Andrew's POV
"Cut it out with your flattery ~" Leyley pulled away from me after escaping my grip.
"So, what are we gonna do now?" She glanced behind me, towards our former neighbor's apartment, the occultist.
I pretend to think before answering her, as I had planned for a while.
"We're gonna leave this cursed place and erase all traces of our stay here."
In the original story, the building was set on fire and all its residents were declared dead.
Frankly, I don't know if I really need to resort to mass murder to cover my tracks, but it currently seems like the most logical solution.
"You got a plan?" Leyley's voice pulled me out of my dangerous thoughts.
"Yeah, for now, we need to clean the building of the Guardians to make our escape easier, and then erase our tracks."
If I don't set the building on fire, the residents will still die of starvation after I leave. I just wonder if Leyley would agree to such an ignoble act.
I motion for Leyley to follow me. I didn't go directly down to the lower floor, but headed towards the guardian's control post on this floor.
I wanted to know where the other guardian who appeared in the game is, and if there are others that weren't shown.
On the way, I also wonder which ability I should take from the demon among those that caught my attention.
'System, I want to take the Soul Devourer skill.'
My choice wasn't random. I was extremely tempted by the Oniric Dimensional Travel skill since I could travel to other dimensions without depending on quests, but I needed strength quickly.
It's a shame I can't haunt the dreams of certain fictional characters.
The quest I'm after will literally pit me against someone skilled enough to steal the powers of their universe's god.
If I want to beat 'One' and save 'Zero', then I need overwhelming strength or a brain superior to 'One', who, I remind you, is a brain-eating creature.
[Congratulations, you have acquired the Soul Devourer skill (rank A).]
[I also want to remind you that available quests are not eternally accessible. I advise you to avoid basing your long-term goals on them.]
[You should rather work hard in this universe for a while, or in a low-level universe, then try such a dangerous quest.]
'You're quite chatty now, I thought you were just here to give me advice on the agency and system capabilities.'
His behavior is strangely emotional. Usually, he simply gives information, but this time, he's warning me?
[Affirmative, and I'm fulfilling my duty by avoiding a stupid death of a rookie mercenary facing an army of men and a brain-eating mutant.]
'Haha, you're funny.' I couldn't help but smile.
"Is there something funny?" Leyley looked at me like I was crazy.
"Nah, I just realized something funny." I answered honestly, hoping she wouldn't dig too deep.
[Why qualify me as funny?]
'I call you funny because you didn't understand me, even though you've been observing me for a while.'
[...]
'I don't really care if I die now, I just want to... do my best. So no, I'm not afraid of the world of Sweet Home and Shotgun Boy.'
I finally reached the guardian's control post after searching the current floor of the building.
"Look at this, a key!" Leyley declares after rummaging through a drawer.
"There's another one, and this one seems to lead to the third floor." We searched a bit more, but there was nothing interesting.
I sat down in front of a screen displaying the second floor. I could see a guardian circulating and, like me, he was in possession of a Gun.
"This smells bad, he's got a weapon, Andrew." I understand why she's nervous.
Between her student brother who has a weapon and an armed guardian, it's clear who's more experienced.
"Don't worry, I've got a plan." I smiled at her, showing her a letter I found while searching this place.
...
Leyley's POV
"You got it?" Andrew asked me this a second time as he headed towards the occultist's apartment.
"Yeah, yeah, I gotta bring back the girl from the apartment with the same number as this key, since she seems to have a connection with the guardians."
I don't understand why he insists that I bring her back without hurting her too much. I'm not a savage.
"Here, with this, she'll be more docile." Andrew gave me his knife and left to prepare the ritual.
Andrew wants to get rid of the guardian on the second floor without attracting too much attention, so he planned to offer his soul to the demon.
"I really love how reliable he is."
Since we've been together, it's always Andrew who manages to satisfy my needs (whims), and even now, he's gone as far as dealing with a demon to allow us to survive.
On his own, he was able to replace our always-absent parents when he was also a child at the time.
"When I get out of here, I'm gonna convince Andrew to pay them a little visit."
I don't plan on letting our parents off the hook. Knowing Andrew, he'll want to let it slide, but I don't want to forgive the people who abandoned us here.
*Bing* opening sound.
"This is the right apartment." I smiled, satisfied.
"Who are you? Get out of my apartment immediately!" A blonde girl lying on a bed in front of a screen immediately stood up.
(Image)
Entering this apartment, the first thing that caught my attention is the absence of barricades used to lock the building's residents in their apartments, and the second thing is this girl's appearance.
She's just too fit for someone who's supposed to be starving.
"You, how do you manage to have so much energy without food?" I tried to contain my bad mood in the face of her annoying voice.
"Oh! You don't have any? It seems you don't know how to ask for it or you're not pretty enough ~"
I see, this slut spreads her legs to get food from the guardians while me and Andrew were starving to death.
I understand now why Andrew warned me several times not to hurt her, or at least not seriously.
"Okay, you dirty bitch, I'm gonna drag you to Andrew and you'd better be cooperative." As I spoke, I slowly reduced the distance.
"I'm warning you, if you come any closer, I'm making a scene and Dave or Malcom will come." She tried to be threatening, but Andrew had anticipated this, it seems.
"Let's see who'll be faster, your two boyfriends or my knife ~" Her face quickly turned pale.
Frankly, Andrew's planning ability is really frightening. Recently, it's maybe because of having nearly died of starvation.
Andrew has literally stopped hesitating and he's now living life to the fullest.
I love this side of him. If I had known that bringing Andrew close to death would make him more adventurous, I would have done it a long time ago.
I can't help but feel tingles in my lower belly just thinking back to the bathroom event.
….
Andrew's POV
I thought I told you to avoid hurting her if possible.
I had already drawn a magic circle and lit the candle. All that was missing was the music to summon the demon.
I can summon it with my demonic summoning skill, but I'd rather avoid using my mana if possible.
"Sorry, but she's just too annoying ~" Leyley smiled at me innocently, as if the sorry state of the woman from room 320 wasn't her fault.
"Anyway, it's not a big deal. The important thing is that she stays alive." I turned my attention back to the woman, crying with her swollen face.
"I want you to know it's nothing personal." She tried to speak, but I punched her in the stomach.
*Cough* She collapsed to the floor, curled up in a fetal position.
"Sorry, but I'm really not in the mood to listen to your begging or other crap." I could see Leyley behind her, giving me a thumbs up.
Looks like she found out that while we were starving, this bitch was eating and playing 24/7.