Chapter 7: Monster in the Dark

Chase Marcus’ POV

Time quickly went by. An hour had already passed since we went down the subway. Occasionally, we would see dead bodies of humans along the way. This should have been considered a normal occurrence, considering the fact that demons were literally slaughtering humans above the surface, but the way the dead bodies were squashed and bent in random directions was what bothered me. This could not be the work of the plant monsters, nor this could be the work of the Dryads. There was no doubt about it—there was a dangerous monster lurking within the tunnels.

My companions were still dead silent even now. Well, I could not blame them. After all, it would not be easy to merely brush off the idea of death. The vivid memories of people being slaughtered.

I was actually grateful that none of them had broken down by now.

I remembered my previous self. I could not even move from fear back then. I was utterly pathetic. Compared to the previous me, the members of my group were actually a lot calmer.

The light from our third torch finally died out. I opened the flashlight and illuminated our immediate surroundings.

There were numerous cracks on the ceiling, and detritus would occasionally fall down like flakes. Rats would occasional scamper away as my light touched them. Even now, it was pretty amazing that the tunnels the government had built were this strong.

“Kristine! Are you okay?” said Jerry.

I had not noticed it, but it seems Jerry’s little sister had fallen to the ground. Her legs were wobbling, shaking, probably from fear or fatigue, or maybe both.

I had wanted us to continued further, at least until we reach Nagan Station, but I guess this was our limit. I got to admit: I had not taken into consideration that we were bringing a child along with us.

I sighed. “I guess we’ll stop and rest for now.”

Jerry seemed relieved after hearing that. “That’s great! My sister’s been sickly since she was very young. I was worried that this… this have taken too much toll on her.”

That was a long speech, and it made me somehow hesitant to say the words within my mind.

“Just ten minutes,” I said, not minding the current state of things. After all, staying in this dark and gloomy place was far too dangerous. “We’ll depart after that.”

Jerry seemed like he wanted to retort to that, but eventually decided to just shut his mouth.

I felt a bit sorry for them, but now was not really the time for compassion and any of those stuff. We need to prioritize our escape from the city.

“If we’re still unable to leave this city before the day ends, we’ll die,” I simply stated.

Well, that was not entirely true. I could probably survive by myself—but what about Jerry and Franchesca? I could not possibly leave them to fend for themselves.

“What do you mean?”

For the first time since the apocalypse started, Franchesca spoke. Currently, she was stroking the legs of Kristine.

It was useless to tell them this now, but I had decided to anyway. “This is merely the first wave. The second wave of monsters will arrive tomorrow. It’ll be exponentially harder to escape once those beasts arrive.”

“First w-wave?” said Jerry. He probably felt the ominous message behind my statement. “Y-You’re speaking as though this is some kind of game! What do you mean by a second wave? Are you telling us that this is merely the start?!”

His voice had escalated into a yell, but I did not reprimand him. His fears were understandable considering the situation. My only wish was that he would not die like what happened back in the previous timeline.

I sighed. I rubbed my bald head. “Try saying ‘System, show my status window!’”

There was an awkward pause after that. “Just do it,” I said. “You’ll understand what I’m trying to say after that.”

Though hesitant, the three of them did it. I saw the clear transition in their faces. From embarrassment, to hesitation, then to that of surprise.

“What’s this?” said both Franchesca and Jerry.

“Read the bottommost portion. How many unallocated points do you have?” I said.

“F-Five,” said Jerry. Franchesca said the same thing.

I breathed in a gust of air. I sighed. “Right now, this world has turned into a living game. If you want to survive, then you should do your best to level up and acquire skills. That’s the only way to live long in this shitty game.”

There was a suppressed snarl within my voice, and I was sure that everyone noticed it.

“Allocating all your points into vitality is useless right now. Five points won’t do much,” I said. “What we need is mobility so we can escape this spawn point.”

A group of rats scampered away as the light of my flashlight touched them. I said, “All of you. Allocate all points into agility.”

It was not a suggestion but an order.

Jerry started to open his mouth. I had known him for many years now, probably a decade. I knew what he was about to ask.

“Just say ‘System, allocate all points into agility’,” I said.

The three of them did it, and I heard a soft bling! sound.

“How’s it? Feels lighter, right?” I said, half-grinning.

“Yeah,” said Jerry. He was staring at his hands for some dumb reason. “Feels like I could run twice as fast now.”

It was an overstatement. I knew. After all, you’ll need around 40 points before that happened.

“Good,” I said. “How about you, Franchesca?”

Franchesca merely nodded. She said, “By the way… I still don’t know your name?”

My ears twitched after I heard those words. I knew that we were in the middle of an apocalypse, but I could not help but feel elated after that statement.

“Chase,” I said, broadly smiling. My eyes glimmered for a moment. “Chase Marcus.”

Franchesca seemed taken aback by my sudden jubilant tone. There were a few seconds of pause before she was able to reply. “I-I see… You know my name already… but I am Franchesca.”

Did she just blush? I was not sure. It was dark, after all.

“I haven’t thanked you before,” she said. “Thank you… thank you for saving me back then.”

“It’s only natural,” I said. And I meant those words. “You’re important to me, after all.”

I knew that she wanted to ask why, but she was unable to say the words out loud.

“Time’s up,” I said. “Let’s go. We have to be out of this place before the day ends.”

I withheld to them the information about the monsters that were about to come out tomorrow. A sudden panic attack was something I would rather avoid right now.

After all, those monsters were way worse than the green demons during the first wave. They were monsters that would ravage and rape women. Monsters that would impregnate humans to propagate their species.

Once again, our group continued with our escape. We finally passed by the first station since we entered the tunnels. Of course, getting out towards the surface in the middle of the city was out of the question. We’ll just die a dog’s death if we did that.

No matter how skilled I was with the sword, I could not possibly protect all three of them against dozens of demons. We merely passed by that station then continued traversing the tunnels.

“As I thought. I need to obtain that skill,” I mumbled to myself.

There were three reasons why we were heading to the Nagan Station. First was that it was the closest station to the Mountains. Second, it was near a military base. I was pretty sure that it took a few days, probably a week, before that military base fell into ruins. We could use that as temporary shelter if things went south. And lastly, at the mountains near Nagan, lurked a peculiar creature that I have to kill at any cost.

It was a boss type monster. An impossible one to kill if confronted by inexperienced humans. But right now, I could probably defeat it. After all, I knew its only weakness.

I glanced at the bag Jerry was carrying. Inside it was the item that would enable me to defeat that boss monster. And once I defeated it, I would finally gain the skill book for that coveted skill I used back in the previous timeline.

It was a unique skill that I had gained back then. The skill that enabled me to survive even the most dangerous moments. A skill that I have to acquire at all costs.

I heard sounds coming not far from us.

“Stop,” I said. “Something’s here.”

Everyone stiffened. Soon enough, a large silhouette appeared in front of us. I flashed the light at it. And my eyes widened in disbelief.

“What is that doing here?!” I breathed. This was out of my calculations, my expectations.

In front of us was a large monster easily surpassing the four meters mark. Its entire body was made entirely of stone, and a large gemstone glittered at its chest. Deep within its eye sockets, fiery flames blazed.

I then realized that this was probably the monster responsible for the squashed corpses we passed along the way.

But, this monster was supposed to arrive on the fourth wave. What was it doing here? And of all places, here in the supposedly safer underground tunnels.

Stone Golem of Fury

Lv.17

A level 17 monster. Right now, it was impossible for me to defeat it despite having a very good sword in my hands. The gemstone at its chest was its weakness, and in order to defeat it, you needed to shatter it into pieces.

If I had known that we were going to encounter this thing, I would have allocated some points into strength. After all, the gemstone at its chest was as hard as steel. Merely my agility alone would not be enough to destroy it.

“C-Chase,” said Jerry. “W-What do we do?”

He was probably expecting me to fight that golem, after seeing me defeat all the monsters we’ve encountered along the way. But that was a far foolish decision.

“We’ll run away,” I breathed. I looked at Kristine. It seemed that her legs had yet to heal.

For a moment, I had this urge to leave her behind and prioritize the escape of Jerry, Franchesca and I. But I knew that Jerry would never permit that. Despite being smug and stupid, this friend of mine loves his sister so much. I was pretty sure that he would rather die than leave her alone.

With these thoughts in mind, I grabbed Kristine’s hand then began to carry her.

“I’ll carry your sister,” I said. After all, out of everyone in this group, I had the highest stats. I guess I had to thank the Pioneer Title for that. “Jerry, make sure not to let go of that bag.” He nodded. I turned to Franchesca. “Prioritize your escape. If one of us doesn’t make it, don’t turn back. Just keep running.”

My words were direct and definitely ominous, but there was no point in sugarcoating things. Franchesca seemed aware of the grimness within my voice. She nodded.

“There’s a lot of things I still want to ask you,” she said. A part of it was probably why I knew so much about this apocalypse, and a part of it was probably why I cared for her so much. “Please… don’t die.”

I smiled.

“Of course,” I said. “How can I possibly just die and leave you behind?”

She was unable to reply to that.

Damn, what that too smooth? I inwardly praised myself for that remark.

The golem roared, and its fury reverberated throughout the tunnels. I almost had the urge to cover my ears.

“Keep running,” I said. “And to all of you—don’t you dare die.”

With that as the signal, we charged forward.