Heavy rain poured over the forest, shrouded in a thin mist. The muddy ground was slippery beneath our feet, while the sound of raindrops and rustling leaves filled the air, mixing with the scent of wet soil.

  The cold air began to bite my wet body. I started to share an idea with Marlo so we wouldn't have to run anymore.

  "I have a plan, please trust me!" I insisted.

  "Do you think your plan will work? And I'm sure the 'Guardian Dogs' will be here in a matter of seconds," Marlo responded.

  "Running won't save us because the 'Guardian Dogs' are as fast as dogs," I explained.

  "So, it's better if we hide here and conserve our energy."

  Marlo began to think and seemed resigned. "If you're so sure, then I'll put my life in your hands. I hope your idea works well."

  "First, let's cover ourselves with mud," I said, starting to smear mud on my body.

  Marlo, confused, began doing the same.

  The forest was silent, filled only with the sound of raindrops falling on the leaves. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed on the muddy ground, breaking the silence and making us glance at each other warily.

  "Damn!! They're here," I yelled in my mind.

  We hastened the process of covering ourselves in mud, and I quickly instructed Marlo to follow me. "Hide here, Marlo."

  I led Marlo to crouch and hide in the bushes. The bushes were only about three meters high.

  "Are you sure they won't find us?" whispered Marlo.

  I looked at Marlo and nodded, indicating that I was confident our plan would work.

  A few minutes later, we both glanced in the same direction as the sound of footsteps grew closer.

  The closer the footsteps came, the faster our hearts beat. All we could do was close our mouths and hold our breath.

  The footsteps stepped and stopped right in front of us. Time seemed to stretch on, with the sound of rain breaking the silence around us.

  After a while, we saw the footsteps move away from us. We stood frozen, not moving, even though the footsteps were no longer there.

  The silence began to fade as Marlo said, "We made it past them, thank goodness. I thought we were going to die."

  I smiled and replied, "Yeah, thank goodness we survived thanks to the condition of this forest."

  "This forest condition?" Marlo asked.

  "We're in a mangrove forest, which has a complex and strong aroma because of the muddy soil mixed with decaying organic matter and methane gas released by the decomposition process," I explained.

  "That's why I suggested covering our bodies with mud so our scent gets mixed, and the plants we're hiding behind are also important for masking our scent."

  "These plants?" Marlo said, looking around at the plants surrounding us.

  "Yeah, these are Chromolaena odorata plants, which also have a distinct odor, making them a perfect hiding spot," I added.

  "Turns out, you're pretty smart to know all that," Marlo complimented.

  "I have to thank what I learned in school. I never thought it would be useful in a situation like this," I replied proudly.

  "So, do we have to keep hiding here?" Marlo asked, looking around.

  "We don't even know how far the 'Guardian Dogs' have gone," I responded.

  Should we stay here or find another place to hide? This started to make me uncertain, because a wrong decision could cost us our lives.

  But if we stayed here, the 'Guardian Dogs' would eventually find us, because I was sure they could still smell us, even with the other odors masking it.

  "Yeah, you're right, I can't underestimate a dog's sense of smell," I thought.

  "Let's go, find a new place to hide!" I whispered, creeping out of our hiding spot.

  "So, where should we go?" Marlo asked.

  "We need to move against the wind to avoid their scent," I said.

  We began walking against the wind, staying alert to our surroundings, fearing the 'Guardian Dogs' might still be nearby.

  After walking for a few minutes, the sound of firecracker explosions started to echo again, one after another.

  "About five more explosions, that means there are only nine people left. Where are the other seven, including us?"

  "Are Aldiano and Walter still alive?" I thought.

  Without stopping to think about the number of players still alive, we started to slow our pace due to the heavy rain, which worsened our vision ahead, and the wet mud that made it harder for us to move.

  "Is it just me, or does the mud here seem to be getting deeper?" I asked Marlo while noticing the mud starting to cover my feet.

  "I think it's dangerous if we keep walking straight ahead because of this mud," Marlo replied.

  I wasn't fully focused on what Marlo was saying when suddenly I slipped and fell, but luckily, I managed to grab a branch from a nearby tree.

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  Marlo, startled by my fall, quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

  "It turns out this is a mud pit, and we don't know if it's safe to cross," Marlo said.

  "Yeah, it's better we avoid going forward. I'm sure the 'Guardian Dog' will avoid it too," I responded, while scanning the area.

  "Let's explore the pit from the sides and move slowly because it's very slippery."

  After a while, we continued following the edge of the pit. Suddenly, we saw someone running in the distance. Quickly, Marlo and I hid and observed who it was.

  "It's Walter!" Marlo said.

  After examining closely, it indeed looked like Walter, and he seemed to be running in a hurry.

  "Is he being chased?" I thought. Before I could process the thought, I saw a dog-headed figure chasing him with a sword in hand.

  "Trouble! Walter is in danger! We have to help him!" Marlo exclaimed.

  "We can't help him, we'll probably die if we do," I replied, filled with hesitation.

  Is there a way to help? There must be a way; I have to think of something to save Walter too.

  On the other side, Walter thought, "Why did he find me?"

  "I have to run as far as I can, I'm not ready to die."

  I had been running as fast as I could, but after taking a short break and looking back, I saw the dog-headed figure still chasing me leisurely.

  "Dammit, how is he still chasing me? I've run as fast as I can," I complained.

  Panic started to set in, and I wanted to run again when suddenly I heard voices calling out.

  I looked to see Elio and Marlo waving their hands at me.

  "Walter, run this way!!" They shouted loudly.

  What are they thinking? Didn't they see the dog behind me? I thought, panicked.

  Without thinking any further, I started running toward them, hoping to escape all of this.

  I was running quickly, but I tripped and fell because of the slippery mangrove tree roots.

  I saw a sword flying from behind me and striking a tree in front of me.

  "Dammit, if I hadn't fallen, that sword would've hit my back. Looks like God is still watching over me," I muttered, standing up and looking behind me.

  The dog was now running at full speed toward me, and immediately, I started running as fast as I could to put some distance between us.

  "Dammit... he's starting to chase me!" I said, surprised to see that Elio and Marlo were no longer in front of me.

  "Where did they go? Didn't they tell me to run toward them? Where are they?"

  "Did they see the dog behind me, and they ran when I fell?"

  In a panic and frustration, not caring about anything else, I kept running. Suddenly, I was pushed aside by Marlo, who was hiding behind a tree.

  As I fell, I saw the dog leap over us and try to attack me from behind. Fortunately, Marlo quickly pushed me, and the dog passed over us.

  I saw the dog fall into the mud pit and struggle to get out. It kept trying but was sinking deeper into the mud.

  Elio ran over to us and looked at the dog struggling in the pit.

  "Take that, you damn dog! Die in that mud!" I shouted, flipping the bird toward the dog.

  As we started to calm down, thinking we were safe, the dog suddenly pulled a whistle from his pocket and blew it loudly, making it echo through the forest.

  "He's calling for his friends. We need to run fast," Elio said, trying to grab my and Marlo's sleeves.

  I, Elio, after hearing the whistle, didn't hesitate and quickly grabbed Walter and Marlo to move away from the area.

  "His friends will be here soon. We need to run as far as we can," I said.

  "Should we hide in the same place as before?" Marlo asked, looking uneasy.

  "Did you find a hiding place? Then we'll hide there," Walter added.

  "No, if we hide there again, they'll find us," I replied.

  We kept running, and before we knew it, the rain had started to ease, and a light fog began to form around us.

  Before the fog got thick, we started scanning the area for a temporary hiding spot.

  I noticed a hole in the ground between the mangrove tree roots, big enough for three people to hide in.

  "Over there! Under the mangrove tree roots!" I shouted.

  We hurriedly hid under the tree roots, hoping not to be found.

  A few minutes passed, and we heard two footsteps running past us.

  "Is it safe now?" Walter asked.

  "It looks like they've gone far," Marlo replied, looking out.

  "Then we need to leave before they realize we're here," I said.

  "Wouldn't it be safer to stay here?" Walter asked anxiously.

  "If we stay in one place, they'll realize we're here because our scent will linger, and they'll know we're not elsewhere," I explained, eager to leave.

  "No! I'm staying here. Since they didn't find us here, this place is safer than out there," Walter replied.

  "Believe me, those creatures are dogs, which means they have sharp senses of smell," Marlo said, trying to reassure Walter.

  But Walter still didn't want to leave the hiding place and said, "Even though they are dogs, their sense of smell has drastically declined because they have started using other senses."

  "That's proven since they couldn't find us here even though they passed by us, so it's clear that it's safer here," Walter explained.

  Not knowing what else to do, I decided to urge Marlo to hurry and leave the area before they came back.

  "Maybe it would be safer if we were alone because the smell would blend with the mud and the mangrove trees' scent, rather than the three of us being here," I said, pulling on Marlo's arm.

  Marlo and I reluctantly started to leave Walter behind, hoping he would be safe there.

  Meanwhile, Walter watched as Marlo and Elio left him alone.

  "I'll be safe here and make it home safely," I thought to myself.

  As I reflected, I started murmuring, "Dad, Mom, I'm sorry for leaving home and for being a burden to you."

  "Even though you're getting older, you still try to repay my debts, while I keep spending your money on my own pleasure. If I make it back home safely, I promise I'll change," I murmured, clutching the necklace around my neck.

  Suddenly, while I was thinking about my parents, I heard footsteps directly above me.

  I started sweating cold and kept praying they wouldn't find me.

  After just a few seconds of silence, two eyes stared at me from outside my hiding place.

  "They found me here," I thought, tears starting to fall.

  In an instant, two hands grabbed me and pulled me out of my hiding place. I fought back, but I was too weak to resist.

  With tears streaming down and fear overwhelming me, I began pleading with them, "Please let me go, I promise I'll do anything if you just don't kill me."

  The two 'Guardian Dogs' looked at each other and whispered something.

  "If you want to live, how about you act like our brethren from the human world?" one of the Guardian Dogs said.

  "Brethren? Do they mean dogs?" I thought.

  Then, I began crawling and crying like a dog, kneeling and posing like a dog begging for mercy.

  "Hahaha, it's actually quite similar when you act like this," laughed both Guardian Dogs.

  "But it's a pity. Even though our brethren have acted well and begged for mercy in the human world, you humans still treated them cruelly," the Guardian Dog in front of me said coldly.

  My gaze froze on him. Slowly, he raised his sword high, the dim light in the forest reflecting its sharp gleam. My body trembled violently, but the fear mixed with something much more painful-deep regret.

  In my mind, my father and mother's faces appeared clearly. Father, with deeper furrows on his forehead, and Mother, gazing at me with sorrowful eyes.

  "Walter, how long do we have to bear all this? Your debts... the loan sharks are threatening to take our house!" Dad's voice echoed, as if it were coming back into my ears. At that moment, I had only laughed lightly, brushing off their worries without a second thought.

  "Don't worry, Dad. This time I'll win big, I'll definitely pay it all back. Even more," I had said, but now those words felt empty, full of the deceit I had realized too late.

  I had destroyed them. I kept gambling, kept draining our family's savings for my empty ambitions. They didn't deserve this suffering.

  "I'm sorry, Dad. Mom..." I whispered faintly. Tears kept streaming down. I clutched the necklace around my neck tightly, my fingers trembling. "God, if I could get one more chance... I swear I'll change. I'll make amends."

  But that prayer felt hollow in my mind. I knew my time was up. The Guardian Dog in front of me showed no hesitation. With swift movement, his sword swung, cutting through the air with a sharp sound.

  I closed my eyes, accepting my fate-the price for my own foolishness.

  Then, everything went dark.

  In the distance, the sound of fireworks echoed in the clear night sky. The number of humans left was now only eight.