Hacking the Game Didn’t Go as Intended

 After partaking of the sweet nectar from a flower, a lone butterfly gracefully takes flight, soaring into a nearby tree. Its wings, adorned with colors that seamlessly blend with the foliage, conceal it within the branches.

Suddenly, the unforgiving laws of nature bore its fangs and the innocent creature unwittingly fell prey to a silky prison—a perfectly woven spider web.

Zephyr let out a contented yawn, comfortably sprawled out on his stomach in the lush grass. In addition to the canine’s reassuring presence, the Beastfolk community, overjoyed by the survival of Rexar, Elena, and Milo, exuded a renewed sense of enthusiasm and confidence.

Temporarily forsaking their mound-like dwellings, they embraced the beauty of nature within the embrace of the barrier. As children frolicked in play, the adults were busy using ingredients that Daisuke left behind to make a celebratory feast in preparation for the heroes’ return from the mountain.

While her people reveled in the absence of fear, Timartha shifted her attention to the lounging wolf pup with little faith. However, it was Sylvia who voiced her concerns.

“Is it really wise to entrust our lives to this wolf?” she muttered anxiously as the canine playfully rolled over, exposing its furry underbelly. “It’s obviously an infant.”

Feng, Timartha, and her two female aides were visibly perturbed by the question.

“Why do you think Haxks and the others went to the mountain?” asked Mia.

“…To put a stop to the demons once and for all,” responded Aldric as he joined the scene.

“But to what end?” Mia continued.

“To protect the village,” one of Timartha’s aides replied.

“I’ve known Haxks since we were kids,” admitted Mia, reminiscing. “But now that I think about it, he never behaved like a child—he was always calm and calculating, like an adult. It was his leadership that ensured a lot of children could eat.”

Mia shifted her gaze from the eager group to the sunbathing pup. “Exterminating the demons would be pointless if the village is destroyed in the process. Haxks knows this, which is why I’m sure Zephyr may be some sort of secret weapon.”

“For your sake, child… and all of ours,” Timartha began as the pup chased his tail, “I really hope that you’re right.”

“Will Big Brother and the others really be okay?” April asked in a melancholic tone, looking toward the distant mountain.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” reassured Feng with a smile. “After what they went through in the dungeon, it’s clear that they’re leagues above your average adventurer.”

April turned her gaze toward Mia questioningly, and the girl nodded in agreement. “He’s right—I’m sure our Big Brother is more than capable of handling a bunch of demons,” she said while stroking the girl’s hair.

All of a sudden, Zephyr pushed to his feet with an urgency that caught everyone’s attention. Raising his nose skyward, the canine sniffed the air with a grunt, his fur bristling as he noted the stench of something sinister and fast approaching.

“Ruff!” the pup barked, a warning that needed no translation.

Without hesitation, Feng sprinted toward the adults, vigorously waving his arms. “It’s the demons!” he roared. “Get back to your houses! Hurry!”

Sylvia and Mia hastily herded the kids back to their families who were reluctant to retreat otherwise. Then they hurried back to Timartha and her aides who were frozen in place.

“Grandma!” Sylvia called breathlessly, clutching the woman’s arm. “What’re you doing? We need to get away!”

“Do you all have a death wish?!” Feng snapped. “We don’t have much time! We need to get back to the mound!”

“To what end exactly?” Timartha protested. “If the demons manage to raid again, Elmridge is finished.”

Sharing her sentiments, the few men who remained following the multiple waves of invasions in the past, arrived on the scene. They were all firmly gripping their age-old farming equipment.

“We have to offer support to the wolf in whatever way we can,” Timartha urged, rallying the villagers. “If he falls, the entire village goes along with him!”

“My boy was on the brink of death until Milo healed him,” one man began, waving his pitchfork. “I’ll be damned before I let him get hurt again!”

“My daughter is all I have left,” another man murmured angrily. “I won’t… I can’t afford to lose her too.”

As tensions boiled among the villagers, Zephyr scanned his surroundings with faculties that people couldn’t even begin to fathom. A howl laced with the Antagonize skill had the demons stopping in their tracks.

Instead of surrounding the village and seeping through the concealment barrier from all directions, they all gushed into the village like a virus from a malignant wound, stampeding toward the source of the infuriating howl.

The village folk flinched back in trepidation. Memories of the demons’ fiendish deeds and the grief they caused painted a foe in the hearts of the people that was more horrendous than it really was.

Creatures a few inches taller than goblins charged into the village in droves. The horns on their heads encompassed the space where eye sockets should have been.

A hard exoskeleton carved sharp teeth in the gaping hole that was their mouths, and their gnarled and emaciated bodies had incandescent veins running through them like the magma of a volcano.

Timartha fell to her knees.

“Th-There’s too many of them,” a man stuttered.

“We’re sorely outnumbered,” another muttered.

April clung to Mia in fright, and Aldric stood defensively in front of them. Sylvia laced her fingers and began to pray while Feng grounded his teeth in frustration as he clutched a worn-out sword that had seen better days.

Zephyr held his ground as the creatures drew nearer. Their eerie screeches and menacing claws did little to deter the canine. His hackles became more erect as he took a deep breath, then from his snout, a sea of flames unfurled like a tidal wave, mercilessly consuming the demons like flint to a raging fire.

The villagers looked on in abject shock, even more so when Zephyr lazily sprawled out on his belly in the grass again.

“H-He really was able to defeat them all on his own,” murmured Timartha in a dumbfounded tone.

Noting the telling vibrations rippling through its web, a monstrous spider slowly began encroaching upon the struggling butterfly, only to be ensnared and devoured by a creature resembling a praying mantis.

***

Hundreds of thoughts surged through Rexar’s mind—traitor isn’t one he particularly wanted to consider. But the unsettling notion of betrayal clawed its way to the forefront of his mind as the assassin’s blade traced a deadly path toward his face. The lingering hum of pain from Daisuke’s boot in his back served as a haunting reminder that his impending demise was an outcome of his friend’s intervention. However, just before his head was split in twain—

PUOK-PUOK-PUOK!

Three darts, smeared in a suspicious purple liquid, flew over his head and embedded themselves in the far side of the wall. Elena and Milo were caught in a whirlwind of astonishment while Rexar awkwardly collapsed on his face like a discarded rug.

With hands casually tucked in his pockets, Daisuke leisurely lowered his leg. “The assassin was just an illusion.”

“Shifting attention away from the genuine threat,” Milo clarified in alarm as his gaze darted to the other side of the wall that now revealed a series of holes that hadn’t existed moments before. “While the intruder fixates on the illusion, they’re fatally wounded by the physical weapons concealed in the walls.”

“And by the looks of it,” Elena observed with a frown, watching a droplet of the ominous liquid fall from the metallic dart to the ground. “It’s obvious that the projectiles are coated in poison.”

Rexar raised his head, spitting out the dirt that had gotten into his mouth. Then with a rueful expression, he looked up at Daisuke who was now crouched down in front of him.

“…Sorry, I messed up.”

Daisuke flicked his forehead. “No one got hurt this time, but we may not be as lucky next time. Follow my lead and try not to be led astray.”

Rexar hung his head dejectedly, but he nodded in understanding before casting Elena and Milo a repentant gaze. But instead of an accusing expression, the duo smiled supportively, which brought back a tinge of color to Rexar’s face.