Li Mo's audacious suggestion left Kira wide-eyed.
"!!! Let's go back, we need to go back right now! We can't let the ghosts infiltrate our team!" Kira spun around, ready to bolt, but Li Mo caught her by the arm.
Such strength.
Kira was taken aback. She was set to ascend to S-Rank Valkyrie next month; her preparatory steps for a sprint had already been completed, yet she was halted by this man.
To stop an S-Rank Valkyrie in motion required strength on par with stopping a speeding car.
Li Mo, having died twice, was—ironically—far trickier to deal with than an S-Rank Valkyrie. After all, physically killing him was nearly impossible unless the blow was fatal.
"What's the point of going back now? Do you remember what I said before I left? We can't return until 7 PM tonight. If we go back now, it's basically telling the ghosts we know they're here."
"It's only just after 8 AM. We stopped the first wave, but there will be a second. Unless you're planning to kill every single survivor we see, one by one."
"Besides, what if we head back and find nothing? If we're spotted on the way, we'll only alert them to our movements."
"Calm down, Kira. I understand how you feel. You're just lacking experience. But I'm here. I'll handle everything."
Li Mo tried to steady Kira's nervousness, though his emotional detachment prevented him from saying anything particularly comforting.
All he could do was assure her bluntly that he would fix everything.
Li Mo understood that while he was the nominal leader of this group of these people, Kira was the true spiritual pillar of the Valkyrie squad.
If she panicked and caused the team to become a hindrance—or worse, got parasitized by the ghosts—it would only worsen their already dire situation.
When dealing with ghosts, numbers were never an advantage.
Kira bit her lip, pausing to think for half a minute before silently nodding.
"Sorry. I lost my head."
"It's good that you realized your mistake. What we need to do now is gather as many supplies as possible." Li Mo turned away, ignoring the disembodied heads atop the wall.
Li Mo: "We can't go to the convenience store because it has doors. And we can't open doors—going through doors is certain death."
Kira frowned. "Wait, so you want us to rummage through the desks and backpacks in the school building to find food and water?"
Li Mo: "Yes. That's the safest way."
Kira retorted, "I can just rip the convenience store's roof off. We can go in and grab the supplies directly, can't we?"
Li Mo blinked. "…You can do that?"
Kira replied matter-of-factly, "Killing ghosts is hard, but tearing off a rooftop? Easy."
Without hesitation, Li Mo grabbed Kira by the hand and began leading her towards the convenience store. "Let's go now. Grab more cola—I'm craving some."
"Huh? Why are you standing there? Let's move!"
Li Mo urged her along, his craving for cola undiminished even after dying twice. He hadn't eaten anything in a day. Although his body had already transcended the limits of normal human, his old habits remained.
The more depraved life became, the more one cherished the simplest pleasures.
"Ugh… fine… let's go," Kira muttered awkwardly.
Li Mo noticed her hesitance, thinking she might be worried about ghosts lurking in the store. He patted his chest and reassured her bluntly, "Relax. As long as we don't go through any doors, we'll be fine. If any ghosts appear, I'll find a way to get you out. Just leave it to me."
The issue lay with doors—not the destruction of buildings. Even if something happened, he had contingencies in place.
Kira mumbled incomprehensibly, her slightly flushed face cooling as her expression flattened into one of mild disdain.
Why did I even think I could rely on this guy?
At the convenience store, Kira stood with a look of utter resignation, watching Li Mo gleefully stuff his backpack with cola.
Yes, like a child, he picked only the things he liked.
The behavior was ridiculously childish—made all the more absurd when paired with Li Mo's perpetually grim, emotionless expression.
It was like watching a stern university student riding a child's toy car, skidding and drifting about.
Or as Kira had once read in a novel: The legendary immortal who once vanquished demons and suppressed a generation walked into a brothel, waving his arms amidst the music and revelry, shouting, "Keep the music going! Keep dancing!"
The image was too ridiculous to process. Of course, colored drinks were unhealthy for ordinary people, but for beings like Kira and Li Mo? They could down pure food coloring, and it wouldn't matter.
"…Maybe I grabbed a bit too much." Li Mo muttered, staring at his now-overstuffed backpack. Eventually, he tossed half the cola out and replaced it with bottled water.
He had to consider the others.
After grabbing a pile of bread and snacks—deliberately ignoring the instant noodles—Li Mo stuffed the remaining bags full and handed them all to Kira.
"…Why aren't you carrying any of these? Where's your dignity as a man?" Kira's face darkened as she realized why he had dragged her along.
It was because she was the strongest—she could haul heavy supplies for an entire day.
Li Mo shrugged. "The capable should do more."
Kira shot him a glare, emphasizing every word: "You're not weak."
Li Mo admitted frankly, "My strength comes from… things you don't want to see. Overusing it has consequences. Look."
He tugged down his collar, revealing a corpse spot on his neck.
Kira froze, recalling his earlier words about her "lack of experience."
Suddenly, she began to understand why Li Mo could face all this with such unnerving calm. Even his way of thinking had diverged from normal humans—his desires were faint, his composure chilling.
Kira: "So… you've been dealing with these things? All alone? If you need help in the future, I can—"
Li Mo cut her off. "I'm not alone. I have teammates. But once I've dealt with this, you and I will probably never cross paths again. You're too young to handle things like this."
"Even if you gain experience, I wouldn't drag you into this. I respect the lives you lead here—you have the right to choose your own path."
"My arrival here is only to resolve this problem. If the anomalies aren't contained, they'll spread across the entire world."
Kira fell silent, already suspecting that Li Mo was from another world. No wonder he believed so firmly in parallel realities.
Li Mo continued nonchalantly, recounting his three teammates—Hua, Elysia, and Mei—whom he had brought from a world on the brink of collapse. Staying there had been meaningless.
Li Mo had given them a choice, and they had chosen to follow him.
More importantly, they were capable.
As Li Mo led Kira towards the school building, step by step, she didn't question his decision.
"We're here," Li Mo said at last, stopping in front of a tightly sealed door. Memories surfaced, pulling him into thought.
The broadcast room—the place where Aikiri was supposed to have been contained.
Aikiri's head still lingered outside the auditorium, which meant that shortly after Li Mo led the students away, Aikiri had lost his consciousness completely to the ghost.
But the struggle for consciousness wasn't instantaneous. Even the weakest of minds would fiercely resist its obliteration.
Li Mo needed to know what had happened in those final moments—and whether Aikiri had left behind any critical information.
More urgently, he needed to check whether the broadcast equipment was still intact. If it was, things could take an even darker turn.
The ghosts could very well use the broadcasts to lure more survivors into the auditorium.
"Kira, break down the wall for me," Li Mo commanded.
The real world wasn't like a horror game where buildings were indestructible. While a once-dead Li Mo couldn't manage it, Shigure Kira—a near-S-Rank Valkyrie—certainly could.
======================
Consider joining me on P@treon For 30+ Advance Chapters:
P@treon: p@treon.com/JustaPasserby