Seth felt sad about their deaths. He didn't do it for no reason, much less out of personal anger. Seth was forced to kill them because they had shards of life, even if it was a small amount.
He walked up to the two men, reaching into their pants pockets and clothes carefully. Seth not only found shards of life but also found two plasma bottles in the pocket of one of the survivors.
Not just stopping at the shards of life, Seth also began to check both of their bags. The zipper of the bag opened. It seemed the contents inside weren't as much as Seth's, but Seth's eyes were distracted, staring at three white hand bombs, shock bombs.
Each hand bomb had a different color: the shock bomb was white, the explosive bomb was red, and the smoke bomb was black. It was easy to identify them, so the survivors would have no trouble using them.
Not only picking up these items, Seth also didn't want to waste the opportunity to pick up the two's status. He no longer needed to sever the hands because both of them were dead. He only needed to accept the transfer from them to Seth's status.
[Transmission complete]
[Attributes received: ]
[+10200xp]
[+2150gp]
[Starts synchronizing with the receiver's attributes]
[Synchronization process completed]
[Level up!]
From the screen notification that appeared above Seth's system bracelet, he could see he had leveled up after gaining a large amount of additional EXP and GP from the two survivors.
"Seth!" called Mia from upstairs.
The woman's voice could be heard clearly since the building was dead silent like there was no sign of life. Seth quickly packed up his black bag and walked away.
"I'm here," Seth said firmly.
"Come back," Mia pleaded.
"I'll be right there," Seth replied.
While walking up the stairs, Seth placed the shards of life into his pants pocket, hoping the two women on the top floor of the building wouldn't find out about the incident on the third floor.
With the number of shards of life Seth and Mia had from their slaughter of the cockroach on the rooftop, Seth was pretty sure he was first in the number of shards of life.
Seth arrived on the eighth floor, seeing Mia and Joanna sitting facing each other. Directly before the two, there was a portable gas stove with a metal pot on top, seemingly cooking something.
"What are you cooking?" asked Seth, curious.
"Canned food. It's already six o'clock in the evening, the time change from day to night," Mia replied.
"You're right. We haven't eaten anything since the battle against the bugs," Seth said.
The man sat between Mia and Joanna, smelling the chicken meat warming on the pot. Not only Seth was tempted to eat it, but also Joanna and Mia.
"You killed the roaches?" asked Joanna, frowning.
"We killed 42 cockroaches in total, counting the number of shards of life we have," Mia said, continuing to stir the chicken meat in the pot.
"42 roaches? Are you nuts?!" moaned Joanna.
Seth and Mia laughed out loud at that. Seth might be crazy about winning on this floor, but Mia was not. The woman just wanted to prove she could be reliable for Seth, especially not to trouble him.
While Joanna and Mia were still talking to each other, Seth was busy adjusting something on his system bracelet. He pressed the party menu with a two-person icon, displaying the tens of thousands of parties that existed according to Seth's location, in New York.
"There are 22500 parties formed in New York. Arcada and Redemption are still leading with their number of members competing fiercely with each other," Seth explained.
"Isn't Arcada the criminal group that looted the merchants next to the hotel?" Mia asked. Seth cleared his throat firmly.
Seth pressed another menu, functioning to create a party between himself and Mia. After the party creation was completed, a notification appeared on the blue holographic screen that appeared above his system bracelet.
[Party has been formed]
[Name: Seth Party]
[Level: 1]
[Description: none]
[Party Code: 5127986540]
Below the party status, there are three menus represented by specific icons. The first icon is in the shape of a person, which is used to display things related to members, either approving joining or kicking members out.
The second icon is in the shape of a letter, which is used to deliver messages from the party leader to all members, no matter where they are. Then, the last is the icon with a red cross, which functions to disband the party; the third menu is only owned by the party leader.
"Join my party," Seth pleaded.
"But don't you want to join any party?" asked Mia.
"This is my party. There's no way I'm not joining my own party. I made it so we can both win together," Seth replied.
"Oh, I see," Mia replied, nodding obediently as she handed the wooden spatula to Joanna, telling the woman to take her place, stirring the food in the pot.
Seth did not forget to explain the procedure for joining a party. Mia only needed to enter the party code in the party search menu with the code. When the name of the party she was looking for appeared, Mia was only required to tap on the party and tap on the join menu.
A small notification appeared on Seth's system bracelet screen. The man immediately pressed the red dot and displayed the latest information coming into his system bracelet, a request for approval for a new member joining on behalf of Mia.
Seth pressed the menu with the green checkmark, accepting Mia's join request. Now, Mia had fully entered Seth's party. If both of them managed to collect a large number of shards of life, they would be crowned the winners.
"I wasn't invited to join?" asked Joanna, confused.
The man turned his head to the side, looking at Joanna, who seemed to be silent with both eyes fixed on Seth. Mia laughed softly at that, both of them leaving Joanna alone to take care of the food while Mia took care of the process of joining Seth's party.
"One thing is for sure. Have you joined anyone's party?" Seth asked.
"I've never joined anyone," Joanna replied.
"If you joined with me, would you be able to be trusted and relied upon?" asked Seth.
"I'm sure I could!" said Joanna.
"How about you prove it by killing one roach?" challenged Seth.
"Is there no other way to prove it?"
"We're facing off against cockroach monsters. If you fail to kill even one cockroach, then I can't let you in," Seth emphasized.
Joanna looked down languidly with her right hand stirring the food on the pot. Mia was touched by Joanna's response. The woman invited Seth to discuss something in another room.
"I can't let her join. It will only make it difficult for us," Seth replied.
"We cannot keep her alone either, especially in a situation like this, right?" asked Mia.
"She shouldn't have joined the floor quest if things were like this," Seth lamented.
Seth's eyes continued to stare out of the room, looking at the woman in the all-black suit, sitting pensively as she continued to stir the canned food until it was ready.
"Come on, Seth. Just this one time, help her solve this problem," Mia pleaded.
Seth was actually still reluctant to accept Joanna, but seeing Mia's compassionate face left the man with no other choice.
He sighed softly as his hands clasped around his waist, "You are in charge of keeping her safe. I don't want to die twice just for protecting her."