187 Hear

Serdenk and Tiki were looking at each other, the smell of gunpowder between them getting thicker and thicker by the moment.

Just when Kieran thought Serdenk was ready to strike, he let out a cold hmph and turned away.

Serdenk, the leader of the Dark Star Society, had backed down before a cat!

Kieran felt it clearly when Serdenk turned away, as his aura suddenly turned crude and weak.

Kieran could not believe his eyes, but he knew that this was actually happening.

"What is Tiki?"

Kieran lowered his head and inspected the fat cat.

Even though Tiki had the form and size of an ordinary household cat, Kieran could not treat it as a normal cat anymore. He had started to think of it as something else, some kind of unknown being.

"Meooow! Pussy!"

Tiki yawned deeply and pulled its claws away before turning around and looking at Kieran again.

"Scrap those rude thoughts of yours! I’m not such a filthy being!" Tiki ranted.

"You can read my mind?" Kieran was astonished.

"I can’t read minds. Your thoughts are just written all over your face, you little brat!"

Tiki skimmed its the corner of its mouth, and its whiskers shivered.

Kieran smiled awkwardly in reply.

"Okay, back to business! There are a couple of things Rei has asked me to do."

When Kieran heard that this was a message from Nikorei, he quickly rejected his quirky thoughts and listened seriously. He knew very well that Nikorei was not someone who did anything without consideration.

"I am very delighted that you are able to rely on your own strength and successfully get the item that I asked you to! If it is possible, try not to exchange it with your own heart. No matter what happens, your own strength comes from what defines you, including your own flesh and blood."

Tiki delivered Nikorei’s message word for word.

Kieran felt weird when he heard it.

He was impatient to ask questions as soon as Tiki was done delivering the message.

"Rei knew what was going on here?" he asked.

"She had guessed a little, I suppose, but not in great detail," Tiki answered.

"Then…"

"You’re wondering why she would still send you here? Because Rei wanted that pussy Sedenk to reveal himself and unite against that thing! Alcatraz Island might hold secrets that concern Rei, but it was just a misunderstanding after all. If you are concerned about the heart inside the coffin, as long as I’m beside you, it’s yours. We had a deal, and that’s your reward," Tiki interrupted Kieran, explaining everything.

"As long as you’re beside me? You have been beside me all along, protecting me?"

Kieran was surprised by Tiki’s revelation. It altered his focus slightly.

As an orphan, such secret protection was enough to arouse a sense of gratitude in him.

"Don’t overthink it, kid. You are not my son, anyway! I’m just here to make sure you don’t die an ugly death. If you did, I’d just have to find Rei another assistant!" Tiki ranted in an egotistical tone as it rolled its eyes.

Kieran’s newly aroused sense of gratitude dissipated like a cloud blown away by the wind. He looked at Tiki expressionlessly.

"Well, that’s that then. Rei’s matters are done! Time for my own now. You did really well. I guess that guy will also be pleased by your performance. Perhaps he might test you even further, but remember, kid. Follow your heart, and you will reach the end on your own!" Tiki said.

"What are you talking about?" Kieran asked.

As the words escaped his mouth, Tiki suddenly disappeared.

Just like she had appeared out of thin air, she had also left without any trace.

Kieran stared blankly at the spot Tiki had occupied, giving deep thought to the cat’s words. He realized he was missing something important.

Before he could analyze what Tiki had said, notifications started spamming his vision once more.

[Player has completed the Main Mission: Return to Alcatraz!]

[Player will leave the dungeon in 5 minutes]

[Please take whatever items you wish to keep with you.]

[Note: Any items that exceed the maximum weight will be discarded!]

"WHAT THE F*CKING F*CK?"

The notifications caught Kieran off guard, and he started cursing hard.

He quickly grabbed the Skill Book from Frostrill’s body and ran towards the hidden door where his backpack was before he could even take a look at what he had gotten.

He laid his backpack down and dragged it out of the hidden door. Then he put on the small mountain-like backpack and walked step by step towards the bronze coffin.

He wanted to go faster, but he couldn’t because of the immense weight of the backpack.

He could barely walk, let alone run. He kept staggering along the way.

Finally, he reached the bronze coffin with less than two minutes left on the timer.

"Luckily, there’s still enough time!"

After a quick glance at the remaining time, Kieran paused before the bronze coffin and took out the potion he had been saving from the beginning of the dungeon.

[Name: Soothing Potion]

[Type: Potion]

[Rarity: Great]

[Attributes: When consumed, one is able to maintain a calm state of mind for 90 seconds]

[Prerequisites: None]

[Remarks: It can easily resist a powerful Fear Effect, but it’s not completely immune to it!]

...

Kieran drank the potion that had cost 3,000 Points in one mouthful.

After taking it, he pushed the lid of the bronze coffin open.

The heartbeat was getting clearer by the second, and when the lid was completely open, it started beating like a big drum, resonating in Kieran’s ears. Even his own heartbeat changed to synchronize itself with it.

Kieran’s heart and the heart inside the coffin were in total synchronization. A suffocating feeling filled Kieran’s chest instantly. He instinctively opened his mouth to take a deep breath, but he could not suck any air in.

It was the Fear Effect!

Despite the [Soothing Potion], Kieran was still suffering from the negative debuff. He did not panic though. He had anticipated such a situation.

The [Soothing Potion] still made itself useful. Although Kieran was having trouble breathing, that did not hinder his movements at all.

He lowered his gaze at the dark red heart, which was twice as big as a grown man’s fist. Even though the heart was out of its body, it was still beating powerfully.

Kieran quickly took out a square crystal box and put the heart inside. He had not even laid a finger directly on the heart during the whole process, yet the Fear Effect was still getting stronger by the second.

It even started to affect Kieran’s movements to a certain extent. The Fear Effect reached its highest point when Kieran finished loading the heart inside the box and closed the lid.

As he held the box in his hand, his body started to tremble and blood started gushing out of his mouth.

[Fear: You are within the Target’s Fear range, Your Spirit has failed the test, You have suffered a concussion, Target inflicts 10 Damage to your HP…]

[Fear: You are within the Target’s Fear range, Your Spirit has failed the test, You have suffered a concussion, Target inflicts 10 Damage to your HP…]

...

New system notifications spammed Kieran’s vision, but he had no intention of letting go.

How could he place the box back when he finally had the heart in his hand?

For a stingy person like him, it would be like throwing his own life away.

Kieran took out a [Medium Healing Potion] and swallowed the whole thing in one breath. Then he had a second one.

Simones’s gifts were useful in a situation like this.

Kieran swallowed a third one, which had belonged to his personal collection from the [Wandering Beast] dungeon.

He looked back at the timer. Never had he wanted the timer to stop so bad.

As the seconds passed by, and the third [Medium Healing Potion]’s effect was half gone, the timer eventually stopped.

The blinding light and loss of weight sent Kieran flying again.

When the light shone on the heart, the beating instantly slowed down and turned into a steady rhythm.

Even though the heart was still beating, the Fear Effect was gone.

The powerful heartbeat had turned into a soft, slow rhythmic beat, as if the heart had witnessed something frightening and had been scared into stopping.

The sudden change caught Kieran’s attention.