The two motorbikes carrying the four of them shot out of the stadium without hesitation, engines screaming as they raced through the broken exit and onto the empty road beyond. None of them even considered slowing down. Whatever had been beneath that stadium—and whatever had eaten the massive mechanical serpent—was not something worth observing twice. On top of that, the shrinking barrier was still advancing somewhere behind them, silently erasing everything in its path. Staying still was no longer an option.

For a few seconds, the escape felt smooth.

Then everything went wrong.

Without warning, something clinging to the wheels began to expand.

The faint blue substance that had attached itself earlier suddenly spread like living gel, thickening and tightening around the spinning tires. In an instant, both bikes lost momentum. The wheels locked mid-motion, and the vehicles jerked violently as if something had grabbed them from below.

The sudden stop threw all four riders forward.

Tyler lost balance completely and slammed onto the road, rolling across the rough surface before coming to a stop on his back. Tansy and Rose were thrown in the same direction, but before they could hit the ground hard, old man Rudd reacted.

He drove his staff into the ground with force and pivoted his body with surprising agility. Using that momentum, he caught both girls mid-fall, pulling them off their collision path and steadying them before they could crash into the concrete.

Tyler, still lying flat, let out a breath and muttered, "That was cool, old man..."

Even while recovering, he had seen the movement clearly.

Rose, still held upright, immediately nodded in agreement. "That was really cool, grandpa..."

Rudd grunted but didn’t respond, already turning his attention back toward the bikes.

Tansy had moved ahead of them.

Her eyes narrowed as she crouched near one of the wheels. The blue substance wrapped around the tire was no longer just a residue—it was moving. Thin strands shifted slowly, stretching and contracting as though alive.

"This... this isn’t just something stuck on the wheel," she said quietly. "It’s moving."

Tyler got up and stepped closer, brushing dust off his clothes as he looked at the same thing.

"Another monster?" Tansy added, still unsure.

Tyler watched the slime for a second, then exhaled lightly. "At this point, nothing here surprises me anymore. We should move before it gets worse."

But before anyone could act—

Something dropped from above.

A long, whip-like appendage lashed downward with sudden speed.

Tyler and Tansy reacted instantly, both jumping backward in opposite directions. The impact struck the ground where they had been standing just a moment earlier, cracking the surface and throwing up a cloud of dust that blocked vision for a second.

"What was that?" Tyler asked, stepping back.

"I saw it clearly," Tansy replied, eyes still fixed upward. "It’s the same thing. That slime—it’s not just on the bikes. It’s above us too."

Before they could confirm further—

Gunfire erupted.

Rose and old man Rudd opened fire at the same time, aiming toward the shifting shapes in the dust. Several slimy tendrils recoiled as bullets struck them, though the impact seemed to slow rather than destroy them.

"Move!" Rudd shouted.

Tyler and Tansy retreated quickly, stepping away from the bikes.

Then the ground beneath them cracked.

A deep fissure split open across the road with a loud tearing sound, stretching several meters in length. From inside that opening, multiple blue slime tendrils surged upward, writhing and expanding like living ropes reaching for anything nearby.

The situation collapsed instantly.

Tyler grabbed Tansy’s arm and pulled her toward the nearest building. Both of them leapt through a broken entrance without slowing.

At the same moment, Rose dragged old man Rudd in the opposite direction, pulling him away from another rising tendril that nearly wrapped around his leg.

Everything happened too fast to coordinate.

Too fast to think.

In just a few seconds, the four of them were split apart—each forced into a different direction by the sudden eruption of the living slime.

---

"Ah... we got separated..." Tyler said under his breath, glancing back toward the street they had been forced to abandon.

He and Tansy had barely managed to escape into the same building, while Rose and old man Rudd had been dragged in the opposite direction by the sudden eruption of those blue slime tendrils. For a moment, Tyler considered going back immediately, but after checking the surroundings twice, he decided against it. The slime had stopped pursuing them, but that did not mean the area was safe. Charging back blindly would only make things worse.

Tansy, however, was not thinking about retreat or regrouping.

Her eyes were fixed on something inside the room they had entered.

Tyler followed her gaze.

Leaning against the wall was a bow—though calling it a bow felt too simple. The weapon looked sleek and futuristic, its frame made of smooth metallic arcs that glowed faintly with shifting RGB-like lines running along its body.

Tansy stepped forward and picked it up.

Her expression changed immediately.

"It’s... lighter than I thought," she said, testing its weight.

She positioned it instinctively and pulled the string.

Except, what she touched wasn’t a normal string.

The moment she drew it back, faint electrical arcs appeared between the ends of the bow, forming a shimmering energy thread. It hummed softly, yet it didn’t harm her fingers at all. The tension felt real, powerful even, as if something invisible had taken shape between her hands.

She released it.

Even without an arrow, she could feel the force snap forward through the air.

Tansy’s eyes lit up.

"This is amazing."

Then she noticed a small cylindrical switch near the grip. When she turned it slightly, the glowing string vanished, and the entire bow collapsed inward, folding into a compact baton small enough to carry in one hand.

She stared at it, impressed.

"This is cool... but there are no arrows," she added, her excitement dimming just a little.

"We’ll find them," Tyler said calmly. "If they gave us the weapon, they won’t leave us empty-handed for long."

After checking the building once more and confirming no immediate threats remained, the two decided to move. However, unlike before, they didn’t rush. They rested for nearly an hour, taking turns watching entrances and listening for any strange movement outside. Only after Tyler felt reasonably certain the slime had moved away did they step back onto the street.

"Let’s head that way," Tyler said, pointing toward a distant tower barely visible through broken buildings. "We were planning to move toward it anyway."

Tansy followed without question.

The streets felt quieter now, but not in a reassuring way. The silence here carried weight, as though something unseen watched from somewhere beyond sight.

They hadn’t walked far before Tyler slowed down.

Someone stood in the middle of the road.

A man.

He wasn’t dressed like a participant.

No armor.

No worn clothes from the sectors.

Instead, his appearance was clean, composed—almost too composed for someone inside a death game.

"Hello, Chosen ones," the man said with a polite smile. "I am a merchant."

Spread before him were several items placed neatly on a floating display panel—small weapons, a compact firearm, extra magazines, and what looked like a small quiver.

Tansy’s eyes immediately locked onto that quiver.

It was almost as if the man had been waiting specifically for them.

Tyler noticed that too.

Coincidence?

No.

Nothing here was coincidence.

He stepped forward slowly and picked up the quiver. Inside were small arrow-like pieces—so small they barely looked like arrows at all.

He turned one between his fingers and felt a slight mechanism hidden within.

Curious, he pressed it.

Click.

The tiny piece instantly extended, transforming into a full-sized arrow.

Tansy leaned closer, impressed.

"Everything is compact..."

Tyler smirked slightly. "Pocket-sized weapons. Convenient."

Tansy counted quickly.

"There are only ten."

"Enough for now," Tyler said. "We’ll find more."

Then he casually reached forward and passed his hand through the merchant’s shoulder.

There was no resistance.

"Oh," Tyler said calmly. "You’re a hologram."

The man smiled, not offended in the slightest.

"Yes. Encounters like this are rare. You could say you’re fortunate."

"Lucky us," Tyler muttered.

He tapped the quiver lightly. "So, can we take it?"

"Of course," the merchant replied. "But you must pay."

Tyler crossed his arms. "What kind of payment?"

The merchant’s eyes gleamed slightly.

"Simple. I require a piece of Azure Tox Slime."

Tyler raised an eyebrow.

"The same slime that tore through the street earlier?"

"Yes," the merchant said pleasantly. "Just a small sample will do. In exchange, you may choose one item."

Tyler paused. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Then slowly turned his head toward Tansy.

She had been unusually quiet for the past few seconds.

Without a word, she opened a small pouch she had been carrying.

Inside lay a small piece of blue slime.

It wasn’t moving anymore, but its surface still faintly shimmered.

"..." For a moment, even the holographic merchant seemed speechless.

Tyler looked at her, then at the slime, then back at her again.

┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉

Meanwhile, somewhere, the situation was far less calm.

Victor was kneeling on the ground, trembling.

His breathing was uneven, and his eyes were filled with panic.

Tears streamed down his face as he stared at the person standing before him.

Rose.

Her hands were steady.

The gun pointed directly at him.

The playful girl from before was gone.

In her place stood someone far colder.

Victor’s lips trembled.

He tried to speak.

But no words came out.

Something had gone terribly wrong.