n

n

nKairos’ eyebrow twitched.

nCurrently, his body was letting out strong waves of heat. However, it was a little comforting because of the coldness in the freezer.

nKairos massaged his temple with the tip of his finger.

n“…Rank limitations, huh?”

nHe originally thought that spending all these points wouldn’t be a big issue. That he could just increase his strength whenever he felt like it. However, it turns out that his rank wasn’t enough.

nIncreasing his rank would mean that he would longer get extra points from challenge kills. However, it would obviously increase his strength.

nThough the only problem was that Kairos did not know how to increase his rank.

n…Well, actually he was pretty sure it was related to the red sun. After all, the monsters that had been exposed to the red sun were considered a rank higher than him. However, Kairos really didn’t want anything to do with that.

nThere had to be some other way, right?

nKairos shook his head, then figured he might as well increase his willpower while he was here.

nWillpower 2.3 – 4.0 | Points 16.2 – 14.5

nHe felt a strong heat emanate from his mind before gradually disappearing. Once the place was beginning to feel a little cold, Kairos left. Pretty much immediately, he began tearing open the various packages within the store and began eating whatever.

nSo long as it didn’t require any preparation to be edible, Kairos would just eat it.

nAfter a while, packaging littered the floor below him, but there was no longer the feeling of gnawing hunger. Kairos looked over to his old wound, the gash he received from the monster before.

nIt had essentially healed completely, only leaving a thin red line where it once was. He remembered it was still relatively bad before this. Kairos thought about it and realized that increasing his endurance could be a pseudo way of healing.

nIt definitely wasn’t the best option, but it could come in handy during emergency situations.

nEventually, Chase walked over, then looked at all the wrappings scattered across the floor.

n“You really uh, let yourself go.”

nKairos sighed.

n“A little bit, I guess.”

nChase narrowed his eyes slightly.

n“It seems you evolved and got a little hungry. Almost like you’ve kept a lot of points on you before.”

nKairos shrugged his shoulders.

n“I just haven’t eaten for a long time. That was part of the reason I insisted on going here. Because I was just really hungry.”

nChase did not speak for a moment.

n“Alright.”

nHe turned around.

n“Anyways, I have also eaten a little bit and it seems the others have packed up a bit. It seems you all have no plans of staying here.”

nKairos sighed.

n“You saw what happened to the last person that tried to hold down the grocery store.”

nChase laughed.

n“Yeah, we were the ones that did it after all.”

nHe sighed.

n“I suppose that’s part of why you ate so much. It’s a pity to leave so much behind.”

nKairos shrugged his shoulders.

n“Let’s go then. We still have to deal with the crazy woman.”

nChase laughed.

n“Perhaps she has cooled down by now.”

nThe two regrouped with Harold and Sydney before making it outside once more. There was quite a commotion outside.

n“Hey, stop moving so much!”

n“You let go of me!”

nTori was still holding onto Nicole with a metal pipe in one hand. However, it definitely wasn’t easy to do so because of Nicole’s intense struggle.

nThe two of them were stumbling back and forth, almost like they were doing some strange kind of dance. Some might call it abstract.

nKairos blinked a few times.

n“Um, are you guys ok?”

nNicole reached out towards the group.

n“Help me! This crazy lady is holding onto me!”

nTori was sweating slightly as she tried to hold on to Nicole.

n“Stop moving around so much! It’s called being a hostage, alright? If you don’t comply I will hit you with this pipe!”

nNicole did not even try to be more passive after she heard that. In fact, she began struggling even harder.

n“I don’t want to be a hostage!”

nShe looked towards the others.

n“Don’t worry about me! Just take care of this crazy lady!”

nTori seemed to be on the verge of crying.

n“We can do this peacefully, alright? Peacefully!”

nNicole screamed.

n“I refuse!”

nKairos turned to Chase.

n“So…”

nChase turned back.

n“I guess we just have to try and negotiate?”

nHarold and Sydney both had frowns on their faces, not liking how their daughter was being treated. However, they also didn’t say anything because they were afraid that Tori might do something.

nThough to Kairos and Chase, they doubted she would do anything because she seemed to be banking it all on Nicole as a hostage.

nChase let out a soft sigh.

n“Pretty flower, you must realize you can’t hold onto her forever.”

nTori grit her teeth.

n“I… I can join your team!”

nNicole seemed flabbergasted.

n“No! There’s no way we are taking you!”

nTori seemed a little distraught.

n“But…”

nKairos pinched the bridge of his nose.

n“You really couldn’t think of any other terms while we were gone? How about this, we will stand very far away from you, but you let go of Nicole while within our sight. Then, you can go free without any repercussions.”

nTori’s lip twitched.

n“…Then can I have my katana back?”

nKairos blinked a few times.

n“You still have to be reasonable, alright?”

nTori frowned.

n“I need the katana!”

nChase chuckled.

n“And why do you wish for the katana so badly?”

nTori did not speak for a few seconds like she was struggling internally.

n“…I just want it, ok?”

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“Can you not survive without it?”

nTori clicked her tongue.

n“I can live without it, but it just means a lot to me! I didn’t realize how much I missed it until you took it away from me.”

nKairos’ eyebrow twitched.

n“Hasn’t it only been a few minutes?”

nTori’s eyes were slightly bloodshot.

n“They were a long few minutes to me!”

nKairos took a deep breath.

nHe was pretty sure Tori wasn’t lying, and if she was, then she was a good liar. But at that point, it was better to not drop the katana in the first place and say that she needed it to survive for some reason.

nKairos let out a soft sigh.

n“Then how about we leave your katana far away from you, while we stand at the opposite end. And from there, you let Nicole go.”

nTori’s mouth opened and closed.

n“So… no teaming up?”

nKairos pinched the bridge of his nose.

n“It seems pretty much everyone here doesn’t want to be on the same team as you.”

nTori looked down and paused. Then, she suddenly perked up again.

n“I… I know where something special is.”

nKairos blinked a few times.

n“Something… special?”

nTori nodded.

n“I don’t know exactly what it is, but it appears valuable and guarded well. It was actually the place I was planning on going to later, but never had the chance to.”

nChase narrowed his eyes.

n“So you want us to take a gamble on it being valuable in exchange for accepting you as a teammate.”

nTori grit her teeth.

n“It’s not a gamble! The damn thing is definitely valuable, but I just don’t know for what.”

nKairos sighed.

n“So… you will lead us to it in exchange for teaming up? Why do you even want to team up so badly?”

nTori swallowed.

n“There… There are some really powerful people.”

nKairos furrowed his brows.

n“What do you mean?”

nEven Nicole ended up settling down, wanting to hear this.

nTori took a few shaky deep breaths in.

n“I saw… something tossing cars around.”

nKairos’ eyes widened considerably.

nAlthough he believed that he was quite strong right now, he was definitely nowhere near strong enough to lift a car.

nChase sucked in a cold breath.

n“…That sounds dangerous.”

nKairos turned to look at Harold and Sydney, who also seemed to be quite scared. He then turned back to Tori.

n“I guess that is a good reason to team up. Especially if there is an enemy that is stronger by so much.”

nTori took a deep breath.

n“So you agree?”

nKairos looked at the others. Most of them had slightly displeased expressions but seemed to think it was better to team up.

nHe sighed.

n“Sure, why not?”

nTori slowly let go of Nicole, who scampered away once she had the chance. Tori then coughed.

n“Can I have my katana back?”

nKairos thought about it for a moment. Then nodded. With his recent stat increase, he was confident in being able to take her out even if she did, thus gave back the katana.

nTori hastily accepted it and began stroking it like it was her child.

nKairos coughed.

n“Anyways, get your supplies and then lead us to that place. Time will not wait for us.”

nTori nodded.

n“Ah, alright.”

nShe ran into the grocery store and as she passed by, Kairos snuck a look at her bloody wrists.

nThey looked like they had healed already.

nAs Tori and Nicole were getting a few things in the grocery store, Sydney began talking to the mother and her children.

n“Do you want to join us? I’m sure it will be easier if we are all together.”

nThe woman seemed rather hesitant.

nOverhearing this, Kairos walked over. He did not want to take the woman.

n“Of course, if you don’t want to, you can also just stay in the grocery store. There should be plenty of food left over after we leave.”

nThe mother flinched and looked over to Sydney and Harold.

n“Um… is it possible for me to join only you two?”

nHarold furrowed his brows.

n“Uh, sorry, but no. I am not abandoning my daughter.”

nThe woman nodded hastily.

n“Ah, I see, I see.”

nShe looked towards her children.

n“Then… I will just stay here at the store then.”

nSydney opened her mouth, but eventually closed it. She seemed to realize what would happen if the mother was left alone at the place, but decided not to say anything about it.

nThe rest of the group got ready. And as such, with Tori leading the way, they left.

nAs they walked past the side of the grocery store, they came across nearly twenty monsters all lying against the wall like soldiers in wait. The moment the group appeared, they all scampered away, running to behind another wall.

nChase raised an eyebrow.

n“They are acting just like vermin.”

nKairos furrowed his brows.

n“Those monsters were waiting for us. They knew we were fighting with each other and wanted to take advantage of the victor after they were weak and tired.”

nNicole’s eyes widened.

n“What? They can’t be that smart, right?”

nTori let out a soft gasp.

n“That is what they were doing?…”

nKairos shook his head.

n“Whatever. Let’s just go to the place.”

nTori nodded.

n“O-Ok.”

nShe led the group to a series of houses. Just some random place within the neighborhood that didn’t seem special.

nTori looked back and forth between the various houses.

n“Um… Not this one. Er… Not this one either.

nEventually, she came across a house with the front door bashed in, now laying on the ground.

n“Ah, it’s here!”

nKairos furrowed his brows, clearly distrusting this woman.

n“And what exactly is so special about this place?”

nTori pointed at the house.

n“The basement… leads to an underground cave. There was this strange red thing when I was last there, but I was too afraid to fight the monsters guarding it at the time.”

nKairos let out a soft hum.

n“Alright. Lead the way.”

nTori nodded. She went into the house and led the group into the house and straight towards the door to the basement.

nAfter opening the door, Tori gasped.

n“…It’s a little redder than I remembered.”

n