Around that time in the Shrine, however...

"Tchah!" Energy finished slaying another grotesque beast dwelling within the jungle layer, "Phew... Finally!"

"Did we do it?!" Vastoria popped out of her cover, a small shield readily held in her right hand as a bead of sweat rolled down her brow, "We killed all of them, right? I didn't miscount, did I?"

"One at the entrance, two down the midway point, a whole camp of the freaks right after that one weird looking tree... And an ultra beefy one at the very end." Energy recounted their past battles, "It took a while to weed them all out, but I don't think there were any more."

Unlike the first two floors of the Shrine which were quite quick to pass through, the jungle layer had what appeared to be an infestation of the giant gold eating bat-cockroach monsters. This was also where they learned the main shtick of the Shrine—If they die in any way, they respawn at the very end of the previous floor. This way, their success was guaranteed so long as they stuck with it until the very end. Though regrettable, it was only to be expected that their deaths were quite numerous as they slowly advanced through this perilous layer, only managing to make the tiniest bit of progress at a time by going through countless iterations of trial and error. Now, they stood in front of the stairway to the fourth floor...

"Alright, let's move-!" Vastoria hurried down the stairway, but was quickly pulled back by her hair, "O-Ow!"

"Sorry, I don't have anything else to grab you by." Energy shrugged, "We're not done yet. Don't get reckless now."

In truth, they had no way of knowing when the next "checkpoint" is. There was no visible or audible indication of when they had successfully crossed over to the next floor, meaning if they rushed through and died during their descent down the stairs or something to that degree, Energy worried they might get sent back to the very beginning of floor 3 again. By this point, they had both cultivated a strong sense of aversion towards bats and cockroaches alike after getting brutally eaten by them an immeasurable amount of times. He wasn't willing to go through all that again.

"Let's proceed slowly." He warned her with a careful nod.

"Sigh, okay." She obliged, albeit begrudgingly.

Vastoria was just as, if not more traumatized by the flying nightmares of the jungle layer, but she had a different view on the situation. In her mind, staying here could only attract stray enemies that might have originally missed them, so she was really eager to just leave and reach the next checkpoint. Once they had that matter settled, only then could she feel at peace. Regardless, Energy has been an indispensable asset so far—With his trusty borrowed fork and a handful of survival skills, he was practically the sole reason both of them managed to make it this far. Basically, she knew his shots were the smarter ones to call.

"You really are making the most of that fork though." She noted, "It's a surprisingly good weapon, at least when it's in your capable hands."

"I'd much rather fancy a machete." He chuckled, "But when you're in a pinch, no one's asking you what you want."

"True." She nodded in agreement.

"...You got used to that shield we found pretty quickly too." He thought praising her back was in order, "Remember that time I got overwhelmed, and you swooped in to bonk that one bastard in the head?"

"How could I forget?" She shivered, "It spewed out blood and organs all over my face..."

"That just comes with the package."

Their chatter was a welcome change of pace from the nonstop action of the jungle. Going down the stairs one step at a time had its perks as well, it seemed, for they could now properly take a breather before taking on the next threat. For all they knew, the next floor could be jam packed with those bug bats, or something even worse, yet they could also just as likely fall into a hidden trap and experience that painful death as well. Anything seemed possible, and yet they couldn't be more relieved thanks to their latest victory.

"Then again, is that one really worth the praise?" She recalled bashfully, "After it spewed out its brain juices on me, I fainted and got us both killed."

"It's the thought that counts." He patted her on the back, "You were brave that time, and that's all that matters. Besides, now that you've got the experience, maybe next time you won't faint."

"For a guy that claims he survived the apocalypse, you sure are an optimist." She giggled.

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"We don't know if I survived or not." He joked, knocking on his noggin to allude to the fact his brain is made of pure gold.

Again, an awkward silence had filled the air around them. She was being rude by forgetting that about him, and Vastoria was now worried she might have hurt him in some way. On the other hand, Energy couldn't care less given it doesn't matter at the moment. Whether or not he died of old age or by getting eaten alive by the rotted in the World of the Living is a mystery yet to be solved, but it's not something he's currently focused on. Their main priority is reaching the final floor and finding out what hides within it. After that, they'll reconvene with Throne somehow and figure out what to do next.

"Stop." Energy put his hand out to warn her, "I see something."

"Gulp." She slowly hid behind him, "Eh? This is odd..."

A nostalgic ray of light gleamed through the doorframe. This was where the next floor was supposed to be, but it looks more like the interior of the houses back at the residential area. What's more, entering the room revealed an actual fork in the road.

"This side looks like my bedroom." Vastoria inspected her lofty bed.

"And this side resembles my own." Energy approached the heavily defended, hard to access concrete block with a bed on it, "Isn't that interesting?"

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Given her fatigued and weary body, Vastoria saw no issues in opting to lie down on her own bed's imitation. They were safe in this room, it felt comforting just to breathe in the fresh air, and even the blood and guts from the monsters up above seemed to have vanished as if they never were in the first place. Turning to her side with a carefree smile, she felt her Eyelids start to droop down ever so slightly. She was tired, but she didn't mind taking a short nap for a minute or two. Surely, she reasoned in her head, Energy would wake her up when he saw she was slacking off.

"Wait, we don't know if that's a good idea yet." Energy was quick to shake her up, but it was no use, she didn't budge.

He knew there existed heavy sleepers, despite how impossible that sounded in his head. But even with that explanation, she was just way too lifeless to be considered as such. He was starting to panic, Vastoria wasn't waking up no matter what he tried.

"Get up!" He rolled her off the bed, "Tch, dammit!"

Propping her up against the wall before slapping her across the face a good few times, and even that didn't work. The only thing that was going through his mind in this moment were curse words all directed at the easy to deceive girl. That, as well as a way to get her to snap out of it.

"...Y-You're not gonna turn, are you?" A scary thought occurred to him.

In his lifetime, having someone die meant they weren't long before they would turn into the rotted. Cannibal beings that feasted on fellow human flesh, their bodies impervious to any and all damage that wasn't directed at the heart or brain. Just getting a smidge of their blood or saliva on your body would very quickly spell your doom, so your best bet was to always wear protective gear that was well-covered. In the apocalypse, clean water was scarce, but it was your lifeline. Regardless of how much you would protect yourself from getting infected, you would still have to take frequent showers. This was the reality he was used to, and now he is presented with the current situation—Given she isn't at all moving, she might very well be in the process of turning. If that happens, he only has a fork and her shield to use against her. No clothes, no water to clean himself with, and barely even any equipment to deal with her in the first place.

He knew better than to let panic overwhelm him, though. He was a survivor of this very horrid world he was taught by, he had to be. So, he acted fast before anything could happen. He pushed her to the floor, grabbed the pillow from her bed and placed it over her chest. This was how he was going to minimize the blood splatter. Vastoria was dear to him, but he had to survive regardless. They weren't respawning anymore, so maybe even that was only exclusive to the third floor. She was dead, she died the moment she went to sleep on the bed. He had to accept that if he wanted to move on. So, he braced himself, making sure to keep his Eyes on the target no matter what, and struck through the pillow and through her heart with his trusty fork.

"A-Ah..." He felt tears well up as he ran away to his side of the room, "N-No, I didn't...! She wasn't supposed to...!"

All that calm and professional air to him had escaped him the moment he killed the innocent girl. His self-preservation and innate need to survive no matter the sacrifices led to him murdering someone he had quickly grown close to. In his heart of hearts he knew this was the right call to make. After all, humans would turn into rotted the moment they died in his era, so there was no reason for him to doubt the same would occur in Heaven as well. Hastily climbing up the corner of the block of concrete, he peeked down at the supposedly dead girl before a nauseating feeling hit him full force.

"Her heart...!?" He couldn't believe what he was seeing, "N-No blood! I didn't penetrate it! B-But how?! I definitely stabbed through both the pillow and her ribcage!"

He did reach her heart with the fork, but what he didn't know was that her heart was made of pure gold. Given they were still in the Shrine, this meant her heart was invincible, and thus she was still breathing. Due to the rest of her wounds, however, her breathing was coarse and ragged. A simptom commonly associated with those that are about to turn...

"It's over! It's over!" He paced around his bed a dozen times, "I can't kill her! She's unkillable! An unkillable rotted, my worst nightmare! Oh Gods, first you make me kill her, then you punish me with this cruel twist! You're monsters, I knew it from the start!"

And so there Energy was, cussing out the Gods atop his heavily fortified bed defense as Vastoria was bleeding out just below him. What was supposed to be a calm and carefree situation quickly got turned upside down because she had merely decided upon the innocent idea to take a nap. He could not kill her, she could not die. They were at an impasse, a stalemate. There was no next room, next floor, or anything to that degree. For all intents and purposes, this was the end of the Shrine. Two beds and a nightmare scenario to go along with it.