We returned to the camp where I killed the fighters, and I cremated them outside. Since I was too tired the first time I arrived at that place, and then I was too busy on the second time, I didn’t realize how small that place was. The camp was basically five meters tall stone walls surrounding a single two stores tall house and the statue. I wondered why how they survived in such a place, but I didn’t want to ask.

In any case, as soon as we returned, the women paid me, and they also used their remaining coins to create other things to help them in the next battle. It seemed that they gained some confidence; they got stronger quickly. Thanks to it, they didn’t mind much the wounds, it was a small price to pay for power. They endured the fear and apprehension of the first battle, so they probably wouldn’t run away.

After observing that camp, I thought it was a good idea to use that as my base, I wouldn’t have to use the statue in my hometown anymore. However, I accepted the job, so I had to finish it. Until I reach the west coast, I couldn’t stop.

Thanks to the tension of the battle, the women slept like a rock soon after having a meal. Meanwhile, Martin was using his Dragon Flying Kick on the walls. It was a bizarre move; it was a kick, which made him fly for five meters in a straight line. According to him, that skill was identical to a move of an old fighting game. And I wondered how in the hell something so specific could be learned through the system.

After getting tired of using his strange skill, Martin also slept like a rock, I, on the other hand, decided to meditate above the walls and keep an eye on the surroundings. Angela said the harpies killed every nearby monster on a daily basis, but since we killed all the harpies before they could do anything, I thought it would be more prudent to stay alert. Besides, I didn’t feel comfortable sleeping nearby strangers.

To my surprise, Angela slept for a few hours and then approached. She didn’t say anything, but she looked around the camp for a few minutes and then I finally understood what she was waiting for. Those fifteen women who had run away returned, and Angela looked at me; it seemed she still wanted to help them.

“You have two options, leave this place and help them or make them go away. If your other friends want to do the same, feel free to play the role of a hero. But this place is now mine, for the time being, at least. In any case, I don’t want any coward or traitors here.”

Angela looked at those fifteen women showing a pained expression, and after a long sigh, she made her choice. She pointed her crossbow at them and shot a few bolts in front of them; she didn’t say anything, only that action and her serious expression made them run away again. After that, Angela sighed again, and she laid on top of the walls.

“I can’t believe humanity finally reached this point,” Angela looked at the full moon, which was making the surroundings clear to me like daylight. "I can’t believe I chose my own life above the life of other fifteen human beings.”

“You don’t have to that forever, just get strong faster and you will be able to babysit other survivors as much as you want. However, by doing so, you will lose a lot of time, and when the true enemies appear, you will regret it.”

“True enemies?” Angela showed great interest.

“Those harpies are just weak copies of a single much more powerful harpy. Before coming here, I spent more than six weeks inside of another dungeon, there I fought against trolls, and also there, I met the troll who was creating them. Tell me, what you think of my ice arrows?”

“… They are very powerful,” Angela hesitated. “It can kill the harpies with a single shot, after all.”

“Then try to imagine this, imagine an arrow literally five thousand times more powerful. It took me a week to create such an arrow, and I used this same arrow to kill that troll, and in a single minute, he created a weapon that could rival my magic arrow. And magic wasn’t even his strong point… monsters with that level of strength are our trues enemies.”

Angela’s eyes were wide open, trying to imagine what I described, but it wasn’t that hard to imagine. She only had to think of an enemy in which she had to shot steel bolts for a week to kill it.

“I’m having difficulty imagining such a monster…” Angela’s face was pale. “Isn’t that another reason to help every single human?”

“… I wonder how you can still be so naïve. Do you really think your friends who ran away would act differently against a monster thousand times stronger than those harpies?”

I couldn’t help but sigh, where were those idealistic people hiding before the monsters. It seemed that I attracted that kind of people; their numbers were so high that I wondered how we didn’t live in a utopia before. I told Angela all my discoveries because she would be the one who would tell the other women about the big and dangerous situation earth was in. Fighting for survival was only the beginning; we were part of a big battle royale.

The next morning I also told Martin about my recent discoveries and about what I did in the last five months. In the end, his mouth was wide open and stayed like that for a few minutes.

“Seriously?” Martin asked. “Dude… you faced some serious shit, huh. I bet you made Claire angry a lot with your lone wolf attitude… in any case, I understand a little your actions. Even though I still think you are a bit too extreme.”

“Whatever, if you think you have the strength to protect yourself and cowards from creatures like that, then feel free to do it. I’m not going to risk my life and waste time with those I judge not be worth the trouble.”

“I don’t have the strength,” Martin laughed. “I died by the hands of a bunch of low-lives, and I’m now five months behind you in terms of progress… it pains me to admit it, but I can’t play the role of a hero with my parents and relatives dead. After bringing them back, maybe I will try. But for the time being, I will focus on my own problems.”

Martin had a noisy conscience, but he wasn’t a fool. So, he put himself and his family above strangers. With that mindset, he probably wouldn’t cause problems and probably would be useful if I try to kill who or whatever was creating those harpies. But I wondered if that was a good idea, the frozen world only had a single survivor, what were the chances of the world on the other side of the dungeon being the same? Very, very low. We would probably face more than just a few monsters like Tinemouth.

‘I guess it is suicide to face those creatures from other worlds in their habitats right now. First, all the survivors in the entire world need to be able to kill at least ten of those harpies by themselves… in any case, I think I will try to do it alone, once I finish this job.’

Although I was doing my job pretty well, Harry has yet to send my payment… that fucker was probably doing that to make me go there and talk to them.

For the next few hours, Martin, Angela, and the others just rested and created more steel bolts. Since we killed the harpies before they could hunt, the normal monsters appeared in the city. Although those which appeared were pretty much big but weak insects, thanks to that, I noticed that I didn’t find a single evolved monster since the end of the virtual reality… and I wondered why.

At 2 pm, we headed toward the dungeon, but I left Stella at the statue to protect it. She would succeed in that job since normal monsters were too weak in comparison to her. The battlefield from yesterday had disappeared, the blood and the bodies just became nutrient to the new earth. Thanks to that, we wouldn’t have to worry about the terrain.

I picked and equipped my mechanic arms, and upon seeing those, Martin frowned. Angela and the others also frowned, but I just ignored them. Although it was very efficient using my crossbows and magic arrows, it was too much fun using my own body and defeating enemies up close. Besides, I had to train the universal absorption, and the harpies were the first enemies who were powerful enough for the skill to be useful.

“Dude,” Martin said. “Rapid-fire crossbows, magic and now mechanic arms… do you plan to become a living arsenal?”

“I’m just covering my bases; one should prepare the umbrella before it rains. Anyway, don’t hit me. If anyone hits me, I won’t kill that person, but I will shot another bolt on the same spot. An eye for an eye.”

Everyone gulped when they understood I wasn’t joking. I knew that my actions could cause such an incident, but it couldn’t be helped, I need to train my body and the universal absorption. Besides, that could end up being good training, avoiding their bolts probably will improve my reaction and decision making speed.

When the time came, I approached the cave, and I stayed twenty meters away on the right side of it. The harpies finally appeared, and when the first group left the dungeon, I lightly hit my two mechanic arms against each other. The sound attracted the attention of five harpies, and they began to fly toward me.

“Good.”

They didn’t want to kill any men, so they approached without using their magic. When they were five meters away from me, I charged forward, hit the face of the nearest harpy, and then activated the hidden blade when my mechanic arm hit the harpy’s eyes. There was no resistance.

You have obtained 210 Evolution Orbs.

You have obtained 210 Evolution Coins.

The other harpies tried to surround me, but I activated the hot blood skill and moved behind them before they could do it. I tried to punch a second harpy, but the monster managed to twist its neck to avoid the attack. Their bones were relatively thin, and they didn’t have big muscles, so they could do that kind of action. Anyway, I started the motion of a punch and teleported behind another harpy and finished the punch. I didn’t want to teleport much using my mechanic arms, but I couldn’t afford to waste time when I knew I had to fight against more than five hundred monsters in less than half an hour.

I repeated the same action in the next ten seconds, started the motion of an attack, and then teleported to finish the same attack. The harpies died without even scratching me, but that was just to be expected, they were just cannon fodder.

You absorbed 64 MP from an enemy.

You absorbed 64 MP from an enemy.

You absorbed 64 MP from an enemy.

You absorbed 64 MP from an enemy.

You absorbed 64 MP from an enemy.

I absorbed a lot of mana, I almost didn’t spend my STA in that few seconds of battle and I also didn’t spend mana. It was kind of a waste, but even I couldn’t create and store magic arrows inside my backpack in the middle of a fight while I was using my mechanic arms.

‘You can’t always have what you want… but at least, thanks to this, I can use the universal absorption as much as I want. In any case, I should think of a way to spend this extra mana in the middle of a battle.’

The second wave of harpies arrived soon after I finished absorbing the dead harpies’ energy. I looked at Martin, Angela, and the others, and I saw the other harpies’ body fifty meters away from them. They managed to kill the monsters before they could even approach until the harpies decide to use magic; they would be fine. The next few minutes passed without significant problems. But then the harpies decide to use magic again just after suffering the same losses of yesterday. It looked like they were programmed to only go all out after losing half of the forces.

To test the durability of my mechanic arms, I decided to block their wind blades a few times; their attacks only managed to leave small dents on it. A few dozen attacks on the same spot would cause a lot of problems, but they didn’t have that level of accuracy. Besides, my mechanic arms could repair itself with their blood faster than that.

I returned to the group, and I used my magic arrow to kill the harpies, which tried to use magic. Martin, Angela, and the others killed the remaining harpies. The second battle ended without any of us suffering any injuries… I was probably helping them too much. There was no way a group like that would be able to kill so many harpies. In any case, they celebrated their success, and I also finally broke my physical limit for the twentieth time.

“Congratulations, you broke your physical limit for the twentieth time. Now you will receive a random physical skill… your new skill has been selected; you obtained the skill Chin-Breaker.”

Chin-Breaker: A powerful uppercut which can cause damage and stun weaker foes.

Cost: 10

A useful skill which I could use with my mechanic arms, but that only made me feel worried. A battle without suffering any wounds and now a useful skill… something bad was about to happen. And my instincts were right; I saw on my radar three creatures crossing the dungeon’s portal. Three harpies appeared; however, those were different. The other harpies’ arms were also their wings, but those three wings were in their backs, they had human’s arms, thanks to it, they were carrying weapons. One harpy had a bow, another had a sword, and the last one had a staff.

“Who is the human who killed our soldiers? Are you the human who killed them?” The harpy carrying a sword asked, looking at me.