"Is that really you?" I asked with tears running down my face. "This isn't another trick, is it?" As I felt a sharp headache come on, I quickly checked my status window to see that my skill was reacting to Nick. This has to be him!

Nick smiled before approaching me. "What do you mean a trick? It's really me." Nick's eyes darted to the bed frame before giving me a sympathetic smile. "C'mon, let's get you untied."

As Nick started to work on the large knot, I turned to look at him in awe. "Y-You look exactly the same as you did in the o-other world!" I rambled. "But you failed your mission..."

"It happens to the best of us." He said with shrugging shoulders. "All you can do is move onto the next world without any points and try again."

He's quick to accept the outcome. It's almost like he's a seasoned veteran when it comes to transmigrating. "Eh, Nick. How many times have you've transmigrated?"

Nick gave the question some thought before giving me my answer. "About 73 times."

THAT'S INSANE! HOW THE HELL HASN'T HE RETIRED TO THE AFTERLIFE YET???

"A-Are you just hoarding your points or something? I don't understand why you haven't retired to the afterlife yet..."

Nick finally got the chain off the headboard. "I've been busy with building skills. It's better to grind so I'm prepared for the next world after all."

I can't say I agree with the sentiment. The quicker I finish my missions the better! But what Nick said did pique my interest. "What kind of skills do you have? I-If you don't mind telling me that is..."

Nick sat beside me on the bed. "Well, there's which I assume you also have?" I nodded my head firmly in response. "I've put some points into strength too."

Lucky. I wish I had enough points to do that...

"Oh, there is this one unique skill I have! I don't think a lot of people have it." Nick leaned in with a mischievous grin. "It's called ."

I tilted my head to the side out of confusion. "Huh? What's that do?" I asked curiously.

"In a nutshell, it negates any unconscious powers on my brain." I furrowed my eyebrows in even more confusion. "Basically, I'm immune to things like hypnosis. So don't even think about brainwashing me!" He joked playfully.

A sudden realisation dawned on me. Does this mean... Nick is immune to my skill? It's kind of like hypnosis when you think about it, so it should be negated. If it's really true then this is amazing! Without thinking, I hugged Nick as I rejoiced at the fantastic news.

"Woah, what's up with you?" Nick asked as he looked at me blushingly.

As I gave Nick a beaming smile, we were suddenly interrupted by the noise of screaming outside. We gave each other a quick glance before taking a look out the window.

There were zombies. A whole hoard of them! How the hell did they get inside the base? As we watched people get mauled to death by the ravenous creatures, Luka shortly busted into the room.

"Vana?" He called out. As soon as he noticed Nick his face soured. "Who's he?"

As I looked between Nick and Luka, I shook my head. "I don't have time to explain. What's going on out there anyway?" I demanded.

As Luka went to grab my hand, I grasped Nick's with my other free hand. There's no way I'm separating from him after everything we've been through! As Luka guided us down the hall, he kept looking back and forward to assess the coast.

"Now's not the time for questions," Luka stated. "Keep a lookout for any odd-looking zombies, got it?"

As we made our way down the staircase, the three of us took cover behind a nearby pickup truck. "There!" I pointed to off in the distance. "That one is moving faster than all of the others! He has to be special..."

As Luka scrutinised the zombie's behaviour, he slowly stood up. "That's a . I'll handle this!"

As Luka charged towards the zombie to tackle it to the ground, a horrible thought came to my mind. Isn't the timing of everything suspicious? We've only been here for a couple of hours and this place is already being attacked.

I highly doubt that these zombies could penetrate their fortress on their own. Which makes me think they got help. As Luka feasted on the zombie's brains, I felt a lump grow in my throat.

Luka purposely used this human base as bait. He wanted to lure out as many high-ranking zombies as possible. I can't believe how little regard he has for human life. He's using the survivors as an all you can eat buffet. It's despicable!

As several loud gunshots could be heard in the distance, the number of zombies slowly started to die down. As the sound of shooting drew nearer, I peeked my head around the corner to see Isla.

She stood there emotionless shooting every single zombie that stood in her way. Talk about a cold-blooded killer! But as she raised the rifle at Luka, I had no other choice but to try and intervene.

"DON'T SHOOT HIM!" I screamed. As I stood between the gun and Luka's head, tears started to swell up in my eyes as I heavily panted.

"Protecting a zombie? Now that's a first." Isla cynically remarked. "Move."

I shook my head firmly. "No, Luka is special! So, you can't kill him!" I'm really getting sick of defending murderers. I'm bound to have to do some repenting for this in the afterlife.

As I slowly straightened my posture, I gestured for Isla to put the gun down. "You yourself thought he was a human, right?" I desperately probed. "So, you have to be somewhat curious about him!" Insisted.

As Isla stared blankly at Luka, her grip on the gun tightened. "I should've never let you guys in." To my surprise, Isla proceeded to strap the gun to her back before sighing. "You have five minutes to convince me to spare this monster."

Five minutes, that's all I... actually it may take longer than that. Hopefully, she's feeling generous today...