They still didn't speak but I was able to see exactly what they were wearing. One wore a cracked jack-o'-lantern mask, paired with a torn letterman jacket and jeans stiff with old blood. He gripped a splintered metal chair leg, the end jagged and rust-colored.
The second had a smiling devil face, his clothes pieced together from a sports store—compression leggings under shredded cargo shorts, a sleeveless hoodie layered with duct-taped shoulder pads made from foam workout mats. He brandished a wooden baseball bat studded with nails, likely torn from a hardware kiosk.
The third, tallest, wore a witch's grin streaked in red, draped in a ripped Halloween cloak over a store uniform apron and carried the makeshift spear.
I couldn't tell their age or gender. Not that it mattered. They didn't look friendly These might be the people Wei Shen was talking about except it looks like they are expanding.
I stepped forward slowly, blade in hand, my voice even. "You following us, or was he just in your way?"
No response. They were trying to build fear and hesitation. An effective tactic against normal people. But I knew the trick. The others not so much.
Liam shifted beside me, knuckles white around his baton. Amber drew her machete. Sol kept his bow half-lowered but ready.
The one with the devil mask tilted its head.
"No names. No words. Not even a warning. Y'all must have watched a lot of horror movies, you are scaring my friends here. Can you tone it down?" I said with a smile and I saw from the corner of my eye that everyone visibly relaxed except Karen who was shaking like a leaf.
They charged.
The jack-o'-lantern moved first—fast and reckless. I stepped into his path, blade raised. We clashed hard. He swung wildly with the chair leg, but I parried it aside and slashed across his thigh. He stumbled but didn't fall.
The witch-masked attacker swung her spear at Liam. He blocked it with his baton, sparks flying. She was strong but sloppy—each move full of brute anger, not technique.
Amber tangled with the devil mask, machete flashing. He ducked and countered with a brutal overhead swing of the nail-studded bat. She deflected, barely, the impact jolting her arm.
Sol loosed an arrow that clipped the jack-o'-lantern's shoulder, staggering him. I moved in and slashed across his chest, but he backpedaled fast, blood dripping.
Then the devil-masked one hissed, voice loud and twitchy. "Time to see the TRUE POWER of the CHOSEN!"
The jack-o'-lantern screamed, "Quick Step!" and surged forward in a blur.
Too fast.
He nearly slipped past me entirely. I twisted, caught his arm, and drove my katana into his ribs. He shrieked under the mask, stumbling backward.
The witch-masked attacker bellowed, "Brute Force!" and lunged at Liam with the makeshift spear raised overhead. The impact knocked Liam into the wall, his shoulder taking the brunt. He grunted in pain but didn't drop his baton.
Amber caught the movement and slashed at the witch, driving her back.
The devil-masked one raised both hands and hissed, "Static Touch!" before lunging toward me. His fingers crackled faintly—some kind of stun effect. I blocked the grab with my forearm, wincing as a jolt of energy bit through my skin. I didn't know what it was, but the System had something to do with it. People don't just have electricity shooting from their fingers. How was he able to do it? Maybe it's a skill but how did he get it? I will find out later even if I have to force it out of him. If I hadn't been used to pain, the average person would have fallen out because of the shock. We are falling behind in skills and that is not a good sign.
Sol loosed another arrow—it slammed into the devil's thigh, dropping him to one knee.
I followed up with a clean slice to the collarbone.
Liam roared, slamming his baton into the witch-masked attacker's knee, then his side, then his skull. It took three hits to drop him. Liam staggered, blood trickling down his arm.
Amber finished the jack-o'-lantern with a deep machete strike to the back.
They didn't fight like people. They fought like addicts desperate and rabid which was strange. Maybe they are on something or it's another skill that keeps them going but after a while their struggle was pointless. They were stronger than the goblins but they didn't have any real combat skills and their injuries were increasing with each moment.
When the fight was finally over, the three of them were lying on the ground with one already dead and the other two barely alive. The one with the back injury was muttering strange things like he was the chosen one and shouldn't have fallen like this. The other was relatively fine except for the arrow in his thigh and cuts on his body. I crouched over the body with an arrow in it and yanked the mask off.
A boy couldn't be older than twenty smiling at me with bloody teeth.
Liam stared. Amber stepped back, sick rising behind her eyes.
"What the hell is wrong with people," she whispered.
I ignored her. We needed answers.
I dragged the boy's body upright against the wall. He tried to fight me but I punched him in the face stunning him.
"Who are you working with?" I asked.
He coughed blood. Tried to laugh. Didn't answer.
I took his left hand and gripped one finger.
Crack.
He screamed.
Liam flinched hard, his jaw tightening as he turned his face away. Amber stepped back farther, horror creeping into her features.
"We don't have time for mercy," I said flatly. "You need to get used to that."
I snapped another finger. His scream was hoarse this time, broken by wet coughs.
Karen gasped behind me. Amber started forward, half a step—then froze when I looked at her.
"If you've got a problem with this," I said without raising my voice, "go watch the perimeter. Make sure we don't get flanked."
Amber hesitated. Then turned and walked back toward the corner, machete tight in her grip.
Sol didn't even glance over. He was already rummaging through the other corpses—checking pockets, belt pouches, anything worth taking.
I turned back to the boy and dragged my knife down his thigh—not deep, but slow, calculated. He howled.
"Talk," I said.
He spat at me.
So I stabbed him in the knee—angled, deliberate. His body jerked, a fresh scream ripping from his lungs.
"Last chance."
Tears streamed down his cheeks now. "We're part of a group—six more! Maybe seven now! Everyone wears masks so we can have a secret identity. We kill anyone who crosses our path because they aren't one of is Chosen! We are the real players and will ascend the leaderboard! The System's watching all and rewards us!"
I knelt beside him again, blade resting lightly on his thigh.
"Where did you get your skills?"
He hesitated. I twisted the blade slightly.
"I will tell you since you have proven yourself to be a Chosen. There's a store," he gasped. "All the way at the end of the mall. You can't enter unless you're under level 10. The System puts up a prompt—it's called the Beginner's Store."
"What do they sell?"
"Skill books. Weapons. Equipment. Potions. All expensive—only take bronze coins. That's why we're hunting people. Goblins drop coins too, but the rate's shit."
"How many more in your group have skills?"
"Three. One has flame powers. Another can heal. I don't know what the last one does—she refuses to say."
He was shaking now. "There's also a leaderboard inside. Shows who's highest level in the dungeon. It's how we knew we were behind."
I stared at him, disgust and understanding curdling in my gut.
"I see."
I let him bleed out after that. No one stopped me.
When I stood, Liam finally spoke. "That was unnecessary."
I wiped my blade. "No. It was efficient."
Amber didn't say anything. But she wouldn't meet my eyes.
I keyed my radio. "Alpha to all teams. Be advised. Masked human hostiles confirmed. Located near the east electronics wing. Number six but there may be more, they are hostile and organized. Treat as kill-on-sight."
Static. Then a chorus of affirmatives.
"We're regrouping," I said. "Judy's Makeup store. Central junction, second floor. Five minutes."
I clicked off the radio and turned to Karen.
"You still want to find your sister?"
She nodded, hesitantly hiding behind Amber.
"Good, Sol what did you find?"
I sheathed my sword and turned to him.
"15 bronze coins, two per goblin and three per human.One adrenaline Patch, and Goblin Blood-stained Cloth unless you want their weapons?" he said passing the items to me.
I looked at the patch and cloth and used appraisal.
Adrenaline Patch x1 (Consumable - Uncommon)
Effect: +15% movement speed and pain suppression for 60 seconds.
Warning: May cause stamina to crash after use.
Goblin Blood-Stained Cloth (Material - Common) – Used for crafting common-grade gear, nothing much.
"You hold on to it, hopefully, we can sell the cloth at the store or Viktor might be able to use it for something," I said handing it back to him. "Now we have to wait for the others to arrive."
I signal the group to the store in front of us and lead the way.