Isolation
With hurried footsteps, we made our way towards the east building.
While the collapse of the library did buy us some time, and effectively separated the horde and our group by a whole floor level, in the end, that wasn’t enough. With [Echolocation], I could already sense reinforcements coming from the gymnasiums, as well as survivors from the library earlier.
The never ending sense of dread that wafted throughout the school ever since Satou’s attack still persisted, and it only strived to further motivate us.
We passed by familiar hallways and broken classrooms in almost dead silence. After 5 minutes, we arrived at my group’s old base, but we passed that too without stopping. It took another 5 minutes for us to arrive at the skywalk that connected the east and main building together.
This was the last remaining pathway to the east building. The other pathway, the one on the first floor, had long since been destroyed - collateral damage from Explosion girl’s escape to the main building. Now normally, this skywalk was almost impossible to traverse directly, what with all the tusk boars present. But now, since the Dungeon Boss moved the boars around in pursuit of us earlier, the skywalk was currently empty, with nothing but the worn out and well trodden floor as proof of their past presence.
We quickly crossed the skywalk, and made our way to the east building.
Once everyone made it past the skywalk, I ordered Explosion girl to destroy the skywalk with her magic. Doing so would effectively seal off the east building from the rest of the school.
“W-wait, Hide?! Are you serious?!” The President immediately refuted after hearing my proposal. “T-that’s isn’t it kind of reckless to just outright destroy the whole hallway like that!”
I shrugged in response. “If we don’t do this, then we really will have nowhere else to go. The main building horde will be perpetually on our tail. We’ll be forced on the run with no chance of resting. In that situation, where our stamina and endurance is pushed to the very limits, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if we all died.”
The President’s face contorted into a bitter expression. He looked out into the skywalk, toward the general direction of the cafeteria. He stared in silence for only a moment, before he sighed. “I get that. I understand the situation. But… Running away and holing ourselves up like this… it leaves a bitter after taste…”
With the President’s resignation, the girl in the wizard hat used her magic and a bright white spark flashed in the center of the skywalk, before, almost instantly, a loud resounding boom filled the room. White light engulfed my vision, and a painful throbbing echoed in my ears. After the light faded, all I could see was a cloud of dust and debris hanging in the air. As the dust dispersed, I saw the skywalk, or at least, its remnants.
Like this, our isolation began.
****
Without exception, even the east building had its monsters.
Using [Echolocation], I approximated about 100 or so monsters lurking within the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors of the East building. With no context, at first glance, a 100 monsters may seem like an impossible obstacle, but in all honesty, the situation here was already an improvement to the situation within the main building.
Unlike the main building, these monsters were did not actively attack us, nor were they grouped up into an impossible to handle horde. Rather, they were dispersed randomly throughout the building. In comparison to a horde of monsters remotely controlled by the Dungeon Boss, this situation was much more easier to handle.
I guessed that the Dungeon Boss’s span of influence did not expand to cover the East building, which in context, made sense. The Dungeon Boss was stationed on the basement of the Old school district, so it made sense that its control would be thinner or almost non existent at the places furthest from its location (which was exactly where the East building was).
Our group stationed ourselves in an abandoned classroom near the recently destroyed skyway on the 2nd floor of the building.
After about a few hours of rest, the sun began to rise, and the first faint traces of light entered the school. At the same time, we began cleaning the building free from monsters.
Relatively speaking, things went pretty smoothly.
Although there were a hundred monsters, in the end our group possessed the advantage. There were two main components to our advantage. One, the monsters were mainly comprised of Shadow Lurker Model:Cyclops, and two, the sun had risen. In our first encounter, we discovered a fatal weakness to the shadowlurker species; they were weak to sunlight, or rather, their stats were nerfed hard during the daytime. Almost a 50% drop in stats. And despite their weakened state, they still gave the same amount of exp as before.
Suffice to say, the monster extermination went by more smoothly than last night’s fiasco.
By the way during the clean up, I did not participate. Instead, I stayed behind with the Cher, the wiped out Wizard-hat girl, and the rest of the non combatants.
*****
Despite their advantage, 100 monsters were still 100 monsters. It took the clean up crew - which comprised of the President, the President’s party, Kido, Kido’s merry group of friends, Hina, and Cielle- a full day to completely clear out building. By the time they finished it was already 8 in the evening.
By that point, everyone was starving, but we did not have food. On our journey to the East building, we had only brought back medicine and bottled water, and the monster’s everyone else hunted weren’t exactly edible. The only thing they did drop were 2 health potions, a stamina potion, and 3 long swords.
Everyone was hungry, but the our only source of food was in the bomb shelter. Unfortunately, the Bomb shelter was at the basement, where the Gilas resided.
Encouraged by my own gnawing sense of hunger, I wanted to raid the place and collect all the food, but unfortunately, everyone else was still pretty tired, after all, they did spend the whole day hunting monsters.
After some deliberation, it was decided that everyone would rest for a few hours and regain their stamina or recover their health before I’d lead the group into the basement and secure the Bomb Shelter.
While the clean up crew rested, I went to go check up on Cher.
Truthfully, for the whole day, I’ve pretty much been besides Cher the whole time. And within all that time, she was still asleep. A sense of unease had entered my heart. I might not be all that knowledgeable when it came to medical stuff, but wasn’t it taking a bit too long for her to recover?
I mean, on a physical level, the only thing that really happened to her was that she lost an arm. I don’t know how things would have worked back then, but now, with our bodies changed and completely reliant on the game system, I had assumed that Cher would have already made some progress by now. After all, her hp and stamina was full, so what kept her from waking up?
It was at this point I started to guess that maybe her condition wasn’t physical, but mental. There was some psychological reason why Cher hadn’t woken up yet. If we're talking about psychological reasons, then, in Cher’s case, there are plenty of causes. The despair of fighting against your past tormentor, the reminder and lingering fear of her past, maybe even the relief and catharsis of Satou’s death… Cher had enough stimuli last night to cause a whole slew of intermixing and conflicting emotions to stir within herself.
As I was worrying and thinking about such things, I saw a tired looking Cielle walk over towards me.
Her hair was more disheveled than usual, and her skin was a tinge paler than what I normally saw, but the moment our eyes locked, a loose smile curled her thin lips.
She did not say anything at first.
Cielle walked over, and used a quick used her [Nursing] skill on Cher. This wasn’t the first time she used this skill on Cher, and much like the rest, its results were the same. After trying for two more times, Cielle let out a disheartened sigh as she sat down next to me.
With her knees pulled up to her chest, and her head slightly drooping, the image of an overworked and extremely tired girl came to mind.
“....”
“....”
She said nothing for a good while, and at some point, I wondered whether, under that cascade of hair, whether Cielle had fallen asleep or not.
It was only after I heard a slight cough that I confirmed she was still awake.
“...How are you, Cielle?” I impulsively started, prompted by some unknown tension in my gut to speak.
“...I’m just tired.” She replied back quietly.
With nobody on both sides talking, we entered another round of deep silence.
I looked up, and stared at the ceiling in a half daze, while, from the corner of my eye, I could see Cielle keeping watch of Cher’s sleeping figure. Occasionally, I also caught her staring at something or someone from across the room. Following her gaze, I found out that the subject of Cielle’s mist covered stares was Hina.
“U-um…”
The silence prompting me once more, I was about to attempt another conversation when-
“...Hide.” Cielle’s thin, whisper-like voice leaked out from her thinly parted lips.
“Yeah.” I responded simply.
“....” Cielle opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but after a moment’s pause, she closed them once more. She repeated this set of motion for a few more seconds, as if the proper words would not come out of her mouth.
Finally, after sometime, she managed, “Something happened with Hi-”
“Something happened with Hina?” I interrupted after a tired sigh.
After being interrupted, Cielle closed her mouth and swiveled her head to look at me. Through her curtain of hair, I could see her crystal clear eyes, looking up at me. Her expression was not one of surprise, but that of full acknowledgement, as if she had long since known that I had known about the subject of her worries.
Cielle nodded slightly, and asked, “How did you know?”
In response I let out another tired sigh. “Haah~ It’s not really all that inconspicuous, you know?
Hina’s been acting weird ever since last night. She doesn’t talk as much as she usually does, she’s spacing out a lot, and her eyes are rather… solemn.”
I wasn’t very good at associating with people in the past, but even I wasn’t that dense.
“There’s definitely something bothering her, but…” I trailed off, like Cielle, the proper words I wanted to convey did not come to fruition.
“...Actually…” After a pause, Cielle began talking. In that quiet, almost whisper-like voice of hers, she recounted the battle with Satou from last night. She did not clearly see what exactly happened, but at the very least, something happened. Something happened with Satu, Hina, and…
“Cher, huh…” I sighed, as my gaze slowly fell onto the sleeping girl next to me. After thinking for a while, I could not help but let out a low, and bitter laugh.
Cielle, tilted her head in confusion as a response, and asked, “What’s the matter?”
I continued to chuckle as I repositioned myself on the floor. “No, nothing-” I eventually managed. “It’s just, I finally figured it out.”
“?”
“I figured out what type of expression Hina was making… I could not, for the life of me, connect two and two together, but now… after hearing you explain the situation, I finally figured it out.
She’s guilty.”
Yes. It was a simple thing really. An expression, an emotion brought about by sympathy, something fanned by human remorse. Hina was feeling guilty over what happened to Cher. That… that was the simplest explanation, but somehow, I felt that there was more to it than that. Why exactly was she feeling guilty? What had she done? Did her actions really cause Cher to lose an arm?
I could not help but hold these dark emotions within me as I let out another tired sigh.
As if prompted by my constant sighing, an equally as tired yawn escaped from Cielle’s outstretched mouth.
“So, what should I do?” She finally managed after stifling another incoming yawn.
“About Hina?”
“Yeah.”
“... I don’t know.”
“Me neither.”
“....”
“...”
At almost exactly the same time, we both let out a tired sigh, before we learned back, and slumped ours shoulders.
“In the end, I don’t think it's something we can ignore.” I finally spoke, after some thought. “We’ll talk to her. Ask her what she did wrong, and see how severe her actions were.”
Cielle wordlessly nodded.
“After she tells us… no- after we find out what happened, then we’ll decide what to do.”
Cielle once again nodded.
“And whether we comfort her or…” I hesitated for a moment, before I continued, “...or we punish her, we’ll decide on that when the time comes.”
Cielle hesitated. She bit her lip, her brow creasing in consternation. She did not say anything for a long time. I don’t know how much time passed before she once again, wordlessly nodded.
Seeing the conflicting expression on her face, for the umpteenth time, I let out another tired sigh. I placed a hand on top of her head, before disheveling her already disheveled hair.
“Don’t worry about it right now.” I spoke without thinking.
I could not see the expression on her face, but she had stopped resisting my over excessive head rub. “Just get some rest for now. Tackle one problem at a time, maintain that sort of attitude, you might live longer.”
“....”
She did not respond. For a long time was wrapped in her familiar silence. Not a single sound leaked out from her, except for the sound of quiet, shallow breathing.
It took me an hour to realize she had fallen asleep.
****
4 hours later, I was standing in front of the single doorway that led to the basement of the East building. Behind this two inch metal door were the last remnants of opposition within this isolated building.
With me, were Hina, the President, the President’s party, Kido, Kido’s harem, and Mr. Tei.
Mr. Tei was a 50 something year old electrical engineer. He was one of the few remaining faculty that survived the apocalypse, and he has been under the school’s contract for a good majority of his life. “An old man who's been through thick and thin” - or at least that’s how Mr. Tei described himself.
As for why he was here with us, despite being a noncombatant…
“You can definitely get the light going, right?” I questioned nonchalantly as I fixedly stared at the metal door in front of us.
“Y-yeah.” Mr. Tei fidgeted as his eyes darted back and forth. An obvious uneasiness was clearly evident on his face. “I probably - no I definitely can, just that… do I really have to do it?”
“Of course you do.” I stated simply. “The monsters at the bottom of this basement are night dwellers. They have a tactical advantage in the dark, and without light, we’d be hard pressed to kill all of them, and by the same extension, we’d have difficulty maintaining your safety and securing the bomb shelter.
So let me ask you again, can you get the lights in the basement working again?”
“Hah~ Kids these days are so demanding....” Mr. Tei let out a resigned sigh, as he began to properly explain.
“I haven’t been working as an electrical engineer for 36 years for nothing. I can definitely rewire the generator in the bomb shelter and hook it up as an external power supply and connect it to the light system within the basement, it’s just that… doing so will be a tremendous strain towards the generator. I reckon it’ll last a good hour, maybe two if we’re lucky until the generator completely runs out of juice.
This is especially true since there’s no way of recharging the generator. Actually, guys from the board were supposed to come in earlier in the school year and replace the generator with something more modern and cost effective, but those damn upstarts delayed and pushed back the repairs. In the end, we couldn’t get them replaced. I swear, these fresh-out-of-college guppies don’t have their priorities straight.
Why, back in my days…”
Somehow or another, as Mr. Tei talked, his previous nervousness slowly disappeared, and the 50 something year old’s explanation somehow de-evolved into a tangent.
“Okay, okay!” I exasperatedly interrupted. “I get it, you can fix it, but the lights will only last for an hour or so. Don’t worry, an hour is plenty of time.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Are you sure?” Mr. Tei immediately retorted. “I know you kids are all about time management, and always squeezing the most out of your day, but-”
“Hey,” Before Mr. Tei could continue his stray strain of thought, Kido unexpectedly interrupted. “Why don’t we just start a fire in the basement?” He asked with an eerily innocent expression. “After all, Miss Hina over here has fire magic right? And fire produced light, so-”
“That won’t work.” The President comes in and interrupts.
“Eh? Why not?” Kido questioned.
The President sighed, a hint of frustration and annoyance in his tone. “Because that idea’s stupid, and the gas and carbon dioxide produced from the fire will suffocate us, especially in a poorly ventilated place like the basement. Another thing too, the smoke produced from setting things on fire will only further obstruct our vision, making the fire’s original purpose completely obsolete.”
“Ah, okay, okay, sorry.” Kido laughs as he scratches his head in a fit of awkwardness. “I wasn’t thinking so no need to be so harsh, Prez.”
In order to draw attention to the original conversation, I coughed lightly before I re-explained.
“Back on topic, getting the light to work again will definitely be beneficial to the extermination of the gilas, mostly because they rely primarily on stealth and sneak attacks. If we get rid of their stealth, then their threat level will significantly decrease.”
Although I say that, honestly, for me, the lack of light isn’t really a problem. Because of my [Echolocation], I can somehow manage in the dark, even if I’m against those Gilas, but in the end, light is necessary for the others.
After all, I don’t plan on killing the Gilas myself. I’ll leave them for the others, all for the sake of fighting the final boss.
Given the current situation, I’ve already shifted my initial objectives and plan on using a more concrete raid type scenario during our final fight with the Dungeon Boss. And in order for the group to properly work together, and for the phrase “power in numbers” comes into effect, the others have to get stronger as well.
So that we can escape this dungeon, the ones that will fight need to get stronger.
Of course, it’s not like I have no misgiving about this strategy. My biggest concern right now is Kido. Despite the way he acts, and his seemingly harmless face, I can’t help but feel uncomfortable around him. Whether allowing Kido to get stronger is a good thing… in the end, I can’t answer that question, just that, without a doubt, Kido is both an asset and a threat.
Kido will definitely increase the group’s overall chances of survival against the Dungeon Boss, and the only option I have left is to push back my doubts and bet on our common goal.
On a side note, I assigned Cielle to watch over the noncombatants, as well as the others who couldn’t go, which include Cher - who's still asleep even right now, and the Wizard-hat girl- who is still feeling pretty drained from last night. In addition, the President also left behind the Teacher from his Party, as backup, incase something happens and Cielle isn’t enough to handle the situation.
Shaking my head, to clear my mind, I grab at the door handle, and yank the heavy metal door open. Immediately, a gust of stale, hot air assaults us.
With the door to the basement open, everyone within the group immediately grew deathly silent. I quickly used [Echolocation] in order to reaffirm the situation within the basement.
Due to the confined space of the walls, sound bounces off really well in there, so I can get a clear picture of what’s going on inside.
Right now, I can sense about 60 or so of them, or at least of things that are moving. I’m guessing that the majority of them are actual Gilas, while a few Shadow Lurker Model:Gila is among the population.
The majority of the group is clustered towards the right of the basement, where the refurbished classrooms were located. The path leading towards the Bomb shelter, aka, the hall that led to the left of the basement is sparsely populated in comparison. There are only about 5 or so Gilas wandering the location. And what’s more, those 5 are sort of spaced out along the hall.
I guess their apprehensions regarding the bomb shelter still persist even now.
Taking a deep breathe, I took one step into the darkness before I continued deeper into the basement. Behind me, the President followed, within his left hand was an industry grade flashlight, while in his right was my Cyclops Club, which I loaned him because of the Gila’s weakness to blunt impact.
Like we discussed earlier, the President and I descend deeper into the basement, while Mr. Tei followed closely behind us.
The rest of the group stayed behind, and guarded the stairs. Their job was to maintain their position, and if need be, stop any Gilas that came rushing out from the classrooms.
Of course, the likelihood of that happening is close to zero. Going by what happened last night, the Gilas are a little averse to venturing above ground. I can only begin to take guesses as to why this is, but my strongest theory is that their behavior is related towards their “natural” state.
Simply put, Gilas were an underground type of creature. They were monsters that preferred dark and humid locations, like ants, or moles.
With me leading the way, the three of us turned left and began making our way to the bomb shelter.
Our formation went, Me, the President, and then lastly, lagging behind us was Mr. Tei.
“Oi, Hide, is this sort of formation really beneficial?” He worriedly asked as we continued further into the darkness. “I mean, with both of us leading the front, I’m a bit concerned about the possibility of an attack from behind.”
Before I could respond, a voice from behind me interrupted. “T-that’s right!” Mr. Tei agreed. “I-I-I feel really exposed behind here, and despite only seeing darkness, I can’t help but periodically look behind me! This horror movie like scenario… the dark isn’t really good for an old man’s heart.”
I ignored their protests and maintained the current formation. I wasn't particularly concerned about an attack from behind mostly because of my [Echolocation]’s utility. Whether I stood at the front or at the back, it made no difference, I can sense any incoming monsters all the same.
“Don’t worry about it.” I replied. “The Gilas from across the floor can’t sense us from this far away, so an attack from the back isn’t really a concern. Although...”
The grip on the pole arm (the weapon I chose to use this time around) tightened, as my expression quickly turned serious. “Prez, get ready, the first one is coming.”
Without warning, I immediately dashed forward into the darkness. Despite my lack of visibility, I could completely make out the Gila in front of me, mainly due to my [Echolocation].
My sudden acceleration caught the Gila off guard, as I broke one of its legs with a single strike to the knee. It could not react in time, and even before it had the opportunity to retaliate, the President followed up, as he dashed forward and struck the Gila’s abdomen with the tip of the his club.
The Gila let out a guttural tone as it was knocked back to the floor. It’s injured leg twitched uncontrollably, while its signature low buzzing sound began to intensify.
The President steps forward, the intent to kill fully written in his body language. His club is raised high, and just as he is about to swing it down, I stop him.
I grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him away.
“Come on, we don’t have time,” I spoke simply before I ran around the writhing Gila and continued forward down the hall.
From the shocked grunt he inadvertently uttered, I could tell he was confused, and doubtful, but with my figure quickly receding in the darkness, he could do nothing but swallow his doubts and follow. Subsequently, with both combatants leaving, Mr. Tei frantically ran to catch up to us.
“Hey why didn’t we kill it?” The President asks in an obviously irritated tone as he jogged besides me.
“Like I said, we didn’t have any time left.” I responded back with an unchanging expression.
“Oi, I know that’s bullshit, we had-”
“Not right now, the next one is coming.”
“Wha-!”
Interrupted by the 2nd Gila, the President’s complaints were brought to a hold, as we dealt with the situation.
*****
In the end, we ran into 5 Gilas total.
Much like with the first one, I told the President not to kill them. I either broke a leg to slow it down, or I knocked it out with a clean hit to its cranium. I did one of either of these things whenever we confronted a Gila, but I never killed one.
Likewise, President did not kill any either because I stopped him. Unfortunately, his constant questioning was annoying and quickly got on my nerves. Although in the end, I chose to ignore it.
Before I even realized, we had reached the entrance to the bomb shelter.
In front of us was a metal plated door, one with similar design to the door that led into the basement, although I know, from past experience that this door was much thicker and of a higher grade metal than the one above ground.
Upon seeing the door, a look of relief washes over the others’ face. This is especially true for Mr. Tei who, by the time we got here, looked as if he were about to burst into tears.
Without reaching for the door, I stop and stare at its metal plating for a while. For a long time, I simply stand there, and did not do anything.
My inactivity worried the other two, and despite their concerned gestures, I ultimately ignored them and chose to remain silent.
After a while passed, a crescent thin grin spreads across my face.
Without warning, I swung the metal door open, and usher Mr. Tei inside. I too, stepped into the Bomb shelter, but before the President could do the same, I turned around, and grabbed onto both his shoulders, stopping him just right outside the door.
With a gravely serious expression masking my face, I spoke to the President with an extremely solemn tone. “Prez… the Gilas from before are coming back, and they're all together, in a pack. Their going to attack soon, so Prez… you have to stay out here and fight them.”
“W-w-what?!” The President’s expression contorted into shock, as his mouth hung agape, while a certain irritated flickr passed through his eyes.
“Fight by yourself Prez.” I once again uttered.
“That’s ridiculous!” The President exasperatedly exclaimed. “If this sort of thing was going to happen, why didn’t we kill them off one at a time as we passed them???”
“There was no time.”
“Bullshit! Also, why am I fighting alone? Why aren’t you fighting with me?”
“What are you saying, someone has to stay with Mr. Tei and protect him, who knows what could be lurking within this dark, and abandoned Bomb Shelter?”
“That’s- I can tell you're lying! Enough of this-”
“You’re right, there isn’t much time left, we need to get the lights working, and fast!”
Before the President could complain any further, I closed the metal door and pushed a nearby cabinet in front of the door, keeping it closed and effectively locked.
Within the dark room, void of almost any light, I could hear Mr. Tei fidgeting with something. A moment later, a small ray of light expanded out from the keychain light he held in his hand.
“H-hey, Kid, is there really any danger inside here?” He worriedly asks as his head swivels frantically in all directions.
“There’s nothing of that sort in here.” I nonchalantly answered. “All the enemies are outside, so you don’t have to worry. Look the generator’s over there, so let’s get to work.”
Although Mr. Tei was still a bit doubtful, nonetheless, he still moved over towards the generator and began working.
“Oho!” He exclaimed as he fiddled with the gadget. “This is a pretty outdated generator, but it's one of the models I’m more familiar with, so I can get this done pretty quickly… let’s see, the cords, and socket should be around here somewhere…” As he began searching, a happy, almost excited expression blossomed on his face. “Great, this is great! It’ll take me just 15 minutes to get everything set up.”
I gave a vacant nod as the 50 something year old electrician began his work in earnest.
“....”
“....”
SCREECH!
After 2 minutes of silent working, a sudden noise echoed from outside the Bombshelter. The familiar sound of battle began.
In the face of this noise, I maintained my usual poker face, while in contrast, Mr. Tei frantically worked to get the generator fixed.
“Hey, hey, you don’t need to be rushed, Mr. Tei.” I calmly stated. “Just take your time.”
“Ah, b-but the P-president!” His hands worked blindingly fast despite the low visibility of the room.
“Don’t worry about him.” I responded. “The Prez will be fine, rather this is for his own sake.”
“Eh?”
“Like I said, don’t worry about it.”
Honestly speaking, this current situation truly is for the President’s sake. In order to get him used to a more frantic battle field and further push his limits. This way the President can train his stats more efficiently, which he really doesn’t get a chance to do often, or at least, not in this type of situation.
Because the President is more of a cautious type, the one who plan ahead, he doesn’t really get involved in very many intense fights. His inexperience in this regard showed in his performance during the battle with Satou.
In a way, throwing the President of a cliff like this was the best way to strengthen him.
After a while, Mr. Tei let out a triumphant yell. “I finished! I finished adjusting the generator, let’s turn
on the lights right now!”
Hearing the ongoing sounds of battle coming from the other side of the metal door, I shook my head, and responded, “No, not yet.”
“Eh??? But the President is-”
“He’s fine, he’s fine. He doesn’t really need light right now, I mean, he’s got that flashlight with him, you know?”
“But-”
“Don’t worry.”
“....”
15 more minutes passed before the sound of battle coming from the other side of the door finally ended.
“Okay, now you can turn it on.” I finally consented, and with a less than enthusiastic expression, Mr. Tei flipped a switch, and light entered my vision.
I opened the metal door, and the first thing that came to view was President. Around him were 5 Gila corpses, and the smell of sulfuric acid wafted throughout the air. The President himself was battered and bruised. His original jacket was strewn on the floor, numerous holes melted with acid littered its fabric.
Looking closely, the President’s HP was less than 20%, and his pale expression said words about how much stamina he had remaining.
“You look like hell.” I nonchalantly stated as I walked out of the bomb shelter.
The President manages wheezes, before managing a frustrated scoff. Shooting a glare at me, he retorted, “Well, there were 5 of them at the same time, and it was dark, and you left me alone...gee, I wonder why I look like hell?”
In response, I merely shrug of his complaints, and point out, “They were already injured though.”
“Y-you… Only two! Two of them had a broken leg, while the other three were perfectly okay, or did you forget the part where you simply knocked them out without doing anything?”
“Ah, did something like that happen?”
“And the injured ones! Their injuries only made them angrier!”
I could not help but let out a chuckle. “Well, you survived so it’s all in the past. Besides, if you couldn’t even handle that much, then there’s no way you’ll survive the boss fight.”
“Hah~ The Dungeon Boss would have been easier than what I went through…” The President lets out a mournful groan as he slumps back down onto the floor.
I let out another laugh, and as I walked past him, I stated, “Chin up, Prez. After all this is just the start of our counter attack.”
****
Author's Note:
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