The Attendant in the Horror Game C35

Chapter 35

“What… is this…?”

Jade muttered the words, momentarily forgetting that Ian was right beside him. Ian would probably assume he was whispering about the shadow wolves rather than the flickering system window.

The system continued to spit out warnings, the flashing red alerts growing more violent by the second.

Jade’s feet felt frozen to the ground. They needed to run. His instincts screamed it at him. Slowly, he lowered the sack, raised the hatchet toward the wolves, and with his free hand gripped Ian’s forearm tightly. Given the circumstances, Ian did not brush him off.

※ ‘Shadow Wolf.’ Fears darkness and displays high intelligence.

That was the one-line description the system provided—even now. Not the slightest hint of how to escape or exploit a weakness. Completely unhelpful.

Still, Jade knew a few things. Shadow Wolves were monsters native to the northern forest, known for their blurred, difficult-to-strike forms. They moved in packs, making them even harder to deal with.

In the game, they weren’t even a significant enemy—just early-route mobs on the path to the final phase. But that was when everything happened safely on a screen.

Now, one of the wolves in front braced its hind legs. It crouched low, bared its teeth, and growled. It looked ready to lunge at them any second.

Drool dripped from its mouth—it was starving. Monsters awakening in early spring hunted aggressively to make up for a winter’s worth of hunger. And now, Ian and Jade were their chosen prey.

“Get behind me.”

“But…!”

Jade pulled Ian behind his back. Even though they were surrounded from all sides, at least there was one tree behind Jade that could shield Ian for a moment.

He took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the hatchet. It was the only weapon he had.

“Rraaagh—!”

The leading wolf sprang forward. Its cloudy, trembling form shot through the air like an arrow. Its fog-like body was unclear, but the exposed fangs gleamed—sharp and unmistakably real.

“Aaah!”

Jade swung his hatchet toward the wolf. The blade grazed its side, but the hit had no substance. It felt like cutting through water. The creature’s form dispersed briefly into vapor, then reformed.

“Grrr…”

“Awoo—!”

Several wolves around them howled and growled. One lunged from the side. Jade struck it cleanly, but the wolf twisted and landed, completely unharmed.

I can’t hit them…

Physical attacks were useless. If things continued like this, they’d die—torn apart and devoured.

There was a method. Shadow Wolves feared darkness; in the game, players used light-blocking skills to clear them. But Jade had no such abilities. He couldn’t blot out the sun.

Another way… think!

As Jade grasped for ideas, the wolf he had grazed earlier sprang again.

“It’s dangerous!”

Ian shoved Jade. As Jade curled defensively, the wolf’s claws skimmed just above his head.

“Ugh…”

The back of his hand split open, blood welled and dripped. Barely a graze—yet the wound was deep. If not for Ian, it would have been his skull split open, not his skin.

He felt Ian’s panic, but there was no time to address it. They needed calm—not fear.

Jade sprang back to his feet, ignoring the pain, and tightened his hold on the hatchet. The circle of wolves had drawn closer. They had been attacking one by one to tighten the ring.

Soon they would all pounce at once.

Then there would be no escape.

The sun…

Shadow Wolves, unlike normal nocturnal wolves, were most active in daylight. Like their name suggested, they existed like living shadows—once darkness consumed them, they lost form. A strange piece of lore, but one Jade remembered clearly.

“Stay close to me,” Jade whispered.

They needed to risk it—to break through the tightening circle. His palms slicked with sweat against the hatchet handle.

He spotted the smallest wolf, positioned to his right, a shadow cast by a nearby tree behind it.

“Raaagh!”

“Grrr—!”

Jade shouted and threw the hatchet with all his strength. It spun and hit the wolf, scattering its shape before clattering to the ground.

The circular formation wavered. Jade seized the moment—he grabbed Ian’s hand with one hand and yanked the sack with the other, then sprinted toward the shadowed area.

“Huff—hah—”

He ran only through the patches of shade where the wolves couldn’t step, darting between dark spaces faster than the wolves could reorganize. Behind them, howls and growls grew frenzied.

“Hurry…!”

The wolves wouldn’t step into the shade—good. But the shadows were too small, too fragmented—no continuous cover.

They had to dart through the shadows while the wolves chased along the sunny ground. If a wolf leaped from the sunlit area into the shade in the right moment, they’d be dead.

“Ah!”

Then Jade slipped. The wooden soles of his makeshift boots skidded on the snow. Even with grooves added to the bottom, it wasn’t enough. Worse, he tripped on a hidden stone and slammed into the ground.

“Raaagh!”

Their cries grew louder—inhuman, bone-deep, wrong. A chill stabbed Jade’s spine.

He forced himself upright and ran again.

But how long could he keep this up? His ankle throbbed, his knee stung. There was no way they’d outrun the wolves like this.

“Huff—hah—The pumpkins!”

Ian gasped breathlessly as they ran.

“What?”

“When you threw the hatchet—the wolf’s body scattered. If you keep throwing—!”

“Oh!”

Right. When struck, even for a moment, the wolves lost form.

The hatchet was gone—but they did have the pumpkins.

Four wolves behind them. Three pumpkins.

Maybe enough.

But he’d have to let go of Ian’s hand to throw one. Ian’s stride was much shorter, much weaker. Jade wasn’t sure he could keep up alone.

“Haa… hah… Can you run on your own for a moment?”

“Yes.”

Ian answered without hesitation. In moments like this, he almost felt older than Jade. It reassured him in a strange way.

And they had no other choice. Jade let go of his hand, reached into the sack while running, and hurled the first Aged Snowflower Pumpkin.

“Grrr…!”

It arced beautifully, striking the lead wolf. Its body dissolved in an instant. Behind them, the rest howled in rage—like hunters refusing to lose their prey.

He grabbed another pumpkin and threw it—this time knocking out two wolves at once. The three collapsed into haze, leaving only one confused wolf still chasing.

“There!”

Ian pointed desperately. A cave. Amazingly, a cave mouth yawned open ahead.

Jade scooped Ian into his arms. Ian had slowed; exhaustion was creeping in. Of course—he was a child.

“Jade—wait—!”

“There’s no waiting in this situation!”

With Ian in his arms and the sack slung across his back, Jade charged up the slope toward the cave. His foot slipped again on the incline, but he caught himself against a rock and pushed on.

His lungs burned, his legs felt like stone, but he could not stop. The wolves behind them were reforming and closing in. Their breathing felt like hot breath upon the back of his neck.

“Aaah!”

With the last of his strength, Jade hurled himself forward, tumbling with Ian and the sack into the darkness of the cave.