Cornered

Carl was challenged with yet another dilemma. To save Dan or not to save it. The creeper hadn't been of much use to them and the quest rewards might be obsolete in assisting them on their journey. However, he also thought about how the situation they are in was partially Ricardo's impulse.

Another reason weighs on Carl's mind. To him, Dan was merely an NPC so letting him die wouldn't leave any consequences since they were from completely different races, unlike Nigel who shared humanoid features. Since Dan was trapped down here for as long as five years according to it, its own mob kind could either be wiped out or Dan didn't have an important role to play for the creeper kind.

He still suspects the game will mess them over nonetheless. If he were to not save the creeper, what was the worst that could happen? He knows that quests now have a penalty and there was always the chance of a heavy one. In the end, Carl decided to rescue the creature.

"Leave it! LEAVE IT!" Ryan shouted as he lifted the unconscious Ricardo to place on his back. "Nothing good ever comes from their kind, creepers are repugnant mobs, especially to us players. I'll spell it for you. These guys are suicide bombers. They killed thousands of players in the past. I don't buy your story, you could just be one of the Villager king's altered puppets."

"Trust me, I think, therefore I am. I have no reason the lie. I was never part of the war so every being is neutral to me." Carl replied but he also whispered 'We can always leave him behind if the quest becomes too demanding.'

Even after telling Carl to rid of the notion of saving the creeper, Carl disobeyed Ryan's warning. He continued to place Dan on his back which made Ryan feel more anxious about what might become of Carl in the future, a corpse very likely. Ryan rushed towards Carl and tried to tackle him, only to back to off due to Dan releasing a slight hiss.

Despite hissing being a creeper's language, players who had survived the great war seemed to link it with them going boom. Dan's snoring to Ryan was a huge threat.

"Get away from it! While he is still dormant! We don't have much time left before those spiders chip an entrance. We can't be stingy about party size. Save anyone or anything that is worth saving, clearly not that thing! Think about it logically! It's for your own good!" Ryan gritted his teeth as he spoke.

"If I die from this, you don't have to take the blame. I'll save him. You can leave Ricardo here if you want. We wouldn't want to become 'dead weight' to you. I studied in psychology before, I can try to convince it." Carl answered.

Ryan's eyes flared up with rage. His stubborn comrade was giving him a hard time. Without a choice, he let Carl do as he wishes.

*Loud stone friction intensifies until a stone block was retracted from the ceiling

The hole revealed four ruby-like eyes, beneath those eyes were a set of hairy fangs able to fit an entire player's fist. The spider's hissing felt disorienting, the sounds made the two players felt uneasy. The chipping noises exponentially grew once there was a hole.

What are they going to do now? At any moment, a spider could come charging in. Judging by the sounds alone, they can tell that they were massively outnumbered.

Carl crafted extra 'slightly longer sticks' to try and poke the spider peering into the one-block hole. The creature instantly pulled Carl's stick with ease all the while snapping the thing. They seemed agile, at least enough to evade Carl's attempt to stab them through the hole.

A few minutes later, three more holes started to appear and with them, more ruby eyes came into the light. One of the spiders even extended an appendage into the room. Time was running out, sooner or later, the entire stone room would be pried open. However, there was a factor slowing the spiders down which was them spreading the chippings across the room instead of focusing on a specific wall.

"Alright, at least listen to me this time. Ricardo's out cold so it's up to you to decide how many of us live. Try to keep up with me when they finally bust an exit for us. And if Dan wakes, you ditch him." Ryan told Carl.

Carl looked at the grandmaster and nodded to confirm that he won't object to Ryan's idea.

*More loud hissing

The four holes were torn large enough for spiders to entire one by one.

The creature was one and a half block in width but only a single block tall. Its had dark bluish skin and was covered in tiny hair. As it shambled, loud taps emanated across the room.

Seeing four arachnids entire their vicinity, Ryan immediate signalled to his comrade to begin storming after him. Ryan rushed at one of the spiders and swiftly beheaded it. He turned to the hole the spider used to enter the room. More were trying to force their way in, only to meet the end of Ryan's blade.

He sprinted past the creatures waiting outside, making no stops to see if Carl had been left behind. "It's up to you now. If you don't have what it takes, don't try to do unnecessary things."

Carl sweated as the room slowly filled up with cave spiders. When Ryan made a break for the hole, it was done in a flash. The spiders outside of said hole chased after Ryan, leaving a clear path for Carl.

"What do I do? I can't outrun these things. Unless..."

The spiders that were tailing Ryan had only one thing on their minds, the prey in front of them. Ryan was forced to jump and duck due to the unevenness of the mineshaft while the spiders simply breezed through the obstacles.

The path Ryan was following led to the open ravine, he hoped that there were multiple entrances to the other side in order to shake off the spider's numbers. The spiders were gaining on him because he was carrying Ricardo, he was determined to save the idiot so he wouldn't drop Ricardo off no matter the cost.

As the spiders were homing in their meal, an unexpected guess showed up to the pack.

On a wooden skateboard with four blocky wheels, Carl the news writer zoomed past the bunch with a peace gesture. "Lata suckers!"