There was an endless supply of mannequins at this time. Noah kept fighting against the monsters one after another without a hint of stopping. His body kept losing energy and it felt as if he had turned into an emotionless robot who killed everyone and everything without any emotions on his face except for frowning.
In his mind, though, everything was different. He complained so much that Shane had a headache.
'My hands!'
'Someone, help me!'
'No, I can't feel my hands anymore! Why? Why is this happening to me?'
'I don't want to do this anymore!'
Shane got a headache as he pressed his fingers on his forehead, "Host, can you stop being a drama queen?"
"Who's being a drama queen?! I'm silently attacking the mannequins!" Noah slashed another group of monsters and wiped the sweat from his neck.
"Your thoughts are clearly showing that you were being a drama queen."
"I hate it when you read my mind."
"I don't have another choice. I'm being forced to read your mind."
Noah was too tired at this time. So he couldn't kill so many mannequins at once. Monsters kept piling above him one after another, making him harder to deal with the crowd. After failing several times, he backed away and stood at the entrance while taking deep breaths.
His exhausted gaze stared at the group of mannequins that stood in their positions just like obedient robots as if they weren't the ones who had just gathered around and blocked Noah's path.
"Why is it so hard? I can't fight even with fighting skills!"
Shane was silent at the boy's outburst as he continued to stare at the mannequins with his eyes squinted. There was something off about this situation that he couldn't tell. These mannequins' actions seemed almost robotic as if someone was controlling them from a remote or something.
This idea made his eyes widen as he spoke instantly, "Fight them again."
"What? Are you crazy? I'm not jumping into that pit anytime soon!" Noah glared at the row of mannequins standing in front of him like statues.
"I want to see something. Quick!" Shane wanted to find the controller as soon as possible if his theory was right. Otherwise, they were doomed.
Noah groaned as he pulled out a potion and drank it all in one go. After wiping his lips, he said, "You better find me a solution, or your death will be the first murder I'll ever commit in my life!"
Shane didn't care about it. His eyes narrowed when Noah stepped out of the entrance and started hitting the mannequins with his katana just like before. His face was filled with anger and frustration, and it felt as if he were venting out his emotions on these monsters.
Still, no matter how many he destroyed multiple times, the number kept on increasing.
"Are you done?" Noah finally asked impatiently.
"Yup," said Shane as the corners of his lips curved up to form a pleasant arc, "These are just puppets of something."
"Puppets?" Noah's hands paused for a moment. The mannequins piled in front of him one after another in just a second before he came back to his senses and started thrashing his katana against the monsters and immediately withdrew, standing at the entrance once again, "What do you mean by puppets?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Someone is controlling them behind the scenes."
"Who?"
"That's what we have to figure out. Look above them closely. There's a thread hanging over every one of their heads," Shane pointed it out as he stared at the screen with a calm voice.
Noah looked at the mannequins and tilted his head, "I cannot see it at all."
"Of course," said Shane. "You can't. Even I can't see them when they're all standing still. I was only able to watch them when they were all moving up and down a while ago."
"Fight longer. This time, I want to locate the controller behind them."
Noah didn't act like a drama queen this time. He obediently used the katana in his hand and started attacking the mannequins immediately without stopping. Earlier, he didn't have another choice but to become frustrated after repeating the same thing every time he jumped into the field.
But this time, his situation was different since his system promised him to find a solution as soon as possible. So after keeping his faith in Shane, he started fighting with all he had at the moment.
One after another, the mannequins started falling to the ground, lifeless.
Shane wasn't sitting idle. He stared at the screen intently while his host was fighting at the same time. If he were the one fighting those puppets, he would have never noticed a thin thread connected to every mannequin's head. The thread reached above and disappeared into the distance. He wanted to find out where exactly it went!
One of the mannequins moved, showing the thread on its head. He immediately followed the trail, and before he could find the source, Noah had already slashed it into several parts.
Shane frowned as if he was angry, but he didn't know who to vent to. So he silently pulled out a scrap plastic coin he had randomly purchased and started flipping it in between his fingers to ease his anxiety.
After a while, he finally managed to notice a string reaching toward the tree on Noah's left, hiding in between the bushes. He immediately opened his mouth and said, "Attack the tree on your left."
Along with the mannequins, there were several trees and a normal evening sky above. They could occasionally hear the sounds of chirping in the background. It was just that the mannequins covered the face of the Earth that made it difficult to witness this scene with a normal glance.
Noah immediately turned to his left and slashed his katana without thinking much. Just as he was about to reach the bushes above, the mannequins suddenly changed their movements and grabbed Noah's hands out of nowhere. Then they threw him as far away from the tree as possible.
At that moment, the power level of the mannequins had changed from whitish red to blood red momentarily, as if the color flickered for some reason, disappearing into white again.
Noah groaned as he stood up and rubbed his back. Then he broke out into laughter, "So that's where the enemy is!"
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