In the middle of the sea, with only a little moonlight illuminating the people, they nervously surveyed the surroundings. They were looking for the source of the roar. Whatever that is, they knew that it wasn't normal. No sound was similar to any animal they knew. It sounded more like a monster than an animal.
It was no wonder why everyone was terrified. They thought they finally exited the hellish nightmare, only to face another nightmare.
Everyone freaked out as they saw weird shadows of creatures circling them. As one jumped and roared, people let out screams at the unknown creature that decided to greet them.
Relief changed to despair as they saw those monsters. Everyone was in disbelief of how escaping the train could lead to a more dangerous ground. Even so, no one was really regretting getting out of the train. The train had already disappeared in their view. It had sunken in the sea. And only those floating around were able to avoid drowning with it.
*This is looking more like a game the more it progresses! Damn! Why don't I have any attack skill?!*
His heartbeat spiked as the creature circulating around the survivors started a frenzied attack. Screams dominated the silent night once more.
Sho looked for the man who seemed to have listened to him and had activated his glitch earlier. It didn't take too long for him to find him as he heard a different shout amidst the desperate and dying cries in the sea.
"Ambiguity! Judgment!"
He immediately looked in the man's direction and swam towards him. He just felt he would be safe near him. Maybe, he was just leeching off, but damn! Who could blame him? It wasn't as if he wanted to have no useful skills! Why the heck didn't he even have any attack skills?!
Life really is unfair.
Well, it seems he wasn't alone in thinking that the man could be their savior. The others felt it too, or maybe they just copied him. Whatever the case, the survivors madly swim towards the man in the suit as if they saw the glimmer of hope in him.
Soon, they were all awed as the man in the suit swam like a merman towards the unknown scary creature roaring at them. As he reached one, he punched it. As soon as he did, a vibration was visible on the skin of the creature. The creature stopped before its eyes turned white and then floated.
*Was it dead? Or unconscious?*
Sho doesn't know. No one does. Except for the man who delivered the punch.
But seeing the creature, he was able to see what it looked like.
The creature was like a giant frog with a body like a human and face like a fish. It looked like those of murlocs on the game Sho played and anime he watched. He was awed. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. But the more he looked at the green creature with fish head, shaped like a giant frog with giant fin hands that had sharp three claws, he could only conclude that the monster was indeed a murloc!
*Now is not the time to be amazed by an unknown creature that only existed in myths! There's just too much of these monsters. Twenty? Fourty? I'm not sure. But we at least need to knock them down to survive here. Damn, why don't I have any attack skills?!* He really was regretting how he didn't even have a single attack skill. *Maybe I can make a contract with these monsters?* He thought that maybe that skill would turn him into a beast tamer.
However, he put that in the back of his mind. Seeing that more and more people gather around them, he decided to seek the help of those people. Even if he didn't have an attack skill, he refused to believe everyone would be like him! Maybe another cool man would rise from this situation!
"Please, listen to me! We need more glitches! Just say "glitch" so you can activate yours!" Sho once again shouted.
This is the only thing I can do to help that dude there. I may not have any attack skills, but I can try to see if the people around here would have attack skills. There are at least a hundred here. Though some are injured, it's still best to try.
He actually forgot that he is among those that are injured. His adrenaline was still pumping that he didn't even feel any pain right now.
"Glitch…? Whoa! What…" a middle schooler whispered.
Soon, others followed him. They won't lose anything for following a man who helped them get out of the train - for those in the same area as him - and a man who survived the weird train flickering. In their minds, maybe, he did know something about the weird experience they had. They were grasping for straws. Hoping for any true hope to ascend them.
"I have Heal! Those injured, come near me!" a female with a nurse outfit shouted. Her left hand was glowing as she touched her injured head. It looks like she bumped it hard, there was a lot of blood coming from her head, they can even see the open wound there.
*Maybe her luck is also high. How could she survive with such a huge wound… whoa! It really is healing!*
He was surprised when he saw the huge wound slowly closing until there was no more wound visible. Only blood remains. But that also slowly vanished as it was washed away with the water waves splashing around them.
As people saw the healing skill, they gathered near the nurse.
"Please, anyone with skill that could go against those monsters, protect us!" a man who looked rich and arrogant shouted. Making people suddenly uncomfortable inside the circle. "What?! I'll pay you for it!" He looked agitated.
"You have attack skill, don't you?" Sho couldn't help but mutter.
"H-how did you know?" The man was dumbfounded.
He smiled sheepishly. "I didn't. But now, I know. Now, we know."
The man turned white as his blood drained in his face. "Fuck." he muttered. But then rage replaced his expression. If looks could kill, Sho would be wounded. Good thing the man's ability wasn't something like that. "So, what? What do you want me to do? Charge there and die? No way! You can do it if you want!"
"I'll do it if I can."
*But sadly, I don't have attack skills. But maybe, that Virus is. But nope. Not gonna masacre everyone here. Virus sounds like a very bad skill.*
"Lies! Maybe you're just hiding your skills! Why do we have to listen to you when you don't even jump in the front line?" he spat. He seems determined to make him an enemy of everyone. It was obvious that the moment Sho exposed him of having attack skill, he saw Sho as his mortal enemy.
He silently snorted as he saw almost everyone of the people there change their expression. Only a few who came in the same cart as him remained frowning at the man. Even without the ability of mind reading, he could tell what those people were thinking. Those unknown to him thought he wanted to save himself and use others as bait so he could survive. But those who knew him thought otherwise.
*Of course, they knew I was "fighting" in the front line earlier against that mad old man. Why are there so many villains popping out as soon as chaos starts?*
"He's not like that…" a lady uttered. He followed the voice and saw the heroic lady on the same cart as him.
"Hah, we can't prove that! Maybe you're his friend, that's why you're defending him!" he continued.
*He never gives up, huh? He really wants to be the main character.*
He snickered, but soon decided to ignore him as he saw the man in the suit getting pushed back by the murlocs.
*Damn, he's amazing to have taken down five already while we are wasting our time here arguing.*
"There's no time! Please, anyone with attack skill, help that guy over there! We would all die if we don't join forces!"
"W-what's skill a-are you talking about…? I-I don't think my work would help here." someone among the crowd uttered. Accompanied with others agreeing.
He was lost. He forgot that not everyone was like Sho who knew games and game-themed anime. He was at a loss how to explain it. And it seems the monsters around them were not patient enough for him to explain it either.
"Waaah!"
"Help!"
Scream surfaced again as one person after another got pulled under water. Everyone warrily looked under water, but to no avail. It was too dark, it was the perfect time for the green murlocs to hunt. Seems like the murloc who was surfing above suddenly realized the assault above by the man in suit, so they decided to attack below.
Even though the situation was dire, Sho couldn't help but agree with the way the monsters were thinking. They were using their advantage to win against intelligent humans.
"Ah, damn! Escape!" someone shouted. The man then had a transparent aura around his body, swimming faster than a normal person could do.
But it was a mistake. Because the murloc was waiting for that. As soon as he was far away from the group, he was grabbed by two murlocs. And red blood replaced where he had gone missing.
Sho frowned at what he observed.
*It seems like they're forcing us to separate. I'm not sure about murloc's intelligence on the game. But looking at it here, they have average intelligence. They're trying to scare us so we would disperse. And when we do, they would have the upper hand. They are cautious of our numbers.* Sho quickly analyzed.
He was about to shout what he discovered but everyone dispersed already. Only a few remained where they were. They were those who stayed in the same passenger cart as him. They were waiting for Sho. The people seemed to discover he had a thinking ability that could help with the dire situation.
"I'm going to swim to the land!"
"Shit! I don't want to die here!"
"Hurry, Eiko!"
"Damn!" Sho cursed as he saw that the rich man incited everyone to disperse. "Wait! Come back! It's safer together! Don't be rash!" But he could only flinch as he saw more than fifty people disappear one after another. The dark blue water quickly turned to dark red.
He felt light headed seeing the massacre. The slight moonlight didn't help diminish the fact that he just saw a cruel one-sided massacre of humans.
*It's not time to be weak. Gotta hold on. Gotta survive.*
He forced himself to focus on the situation instead of the slaughter that happened.
"Gather around!" He shouted to the dazed people, they were just around thirty or so left.
Some of them quickly swam towards him, some just remained floating dazedly looking at him. Those who didn't move soon got caught by the murloc.
He could also hear the curses of other people.
Think. Only twenty-two of us are left.
"Use any skills or glitches you have!"
"I can't use my heal anymore!" the nurse shouted frantically.
"Protect!" a middle school boy shouted. "Ugh! Just me?!"
"Fry!" a college looking guy shouted. "It worked? It's not enough!"
"Mental Assault! Kyaaaah!" the heroic lady shouted before holding her head. Since the lady was near Sho, he quickly supported her.
"Don't overdo mental type skills, it's not suitable here." he murmured as he continued observing the people around him.
They only have eighteen people left. Time was the essence and he was using his mind crazily. He was really glad that Sho could pass as a genius with his fast thinking capacity.
*Two people would surely survive here. That gifted handsome dude knocking or killing the murlocs around, and this boy who can protect himself. Me, this heroic lady, the one girl and her mother, the old man who barely can swim along with the kid who's carrying him. We are simply dead weight. We don't have any combat abilities. The nurse and the train crew also have their skills burnt out. They couldn't help anymore.*
*Shit, minus one. Only seventeen.*
*The punk kid and her girlfriend have good attack ability, but they lack experience and fire power. Same with the college guy. The junior high girl has decent balance with her attack and defense, but she lacks stamina. The three that look like friends have good coordination and defense. This might work.*
"Kid with Protect skill, can you move forward? Also, you, Fry skill move beside the kid----"
"Why should we listen to you?" one of the three who were good at coordination blurted out. "From the looks of it, you're a dead weight."
He closed his mouth for a moment. He was right. Even if he wanted to help, there's not much he could do. "You're right. But we can lessen the damage if you listen to me." He was nervous, but showed his calmness outside. What people need now is someone who would maintain his calmness.
"Says who?" the punk kid who has a skull necklace said. "We can survive on our own. Screw off."
"Babe…"
"One murloc would soon come underwater in a minute or two, and I know it won't take me, her, her, her, him and him." Sho pointed to those who don't have any ability to counter the murlocs.
He observed the creature as he did his summarization earlier. The murlocs were targeting the strong. Or those who they felt threatened. Which means, they would save those weaklings for the last.
The man in suit kept knocking murloc, but it seems there's no end to it. He couldn't possibly take every murloc around. They needed to work together in order to survive. Although he continued to fight, bit by bit he was showing signs of slowing down.
The three friends snickered. "You just want to get carried. Scram, leecher. I hate leechers the most! Didn't think even in real life there's those useless leechers!" the seemingly leader mocked him.
It was not entirely wrong, but it was not really right either.
*Damn. I'm using my brain to make this work, but those people wouldn't just accept that. What to do. At this rate, only two would survive. Should I use my skill again? It could be helpful, but I'm not sure. The rebound of the skill is too much to handle, I barely could hold it before.*
"Big bro, I'll listen to you." the middle schooler said as he followed his instruction.
He shook his head watching the people fight individually in different groups.
This won't do. He instinctively knew it wouldn't work. They were just looking to die. A part of him actually had a sinister thought. Those ignorant people were looking to buy time for them, weaklings.
He shook that wicked thought away.
"I'll use my skill. It was helpful earlier. But only two seconds would make me unable to do anything. I might drown. I need assistance." he immediately decided.
"I'll help you." the lady who seemed to have regained her strength near him said firmly.
*Really heroic. Or maybe naïve. Either way, not even a trace of doubt.*
He was actually amazed by the mature lady. In Sho's memory, almost everyone except for Asahi was selfish.
He nodded to her. "Thanks."
Sho inhaled and prepared himself.
"Overview."
Just like earlier, countless useful and useless information surrounded him. The blurred scenes, screens and transparent wall was now again visible to him.
*It's painful.*
He gritted his teeth but proceeded. His head aches every time he tries to proceed forward, but that doesn't matter. The situation is life and death, and a mere headache won't stop him for wanting to survive. He endured it and forced himself to focus.
Soon, his consciousness reached the book and text area he saw earlier.
*"I need information about murloc… or how we can survive here."* he subconsciously uttered.
Soon the countless words of text and books showed a more meaningful view in front of him.