This was bad. Very bad.

"Graaw!"

"Waow..."

The three wolves were now looking at me. I had a few minutes at best. The goal here was to grab the lady before she drowned. If she were awake, I could have at least had her remove the lenses and used her to my advantage.

No game developer would like to overlap one's monsters with real people not in the game. The wolves would never attack or even go near her if she wasn't in the game.

It was an excellent chance to have a meatshield that would usually end up in an account mute since the servers seemed malfunctioning, but that was all but a chance as long as she was sleeping.

I took a few steps back and screamed at the wolves again.

"GRAAOW!"

The wolves' screams overlapped as they charged straight toward me, leaping through the ground as they rushed ahead.

I held my spear tight and, on the other hand, grabbed a handful of the luminescent moss.

As soon as the wolves came near, I swung the moss in one of their eyes.

[Miss!]

OF COURSE!

I flipped on my feet and ran behind the cave, my feet carrying me through the rickety grounds of the cave. The wolves continued charging behind me as I dashed through the ground.

Constant clangs filled the air as I slammed the spear on the stones below.

And as I expected, two of the wolves were lured naturally on the opposite sides following the sounds of the spear.

"Graaaww!"

"Krrrr!"

They jumped into the skies and pranced at me. I immediately dived ahead as the two wolves crashed into each other.

"Argh—" But not before one of their claws got my back.

It hurt like shit, and my vision became slightly hazy.

Was a game supposed to hurt like a real wound?

Steadying my breath, I continued pushing ahead and ran toward the pond.

The third wolf growled and jumped at me at last, but avoiding just one was no biggie.

[Quick Steps]

The skill activated, and I found myself behind the last wolf.

My gaze went to the top right.

[HP: 400/1400]

What kind of insane shave-off was that? Just what creatures were these?

Not to make them block my path, I circled around the cave and rushed toward the pond.

Stepping off the cave walls, I jumped into the pond below the waterfall. Droplets sloshed out of the pond as the woman with blue hair slightly shook. She seemed to be wearing some rags of sorts, likely gear.

I ran ahead and pulled her by the hand to stop her from sticking her head in the water.

How did the TV describe this stuff? Yes. She seemed to be a beauty that would make the world stop and turn.

So I slapped her.

"Wake the fuck up bitch!"

A mouthful of water spilled left her as her head was knocked over.

Growls resounded once more, the wovles were right behind me. One of them ran on the walls and jumped at the pond.

I quickly pulled her on my shoulder and jumped away from the pond.

I had to keep my calm and look at everything. The stabbing pain and the baggage on hand made it challenging, but it was necessary.

The spear firmly supported my left while I circled toward the narrow passageway I had come in from. She hadn't been under the water for that long, so I grabbed her hair and pulled it out.

"Wake up. I have risked a whole year of Rat's Pizza delivery boy's salary on you!"

The wolves almost caught up.

[Quick Steps]

I used my trump card again to make some distance. By the time the cooldown ended, I would be mincemeat. But that was fine; it wasn't like I could step into the passageway with the skill.

"What is this... place..."

"Oh! You're up! Get rid of the lenses..."

"Where am I, peasant?"

"Not your bed, for sure. Remove the lenses!"

The woman tilted her head in confusion. Damn it, was she an NPC then? I still couldn't tell. NPCs weren't supposed to be this heavy.

"Go in the passageway, and don't even think of stepping out if you don't want to die."

"Passageway?"

I ignored her doubt and kept running ahead. The woman turned her head back and widened her eyes.

"Don't go there, peasant."

Her cold words were similar to those of cold-blooded killers. I had seen many of them and could put her on the level.

She had to be an NPC. It's not like any ex-mafia or serial killer would end up playing Rise of Babel...

Well, maybe not.

Just as I was about to step in front of the passageway.

A loud boom resounded in the air, and the thin walls of the passage broke apart.

I came to a stop as the stones all around fell to the ground, and on the other side emerged the wolf I had left behind.

These damned AR Games. Was the passageway ever even real?

I slowly placed the woman down and looked around.

"Hey, remove your Zagros and get out of here. The game seems to be malfunctioning."

"What do you..."

She was an NPC. I have no doubts anymore.

But I was already in deep trouble. There was no helping it.

And anyway, Rise of Babel's NPCs had a trait where they never really resurrected even if they died.

This wasn't all that bad.

"Inventory," I called again, but again, there was nothing. It seemed I would have to hold on with my spear.

"Get out of here then. I don't think we'll manage to hold off against these wolves."

"Peasant," she muttered. "Why do you seek to help me?"

The wolves roared and jumped our way as if they would wait for your sappy question, NPC!

I kicked her shin and pulled her to a run again.

"We don't have time for that! Just get away from here!"

"Haha! That was enough of an answer."

The blue-haired woman stopped me. Not with her beauty, no, she planted her feet firmly on the ground and stopped me with raw, gorilla-like strength.

As if stealing candy from a child, she nabbed the spear from my hand and turned it around.

I didn't react. I couldn't react.

In a single swing, she turned the shaft of the spear and smacked my head with it.

What?

What just happened?

My vision darkened as I fell over to my back, the light going away from my eyes.

"Sleep a bit, too."

Those were the last words I heard.

The last time I had lost consciousness... was when a truck hit me.