Rat Hole

[Ace POV],

Continuing to follow the rats that kept running in and out of holes that appeared at some point during the journey, I discovered that the rats I thought were originally scattered after their meal were not separated and were simply heading to their respective holes to go wherever they were going.

And as for how the holes appear? The earth rat's name was sufficient to provide an answer.

Something I noticed from most of the monsters whose names I checked with the primordial chronicle had their element revealed in their name.historical

The fire eagle, for example, had the fire element, as did the fire ape, though it could reveal it, and now there were earth rats, whose element was actually the earth element, as it was in their name.

There was also the wind hawk, as well as monsters who did not follow the rules, such as the goblin lord, the mutated cat and dogs I had previously fought against, and some other creatures such as zombies.

It makes me wonder if zombies will still exist in the real world.

And, given the rate at which these creatures grew, it wouldn't be surprising if they suddenly began to use magic.

This thought arose as a result of my encounter with the mutated zombie who ate the awakening fruit.

Perhaps there's a reason for this, or the primordial chronicle simply had a pattern of naming creatures, as elemental jobs' names also revealed their element.

Something else I noticed about these rats was that they had some sort of surveillance system between them because, from the beginning to the present point in this journey, I have never seen a monster trailing after these rats.

It was as if they knew where all of the monsters in the area were and avoided them.

It was either this or it was that the earth rats possessed some sort of power that allowed them to detect creatures other than their own from afar.

In any case, all of these events had little impact on me as I continued to follow and observe them.

This went on for a few more minutes as I continued trailing the rats by jumping from tree to tree in order to remain undetected by the earth rats beneath me as the night aided me.

Ultimately, I was led from the grassy forest to a rocky area dotted with hills.

In a place like this, I couldn't use the trees to transport myself because they weren't as dense and numerous as they were in the new place I'd just been led to.

I also couldn't go back because it would be a waste of time after trailing the earth rats for several minutes.

The earth rats group I was trailing stopped a few minutes after we arrived at this rocky area as holes suddenly started appearing around them as more rats began to pour out, forming something resembling a sea of rats.

The sight itself was certainly unappealing from what I was witnessing, but my attention was elsewhere.

I knew I had finally arrived at the location the earth rats were heading to because the earth rat group I was trailing had suddenly stopped together with its fellow race men I thought were scattered before. Looking at it from the direction I was, it appears to be a rocky hill filled with holes.

It didn't take long for me to confirm my suspicions when the earth rat began to enter the rocky hill through the hole as the surroundings became a little noisy for a while before stopping immediately after the last set of earth rats entered the hill.

Even after seeing this, I decided to stay in my current location for a while to see if the surroundings were really clear before venturing out.

This was my plan before I dashed back to hiding when I noticed a few figures appear near the rocky hill where the earth rats had entered.

The figures in this scene were all men.

There are four in total.

They were dressed in a few pieces of armor and held various weapons in their hands.

Two of the men here held swords, one a spear, and the other a bow and arrow.

And looking at the form in which they hid themselves, I could tell that these people were undoubtedly regular people before the apocalypse, but considering that they could still enter the true world, I did not lower my guard against the newcomers but rather raised it as I observed the people who slowly emerged from their half-assed stealthy state and approached the rocky hill.

I was expecting to see humans when I went out to hunt, so seeing humans was not a big deal.

The only thing it did was pique my interest in why they were here in a place like this, and based on their actions up to this point, it could be confirmed that their goal was the rocky hills the earth rat entered.

Unfortunately, I had no idea what was going on and based on how close the men were to each other, it was obvious they were talking, but the distance between us prevented me from hearing what they were saying.

I considered approaching once, but decided against it and instead chose to observe and see where things lead.

It was already good enough that I managed to evade detection until now.

It was also unknown if they were like me and unevolved humans because the last thing I want to encounter tonight is an evolved human against whom I would be powerless.

It would be even worse if they were all four at once.

At the very least, tonight has become more interesting.

As I was thinking of this, the men in front of me made their move.

....

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