Surviving as the Second Main Lead: Second Lead's POV

“On the count of three, start running and get out of her with Nesh. She should be on her way down already. Go and find her once you get a chance to escape.”

Horas instructed as he got ready to shoot and distract the giants. He had nothing strong enough to take out giants in his inventory, but he had not thought he would need any.

Howard looked back at him with a worried expression, his eyes looking between Horas and the giants.

Horas was sure that his hero complex was rearing his ugly head right about now and he wanted to interfere with Horas’s plan and somehow ‘save’ him.

“Are you sure you would be alright? Should I not stay behind and help you out?”

Howard questioned in a low tone. His intentions of helping only made Horas more and more annoyed by the second.

“What is the use of ‘me’ distracting these giants if ‘you’ will not take advantage of it? Besides, I will have a better chance of escaping alone than being with you all the time.”

Horas finally lost his temper and raised his voice a little. Some of the giants looked up at the sudden noise but were unable to find the source of that noise.

Horas breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he realized that the giants had stopped looking at him. That had been a close call for him.

But that close call had been enough for Howard to rethink his options of staying behind.

“Alright, I will go out and call for help. On the count of three, right?”

Howard questioned despite already knowing the answer to his questions. Horas nodded as he got ready to shoot.

He fired in the opposite direction of where Howard was gearing up to run toward and the giants followed his lead beautifully.

They might have been a fairly intelligent race overall, but they were monsters in the end. They were slaves to their instincts as well so they were not going to follow Howard.

Howard looked back at Horas with a mournful expression but he finally left.

‘Finally, he left. I hope Howard finds the hidden cheat soon and puts an end to this dungeon. It is too dangerous to allow existing.’

Horas had a secret reason for staying behind like this. It was to facilitate the story better and for Howard to get his hands on a cheat item.

Horas would have gone for the cheat himself but he knew it was not worth it for him. His current style of fighting prioritized speed over strength and having a skill that cut his speed stat in half was not worth it.

‘But of course, it’s different for the protagonist who has multiple speed-related skills. Howard will be able to take care of himself.’

The giants finally noticed that something was wrong after Howard had gone far enough. They looked at the place where Horas was hiding and charged toward him.

He barely managed to escape the first big blow, but more decided to follow after the first one.

‘Tsk, how frustrating this is. I cannot utilize any heavy artillery because of my strength limitations. Why does it not go up for me?’

It was beyond frustrating for Horas but he had adapted at this point.

The giants followed after him with their heavy but slow steps which Horas easily avoided with the help of his skill - Swift move.

It cut his strength in half but increased his speed by double. It had been a dungeon reward Horas had received a long time ago.

And it was precise because of this skill that he could not get any strength-related skill. This skill prevented any of that other skills from taking effect.

‘Not that I need any strength. I just need to shoot properly and run away.’

Horas kept on running until he was sure that Howard was out of the vicinity and would not be caught up in the blast. Then, he led the giants into the side cave and ran in such a way as to end up at the entrance again.

The giants looked confused to see Horas in front of the entrance but it soon turned into rage.

“Well, I would like to entertain you all as well but I am on a rather tight schedule. So stay down here for a while and leave me alone.”

Horas shot the roof and it came falling. He had used the most destructive bullet he had and now he was truly empty.

But even that would not hold these giants back for long. Their thick skin was made to take all kinds of abuse.

Horas somehow managed to pin these giants down for now and he waddled out of the cave entrance.

But just as he was about to head out, he saw it - a giant bird-like thing flying right over his head. The intense pressure it let out was enough to cause Horas’s brain to spin.

‘Shit, it’s the dungeon boss. I had to run into this thing right here and now.’

Horas had no choice but to face the boss now. He had been spotted already and the bird was blocking his way.

Its beady eyes were looking at Horas in interest and he tensed up. He needed to make every shot count.

[[[Warning: Mana depletion levels reached. Kindly rest to replenish Mana.]]]

The system, being not as helpful things it was, decided to remind Horas of his reality. He only had about 10 points left out of 100.

‘I had two bullets left to fire before I run out of mana, I need to make both of them count right here and now.’

Horas shot his first shot carefully, aiming to catch the big bird unaware.

But things did not turn out as Horas hoped and the stupid chicken managed to step out of the bullet’s way.

Beady eyes did not look away from Horas’s body and he could not see an opening to attack. He was being pushed to play defensive.

“Look out. Here I come.”

Just when all hope seemed to be lost, Horas heard Nesh’s voice and his body relaxed the barest amount. His muscles lost their tension and Horas swayed on his feet.

His backup had finally arrived and there was no need to worry anymore.

Or, that was what Horas expected to happen. But the reality was often disappointing and different than what we believed it to be.

Horas was knocked down by a huge body and the bird stepped on his back. Nesh stopped her attack as well, afraid to hit him accidentally.

“Nesh, hurry up and help out. Don’t hesitate for my sake and-”

The huge bird monster did not step away. It let out a shrilled cry and picked Horas up from the middle.

The sudden motion startled Horas and Nesh was taken aback as well.

“H-Hey, what is that monster doing? Doesn’t it look like it’s kidnapping Team leader Horas?”

The yell came from Howard Spencer, who was still inside the dungeon for some reason. And he was the only one not frozen in shock at the moment.

Horas tried to get a small knife out and get himself out that way, but the bird was too tough. It did not react even when Horas dug his knife into its skin.

Or well, tried to dig a knife into his skin. (That tough chicken leg was too strong)

“Track me down using the navigation device. I will keep mine on for the rescue team.”

Horas yelled, his field training kicking in and making decisions for him. He was also getting over his shock and realizing his current situation.

Now that he realized where he was, he also realized that his situation was rare but not unheard of.

Sometimes, dungeon monsters and bosses showed weird behavior that included kidnapping humans and other creatures they came across.

But they also tend to lose interest pretty soon after that.

All Horas needed to do for now was wait for that to happen and then make his escape. He was sure that it would not take long for the monster to lose interest in him.

The big bird flew over some tall skyscrapers before handing into an open terrace. The overgrown forest on the building top made it look ready to fall any second now.

But there was something weird about this place and Horas got a feeling that there was more than met the eye here. Especially when he compared it to the other buildings.

This building looked far too stable for something this run down. It should have collapsed a long time ago.

The big bird let out a cry, almost as if it was calling for someone. But there was no sign of other monsters in the vicinity and no one answered.

Horas was dropped down from the bird’s claws and his shirt was picked up by the back in a beak. The happy bird hopped inside the building, leaning down to fit in the human-leveled door.

Weirdly enough, even the inside of the building looked luxurious and Horas was deposited into a warm and soft nest. He almost wanted to call it a ‘bed’ at that point but refrained from doing so.

And then the bird boss decided to make itself comfortable in front of it's nest.