'Insane! This is just too much.' Alex thought as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
However you looked at it, that creature really did look like the final boss of some game that was set to an impossible difficulty.
'Quality of the life my foot!'
The number of stars on that creature's head only added to his suspicion that the stars represented the quality of life of a creature. But now, that made Alex question:
'So to get a good score, I have to kill something like that?'
At that moment, the creature suddenly let out a deafening roar, and then, it lunged with terrifying speed straight toward him.
Alex looked back to see that the creature was almost upon him, due to its size allowing it to cover so much ground with every leap. To make matters worse, Alex could not run at top speed because of how deep the snow was.
'Curses! Just leave me alone, will you?'
Seeing that the creature would catch him if he kept running in a straight line, he began to run in a frantic zig-zag, weaving between the trunks of the trees.
That strategy seemed to work just a tiny little bit.
Since the creature kept charging so fast and in a reckless manner, it kept slamming itself into the trees, before quickly recovering and lunging again. But Alex knew that it was only a matter of time before it caught him and smashed him into a pulp, just like it did to that thieving fox.
However, after only a few seconds, he noticed that the creature had slowed down, and before long it halted and just kept snarling from a distance.
'Oh…?'
Still running, Alex looked back, and when he realized he could no longer see the creature after some time, he felt relief, joy, and a hint of disbelief wash over him all at once.
'Thank goodness! This is great. Just stay where you are and don't chase me again, you damn monkey.'
He slowed his pace as his lungs burned for air, and eventually, he halted, clutched his knees and breathed heavily in exhaustion. But just then, he began to feel a bad premonition.
'Wait a minute. Why did it stop? Why is it no longer chasing me?'
Alex looked back again. It really was no longer chasing him, and he could hear it snarling in the far distance.
'Something's not right…' he thought.
'Why do I feel like I have entered an even worse situation?'
Turning around, he began to quickly study his surroundings. That was when he noticed that it was darker here, almost as if something unnatural was forcefully dimming the light of the moon.
Strangely enough, for some reason that he did not know, he could still see. Albeit not very clearly.
His eyes looked to the ground on his left, and then, all of a sudden, he flinched violently when he saw the dead body of a human, staring at him with hollow, lifeless eyes.
'Holy cow!' He rubbed his chest to calm his wildly beating heart. 'That scared the shit out of me.'
Lying on the snow some meters from him was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. Her stomach had been violently torn open, and her insides were spilled out onto the white ground. The woman had only one leg still attached to her, and Alex could see the other leg some meters away from her.
It truly was a grotesque sight.
'This confirms it. It seems that others who took the card have also been brought here.' Alex thought as he took a step closer to the corpse. Then he crouched, reached down and closed her eyes.
'May you rest in peace, beautiful stranger.'
As he stood up, something caught his attention. On the snow beside the woman's body was a sleek black spear made of an unknown, obsidian-like material. A countdown timer was embedded on the shaft, ticking down in glowing red numbers. When Alex saw the timer on the spear, he could immediately tell that this was the woman's card.
Alex bristled.
'Don't tell me that there are people who got spears while I got stuck with a kitchen knife.'
He walked over and reached for the spear, hoping to arm himself with something better, but when he tried to lift it, it wouldn't budge.
'Huh?'
He planted his feet and pulled with all his might, but the weapon remained pinned to the snow.
'Does this mean I can't pick another card?'
Suddenly, it made sense why rule number three had said not to lose the card no matter what. He couldn't replace it even though he found another.
Alex stood up, exhaled, and turned his attention away from both the spear and the body. He needed to keep moving and stay on high alert, because whatever had killed her might still be lurking nearby.
'I have to get out of here. But…' He looked back in the direction he had come from. 'Where do I even go? Is anywhere here safe?'
It was at that moment that Alex remembered that the spot he had spawned in when he first came here didn't have any dangerous creatures. He only began to encounter them the higher up the mountain he climbed.
'I only began to face the dangerous creatures when I began ascending. I have to return that direction. Maybe there, I'll come across something within my capacity to kill.'
He walked over to a tree east and leaned against it, then he scanned the area before moving quietly to the next trunk, then another, trying to stay out of sight.
But barely a few dozen meters further, he came across something that caused his eyes to widen. All around him, dozens of mangled corpses were scattered across the snow, their bodies torn open by huge bite wounds. Among the carnage lay a massive, monstrous feathered serpent, with five stars glowing faintly on its head.
'Did they really expect us humans to kill creatures of this level?'
Alex didn't even have time to process this, because at that moment, he suddenly heard something slam into a tree in the distance to his left, followed by a deep growl.
He immediately pressed his back against the trunk of the tree, staying still as possible. Then, he slowly peered around the bark to see what was making the sound.
In the distance, the thick line of evergreen trees gave way to an open clearing. In the center of the white expanse, Alex could see four creatures fighting. Narrowing his eyes, he could see three of the massive feathered serpents fighting together against one very massive black dog.
Looking at it, Alex was sure the dog was at least three meters tall. But what made his breath catch in his throat was that the creature had six stars on its head.
It was the highest-ranking beast he had seen since coming to this cursed mountain.
Alex shuddered in fear as he stared at the terrifying beast. He could immediately tell that it was the hound that had caused the carnage in front of him.
Despite being outnumbered, it still kept attacking, and in the next few seconds that followed, it had already killed another serpent. However, it seemed that the battle had also left the dog in a bad condition. Its massive body was covered in wounds and its stomach was torn open, with some of its insides hanging out.
Seeing this, Alex could tell that even though it would end up winning this battle against the feathered snakes, it was definitely bound to die soon after.
At that moment, a predatory grin began to grow on Alex's lips, and to his surprise, his thoughts began to change.
Why should he settle for something within his ability to kill?
Why should he settle for a low-star creature when a dying king was right in front of him?
Alex made up his mind, shoved fear aside and decided to grab this opportunity. As his fingers tightened around his dagger, only one thought settled in his mind.
'I need to be the one to end its life.'