Immortal In A Death Game-Chapter 177: ...Hi

The market was packed. Not just busy—suffocating.

Stalls spilled into the street in chaotic rows. Vendors shouted over one another. The air was thick with heat, sweat, fried food, and the faint metallic tang of processed monster parts.

It was only a few days before the next Game. Of course, people were going to crowd the market. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Adam stepped into the crowd and was immediately swallowed by it.

Fortunately, his smaller frame worked in his favor. He slipped between shoulders and under elbows, weaving through bodies that jostled and cursed and bargained.

He continued to walk, only looking at the weird stuff displayed everywhere.

Glass cases displayed crystallized claws. Tables held leather goods stitched from scaled hides. Some vendors simply laid their wares out on tarps across the pavement.

And soon, he saw something that made him stop—a cowboy hat, out of nowhere.

Adam approached the stall. "Is this... also made from monsters?"

"Ah!" The vendor’s face lit up. "Sharp eye!"

He snatched up the hat and shoved it toward Adam. "Feel it. Leikon hide. Toughest skin you’ll find outside a fortified barrier. I’ll give it to you for only 300 dollars."

Adam brushed his fingers across the brim. It was... surprisingly smooth.

"You made this?"

"Sure did."

"Can... I ask why?" Adam asked as he handed the vendor 300 dollars without any more thought. "It doesn’t look like it can protect anyone’s head."

"Protect anyone’s head?!" The vendor suddenly laughed. "No, no. You wear that so when you die in the next Game, you look good doing it! Buy it. With a handsome face like yours—"

The vendor abruptly stopped talking as soon as he saw Adam’s face. And then, with a trembling hand, he pointed at Adam.

"Adam the Endless!" He screamed.

And just like that, the entire market was silenced. All the conversations died, the coins stopped clinking, and the only noise one could hear was everyone’s heads slowly turning.

And not even a second later, the crowd surged toward Adam.

"It’s the Endless!"

"Aaah! You’re the Undying Creep, right?! I know that’s you!"

"Everyone, there’s a Hero!"

"That..." Adam instinctively stepped back. He quickly put on the cowboy hat to hide his face, but of course, it was already too late.

Some were already reaching for him, and most had already pulled out their cameras to take photos. He didn’t really think of disguising or hiding his face since the other members of the RLRD never do it.

But... he might have completely underestimated just how much the recent issues involving him have scattered his name and his face throughout the public.

"Is it true you cleared three Leaks alone?"

"Please, my sister is..."

Adam was going to run, but then he felt a small hand latched onto his.

He looked down, and it was a young boy, probably no older than five. The boy clutched a necklace bearing the sigil of the Church of Administrators.

"Please, help my dad in the next Game. Guide him. Do not let him be lost."

"Uh..."

"Please, Saint Adam. I pray to you that—"

"Hey..." Adam crouched, gently removing the boy’s hand as he grabbed his shoulders. "...Please, don’t pray to me. I’m not a saint, okay? I’m just a normal guy, like you."

"But my mom said that you—"

More people pressed closer. Someone tugged his shoulder. Another tried to shove a phone into his face.

Adam quickly stood up, carefully prying a few hands away. "Careful! There’s a small boy here!"

But that only made them push harder.

The air felt thinner. For a brief, dangerous second, panic brushed the edges of his mind... the image of the white room returned to him.

But then... he felt a strong grip around his wrist.

He turned to look who it was, but the person wore a hood, a face mask, and dark glasses. The stranger’s face was completely covered.

"Look down," the stranger said softly.

"Huh...?" Adam was confused at first, but when he saw a glow starting to pulse from the stranger’s palm, he quickly looked down.

The stranger raised his hand, and the light flew up, compressing into a radiant sphere before expanding outward in a flash.

It turned into a translucent shield, bright enough it caused everyone else to recoil and cover their eyes.

"Come," the stranger urged.

Adam hesitated only a second before nodding.

They slipped through the gap, not slowing down at all until they reached the edge of the parking lot, where the noise of the market no longer reached.

Adam couldn’t really feel any exhaustion at all, but he still found himself bent slightly, catching his breath. Surprisingly, the stranger also did the same, their breath even louder than his.

Adam stood up straight first, removing his new hat as he let out one final heavy breath.

"Thank you," he said. "I didn’t really think they would start crowding on me like that."

"Are you serious?" The stranger spoke, and now that there were no other voices and noise drowning them, it became clear to him that the stranger was a woman. "You’ve been all over the TV, you think you’re not famous...?"

"That’s not—"

Before Adam could say anything else, the stranger reached up and pulled back her hood, revealing her long golden hair.

She then removed her sunglasses, her bright blue eyes seemingly more radiant than the shield she’d summoned moments ago.

She removed her mask, revealing her red, luscious lips that almost curved into a smile on their own.

"You..." Adam blinked, taking several steps back. And when the stranger realized that Adam recognized her, her eyes started to flicker.

"I’m—"

"You’re the celebrity Hero."

"Huh?"

"Katherine...? That’s you, right? Ma’am?"

"Oh..." Katherine also blinked, and her lips trembled. She exhaled, and a laugh and a sigh seemed to threaten to come out at the same time.

"Y-yes..." she whispered, smiling at Adam. She seemed to want to say a lot of things, hundreds. But the only word that came out of her lips was—

"...Hi."