Myles glanced at the woman. Her clothes were torn in several places, her skirt now reduced to nothing more than a ragged strip around her waist.
She was left wearing only a pair of shorts that far too short to offer any real cover of his legs. If he hadn't arrived when he did, that woman would have faced something far worse than just tattered clothing.
Even so, Myles couldn't deny that she had an attractive figure. He had caught a glimpse of her bare chest earlier, her pink areolas visible beneath the torn fabric.
But he wasn't the kind of man to take advantage of someone in distress. Tearing his gaze away, he focused instead on the burning car outside the alley.
After a few moments, the woman pulled his jacket tightly around her and whispered shakily, "T-Thank you."
Myles only gave a short nod, his mind already moving to the next problem. He had a choice to make. Would he take her with him or leave her behind?
"Can you walk?" he asked.
"I... I think so," she replied. "I can walk."
"Good. Have you awakened your System?"
The woman blinked in confusion. "What?"
Myles exhaled sharply. She was clueless.
"Have you killed?" he asked, his voice devoid of emotion.
She recoiled slightly. "No... no, I haven't."
"Then you need to," Myles said coldly. His piercing gaze locked onto hers, making it clear he wasn't asking. "If you want to survive, you have to kill. If you want to come with me, you will kill. If not, I'll leave you here."
The woman stared at him, stunned into silence.
She stared at Myles, her expression changin between shock and disbelief. Her lips parted as if to argue that what he said was soo evil, but right now this is the reality.
Kill or be left behind.
Her trembling fingers tightened around the jacket he had given her, pulling it closer to herself.
The three men lay motionless, their bodies cooling rapidly in death. This man in front of him had just killed them in the blink of an eye. How can he be so cold on doing so?
Myles sighed, his patience wearing thin. "Decide now. I don't have time to babysit someone who isn't willing to do what it takes."
The woman swallowed hard, her breath unsteady. Her wide eyes flickered between the corpses and Myles.
He was too calm for someone who had just taken three lives in mere seconds. There was no hesitation in his voice. A certainty that terrified her.
Finally, she spoke. "I... I don't know if I can."
Myles shook his head, exhaling through his nose. "Then you'll die. Maybe not right now, but soon."
He turned to leave, stepping over one of the bodies as if it were nothing more than an obstacle. He didn't have the luxury of dragging along dead weight. The survival on this kind of world were depended on efficiency, not sentimentality.
"Wait!" she called out, scrambling to her feet. Her legs wobbled, but she steadied herself. "I... I'll try."
Myles stopped, glancing over his shoulder. "You sure?"
The woman hesitated, her fingers tightening into fists. She knew he was right. This world was merciless now even though just few hours passed.
If she didn't adapt, she'd end up dead.
"I'll do it. I'll kill if I have to," the woman said.
Myles studied her for a moment, then gave a single nod. "Good. Then follow me."
The woman nodded quickly.
Myles turned and began walking out of the alley, his pace brisk but controlled.
The woman trailed after him, glancing once more at the dead men before forcing herself to look away. She didn't even know this stranger's name but he was the only chance she had now to survive.
Myles glanced around the opening of the alley and scanning the streets. The city was overrun with mutated human and animals but not as many as he had expected.
Something felt off. The streets should have been teeming with people but he saw no more than a dozen people scattered in the distance.
Where was everyone?
The absence of human activity unsettled him more than the monsters themselves. This city had been densely populated. Now, its too quiet.
A soft voice interrupted his thoughts. "My name is Nadine. What's your name?"
Myles turned his head slightly before answering. "Myles."
"Do you know why the world became like this?" Nadine asked.
"No," Myles said flatly. "Is knowing the cause helping us for survival right now?"
Even though he knew about the Etherfall because Lilian had explained it to him, right now knowing the cause wouldn't change the reality of survival. So there's no point in explaining it right now.
Nadine bit her lip, then she sighed. "No... I guess it doesn't matter."
"Exactly." Myles said. "Right now, the only thing that matters is staying alive and getting stronger."
A movement caught his eye. A figure stumbling towards them from the wreckage of a nearby street. A mutated man. His flesh was pallid, skin stretched too tightly over elongated limbs, his jaw slack, and the horns jutting out from all over his body.
Myles exhaled and pulled the large kitchen knife from his belt, flipping it in his grip before holding it out to Nadine. "I'll bring him here. You kill him."
Nadine's breath hitched. "What?"
"You said you'd do it." Myles said coldly. "Now's your chance."
She stared at the blade, her fingers trembling as she hesitated to take it. Her stomach twisted and bile rising in her throat at the thought of plunging it into another living thing — even if that thing wasn't entirely living anymore.
Myles didn't wait for her answer. He turned and stepped forward, making a sharp sound with his boot against the pavement.
The mutated man's head jerked in his direction and with a gurgling growl, it run at him.
Myles sidestepped effortlessly, leading it toward the alley. "Get ready."
Nadine's grip on the knife tightened. Her heart pounded when she saw the mutated man appeared, her instincts screaming at her to run. But if she ran now she would never survive out here. Myles had made that clear.
The creature lurched toward her. Then Myles tripped his leg and the man fall face first.
Nadine's pulse roared in her ears as she raised the knife with unsteady hands.
Myles stood to the side. "Do it! Stab his brain, quick!"
The creature snarled, its mouth stretching unnaturally wide as it tried to get up.
Nadine squeezed her eyes shut and drove the blade toward its head.
The impact jolted her arm and for a brief second she felt resistance when bone resisting the intrusion of cold steel. But Nadide keep pushing and stabbing few times until the knife hitting the mutated man's brain.
A strangled noise escaped the creature's throat as its body jerked, spasmed... then stop moving.
Nadine gasped. She could feel the warmth of its blood on her hands. Her stomach churned violently, but she didn't throw up.
Myles nodded slightly. "Good."
She looked up at him, her hands still shaking. "I—"
"No time for that," he cut in. He reached down, yanked the knife from the corpse and wiped the blade clean on its ragged clothing before handing it back to her. "You've killed now. Let's go."
Nadine swallowed hard, still trying to process what she had done. Because now, she was a killer.
[You have successfully defeated a Rank F-Mutated Soul.]
[You have been granted The System.]
Nadine saw the notification for the first time.
"Your system awakened now, right?" Myles said.
"Y-Yes."
"Good. Now we have to hunt more creature."
---