Chapter 14

    The Blind of Cheeba Village

    Pun and Nyang had climbed up to the platform. Pun surveyed the area of the platform, which was about 2 x 2 meters, ample enough for two men to comfortably stay on it.

    "Have you often climbed up to a platform like this, Nyang?" Pun asked curiously while continuously wiping his .458 staff, smiling as he finally got to emulate his idol.

    "Well… it depends on the employer. Or sometimes I come alone, especially when hired to hunt for a restaurant in the village. But you said you're new to hunting, yet why do you have all the necessary, or should I say, more than necessary equipment?" Nyang replied, setting down to eat a banana he brought along.

    "At first, I didn't know. I just bought whatever seemed necessary. But it's good, isn't it? I could use it... Hm, that's the sound of many hooves running, far from here towards that mountain," Pun became alert to the sound of numerous footsteps, indicating a large herd of animals running together, suggesting they were being hunted... and in significant numbers.

    "Nyang!~ Get ready," Pun nudged Nyang's arm, who looked puzzled. Pun, suspecting that Nyang would make noise, quickly stuffed banana peels into his mouth and signaled for silence.

    ".../..." Nyang immediately spat out the banana peel, nearly protesting further, but upon seeing Pun's gesture and his prepared stance, Nyang complied instantly, though still clueless about the situation.

    Pun looked down at the fire he and Nyang had made, concerned it might die out. He summoned his inventory window and pulled out a ready-made fire that could last even in rain for 12 hours. With the sound of the herd getting closer and the sky pitch black, around 6:30 PM, he decided to throw the ready-made fire into the original fire pit.

    "Puff!~" The fire blazed brightly, three times brighter than before.

    "Crack!~~" And then, the quadrupeds appeared, many in number but trying to run out of the fire's light, allowing for a glimpse of what they were.

    "Master hunter, those are deer, a huge herd, about 500 - 700. Incredible, I’ve never seen anything like this before. But... it seems like they're running from something," Nyang realized why Pun had been so prepared. If it were him, he would've been greatly startled. Oh Pun, you really are steadfast.

    "Nyang, is that it...? The stripes, right, Nyang?" Pun spotted an animal with yellow and black stripes and pointed it out to Nyang. If Nyang paid attention to Pun's voice, he could sense a hint of uncoverable joy.

    "Damn, those are tigers, Nyang. They hunt in packs, too many to seem normal. There are almost a hundred of them!" Nyang exclaimed in shock.

    The tigers were chasing the slower deer or the young ones that couldn't keep up, decimating them. Instead of tearing and eating their prey in the usual manner, the deer turned into beams of light that entered the tigers' mouths, astonishing Pun. He then remembered he was in a game. Pun glanced at them, easing his tense demeanor but remained vigilant, as if any tiger spotted them on the tree, it might come to guard or, perhaps, ignore them, satiated by the plentiful prey.

    "Nyang, are there many tigers around here? If so, it's dangerous for the villagers," Pun pondered while watching the fierce battle below. Even some young deer fought back with their sharp prongs, futile against the dominant tigers. While the deer could take down some of their hunters, yet the number was a lot less than those of themselves who got swallowed. 

    "No, Master. I have never seen them before, or they come from that mountain?" Nyang responded, staying prepared in case any tiger strayed their way.

    "Forrest over there, have you been there, Nyang? What's it like? Must be very lush," Pun's interest peaked, aiming to explore the forest with the initial plan of wandering until he couldn't get lost anymore.

    "That forest over there, I haven’t been there either, Master. But the elders, having heard from the village head who led the villagers to evacuate from there, which is about 100 km away from here, said that our ancestors came from the Santatang mountain range. Our village used to be a large community known as Cheeba Village, the only village capable of surviving in that hellish land on Earth. But then, something bizarre happened; tigers began to snatch and eat villagers. At first, it seemed normal because tigers and people were almost like the pets we kept. However, when the head of Cheeba Village went to deal with them, he was killed by the tiger. But before he died, he managed to shoot one tiger in the eye with a spiked iron arrow. The villagers who accompanied him informed the rest of the village, leading to a war between the tigers and the villagers because the tigers kept preying on villagers going into the forest. Why do they still snatch people to eat...” Nyang turned to ask Pun.

    "It's a wounded tiger..." Pun replied knowledgeably. Indeed, when animals are injured, they find it difficult to hunt other animals, making humans their manageable prey.

    "The villagers called it 'The Blind' because it was blinded in one eye, probably from when the village head shot it. The more it killed, the more its level increased, driving some villagers to their limits as too many were being snatched away, two corpses a day even," Nyang sighed, deeply pathetic for those events.

    "Hmm... and your village moved here. There are parts that haven't moved yet, right? Meaning that village would be the last human settlement before going deeper. How does this relate to these tigers?" Pun curiously inquired about the deer but ended up hearing about the village migration. Though it seemed off-topic, it was interesting. He pondered about the existence of elephant graveyards in the game, considering this dreamlike game could very well harbor his most favored dreams.

    "Ah, Master, there has to be a backstory. Let me continue. Ever since 'The Blind' became the dominant power in that area, the elders say it has numerous female tiger daemon followers and even more ordinary tigers. Nyang suspects that food sources in that area are dwindling, driving them to herd the deer living nearby, herding them down. But somehow, they ended up encountering us... Hopefully, they won't reach the village. On any other day, I wouldn't be so worried since there are hunters around there. But today, everyone seems to have disappeared," Nyang appeared stressed and glanced to see if the animals had spread towards the village.

    Pun grew anxious too, hoping the game's female tiger daemons differed from those in books. They took turns watching the scene below. Although the animals didn't come too close to the fire, they couldn't let their guard down. Sitting watch all night seemed impossible, so they decided to alternate every 3 hours, with Pun taking the first watch.

    ...

    "Why are you so sure, Mr. First, that the one who received the symbol might come into the forest? Don't you think he could have crossed to another continent already?" A smooth, calm voice could only belong to the trusted secretary of the Dragon Guardians guild.

    "If you're asking for a reason, maybe... it's my instinct," he replied with certainty and confidence, though such an answer deserved a slap with a sword. If it weren't for him being the great, insightful guild leader.

    "Brother /First/...!" The only ones daring to retort to this guild leader were his blood sister, his close friend whom he dearly loves, and the trustworthy secretary.

    "Come on, if you guys aren't following, let others from a different guild follow instead," First replied cheerfully. Aside from his own guild members, there were a fair number of members from other guilds following as well. No one questioned where they were heading, but seeing the leader of the Dragon Guardian guild heading in this direction, they simply decided to follow if there was a chance... that was enough.

    "But seriously, where are you heading, First? You've been riding Teexi a long time now," Shin protested lightly. No matter how impatient he might be, it couldn't compare to this friend of his for sure. Whoever says this guy is patient, ha, I'm actually happy for him that he never has nightmares... but Teexi is really tired and hungry now.

    "Alright, I'll tell you, but this is the goal of the race to see who can get there first. Hurry up, old friend, and I'll see you at the Ee Khor tribal village, friends. Ha ha ha..." said the dignified guild leader who seemed so serious during the day but turned surprisingly cheerful by evening.

    What followed was a scene of three T-Rexes racing, one of them shining brightly in white belonging to no one other than the warrior, the leader of the Dragon Guardian guild. The second, a blazing red one, chasing closely behind the white, with a man on it who had flaming red hair - Shin or, in the game, Inferno. The last T-Rex, shimmering in silver, stood out just as much as its owner, with all the underlings riding their pets, each trying to keep up with whatever fast mounts they had. Even the guild's secretary was on a black wind cloud rabbit, chasing closely behind the three, with other guilds not far behind, following as fast as they could, making it seem like a pet racing marathon.

    "You guys go ahead. When we find that person, it's going to be a showdown. Let's be prepared!!!" shouted the leader of the Sage Gangsters guild, rallying his members to ready their weapons for when the time came. The other guilds, sensing danger, prepared for battle as well.

    …

    "Get ready, Master. It's going for us!" Nyang was about to nudge Pun when he heard a voice from under the helmet covering his face.

    "I know... They are lurking beneath us, 5 meters below, watching us. How many are around, I'm not so sure because of the noise confusion, mixed with sounds of four and two feet," Pun was unsure about the details due to the noise and because he was high up on the platform. How did his ears get so divine? But for Pun, this was already impressive.

    "Master... Mast," Nyang called out in astonishment, causing Pun to immediately look in the direction Nyang was pointing. The sight left Pun stunned for a moment. From the sound of four feet, why did it turn out to be young women, aged around 17 – 22, scantily clad, some boldly waving, some beckoning with a come-hither gesture, some even bending over provocatively.

    "Bang!!~" A gunshot sounded.

    "Bang!~" And then a second shot, followed by the figures collapsing.

    "You shot a woman... you...?"

    "Push!~"

    Pun saw Nyang turn towards him with a blank look, filled with vengeful words, making Pun have to summon his consciousness once more for another big push.

    "Look closely, Nyang. If I hadn't done that, you might have been the one turning into light instead," Pun said with a smile, despite the tension.

    "This is!!~" The sight made Nyang shiver immediately. When Nyang looked at where the young woman's body should have been lying, it instead turned out to be the body of a large tiger, its stripes somewhat faded. The other body parts that were seen disappeared.

    "What's really happening? Tell me, Master," Nyang, realizing his mistake in reprimanding Pun to the point of nearly killing him, pleaded for an explanation.

    "Look up! You did nothing wrong, don't worry about it. As for why it happened like this, I think it's more of a monster's trick. But from what I've studied, it's called a 'Tiger Daemon," Pun analyzed the situation.

    In just a moment, Pun noticed that the faces of those young women also had yellow and black stripes. Without thinking twice, especially when he saw Nyang about to jump down to them, Pun decided to shoot immediately. The first shot, seeing it in human form, aimed at the heart, but it turned into a tiger's body, so he had to shoot its forehead again. After killing it, a voice in his head announced:

    /Player has killed a stealth the ghosted tigress, Level 58, received 100,500 experience points. Player has leveled up to Level 10, causing the King Tiger to go berserk. King Tiger has leveled up to Level 65. King Tiger is on its way here. Due to the distance being too far, please flee./

    /Player has received items: 1 Tiger Print Bikini, 1 Bottle of Enchanting Perfume./

    This voice made Pun worried. But this King Tiger couldn't be the 'Blind Tiger' Nyang talked about, could it? If it was, it meant it had too many followers, all those women were probably its concubines. What a flirt, having his own harem. Killing one of them, he must be thrilled. Ha, but where did these items come from? Killing the deer didn't drop anything...

    "Nyang, prepare for a big battle. The Blind Tiger of Chee Ba Village is coming here," Pun quickly alerted him to get ready.

    "Roger!" Nyang immediately followed Pun's command, understanding Pun better now and admiring Pun's skill and kindness. When he made a mistake, Pun didn't hold it against him and even showed abilities Nyang still revered.

    "Nyang, Can I ask some question? why did the tiger drop items when I killed it, but killing the deer didn't?" Pun asked curiously as they awaited the Tiger King's approach.

    "Oh, that's because I decided to take the deer's meat instead. Monsters in the forest drop strange things like that, giving high experience points, some even drop money. And the items that drop from forest monsters are all good. But if you want their hide, you have to give up the item drops. However, the price for the hide is also high, which is different from other monsters outside the Dark Forest. Other monsters can be skinned for hides, and items drop as well, even if the experience points or items are not as good," Nyang explained with clear and experienced insight.

    "So, people are all heading to the Dark Forest... because the loot is so good," Pun wondered. If the rewards were that great, the forest should be crowded, but why does it still seem so desolate?

    "Heh, yeah, the Dark Forest would be packed if it weren't for the monsters there having some...unique characteristics!" Nyang had yet to finish speaking when he pointed ahead, where the light from the fire provided enough illumination.

    "Right! The dear King Tiger, bringing almost a hundred of its friends," Pun looked down from the platform calmly. He knew it would bring its gang, but the number was surprisingly large. But it seemed they needed to deal with the leader first.

    "Man... it looks like we need to use group skills this time. But have you prepared any potions? It's possible we might have to wage war against them till morning," Nyang asked with concern. If it were him, he might be able to escape, but the person beside him wouldn't think of fleeing for sure.

    Hearing Nyang, Pun realized he had some skills available and immediately checked his skill window. It turned out he had two group skills, both requiring magic, making Pun worry if they could be used with his gun. But it was worth trying.

    "Grrrr!!! Humans dare to disturb my beloved. You all are dead!!~~" The King Tiger roared towards Pun and his group.