The group continued searching for the Melboue-Zombie.
They all knew that if they didn't take it down before the one-day time limit ended, they would lose their lives. As they moved, Orvel, still walking side by side with Conrad, asked:
"What do you think of our chances of survival?" His face looked helpless as he spoke. Conrad turned and looked into his eyes, then answered:
"Actually, I'm pretty surprised."
Orvel, not expecting that answer, asked back:
"How so?"
Conrad smirked.
"I didn't expect everyone to stay calm after seeing those walking corpses."
"In the end, even though most of us knew about 'zombies,' seeing them in real life should be completely different."
Orvel thought for a moment and observed the faces of the moving party.
He could understand why Liebeld remained calm—he had experience with this madness. But Leylis and Elaris? That was something he hadn't expected at all.
"Now that you're telling me this..." he whispered.
Conrad added:
"It doesn't make sense for everyone to accept that they've been thrown into a game of life and death—then just pick up weapons and go fight a monster-like corpse that, according to what we heard, can detach a human head from the body with one swipe."
Conrad said this in a single breath.
Orvel gulped and kept moving.
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"He's fucking right!"
"Why isn't anyone asking more questions? Why did almost everybody just accept everything that's happening to them?"
"Is this really just about survival?"
"I knew that our emotions were surpressed in the "Room" but not here am I wrong ?"
At that moment, Orvel looked Conrad deep in the eye.
"Survival..."
"Calmness..."
"Curses and Zombies..."
Conrad smirked again, made a silence signal with his finger, and whispered:
"Keep what you've realized to yourself—and protect yourself."
"I believe that, in a short time, everything will become much clearer."
Orvel nodded and stayed quiet.
—
As the group continued on, a loud roar came from the left. Liebeld immediately nodded. His body and equipment were far more enhanced than the rest of the group.
"I've spotted the main target. It's seventy meters from our position."
Everyone nodded upon hearing Liebeld.
Orvel was about to suggest something but kept silent this time. Liebeld and Leylis noticed this change in his behavior but didn't comment. While Orvel said nothing, Elaris added:
"I suppose we can get close to it and let Conrad shoot his bolts at it to bring it down."
Liebeld shook his head.
"We need to get closer, but we don't know if Conrad's crossbow bolts are enough to kill it."
"We need to analyze its speed and reaction time."
"We don't know what it's truly capable of—other than its massive physical strength."
"Even if it can run like an ordinary human, that's enough to doom any group member it catches."
Elaris thought for a moment, then nodded.
"So... what should we do?" Leylis asked.
Liebeld took a deep breath and touched his chin while holding his staff.
"One look at that thing and I can say for sure—these people will die if it gets close."
"I should be able to beat it myself, but I don't know if it has any special 'Forced Concept.'"
"These newbies don't know anything about that stuff..." Liebeld thought.
"Forced Concept was an idea from "The Mystery." Trial-takers and members could acquire and control concepts to some extent. But creatures in trial worlds—monsters—usually had Forced Concepts.
Melboue-Zombie, killed by a curse and turned undead, most likely had a forced concept of 'Undeath' and possibly a related title like 'Poisonous Corpse.'
If that's true, it would likely have at least two passive and two active abilities. What if I make a mistake, get hit, and end up dead because of some hidden effect?
Would "The Mystery" really throw us into a trial where the enemy is a full Conceptor...?"
Liebeld worried. If he told Conrad or the others what he was thinking, "The Admin" would strike him down via the powers of The Mystery. It was strictly forbidden to reveal this level of detail to non-Conceptors.
This was an iron-clad rule of The Mystery—not just for trial-takers, but also for beings of the trial world, like Ectal and the old woman.
They weren't Conceptors. They weren't allowed to know.
At that moment, Orvel—who had been silent—shouted:
"It's running toward us!"
Liebeld snapped back to awareness and started counting down:
"Seven seconds..."
"Seven seconds until it's within combat range..."
"What should I do...?"
While he was starting to panic, Conrad shouted:
"Either we kill it now—or we'll be executed anyway."
"Everyone, spread out and surround it! It has two arms, so it can only attack one or two of us at a time!"
Conrad's words snapped Liebeld back to focus. He looked at the incoming Melboue-Zombie and whispered:
"Come..."
"Come to your death..."