」
[Yoo Cheewon has officially been recognized as a side character in the Endless Dream]
[She won't be classified as one until she gives enough contribution to become a side character]
[She'll be a side character from your POV]
The fate of another character changed. I saw the new side character running away as far as possible just to save the boy's life who was on the girl's back.
The boy looked back at me, the person who shook off dust from his clothes, and waved his hands as he and the girl vanished from my sight.
I sighed again as the screams were heard again. I had my eyes closed as I was smiling peacefully when I heard some footsteps coming my way.
They weren't the footsteps of the monsters. They were the footsteps of the people running away from the monsters.
None of them said a word, they were all frightened and only focused on running away. Many of them bumped into me, but didn't scream or get angry at me. They only said—
"Step aside!"
"Tsk, run!"
"They are coming!"
One after another, a lot ran away toward the path me and Cheewon came from. But for some reason, more screams were heard.
"Aaaahhhhhhhh!!!"
"Nooooo!!!"
"Honey!! Run! Try!! Run!"
"M-Mom!! Come with us!!"
I stood silent, trying to understand the situation by watching all this mess.
The screams should lower as people ran to the safer side but it's just increasing.
What can cause this? Is another army of monster species coming from the other way? If yes, then what'd I do now?
We're completely surrounded by them now.
During these thoughts, I received a message on my system screen.
- You've received a message from Yoo Cheewon
I opened the message with eyes filled with hope.
Cheewon: We've reached the mountains!
Cheewon: No one is here but I'll still continue running.
She and the boy are safe. I sighed with relaxation. I was worried about them since I had a feeling that the whole forest might be surrounded with monsters. But I'm glad that they are okay.
Suddenly, another message popped up on the screen.
Cheewon: For your information, two different dungeon monsters are currently clearing the forest to find dreamers and eat them. Maybe all the dreamers have run into the forest.
I stood silent at the message. A lot of incidents were taking place in a single night. That was really strange. Two dungeon breaks had taken place and now I was surrounded by both the monsters of such strong dungeons.
I gulped and the fear went down my throat. This isn't a situation supposed to happen right now—then why? This situation is very dangerous, so dangerous that it can easily wipe out the whole of Seoul. So butlers should show up and maintain the power balance, but they aren't. Maybe it's because this situation isn't a threat to the whole of Seoul yet.
Just... how much more destruction do they want?
The Endless Dream wasn't properly done until the Second Dreamer's Delusion. It started to look more organized when the second delusion began, so I just had to wait until the second delusion for the dream to become more organized.
Until then, I only needed to survive, which looked impossible in my current situation.
Multiple dreamers had now started to come back running for their lives. They were all covered with sweat, scratches all over their bodies, some had lost their body parts, and some had given up.
With the woods being torn apart by the monsters, the people panicked more and more. There wasn't a place where they could hide peacefully. All of us were caught in a trap and were just waiting for the hunter to come and eat us—the prey.
I had also started running around the boundary of the forest, which was getting shortened by the army of monsters from both sides of the forest.
People were still bumping into me, screaming for help, but I ignored everyone. I was covered in deep thoughts where I was collecting ways to survive this type of situation.
For me, only I existed in the entire dream. My survival was more necessary than anyone's survival. The sentences of Desired End flowed more in my head. But none of them were helpful. For the first time ever, my knowledge looked useless to me.
This knowledge won't be of any use if everything happens differently. But still, there should be a way.
A way to kill monsters far stronger than me. A way to kill monsters as a beginner.
I suddenly stopped and opened the store. Removed some ads and quickly bought a weapon.
[You've purchased "Soul Breaker Sword Edition" for 1500cc]
A sword appeared in my hand. Had I finally found a way to survive? Will this keep me alive? It won't be painful, right?
These were the thoughts everyone would have if they saw me buying a sword online. I tightened the grip of my sword as more trees were torn apart and the monsters got closer to me.
They saw it. They spotted a man wearing a tattered cloak through the small gaps of the woods. A scream was heard, "Aaaghhhhh!!"
The scream filled the woods with silence. All the dreamers in front of me were quiet, and their bodies trembled with fear.
Suddenly, a lot of wood started falling and heavy footsteps were heard. The dreamers panicked and quickly started running.
"Run! They've come!!" "Fast!" "Someone! Help me!!"
"Haarghh! Haaarghh!!"
Finally, the last wood fell and half of the forest was cleared. A whole army of monsters could finally be seen.
Big lizards, goblins as big as trees, multiple orcs, mana beasts, and a giant wolf could be seen. The goblin who had been screaming the whole time looked doubtfully at the area.
He thought he had seen someone standing here, that's why he rushed. But there wasn't anyone. Only pools of blood, dead bodies, and torn body parts could be seen so far.
The goblin looked around, "Kurghh..!"
The other monsters started clearing the forest while picking up the dreamers who got caught by them. They picked them, broke their bodies apart, and ate them, crunching happily.
Suddenly, the goblin noticed a head falling in front of them. The head of a human. Then a whole body fell in front of it. Someone had actually killed a human.
Some thoughts flowed through the goblin's head. Who can kill a human? Did someone betray the humans?
His doubt became clearer when he heard something way more strange. "No! No! Why are you killing humans?! No! No! Don't! Don't! Do—ARGHHH!!!"
A scream was heard, and another head fell onto the ground.
***
The Soul Breaker Sword was drenched in blood. I swung the sword and looked calmly at the system's screen.
[Total Souls Collected: 2/100]
[Skill Plagiarist Lvl.1 is activated]
[You can steal anyone's skill now!]