Loot box?

"What took you so long?" Joshua asked, gripping the motorcycle's throttle. It was an orange motorcycle with a red box mounted on its back; a faded pizza logo at its center. It idled with a loud sputter and released a steady stream of white smoke from its exhaust.

"How did you start—" Gray was about to ask. His voice trailed off as he noticed the bundle of wires poking out at the front; several of them had been stripped and connected.

"I won't even ask," he decided, before tossing the plastic bags into the red box at the back.

"Stick to the alleyways, this should be small enough to fit. I'll direct you," he added, pulling out his Google Maps as he hopped on.

"Aye aye captain," Joshua replied, revving the bike.

### (Several Minutes later)

The chaos seemed to have died down quite a bit, or at least that's how it looked from the alleyways. There were fewer people running around and screaming; and more lying on the side of the road, dead. Most of the noise right now was coming from the monsters, they cooed and scree'auked from the top of the buildings, swooping down occasionally at plastic bags they had perhaps mistaken for prey.

Unlucky for them, most of their prey had fled to the alleyways —it seemed that everyone had finally realized that those things couldn't fit here. However, this meant that things were more difficult for Gray.

"P-Please take me with you."

"No, me."

"Please, I have a daughter."

It was like this every time they passed through an alleyway. People tried clinging onto the bike, begging to come with; even though they had no idea where the two of them were going.

"Stand back, I have a gun. Don't make me shoot you," Gray shouted, holding his hand inside his blazer, mimicking its shape. Everyone stood back, holding their hands up. However, the threat did not stop them from begging.

He could hear Joshua cracking up in front; he just hoped that the idiot would hold his laughter in, otherwise, someone might take him up on his bluff.

Once they left that alleyway and entered a relatively empty one, Gray sighed in relief.

"You know, I thought you were just lucky the first time you used that trick. But I think I overestimated the NPCs," Joshua laughed, taking a right after Gray tapped his right shoulder.

"Everyone's on edge. They're too scared to think clearly… I'm too scared to think clearly, but they're not dumb. Who wants to take the chance on a gun?" Gray replied, zooming in on his phone's map.

It would've been more convenient if the system's map had more details, however, it only showed the major roads.

 "And stop calling them NPCs, I don't know if that's how you're coping with all the deaths, but it's getting annoying," Gray added, before tapping Joshua's right shoulder.

"I guess it just won't do, if I call the damsels in distress NPCs in front of lord Superman," Joshua snickered.

"I don't have a hero complex. Those were people we knew, it's different. And besides, it's part of a quest, so it's not like I was trying to save them for nothing," he added.

"A quest? So it really is just like a—"

"Don't say it. It really isn't. Trust me," Gray interrupted. "Go straight, we'll have to cut through the road up ahead," he added.

Joshua twisted the throttle, and the motorcycle jerked forward; picking up some speed.

"If it was a quest, you should've said something. I would've been more willing to help," Joshua replied, twisting the throttle even more. The suspension on this thing was terrible, so they could feel every bump and hole; which worsened with the increased speed.

They reached the end of the alleyway, blitzing through onto the road; the tires skidding as the bike bounced onto the asphalt.

There was a screech, above them. However, by the time the monster's shadow appeared, they were already in the next alleyway.

"Why would a quest make you more willing to help? Before today we'd barely spoken. If you weren't willing to help without reason, why would something you won't even benefit from change your mind?" Gray asked once they were halfway through the alleyway.

『8 minutes remaining…』

 They were five minutes away from the stadium, if not for the buildings obstructing their view, they'd be able to see it by now. However, that was going to change soon. They were nearing the end of the CBD, so their alleyway routes were coming to an end.

From this point on, they'd be jumping into the lion's mouth…or pigeon's in this case.

"Everyone chose who and when they wanted to help before all this; why should it be any different now?"

Just then, there was a loud shriek from somewhere nearby, followed by a thud.

"What the fuck was that?" Gray asked, patting Joshua to stop the bike. They were just about to exit the alleyway, so they had a view of the street across them.

Another shriek, and the sound of flapping wings.

"I don't know. But we're running out of time," Joshua replied, climbing off the bike.

The two of them moved towards the end of the alleyway to get a better view of the street. A pungent odor burned Gray's nose; it smelt like a dog had died nearby.

Just as they were about to poke their heads out; a monster came zipping towards them, crashing into the ground right in front of them.

Its head was now nothing but a puddle of black goop, and its wings had been ripped off, exposing green flesh. The corpse began bubbling, and tiny worm-like tendrils squirmed out towards the ground.

Just as Gray opened his mouth to say something, a green beam of light shot from somewhere in the sky, hitting the corpse.

The tendrils stopped squirming, and the corpse began to emit golden dust.

"What the—"

An instant later, a golden gem pierced through the creature's chest, glistening as it floated into the air. It stopped and hovered a few centimeters above the corpse, emitting sparkling golden fumes.

『Claim Lvl.1 loot box?』

『Accept or Deny.』