CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 50: ONWARD, ADAM

Leaks.

Very much like the Game, they were also tears in reality—but their name truly carried their meaning. They were rips between dimensions that allowed nightmares to spill into the world.

Monsters from the Game, leaking out into the world.

But unlike the Game, they don’t only appear once a month—no.

They appear without warning, punching holes through the fabric of everyday life, anywhere. The monsters emerge from them, without rules or boundaries.

The government has classified the Leaks by their color—white for minor disturbances, blue for moderate threats, red for severe danger, purple for catastrophic breaches, and black for extinction-level events.

And throughout the 20 years that the Game has existed, there has only been a single Black Leak. Fortunately for humanity.

And throughout the years, Explorer guilds have formed to contain these anomalies, working to eliminate the monsters leaking out, and then entering inside it to destroy the Crystal powering it to completely seal it shut.

The only problem was that unlike the Game, the crystal wasn’t only hovering in the air, no.

It was inside a monster—a Boss monster, was what people learned to call them.

And now, a hundred miles away from any major cities, the Nightraptor Guild had cordoned off half a square mile around a Blue Leak. The guild had just cleared out the monsters that managed to seep out of the cracks and had completely placed barricades around its perimeter.

Their Heroes were ready to go inside, and all that was left was to pick out veteran creeps to help them in... various tasks.

"We are calling the last name joining the exploration!" The coordinator of the Leak shouted, his eyes on the clipboard in his hand.

The creeps in front of him all raised their hands, eager to be chosen next. The coordinator, however, didn’t spare them a single glance as he focused intently on his clipboard.

His eyes narrowed, then suddenly widened as he called out—

"Chris? Where is Chris!?"

The coordinator scanned the crowd, but no one responded.

"Chris!?"

"Is... that me?"

"Bullshit. That’s me!"

Three hands shot up simultaneously. The coordinator’s eyebrows furrowed as he pointed at them and demanded,

"Which one of you is the level 6 Creep!?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, all three hands dropped.

"What... then who—"

The coordinator was about to move on when someone else stood up from the crowd, hand raised.

"Sorry, that’s me."

It was Adam, who had momentarily forgotten he’d used a fake name to register for the Leak Exploration. He stepped forward and approached the coordinator, though his gaze was fixed on the Blue Leak behind the man.

In photos and videos, the Leaks had merely appeared as dancing lights—but witnessing one in person was entirely different. It seemed alive, almost wriggling.

While Adam studied the fissure, the coordinator studied him, eyes narrowing before glancing down at the registration form.

"Why are you still not registered with the IBAA? You wrote here that you’re a Level 6 Creep?"

Adam simply nodded.

"Well, we need to verify that." The coordinator handed him a device. "Test your strength."

Adam took the grip strength tester, wrapped his fingers around the handle, and squeezed. His knuckles whitened with effort as numbers flickered wildly across the digital display before settling: 670 pounds.

The coordinator glanced at the result, eyebrows lifting slightly before his face returned to professional indifference. He made a check mark on his clipboard.

"Go stand with the others," he said, waving Adam toward a group of grim-faced explorers preparing their equipment. "Prepare what you need to prepare, the team leader will be briefing you in five minutes."

Adam joined the group of creeps who, unlike him, were already equipped with various weapons and armor. There were about a dozen of them, and they glanced at him briefly before returning to their tasks—tinkering with their equipment, loading the magazines of their guns, checking the sharpness of their blades.

Adam did none of that... because he had no equipment at all. Instead, he observed the activity surrounding the exploration team.

Lower-level creeps bustled about handling clean-up duty. They carted away monster corpses while others carved the creatures for useful parts.

The monsters resembled snakes—if snakes had arms and grew thicker than humans. Some of the reptiles even clutched spears. Adam felt fortunate he’d never encountered these creatures during the Game.

Although... he did face something bigger.

As he continued observing the camp, he quickly realized how much more vibrant explorer life was compared to being a scavenger.

Five minutes passed like a heartbeat. Adam stood apart from the other creeps, watching them check their weapons one last time. Some muttered prayers under their breath while others made crude jokes to mask their nervousness.

Surprisingly, nobody approached him or questioned his lack of equipment. Everyone minded their own business.

But soon, the camp fell silent as three figures strode toward their group—the Heroes of the Nightraptor Guild. Adam looked above their heads, but none of their names were displayed like in the Game.

"My name’s Vincent." The leader of the Heroes did not waste time introducing himself. His gaze only swept over Adam and the other assembled creeps.

"Some of you might know me as the Blade of Night. Stay behind us at all times. Only attack what’s in your reach, you’re here as support. Scream when you think the enemy is too much for you. See that man?"

Vincent then pointed at the creep right next to Adam,

"His name is Rick, and he’s part of the Nightraptor guild. He will be assessing your performance so we can decide how much to pay you, keep him safe. Most importantly, don’t get in our way and you’ll get paid better. That’s all."

No safety protocols. No detailed plan. No explanation of what they might encounter inside. Adam had expected more, but Vincent simply turned and gestured for them to follow as he and the other Heroes approached the pulsing blue tear in reality.

And when the creeps fell in line without hesitation or question, Adam realized that that was the entire briefing. He was confused, of course—but Adam had no choice but to follow their lead.