After I separated ways with Chaewon-ssi, I headed back to the building and just as I had thought, there were a lot more the insects here than earlier, but they weren't as many as I had anticipated.
I raced my way back to the building while swiftly slashing through the countless insects that were in my path. I've managed to earn up to almost a thousand and five hundred coins already for killing all these insects including the ones I stumbled with at the crater.
It took me a while before I arrived, and once I did, the building was infested by insects from every direction. Neither Jiyoon-ssi nor Gunwoo was still outside the building.
I went inside while continuing my way of effortlessly slaughtering the insects within the building, but I noticed the place was quiet and empty, filled with almost nothing but bloodthirsty insects and their deafening screeches.
Now, since there aren't any dead bodies inside the building, they must've had no choice but to escape. The strength of the insects in numbers might have overwhelmed them.
Searching might be unnecessary at this point. I pretty much believe Jiyoon-ssi is able to see through this and I can just find another reliable tool for survival. I was about to leave when, a terrified scream was heard out of the blue from behind me. I turned around and saw an insect lifting up a table with a man underneath it. He was the same guy who I promised to kill earlier if we managed to survive.
"Help me! Help me, you!" He shouted from behind, only caring about the his self. Clearly, every single one of us here now owns a weapon and knows how to use it. Why won't he use it then?
"Figure that out yourself. You should have a single skill or a weapon by now. Deal with it." I said and continued walking away with the greatsword in my hand.
"I'll give you anything—" The insect didn't let the man finish and stabbed him in the chest before it started devouring him.
"I kind of regret that. I should've been the one to kill him, so I could have at least gotten a few more coins. What a waste." I sighed, and the insect ran at me but I quickly swung my greatsword towards the insect before it had the chance to attack me.
The dead insect's body crashed into a table and another person's location hiding underneath the table was revealed. There was a small moment of silence for the two of us before I said the first word.
"Hey, you know where the rest of them went?" I asked her.
"They... left because a huge horde of headless spiders came by. They said, we can either go somewhere safer to hide and won't be in the way of the headless spiders, or stay here and hope for the best. The majority of us chose to leave while some of us here chose to stay." She explained to me in a nervous manner. From what I've heard, the same swarm of juvenile headless spiders appeared again, and forced the others to escape. They should be somewhere that isn't in the subway since they have Jiyoon-ssi and Gunwoo with them.
Seems like this is a really bad situation. This is the only building safe from the subway, and still, it's hardly strong enough to withstand another horde. But, what should I do with this woman? Should I killer her for coins? She might be loaded. No, I doubt that. She hasn't killed anyone yet. I wish I could've turned her into a disposable Jiyoon-ssi, though.
The two of us didn't notice it until some light shined down on our faces. We look outside and the sky was getting lit up by the bright morning sun. It must be six o'clock in the morning now, meaning the first night has ended.
"I... I barely survived..." The woman smiled naively. If only she realized this is the first night.
Well, then. This will be much easier to travel. I haven't eaten in a day ever since we ran out of food. I'm surprised I haven't died or lost all my energy. Even with all these powerful things, we still starved. Food and water remains to still be the most essential things even in this world.
In order to to do or collect a lot of things needed such as food and drinkable water before night time, I left faster to start looking for convenience stores that might have those if they aren't taken away yet.
The streets were surprisingly peaceful. I had expected the place to be filled with other people. I made it to the first convenience store in just a few minutes, but I also came across a black-haired woman picking up food from the shelves. She seemed like she hasn't noticed me yet, and she was awfully familiar. I feel like I've seen her multiple times before.
"Hey." I called for the woman as I walked towards her. She immediately turns around and materialized a scythe out of nowhere in her hand. In response, I jumped back and materialized my greatsword out of instinct.
"Please don't kill me! I was just trying to find food!" She threw her scythe to the side and clasped her hands together while bowing her head. I have never thought of myself getting to meet an awkward person in this situation.
"Calm down. I'm just hungry." I told her while taking some of the food she picked up.
"That's a relief... I've been alone for quite some time I've been too paranoid. I barely survived last night and I don't even know if I'm still able to survive until the final night." She sighed in relief and continued collecting more of the food, trying her best to not mind me eating the food she picked up earlier. I wouldn't have picked it up, but... it's salt and vinegar chips, so I couldn't help it since I haven't eaten one for a while.
"Um... I don't mind sharing the food I collected with you, but... It would be preferable if you could leave some. I'd be willing to share for you along the way as long as you help me." She said in an embarassed tone as she put some of the food on a blue circle in her hand which was used to store items within the built-in inventory.
"Don't mind me. I haven't eaten in a day. I don't mind having you with me if you do as I say." I told her as I open more of the food and ate while she watched. It took her some time to process what I said before her face turned red.
"I'd be willing to do all the work, but please nothing like that! I'm still a minor!" She shouted so annoyingly loud, and I realized that she thought of something different.
"Shush it. I didn't mean anything like that. I'm not even into underage girls. I'm just telling you to do things such as collecting food or something like that." I told her to which she replied with a simple "Oh."
Ah, I recognize this girl now. She's Yun Sanghee, a singer with a good reputation in our country. Probably around the world as well. I don't know much about her. Some of my coworkers just talked about her too much at work that I overhear it. It's really creepy now that I find out she's underage.
"Is there anything else you want me to do?" Sanghee asked me, seemingly calmer than earlier.
"Yeah. Fight for me when I need you to. I'm not going to just fight for you while you take your sweet, precious time just picking up food." I told her, and she unexpectedly smiled confidently.
"Don't worry! I will fight for you until my last breath as long as you protect me as well!" She firmly saluted at me and to be honest, this is embarrassing.
"Why'd you just throw your scythe away? You could have used it to protect yourself if I did plan to attack you." I said and picked up her scythe from the ground to hand it over to her.
"Well... you just seem like the guy I shouldn't mess with." Sanghee said and grabbed the handle of the scythe, but when she did, there was a sudden feeling of electricity coursing through my body and allowed me to see things I haven't seen before. Though it was only for a millisecond, I'm quite sure I saw bloodstained white flowers, surrounding a dead body. Why did it feel so familiar even though I haven't seen it before?
"Hey, is something wrong? You're standing frozen. Hey, hey!" Sanghee pulled me out of my thoughts by waving her hands in front of my eyes.
"Is something wrong?" She asked again when I blinked my eyes twice.
"No, nothing's wrong. Is something wrong?" I asked.
"No, nothing's wrong. You just need to let go of the scythe." Sanghee said, and I realized I was still holding onto her scythe, unabling her from taking it back.
"Oh, my bad." I apologized and let go of the scythe to finally give it back.
We split all of the food in the store and put those in our inventories before we headed out. I might have thought finding Jiyoon-ssi might be unnecessary, but I change my mind. I still have to repay her.