“I think it’s over,” one of the guards said. “The system’s finished refreshing the world.”

“Yep,” the other one said, peering out the window he sat at. “I can’t see any more mutants respawning anywhere either.”

“There should be plenty of loot out there right now,” the first one said. “Maybe we should get out of here and go looking for it instead. Just imagine what treasures we can discover while most of the other survivors in the city are fast asleep.”

“We already discussed it, Thomas,” the other one responded, a hint of irritation in his voice. “And we all reached a consensus that it’s not safe to wander around the city at night. The darkness, especially within buildings, poses too great a threat. We already lost David one evening. That mutant jumped at him from the shadows, and he was dead before we got the chance to save him. Have you forgotten that already?”

“No, Kaleb, I haven’t forgotten,” Thomas replied grimly, shaking his head. “Poor David. I still can’t believe he’s gone.”

“That’s why we’re gonna wait until night passes and head out for loot first thing in the morning, just as we always do,” Kaleb said.

For a moment, they lapsed into silence. As Jake watched them, listening in on their hushed conversation, the beast within him seemed to awaken from its slumber. It wasted no time in beginning to whisper to him, trying to persuade him to attack the survivors. It told him that their backpacks that were lined along the wall potentially contained valuable mana consumables, so it could be worth slaying them, tearing all four of them to shreds.

Not without some effort, but Jake managed to silence his inner beast. He was not going to kill the four survivors. Even if they had mana consumables in their backpacks, he wasn’t going to do that. He wasn’t going down the rabbit hole. He was already only partly human, and he wasn’t willing to lose the last shreds of humanity within him.

Jake was about to turn away and steal his way out of the building when Thomas, who was facing the center of the vast hall, suddenly turned his head to stare at the exact spot Jake occupied. He immediately froze, staring back at the survivor, ready to jump into action if necessary. However, while Thomas appeared a little more nervous than he’d been a second before, Jake was sure he remained undetected. Had Thomas somehow spotted him, his reaction would’ve been way more intense.

“Shouldn’t we also watch the entrance?” Thomas asked. “I mean what if a mutant comes into the building?”

Kaleb shook his head. “We’re at the farthest spot from the entrance. If a mutant happens to wander in and come at us, we’ll hear it right away. Those creatures aren’t known for being quiet.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“But what if a mutant spawns right behind us?” Thomas said, still seemingly staring directly at Jake. “And attacks us before we know what’s happening?”

“Geez, what’s wrong with you all of a sudden?” Kaleb asked, raising his voice.

One of the sleeping people stirred in their sleeping bag but didn’t awaken.

“I dunno, man,” Thomas replied. “I just feel nervous for some reason. I feel like something is watching me.”

“You’re just being paranoid,” Kaleb said without even bothering to look over his shoulder to see where Thomas was staring at. “Relax, man. First of all, the system has already finished refreshing the world. And second, mutants never materialize anywhere near survivors. By now, all of us have learned it. If that were the case, many survivors would have been torn apart in their sleep during the initial days, and we likely wouldn’t have been an exception.”

“You’re right,” Thomas said after a brief pause, finally shifting his gaze away from Jake.

“During the spawning process, mutants never pop up anywhere near us, survivors, whether we are asleep or awake. So don’t worry about it anymore, bud.”

“Yeah.”

After that, the two survivors went silent once more. Jake continued crouching at the center of the hall with his palms resting on the floor, thinking about what he’d just heard from the two survivors. During the world-refreshing process, the system spawned mutants at a safe distance from survivors. It made sense. The process typically took place at midnight when most survivors were probably going to sleep or were already fast asleep. It would be unfair if a mutant materialized next to a sleeping survivor, catching them off guard in their most vulnerable state.

However, when Jake moved through the city, every now and then, mutants sporadically materialized right next to him. It couldn’t be written off as a simple coincidence. It was pretty much obvious that the system didn’t classify him as a survivor anymore. To the system, he was just another mutant now. However, it posed some questions. How come he was granted a unique progression system? Why was he still sentient while all the other mutants were not?

The more Jake thought about it, the more confused he became. He’d been transformed into a mutant after being sucked into an anomaly known as the Dark Void. As far as he knew, he wasn’t supposed to survive that, but somehow he did. The purpose of the Dark Void was to turn regular mutants into stronger versions of themselves. He’d been a human at that time, so he should’ve either been killed or, in the best-case scenario, turned into a mindless mutant. But not only did he retain his intelligence, but he was also given a system with unique abilities. Was it just a very rare fluke? Was it just an extremely rare occurrence? Or perhaps it was a glitch that somehow intertwined a survivor’s progression system with mutant capabilities?

While Jake remained uncertain about his situation, he at least now knew that he was regarded as a mutant rather than a survivor; otherwise, it wouldn’t have spawned mutants in such close proximity to him during the world-refreshing process. Even despite the fact that he greatly deviated from typical mutants in many aspects, possessing a unique progression system of his own, he still seemed to be categorized as a regular mutant.

Or maybe while the system labeled him a mutant, it also recognized his uniqueness. Could it be that the system considered him a hybrid straddling the line between humans and mutants? Jake wasn’t sure yet.

A sudden scream shattered the silence, wrenching him back to the moment.