Worst

“This is not good,” Junan spoke in a muffled voice. “If the ogres are waiting then we should attack first. Standing here for so long might wake up something terrible.” Junan explained that a severe situation could possibly unfold. It was barely his judgement. 

Well, it was close to the truth. This cottage was the hidden place of the first eyeless Serpent. His team members understood the scenario else there was no reason for the ogres to wait so long. 

“I think they are even more cunning than a fox. Even a fox would get defeated by their slyness.” Hammer boy was first to react by using his hammer on one of the makeshift corners. 

The wooden statue crumbled on the ground and the ogres came in view. These ogres were waiting for the Serpent to show up so that they could attack at once. Sashi did the same. 

“Come out and battle like a valiant warrior. Don’t hide in fear waiting for the chance.”

Hammer Boy was not lenient when it came to killing ogres. 

Now since the silence had broken down because the players decided to attack first. The ogres could no more hold themselves in, so they also appeared aggressive and careless. They were attacking with all attack type traits that were designed for them. The Occupations of the players were enough to settle these battles if they worked in collaboration. 

(The Portal game could not render them a blunt amount of time and skill levels. It would look like those players were some ‘noobs’ the first time playing a game. Giving such an impression meant that the organizers and the designers of the games were dumb as well as the idea of Game Portal would look fake and pretentious plan to get rid of the claims of public losses. Of course, this was the last thing which the Gaming Lords want to happen) 

“Sashi you should take position near the door, I heard some rustling nearby, there is something hidden,” Junan ordered the player to guard the door. They were currently caught in the mess of the second room while the first room was filled with the ogres. It was possible that they would come looking for them during their Hot Hour*(I am introducing this term from now on. Check my explanation about the term in the author thought)

Jake finally felt some movement in the room after a long silence. It was a good sign that the players were no more waiting for the ogres to act. Taking so much time in clearing a single cottage meant they would take a month for clearing all cottages in this colony.

The players were not only restricted with the time limits they have vague things in general to tackle. Without concrete information, they were supposed to wreak their brains for every single step. It also took time. Previously, household items appeared as vulgar ogres, some of them mocking literally. 

Junan slashed his sword towards the ogres that were crawling near his feet. He was not afraid of the big ogres, the crawling creatures brought danger most of the time because they could soundlessly damage the in-game life. Thankfully, these creatures fell under the second category of NPC’s. 

Almost all crawling creatures were giving such characteristics. He held the sword against the hound. The hound barked and leapt. It might not have created trouble however the barking breath was poisonous. It was making Junan experience some stifling. 

Despite the fact that they were consuming grassroots, the direct poison attack would still bring damage to their in-game life. Most of the ogres in this room were using their breaths to kill the players. There was no air source other than the window and that too was at the far end of the room. 

Sashi used her fourth weapon to hang it between the doorknobs. She felt that the other side ogres were trying to push the door open and enter this room. The strong stick fairly stopped the ogres from entering the room but it was not the best solution. 

Since Junan was attacked by the poison air he was unable to finish off the hound so instead stepped away. This gave some courage to the ogres and they started attacking with the poisonous breath. Hammer boy coughed hysterically and immediately consumed the grass root. He was engrossed in consuming the grassroots so the ogre took chance. 

As soon as he consumed grassroots, his blood ripping veins stabilized the life. The in-game characters die facing the real pain of death, the damage concerned with this type of attack. It was one of the most brutal designs of this Game portal and only players could face it. 

The situation was turning against them. The ogres present in the first room were trying to barge in. The door was constantly banging. The ogres present in this room were attacking with the poison breath and the players were facing the deadly fate of suffocation. 

Jake was holding a small gun, looking at the window. The slaves stopped their attempts knowing that the young player was alert. Jake felt the strange silence in the room. He took a few steps and understood the alarming situation with the warning of the system. 

Thankfully the gun could meet the range of the room. Jake took accurate target positions and consecutively fired deadly shots in the open mouths of the ogres. Two of them fell dead right at the spot. It helped them reduce the amount of poison in the room. 

Junan covered his mouth and took this chance as a blessing. He killed the hound by slashing the sword. The numbers of the ogres in the room were fourfold higher than the players. It was expected for the situation to get worse. Jake could no longer render help since he was again near the kitchen cabins. 

This window was the only escape available and his task was to keep it empty from the foray of the slaves. The experienced players always keep at least one escape point in case they are surrounded by threats or the enemies increase in numbers. 

The team members got again the courage to kill the ogres in a hurry before the door knob dislocated eventually.