One-Eyed Monster

This was the first time the Little Black Hands faced such an opponent. Not that their foe was particularly strong, but rather, their tactics were rather unconventional.

Ordinarily—though this term wasn’t entirely accurate, as their visits to this world were few. ’In previous instances’ would be more precise. During those encounters, when they sneaked up and pulled on their victims from behind, they elicited a wide range of emotions, all of which could be categorized into a few types.

The first kind, a more formidable opponent, typically reacted with calmness at their initial surprise attack, then transitioned to rage, disgust, and eventually, despair. The breakdown would undoubtedly be accompanied by unending terror.

Of course, they savored this type of prey the most due to the drawn-out dread it offered.

The second kind of opponent was more straightforward, as these individuals were not as powerful. They would start with perplexity before shifting to a state of calmness. Unlike strong foes, these victims wouldn’t first feel anger and disgust. They’d skip straight to helplessness before succumbing to unknown fear.

The third type was even simpler. These were the weaker beings who would have no initial reaction before bolting headfirst into terror-stricken fright. This type, perpetually engulfed in abject fear from beginning to end, was their least preferred due to the lack of challenge.

Regardless, every victim journeyed down the path to fear, playing into their strengths and preferred method of operation.

This time, however, they suspected something was awry. How could such unusual opponents exist?

They attacked four individuals. Two conformed to their usual expectations: one was consumed by fear from start to finish, and the other was enveloped in stoic calmness. This was the expected response and didn’t raise any red flags.

However, in this world, it was often such a ’however’ that signaled trouble; what followed the ’however’ was usually something out of the ordinary.

The ’however’ they faced this time stemmed from the reactions of the other two individuals.

These two had an uncommon demeanor...

One of them skipped straight to rage.

The other was unnervingly calm…

They had encountered such outliers before. Even so, these aberrations would eventually stumble onto the path of fear, perhaps after a few detours, but they’d always get there in the end.

But this time was different. Of the four, only one seemed to be on the familiar trajectory of fear, with the others derailing completely!

This was an absolute aberration!

The deviation was primarily due to the two anomalous individuals, particularly the one-eyed fellow.

This person was far too calm and had come up with such a despicable method...

No, ’despicable’ seemed like too mild a descriptor. The tactic conceived by this one-eyed fellow was absolutely shameless!

This one-eyed fellow had quickly deciphered their signature sneak attack from behind and devised a peculiar method to counter them.

Back-to-back… this triangular mode of defense was mildly disgusting.

Though they had encountered such defenses before, those individuals always retained some degree of fear while forming the triangle. But under the influence of the one-eyed individual, this whole group had adopted a shocking calm...

This disconcerting phenomenon prompted a discussion among the Little Black Hands. It was only their second such discussion since arriving in this world; the first had been to decide on their method of instilling fear.

Their discussion wasn’t slow, but hasty and clamorous. Being a collective entity that acted as one, they always enjoyed each expressing their own views.

One queried, ”Could their tolerance surpass ours?”

A lethargic-sounding voice, teetering on the verge of sleep, weakly mumbled, ”Not sure. You see how relaxed that one-eyed guy is? Hard to tell.”

Another, after some deliberation, asked, ”Should we report this situation? The Summoner might take notice.”

The suggestion met immediate opposition from two others. ”No way! We still want to stay here for some time; we haven’t reached the target average yet.”

”Exactly! The Summoner’s too violent. He might just annihilate these guys.”

Several others immediately chimed in agreement, ”Yes, yes! If he annihilates them, we’ll have to return as per the agreement, and we don’t want that.”

The first round of discussion yielded no solution.

”So, do you think we still have a chance to scare them from behind?”

”Seems improbable. With their shameless defense strategy, we’d have to reveal our form to appear behind them.”

”Once we reveal our form, would we still have a chance?”

”The hand’s form isn’t the root of their fear; the root is the unknown hand…”

”Then, we can only wait until they lower their guard before attacking. This might turn out well, though; we can stay in this world a little longer…”

”Indeed! I enjoy this kind of patience contest. Nobody can outlast us.”

”But it seems these opponents are not that simple. I see they’re getting steadier…”

”Patience will never lead us astray. Besides, waiting doesn’t put us at a disadvantage.”

The second round of discussions saw a consensus: they would try to outlast their opponents. They had never feared anyone in a contest of patience.

Time ticked by. They were waiting, and so was their adversary, dragging out the standoff as if both sides were evenly matched.

And so, a third round of discussion quickly convened.

”We mustn’t act impulsively. That’s what they’re waiting for.”

”But they show no signs of faltering! If this continues, we’ll get tired of it too!”

”What should we do then? Just go out together and give them a good scare?”

”No way! That would play right into their hands. We need a flawless plan.”

This round of discussion at least resulted in a decision to stop waiting. They needed to devise other methods to deal with these abnormally reactive individuals.

So, the fourth discussion naturally followed.

”I say, should we just charge them directly? The impact of a visual shock can be quite effective.”

”We specialize in creating the unknown. This kind of visual impact isn’t suitable for us.”

”But we can’t attack from behind for now, and their endurance is quite high.”

”Don’t worry. Our forte is creating the unknown. Our unanimous conclusion was that the truly frightening part is the unknown hand from behind, right? Let’s think of another way to express that.”

Hearing that, one of them chirped, ”That gives me an idea! I think I have a solution.”

”Let’s hear it!”

”We could emerge from the ground to grab them…”

”Tsk, tsk, not bad. Even if they see the hand we form, they’ll have no way of knowing what role we intend to play, right?”

”Right, right! Still the unknown hand!”

”Nice, nice.”

”So, shall we go with this?”

”Let’s do it!”

The fourth round of discussion quickly reached a consensus, and they began to grow excited once more…