He hastily grabbed his belongings, leaving the inn that he had paid for in the first place. Seth ran off in a hurry, confusing the people in the place; some of them chose to check Seth's room –perhaps something made him behave that way.
They entered and looked at Seth's room. There was nothing suspicious about it, except the bed where Seth was sleeping looked wet from sweat. One of the visitors walked over to the open window. His eyes found Seth standing in the middle of the city street, looking confused.
"Hey, take it easy," said a man, walking from inside the inn towards Seth.
When he tried to approach him, Seth appeared to turn around. His eyes exchanged glances with the stranger as he continued to try to calm Seth down.
"Do you know where the party named Achilles is?" Seth asked.
Both of Seth's hands stretched forward, grabbing the collar of the clothes the stranger was wearing. The man seemed uncomfortable with Seth's behaviour; he pushed his body roughly.
"What's wrong with you?" the man asked.
Seth realized again that everything in the world would go on as it should. In short, he would meet his three colleagues again at the right time.
The man still remembered how Jonas was the first to meet Seth, followed by Alice, and finally Mick. For now, the three were joined by different parties.
"I'm sorry. My head feels a little dizzy," Seth said.
"Go buy some medicine, damn it," the man groaned.
He walked away from Seth, tapping his collar as if belittling the man. Seth cleared his throat softly. He stood up straight, his head rotating to watch his surroundings.
The meaning of dizziness that Seth uttered wasn't an illness like the man had imagined. However, it was more of a sense of confusion about his current condition. He looked up, seeing the aeroplane continuing to turn over the city to notify everyone that the highest level was open.
The 26th floor, as Seth remembered, was a battle against hundreds of flying monsters, a type of insect with deadly effects when stung. Some suffered burns, and others suffered paralysis and even death.
"If no one can handle it, the doors to the other floors won't open," Seth said.
As Seth stood in the middle of a city street, small raindrops began falling from the sky. Seth raised his head, and instantly, the rain became heavier, drenching the people who had no time to seek shelter.
Seth picked up his bag, shielding his head from getting wet until he reached a less crowded tavern.
"It doesn't usually rain in Paris," an employee said, serving a variety of drinks according to the money the man had.
Life on earth became so different that the human group was divided into the supply and the survival groups. Just like this time when Seth, as a survivor, ordered food from the shop owner as a supplier.
Not only are human groups divided, but social structures are also formed. In social conditions, human groups will not matter much.
Social status is seen from how high a level a person has. The higher the level, the more respected the status, and vice versa. There are five social statuses: commoner, braver, soldier, commander, and noble.
Social status and human groups are not determined by the Skywatchers - a term for the aliens who invaded the earth. They were determined based on the discussions of a few people and spread it like a disease to everyone who heard it.
"What do you want to eat?" asked the diner owner.
"Give me something better than those guys," Seth said, glancing pointedly at a thin, shabbily dressed man eating an unseasoned vegetable stew.
"Even so, he's my regular," said the man with the shaved head.
"What good is a regular customer if you can only get 5gp out of him?" asked Seth.
He smiled sarcastically, stepping away to prepare the food according to what Seth had ordered. While waiting, he pressed his system bracelet, displaying a blue hologram of his status.
His eyes narrowed when he saw his Game Point count, around 1245gp. There were no gold or silver coins in this world; even paper money was useless. Now, they transacted using game points.
Each survivor can earn game points by completing side quests or floor tasks. The amount varied depending on the difficulty level.
The system is so easy Seth only needs to attach his bracelet to the detector on the table. His GP will automatically decrease according to what he buys.
For the suppliers, they could only depend on their goods. They couldn't participate in the floor duty. Not only were they unskilled, but the chances of dying were much more significant due to a lack of equipment.
The man who owned the shop arrived. He walked in carrying a plate with grilled chicken and sauce. Seth ate the food, ignoring the glances from the shabby man who seemed to want to try to taste how delicious the chicken meat was.
"You don't seem to be a local of this city. Where are you from?" the shop owner asked, curious.
"I'm American," Seth said firmly.
"American? Have you been here since the aliens invaded?" asked the shop owner.
"What do I need to tell you? What am I going to get?" asked Seth, annoyed by the man's friendliness.
The shopkeeper seemed to nod his head, fully understanding Seth's nature. In the end, he decided to leave Seth alone, continuing to eat the grilled chicken he had made for him.
A shabby man suddenly sat beside Seth when he was calmly enjoying his meal. He smelled disgusting, with foul breath, and his hands were crusty and dirty with black nails.
Seth gasped. Sitting away from the man, he continued to approach Seth with a pitying look, as if he was waiting for Seth to give him a bit of chicken.
"Who the fuck are you? What do you want?" asked Seth, annoyed.
"I'm a nobody. Can you give me some of that chicken? It's been years since I ate such delicious food," said the man, drool falling from the corners of his lips.
Watching the man's appearance disgusted Seth, and lost his appetite to keep eating. He sighed, walking away from the chair before the bar counter towards the exit.
His right hand still held the plate of chicken meat that was now a bit left. The shabby man seemed to follow Seth, kneeling like a puppy waiting for his master to give him his favourite meat.
"You want it?" asked Seth. The man nodded.
Seth smiled and grinned, dropping the chicken into the muddy and dirty garbage can. However, the shabby man's response was unexpected. He scraped through the trash and picked up the chicken meat that had been stained by the dirty trash can liquid.
"I don't like your attitude. Don't come to my place again," said the shop owner, visibly annoyed.
He returned to the bar counter, placing his hand before the detector. A hologram appeared on Seth's wristband, showing his GP, which had been reduced by 15gp for the food.
"As a fellow survivor, you don't want to help him," the tavern owner complained.
"He's a lazy man. If I feed him, he'll never learn," Seth said.
"But is it necessary to make him pick through the dirty garbage?" the shopkeeper asked.
"It's my food. I bought it with my own money. I'm free to do whatever I want with my food, right?" asked Seth, pointing at himself as he exchanged glances with the shopkeeper.
"Excuse me," greeted a woman, looking armoured like an old knight.
Seth turned his head slowly to the left, then went to leave the place towards the exit. However, his steps were halted when he heard the woman ordering the same menu as Seth but for the shabby man.
Excitedly, the shop owner began to cook another meal with the same menu for his regular customers. Seth's eyes shot to the woman in armour, narrowing sharply as if she was trying to embarrass him.
"What's your name?" Seth asked.
"Why? Why would a heartless person like you want to know my name?" asked the woman with long white hair down her back.
"So that I can convince myself I should not behave like you," Seth replied.
"The world has come to an end, sweetheart. Don't bother yourself with lazy people like him. You'll have a hard time later."