A while ago, in a village. Mel is still passed out on a bed, sweating profusely while being tended by the village elder. A door is opened as 3 people stepped in, looking rather worried.

"So, Old man Lars... how is she?" Asked one of them with concern, a brown-haired and short adventurer with a spear on his back.

"Oh, you three. She'll be just fine, despite her sweating. She didn't suffer any sort of wound, just severe fatigue. The blood on her face was not even from her." Elder Lars said as he wipes the sweats on her face.

"Thank goodness-"

BAM

The big guy's sentence is cut short as the female adventurer hits the room's wall in frustration.

"How could all of you be okay with this?! It was Mel's first-ever quest!" The female adventurer lashes in anger. "And that bastard Clyde, I bet he's the one who did thi-"

"Livia," Elder Lars said with an intense tone. "I know you're frustrated about this, we all are, but we need to keep our head cool."

"But..."

"Ugh..." Mel lets out a faint and weak voice and soon opens her eyes slowly.

Everyone started to huddle around her with a worried expression on their faces.

"Mel, you're awake! What happened, did Clyde do this to you?!" The spear adventurer asked worryingly.

"All... an..?" Mel said in a weak and confused tone. "Wait... why are you all here..?"

"You passed out when you came back, Elder Lars was the one who alerted us." The big guy said. "Do you remember anything? Where is Clyde?"

"Garvin..? I passed out..? all I remember is..!" Mel was confused at first, but she turned from confusion to shock as she started to tremble again. "C- Clyde..!"

"Mel! Clyde did this to you, right?!" Livia quickly held Mel's hands to comfort her. "I knew I shouldn't trust him going with you. He's that kind of guy after all..!"

Elder Lars then stepped forward and confront Melanthia.

"Young Melanthia, could you tell us what happened during your first quest? Take all the time you need to prepare your answer, we're here for you." The Elder said as he held her other hand to comfort her.

Melanthia quivers in fear for a while, but she gradually calms down and recalled what happened during her first quest. All of them had an array of emotions when they heard about it.

"He did what?!" Livia stood up in disgust. "He tried to lay his hands on you..?! That sick bastard..!"

"I can't believe Clyde would do that..." Allan said in disappointment and disbelief.

"But then... he... he got attacked by a zombie from behind..." Melanthia said, scared with her eyes watering.

"He got attacked..? you mean, he's..." Garvin said with a terrified expression on his face.

"I- I tried to pull out my dagger, b- but I couldn't do it... I ran away... I left Clyde while he- it's all my fault..!" Melanthia then broke down and cried hysterically.

The Elder then asked the 3 of them to get out and give Melanthia some space. They got out and Livia immediately stomps the ground with her leather boot.

"Damn it! I really shouldn't have let her go with Clyde... that was dumb of me to do so..."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Livia. It's not your fault." Allan said as he pats Livia's shoulder.

"But... even so, I should've been the one who went with her, I could've canceled my quest and..."

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"Allan is right. The tragedy was unpredictable. It's not your fault."

Livia clenches her fists and then started walking towards the forest.

"Livia, where are you going?" Garvin asks curiously as he started following her along with Allan.

"I'm going to look for that bastard and beat him up."

"But you heard what Mel said, a zombie got him!" Allan said in concern.

"Come on, Clyde died by a zombie attack?" Livia said as she turns around and looks at Garvin and Allan with a pissed off face. "Even if he's an asshole, he's pretty strong. I doubt he got killed by those weak monster."

"Even if he manages to survive that, there's a low chance that he got infected..." Allan said with an unsure expression.

"You said it yourself, right? 'low chance'? Even if he did get infected, a priest is able to cure it. Besides, it takes ages for a living person to turn into a zombie."

Garvin and Allan thought for a second and ended up following Livia's plan. They walked through the forest to go to the muddy cave which Melanthia told them where she was at. During their travel, Garvin is the one that has a lot of things in mind from the beginning of the search. it's even written all over his face.

"I don't get it though..."

"What's wrong, Garvin?" Allan asked with concern.

"Melanthia is a fragile and kind girl, why would she be an adventurer? It's just that she's not cut out for this kind of work, don't you think?"

Allan and Livia looked pretty confused as they stopped in their track and turn to Garvin.

"You didn't know?" Both Livia and Allan said in unison, surprising each other.

"Yeah, I was kinda in the middle of exterminating monsters when she first joined 2 days ago."

Allan and Livia stared at each other for a while, but Allan makes a gesture with his hand, suggesting that he wants Livia to go ahead and explain.

"Mel did it for her family... she said she needs money and thought that being an adventurer is the quickest and honest way to earn them..." Livia said while looking down to the ground, with a sad and sympathetic look on her face. "So she came here, where there are no dangerous monsters around, away from her home in Bolred Town not far from the village."

"That... poor girl..." Garvin said with a face full of regret for not knowing Mel's circumstances.

Rustle Rustle

The three of them heard a rustle coming from a bush ahead of them, they quickly stay cautious and be on guard. A zombie showed itself from behind a tree, a weak-looking one with an empty eyesocket and an appearance of that of a teenage boy. It then started waving and doing weird gestures towards the three of them.

"What..? what is that zombie doing..?" Livia asked the other two with confusion written all over her face.

The zombie then puts a cheerful expression on its face and makes a creepy smile, further creeping the three of them.

"Is it... waving and smiling at us..? what in the name of..." Garvin said with a bewildered expression on his face.

"I've never seen a zombie acting like this... is it a new type of zombie or something?" Allan said with both confusion and fascination written on his face.

"What if it's trying to lure us into a trap..?" Livia said. "God knows what monsters these days are capable of!" She shouts at both Allan and Garvin, startling them.

"I- I guess... but what if that zombie is trying to tell us something?" Allan said.

"No... screw that! I've dropped my guard around monsters before... and the last time I did that, my little brother got..!" Livia said with hatred filling her voice. She then loads her crossbow with an arrow from her quiver and aims at the waving zombie, startling it. "I'm not going to repeat that one fatal mistake I did in the past."

She took a deep breath and then shot the arrow straight to the zombie's head, but the zombie clumsily dodge to the side and the arrow missed, only scraped its ear.

"W- what the hell?! It dodged?!"

The three of them stood there and can't believe what just happened as if in a trance. The zombie quickly turns around and ran away as fast as it can from the three of them who are still dropping their jaw.

"I- It's running away! Chase after it!" Livia snapped out of it and shouts at Allan and Garvin, snapping them out of their confusion.

The three of them then pursues after the runaway zombie through the tall grasses and branches of the forest. Livia continues to reload her crossbow and shoots while she runs after the zombie, but it manages to barely dodge every single arrow she shot.

"How is this possible..! it keeps dodging my arrows!" Livia said in frustration as she loads another arrow to her crossbow.

"How is that zombie so fast?! What is that thing?!" Allan said.

The zombie then fell and slid to a downwards slope down to the lush part of the forest, the three stopped and observed from the edge of the slope.

"Goddammit, I don't see it anywhere down there!" Livia said, pissed off. "I'll go and search for it-" Livia's arm was held by Garvin, stopping her.

"Livia, I don't think that is a wise choice. That weird zombie is probably dead from that fall alone and going to the deeper part of this forest is dangerous!" Garvin said.

"Tch..." Livia scowls, facing away from both of them.

"Come on, Livia... finding Clyde is our top priority, right?" Allan said while he comforts Livia.

"... Fine... let's just go..." Livia said as she pulls her arm and broke free from Garvin's hand. "It's just that... something about that zombie just gives me a weird vibe... it's dangerous..."

The three of them turn their backs from the cliff and continued to look for Clyde. Little did they know, they just made a grave mistake.