I ran through the vicinity, my feet pounding against the pavement as I tried to find the hardware store in my memories. I had been to this part of town before, and I knew the streets and the store like the back of my hand, probably.
Anyway, with the looming shadow of the apocalypse becoming closer, I can't be certain of anything anymore.
As I approached the hardware store, I noticed that something was off. The building seemed to be... twisting, its walls rippling like a living thing. my heart skipped a beat as I realized that the store was in the process of becoming an unknown insect nest.
The insects who reside in question were the size of a palm in thickness, and had around 1 meter in length, its shapes resemble centipedes but looks more menacing. They were everywhere, crawling on the walls, ceiling, and floor of the store. my skin crawled as I gazed upon the scene before me.
"Hell nah…, really? At this time?? Luckily I don't have any Entomophobia"
I held my breath for a couple of seconds, there is no time for my cowardice at this moment, as my life and death are hanging in a thin line. A couple of slightly big insects will not stop my will to survive the bigger calamity waiting ahead.
Steeling my heart, I took out one of the javelins that I had crafted and began to kill the centipedes who tried impending my steps as I began to go further inside the store. The screeching sounds echoed through the air as the group of insects died under my slaughter.
Even though they have already begun to mutate, insects are still insects.
That's what I want to believe…
"Their size might be growing bigger, but their carapace are still not hard enough to stop my javelin…, but I know this is only for now, I don't know what happen later in the future, they might be evolved into something that I can't deal easily as right now"
As I walked through the store, I kept my eyes focused, trying to find the steel wire that was my main goal visiting this place. I continued navigating through the aisles, my javelin in hand was already drenched with the yellow blood of the insects, and continued reaping lives of any centipede-like creatures that dared to get in my way.
My stab swings like a hurricane, the speed of it not lost to any major leaguer who tries to get a home run, strong and accurate.
But suddenly, when I was still in the midst of my mindless killing, a notification rang inside my head, jolting me awake from the bloodlust who already began piling up.
+2EXP
Hearing the notification in my head, I was stunned on the spot for a while, as my gaze slowly fixed on the javelin in my hand. I didn't understand what was happening, but as I looked down, I saw that the tip of the javelin in my hand was covered in some sort of crushed insects, one of which was different from the others I commonly see in this building.
I tried to observe it carefully, to see the characteristic of the insect and understand what made it so special that it could give Exp points just by killing it.
"What was going on? Why was I getting experience points for killing this insect just now, even though I got nothing from the others that I slaughtered at the start?'
I took a closer look at the insect that had just been crushed by my javelin. It was a centipede-like creature the same as the other one in the building, but it was bigger than the others I had seen. As I examined its mandibles, I noticed a green, gooey substance frotting from it, supposed to be venom.
Realizing that I killed some sort of dangerous creature with a low vigilance, I couldn't help but shudder.
"Luckily it was just an insect… seems like I need to be more careful, I don't want to even imagine what would happen when this poison-like substance invades my body by its bite if I am somewhat being careless just now.."
Even though the mandibles are quite unique, what caught my attention more was the small, red orb on the insect's head, which was about the size of a rice grain. It seemed peculiar and special, and I made a mental note to remember it.
However, I knew I didn't have a lot of time to spare now. I pushed my thoughts aside and focused on finding the wire. After a few minutes of continued searching, I finally found it on the corner of a shelf – a couple of thick rolls of steel wire, of course I took the biggest one I could find.
"I don't know what length I need, but the more the better, there is no losing for being too cautious, right?"
After finding the Wire I needed, I grabbed it without hesitation and dashed out of the hardware store without hesitation.
Though I feel a small sense of regret that I couldn't stay longer to grind for more experience points by exploiting the weak mutated insects, But time was not on my side, as I have more important quest to finish soon.
As I emerged from the store, I began to take a deep breath of fresh air, feeling a sense of relief wash over me.
"Now it was time to focus on the next step of my plan, hehe"
I looked around, taking in my surroundings carefully. The streets were still empty, but I could sense that something was off. The air seemed to vibrate with an otherworldly energy, and I knew that I had to be more cautious from now on.
'Seems like the chaos Energy in this place became thicker'
Putting aside my worries. I set off towards his next destination.
With the steel wire in hand, my senses are on high alert. I knew that there must be some mutated cats or rats who were still hiding nearby, and I had to be prepared to face them at any moment just in case they completely mutated and became more aggressive.
I began to examine my location carefully as my feet kept moving in slowly, trying to create as small noise as possible.
Right at this moment, I was searching for a spot to tie the wire, preferably on one of the poles that lined the street between the restaurant and the supermarket.
my eyes moved rapidly, scanning the area as my feet continued moving, roaming the nearby vicinity I had in mind. But before long, I realized that there were no poles in sight.
Just as I was about to give up, I spotted a railing outside the desolate florist, located about 200 meters away from the supermarket.
Finding it good enough, I started to tie the wire carefully, making sure it was super tight. After checking that it was secure, I began to climb up to the building opposite of the florist, with the big rolls of wire weighing down the bag on my back.
Finding the weight quite considerable, I hoped the wire was long enough for my plan, and so, my heart started to race with anticipation and worry.
After climbing onto the rooftop, I took a moment of silence to calm my nervousness, before finding the direction of the restaurant carefully from this high altitude.
With a deep breath, I began to rush, doing parkour running, passing from one rooftop after the next with agile movement. The training I had done over the past two days finally paid off, as I felt his body become light and nimble.
'Normally, two days wouldn't be enough for normal humans to see significant progress on themselves… did my constitution begin to change and make me have rapid growth?'
With this newfound power, I couldn't help myself to doubt that maybe, aside from the system, Sariel had given me other gifts that I wasn't aware of. But now wasn't the time to delve further into this topic, as I was still in a rush against time.
My footsteps echoed across the rooftops as I kept dashing and continued doing parkour runs.
As my destination slowly became visible, my eyes fixed on the restaurant building in the distance. Along the way, I could see the mutated cats and rats gathering below, as their eyes moved on my silhouette like predators from time to time.
With a surge of adrenaline, I began to push on harder, my heart began to worry if these mutated animals were beginning to see me as a food, the lowest creature in the food chain. Thus I knew I had to move fast before the situation became more unfavorable to me.
Ignoring the mutated creatures that were still waged war below as they eyed me from time to time. With their snarls and growls echoing through the desolate streets as a symphony of background music, I began to carefully maneuver myself towards the restaurant building.
I danced and weaved between the rooftops, with my eyes fixed on my destination, as I saw the familiar orange-tiled roof of the restaurant glinting in the fading light of day. The sun had begun to set, casting long shadows across the rooftops, and I knew that my time was running out.
Before long, I was just one building away from the restaurant. I dashed forward, my feet pounding against the rooftop, as the sound of my footsteps echoing through the streets.
And so, At last I jumped onto the second-floor veranda where I had smoked before, making a smooth landing toward the end.
Looking at the rolls of wire in my hand, which had become very thin, I let out a sigh of relief. I had been worried that I wouldn't have enough wire to reach the restaurant, but it seemed that my calculations had not been far off.
Without further ado, I hurriedly tied the wire to the rails of the veranda, my hands moving swiftly and surely, the metallic sound of the wire clicking into place was a satisfying confirmation that my plan was slowly coming together.
The wire was thin and flexible, but I believed it was strong enough to hold the weight of the lamb carcass in my mind, and I was confident enough that it would do the job.
"What am I worrying about? This thing even strong enough to hold a bridge, there is no way a mere lamb carcass would snap it like a twig"
Thus, as I finished my task, a picture of a gondola appeared in my head, and a thin smile slowly formed in my mouth, finding it a little bit silly.