It was true.
He was an idiot sandwich because, like an idiot, Zaen got himself sandwiched between two anomalies.
The waitress turned around, and her eyeballs shot towards him. He tried to duck and dodge, but the chef's hulking silhouette grabbed his hand and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.
Whatever those eyeballs were, the anomalies wanted him to get hit by them. Zaen couldn't have that.
With the stick in his free hand, he hit one of the eyeballs, sending it hurling towards another customer. As the eyeball crashed into the guy, there was a deafening explosion.
[2x Carnivorous spawn killed! Exp +100]
[Total Exp: 160/900]
Ignoring the notifications, Zaen hit the second eyeball too, but this time the waitress was his target. Unfortunately, the latter was quick on her feet and jumped to the ceiling and stuck to it like a spider.
[Carnivorous spawn killed! Exp +50]
[Total Exp: 210/900]
That's when Zaen realized something.
Anyone who had eaten their flesh had been turned into anomalous entities. Otherwise, it didn't make sense for him to get experience points from killing them.
The information only troubled him more because he realized that on top of two boss-type anomalies, he also had to deal with seventeen mob-type anomalies, and all he had were some throwing knives, a stick, and a butcher knife.
He crunched up and hit the chef's hand with all his might.
[Total damage dealt: 238]
[Hellish Chef's HP: 3,762/4,000]
The anomaly roared in agony and let him go. Now on the ground, Zaen didn't waste any time.
Thanks to his improved perception, he could see the mob anomalies and immediately swapped both the stick and butchering knife for throwing knives.
Game logic 101: Deal with the mob first.
Zaen threw the knives at the people who were busy stuffing their faces. It made them easier targets since they didn't react to the chaos.
[5x Carnivorous spawn killed! Exp +250]
[Total Exp: 460/900]
"My aim is shit!"
Ten throws and five kills.
A success rate of 50% was abysmal in his 'eyes'. But it wasn't his fault. Those minions kept ducking randomly to eat their flesh. Hence, it was difficult to hit them from a distance.
Just as he was about to throw more knives, he heard a roar behind him. The chef was on his ass! As he charged towards him, the chef crushed many minions, turning them into a bloody paste.
"There goes my precious experience," Zaen gritted his teeth, but kept running.
Since the room was small, he had to improvise. Thankfully, the experience from the obstacle course was still fresh in his mind as he jumped from one table to another at random.
As he did, he kept hitting the minions with the stick, blowing their heads off with one strike.
[7x Carnivorous spawn killed! Exp +350]
[Total Exp: 810/900]
"That was the last of them!" Zaen exclaimed.
However, before he could celebrate, he noticed something in the chef's hand. Because of his perception, he didn't have to turn around to see something. Everything within a ten-meter radius was shown to him.
Is that a knife? Fuck, that's a sword more than a knife.
For a three-meter-tall giant, its weapon of choice also had to be large.
But a boning knife half as tall as me… isn't that just absurd!?
As much as Zaen complained about it, he couldn't deny the allure of possessing such a weapon.
Wait… how can I see the weapon?
Other than the stick and the throwing knives, he couldn't see other weapons. Even the butchering knife he had in his hand, he could only feel it, not see it.
But he could clearly see the boning knife.
It has to be a Slayer weapon! But what was it doing in the hands of an anomaly?
Before he could wonder about it, the giant swung the knife at him. Zaen jumped off the table as it got destroyed, along with the remains of the last minion Zaen had killed.
[HP -22]
[HP -17]
[HP -39]
[HP: 3,122/3,200]
The boning knife had to have some special abilities because the table literally exploded upon contact, sending massive wood chunks everywhere.
Zaen couldn't see them and ended up being impaled by them. Although they didn't take much of his HP, it still hurt.
The situation wasn't all bad.
The knife's explosive strength had a weakness, as it broke through the ground and was stuck in it. The chef was trying his best to pull it out, but Zaen wasn't going to let him.
He jumped towards the anomaly, aiming for the neck. Anomaly or human, it didn't matter. As long as they had a spine, he could break it with the stick.
However, just as he was about to hit the chef, a fleshy tentacle struck him.
[HP -119]
[HP: 3,003/3,200]
Zaen was flung away and crashed into half a dozen tables before stopping after hitting the wall. Blood drizzled out of his mouth and forehead as he leaned against it.
In his haste, he had almost forgotten about the waitress until the moment she struck.
She's too fast.
Although Zaen had sensed the attack, he was too slow to react and got hit.
[You've been affected by
[Bleed Effect: Status effect. Makes the target lose 2% of its maximum HP per second for the next 10 seconds. This effect can be stacked 5 times before entering a cool-down period of 5 seconds.]
[You're bleeding. You'll lose 64 HP/second for the next 10 seconds.]
…I see.
Zaen had wondered why it hurt like hell even though he had only lost 119 HP. The bleed effect was causing the pain, but he had a way to deal with it.
"Gotta give it to you," Zaen smirked at the waitress. "Even though you're an anomaly, you don't compromise on hospitality."
He grabbed the red vial next to him and poured it onto his head.
[Blood sealant used. Bleeding has stopped.]
Since the customers had been too busy eating, most of them hadn't used the provided sealant.
Each table was given ten sealants, and there were twenty-one tables, which meant Zaen had over two hundred sealants at his disposal. Bleeding out was the least of his concerns.
The waitress snarled at him, knowing they were at a disadvantage. Ignoring the chef's attack, the waitress's primary source of damage was bleeding. Take that from her, and it was easy to deal with her.