There is a sudden eerie feeling as we walk up the stairs. Luckily, there are no terrorists in the stairs leading to 13th floor. However, there are more bodies lying on the ground than before.
Corpses. They confused me. Why haven't I seen them in the previous floors?
It's not like they are lying on the ground in a mass, there are three on the stairway and around five scattered on the floor in the 13th floor. Not very gory, but surely it surprised because I wasn't expecting such as scene.
The game depicted a cleaner setting, with less blood and bodies. So when I saw those first corpses by the reception room, I felt uneasy.
Even as I walk past more in the stairs and floor 13th, I had this feeling of eeriness. I'll call it nasty wind, or maybe it's me getting cold feet. I tried to soothe myself, but it's a bit hard because the woman behind me was also having a hard time and whimpering every now and then.
But it's a good thing she's following her code like in the game. At least she no longer clings to me and only stays close instead. It's much more comfortable and I can move freely this way.
Still, it doesn't answer the number of corpses.
"Is it just me or the corpses just keep piling up?" I asked.
Patrick, the senior who's walking in front of me, gives me a glare. I'm confused, but before I can ask why, Rean answered. "The previous floors are just the same."
Patrick whips his head to Rean quickly and his mouth fell. 'Not you too! We're with a citizen!'
"Y-You mean… There are those who don't s-survive…?" The woman asked nervously.
"They were already here before we arrived. Even if we arrive sooner, they're already dying." Rean said.
That translates to 'nothing can be done if Fate covets them more'.
He receives a soft slap from Patrick, who gestures towards the woman who looks sullen.
'Does he not want us to talk about death or what? It happens every day anyway.' I give the senior a flat look.
This guy's the same as Jake. Their morality is just probably 'too nice' for this world, it's not normal for me. Death is a common thing that happens to people. People die every day, anything can die every day, that doesn't make a difference. Moreover, no one knew each other, so why would they care if the others die?
Rean was actually helping by saying that. It helps putting more sense into her that the world is not all smiles and rainbows, especially right now. She needs to get herself together and calm the heck down.
I hear a familiar blip and a transparent pop up suddenly appears in front of me.
***
You've completed the mission "Help Rean". You've received 1 Energizer.
***
It stays like that for three seconds before it disappears. It was probably waiting for me to ask about the item I just received. But since I didn't ask, it disappears.
I didn't need to ask because I already know.
Energizer is a type of potion that gives you temporary boost of energy. In the game, it gives Movement Speed boost to a character for a short amount of time. The duration is 5 minutes and it depends on the character's Agility Points. The higher it is, the longer it will be because the character already moves fast with his/her basic speed.
It probably works the same here too. But I'll just keep it for now since I have a feeling I'll be using it later.
"Cadets is 13th floor. What's your status? Over." Our Arrows suddenly lights up.
"This is Cadet Jake. I'm with one citizen, two juniors and Patrick. We're all fine. Over." Jake responded.
"We've received a distress call from floor 15th. Some monsters had broken through the windows and they're outnumbered. Proceed there quickly. Over."
It turns static and turns off by its own.
The woman gasps. "M-Monsters in—!"
"Don't worry, Miss. We will hide you in a safe place." Jake immediately tries to console her.
"You're going to leave me alone?!" She panics. "Why did you rescue me if you're just going to leave me alone afterwards?!"
I look at her in confusion. 'Why did she suddenly act this way? Isn't she supposedly follow timidly?'
"Jake!" Patrick scolds his friend. He probably expects Jake to convey it softer to her. "What my friend meant was—" He started, but I'm sick of their good moral concept so I cut him off.
"Lookie here, Missy. I saved you because you're still alive. You see how we left the corpses as is?"
Patrick grabs my arm to stop me, but I push him away with a glare before I turn to her.
"Well, they're dead. We can't do anything to the dead cause they're 'dead'. But 'you' are still 'alive'. And those people up there too, they're alive. We're here to save whoever we can save, and that includes you and them. So, grow up and appreciate your life a little bit, will you? We're also risking our lives here to save you."
She's a point for my mission, but if she's going to be a pain the ass, then I can also be a pain in everyone's ass. The monsters are coming up soon and we have to secure a safe place before the next phase of the mission. I don't need a liability that needs the world sense to be slapped into her head every once in a while. It's troublesome!
The woman slumps her shoulder as she looks down.
"It's alright if you're too scared. Just stay close. We can protect you." Rean said.
The woman looks at him nervously. Then she nods with that sullen face. "I-I'm sorry to trouble you…"
Huh, she gives in so easily after Rean said that. Truly, a protagonist's code is something else. I'm a bit jealous, but since it saves us time from arguing with her, I let it go.
I cross my hands on my chest. "Don't run off on your own, or you'll get hurt."
She nods at me too.
But her more docile attitude doesn't sway me. If she's going to act like this again, oh so help me God… I will let her kiss air.
We skip floor 14th and reached floor 15th in less than a minute. And what we see in here surprised us.
"Sujins!"
Like in the game, this floor is breached by the aerial monster, Sujin. It's a bird monster that's as big as an eagle but chubbier in the stomach like a turkey. They have dirty gray feathers and red eyes. Their most notable parts are their beak and claw, which are woody yellow with red tips and it's said that the red color comes from the dried blood of their preys.
"Careful, they're fast." Rean warns.
Sadly, among the monsters that show up in this building, I only remembered this one. I didn't remember the rest so I didn't bother doing research about them.
"What's the plan?" Patrick asked.
"Let me think." Jake replied.
However, one Sujin that is pecking the fan on one of the square pillars notice us and screeches. The others that are flying around the wide office room suddenly turn to us and screeches as well. Then they fly towards us.
"I haven't made up anything!" Jake yells in panic.
"Guard the citizen. Don't get dragged by them." Rean said before he runs forward and slashes the front Sujin.
"Damn it!" Patrick curses before he joins Rean.
The woman covers her mouth and cries quietly.
"Hide her in a room, gunner!" Jake said before he sprints from behind me and joins the two.
I watch them with disbelief. "What are you? A bunch of kids playing with pigeons?"
They seem so eager to die by those birds. But since they're not really dangerous unless you got dragged by them, it's fine. We're in closed space, they can't fly much here.
Two Sujins managed to get past Jake and go straight at me and the woman. They're flying in zig-zag because one tries to outfly the other. It's hard to aim properly at them, so I just wait them until they get close. When they do, I fire a bullet for each of them. One falls immediately to the floor while one falls sideway and crash into one of the cubicles.
The one that just fell from my shot, flaps its wings and tries to get up. It seems like I missed its brain, but its beak has hole in it and one side of its head is bleeding. I aim for it and fire another, not missing the head at all this time.
"Watch out!" The woman screams behind me.
Suddenly, a Sujin attacks me from the left. Its beak grabs my left hand and pulls. I almost lose my balance, but the woman pulls me backwards to help. I immediately point my gun to its head and shoot with no hesitation.
Due to the point blank range, my bullet drills through its head with no issue and blood splatters a bit on me. Then it drops dead to the floor.
"Are you okay?!" The woman asked.
I rub my left arm as I reply. "Yeah."
I observe the place for a few seconds and see how many Sujins are there. I count up to 7 that are currently messing with the three cadets, and there are still more flying outside. We're in a tie because there is not enough space for both parties to move. Due to the office cubicles, it's too low for the Sujins to freely fly and dive, but it's also too narrow spaces for us to attack them.
It doesn't apply to me though. I can just shoot them. But I don't want to waste my bullets here.
"They're so many!" The woman sticks close beside me.
"Let's find a room for you to hide in." I move to her right and circle my left hand around her.
"E-Ehh?! What are you doing?!"
"It's hard for them to drag the both of us if we stick like glue. Now, lower your head and just run forward."
"Huh?!"
I sigh and look at her. She's a bit taller than me, so I'm looking up at her slightly. "Run. I'll cover you."
The woman stare at me for a moments before light blush paints her cheek. She gulps and nods frivolously. "I-I'm in your care!"
I frown slightly at the weird response. But I let it slide. "Ready?" I draw my gun high.
"Yes!" She replies, determinedly this time.
"Go!"