Thanks to Lin Moze clearing the way, the two quickly reached the school rooftop.
Surprisingly, the door to the rooftop was already open.
There were only a few Kabane wandering around—not the crowd of survivors they had hoped to find.
Perhaps the students who initially fled here had already turned into Kabane.
Or maybe someone tried to escape to the rooftop but failed to lock the door in time, allowing the monsters to break in.
Either way, it made Lin Moze's job easier.
After dealing with the Kabane, his Redemption Points were nearing 2000.
He'd considered testing his devour ability, but with Kitagawa Marin watching, he decided against it.
One reason—he wanted to hide the true extent of his powers.
Another reason—to give himself a "harmless" filter.
Humans are visual creatures.
When they see someone fighting monsters, they label them heroes—someone to admire and trust.
But if they saw someone devouring monsters in a grotesque way, they'd label them a monster—something to fear and avoid.
Lin Moze didn't care what ordinary people thought of him in this apocalypse.
But he did care about beautiful girls.
He didn't need to be seen as perfect, but he also didn't want the "beautiful girl trembling in fear" scenario when they got closer.
Without enthusiastic cooperation from the girl, what's the point?
Forcing someone?
Sorry.
Anyone with that mindset should turn themselves in immediately.
With the rooftop door secured, the area returned to calm silence.
Kitagawa Marin walked to the edge, scanning the city below.
Though the school building wasn't tall, it offered a decent view of the surroundings.
Fires and smoke rose from various places, and the sounds of screams and explosions echoed faintly.
Helicopters occasionally flew past, their roars cutting through the air.
The collapse of order was already taking shape.
What now?
A normal student might try to return home to check on their family.
But Marin came from a single-parent household.
Her father was often away on business trips, both domestically and overseas. She hadn't even known his recent location.
When the disaster started, she'd tried calling him—no answer.
As for her classmates from the exchange program, most were either dead or missing.
Her close friends were back in Saitama, far beyond her reach.
For the first time, Marin felt a wave of uncertainty.
But before it could sink in, a loud crash behind her snapped her out of it.
Turning around, she saw Lin Moze standing on the rooftop.
Two small craters marked the floor where he'd landed.
In his hand, he carried a bulging plastic bag.
"What's that?" Marin asked curiously.
"I saw you spacing out, so I went downstairs to grab the food and water I left earlier."
Lin Moze flipped the bag upside down, dumping out bottled water and bread.
When the apocalypse began, he hadn't known he'd get the Blacklight Virus, so he'd stocked up on essentials.
He'd left them in the equipment room earlier, but decided to retrieve them—not just to save resources, but also to test his mobility.
His experiment proved successful.
Even with his new abilities, he could scale walls like a parkour expert.
The only downside?
He hadn't unlocked gliding or flight yet—flying was still out of reach.
"You went downstairs?"
Marin glanced at the locked door and then at the craters on the edge of the rooftop.
Realization struck her, and she gasped.
"Lin-kun, your powers are amazing—way stronger than mine!"
"It's not bad. I got the Super Soldier Serum from my Starter Pack, so my base combat ability is pretty high."
Lin Moze lied without hesitation.
Then he shifted focus:
"What about you? Your disguise ability seems interesting. What exactly is it?"
If Marin had been more cautious, she might have questioned Lin Moze's sudden interest.
But she wasn't.
She answered eagerly:
"My ability is called 'Stand'—Yellow Temperance.' The golden substance you saw is part of it."
"I can use it to disguise myself and block attacks. But since it's not that big, it only forms a thin layer when covering my whole body."
Yellow Temperance?
Lin Moze's suspicions were confirmed.
It was a Stand Ability—a concept from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime series.
And Yellow Temperance was no joke.
In the anime, it could:
Form defensive armor that absorbed physical impacts and resisted extreme temperatures.
Devour organic matter to grow stronger.
Spread across enemies, consuming and assimilating them completely.
In short, Marin's potential was immense.
Even without meeting Lin Moze, she could have survived the apocalypse with enough time to adapt.
Now that Lin Moze knew this, there was no way he'd let her go.
With a slight shift in tone, he softened his voice:
"Actually, I think your power is far more impressive than you realize."