Chapter 72: Because Of Me???
Rena hadn’t reacted the way Roman expected her to, but by that time, they were already back in the runner and had continued their ride to the outpost.
When they reached the gate, it was wide open, and they rode in. They were courageous enough after noticing the deep silence that didn’t seem normal.
However, it was when they got inside that things began to look scary. Considerable amounts of corpses lay at different points in the entry section of the town, blood splattered everywhere... even flesh.
It was like a devastating massacre had happened here.
Roman and Rena felt their breaths becoming heavier and rougher as they walked down the paths. There were many bodies they could count... many who had died.
Many who had lost their lives fighting against whatever group of monsters had attacked the outpost.
Roman noticed a few familiar faces, and they were mostly Arnold’s friends. They had also come out to fight, and they had lost their lives in the process.
The smell of rot and blood shrouded the entire town, leaving them with even heavier hearts.
Rena was already on the verge of freaking out, staring at bodiless heads and headless bodies... and bodies without limbs.
Half bodies. Torn bodies. Mangled bodies...
It was a complete disaster.
"You want... to tell me that... the monsters did this?" Rena’s voice broke as she spoke, her eyes already darkened because she could no longer bear to look.
"It’s obvious," Roman said after a moment of silence.
It was really clear that monsters had done this. However, Rena simply refused to believe it because of the scale of the disaster.
First of all, she had to imagine what kind of monster hierarchy would attack the outpost, and why. Secondly, she wondered why they hadn’t even heard about it after stopping at Citadel City.
It meant they hadn’t known what had happened here.
But why?
They observed different areas all the way to the Head’s quarters, which they noticed had been destroyed as well.
Roman quickly ran in to check if he could find any sign of the Head or Master Norman. When he rushed inside, what he saw nearly blew his mind.
He saw Sylvester Trench, sure...
But he was already lifeless.
However, after walking over and examining him, it clearly didn’t seem like he had died from a monster attack.
Sylvester had some green liquid around his mouth and a bottle of the same green liquid on the table. Rena approached and picked it up, recognizing it as some kind of poison.
"He killed himself," she said as she turned to Roman.
Roman turned away, clenching his teeth in utter frustration. He couldn’t believe what he had come back to see—a catastrophe that was about to drive him crazy.
"Why would he do that?" Rena asked.
"Because he might have lost all hope after seeing everyone dead. He figured living was the worse option," Roman said before walking out.
Out of all the dead bodies around, only Master Norman’s hadn’t been found. Roman kept trying to recognize his clothes, a part of his body, or something significant, but he couldn’t find anything.
Any detail.
That gave him every reason to believe that Master Norman was alive, but the problem was figuring out where he was.
Roman was left with no other choice but to walk into the only bar the outpost had and begin drinking himself into a stupor.
The barman was gone too. There was no need to ration the drinks or anything.
Everyone was gone.
And it hurt so badly to accept that.
Rena approached Roman a few minutes later and urged him to stop drinking.
"Stop it, Roman. You’re going to get yourself drunk," she said.
"Well, my community is gone. I’m going to be alone now," Roman said after hesitating.
"Well, it’s my community too, and we’re together, so what makes you think you’re going to be alone?" Rena glared at him as she asked.
He hadn’t given a response before she scowled even harder and folded her arms.
"Roman? Really? So you think I’m going to consider going to the Heartlands someday?" Rena asked, her eyes sharp with fury.
"I never said..."
"That’s what it sounds like. That’s what you’re making it sound like. You think I’m just going to do what my father wants me to do?"
Roman tried to speak, but she wouldn’t let him. After venting her frustration, she walked away, with Roman trying to call her back, but she refused to answer.
"Rena! Hey, Rena. I’m calling you!"
Roman shook his head in frustration, walked back to the chair, sat down, and continued drinking.
One thing he couldn’t get off his mind was the thought of how such a chaotic attack had happened. What had caused the monster outbreak, and why had it been so brutal?
Roman knew he couldn’t drown all the rage and sadness through drinking, so he immediately opened the forum to check articles explaining things like this.
After hitting the search icon, a couple of articles appeared... and even a video.
He checked the most-liked article, written by Jeremy Nova, one of the platform’s top veterans who was more like an Adventurer.
("Topic: Causes of Monster Outbreaks in Communities and Why They Are Always Catastrophic.")
("There was once a community called Most High Refuge in the Center Region of the Reach. They were known as one of the best-developing and most populated refuges in the Reach, and they were edging closer to becoming a City and acquiring glory.")
("However, all those dreams came crashing into the mud after a group of their best Adventurers entered a hunting zone called Deathly Forest. They came across an Extraordinary Monster territory and decided to take down only the boss.")
("Just when they had returned to their community and their families, a massive wave of Ordinary, Extraordinary, and Epic monsters of the same species as the territory they had attacked came crashing into their city. They were overwhelmed by both the numbers and power, and the entire refuge was wiped out that night. Not even a lizard survived.")
"The hell..." Roman’s face tightened as he read that part.
("Research was conducted, and it turned out that this was the only known way a monster outbreak could be caused. When a group of hunters attacks a territory, they either take down the lower hierarchies before killing the boss, or at least clear the lower hierarchies after killing the boss.")
("We still don’t understand the rules of the Badlands or whoever created this place, but the Research Institutes firmly believe that this is one of the rules established by the supreme creators.")
("Why it is catastrophic is because the Ordinary, Extraordinary, and even Epic monsters of the same species can attack all at once. Don’t ask me how because we still don’t know. However, the Adventurers working with the Research Institutes are trying to find out.")
("So consider this both information and a warning. When attacking a territory, clear it. That’s why the hierarchy exists.")
Roman stopped reading and immediately closed the BSP, a certain thought flashing through his mind.
"If that’s really true, then it should mean some hunting group attacked a monster territory and killed only the boss. That must have triggered the attack. But why would they do such a thing?" Roman wondered.
The goal of this outpost was for every Entrant to gain as much EXP as possible and rise quickly. If a group had really done that, it meant they had disobeyed the rules.
And it had come back to hit the outpost with devastating consequences.
Many thoughts passed through Roman’s mind, but at that point, he couldn’t think of anything he could do.
Everyone was gone.
The buildings and structures were destroyed.
It was already clear that Blood Trial Outpost was extinct.
At once, he went straight to the group chat to announce it. He hesitated at first, but he figured he had to do it no matter what was going through his mind.
[Roman: Hey guys, I just got back to my community, and I realized we suffered a monster outbreak.]
[Nightmare: Monster outbreak? What the heck!!]
[Lyra: Are you serious, Roman? Or is this some kind of prank? Because I heard those monster outbreak stories were all lies and myths.]
[Roman: It’s true. I’m currently in a town filled with battered corpses. Everyone’s dead, and it’s only me and one other person here.]
[Melisandra: That’s absolutely insane. How did a whole group of monsters come out from the zones to destroy an entire community?]
Soon, North became active, and her message drew everyone’s attention as always.
[North: It’s no myth, Lyra. It happens whenever a group of idiots decides to go after the boss alone.]
[Lyra: So what do we do now?]
[North: We cancel the Cross Operation. We all head to Blood Trial Outpost first thing tomorrow morning to help them bury their dead. Whatever comes next can be decided after that.]
[Nightmare: Good decision.]
[Lyra: Alright. Got it.]
Roman completely froze.
"They are canceling the Cross Operation because of me???"
"They are coming down to Blood Trial Valley because of me???!!!"
