As the man plummeted, Ethan extended his arm with indifference, showing no hint of effort, and grabbed his leg, abruptly halting his fall.
"Bam!"
"Uugh!"
The impact with the statue was brutal, resonating in the air with a deafening crash. This unfortunate man, now precariously suspended in the air, emitted a gut-wrenching cry of pain, his voice echoing amidst the surrounding chaos.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" he yelled angrily, his hand reaching for the back of his head, feeling the intense pain.
"Aaaarrrrgghhhh!"
"Grrraaaahhhh!"
"Hooooowwwwwl!"
"Back off, you disgusting repulsive creatures, don't come any closer!"
He hadn't expected that as he looked down, he would be met with dozens of zombies extending their arms, desperately trying to grab him.
"Quick, pull me up already!"
His eyes trembled, and his hands shook uncontrollably.
"Hurry, they're catching up to me!"
Ethan looked at him with emotionless eyes, observing how the being that had once pretended to be brave and arrogant now begged for his life in such a pathetic and amusing manner.
Truly... humans were such pitiful creatures!
"Do you really want to climb up?" Ethan asked with a chilling smile.
While using his hands to push away the ugly, decaying hands of the zombies, he glared at Ethan in anger. "I told you, yes, hurry up, damn it!"
"Then tell me how you obtained this weapon, and I will pull you up immediately."
Ethan slightly tilted his head downward, pointing with his chin at the gun in his other hand. It had a dark silver color, with a finish that subtly reflected light. Small indentations adorned its surface, gleaming with flashes of warm blue.
In the middle of the magazine, there was a small rectangular screen, with more than half of it emitting a soft blue glow, while the rest remained dark.
Tsk!
"I'm not going to tell you after everything you've done to me. Anyway, I don't want to climb up anymore, I'm about to turn into a disgusting zombie."
"Just let me fall, you fucking bastard!"
His face was flushed with blood from his head due to the position he was in, and the swollen veins on his forehead were a display of his anger.
He made a great effort to raise his middle finger, pointing it at Ethan.
"So, you prefer to experience how these zombies tear your skin, chew on your flesh, and devour your bones..."
"Do you truly desire to die slowly, immersed in unparalleled suffering? If that's truly what you want, tell me, and I won't hesitate to let you fall," Ethan's tone was so icy that fear numbed the man's mind.
He felt this deranged young man loosen his grip, causing the zombies' hands to inch closer and closer to his face.
"B-but I'm about to become one of them, in the end, only death awaits me!" his words resonated with a hopeless gaze.
"In that, you're right, but I have a more pleasant way for you to die," Ethan said as he raised the gun and aimed it at the man. His gaze reflected an astonishing ease, as if shooting someone was child's play.
"..."
After a few seconds of silence as he pondered, the man looked at Ethan with an expression of profound sadness and said, "...Fine, I'll tell you."
Swoosh!
"Ouch!"
"A wise choice," Ethan replied as he effortlessly hoisted him back to the top of the statue, using just one hand.
Looking at Ethan as if he wasn't human, he muttered, "You're really strange, fuck."
Receiving no response, he averted his gaze towards his eyes and felt a chill run down his spine.
In those eyes, he saw darkness and violence, as if he was about to be thrown into the horde of zombies below if he continued spewing nonsense and didn't tell Ethan what he wanted to know.
He sighed...
"It happened while I was trying to seduce a beautiful woman, everything seemed normal. The only problem was that she couldn't stop coughing, just like everyone else in the restaurant where we were."
"Suddenly, they started transforming into zombies, and a strange blue light appeared. Then, a mechanical voice and a blue panel appeared out of nowhere!"
For a moment, he looked at his hands as if still doubting that it was all real.
"So many things happened that it all became too confusing at that moment. When I finally managed to gather my thoughts and learned how to use that strange panel, the woman I hoped to have a pleasant night with damn well bit my arm!"
He looked at his arm, covered in red veins and with greenish skin as if it were poisoned.
"In that instant, I pulled out my precious Glock 19 with a silencer and fired all the bullets I had. But the monsters kept increasing in number. In a moment of desperation, I remembered the weapon upgrade coupon. And with astonishing ease, I used it on my pistol, transforming it into what you now have in your hands."
"...That's all," his voice was slower, as if he were drowsy.
Zzzt!
Ethan fixed his gaze on the gun, and curiously, a small circular blue panel appeared.
[Glock 19 upgraded to E rank: Its ammunition has been changed to focused thermal energy bullets, and its design has been enhanced to withstand the power of these bullets.
Durability: 9/10.
Rank: E.
Description: The user used an E-rank coupon to upgrade a primitive weapon. Making it fire level 3 energy bullets is quite an achievement for a piece of scrap.]
"This is quite interesting..." Ethan murmured.
He wondered if these coupons could be used on anything. He would have to check later.
For now, he thought of the holographic panel as usual, causing it to appear instantly.
He quickly searched for the coupon he had seen ten minutes ago in the bar, and indeed, it was the same one.
[Rank E Weapon Upgrade Coupon, do you wish to use it?]
He hesitated for a second but decided to use it on the same gun. He wanted to see what would happen if he used two coupons on the same weapon. In front of him, a small shining blue coupon materialized out of nowhere and tried to enter the gun.
[Error, the weapon the user is attempting to upgrade is already rank E. Unable to use the coupon to further enhance it.]
Just like that, the coupon disappeared in the blink of an eye.
He furrowed his brow and summoned the blue panel again. Ethan calmly sighed as he saw that the coupon remained intact. He had thought he had used it, even if it hadn't worked to upgrade the gun.
If that had really happened, it would have been truly tragic.
"Everything looks so dark..."
Ethan glanced sideways towards the voice and noticed that the man was sitting, lost in his thoughts, staring into space. At this point, almost his entire body was covered in red veins, and a putrid smell emanated from him.
"I don't like owing favors to anyone, so here's what I promised you."
Ziiiuuum!
Without showing mercy and with an indifferent gaze, Ethan fired the Glock, causing a red energy orb to impact him and turn him instantly into ashes.
"Not bad at all, I would say this gun could inflict serious damage to some of the weaker demons I've killed."
"Arrrghhh!"
"Grrraaaaargh!"
The loud sound of the shot attracted more zombies towards him. Ethan looked at the enormous horde that had formed, zombies as far as his eyes could see.
Yet, his expression remained unchanged. There was no trace of fear in him.
He stored the weapon in one of the pockets of his uniform and leaned slightly forward. His eyes quickly scanned the sea of zombies.
Swooosh!
Without wasting any more time, he launched himself into the horde of zombies.
"Nnnnggghhh!"
"Pfff, what disgusting creatures, not even demons are this ugly," Ethan landed on the head of a middle-aged woman, her organs spilling out of a large hole in her stomach.
With a contemptuous smile on his face, Ethan agilely jumped to another zombie.
"They're so slow, they react a year later. They're really making it too easy for humans."
He leaped from head to head, facing unexpected situations and handling them on his own. Even with hundreds of zombies around him, not a single hair of his could be touched.
After a few minutes, he reached an area with several elevators. Most of them were closed, except for one that was open and occupied by several zombies.
"That seems familiar..."
Ethan remembered that near this place, he had witnessed the arrival of the man he had just killed, accompanied by a horde of zombies.
However, now that he had intervened in this timeline, Ethan felt unsure about the events that had taken place exactly in this location. As he approached the elevator, he only found a corpse inside, so torn apart and mutilated that it was impossible to determine its gender.
Around it, several zombies feasted on the remains of the unfortunate individual.
"No time to waste," Ethan muttered to himself as he observed his surroundings with an enigmatic smile.
Twenty minutes had passed since he left the bar, and while initially he felt confident that he would catch up to his brother, he now found himself lost, not knowing exactly where he might be.
Nevertheless, he decided to continue on the path he had chosen earlier: the stairs leading to the different floors of the tower. He looked around, trying to remember which way would lead him to the stairs.
Finally, with only a vague recollection, he opted for a direction.
He moved forward slowly, as if waiting for something. And just as Ethan had perceived, figures stealthily emerged from different corners, cautiously approaching him.