NEW Quest: PK part 5

"E- Everyone, let's not fight. we are still in the middle of a dangerous zone," Naida interjected, her voice quivering with a mix of anxiety and caution. Her words served as a stark reminder that despite their internal strife, they were surrounded by lurking dangers in the ominous forest.

Kuonh, grappling with a growing distrust toward Klent, found himself torn. Naida had a point, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Klent could no longer be trusted. As he gazed into the foreboding darkness of the forest, illuminated only by eerie red glows, his doubts deepened.

"hm?"

To Kuonh's surprise, the once-pervasive red glows seemed to vanish from the forest. As Kuonh's gaze shifted from the now seemingly empty forest to Klent, his eyes widened in astonishment. Klent had produced a mysterious bottle from his inventory and wasted no time in consuming its contents. But Kuonh being a newbie in MMORPG did not know what's happening. but that's not the case for the other members

"!!"

Klent's actions sent a shiver down everyone's spine as they watched him casually consume a blue potion. Trey's eyes widened in disbelief, his hand instinctively reaching for his sword.

"Why are you drinking a mana potion, Klent?" Trey questioned, his voice laced with suspicion and growing unease.

Klent's reply came with an unsettling calmness, "Well, my mana got drained on the last battle, so."

Trey, however, wasn't convinced. "But your can mana recover by just taking a break, right?" he pressed, his doubts mounting. But to his surprised,

Klent's response was a chilling smile, and he remained silent, refusing to offer an explanation. Andy, his unease mounting, couldn't help but express his growing fear.

"t-this is getting scary," he admitted, his voice trembling. "Why don't we just go back to town and call it a day?"

Kuonh, agreeing with Andy, nodded in assent, feeling the weight of the situation bearing down on them.

However, Klent, seemingly undeterred by their reservations, interjected firmly. "We only need to kill one more arcane, and our quest is complete. The other monsters are gone, and after our last battle, we've gained enough experience to handle another one easily. It's a risk worth taking."

The group stood divided, caught between the uncertainty of Klent's motives and the lurking dangers of the forest.

Amidst the tension-laden silence, Klent's eyes shifted to the girl standing beside him. His voice held a touch of confidence as he sought her support.

"You agree with me, right, Naida?" he implored, his words directed at her. "I'm a pro gamer, and I know what I'm doing. I'll protect you no matter what."

Naida, torn between her allegiance to the party and the divide that had emerged, hesitated. She understood the weight of the decision they faced and the consequences that could follow.

Trey, standing firm in his stance, didn't mince words. He addressed Andy's suggestion with conviction.

"Andy is right," he asserted, his tone unwavering. "Plus, our healer looks like she can't fight anymore. Let's go back and call it a day. Miss healer, tell him that you're tired. we can't go back without you. A party without a healer is no different than a party of dead people."

On the other hand,

Naida, not surprisingly, aligned herself with Andy and the others. Her voice, though tinged with apprehension, carried a firm resolve as she spoke.

"I agree with Andy," Naida said, her gaze shifting from Klent to the others. "We should retreat for now. It's getting too risky, and we need to rest. Kuonh, you're hurt, and I can't heal you much longer without a proper break."

Klent's expression darkened as Naida's words confirmed her allegiance with the majority. His plans, which had revolved around achieving power and notoriety within the game, were slipping further out of reach.

The party, now decided on returning to town, began to make their way back through the sinister forest. However, just as they started to breathe a sigh of relief, a sudden explosion rocked the air, and a searing fireball streaked toward them, emanating from none other than Klent.

Chaos erupted as they scrambled to dodge the fiery projectile, the forest once again becoming a battlefield, but this time, It's among themselves.

"!!"

Trey's eyes burned with fury as he glared at Klent, his earlier suspicions confirmed. He could feel the bloodlust surging within him.

"So you finally showed your true colors," Trey hissed through clenched teeth, his grip on his weapon tightening.

"So it's really on purpose Klent...."

Kuonh, his trust shattered, echoed Trey's sentiment with a cold, unyielding gaze fixed on Klent. The camaraderie they had once shared had been irreparably broken.

Andy and Naida, caught in the crossfire of this sudden betrayal, could only watch in stunned disbelief as the confrontation unfolded before them.

Tension hung heavy in the air as Klent, wearing an enigmatic smile, broached a subject that sent shivers down the party members' spines.

"You guys can't go anywhere," Klent began, his voice betraying an unsettling calmness, "not until I acquire the First Blood skill, just like that player AlbaLos."

Kuonh's eyes widened in disbelief as he listened to Klent's words. The mere thought of Player Killing, or PK, sent a chill down his spine. He remembered the notification they received earlier about AlbaLos killing another player, and the implications of that act were not lost on him.

Klent then argued as he say "Player Killing (PK) is an integral part of MMORPGs and since they couldn't actually die in the game by killing other players according to this world's law, experimenting with PK was a logical step." His gaze fixated on Kuonh, the party's newbie, as he continued with his unsettling proposal.

"You mentioned you're a newbie, right?"

Klent's voice was laced with persuasion. "Why not volunteer to be the one killed? Even if you were to die here, I'd return all your loot and even compensate you with in-game currency."  he asked Kuonh as if what he was suggesting was the most normal thing in the world. 

Trey, incensed by Klent's audacious suggestion, couldn't hold back his anger any longer. "Are you out of your mind? Even if you succeed in killing one of us, you won't obtain that skill because it's exclusively for those who've killed a player for the first time."

Klent responded with a sly smile, his confidence unwavering. "We won't know until we try."

The party stood at a crossroads, torn between Klent's unsettling proposition and the looming uncertainty of their decision.

Trey's voice was filled with resolve as he countered Klent's dangerous idea. "Even if you kill one of us," he warned, "you won't get away with it, and it would be impossible to go back to the town with a broken party."

Klent's grin grew wider, revealing the unsettling darkness lurking within. "Well, lucky me," he replied with a chilling confidence, "I just got a skill that can lower my aggro, and with my game knowledge, it would be easy for me to go back to town alone."

The atmosphere grew even more tense as Klent shifted his gaze toward Naida, the girl standing beside Kuonh. His unsettling smile sent shivers down her spine, and when he spoke, his words held an aggressive edge.

"Naida, you're on my team, right?"

Naida's heart pounded as she felt the weight of Klent's gaze and the fear of what his question implied. She took a step back, her face pale, unable to hide her growing sense of unease.