As I slowly backed away from the stranger, I found myself unable to spit out a single word. I felt fearful. Fearful of saying the wrong thing. And fearful of who this was. My wasn't reacting, so it's hard to say if this guy is a transmigrator or someone else who knows me.

"You don't recognise me?" The stranger asked as he slowly lowered his gun and stepped away from Luka. "Damn." He said while fighting back a playful smile.

The stranger stood there in complete befuddlement as he scratched the top of his tattered fedora. "I guess I look different now, but damn..." The stranger hoisted the gun back into his pocket. "We even worked in the same house for so long. I thought that would count for something."

Once he uttered those last words, I felt my heart tighten as I took one step forward. "Nick?"

The man slowly nodded his head as he gave me a sheepish smile. As soon as he confirmed his identity, I ran straight into his arms as I gave him the biggest hug I could manage.

"I thought you were dead," I said in relief as I tried to fight back happy tears. "You died before you could complete your mission..."

"I'm a transmigrator like you, Vana. So, the normal rules like death don't apply to me." As he pulled his head back to look down at me, he gave me another heartfelt grin. "If I fail one mission, I can always retry with another."

If that's true, then the consequences of death aren't as strict as I originally thought. I guess that should come as a relief to me...

Luka who was unimpressed with our heart-warming reunion, cleared his throat as to remind us that he was still here.

"Who's he?" Luka asked with a raised eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

"Oh, Nick is just an old friend," I explained as I broke away from the hug awkwardly.

"Friend..." Luka commented as he slowly shook his head as to process what just happened.

To my surprise, what Luka did next was something I had never seen coming. He extended his hand to Nick. "Luka." He stated.

Nick merely stared at Luka's hand before he shoved his hands into the pockets of his long black trench coat. How strange. Nick used to be more kind.

For instance, despite knowing Stefan's true nature he never treated him any differently. Even in death, he didn't fight back against Stefan... So why is Nick being so cold to Luka right now?

"Nick?" I said hesitantly. "Is something wrong?"

Nick didn't look at me but instead, he kept staring at Luka as if assessing the situation. "He's a zombie, isn't he?" Nick finally turned his head around to look at me. "Why are you with this guy? Don't you know how dangerous that is?"

"You don't have to worry about Luka, he isn't like the other zombies." I reaffirmed as I made my way towards Luka to hold his hand as to show Nick my trust in him. "It's important that I stay by his side. I need to help him achieve S-Rank after all."

Nick was quick to catch onto my words as he gave me a quick understanding nod. But even so, his apprehension didn't soften in the slightest.

"You do realise that there's only one other S-Rank zombie out there, right?" Nick stated.

I didn't realise S-Rank was such a hard status to achieve. "How do you know this?" I asked rhetorically.

Nick gave me a quick smirk as he pulled up a chair to our table. "I thought the outfit was a dead giveaway, but I guess not," Nick commented as he pulled out a necklace made with rotting teeth from underneath his off-white shirt.

"I hunt zombies for a living. I'm kind of an expert at this kind of thing..."

Oh no. This could pose a problem... "Heh, Nick?" I said as I sat beside Nick to whisper into his ear. "What's your mission?"

Nick stared deep into my eyes as he was transfixed on me. I suppose it's been a while since we last saw each other. But this type of intensity is still too much for me. Sensing this, Nick broke his gaze from mine.

"I need to kill the zombie king."

Yeah, this whole plot the goddess has created is definitely something straight out of a video game. But nevertheless, I guess I don't have to worry about our missions conflicting with each other then. So that's a relief!

I quickly got back up to my feet as I happily wrapped an arm around Luka's shoulders. "That's cool," I said happily. "I'm sure you'll be able to pull it off in the end. So good luck with that!" I cheered.

Nick furrowed his eyebrows. "You do realise that the other S-Rank I was referring to is the zombie king, right?"

Huh? If that's what becoming an S-Rank means, then... does this mean Luka has to become the next successor???

OH, HELL NO, I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS!

"C'mon, let's leave now," Luka said as he went to drag me away by the hand. Geez, someone sure moves quickly.

As we made our way towards the broken escalator, Nick quickly ran after us. "Hold up!" He called out.

It really feels like I'm talking to a whole other person. I suppose he still has that signature shoulder-length hair in this world, albeit it's black this time around. But still, it feels different. I guess time really does change people.

"You can't just leave like this. It's not safe to be travelling alone with a zombie for crying out loud!"

Enough was enough for Luka as he quickly grew tired of Nick's protesting. "Vana is staying with me." Luka boldly declared. As he walked straight up to Nick to challenge him, you could feel the tension in the air. "So beat it."

As Luka went to raise his hand at Nick, I readied myself to jump in. "WAIT! LUKA!"

But there was no need for me to interject. As quickly as he raised his hand, it fell to his side limply. And not long after that, his entire body collapsed to the ground too.

"Luka?" I said in disbelief as I crouched down to check on him. As I shook his body in alarm, I noticed something sticking out of his chest. A syringe.

"I told you he was dangerous."

Feeling things taking a turn for the worst, I slowly looked up at the man before me, wordlessly.

"You're not Nick. Are you?" I asked in a shaky voice.

The man bent down to face me with a sly smile. "No, but I'm one hell of an actor." The man pulled out his handgun and blew air at it. "Aren't I, Vicky?"