As before, Watson hands me a piece of bread.
I eat the bread slowly and when I finish, I drink the bottle of water I was carrying in my backpack. We agree that I will sleep first, so that I can be alert in case there is an unexpected incident during the terrifying hours.
••••
When I wake up, I tell Watson that it's his turn to sleep, while I stay alert.
Watson had taken out a blanket and was sleeping in a corner of the basement.
Even though these are the hours when scary things happen, the night is very quiet.
Apparently, the aspiring hunters decided they would only hunt during the day; yesterday was a harsh reality check.
I guess they're going to wait until Monday to send a report requesting the participation of the hunters from Rodem City.
"Although not as many mysterious doors are appearing, if the number of monsters and supernatural beings increases in one place, the hunters are the first to show up to take care of closing any mysterious doors that appear, since most of the nightmares arose from the mysterious doors that opened. I hope that's not the case," I think to myself as the minutes pass and then the hours.
Watson wakes up at 4 a.m., and I decide to go back to sleep for another two hours, so I tell him to wake me up at 6 a.m.
••••
When we wake up, we hear footsteps above us. I recognize the footsteps. They are zombies, but I am concerned because there are not dozens or hundreds of them, there are almost 1,000 zombies above us.
I lie down on the floor, rest my head on my backpack, and say to Watson:
-For there to be so many zombies, they're probably coming out of a door that's about to open.
-That's... that's true. -Watson nods nervously as he looks at the deteriorated ceiling of the basement, from which concrete dust falls as it struggles to withstand the weight of nearly a thousand zombies.
"Damn zombie. It must have brought a lot of its friends," I think to myself, then get up and start stretching my body. It's good to avoid sudden movements when you're cold.
-Watson. How far do you want to go in this life? -I ask him.
Watson clings to his backpack without taking his eyes off the ceiling and then answers me, still with some fear in his voice:
-I want to be a successful hunter.
-So, never betray those who have decided to believe in your talent. -I say to Watson as I lend him Scarlet Rose.
I look at him firmly and say:
-If anything opens that door, shoot. Hold the revolver tightly; it has a very powerful shot." I'll knock three times, pause, knock twice, pause again, and knock three times. If there's no knocking on the basement door, don't hesitate to shoot if the door opens.
Watson nods, holding the revolver in his hands.
-You bastard. Don't go committing suicide with my daughter. -I say jokingly.
He nods again. I take a deep breath and ask in my mind:
"System, how many fear points do I have?
[Fear points available: 44.85]
"System, put 10 points in health; 10 points in endurance; 10 points in fear; and the rest in my favorite quality, strength."
[Health: increased from 10 to 20]
[Resistance: increased from 21.1 to 31.1]
[Fear: increased from 35.5 to 45.5]
[Strength: increased from 20.6 to 35.45]
"It feels so good to get stronger," I think as I wield the blue dagger. I look at Watson and he nods.
I open the door and rush out quickly enough to slam the door shut behind me.
I infuse my fear into my body and jump forcefully toward a space in one of the walls where there must have been a window.
I immediately infuse my fear into the dagger I hold and scream as I run.
"Sons of bitches! You want food? Follow me!"
I hear footsteps approaching, but I don't stop. I'm not stupid enough to fight a tide of zombies surrounding me. I need to find an enclosed place to ensure my survival.
I hear the screams, moans, and even growls of the zombies.
I run for several minutes until I see some ruined buildings. They are in terrible condition, but there is a small alley between the two buildings.
I run toward the alley between the two ruined buildings.
The zombies rush desperately toward me.
Cut!
Cut!
Cut!
I cut again and again, putrid fluids splatter, limbs fall, heads fall, rotten flesh falls off, worms wriggle among the foul-smelling liquid that has flooded the ground I walk on. ...
[You have killed an F-rank human: +0.05]
[You have killed an F-rank human: +0.07]
[You have killed an F-rank human: +0.05]
[You have killed a 1-skull monster: +0.06]
[You have killed an F-rank human: +0.05]
[You have killed an F-rank human: +0.06]
[You have killed a 1-skull monster: +0.065]
...
"What a bastard you are, system," I think, almost hilariously, when I see how low the rewards are, but I ignore them and keep killing zombies until the buildings on either side begin to shake and I quickly move away from the alley.
You can hear the roar caused by the collapsing buildings. Some zombies were crushed to death. Although I didn't get any points, it was satisfying.
I start running, sharpening my hunter's senses, as the noise could have attracted the attention of some monster in the vicinity.
As I run, I try to run in circles without straying too far from the building with the basement where Watson is.
As I run, I jump using my strength to dodge the sudden leaps of some long-armed zombies. I could easily kill them, but in the process I would be surrounded by zombies. It would be like a huge insect surrounded by ants; in the end, I would just be eaten.