Chapter 87: Forgetting Fear |
Guan Shan lifted his head, his gaze locked onto the monstrous, towering figure of the three-headed "family portrait" surrounded by the massive body formed from the apartment.
The weakness was obvious—the man's face. In every horror game, large bosses never require you to hack down the entire thing; there's always a targeted weak spot to exploit. The problem was, he couldn't be sure if the entire 110,000 HP was concentrated in that weak spot. If not, he would have to face the monstrous apartment again, possibly in a second, more enraged form. That would be even harder to handle...
"But if I don't kill this thing, I can't get out!"
Guan Shan stood at the edge of a broken walkway, sighed deeply, and glanced down to plot a route. He looked up at the incoming giant hands and arms, flipped a middle finger, gritted his teeth, and jumped down.
If he wasn't sure that falling from a great height wouldn't deplete his health, Guan Shan wouldn't dare jump like this.
"Damn..." Zhao Keji was stunned, forgetting his fear, and quickly scrambled to the door.
"Bang!"
Guan Shan landed heavily on one of the horizontal walkways, rolled to his feet, and ran along the path. Giant hands smashed down from all directions. Guan Shan activated [Gravity Control]! At level 3, [Gravity Control] allowed control over the gravity of objects up to 100kg for 30 seconds. This meant Guan Shan could virtually ignore gravity and fly for 30 seconds!
At this moment, he reversed his gravitational direction upward.
Guan Shan pushed off the ground, using his previous momentum to rocket upward, avoiding most of the giant hands. Zhao Keji's distorted exclamation faded behind him.
"Rumble..."
The hands smashed the walkway, shattering it.
Guan Shan saw a massive "-6867" pop up where the arm landed, shivering at the thought. That hit could have outright killed a previous boss! Yet, on this boss, it merely chipped away a small fraction.
Guan Shan sped upward, nearing the three-headed family portrait. More hands and walkways smashed toward him from all directions, leaving almost no gaps. He twisted and turned mid-air, narrowly dodging several attacks, his fear growing: "This is too dangerous, and [Gravity Control]’s duration is still too short. If I keep this up, the cooldown will start. I should try ranged attacks first to see if I can deal with it."
Guan Shan decided to retreat. Three seconds later...
"Damn! Why did I stop?"
"Oh, great timing! I can bait an attack, fly between these two hands, and use the arm to run further, waiting out [Gravity Control]'s cooldown."
"Whoosh—"
Guan Shan executed an extreme maneuver, squeezing through a gap, then controlled his last second of gravity upward, flipped, and slashed the arm, anchoring himself.
Above, the eerie face seemed to notice, turning its stiff eyes toward Guan Shan. The arm he was on began collapsing, curling toward him.
"Goddamn it!"
Guan Shan scrambled, running up the arm. Steel and concrete surged at him like an entire building collapsing. Well, this was an entire apartment building!
Guan Shan despaired, recalling he had initially planned to run but ended up charging forward.
"What the hell? I can't keep going like this! I need to..."
"I need to finish it off!"
"The steel and concrete are just giving me steps! Hold out a bit longer, and the cooldown will end. I can reach that guy’s face! Such a good opportunity, not seizing it would be cowardly!"
Guan Shan accelerated, using the body as a staircase, leaping and dodging. He was like an ant running on a giant's body, with only his flashlight illuminating a small patch of light. But this ant was swiftly approaching the center of the darkness, seemingly fearless, charging ahead!
——
From Zhao Keji's perspective, it was a breathtaking scene. He stood at the door, mouth agape, reduced to "Ababa oh my god" exclamations, losing the ability to speak coherently. His face, previously tear-streaked and snotty from fear, now had a dazed, slack-jawed look, complementing his earlier panic. Even the horror of his companions’ deaths paled in comparison to this sight.
Zhao Keji wiped his drool, muttering, "So there really are superheroes in this world..."
Feeling some relief, he finally took in the room. The first thing he noticed was the number plate on the door.
"704? Damn..."
Cold sweat drenched his back. He realized this was the infamous resident’s home. The sudden monster and the lone resident must be related.
Yet, this house was the only safe place. No matter how the apartment-turned-monster raged, this room only slightly shook. Zhao Keji cautiously explored, noting strange symbols on the walls and floors.
"These symbols... I saw them on the way in, thought they were children's graffiti."
He made a round through the house, finding only the kitchen door closed. Curiosity piqued, Zhao Keji approached but remembered the resident’s three-week isolation... with no food wrappers around.
Cold sweat drenched him again. He quickly suppressed his curiosity. His friends' deaths were fresh in his mind. He clapped his hands together, prayed, and backed away.
——
Meanwhile, the man on the road stared at the book's feedback, bewildered. He double-checked the instructions he wrote for "Guan Shan."
"No mistake, but what did he forget? Did he forget how to retreat? Why is he fighting harder?!"
For the first time in his career as a "preacher," he doubted his god-given abilities. The man muttered, "Impossible, the god’s power is infallible. The problem lies with Guan Shan."
Enlightened, he realized Guan Shan was incorrigible, beyond salvation. Such a situation required higher intervention.
"But before that... some pests are approaching. My god must not be exposed now. Until next time."
The man wrote on his page, "To others, he’s just an ordinary person," as Special Security Group members approached.