“Are we certain we won't be undergoing a class change first?” Lucy questioned as she advanced.

“It's all right. We already have a clear idea of where to employ these scrolls,” Lucas responded, his gaze fixed on the setting sun.

“I understand your eagerness to enhance your abilities through class changes, but we expended a good six hours within that dungeon. I can't ascertain whether that group of people is still present or even alive,” he continued, his eyes fixed on the same descending sun.

“Lucas, I believe we've arrived,” Lucy suddenly declared.

Lucas wasn't taken aback by her proclamation, as he also observed several figures approaching.

“Who might you be, youngster?” a man at the forefront of the group queried, gripping a knife.

“Are you the leader of this establishment?” Lucas inquired, his uncertainty regarding their intentions evident.

“No, our leader is currently in his quarters,” a mature woman replied, her grip firm on a young girl's hand beside her, presumably her child.

“We harbor no ill intent towards you. Observe, neither of us bears any infectious marks or bites,” Lucas reassured them, extending his hand and making a full turn.

“Indeed, we've been on edge for days, haunted by fear,” Lucy continued, her words accompanied by shivers and tears welling in her eyes.

'Her acting is impeccable at this moment, truly impressive!' Lucas thought, prideful of his coaching.

Before arriving here, Lucas had spent a few minutes instructing Lucy on feigning fear and eliciting sympathy from others. The reason? Their lack of information dictated that they conceal their true prowess and assess the situation first.

“As she mentioned, we've been in a state of constant terror, confined to our home for several days,” Lucas fabricated his expression, a mask of desolation.

“If you were frightened, how did you manage to identify our presence?” the man questioned, skepticism evident in his eyes.

Internally smirking, Lucas pressed on.

“We observed some of your people in our vicinity yesterday, so we trailed your group. However, we were compelled to conceal ourselves due to a zombie's presence,” he stated, rubbing his hand and feigning intense fear.

“Search them,” the man ordered, prompting a few men from behind him to approach Lucas and Lucy.

“Could you please have a woman search my sister? I'd prefer not to have men touch her,” Lucas requested.

“So bothersome,” the man grumbled under his breath, signaling the mature woman to search for Lucy.

As the woman moved toward Lucy, the men proceeded to search for Lucas.

“Team leader, he's got nothing on him except this small pouch in his pocket,” one of the men reported, holding up the pouch.

“Nothing here,” the woman confirmed shortly after.

Raising an eyebrow, the man ordered, “What's in that pouch? Investigate!”

Frowning in confusion, they stuck their hand into the pouch. “There's nothing inside,” they said, turning the pouch inside out.

“Oh, I apologize. That's the pouch our mother gave us before she was bitten by a zombie,” Lucas explained, his expression shifting to one of guilt.

“Yes, sir... She sacrificed herself to save us,” Lucy added, continuing the deception.

The mature woman beside Lucy, a mother herself, immediately empathized. “Oh my, I'm so sorry for both of you.”

After hearing the siblings' account, the man concluded, “It seems these two are in the clear. Bring them in.”

Returning Lucas's 'mother' pouch, the man gestured for them to follow, leading them as they whispered to each other while trailing the woman.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

The group of men guided them into a spacious building that seemed to have been a small hotel before the apocalypse. Inside, numerous people were gathered in groups.

Curious, Lucy directed her question to the woman in front of them, who appeared approachable. “Aunty, who are those people over there?” she inquired, pointing towards a cluster near the staircase.

“That's group A,” the woman responded. “They joined before me. Their leader is Thomas. I heard he used to be a chef.”

“Chef?” Lucy mumbled softly.

Turning his attention to the woman named Sarah, Lucas inquired, “So, who's in charge here?”

“I don't often see him, but I know he's Thomas's friend and was a police officer before everything changed. His name is James,” Sarah replied.

Surveying the surroundings and conversing further with Sarah, Lucas discerned the presence of four groups; A, B, C, and D.

Ethan, the leader of group C, was the one who had guided them to the building.

A creaking sound resonated as a man descended the stairs from the second floor, accompanied by Ethan, the leader they had encountered earlier. The man appeared to be around 170cm tall and somewhat overweight—more accurately; he was quite hefty. He paused in front of Lucas.

“Though you both appear fragile, we're in need of every helping hand we can get. You'll be assigned to group C. You'll receive one can of food per day,” the man stated before turning away to converse with Ethan about something, and then returning upstairs.

After their conversation, Ethan addressed them, “Come with me.”

Following Ethan, they were led to a room on the second floor. He handed Lucas the room key, saying, “This will be your room. Just remember, we'll be scouting for food tomorrow.” With that, he descended the stairs.

Lucas sighed, took the key, unlocked the door, and entered the room. Having changed sleeping quarters frequently in recent days, he locked the door and settled onto the bed. There were two beds in the room, somewhat small but decently comfortable.

“Lucy, don't forget our cover story. We're siblings from different fathers, and our mother died saving us,” he reminded her, sighing.

Lucas continued, “You noticed Sarah, the woman with the child. She seems kind, but we can't be too trusting.”

Lucy nodded in agreement.

Shifting to a more critical topic, she asked, “What are your thoughts on the leader of this place?”

Lucas responded, “James, the leader, was a former police officer, which means he might have had prior encounters with the system. I'm not entirely sure about the others, but it's likely that all four team leaders have had such encounters.”

“Why do you think so?”

“It's highly unlikely that a portly ex-police officer like James could become the leader in a place like this unless the other team leaders had even weaker abilities.”

“That's a valid point.”

“One thing is certain; none of the people here seem to have achieved much. They appear to be unaware of the system's items, given that they provide only one can of food per person. This suggests they might not even have the strength to clear out the zombies at the mini-mart or market.”

“Absolutely, it makes sense. The system rewards those who put in the effort, so it's clear these people rarely venture out to face the zombies,” Lucy concurred.

“We'll gather more information tomorrow. For now, get some sleep,” Lucas suggested, checking his phone and saving the battery. He rarely used it, mainly glancing at it occasionally to check the time—it was currently 8:34 p.m.

Glancing at his sleeping sister, Lucas walked over to the window. It seemed that group D was responsible for guarding the hotel tonight.

Normally, Lucas and Lucy would take turns sleeping to stay vigilant against potential zombie threats. Now, however, they could both rest without worry.

Taking out the God of Fire and Heat scroll, Lucas let out a sigh. The scroll bore only a few recognizable symbols, primarily the emblem of fire and an ascending red phoenix beside it.

'What could these symbols represent?' he wondered. This prompted Lucas to retrieve Lucy's Goddess of Ice and Snow scrolls. Among the myriad of unfamiliar characters on the scrolls, there were symbols of a snowflake and a slumbering white dragon.

Numerous questions flooded Lucas's mind. Why were there classes with divine names like “God” and “Goddess”? What was the significance of the path they traversed, resembling the stone tiles in the class change building? What had become of the sealed Frozen Fire dungeon?

'Perhaps someday, all these mysteries will be unraveled,' Lucas mused, returning the scrolls to their pouch. Thankfully, the men who searched them hadn't considered investigating the pouch further.

As he reclined on the comfortable bed, Lucas gazed at the peacefully sleeping Lucy.

'She must be utterly drained.'

While they had both conquered the same dungeon, Lucas had enjoyed the convenience of his fire shield and the freedom of soaring through the air. Lucy, on the other hand, had likely endured the bitter cold of the snowy environment and even fallen into an icy river. Though unspoken, he could tell by her contented expression during their time encased in the ice sphere generated by his fire blaze that she had found relief from the cold.

'I just hope she won't encounter any situations that force her to take a human life,' Lucas thought. He had instructed Lucy on the mechanics of killing, but the emotional toll of ending a living person's life was something altogether different from dispatching undead creatures.

With these thoughts weighing on his mind, the night drifted by, eventually coming to an end.