Isabella drew in a deep breath, fixing her eyes on Rover. "What exactly do you mean by being your slave?"
"Literally." Rover shrugged. "You'll become an object in my hands. If you betray me—you die."
"You'll lose your freedom, lose the right to live as a human. You'll live like my dog."
Isabella frowned, glancing at the corpses of the zombies sprawled across the floor. "Those zombies… did you really kill them?"
Rover didn't answer. Instead, he raised his finger and pointed outside.
Confused, Isabella followed the direction of his finger—only to see a zombie staggering aimlessly just beyond the glass.
Whoosh!
"What?!"
In an instant, the zombie's head was severed, tumbling across the ground before coming to a stop.
Isabella's eyes widened, filled with disbelief at the scene before her.
How… how did he do that? she thought frantically. That was at least ten meters away, with thick glass in the way… and yet he killed it as if it were nothing.
Her mind swirled with confusion, a thousand unanswered questions gnawing at her.
But at the same time, a choice formed inside her heart—a choice she would later see as the wisest decision of her life.
"I… I choose option two."
Rover frowned at her soft-spoken words, almost inaudible. "Say it louder."
Her body trembled. Before the apocalypse, she had been a proud swan perched atop society. And now… to call another man her master, to live as a slave—it tore at the remnants of her pride.
Isabella clenched her fists tightly, forcing down her shuddering voice. At last, she lowered her head and said, "Master…"
Rover nodded in satisfaction, his tone laced with mockery. "You accept becoming my slave this easily?"
Isabella stiffened, then shook her head. "Do I even have another choice?"
"You've already seen my wounds. They're infected… it's only a matter of time before I die."
"It's just that…" Her already disfigured face twisted further with rage, tears spilling down her cheeks like twin streams. "I'm only disappointed… because I never got the chance to take my revenge."
Rover caught her expression, the bitterness behind the word 'revenge', and for a fleeting moment, he felt a trace of sympathy.
They were the same—two wild wolves who had been betrayed, both consumed by vengeance. The only difference was… he was far luckier. He had the System.
She had nothing—only pain and hatred eating away at her life.
Then something struck Rover's mind. He reached into his Storage Space and pulled out a pill.
[Recovery Pill: Restores wounds and stamina to peak condition.]
He eyed the description of the pill, a thought flashing through his mind. Could this… restore her beauty as well?
Yes. If Isabella's beauty could be restored, she could become the very first member of his harem.
With that expectation gnawing at him, Rover frowned and tossed the pea-sized pill toward her. His voice was indifferent. "Swallow it."
"Huh?!" Isabella blinked in shock at the small pill.
But then she remembered—she was now his slave. Which meant she had to obey his every order.
She trembled slightly, her voice faint and hesitant. "I… my body is so weak, so ugly now… you still want me?"
Rover: "…"
Of course he knew what she meant. His brows knit, his voice turning sharp and impatient. "Just swallow it!"
"Ah! Alright…" Isabella hurriedly picked up the pill and slipped it into her mouth.
She hadn't even registered its taste before it melted instantly on her tongue.
And then—the miracle began.
Her pain vanished. The infected wounds began knitting together, new skin forming rapidly.
Her stamina surged back, her body brimming with vitality, as if she had been reborn into her prime state.
Isabella could feel the overwhelming transformation. Tears spilled down her cheeks, but this time they were tears of joy.
She turned to Rover, her eyes overflowing with gratitude and reverence, and quickly dropped to her knees.
Thud!
"Thank you, Master, I will—"
"Raise your head!"
"Ah!" Isabella flinched, cut off mid-sentence by Rover's sudden command.
Slowly, she lifted her gaze.
And there she saw it—his eyes, filled with disappointment. She knew at once… she hadn't given him what he truly wanted.
Yes. Her wounds had closed, her body restored—but her face remained disfigured. The scars were still there, clear and undeniable.
'So… this pill can't restore her beauty.' Rover felt a flicker of disappointment, though it hardly mattered.
He had strength, he had the System—finding more women would be child's play.
Paying Isabella no further attention, he began gathering everything inside the convenience store.
Isabella slowly stood and followed behind him—only to witness something even more miraculous.
Wherever Rover walked, food and supplies simply vanished.
He circled the entire store, and within moments, nearly everything was gone.
BAM!
Rover kicked down the wooden storeroom door, stepped inside for only a few seconds, then emerged again, satisfaction written across his face.
'Storage Space is truly convenient.' He thought. 'Inside, time is frozen. Anything stored will remain exactly the same no matter how long it stays in there.'
After sweeping his gaze around the shop and finding nothing else worth taking, Rover turned and left.
"W-wait for me, Master." Isabella hurried after him, her figure disappearing with his into the suffocating fog.
...
"Ha… ha…" Isabella panted heavily, struggling to keep pace with Rover.
She had no idea how long they had been walking, but her legs were numb, nearly losing all feeling.
In truth, Isabella was not weak. Before the apocalypse, she had taken good care of her body, exercised regularly, and was skilled at both swimming and mountain climbing.
Yet now, keeping up with Rover felt like running the most brutal marathon in the world.
Rover suddenly stopped, turned back, and frowned. "Tired?"
Isabella gasped for breath, forcing herself upright as she steadied her voice. "No… I'm fine, Master."
He glanced at her briefly, then turned forward again, resuming his pace.
She pushed herself to follow, but his speed was relentless. Before long, her body gave out.
"Ha… ha…" Isabella collapsed to the ground, breath ragged.
But when she looked up—Rover was nowhere in sight. Disappointment and frustration weighed down on her chest.
"Drink."
"Heh?!" Isabella jolted at the familiar voice, raising her head quickly.
Rover stood right in front of her, holding a bottle of mineral water in one hand and a wrapped convenience-store sandwich in the other.
And somehow—though she didn't understand why—those small, simple things filled her heart with an unexpected warmth.
"Thank you, Master." Isabella's voice trembled as she took the bottle of water and the sandwich Rover handed her.
He stood beside her, frowning, his gaze fixed into the distance as if he had noticed something.
"Find somewhere safe to hide for now," Rover suddenly ordered.
At his words, Isabella didn't dare hesitate. She forced her exhausted body to run into a nearby building just a few meters away.
Rover remained in the middle of the fog, eyes narrowing as he caught sight of a shadow slowly moving toward him.
"That is…"
Suddenly, the shadow vanished.
"Hm?!" Rover tensed instantly, raising his alertness to the highest level.
Even with an SSS-rank talent and an S-rank talent, there were still too many unknowns in this apocalypse.
Which was why he couldn't afford to be careless.
His instincts screamed a warning. He immediately ducked his head.
Whoosh!
A sharp gust tore past him, carrying something slimy yet unnervingly solid as it whipped through the air just above.
"Tsk!" Rover hissed and sprang forward two steps before spinning around.
But all he saw behind him was dense fog—nothing else.
What the hell was that? Rover thought grimly. Too fast… Even with my strength tripled beyond human perfection, I couldn't track it.
His brow furrowed deeply as he tried to scan the surroundings, but all he found was suffocating mist. No matter how hard he looked, there was nothing visible.
The air grew unbearably tense.
Then—
Whoosh!
A black tendril-like object shot toward him. This time, Rover didn't dodge.
His hand snapped up to block.
BAM!
The black appendage smashed against the space before him—only to stop dead, as though it had struck an invisible wall. The impact rang out sharply.
"Licker?!" Rover's eyes widened as the creature emerged into view.
It still bore faint traces of humanity, but the rest was like a monstrous, oversized reptile.
Its skin was gone, leaving exposed red muscles rippling grotesquely.
Its skull was twisted and malformed, the face torn open until its white fangs gleamed bare, like a ravenous beast.
Its eyes were gone—only two hollow, pitch-black sockets remained, making it look even more savage.
But the most terrifying part of the Licker was the very thing attacking Rover—its tongue.
Over a meter long, purple, it lashed with the flexibility of a whip yet struck with the force to pierce solid stone.
Rover recognized the monster instantly. He had seen it before—in video games.
And yet…
A creature born from human imagination—why was it standing here, in reality?