Chapter 4: Kill or be killed

After reaching the entrance point of the waterfall, Eric glanced at Adam and exchanged looks. "What are you waiting for?" Eric asked in surprise.

Adam shook his head, "Nothing."

He continued to step carefully, and with a little effort, he managed to arrive at the same spot as Eric.

Seeing a crevice behind the waterfall, a cave with torches reflecting orange light on the waterfall, Adam now felt more confident about his theory.

"What's inside there?" Adam asked.

Eric showed a suspicious expression, "I don't know."

"We'll find out once we enter," Eric continued.

Eric pressed against the rock wall and carefully entered the cave behind the waterfall.

Adam followed from behind.

The cave had a considerable size, resembling a corridor guided by torches on both sides. The rocks inside were slightly damp, and the atmosphere felt piercing. Their footsteps were drowned out by the sound of the waterfall.

Further inside was more like a hexagonal-shaped hall. Colored reddish by the torches lit at each corner. At the far end was a stone chair with unique carvings resembling a giant sword. In the middle of the hall, the floor had carvings of a unique foreign language that couldn't be understood. In the center was a sturdy crucifix-shaped pillar made of slightly rotten but sturdy wood.

At that moment, Eric silently stepped back behind Adam, who was slightly amazed by the room.

A larger blue screen appeared above the throne.

[The Hanged Man]

[Requirement to Obtain: Requires a sacrifice of a soul]

[Lore: A god traveling with a demon finds themselves falling into the abyss. The Demon feels it's a trap set by the god and becomes enraged. The God, on the other hand, sees it as a trial. Both fall into the same abyss. However, the Demon begins to show demons in his heart. To stop the Demon, the God sacrifices himself to seal the Demon. The embodiment of the seal created by the God transforms into a divine card, The Hanged Man]

Adam approached the crucifix and gazed at the water droplets dripping from the cave's ceiling, falling to the side of the crucifix and continuing to drip down to the floor, repeating.

Through those droplets, Adam saw a somewhat unclear reflection of himself. He had black hair and normal-looking blue eyes. However, what Adam noticed more through those droplets was Eric's reflection behind him, holding an arrow that appeared curved due to the reflection of the water droplets, his gaze intent on killing.

Adam had anticipated this. From the beginning, he had prepared his military knife to be easily accessible.

He promptly stepped his right foot forward, taking a strong foothold before quickly throwing himself backward. This way, Eric's sneak attack would fail.

Adam pushed his body backward and immediately collided with Eric, causing both of them to fall. At the same time, Adam grabbed his military knife from his waist, intending to retaliate. He wasn't afraid or hesitant; after all, Eric was the one who attacked first. Furthermore, Adam's position here was the sacrificial bait provided by Eric.

As he touched the handle of his military knife, Adam suddenly saw a flash of memory in front of him.

He was in a dark room, preparing a hangman's noose on a wooden cross.

The flashback stopped.

Due to the pause in his action, Eric had time to react. He quickly stood up and grabbed his arrow, pulling its string while keeping his distance. He aimed at Adam, who now appeared vulnerable.

The sound of the string resonated as an arrow was shot with a speed difficult to follow with the naked eye.

Adam returned to reality with a pounding headache. As a result, the arrow precisely pierced his shoulder. It wasn't a fatal point, which allowed him to quickly move backward behind the pillar.

Eric took the opportunity to draw his second string, and Adam managed to take cover behind the pillar. Enduring the pain in his shoulder, Adam ran backward towards the throne.

At that moment, a brief silence ensued.

"Come out. I'll finish it quickly, without pain," Eric tried to negotiate.

Adam, behind the throne, held the area where the arrow had pierced him. His face twisted in pain. Taking a careful breath, he pulled out the arrow while suppressing his scream.

"Fuck!" He whispered, feeling the pain spreading throughout his body for a moment.

On the left screen, the text of the remaining cards continued to blink faster.

[Remaining Cards: 5]

"So fast!?" Adam muttered to himself.

On the other hand, Eric still kept his distance from Adam. The hexagonal-shaped room made it difficult for him to aim at Adam behind the stone throne. Even if he approached, it would increase his risk of being counterattacked by Adam.

He continued to aim while hoping Adam would reveal himself.

At that moment, the blue screen above the throne turned red.

[Five Divine Cards Remaining]

[Sacrificing in a countdown of three minutes]

[After the countdown, players within The Hanged Man's detection range will be hanged]

Adam looked up to read the information. From his position, the text appeared upside down but still readable.

"Detection Range?" He thought for a moment before understanding its meaning.

"Same as the maximum distance for the system to detect cards?"

Eric saw that and started to lose patience. "Shit!" He cursed, his expression becoming impatient.

He approached slowly, with silent steps to prevent Adam from noticing.

However, just like before, Adam had a way to know Eric's movements. Through the fluctuating water droplets, he saw Eric stepping cautiously.

"Come out!"

Then he carefully stepped to the side, intending to circle around the stone throne to get a good position to aim.

Adam took a breath and steadied his breath. His shoulder still felt sore from the arrow, and the bleeding continued. If not treated quickly and properly, it would surely become a problem.

That added to the reasons why he had to finish this quickly.

In Eric's line of sight, he could see a small part of Adam behind the stone throne. The first thing he saw was the tip of a shoe pressing on the cave floor.

Eric smiled slightly.

"I'll take my card and survive. Who cares about the rules in this place? I'm free to kill, as long as it can extend my life." He murmured to himself, as if struggling to convince himself not to hesitate.

As he took a slightly further step, his aim was ready to be released. However, what he saw was just one shoe lying on the cave floor, he widened his eyes in surprise.

Adam, who had previously quietly placed his shoes to lure Eric, now moved around the throne, once again hidden from Eric's line of sight. Taking advantage of Eric's confusion, Adam immediately threw his other shoe towards the cave's exit.

Thud!

The sound of the shoe hitting the cave floor echoed slightly. Eric immediately turned forcibly due to panic, aiming his bow towards the source of the sound.

At that moment, Adam was already prepared with his military knife. He took a breath before lifting himself to stand, swinging his hand amateurishly to throw the military knife towards Eric.

Eric, distracted by the thrown shoe, now found himself in a situation where a military knife was hurtling towards him.

"What!?" At the last moment, he tilted his head to dodge. But it was too late; the knife, with a fast rotation, sliced his neck creating a four-centimeter-long and one to two-centimeter-deep gash. Blood gushed out in large amounts, like a burst water pouch.

Facing this situation, Eric involuntarily released his hand holding the taut bowstring, causing the arrow to immediately shoot upwards and bounce off the cave ceiling. Instinctively, he placed his left hand on the knife wound.

"Arrgh!" He winced in pain.