Ep. 1 — Chapter 5: Long Awaited Official Release (4)

The streetlights were still flickering, lightly buzzing, filling the silence. There was also the distant sounds of what sounded like shooting. Nevertheless, it shouldn't bother me now.

Instead, it was the child.

We both stood, several metres apart. I faced the boy and he faced me. Unlike the other Mindless, he was quiet and made no gargling sounds or bared his teeth. Rather, he stood silently, composed. Like he wasn't a Mindless to begin with.

And it nearly deceived me as well. The boy just stood there, unmoving. But the moment I took a step to the side, he mimicked.

"Have you fully turned into one?" I asked, not expecting an answer.

I got a long stare as a reply.

Whatever the reason, it definitely wasn't because that the kid hadn't transformed into a Mindless. I felt queasy.

My chest tightened, and breathing became hard. I could feel my eyes trembling along with the rest of my body in that moment. Tears might've formed as well, but I wasn't too sure. All I know now was that I needed to do something.

Something that I would regret.

'Think of this as a game',

'…a game'.

'It's only a game.'.

But no matter how much effort I put in to convince myself, I still had doubts. Especially now when facing off against the small being, resembling a child.

I let out a deep breath,

…and the kid stared.

[Are you sure?]

"Yeah."

I raised my foot from the ground and launched forward. The ground from where I stood earlier broke, and I dashed through the pile of bodies straight towards the end of the Quest Zone.

[10 Points invested in 'Agility'. Your speed had increased! Your stamina has increased!]

The Quest did not include a punishment. Therefore, if I left the zone, it would cancel and I won't have to kill him.

Unexpectedly, the boy ran up to me at an incredible speed. Now, he was baring his teeth. I thought I felt a sharp pain in my stomach before I realised I was flying back.

I rolled over a few times before quickly getting back up on my feet, clenching my stomach.

The boy stared at me again, as if to warn me that I could not escape. My brows furrowed and I leapt up once again. The boy did the same, shooting at me with his leg extended out.

I pulled back my fist like an arrow and aimed straight for his jaw. The boy quickly brought his hands to his head and I used my other hand to grab him from under.

I raised the boy up, holding him by his collar and watched as he struggled to break free. His claws dug into my skin, but I continued to hold him up and ran straight towards the end zone.

It was then when I felt something behind me. I quickly turned around to see a man leapt up in the air with a pipe, a huge psychotic smile on his face. "Give me that kid!"

He swung the pipe, striking me on the shoulder, causing me to drop the boy and I fell back.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Hah?! Don't you know? We can kill each other for Points!"

I stared at him, wide-eyed. The man cackled before grabbing the kid and pressing him into the ground with his feet. He pointed the pipe at him before turning to me. "Don't worry, I won't kill you."

"Then—?!"

"This kid's one of them, right?"

I flinched. The man continued to speak away, with no sign of hesitation. He was definitely going to kill him. "Don't tell me…you're not going to? He's a Mindless. Not even human anymore. What, just because he's a kid, you're scared of that?"

"You crazy bastard, let go of him…!"

"But it seemed to me that you were going to kill him?" He said loudly, pointing the pipe at me now. "Or why else were you running at full speed, holding him up and headed straight for the building? You were planning on crushing him, weren't you?"

What…?

"And even if you weren't, don't worry too much now." A sinister smile appeared on his face and his brows curved in, making him look like a true demon. "I'll do the deed for you if your morals is getting in the way. How about it?"

Words were stuck in my throat. I watched helplessly as the man pressed on the boy and readied himself to swing the pipe.

I thought about it, and it doesn't seem like a bad thing. In fact, I wasn't able to do it. He could do it for me. If I let it live now, there's no telling what could happen.

Or he might even die later on.

But…

The man pulled back the pipe above his head and brought it down quickly. I jumped forward and struck him in the ribs.

"You…?!"

He fell to the ground and dropped the pipe, spitting out blood. "Son of a bitch, what are you doing?!"

I walked up to him and picked up the pipe. He stared at me walking to him wordlessly and starting backing up.

"Wait, wait, you…you can't…!"

"You wanted to kill him."

"Yeah! Because he was already one of them! A monster!"

'Monster'. Something triggered within me when I heard that word. I threw the pipe into a window, shattering it. "Monster?"

The man shuddered. I continued on, "Define monster for me. If that kid is a monster, I want to know why. And tell me why aren't you a monster."

"I am! I'm a monster, alright?! Why else would I go around doing this?! I'm a goddamn monster, goddamnit!! I just want to live!"

I halted my movements. The guy was shaking vigorously, tears flowing out of his face. It wasn't the look of fear, but guilt.

"This isn't the world we know, you know? The only rules here is kill or be killed." He sobbed, pushing himself up from the ground and pulled out a knife.

I quickly stepped back and kicked the knife out of his hand and stabbed him with it. Blood trickled down his lips, and I felt the blood from his wound soaking my hand. His body loosened up and he fell on his knees, cluthing onto my sweater.

I didn't look down and stared ahead. The sound of his body falling to the floor was heard a few seconds later.

[You have gained 70 Points!]

70? How much lives did this man take?

[Attribute, 'Lives More Precious than the Rest' has been acquired!]

[You have a new Achievement, 'Monster Over Man'!]

I turned back to the kid, and he was still standing there. I thought I could understand him now.

[Due to your Achievement, 'Monster Over Man', you have acquired a new Ability!]

"Come here."

[Your Ability, 'Inhuman Interpretation' is dechiphering the words of the individual.]

(I'm scared.)

"Don't be. I won't kill you." I said to the boy. He stared at me. He didn't look like a Mindless now. At least, not to me. Only a helpless boy was standing there, looking at me.

I opened up my hand and crouched down. The boy stared at me like he had been doing. I reached out, the boy flinching at my sudden movement. But he didn't try to resist.

A number of scars were visible on him, his clothes tattered. There was a large cut on his cheek, but it had stopped bleeding. I stroked the boy's cheek and felt his body, still warm. Perhaps…

[Selected individual is warming up to you.]

"Let's go."

.

.

.

Since earlier, the zone had expanded, allowing more access throughout the city. Buildings were mostly empty, and the only 'people' I would find are dead people. Not all of them seemed to have been killed by the Mindless, but other Players.

We arrived in front of a convenience store, the interior lights were still on, but the windows were shattered. A body laid on the counter, his leg dangling down. Blood dripped from the edge, falling to the ground.

I turned over my shoulder, seeing the boy had fallen asleep. Earlier, I had transferred 100 Points to his account, so he would be able to qualify to enter the Game.

I entered the store, the door had to be forced open as the sensors stopped working. Instead, I went through the broken windows, careful so no shards fell onto the boy.

The interior was messy, several shelves knocked over, showing signs of a fierce battle happening here. The worked seemed to have been killed by another person judging by the knife on his chest. I tried to shake off the vision from my head—but honestly, the sight didn't bother me much.

And that was because I realised that there was a section that didn't exist in the game.

[Your current Mentality is at Level 5.]

[Your heightened mental state has shaken off the shock of the scene.]

I walked around the place, stepping over the shelves. I grabbed some of the things and they were immediately stored into my inventory. Luckily, amongst the many things restored in my account was the 'Extended Capacity', allowing for more storage in my inventory.

I went behind the counter and opened up the cash register. Without much thought, I grabbed all of the contents in it and they were stored in my inventory as well.

Sure, they may not have any more values considering the state of the world now. However, there is sure to be some people that is still stuck with the old world's mindset. I'm sure of it.

And a small scamming business wouldn't hurt much.

It wouldn't hurt me, at least.

By the time I finished grabbing most things from within the store, I stared at the time from my [System Screen].

[3:04:21]

In three hours, the Tutorial level woukd come to an end. And the real Game would begin.

I left the store, still carrying the kid on my back. The road was empty—unsurprisingly. Street lights flickered about, not a single car was in sight, contrary to the usual nighttime in this area.

The moon was out.

It was supposed to be a waning gibbous tonight, but it was a full moon. A magnified version of it, looking much brighter and bigger than it would be on normal nights.

The cube was still there, displaying the countdown with a smaller clock under it, telling the time.

I turned to my right, a road leading down to a familiar neighbourhood. One that I was intimately familiar with. Although I had done everything I could to avoid that area.

However, I couldn't not go there now.

Once more, I took out my phone from my pocket, surprised that it hadn't shattered yet. I searched around, finding a certain individual's message.

—Are you coming home?

The message sent by my sister, a few hours ago after I left work. To think that this much happened in the span of a few hours was absurd, really.

I turned to the street leading down, the streetlights were all cut out. It was total darkness, the silhouette of the trees created an eerie ambiance of the place.

Nevertheless, I started walking towards its direction.

I felt the boy moving behind me, so I slowed down my walking speed to not awaken him. Only a single lamppost was still lit in that area.

Cars were flipped, scattered across the street. Houses were broken into, and even garage doors were completely torn apart. There was even a car that drove straight into the front door. I couldn't begin to fathom the destruction that took place, and the amount of deaths.

But I wasn't too worried about that. Not now. I arrived in front of a certain house, much less damaged than the others. The front door was completely gone, windows shattered.

The lights inside were not lit. As I always remembered it to be, the house was dead, showing no sign of life. Still, I started walking towards it.

I entered the place, gasping slighlty when I saw the torn up couches and the bodies of a number of Mindless in the house. From the kitchen, to the living room, leading to the hallways that led to the bedroom.

A blood trail was seen, leading to a room. My sister's room.

But it wasn't black.