Chapter 10

The peaceful sleep after a long time felt excellent. Not worrying about anything breaking the door open and rage into your sleep is a blessing for sure. How long has it been that I slept this well? I can't remember all that well. So many things happened after the gate was open and the world fell into chaos.

Last night I spent an hour outside in the mist. The cursed purple mist. The people in this camp do not like the mist, and they avoid it altogether. I was left alone on the roof outside. I felt different this time. After getting stronger by the system, my lungs do not feel weird after inhaling the mist. Instead, I feel myself getting stronger while I am in the mist. Maybe it is due to the < Touch of Gaia > skill. Or perhaps it is due to the system. I didn't know. The mist was as mysterious as the demons who came with it.

Standing there last night, I thought about what grandma Martha asked me to do. I didn't give her any answers. For now, I did not have any particular goal. I am wondering, searching for something that I do not know. Maybe having a home where I can return will not be that bad. Maybe having some people looking up to me wouldn't be that bad.

Maybe I will agree with grandma Martha and go to that villa she talked about. It was near the highway bypass road just outside the city, but there's a river between the city and that place. Wide enough for ghouls to avoid. The plan is to clear the villa premises, clear the bridge and the tunnel that lead there, take these people there and then blow up the bridge. Easy enough, I guess. But according to my calculations, I would have to clear the tunnel first, and the journey there and back, not counting the time spent fighting, will take about a week. More than enough time to avoid whatever grandma Martha saw in her visions.

I sat up from the mattress I was on. I had my usual blanket on me. The night was not that cold, but the blanket gave another layer to the comfort. There was a bed on the other side of the room. Three girls lay there asleep. I could have slept out with another guy, but most people in the camp didn't take me kindly. The fear of strength. This made me remember the scene of the movie where they handcuffed superman. People fear what they cannot understand, even if it tries to help them.

Still, I slept well, and the girls didn't disturb me much; a punch in Aria's head took care of that.

I got up and went outside. After getting fresh, I headed towards grandma Martha's room.

"You woke up early," Grandma said while she was in her bed. Old man, John was also in the room. "So, what do you decide?"

"I will do what you ask." As soon as I finished saying that, a system notification came to the transparent screen, and the female voice let me know something interesting, "New quest for program E192, Clear the monsters in Linda's villa and secure the way to the villa for the people in Camp Roof.'"

Camp Roof? And Linda's villa. That's something new. There were more, though, "Finishing the quest will start a permanent quest, 'My Kingdom.' 'Camp Linda's Villa' will become the first stronghold of program E192. Program E192 will also achieve the title, 'Camp Leader' upon completion of the quest." Wow, now that was a lot of new things for me to understand. "What is the permanent quest, 'My Kingdom'?" I asked in my mind.

"Permanent quests are quests that can be completed gradually, one step at a time. There will be multiple levels of the quest after it begins, and completion of each level will let Program E192 gain strength and special rewards from the system." I understand now. So it will be like upgrading bases in RTS games. I guess the system wants me to create my kingdom in this god-forsaken place. I think I will learn more after completing this quest.

"May I ask if the owner of the villa is Linda?" I looked at grandma Martha and sat down on the chair in front of her.

"Yes, did she tell you?"

"No, I guessed."

"You guessed it correctly. This is also why I would ask you to take her with you. Linda's father worked in the military and loved to collect firearms. There is a large vault under the villa where he kept all of it. This is another reason to choose that place as our base." Old man John looked worriedly at grandma Martha when she said this. The old man didn't want me to know this information.

"Thank you for the information, and don't worry, I have no interest in firearms for now." I stood up to leave the room. "I will leave now if possible. Does Linda have any skills that would be helpful for our journey other than her being the owner of that villa?"

Both grandma Martha and old man John didn't say anything and just looked at me with poker faces. This got me suspicious.

"So?" I asked.

"She tried cooking a few times." grandma Martha looked at old man John, "How was it last time?" Old man John just shook his head, and grandma Martha sighed. My heart skipped a beat.

"If it's about keys, I can take them; how about not taking her with me?" I said.

"No, it's not just about keys. The place is a maze, and without her going with you, it would be hard to find the underground vault."

"I will search for it myself," I said as I left the room. I already had two useless girls with me; now she wanted me to have another one. Do I look like a garbage truck?

I was back in Linda's room, and the girls were already up. Dana was already packed, but Aria and Linda were having a hearty conversation.

"Jurian, Linda is going with us, right?" Aria said as she was thrilled.

"No." I took my bag and started to put the blanket in it.

"What?" Linda said.

"I said, No."

"Why?"

"Can you fight?"

"No."

"That's why."

"But, you can fight." She said with such a face that I wanted to punch.

"I am not some bodyguard. If you want to come with me, you will have to be like a slave. I will do whatever I want with you." I looked at her intently, "If I feel like it, I will keep you out at night to be a bait for luring the monsters away from the camp." I hope she gives up after hearing that.

"Okay!"

"Good. What? No. I will still not take you with me." I looked at the other girls, "Will you stay or go with me?"

"We will follow you," Dana said.

"Then come," I said as I left the room.

"I am also coming," Linda said. I didn't feel like replying. What the hell does this girl think? Are we going on a picnic? And I really should leave the other two girls here, but I had so many things with me, I cannot carry them myself. Also, there was food.

"Okay, you can come but make sure to bring at least ten days' worth of food with you. And everything will be carried by you."

She nodded as she ran out of the room. By the time we reached the building crossing, she had joined us with a massive bag that I don't think she would be able to carry much longer. Whatever, let her learn from her mistakes by herself.