n

n

nKairos clicked his tongue.

n“Those people really came here to bring trouble for us again?”

nNicole bit the bottom of her lip.

n“But… we should still help them right?”

nKairos grabbed onto the side of his head.

n“Well we don’t really have a choice right now, because I’m pretty sure they are leading the monsters right to us.”

nHe began walking out of the break room and into the main lobby while the others followed, albeit with hesitation.

nAs expected, the two men from earlier were running towards the barbershop. The sliding door slowly opened, but they shoved themselves through the tiny crack due to urgency. Behind them, three monsters charged straight through, directly breaking through the sliding doors.

nShattered glass flew into the air and the metal from the doors bent, before getting caught in place.

nKairos let out a long sigh.

n“You guys are real pieces of **, you know that?”

nThe man with the beard ran towards him like Kairos was the man’s last hope.

nHis weapon was nowhere to be seen, while his eyes seemed glazed over. The young man from earlier was also running, but sniffling with tears and mucus pouring down his face. It was quite the pathetic appearance, but still fairly reasonable given he was missing one of his arms.

nThe man with the beard grabbed onto Kairos’ shoulders, shaking him.

n“You have to save me, you have to save me!”

nKairos furrowed his brows.

n“I get it! Let go of me, dumbass!”

nThe man with the beard did not listen. Instead, he continued shaking Kairos like a broken record, repeating the same things. As Kairos was wondering what was wrong with the man, he caught sight of an ugly wound on his back, a massive gash.

nThe man was already beyond saving, but in his delirium, he clung onto any hope despite it being too late.

nKairos used his shoulder to push against the man, trying to peel him off, but it wasn’t enough. A monster was getting really damn close to Karios, making him panic.

nBut instead of worrying about it, he suddenly spun his head towards the side.

nRight after, a gray blur flashed by.

nA disturbingly loud bang resounded.

nThe man’s head directly came off the neck and burst into a mass of flesh. As of now, Kairos was looking at Nicole, who had just swung her metal bat.

nThere was a dull expression on her face, but her eyes were wide open. She had a little bit of blood splattered onto her face, but she didn’t seem to care. There was also a red watch hugging her wrist.

nThe now headless man slumped down lifelessly, but the monster nearby was still coming with full force. Kairos cursed himself once more for not putting more points in agility. However, he was still not concerned.

nA deafening metallic bang rang out.

nThe monster’s skull caved. Its head shot backward almost like it smelled something terribly foul. Then, it lost balance and fell to the floor.

nNicole easily took out that monster. However, her bat was now horribly bent. It would not last many more uses. She still had that same dull expression and wasn’t going to stop any time soon.

nThe other young man from earlier ran towards Harold and Sydney. The desperation in his eyes was fairly clear.

nHowever, before he could get close…

nA clear metallic smash resounded.

nNicole delivered an uppercut on the man, causing his head to be ripped off his shoulders, before landing somewhere in the distance. The body slumped down, while a few metallic clangs rang out.

nThe top of Nicole’s bat broke off, landing on the floor after being horribly mangled.

nGiven that there were still two monsters here, this was some pretty bad timing.

nKairos’ eyebrow twitched. He couldn’t help but be a little shocked.

n“Damn… weren’t you the one that said we should save them?”

nNicole didn’t respond. Instead, she let out a frenzied cry as she lunged towards a nearby monster, thrusting the broken baseball ball out like a spear.

nNicole was too fast, thus the monster simply didn’t have the time to react.

nWith a squelch, the monster’s head was pierced through. Nicole grabbed onto its shoulder as it fell, landing onto the ground with her metal bat lodged inside its skull. She let out a low growl.

nBut then, Nicole looked to her left. Her eyes widened.

nBecause the last monster was reaching towards her head, attempting to grab it.

nNicole froze up in fear. Her heart hammered as panic took over. Instead of trying to dodge, she attempted to pull out the bat, but that was going to take a while.

nYet, before the hand reached her…

nA deafening bang rang out.

nKairos had stepped up and swung the lamp with all his strength, shattering the monster’s skull. He had a small frown on his face.

nThe base of the lamp had detached altogether, still lodged into the skull, leaving Kairos with just the metal pole.

nThe last monster collapsed, falling onto one of the nearby rotating chairs, and spun around on it.

nKilled Creature (Challenge Kill – One Rank Superior to Killer) – 0.3 points awarded

nDespite the fight being over, Nicole’s breathing was rapid. She then clawed at the skin above her heart, like she was trying to pull it out.

nSydney rushed over.

n“Oh sweetie, are you ok?”

nHarold also ran over.

n“Princess!”

nNicole’s pupils shot in random directions sporadically. But then, Kairos put a hand on her shoulder.

n“Hey, you should take off that watch now.”

nSydney and Harold had gotten next to them, but Nicole was still seemingly having a breakdown. However, she began to move. Her bloody hand slowly moved towards the other arm, the watch.

nWith trembling fingers, she slowly unbuckled it before taking it off.

nOnce it did come off, Nicole took a deep breath.

n“What the…”

nKairos nodded.

n“Nice. You were able to take it all on your own.”

nSydney crouched down.

n“Nicole! Are you ok?”

nHarold also had a worried look.

nAs for Nicole, she was still taking deep breaths but was also clearly calming down.

n“Y-Yeah. I’m ok.”

nKairos sighed.

n“It seems like the watch does have a side effect. Change of plans, only use it when there’s an emergency.”

nHarold furrowed his brows.

n“Isn’t it better that we just get rid of this damned thing?”

nKairos shrugged his shoulders.

n“Nicole is able to take off the watch on her own, even when it muddles her judgment. I think it will be fine.”

nHe looked into Nicole’s watery eyes.

n“Do you remember everything that happened?”

nShe slowly nodded.

n“Y-Yeah. I put the watch on as we were going to the main room, and there weren’t any side effects for a while. But… the moment I saw…”

nNicole paused. She proceeded to cough awkwardly.

n“Um, the moment I felt a bit of anger, it just exploded out, making me feel super super mad.”

nHarold frowned.

n“We can’t use that thing anymore! It’s too danger-”

n“Well, I think it can save our lives, no?”

nSydney spoke up, prompting Harold to look at her with confusion.

n“What? But…”

nSydney sighed.

n“Yes it is dangerous, but if used properly then it can not only save our lives, but Nicole’s herself, right?”

nKairos nodded.

n“Yeah.”

nHarold pressed his lips together bitterly, taking a moment to form his response.

n“Ok.”

nKairos smiled.

n“For now, get off that corpse. It kinda stinks, honestly.”

nNicole snapped to her senses.

n“Ah!”

nThen got off.

nKairos looked at the watch in her hands.

n“If you aren’t using it, make sure that it’s not visible. I imagine this isn’t the only one of its kind out there, and if people know about it then they will get greedy. At the same time, you will need quick access to it in the event of an emergency, so put it in your pocket.”

nNicole nodded and put it deep within her pocket.

n“Alright.”

nShe closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.

n“I guess… we dealt with that.”

nAt that moment Kairos looked towards the outside.

n“Say, did you get any points for killing people?”

nHarold’s eyebrow twitched.

n“What are you-”

n“Yeah.”

nNicole blinked a few times.

n“A tenth of a point for each.”

nKairos nodded.

n“I see.”

nThere was a moment of silence among the group. Kairos coughed to try and get rid of the awkward atmosphere.

n“Anyways, we should get a drink from that water dispenser and get that fire axe since nobody will block our way now.”

nSydney let out a soft sigh.

n“Alright.”

nThey all took a small drink and were delayed a little because Harold went to use the washroom in the barbershop.

nNicole attempted to recover her metal bat, which she was able to do. Unfortunately, it was essentially a glorified shank at this point with how damaged it was. She took it anyway, just in case.

nRight after, they promptly left and headed off to the grocery store.

nKairos watched the surroundings, but there didn’t appear to be any monsters nearby.

nAs such, they found themselves unimpeded in terms of getting in the store itself.

nNow, the sight outside was pretty bad. However, inside the grocery store itself was far worse. There were countless corpses strewn about, some sprawled out on top of a set of oranges and others torn up on the ground. Food had spilled out on the floor as well.

nMany broken cans littered the ground, some still with food inside. Although there was a lot of food within this place, almost none of it was sanitary or just intact for that matter.

nThe group collectively frowned.

nSydney in particular clicked her tongue.

n“Such a waste of food.”

nKairos shrugged his shoulders.

n“There were assholes all over the place when the world was peaceful. An apocalypse can only make things worse.”

nHarold scanned the place.

n“I think the freezer should be someplace over there. I can lead the way.”

nKairos raised a hand.

n“It’s probably best that I lead.”

nHarold blinked a few times, a little confused.

n“You don’t have to shoulder the burden of danger all for yourself, you know? I am a man and can handle myself too.”

nKairos shook his head.

n“I was being a little serious when I talked about my ‘feeling’ earlier. I actually have a pretty good sense of danger.”

nHarold scratched the back of his head.

n“Well, alright.”

nWith that, Kairos led the way forward. Obviously, when he was talking about having a good sense of danger, he actually meant the foresight brought by his ability.

nThey slowly walked through the grocery store, making their way through the aisles. Harold would occasionally speak up in a hushed tone to state which turns they should take.

nEventually, Kairos caught onto a faint squishy sound in the distance. He slowed to a stop and put a finger on his lips, trying to send the signal to be quiet.

nThe others complied.

nKairos crouched down, prompting the others to do the same. He crawled up to an aisle and looked down it to find nothing. He then crawled forward once more and then saw the source of the sound.

nIt was a monster at the far end currently eating the bloody remains of some unfortunate person.

nKairos turned to the others and raised a hand, mouthing the words, ‘wait here’.

nThen, he approached the monster from behind.

nThe lamp in Kairos’ hand had been reduced to a metal pole, but he figured that should be enough for taking this thing down.

nAnd so, he slowly approached, taking each step methodically and quietly.

nAs Kairos walked, he took a glance over his shoulder, not seeing any of the other three looking at him.

nThen, he opened his status panel.

nStatus

nID: 345315364923

nRank: F

nObjective: Touch Red Sunlight

nProof Of Perfection Points: 5.6

nStats –

nStrength – 1.2

nEndurance – 1.0

nAgility – 0.7

nWillpower – 1.5

nMana Capacity – 0.0

nMagic Affinity – 0.0

nSpecial Abilities: N

/A

nHide

nNicole’s performance with high agility made a strong impression on him. And so, he decided to increase it, but only while the others weren’t looking.

nAgility: 0.7 – 2.0 | Points: 5.6 – 4.3

nAfter using up so many points, Kairos felt his body get extremely warm. Before, he could consider it comfortable, but now, it was just really annoying. However, that didn’t mean he lost his composure.

nUnfortunately, the monster had stood up by the time he was halfway down the aisle.

nIt was already finished with its dinner and began turning around.

n