( A random righteous faction player's pov)
*Snap*
A tree branch snapped under Carter's foot as he made his way through the forest with a maniacal frenzy.
Carter, the chief scout of the Double Orange guild, found himself hot on the trail of the most infamous player in the game: TheBoss, as he tracked the path taken by him and his accomplices through the thick forest.
His eyes were sharp, scanning the faint impressions on the forest floor, as he actively searched for some broken twigs, and the occasional patch of disturbed soil that could confirm the path taken by his target.
"This way!" he shouted over his shoulder, his voice cutting through the rustling trees as he instructed the hundreds of teammates behind him on what route to take.
"He's not far now—footprints are fresh!" He encouraged, as he could feel that the opponent was not more than a couple minutes ahead of them now, however, he had no confirmed visual on the enemy yet.
The forest was dense and the shadows cast by the tall trees seemed to be playing tricks with their vision, however, Carter, guided by his years of experience as a lead scout, seemed to be confident in the path he was leading his guild towards.
He strongly believed that every snapped twig or crushed leaf told a story, and hence tried to desperately piece it all together, for a confirmation on the path that the enemy took, through a wide jungle floor that pretty much looked the same all around.
"Pick up the pace, damn it!" he yelled again, his voice laced with urgency.
"The trail's too clear for him to be far ahead. We can catch him if we hurry!" he said, as behind him, his guildmates struggled to keep up, their boots crunching against the forest floor to leave a large trail of their own.
"Carter, are you sure we're almost there? I want to take a speed potion if we are, but it will wear off in ten minutes if we are wrong?" one of them asked, his voice tinged with nervousness.
"Shut it, Nathan!" Carter snapped, leaping over a fallen log with practiced ease.
"Do you want the glory or not? This is TheBoss! You think he's gonna just sit still and wait for us to take a potion when we see him? It's a risk you must decide to take yourself... Move!" Carter said, as he encouraged Nathan to drink the potion without confirming that he should.
At that point, the forest seemed to close in around them as they advanced, the canopy above thickening, as it cast dappled shadows on the ground.
The tension was palpable, the air heavy with anticipation.
"There! More broken branches!" Carter pointed ahead, his heart pounding as he pushed forward with renewed vigor. "He's running, but he's not that far. We've got him!"
Nathan however, lagging slightly behind, muttered under his breath, "You might want to slow down Carter, the guild is already spread thin in this chase, I can barely see the guy behind me, who can barely see the guy behind him, I think overall, there must be a kilometer gap between you and the guy that's the furthest away from here"
Carter heard Nathan's words, but chose not to answer.
Unlike the slowpokes at the back, he couldn't afford to slow down during the hunt, as if he did so he risked losing TheBoss's trail forever.
Regardless of how slow his back markers were, he needed to keep moving at the least, and hence that's exactly what he did.
Every step brought him closer to the legendary Boss, and every sound from the forest amplified the pounding of his heart.
"Stay together! Eyes sharp! He's leading us somewhere, but it doesn't matter. We'll end this here!" He said, however, he didn't know if he was yelling at his guildmates, or himself, as all he knew was that the hunt wasn't over—not yet.
"I GOTCHU" He yelled, the moment he could hear the crunching of the leaves up ahead of him, as at that point Carter felt assured that he had tracked 'TheBoss' down.
However, as he finally caught up to the beast leaving the trail that he was chasing, what he saw at the end wasn't 'TheBoss'.
Disappointingly, the beast that he finally encountered was a herd of exhausted deers, who seemed to be running away from him for the last 3 kilometers.
"What is this? Is this some joke Carter?" Nathan asked while panting heavily, as the effects of the speed potion that he drank nearly wore off.
Being one of the few that had followed Carter blindly into this mad chase through the forest, Nathan felt extremely frustrated at the end to see that they had encountered a bunch of deers, as he felt a strong desire to punch Carter then and there.
"No— no! I'm sure I was tracking human footprints… 3 of them, 2 men and one Beast, this is impossible? Since when did I mistook them for deer? No! No! Nooo—" Carter said clutching his head, as he fell to his knees in disbelief.
He could not understand how he went wrong? Or even where he went wrong? However, it did not matter.
Him being proven wrong, meant that he had led the guild towards a wild goose chase, and such an outcome meant that his credibility within the guild was sure to be destroyed forever.
[ Global Notification :- TheBoss's last known location is 123.456.777N and 144.555.666E ]
A system notification informed all players about TheBoss's live location, and according to the coordinates exposed, 'TheBoss' was 17 kilometers away, once again on the paved road trail, as Carter, Nathan, alongside thousands of other righteous faction players, seemed to be looking for him in the wrong place, by trying to trace him in the forest.
"DAMN IT! WE HAVE BEEN DUPED BY 'TheBoss'.
It will take us at least an hour to get-back on the road…. Damn we fucked our chance to catch him" Nathan complained, as Carter buried his face within the dead forest leaves out of shame.