Sho immediately gasped for air as soon as he was done using his skill. He knew it took less than two seconds for him to get the information, but it felt more than two years. He was exhausted beyond reason. But he knew he didn't have the luxury to rest, so he kept pushing himself forward.
He inhaled sharply once more and tried to balance himself in the water. He realized that the heroic lady was actually supporting him already. It was reasonable to think that he would fall down the salty water if the heroic lady didn't support him. He was too weak to even lift his fingers. The feeling of his drenched coat, slacks and shoes was actually trying to drag him down the ocean.
"Thanks." he absent mindedly said before analyzing the words he just received.
*Murloc, song, sleep and core? Do we need to sing for murlocs to fall asleep? What about the core?*
He wasn't sure. There were too many unknowns. And with how it is, this is just the second time he had used his skill. He was nowhere near enough to have mastered this skill.
"What is it?" the heroic lady urged him upon seeing his reluctance.
"I'm not sure." Sho answered honestly. "Maybe we can try singing to make it fall asleep." He didn't have confidence in the idea. Who would have confidence? They had too little information! Even if someone knows about murlocs, is it reliable at all? Are legends true? This is not a dream, game or simulation! They had to be careful or they would follow those bodies that were hunted by the murloc.
"Tsk." The punk with the skull necklace clearly showed his contempt for Sho.
To be honest, Sho couldn't blame him. He, himself, doesn't have confidence, who would have confidence in him? However, even if he wasn't confident, he was still working his brain to think of the words and what they represented. He ignored the poking headache that reminded him of his limits.
"Let's try."
Sho silently smiled sheepishly at the heroic lady.
*How can someone be so trusting? Is she really a pampered princess?*
He inwardly shook his head. Instead of questioning the lady for her kindness, he should just be thankful that she supported him.
"Yes. It's better to try. But I suggest we try our best. We need a good singer. I don't want to see the murloc berserk when they hear my voice."
Sho jokingly stated. He felt that it was best to joke to lift up the tense mood.
"Joking at a time like this." one from the group of three snickered. Before anyone could react, karma hit the man as he got pulled below. "Hel---"
~Bubble bubble~
The leader quickly dived followed by the other one from the group of three to save the guy who was pulled by murlocs.
The group of fourteen went silent. Anyone who got lifted with a good mood from the joke immediately sunk into depression. Every single one of them had a pale face, looking graved. Everyone was thinking that their death would come soon if they didn't do anything. The murlocs were just too many.
"Help him…" he weakly whispered. Even if the guy hated him, he didn't really want anyone else to die in front of him. There was too much death in just a span of minutes, he didn't want to add anymore. But he was too weak to do anything. He can't even stay afloat by himself at the moment.
"Gaaaaah!"
He sighed a relief when he saw the three surfaced. Yet not for long as he saw the one who got pulled by the murloc was screaming in pain. He could already guess what happened as red color started to surround the three. His face grim from grieving. Even if he didn't know them, he felt pain seeing reality like this.
He was silently thankful for the little moonlight they have right now. If everyone saw what happened to this guy, they would surely lose any will to live. Even Sho, he couldn't guarantee he would still want to fight a losing battle.
"Heal him, quick!" The leader ordered the nurse.
The nurse tried to calm down even when panic was visible in her eyes. Being a nurse, she should have experience with the gory scene before her. But with the despair around them, it was obvious how anyone would shake in the situation.
"Heal! H-heal HEAL!!!" she gasped, continuously trying to use her skill.
"It's not working!" her voice cracked, it was obvious that she wanted to help. Maybe, like games, she lost her Mana or SP. She couldn't cast any support skills anymore. It was clear how she regretted using her skill for Minor things earlier. Now, with a life threatening injury, she couldn't do anything and could only watch the patient painfully die.
Everyone was silent, the death never felt so real until this moment when everyone saw how the man struggled to survive in front of them. It was a futile struggle… it felt that it was reminding of what would happen to them…
"Useless bitch! Try harder!" the other one from the group of three spat hatefully. He was understandably grieving.
"Heal! Heal!" But it was really useless. Her skill wasn't working anymore.
*She doesn't have enough mana? Or she already reached her limit. She healed a lot earlier once she discovered her skill. She casted it more than ten times. Five times more than the skill I casted. It's no wonder it doesn't work anymore. It's really like a game…*
He bitterly held his throat as he felt like vomiting while looking at how the man who got pulled by the murloc slowly lost the luster in his eyes… his life slowly faded away from blood loss.
Not now. Hold it. It's not time.
"Who can sing well?"
"You damn bastard! You still want to sing in this hellish situation?!" The leader swam fast towards him and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him away from the heroic lady's support. The leader's eyes were grieving with hate. It felt like he wanted to vent his grief towards Sho.
He may be too weak to fight physically, but his mind still works. "It's not the time to fight now. It's not time to grieve! If we want to survive… if we want to fulfill the wishes of those who wanted us to survive, we must hold it on! We must survive! We need to warn everyone about this type of situation! Are we the first to experience this? Would we be the last?! It's not time for all of this! We just have to survive now!
"There's still around 30 more of those murlocs. And he can't defeat them all," he pointed at the man in suit that was still fighting the murlocs. But it was visible how he was panting hard as more murlocs gathered near him, trying to fight him with numbers. There were at least five around him, and it seemed there's some murloc supporting those five.
*In all honesty, I never knew murlocs were this smart. Not even in any game or novel, that Sho saw, told that murlocs are smart.*
"Damn, bastard." the one holding his collar cursed because he knew Sho was right. "Do what you want. But we won't protect you."
After saying that, he let go of Sho's collar, and the heroic lady instantly supported him.
Sho's lips bitterly twitched. It seemed that they wanted to blame him for the death of his friend. He decided to let it go. He could understand it. They wanted to blame someone for this shitty situation. It just so happened that because he stood out the most, they started blaming him. However, thinking about those trivial things wasn't the right thing to do. Their survival is more important than trivial things.
"Anyone who can sing well?" He looked at the group that were "deadweight" as the others seemed to not care about them.
After the two who lost one of their men distanced themselves away from them, others who have fighting power chose to do the same. Others have attack skills or defense skills, while they have useless skills.
Still, Sho thought the "deadweight" have higher chance of doing the experiment. It was best for them to do it because there is a chance they didn't want to be deadweight. Everyone wanted to do their best to survive, Sho was giving them a chance to do their part.
"I-I can sing…" The heroic lady shyly whispered.
*Seriously, she could pass as a heroine at this point. The only thing she lacks at the moment is attack and defense spells. But well, aren't the heroine usually the damsel in distress?*
Sho nodded to her. He really needed to stop his mind from wandering about random things. But it seemed it was his mind's way of relieving some of the stress he was feeling now.
"I'm from choir." The guy who was supporting the old man said.
"I didn't do anything formal. But I can sing as well." The crew said.
Sho nodded. *Three is better than one.* "You," Sho pointed to the girl. "Can you create three big styrofoams?"
The girl gasped in amazement. "H-how did you know?"
"I saw it earlier when you created a medicine for your mother. From the looks of it, your limit is four times. Minus the one you just created, can you make three big styro so that we can float. We would need a platform if we wanted to sing."
He chose the reasonable one. If he asked for a boat, she might be able to create one, but the size would be questionable. If it's styro, then they would somehow manage. Even if it's small, they could just put the one who would sing instead of all of them going aboard.
*I wish I knew if guns or sharp things would kill these murlocs. But even if it is effective, it's too much to ask for a girl. Well, there's too many pros and cons too if this girl managed to create one. Nevermind. I'll just trust my skill. It's the one who saved me and everyone who listened to me from the flickering train. What my skill showed is singing.*
"Mom…?" The girl looked at her mother asking for approval. The dazed mother snapped out of her stupor and nodded. It seemed she was the only one remaining who hadn't activated her glitch yet. From the looks of it, she doesn't look like she had figured out what the others were trying to do in order to gain advantage in this situation. It was clearly a generation gap. Not everyone played games.
"Y-yes… Yes, dear. D-do it."
"Create…"
Although she was hesitant, the girl was able to create a styro big enough for one person to lay down and not sink in the water. It was also enough if two people decided to just sit there. He chose styrofoam knowing it contained lesser density compared to water. It has the same logic with boats.
"Very good."
Sho nodded in approval. It was subconscious praise, but the girl got motivated and created two more. The second one was a lot bigger, making it viable for three people. But the last one was slightly smaller than the first one. It was understandable because she exhausted herself already. But still, everything went well.
It was also good that no murlocs were attacking them. No one seemed to have discovered it yet, but the murloc decided their group had no threat and left them alone. The murlocs attack those who have attack power. Eliminating the strong and leaving the weakling for last. It worked towards their advantage.
He just hoped it would continue.
"Let's go."
He urged.
*A minute from now, another murloc would attack us. I'm sure it won't target this group. But it's better to hurry. Even if the two groups and the Fry guy were looking at me with distrust, I don't really want to use them as bait. The more people alive, the better.*
The image of the bloodied water and the panicking people earlier who were slowly getting massacred by murlocs surfaced in his mind. His stomach twisted uncomfortably.
"Climb." He said to the three who volunteered, diverting his attention from the horrible memory. "And sing any song."
*My job now is to observe how the murlocs would react. If this is effective or not. If not… maybe I need to look for the core. But seriously, how would I look for that… is it at their heart? Head? Or someplace random? Where is their core? Even with Sho's anime knowledge, it wouldn't be enough to know! Finding a core is too hard, this is so unfair.*
When all of them were able to climb up, leaving the four who were hesitant to join their group, the three sang.
Sho couldn't help but smile after hearing the familiar famous song that has been everywhere for a week now. He unconsciously sang along in his mind, lifting some of the depressing mood he collected from this experience.
*Hmm… the murlocs seem… slower?*
He silently observed. But he was unsure. It was too dark and murky blood water was obstructing his view. He quickly recalled how he saw the shadows moving below and compared it to how they moved now. They were still faster than humans, but the attack of the other humans landed more precisely than before. And it didn't seem like it was the attacker's who improved.
He would believe it if it was only the handsome man in suit, but the rest, it seemed unlikely. Therefore, he concluded that the murlocs slowed down.
*This seems lacking. Though it is helpful, it's not the effect where we can knock everything. It seems the core really is the answer. Damn!*
The higher the hope, the higher the disappointment. He was really disappointed by the effect of the singing.
Murloc, song, sleep and core. He could only think that he needed to lullaby the murloc to sleep! He needed to quickly think what is the relation between the four words.
"Kyaah!"
"Damn it! It has an effect and they treat us now as a threat!" Sho muttered as he saw the murlocs attacking their styro alternately. It wasn't like the hunting they did to the other survivor passenger before. Unlike earlier, this seemed like a brutal attack one after another. There's not even a one minute interval before attacking again! Even though the murlocs slowed down, they were attacking in great numbers!
At this rate, the styro would give up. Styro didn't have defense capability. Even cats could destroy styro.
He looked at the people aboard.
His styro has the heroic lady and the middle school boy. The other has the mother and her child with the train crew. The last one has the nurse, the old man and the kid who supports the old man.
He looked around and his eyes glittered when he discovered a certain detail that was left alone.
*This might do!*
"Try your best to put your styro near a murlocs body! Their bodies seem more stable than this!" He turned to his styro group. "Please help me row." He then clenched his fist, "Now!" He rowed the styro with his arms. It was not fast, but it was doable. To be honest, it's quite hard compared to what he saw on TV shows how to row a boat. But nevertheless, there's progress.
"Ahhhh!"
Sho looked back to see the old man that was holding his bloody arm. There was a visible amount of chunk bit off from it.
He gulped, pushing back the feeling rising in his throat.
"Kid! Grab their boat!"
The middle school boy who was trying to help with rowing nodded and stretched out his arms. "Hold on to me!"
"Keep singing!" Sho shouted. The three who were singing earlier stopped as soon as their styro was attacked. It seemed unreasonable. But it would be helpful if they could slow down these monsters.
He flinched.
*We're too late…*
He shoved away his despair as he saw the other styro boat tilting and throwing away those people on board. Six murlocs surfaced and grabbed the three on board.
In his vision that seems to have slowed the world, he could see that four murlocs are trying to capsize the styro boat that is the girl's group. Around ten were rounding up the group that separated on them. Around their styro, there were also six. And around the man in suit, there's seven murlocs preventing him from interfering.
*They were just playing with us earlier. Murlocs were just playing with us earlier….*
Sudden realization hit Sho.
They wanted to see them struggle. They wanted their hunt to be fun. And the more they struggle, the more they see it as fun. Starting earlier when they exited the train, the murlocs were just playing around. But after Sho's group sang and seemed to slow the murlocs, the group saw a threat in their group. They put down the fun and started to hunt seriously.
*How cruel… to be thrown into a place like this… Is this it? Is this how we would die?*