The giant finally moved for the first time. Its one-story-tall body stepped toward the gymnasium, and Keneric instantly took off running again. The stupid dog followed him as he slipped into the locker rooms and back to the public shower pods he hated so much. There, he wedged himself into a corner and waited.
Well, what else was he supposed to do? Try running away in this swampland? Laughable.
Outside, the giant closed in on the gym, its waterlogged wooden body taking one massive step at a time. Because of its oversized form, each step covered dozens of human-sized paces, so it didn't take long to reach its destination.
But the giant didn't stop there.
With a loud bang, it walked directly through the front door, its outsized body nearly matching the building's height. Still, the structure didn't collapse.
Then, with a groan, the small white mushrooms growing on the giant's back began to glow with a strange light. They multiplied—slowly at first, taking a whole minute. Then the golem reached back, tore off a handful in one swift motion, and threw them onto the floor.
They slammed into the wall and bounced off before hitting the ground.
But they didn't stay idle.
Each white mushroom grew tiny leg-like appendages and quickly scurried across the gymnasium like they had minds of their own. Some entered the equipment room. Others darted toward the chairs surrounding the volleyball court. A few headed into the locker rooms.
They moved like pale rats with glowing heads, swift and unsettling, while the giant waited silently at the center of it all.
From its back, a dark green liquid gushed out like a fountain—thick, bubbly, and unnatural. The giant may have looked like wood on the outside, but clearly, something far worse filled its insides.
Meanwhile, Keneric stayed hidden in his now-favorite corner, holding Bear (the dog) in his lap. Very little light reached this room, but he could still see the glowing mushrooms moving around like faint lanterns in a dark night.
Keneric might've been more curious if there wasn't a wooden golem outside waiting to kill him. So instead, he stayed silent while the dog squirmed and slobbered all over his hand.
One glowing mushroom approached the shower pods, and Keneric stopped breathing. Good thing the privacy glass separated the pods from the rest of the room. Ken knew something terrible would happen if those things got in.
But then the mushrooms began climbing the glass.
Like slugs.
This was bad.
Very, very bad.
The privacy glass surrounded the showers, sure—but it was open at the top to let out steam.
"Why? Just—Why??" Keneric mentally screamed.
He tried to shuffle away, but there was a wall behind him. One mushroom finally crested the top and dropped down, landing in front of him.
With no other option, Ken used his makeshift spear to push it away—gently.
That's when everything changed.
The touched mushroom froze. Then it rooted itself into the floor. Its glow shifted—from soft white to a copper hue, the same color as the spear.
But it didn't stop there.
The nearest mushroom flickered copper too. Then the next. And the next.
A chain reaction.
The copper light spread through the locker room, out into the gym, and reached all the way back to the giant.
When Ken heard the golem stir and its footsteps grow closer, he panicked and stabbed the nearest mushroom with his spear.
Still, the others glowed.
And the footsteps didn't stop.
Keneric put the dog down.
Bear didn't hesitate. He barked once, then darted out of the locker room.
Ken didn't care anymore.
He focused on destroying the mushrooms—crushing them underfoot and stabbing them with the spear. If left alone, they'd just create more problems, and Ken had enough of those already.
When he was almost done, Bear's distant cry echoed back.
Keneric rushed to the entrance—and saw it.
The giant had lifted the dog with one finger.
Then swallowed him whole.
Ken didn't have time to feel bad. Or guilty. Or even care.
If things don't change for the better, he would be next.
Outside, the gym was full of pale mushrooms. The giant had finished its snack and now it would come for the meal. There was no chance of escape—no way to run through broken glass and debris without injury. And beyond that? Swampland provided no solid ground, no cover, and no escape route.
So Ken went back to his favorite corner and waited.
This wasn't giving up.
This was survival.
The golem reached the locker room in two steps. But unlike before, it didn't smash its way in.
And Keneric understood why.
It wanted to capture him alive—like the dog.
And eat—
Yeah.
The giant dropped to one knee with a thump. It reached for the locker room entrance and carefully widened it. Then it slowly extended a hand inside, searching for Keneric.