Ep. 4 — Chapter 14: Hunting Grounds (1)

Soon after receiving the 'Slug Mucus' from the quest compensation, I looked around to find the fog starting to disperse.

I was able to see further than a few hundred metres now. And I was also able to clearly see just how much monsters have been spawned just around the factory. I couldn't begin to fathom just how much there are in the city.

"Really? How do we use them?" Leon asked, crouching down beside me.

"First off, let's get out of here. There are probably more coming up now since we made so much noise earlier."

He nodded at my words and looked around. It was quite a drop from here to the ground and Leon, who went to inspect it, turned back and shook his head.

There is, however, the slant on the roof. We may be able to slide down and just barely make it without dying. Though it was too much of a gamble. I turned around to find Leon searching for a way down without going back inside, and I did the same.

I found it. I unwrapped the chains around my hain and looked around, trying to find something to stick to. I spun the chains around, slowly speeding up and aimed at the pole near the edge.

The clicking noises of the chains got Leon's attention and he turned to me.

"Found anything?" He asked, trotting up next to me, backing up a bit after seeing the speed at which I was spinning the chains.

"Yeah."

Most likely seeing what my plans were, Leon asked further, trying to confirm his thoughts. "You're going to swing? From here to there?"

"Exactly." I said, spinning the chains even faster and nearly smacked myself with it.

I extended my hand and manoeuvred the chains' trajectory, having it wrap around the pole. With a tug, I ran and slid down the slope of the roof, swinging across the air and tumbling down atop a security booth, grabbing hold of the end before falling off.

I rolled down the booth and fell on my sides, feeling the impact being lessened from my current physicality. It was good that I was able to strengthen my body with Points alone.

Had it not been for the Points to level up my body, I might as well have died in the first few minutes. Hell, I would've died the moment the Game began.

"Are you okay?!" Leon cried out from atop the roof, slightly bent over to get a better look at me.

I crawled to me feet and rubbed my shoulders. A few scrapes and cuts here and there, but nothing major. I nodded my head and looked back, following the chains. I tried to find where I had dropped it.

"Uh oh. Sir Rayes, I think there's a bit of a problem here…!" Leon yelled out. I could guess what it was and yelled back to him.

"Fend them off! Give me a minute!"

"Make it quick, please!"

Damn it, where is it? I looked around the place, circling around the security booth to find the chains. I focused all my attention on the ground, trying to catch a glimpse of silver within the dark night. Shit, why is it so dark?

There were barely any light. Most of the streetlights had been knocked down, either purposefully or not.

Grraaawwlll…

Damn, not me too. I glanced back behind me and saw a few coming up this way. I doubt they'd seen me, since they weren't pouncing on me yet.

I quickly hid behind the booth, carefully watching them from behind it.

Like mindless beasts, they crawled around the place. It won't be long until they find me. After all, they can 'smell' us. They crawled around in random patterns and sniffed the ground, air, anything.

Clink…!

I stepped on the chains. I quickly crouched down to pick it up, folding it around my arm again. I traced where it came from and saw that the majority of it was still stuck on the pole. I gave it a tug, but it doesn't budge.

Leon was still up there, fighting the—however much there was—monsters.

"Sir Rayes, are you finished?!" I could hear him crying out, and the sounds of flesh being pierced. I doubt it was his.

"For crying out loud, stop calling my name…" I hissed under my breath before running out from behind the booth. Instantly, the creatures below saw me and tossed the container down the edge. Their teeth grinded and they all leapt up at me.

"Sir Rayes—"

"Got it! Just give me a bit more time!" I cut him off, running ahead as well.

I won't be able to run much further before the chains gets stuck. Instead, I ran a bit, prompting the creatures to speed up to reach me first. I analysed their movements and appearance.

'Wingless Flies'. Pretty weak monsters. I should be able to beat them with my fists alone. But dealing with them would take too much time.

I halted my movements and ran the other direction. Leon was still fighting them, getting pushed to the edge of the roof. As soon as one of the Wingless Flies approached, I leapt up and jumped on its body.

"Jump on them! Leon!" I yelled out and without a moment wasted, Leon leaped off the roof.

I threw the chains, wrapping around his waist and pulled it tight to slow down his fall. He tilted over and slammed right into the back of a Wingless Fly, killing it on impact.

Green liquid splattered all around, staining the walls and the ground. I watched dazedly as Leon slowly got up, groaning in pain.

At least, the other monsters were up there still. They looked down at up, not wanting to come down. Not that they could, either way. Winged creatures don't spawn this early on. I'm sure of that.

Leon walked towards me, green blood of the Wingless Fly dripping all over his body. I furrowed my brows, holding out my hand to tell the man to stop. "Stay there. Don't come here."

Leon sniffed himself and gagged. "It stinks…!"

"Yeah. Wait here, I'll find something for you." I told him, breaking the windows to the security booth. There was a uniform in there. I saw it earlier. "Get my chains unstuck, and climb down there. Wash yourself off."

I watched him from inside the booth as he pulled the chains free and used it to safely climb down the ledge. A river ran past the factory, and Leon started to clean himself of the blood. The uniform looked new and clean. I almost felt bad for whoever it was for, someone named Michael. A screen appeared as I touched the shirt.

—

Security Uniform ≪C≫

[A security uniform with a nametage and a badge.]

Passive: +1 Endurance, +1 Agility, x1.5 Trust Gain

—

'Trust Gain'? That's new. Though, I doubt there is anyone that wouldn't trust someone like Leon. This uniform would probably make that to good use.

I grabbed the uniform from the hanger and walked out the door of the security booth. Leon left the chains still hanging on the ledge so I used it to climb down as well. Once I got down to where he was, I passed him the uniform, giving him a certain look at the same time.

"What?" He asked, washing the last bit of green liquid off his back.

I sighed and shook my head. "Just because the world's possibly ending, doesn't mean that I won't mind seeing butt-naked buff guys younger than me shameslessly washing themselves."

"Ah. It's dark anyway…"

"I can still see." Damn it. I unconsciously glanced over once more. What is this feeling? Why would I be jealous of some kid younger than me. He does have a nice body…and so what?

"I'm putting your stuff here. Put it on once you're done." I said, pulling the chains down. I cracked like a whip but I didn't flinch, instead I manoeuvre it to wrap around my hand automatically. I think Leon was shocked though, as I heard a loud gasp.

"What if it doesn't fit me?"

"Where's your old clothes?" I asked, tightening the chains.

Leon was silent for a moment. He brushed back his blonde hair and let out a nervous chuckle as he turned to me. His face was like that of a kid that did something wrong. "I threw it away."

I raised an eyebrow and he stumbled between words. "It was beyond dirty…! There was no way to

clean it no matter how hard I washed it! I swear…!"

"Mm-hmm."

"I'm not kidding…!"

"Fun. I'm going to be going around with a naked warrior, then." I joked and he hiccuped.

"I can't go naked…"

"You won't. Don't worry, they will fit for sure."

I walked over to where I placed the uniform and picked it up, walking over to Leon and putting it in his hand. I was careful not to take a peek. "It'll adjust its size to fit its wearers."

"Ah. Is that so?" Leon sounded happy.

Soon after, Leon finally had his clothes on and walked out from behind the bushes. This guy looks like he was in a cosplay, dressed up as a police officer of some sort.

I was looking at my phone. More specifically, the text messages sent by Lia.