It only took them twenty minutes to reach the shelter.
There were some nuisances, but Aleph only took two to three minutes to clean them up. In those times, he unlocked three new achievements at once.
[Achievement Unlocked: Five-of-a-kind]
[Reward: Major Energy Box]
[Five-of-a-kind: Kill five distinct elite-grade undeads.]
[Achievement Unlocked: Bane of the Undead]
[Reward: Black Keys]
[Bane of the Undead: Kill fifty undeads within one day.]
[Achievement Unlocked: Mister Bodyguard]
[Reward: Sphere Boundary]
[Mister Bodyguard: Safely escort your clients into the designated area.]
As expected, exploration was the legitimate way to open up the rewards offered by the [Achievement Hunter]. Staying in the third institute might provide small rewards, but it would take a long time to earn better rewards.
Aleph has a guess that he would only earn one when he gains a huge accomplishment, some of which are the weaponization of the herscherr cores and the creation of Doctor Einstein's Living Equipment Project.
Nevertheless, he already received some of the rewards now.
[Juezhao] was in the form of a mini jade spear. When he crushed it, he gained relevant knowledge regarding it. It was basically a blueprint of a 'final move', a prototype per se. It imbues the 'intent' of its creator as well as how he utilized the strong points of a martial art called [Bajiquan].
Simply put, it is an active skill that uses up cursed energy to deal a lethal blow.
The other thing that Aleph received was the [Sphere Boundary]. It took the form of a silver yin-yang seal. Upon usage, he discovered that it was another technique to conceal oneself from the world.
It is important to know that both [Juezhao] and [Sphere Boundary] has the same 'flavor', that is, they came from the same source. They are basically martial arts techniques that encompass the experiences to master them.
Though, it is exactly due to these professional terms and obscure words that Aleph has to explore them himself.
As for the [Major Energy Box], he decisively crushed it on his fist.
[Cursed Energy: 182 → 272]
'A ninety-point increase… I got lucky!'
This event was what made Aleph slightly more optimistic to get through the night.
Killing former humans affected his mind to some extent. In actuality, this was an everyday occurrence for the soldiers of Fire MOTH. It is one of the reasons why Aleph sympathized with them more.
For now, he was working with the people at the shelter, who turned out to be Fire MOTH soldiers. After passing the dozen or so people they rescued, he was about to return to that messy battlefield when he noticed someone sneaking away silently.
She was one of the people he rescued earlier. Many people are lining up to enter the shelter. This kind of bustling scene made it easier for the girl to blend in. An iron crowbar was present in her hands as she slowly left the coverage of the shelter.
'She's experienced… There's a kind of rhythm on her steps… Was it a kind of footwork?'
Aleph has the freshly minted [Sphere Boundary] in his mind. One of its most basic forms was footwork. Before the professional terms such as "The world is I; henceforth controlling nature with one's will" confused him greatly, it talked about a kind of footwork at first. An example of it was the footwork of ninjas that reduce their noise to the bare minimum.
Through the control of an "energy", the basics would be enhanced until it enters the phase of abstract sentences encoded within the technique.
'A girl who practiced martial arts…'
As he thought along this train of thought, Aleph moved simultaneously. His barest understanding of [Sphere Boundary] was shown. Just like the girl, he waded through waves of people without them noticing his existence.
'Mn… Was it like this?'
When Aleph decided to extend his cursed energy outwards, the 'magic' began working. His footsteps no longer contained any noise. Though, he also felt a limit.
'Eight… no, ten centimeters outside my body. I can't hold on after that.'
Aleph discovered that as long as he continued extending his 'cursed energy' outward, the concealment effect became better. Ten centimeters was more than enough for him to reach the girl's back without her noticing.
Instead of directly tapping her shoulders, Aleph considered a more polite approach.
"It seems like you are going to look for someone."
"?!"
The girl immediately turned around to the source of the voice. If Aleph was directly behind her, he would've been struck by that crowbar in a second.
"...Mister Aleph."
"Don't get me wrong. It's just that what you are doing is extremely dangerous."
The girl fell silent upon hearing his words. It took quite some time before she gave out a reply—a decisive one.
"I must do it."
"Even if you will die?"
"Even if I die."
It was at this moment Aleph knew that this girl was determined.
*****
A month and a half was all it took for the entire world to change. The cognition of normal people was rewritten with zombies and huge white beasts. Everything that should've only been in fiction was seen in real life.
Naturally, the number of casualties rose to an all-time high.
For the civilians who hadn't seen public violence much, they were forced to adapt upon seeing dozens of deaths within the span of a single day. The smell of blood, the curling screams, the sound of flesh being chewed upon…
Nobody is an exception.
'What are they..?'
Only these thoughts filled the girl's mind. Although she had neatly tied her hair into a ponytail, it was still stained with blood and dust. Her blue pupils dazedly stared on the wall as she recalled everything that happened throughout this night.
Everything was still normal a few hours ago. It was the martial law that made many people think of something. Since it was enacted a month and a half ago, coupled with the explosions and explosive rumors, they knew that the world was subtly changing.
The first thing that came to the forefront was the 'zombies'. Many people were assaulted by these so-called "living dead" throughout the month and a half. The government conducted city-wide patrols at least three times a day. This immediately sprouted rumors of a deadly virus breaking out of the entire world. People started stockpiling things in a hurry, which led to an economic crash.
As if it didn't end there, all airports and means of exiting the city were blocked. The propaganda spread on the Internet could not completely block the news outside such as the destruction of city-connecting expressways and such.
There was also the huge 'explosion' that occurred a thousand kilometers away. Many people judged that it was in the direction of Nagazora City.
These month and a half was akin to a jar that is on the verge of being broken. No matter what the higher ups employ, chaos keeps spreading all over the world.
No one remained as an exception.
Thinking of the huge beasts that crushed hundreds of humans at will, Hua shuddered.
She was merely a middle school student who had practiced martial arts since childhood. She could still deal with the normal undeads, but when it came to the abominations two storeys tall, humanity held no power. No amount of punches, kicks, and tackles could bring them down.
'What should I do..?'