David looked outside again and digested how much the world had changed. How much he had changed.

He wasn’t physically exhausted anymore, and his mind was fine, too, if one excluded the strain of digesting a flood of information. He had a lot to understand and learn, but David didn’t put any thoughts on resting. Not after his eyes flicked to something near the shopping center.

David’s expression turned grim. His hands pulled to the weapons, clutching them tightly.

Repay kindness with kindness, and betrayal with…violence…

***

“Sebastian is dead!!” Flora cried out, thick beads trickling down her cheeks, “We left him to die!”

Jack’s attention lingered on the windows of a small building. Someone probably considered it their cozy home before everything went downhill, but it was empty when Jack and Flora entered it a minute ago.

Jack heard the groans of an Infected and spun around to reach Flora. He covered her mouth with force and glared at her. The stream of tears pouring down her face intensified. Her nose was snotty, and she struggled to breathe.

“You need to stay silent, or we will get caught!” Jack hissed quietly.

Their escape had been far from easy. Jack and Flora reached the emergency staircase and docked to the shopping center, but it wasn’t as empty as expected. A middle-aged man’s corpse surrounded by three Infected obstructed their path. The Infected were weak, but without a Warrior, or someone who could cleanse infections, it wasn’t easy to handle them.

Jack had to use five of his deteriorating stock of arrows to kill them since Flora was of no use. If anything, Flora was having a hard time keeping her voice low. She bawled her eyes out and sobbed uncontrollably, attracting the Infected’s attention. That would have been fine if Flora could still use [Mana Bullet], but her Mana Core had been sucked dry.

The odd pair nearly died out there, but they defeated the Infected. Still, after their first encounter with Infected…without anyone keeping their enemies away, Jack was forced to act as a protector, fight Infected even though he only had a bow and a handful of arrows left, and drag Flora behind him.

Ensuring their survival was far from easy. Although it worked, it took them much longer to find a safe—somewhat safe—place.

There is no time to grieve!” Jack whispered in her ear, “Furthermore, we didn’t leave Sebastian to die. He was dead the moment he hit the ground. As for David…we didn’t know him. He was a troublemaker. Nobody will miss him.”

Flora’s eyes widened. Her lips parted, but no word escaped her lips. Instead, she shuddered, and fear nestled in her eyes as she looked at Jack.

Jack’s attention pulled back to the windows when shadows flashed past. Three Infected swayed past the entrance. They snarled, walked around like mindless puppets without coherent thoughts, and ignored Jack and Flora.

Jack remained deadly silent for a few minutes, his eyes trained on the glass windows, expecting the Infected to return and attack. However, nothing like that occurred. The Infected’s snarls grew in the distance.

Jack sighed in relief, whereas Flora started crying again. The Hunter stared daggers at Flora, his gaze saying much more than words ever could, but Flora wasn’t seeing any of this.

“It’s already too late. You saw it yourself. Sebastian is dead,” His tone was colder than before, “Check your stuff. We need to find out how much food and water we have.”

A shadow flashed past the window as Jack’s voice resounded. Even Flora noticed the shadow and tensed up. A shriek escaped her lips as the doors to their house burst open.

Jack responded quickly. He grasped his bow tightly, retrieving an arrow, and nocked it. Jack pulled the bowstring back, but only a little since he couldn’t maintain a stable stance with a fully drawn bow for long.

A ghost emerged in the door frame, and a familiar man stepped inside.

Jack fumbled. He nearly let go of the bowstring, his eyes widening in surprise.

The ghost was a man, who was supposed to be dead. A man covered in scars, reminders of various grievous wounds.

“D-David?!”

David stepped into the house’s narrow entrance hall. He smiled at the pair standing in the living room with a bright smile, but his eyes weren't as kind as they used to be. They were frozen solid, or so it felt, while Jack and Flora stared at him. Their hair stood up to its end, and it took a moment before Jack responded properly.

He drew the bow to the fullest and released the arrow without hesitation. David twisted his body barely in time. The arrow whisked past his head, missing him by a heartbeat.

“That’s a nice way to welcome the man you’ve betrayed,” David chuckled, but his eyes remained cold. Jack retrieved another arrow, but David wasn’t there anymore when the bow was fully drawn.

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“Oh, this place is nice. All rooms are connected,” David’s voice rang out from one of the rooms connected to the narrow entrance.

“Fuck you!” Jack bellowed, “Leave!”

“You want me to leave?” David’s head emerged behind a wall to Jack’s left. He spun around, but David wasn’t there anymore. He disappeared behind another wall before Jack could shoot him.

“Why would you want me to leave? Are we not friends? Or maybe we aren’t friends. At least, we are survivors in arms. No. That is a thing of the past as well. What are we?” David’s voice rang out behind Jack. He turned, but there was nothing.

“This place is quite nice. Oh. There is even… Don’t mind me, Jack…Keep going. What do you want to say?”

Jack gritted his teeth, his head flicking around, hoping to see David or at least to make out his shadows. It would be fine if he knew where David was hiding. Everything would be fine.

“Why are you doing this? I am glad you survived, but you know better than anyone that we would have lost this fight. Even if you survived, the Kobolds would have killed Flora and me. Flora’s Mana Core was drained, and after what happened to Sebastian—....”

“You’re funny. I give you that much,” David interrupted Jack with a laughter.

“Why am I doing this?... I was curious how you guys are doing, knowing everyone could have survived the last fight. You are good at bullshitting your way out of troublesome situations, aren’t you?” David’s voice echoed through the whole building.

Suddenly, his voice disappeared. The wooden flooring creaked to Jack’s right. He spun around and found David’s frame as he hushed from one wall to the next. Jack would have shot, but David’s spatial awareness was too good. Jack couldn’t shoot because Flora’s frame blocked him. He was more likely to hit Flora and accidentally kill her than to hit the target.

“W-we couldn’t do anything. Sebastian was…he was dead before anyone reacted,” Flora spoke up for the first time, but hesitation crept into her voice, “Or…could you have saved him? H-How did you survive?”

David didn’t answer. Instead, the wooden floor behind Jack creaked again. Jack spun around, his arms aching from keeping the bow fully drawn. He released the arrow at once, piercing David’s chest and heart in one go. Except that it wasn’t David.

The first thing Jack discovered was a rotten face, followed by gray skin, sickly yellowish veins, and several chunks of missing flesh. It was an Infected stepping into the living room. Jack stumbled backward, his eyes widening in terror. His hand pulled to the quiver, but he took too long. The Infected was small, its back hunched, but it was fast.

The rotten face flashed before him, hitting him with its foul breath as the Infected’s maw shot wide open.

David emerged out of nowhere. He looked at Jack, whose face was about to be torn off, and made his move.

David’s hand glowed pristine white as he punched out, piercing the Infected’s skull in one go. The undead’s head burst apart, coating Jack with its rotten skin, flesh, and brain mass.

Jack retched and vomited. He squealed and screamed until a kick in the stomach silenced him.

“You’re a funny little hypocrite. Didn’t you tell Flora to stay silent? Why are you screaming around acting like a three-year-old, then? Get your fucking act together, asshole,” David snarled, wiping the brain mass and sweat from his forehead.

[You have defeated Infected(Uncommon).]

[Proficiency of Holy Touch increased.]

A wave of vigor struck David, taking him by surprise, as another notification popped up.

[Your Rank increased by one.]

[Iron III] → [Iron IV]

[One Attribute Point has been added.]

Jack turned silent but continued retreating until he toppled over the couch. The Hunter fell to the ground, and the remaining arrows in his quiver spilled to the ground.

To think I would receive an uprank like that. I thought I’d only receive up ranks from healing and cleansing others.

The new revelation drastically improved David’s mood. He would have loved to play around with Jack and Flora, traumatizing them a little bit more, but the warmth and vigor filling him to the brim were pleasant and exhilarating.

“I think I wasted my time here,” David glanced at the headless Infected for a moment and his hand a moment later, “Or maybe not.”

He shrugged and turned to the traitors, “I won’t dirty my hands with your death, BUT…”

David unsheathed the kobold shortsword while approaching Jack. Jack’s face was already as white as paper, but his expression worsened. Tears welled in his eyes, and it was almost as if he hadn’t heard what David had said.

“Please…don’t kill me…”

David rolled his eyes, lowered his body, and slashed out…cutting the bowstring.

“I won’t kill you,” David said nonchalantly, “But that doesn’t mean I will make your lives easy.”

A trace of anger surfaced on David’s face.

“Everything would have been fine if you’d done your damn job. Even Sebastian wouldn’t have died if you weren’t such a shitty archer. We could have killed the Kobolds much faster and escaped to the emergency staircase if you hadn’t messed up like this. Why the hell would you shoot–... Nevermind that. It’s none of my concern anymore.”

David took a deep breath. He was being petty now.

“Get out of my sight,” David snorted.

Flora whimpered, but Jack jumped up to his feet. He didn’t even look at David and rushed past him, his backpack still slung across his back. Suddenly, a faint current swept past Jack, whose eyes widened as the kobold shortsword cleaved past him.

A moment later, the backpack clattered to the ground.

“You can ask Flora for some food,” David turned to Flora, whose lips parted, “Don’t even get me started. Be happy that I’m not taking your backpack as well. I don’t trust you.

If they stayed together, they could share their stuff as they struggled together. As for whether they survived or not…David didn’t care.

The only one he was sad about was Sebastian.