[ADAM] Chapter 26: Leaking Snakes

Leaks.

Very much like the Game, they were 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 5 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.

He joined the march toward the Leak. Up close, the fissure was even more unsettling. The portal writhed, and tendrils of blue light seemed to reach outward, grasping at the air around it—almost as if sensing his presence and wanting to pull them all in.

The Heroes stepped through first, disappearing into the blue void. One by one, the creeps followed, each vanishing silently into the light. Adam watched them go, his instinct for self-preservation screaming at him to turn and run. But where would he go? Back to scavenging? Back to hiding?

Drawing a deep breath, Adam stepped forward into the wriggling light. He braced himself for… something—but there was nothing. No sensation at all. One moment he stood on dry ground under an open sky, the next...

Adam opened his eyes to find himself ankle-deep in murky water. A vast swamp stretched in all directions, the air thick with humidity and the stench of decay. Twisted trees draped with moss created a canopy that filtered the strange reddish light from above.

He looked down at his feet, and his shoes were instantly soaked through. He then looked at the others, and he realized all of them were wearing boots that were almost knee high.

That wasn't all—all the creeps in front of him had Halos on their heads now, but it was neither Blue nor Red, but just white.

He looked further up front, and the Heroes' names were now also displayed above their heads, also in white.

[Vincent, the Blade of Night.]

[Eugene, the Spirit Warrior.]

[Dennis, the Prince of Thorns.]

Soon, however, Adam couldn't get a good look at their names as they moved forward at a faster pace, leaving Adam to stumble behind them.

It would seem there was a lot for him to learn.

Minutes passed, and Adam continued to trail behind the group, slowly but surely adjusting to the wet, unsteady path.

The veteran creeps ahead, however, still navigated the swamp with ease, no matter how twisted it got—it was strange how these people, who had likely been doing this work for less than a year, seemed so accustomed to everything.

But then again, Adam had personally witnessed how quickly humans adapted during the Game.

The veteran creeps in front of him started chatting casually, their conversation drifting to something very intimate to Adam—242nd Game.

"Man, the Games have been crazy these past few months," one said, pushing aside a hanging vine. "Last month we got the First Soldier, and then this month the Duelist of Rose? Did you see the Game with her?"

"I was in it," another quickly replied.

"Bullshit you were! So, you actually saw the Duelist of Rose in person!?"

"Nah, I was in the Middle Lane. We never got to see much action."

"Your team almost lost, bro. What's up with that?"

"Shit, don't talk about it." The man's voice dropped lower. "These Heroes, man... they only care about themselves."

"Sshh!" shushed another creep, glancing nervously toward the Heroes leading their expedition.

Despite the warning, however, the creeps casually continued their conversation. Adam studied the man who claimed to have been in his Dome, but couldn't recognize him at all. Then again, he and Grace had abandoned the Middle Lane before even reaching the enemy's Outer Crystal. The countless faces he'd encountered during that hellish day blurred together now, all he could remember were Grace, Samantha, Sylvie…and Bjorn.

Adam didn't realize it, but knuckles cracked one by one as thoughts of Bjorn flooded his mind.

He had seen the drone footage of what Bjorn did to him—his massive hands clapping around his head, neutralizing him instantly. And although it was too far to see from the drone footage, Bjorn stomped on his head repeatedly when he began to regenerate, grinding him into the pavement to stop him from healing.

But most importantly… he shoved Grace aside.

Calm down, Adam. Calm down, the voice inside him whispered. But before his anger could fully ignite, his pace slowed as one of the veteran creeps dropped back to walk beside him.

"You... Chris, right?" The woman flashed a bright smile, the sweat on her dark skin gleaming with the humidity of the swamp. She extended her hand. "My name's Grace."

Adam's eyes widened, his breath catching in his throat. Had he heard correctly?

"Grace...?" he repeated.

"Yeah...?" She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes with curiosity. Her braids swung slightly across her shoulders. "I noticed you wasn't minglin' with nobody. You a level 5 Creep, right? That practically make you the highest level among all of us."

"I am?" Adam blinked, glancing toward the other creeps ahead, and they quickly averted their gazes from him.

"Mmhmm." The woman smirked. "A level 5 creep without no weapons? That's bound to make folks nervous, ya know what I'm sayin'? Even I am."

"...Don't be," Adam shook his head, "I'm... not that different."

"I can see that," Grace chuckled, "Thought you was all stuck-up at first, but turns out you just quiet."

That… was true. Adam hadn't realized it, but he was talking to people more now, no longer shrinking away from every interaction.

"Anyway, since you ain't got a partner yet—how 'bout me?" she offered.

"A...partner?" Adam narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Yeah...? To watch each other's backs?" Grace's brow furrowed. "Don't tell me this yo' first Leak?"

"N...no," Adam quickly answered, looking away from her penetrating gaze.

"So you sayin' you just don't need nobody, that it?"

"No, I'm... not saying that. But…I guess I can be your partner?" Adam sighed as they continued trudging through the swamp, but when Grace didn't respond, he got curious and glanced back.

Only to see her entire upper body being swallowed by a large snake, its arms pushing her deeper into its grotesquely expanding jaws.

"Wha…"

***

[PREVIOUS CHAPTER] <--> [NEXT CHAPTER]