Hunter's Game 2: Terror Valley - Chapter 7

The memory faded. Looking across the valley’s beautiful scenery, I found it impossible to connect the place with the word *terror*.

Soon after I signed the consent form, Black Goat sent a private plane to deliver me to Katre Valley.

Dragging my suitcase behind a staff member, I arrived at a run-down little inn.

How run-down? My room contained nothing but a plank bed and several cockroach roommates.

The communal toilet in the hallway reeked worse than the rest stops my tour bus had visited on the road through Tibet.

A shower?

There was no such thing.

“This is the guest room you prepared for players?” I stared incredulously at the plank bed, suitcase still in hand.

“Yes. Katre Valley has a strict hierarchy. Only players who earn star badges receive respect and better food and lodging.”

“Katre recognizes only its official currency—Katre coins. No other money can be spent or exchanged here. However rich you were outside, you must begin here again as a penniless nobody.”

“I don’t have any Katre coins. How am I supposed to eat?” I frowned.

“Don’t worry. The inn provides three meals a day. A three-star game will be held in the nearby game hall in five days. If you earn a three-star badge, you may move to the Cloud Hotel in Wali Village.”

“Of course, the finest hotel in Katre is the Starry Sky Hotel, but only a Priest with a scepter badge may stay there.”

The staff member patiently explained everything, then added one final warning. “It would be best not to wander around these next few days. Katre has many advanced technological products unavailable in the outside world, and they’re expensive. It would be embarrassing to see something you like and be unable to afford it.”

I watched him leave with a dark expression and a heart full of misery.

Damn it. I was poor again.

After enduring the shabby inn for several days, my first game finally arrived: the three-star Eagle Eye.

Now I held a gleaming three-star badge and eagerly pinned it to my chest.

When I logged into the Black Goat system and saw two hundred coins in my account, tears almost filled my eyes.

At last, I had money!

Money gave a man confidence. My first priority was escaping that miserable inn.

I returned, grabbed the suitcase I had already packed, hailed a car, and headed straight to the Cloud Hotel in Wali Village.

The moment the car entered the village, its beauty seized me.

Wali Village stood at the heart of Katre Valley and was its most prosperous and picturesque settlement. Neatly layered rice terraces and tropical coconut palms formed a peaceful pastoral scene along the road.

Soon we reached the village center, where elegant garden villas stood amid brilliant tropical flowers.

The Cloud Hotel was a dramatic step up.

Though small, it was refined and charming, a pleasant tropical resort. After checking in, I went to my room on the second floor.

I put down my luggage, took a long shower, changed into pajamas, and stretched out on the comfortable bed to plan my next move.

Opening my phone, I logged into the Black Goat app and found The Witch’s Liquor in the menu.

“Do you wish to register for The Witch’s Liquor? This is a five-star game.”

I selected “Confirm.”

A notification immediately appeared.

“Player Li Mo has registered for the five-star game The Witch’s Liquor. Please report to the Misty Forest at eight o’clock in the morning one week from today.”

After registering, I was about to close the app when its algorithm pushed a trending video straight to my screen.

The title read: “Beware the Horror Game! Every Black Goat Player Killed—Five Dead, One Injured in Misty Forest!”

Curiosity got the better of me, and I tapped it.

A host appeared.

“Players, an unfortunate incident occurred last night. Six people entered The Witch’s Liquor. Five died and one was injured—in other words, only one returned alive. Since Terror Valley launched, no game has had a higher casualty rate.”

“One of the six was a famous outdoor-adventure blogger. Before his death, he uploaded a video to social media. Let’s watch it together.”

The host switched feeds.

The screen went black.

Then the camera jerked, and a white man’s face appeared.