After half an hour, Claire returned, she looked tense, and she brought with her all the members of the council. She worked even faster than me. I deactivated the skill to make them able to see me.
“I presume you guys didn’t find a guy with that kind of skill, right?”
“Yes,” Sandra answered. “We already memorized the faces of most people who possess useful skills such as yours and Sarah’s skill. But no one mentioned to us about telepathy. Who is the person who has that skill?”
“That black-haired guy who is wearing a red ring near the entrance door.”
“He doesn’t seem like a spy to me,” Harry said while frowning.
“If you don’t know, most real-life spies are people who can easily disappear in the middle of a crowd,” Rose explained. “A spy needs to be someone who doesn't attract attention to himself.”
“He didn’t tell us about his skill,” Sandra said. “But that isn’t enough to incriminate him. Let’s not be rash, that said. Harry and Charles should go to the entrance door to block his way if he tries to run. After that, the rest of us will talk to him. We can’t use skills, but be careful, he may have some item to give him the chance to escape. Let’s subtly surround him, but remember, don’t be rash.”
Everyone nodded, so without wasting time, Harry and Charles headed toward the entrance door without looking at the suspect. When they were in position, the rest of us walked toward the guy. At first, I thought he had just been controlled like the guys in the north, so I didn’t complain when Sandra said not to act rashly. He could be a spy without him even noticing it, after all. There was a chance the woman in the west made him sent daily reports to her, and after the report, she would make him forget about that. The skill domination was that powerful. However, I discarded that idea when for a fraction of a second, I saw the surprise on his face when he noticed our approach.
“Hello, may I talk with for a second?” Sandra asked while smiling.
“Sure, what is it?” The black-haired guy said after he got up.
“I’m sorry,” Sandra said while slightly bowing her head. “I talked with you for a few minutes last night, but since I talked with so many people, I forgot your name.”
“No problem, that is understandable. My name is Karl.” Karl said while smiling.
Sandra looked at Rose and Sarah while they were looking at Karl’s information, Sarah didn’t find anything, but Rose did, and then she shook her head.
“Karl,” Sandra said with a more serious tone in her voice. “I will give you only one chance to explain why you hide from us the fact that you have the skill telepathy.”
Karl froze on the spot, but soon he recovered, he was quite good at that. But that was only getting on my nerves.
“What are you talking about?” Karl said while faking a confused expression.
In any other situation, he would have fooled me, but my improved senses made me notice every single of his reactions which proved that he was a spy. I was sure of that since Sandra mentioned his last skill, his heart has been beating like crazy.
“He is lying.”
Although my words were firm, Sandra and the others didn’t look convinced. Karl was a good actor, even though he was surrounded and his heart was beating a lot, he was able to maintain his composure.
“Dude… you shouldn’t accuse someone without proof.” Karl said, while looking at me and smiling.
“I can see all your skills and status, dude. I can also hear your heart beating. You probably broke only your mental limits to make you able to use telepathy from long distances. The first skill you obtained is only at level three; it is hard to find an explanation of why an active skill is only at that level after more than forty days have passed since the monsters appeared. You won’t fool me.”
Thanks to my words, Karl became speechless. He probably didn’t expect to see someone who could do that; I guess my skills were more uncommon than I thought. After the surprise, he decided to change his strategy.
“Is that how things work here?” Karl shouted. “A single person’s words were more than enough to blame another? Or is it because you wanted my coins and items?”
Violence wasn’t permitted inside the hotel, so he tried to make a scene. He probably was thinking about creating and use a commotion to escape.
“Shut your damn mouth, or I will fill it with my crossbows. I can do that, right? As long as I don’t cause damage that doesn’t count, right?”
I didn’t know this guy for a long time, but I really hated him, and I couldn’t remember me hating so much a single person. Pretty much all people hated liars and traitors, but just hating wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to use him to feed the monsters outside the hotel.
“Will you permit him to say this kind of thing?” Karl said. “You believe in him just because he is your friend, right? This place is a farce! You guys are will only use us! To hell with this place!”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Karl tried to leave, but Harry and Charles blocked his path. He showed an angry face, and then he pointed upward.
“I’m going to the other survivor’s camp,” Karl shouted angrily. “This place is full of liars!”
Almost everyone looked to the map on the ceiling, even Claire, Harry, and the others. But that hadn’t been just a coincidence, Karl had planned everything. While he focused their attention of everyone on the ceiling, he picked a round object hidden inside his clothes.
‘A smoke bomb?’
Before I could totally see the object I ran to stop him; I couldn’t let that guy run away. I grabbed his arm, but at the same time, he pushed some button, and I saw the description of that thing.
Return Stone: Click one time to save a place in this item's memory, click again to be transported to that exact place.
‘Holy shit!’
Before I could even try to get away from him, the space around me changed. I had been engulfed by darkness, but soon I returned to the lobby of the hotel, but it wasn’t the same hotel. Karl looked at me surprised; it seemed he didn’t know that he could transport other people alongside him.
“Arrest him! He is an enemy!” Charles shouted while pointing at me.
Immediately I activated the cape’s effect, and then I run toward the interior of the hotel. After I saw Charles, I saw guards a few meters in front of me, and a beautiful woman sitting on a throne, it was the crazy bitch.
Survivor A – HP: 1605 MP: 3222 STA: 1605
Physical limit Lv 25, Mental limit Lv 30, Sensorial limit 01.
Skills: Sleep Lv 07, Shockwave Lv 06, Goddess of Illusions Lv 08, Vitality Shield Lv 05, Frost Bite Lv 03, Fire Rain Lv 03.
Although she was gorgeous thanks to her red hair, green eyes, and nice body, that place was too uncomfortable for me, so I left without even looking behind. The entrance door was being blocked for two guards, so I decided to look for another exit. Not to mention, she was absurdly stronger; I didn’t have a chance against her and her minions. Anyway, why does everyone hates so much the sensorial limit?
“You returned faster than I thought, Karl,” The crazy bitch said while frowning. “And you also brought with you a strange individual.”
Thanks to my improved senses, I could hear their conversation even while I was trying to look for an exit. But that was the last of my worries.
‘What is it with those crazy skills!?’
All her skills seemed incredible beyond reason; she could, without a doubt, destroy our base by herself if she really could make rain fire.
“I’m sorry, Ann,” Karl said with his head down. “That guy discovered about my telepathy, without me noticing it, he and his friends surrounded me.”
“I see,” Ann said. “He can see our skills and can also become invisible; he could become a better spy than you. It’s a pity his appearance doesn’t suit my tastes.”
‘Shut up crazy bitch… I don’t care about your preferences, and there’s no way in hell I would become one of your toys.’
But, there was also a chance she was forcing the other survivors to obey her using the skill goddess of illusions. What a name for a skill, but that name only showed how powerful that skill was. While they were leisurely talking on the lobby, I tried to open all the windows, but the windows didn’t move an inch, and I didn’t even manage to scratch after using all my strength.
“Anyway, you already gave me plenty of information about them,” Ann said, showing a bored expression. “They don’t stand a chance against my army, much less against me. It’s a pity, but I will have to kill all of them, even that Harry.”
“Ann, please stop this,” Karl begged, showing a sad expression. “There is still time to reconsider, we made some mistakes, but we don’t have to cause more deaths. While they aren’t as strong as you, they have many survivors with a lot of potential. Let’s ignore them; they don’t intend to take unnecessary risks; they only want to survive.”
“I already offered them my terms,” Ann said, annoyed. “And they didn’t accept my generous offer, those who defy me will perish. They will suffer because they don’t understand how things work now.”
“Ann…” Karl insisted.
“Shut up!” Ann shouted. “Your job is over, go to your room and wait for your new orders. I will deal with that guy myself, the only way to leave this place is by using the entrance door after all.”
I didn’t want to believe in her words, so I carefully checked the windows and the backdoor. But she was right, the only way to enter and leave the hotel was using the entrance door. How in the hell didn’t I notice that early? It was probably because I didn’t spend much time exploring the hotel. To make matters worse, that place was crowded with survivors, and I had to keep my invisibility active for a long time. That place wasn’t depressing like the survivors’ camp in the north, but in a way, it was even worse, because there were only men in that place.
‘Fucking sausage feast…’
It was almost midnight, so most of the survivors were already sleeping. Only a few of them got up after hearing Karl’s shout. Or they were entirely under Ann’s control, or they didn’t really care about her problems. It was probably the second option because she only cared about the good looking guys, and only a handful of the survivors seemed to suit her tastes.
After ten minutes running around, I stopped to calm myself. I had to meditate to at least recover some MP because my stock of lemonade was limited. Fortunately, the effect of skill doubled when it reached level two.
‘At least one good thing happened.’
While invisible and meditating, I analyzed my situation carefully. I couldn’t run without meeting the crazy bitch’s guards in the lobby, and I also couldn’t fight. The crazy bitch and her minions couldn’t attack either, but everything else was possible, and they had the numbers to do everything else.
‘I can’t escape, nor fight. Now what?’
It was hard to admit, but my only option was to wait for reinforcements. However, it was too naïve to think Harry and the others would mobilize all the survivors to help a single person. Only someone stupid would do that.
‘But they are stupid enough to select a few survivors and at least try to rescue me.’
What an embarrassing situation… waiting to be rescued was without a doubt, the most shameful thing I had to do in my life. Not, it was the second most embarrassing thing. But that was probably my pride talking for me. Even a stupid guy like me had some pride.
‘Please don’t come, I don’t want to owe you guys any more favors.’
I was foolish beyond reason; I would rather face an unavoidable death than wait to be helped. I knew that was crazy, but it wasn’t like I would lose anything. My only goal in life was to meet my family and hear from them why they left me in that area. I didn’t have anything planned to do after that. Their answer wouldn’t make me feel better; anyway, it would only make me feel worse. So, it was better to try to die while fighting and trying to escape.
“Why, Ann?” Karl said sobbing. “Why don’t you accept my feelings?”
Or, I could use the guy who has a crush on a crazy bitch.