Legacy of the Betelgeuse

We enter the 4th stage, now this reminds me of the thrill of being in this area. We are no longer inside the castle but we are at the underworld where the cursed souls are trapped here forever, but this isn't the same place at the same time, this is just a place that the Keeper of Time created specifically for the players. The sky is dark red and there are buildings and dead trees surrounding the areas, the ground is covered with ashes and leaves our footsteps on the ground.

This place is a 1km square and only 500 players on each platform, so the rest of the players are on a different platform or what I called them a different dimension. I look who's with me, I don't see any familiar faces with me, I don't see Ivonna and the others, I don't see Kingstar and the other Ophiuchus with me, I'm on my own this time with other 499 players in this platform. Thankfully, all of them know about this stage and know what to do so I don't have to help them out, then a notification appears.

[The Keeper of Time has been waiting for this moment, unfortunately, he wants to test you for one last time before you can face him. The Keeper of Time, the one who can do anything will send his past selves to test you in this game, he wants to see which rats have been entering his house and can escape from his hunting time. Will you be able to escape and trick his eyes?]

[You have 9 chances!]

[You have entered the Fourth Stage: Hide and Seek!]

[On the Fourth Stage, all you have to do is to keep quiet and hide while the past self of the Keeper of Time is going to hunt and look for you. He can track your footsteps, he can hear your breathing, he can hear your heart beating, and lastly, he can smell your scent! You have to find a good hiding spot and try to distract him from another player if you have to! Once he sees a part of your body, you will lose 1 chance. You will have 5 seconds of invincible time before the past self of the Keeper of Time can track you down again. You have 1 hour to hide and survive, but remember! Every single player that gets caught by him, will give him extra 10 seconds. Work together and survive together!]

[You have 10 minutes of preparation before the Fourth Stage started]

[May the Betelgeuse Bless you!]

I look at the players around me and they're looking at each other in silence, everyone doesn't know each other and they only have seen each other faces just now. Even if they know what to do, but if we don't work together, it's useless because if one gets caught it will lead to another player that will get caught by the Keeper of Time, and there are 500 of us here if half of them get caught once, that is enough to give him 41 minutes, that if they only get caught once, what if some of them get caught twice? I can't let that happen because the longer we are in this area, the easier it is for him to find us out, I guess I have to help these guys out.

I approach them and they all know immediately who I am since Kingstar introduced me before, they're all running toward me and hoping for me to give him some kind of plan. One of the players is approaching me, a woman with blonde hair.

"Excuse me, we are new in this stage and we only knew about the task but we actually have no idea what to do. Do you have any tips or anything for us?"

They're all looking at me like a puppy looking at their master. I shake my head and scratch my head, then I'm trying to make my voice pitch higher by clearing my throat.

"You guys can hide over there, and let me handle the boss on this one. Don't move, don't make a sound, and the most important thing is don't dare to be a hero. If one of you gets caught the rest will get caught immediately. I will kite the boss away from you guys and hope for the best. Now go and find a spot where you all can see each other, good luck!"

They're all nodding with understanding and immediately run toward the buildings that I was pointing at. I look at the map since each platform and dimension has different terrain no matter how many times I went to this stage, it's always a different terrain. I go to the middle and climb to the highest building to see the terrain and memorize them, the players are on the far southwest of the map, so I have to bring the boss to the northeast and play around with him.

The sky suddenly turns black and there's a whirlwind in the sky, it's almost time for the Keeper of Time to appear, I run to the northeast side of the map and make a few fake footsteps then jump around from building to building. I hide inside one of the rooms in the building and look outside, a black mist as big as a three stories building comes appears in the middle of the map. A heavy growl that enough to trembling my eardrums comes from that mist.

"The time has finally come, I will find the rats who have been lurking in my house and punish them with my power..."

The mist is forming into a silhouette of a big-headed monster with his skinny arms that as long as his body crawling and putting his hands on the buildings around him. I keep staring at him and grab a clay pot beside me to distract him if he's going to the southwest, he starts moving and crawling on top of the buildings trying to sniff and look at the players that are hiding. I'm holding my breath and keeping myself calm because he can hear my breathing and my heartbeat.

He turns his head toward the players on the southwest, I immediately get up and throw the clay pot as far as possible from my position. As soon as he heard the clay pot break, he turns his head and crawl so fast like a lizard trying to eat its prey, I immediately jump off from the building and run as fast as possible, but I can feel his presence not far from me. I grab another clay pot and hold it so tightly because I don't want it to accidentally break because I hit something with it.

"I know you are in there, little rat!"

I slide and hide on the corner and throw the clay pot on as far as possible to my right. The Keeper of Time leaps and looks at the broken clay pot, and when he's about to look in my direction, I use [Moonsteps] and go back to my original position. I'm holding my breath and trying so hard to keep myself calm, I can hear his growl is quite far from where I'm at. I'm slowly exhaling and taking a deep breath, I look at my surroundings and there's a bucket in front of me, but when I'm about to move my muscle, I can hear a rustling sound coming from behind the wall.

"I know you are near, little rat... come out and play..."

I grab my staff from my inventory and carefully hold it, I know for sure I don't do something he will find me soon. I'm pointing my staff at the window and cast a fireball on the building next to me, the explosion is enough to distract him, and as soon as I see his silhouette crawl toward the building next to me, I run to the other building on the opposite side. I keep running and purposely let him see my footsteps and as soon as I see a good hiding spot and escape spot, I stand there and climb the furniture around it. I climb up the window and jump from window to window.

"You are one smart and slick rat! But I know you are not here. I wonder where you go, little rat..."

I know he's crawling above me and I know he knows that I'm below him. I stay quiet and wait for him to find a way in so then I can go to the other side, I can see his claws blocking the window in front of me, I'm slowly turning my head and look at the window behind me, but when I'm taking a single step forward, the claw is blocking the window that I'm about to use.

"He...he...he... I know you are trying to leave, little rat..."

I look around and all the windows are getting blocked by his hands and toes. There's no way I can leave this building, then he looks inside the building through the window with one of his eyes.

"Found you!"

It's just silence and I'm holding my breath. I'm slightly open my right eye and see him on top of the building in front of me with his head hanging down. Thank god my [Moonsteps] skill cooldown is off already, if not, then I'm done. I exhale deeply and when I'm about to move, I can feel a chill down my spine for no reason, so I immediately point my staff at one of the windows and blow it up with a fireball while I'm running away.

"You can run, but you cannot hide, little rat!"

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