32 A Spider's Web

Probably my new fav chapter! Hope you enjoyed the mass release! Happy holidays!

"What? My sister?" The man turns red with anger as I get in his face. I realize I have the wrong guy. It's the one sitting next to him.

"No, you! Say it clearly. Who told you there would be a counter when the dungeon opens?" I lower my voice, realizing I'm drawing attention. Over by the side, Yin is watching with interest. When she sees me looking she pointedly turns away. Ugh, how am I supposed to respond to that?

"The counter? I dunno, I heard it from the general meetings. Why, you want to be a Hunter too?" The man grins, holding out his hand to shake. "I'm Jin Sung, want to join our party?"

"You know what a party is?" I shake with surprise as an invite to join Mr. Sung's party appears from the System. He nods.

"Of course. Everyone does. I don't know who started it, but there're a bunch of people who are sharing information now. One, kill zombies, level up. Two, hunt other Hunters to receive half of their experience. It's pretty scary that there's a rule like that, but with so many people here, I'm sure those untrustworthy people won't even think of doing anything. Still, I'd like to team up with a lot of people for safety when we fight the Boss. Comeon, join our party!" He still holds his hand out, but I'm too confused to take it. In my head it's all I can think about. Someone has explained the rules of being a Hunter to everyone. It's worse than I feared, Hunter Slayers are definitely going to appear soon. However, I can understand them finding out about the basic rules, anyone could have accessed the menu and shared them. But how did they know about the Hunter counter? That should be impossible for anyone to know about until the dungeon opens!

"Hey, you good, man?" The guy who I yelled at is looking at me funny. Finally, I snap out of it, ignoring My. Sung's hand. "HEY! You just gonna come in here and act all big and then leave like that? Don't you have any manners?"

"Forget it. It was my bad." I mutter, while backing away. Already my mind is elsewhere. Every single person in this crowd has become suspect. I backtrack to where Yin is sitting, making sure to secretly examine anyone that walks nearby. None of this makes any sense. Someone out there is helping newbies. Manipulating the event. "This is bad…"

"Mad that someone's actually sharing their knowledge?" Yin pokes me in the side. The orange cat pops out from the neckline of her jacket and meows questioningly at my dark face. "Not everyone's like you, Lin. There's good people out there too."

"No…I don't think there are." I sigh, pulling up my hood. Looking around, I slip my hand in my pocket and keep it on my cleaver. Yin notices my actions but I just put a finger to my lips and shake my head. She turns around and looks away. She doesn't understand. None of these people do. They can't see the trap being woven right in front of their eyes. They won't know until tomorrow when they walk right into the spider's web. I'm beginning to get sick of Yin's refusal to listen to me. It's wrong, and I know I said I would never hurt Yin, but right now I kind of just want to get back at her so I do something I normally wouldn't.

"Tell me," I lean in behind her, "If the people who explained all these things know about what's inside the dungeon, and if they're such nice people, then why didn't they tell anyone to wait when the dungeon opens? After all, the most dangerous time to enter is at the beginning when no one knows what's waiting inside."

"Well… I mean, not everyone…" Yin can't quite understand it yet. It's her good nature. She doesn't want to think ill of others. I'm going to have to crush this part of her. No matter if I like it or not, it's going to get her killed. She still doesn't see it…

I put a hand on her shoulder. This time she doesn't pull away.

"Don't you get it? These people that are all so excited to become Hunters? The ones who are feeling all giddy and prepared because someone told them a few worthless details about the System? They're just bait, Yin."

"T-That can't be!" She stiffens under my hand, and I squeeze down hard to drive the point home.

"You see it now…don't you? These happy little people might as well already be dead men walking. They're zombies, but they don't work for the virus or the System. No, these poor people have the honor of dancing in Mr. Nice Guy's palm. That little girl over there? Her mother over there? They will all be his fingers as he explores the 'web' inside this dungeon. He'll use them to touch and prod here and there…until they're all used up. Then when everyone's dead and the way is clear, he'll emerge and swallow everything as his prize. That's the kind of person you're saying is better than me."

Sheer terror overwhelms her face and guilt washes over me. I shouldn't have said that. But it worked. She huddles in closer to me, the orange cat meowing as it gets squished under her coat.

"W-What do I do? Oh my god! I didn't…didn't know!" She whispers. I just sigh, taking the replica katana and placing it between her fingers. She clutches it in a white-knuckle grip.

"Stay close to me. We'll go in after the crowd clears up. Don't look at people like that. You'll make them suspicious." My own hand plays with the handle of my cleaver. I stroke Yin's hair, letting her lean into me. "No one but us can know."

"Mmm…" She thrums, squeezing her eyes shut, afraid to give anything away. That's the way. I'm sorry, Yin. Now you understand the truth about this twisted world, the real meaning to a dungeon. Of course, this is only a taste. She might think ill of my but I'm not so heartless a guy as to tell her the whole truth. To be honest, she has no idea how bad it really is. After all…

The spider weaving this web. That nice guy? There's a possibility his plan isn't even meant to target these newbies. If you think about it, this is a dangerous ploy just to get some bait to go into the dungeon. Letting everyone know about System Rule Number 2 could lead to mass killings. There was no need to do that if you were just planning on catching some flies as bait. All the new Hunters probably would have rushed in anyways. No…the real problem is if this "spider" knows I'm here. If he's watching, hoping to catch other people who know more about dungeons than they should. We can't give anything away.

Some spiders hunt other spiders after all.

I smirk as night falls. Letting Yin's head rest in my lap, I sit upright, watching the world from inside my hood. This person thinks they're so smart. It'd be a great plan, if I wasn't here. The nights are getting a bit chilly. The wind is rustling, and I speak softly, words which not meant for anyone's ears but Yin's. She mumbles in her sleep. Even if she doesn't hear, I want her to know that I AM here, watching, waiting to hunt those who would hunt the Hunters.

"Whoever you are…you really should be careful who you try to catch in your web this time. Otherwise when you come out to eat your prey, maybe you'll find that they aren't as trapped as you think."

Mandatory System Event in 08:23:05.