Kanuka wasn’t happy about being the bait for the Shadow Wolf Alpha.
Not even close.
He grumbled and muttered under his breath the entire time he prepped for it.
But deep down, he knew.
Life hadn’t been fair for him growing up in the slums.
It wasn’t going to start being fair now just because they were inside some shiny fantasy game.
Fair was something rich people got.
Slum kids got survival.
And right now, the guild—their guild—needed someone to pull that wolf.
So Kanuka squared his shoulders, clenched his fists, and accepted it.
He snuck forward quietly, creeping over the rough ground.
The Shadow Wolf Alpha was sprawled out under a crooked, thorny tree, napping in the dappled shade.
Kanuka took a deep breath.
He had long since turned on Free Mode aiming, which let him throw farther and hit harder than auto-mode—if he could aim.
His first rock sailed wide, harmlessly plopping into the dirt a good two meters away.
The Alpha didn’t even twitch.
It was like a mosquito buzzing by.
Kanuka threw again.
Miss.
Again.
Miss.
Again.
Miss.
He swore under his breath and kept throwing.
After eight tries, one rock finally thunked into the wolf’s side.
It cracked one glowing yellow eye, huffed, and laid its head back down.
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One point of damage wasn’t going to phase it.
Kanuka gritted his teeth and threw another.
Miss.
The wolf ignored it completely.
Kanuka wiped the sweat off his palms, feeling the clock ticking.
They didn’t have forever.
In Towerbound, mobs eventually respawned—and if he took too long, other Shadow Wolves might start popping back into the field.
‘Not happening,’ Kanuka thought grimly.
He threw again.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Two hits in a row.
The Shadow Wolf Alpha’s ears pinned back.
It gave a low, angry growl, then let out a sharp howl that echoed off the craggy cliffs.
The Alpha’s head snapped up—and this time, it wasn’t going back to sleep.
Some little ant was annoying him. Badly.
Kanuka yelped, “FUCK!” at the top of his lungs—and ran.
No zigging.
No zagging.
Just full-speed, balls-to-the-wall sprinting straight toward the rocky ledge where Ren and the others were waiting.
His heart hammered in his chest.
He knew—knew—that if he got killed too soon, Ren would absolutely make him do it all over again.
No mercy.
No sympathy.
‘If I screw this up, I’m dead twice,’ Kanuka thought grimly.
The Shadow Wolf Alpha roared behind him, claws ripping up dirt as it chased him, eating up the distance fast.
Kanuka’s legs pumped harder.
The wolf was faster.
Way faster.
Kanuka could feel the ground vibrating with every pounding step behind him.
And then—
Just when Kanuka thought he was toast—
A familiar little figure darted out of the brush.
One of the Gloomsprites.
It was the same cheerful, full-health Gloomsprite Kanuka had accidentally healed during the earlier fights.
It gave a tiny chirp at him, almost like a squeaky hello.
‘No way,’ Kanuka thought, half in disbelief.
The little Gloomsprite latched onto the Alpha’s flank and started scrubbing at its fur, all energetic and happy.
The Alpha slowed, distracted by the affectionate parasite.
It didn’t hate the Gloomsprites—it needed them to clean its fur—but right now, it was slowing it down.
Just enough.
Kanuka surged forward, gasping for air, spotting the rocky ledge just ahead.
‘Almost there,’ he thought desperately.
‘Almost there, don’t trip now—’
And the whole kill team was waiting—rocks in hand, spells ready, grins on their faces.
Kanuka was going to make it.
He just had to hold on for a few more seconds.
Kanuka bolted toward the craggy ledge, his lungs burning, his arms pumping, his mind screaming.
He crossed the invisible line into range.
The Shadow Wolf Alpha had caught up to Kanuka though.
With a brutal lunge, it clamped its jaws around Kanuka’s back and ripped him apart like paper.
A Level 2 cleric without armor or buffs?
That was just a light snack for an elite monster like the Shadow Wolf Alpha.
Kanuka barely had time to scream “FUCK!” before his body hit the rocky ground, and his health bar vanished in one blink.
[System Notification: You have died.]
[You have lost all accumulated experience past Level 2.]
[You may retrieve your corpse to reduce death penalty. Timer: 59:59]
Kanuka’s ghost floated awkwardly above the spot, translucent and grumpy.
‘Goddamn slums, goddamn being poor,’ he thought bitterly.
‘Nothing’s ever fair. Not out there, not in here.’
He looked down at his crumpled body, the huge shadow wolf still prowling nearby.
There was no way he was going back to reclaim his corpse yet.
In Towerbound, if you died a second time before retrieving your body, you lost a full level.
And right now, if he died again, he’d drop from Level 2 all the way back to Level 1, with zero experience.
Two deaths in a row?
It was the newbie nightmare.
Kanuka floated there helplessly, watching the others on the ledge above.
***
