Maxwell continued to move slowly forward, having already reached the location of the flying club, the area between Westwood Country Park and Blackburn Valley Trail. At that moment, something unexpected happened, something he truly never imagined would occur:
[Sense ability activated, one of the story's supporting characters is within a one-kilometre radius.
User's status has increased by 10%.]
Maxwell suddenly stopped in his tracks at this system notification that appeared before him. A strange feeling came over him. He could really sense that someone was close by, not that someone was watching him... he was just aware of someone, someone nearby.
He turned his head towards where the feeling came from, to his left. This was the direction he needed to go to deliver the order, the vast area between Valley Trail and the Fishing Pond, but the person Maxwell sensed was much closer.
What's more, they were getting closer to him. Maxwell could feel this very clearly.
Maxwell knew he wouldn't be harmed, and frankly, since this ability was working for the first time, his body trembled with excitement.
This was different from the first time he had seen Elise, as a real, living person, because Maxwell had felt pity for her due to the young woman's tragic story.
This was different.
Maxwell was filled with adrenaline from head to toe and began walking slowly towards where the sensation was coming from.
Within a short time, he saw several people walking towards him from the clearing and stopped.
When the people approaching him got close, they paused, keeping their distance.
Maxwell immediately looked at the man at the front of the group.
He had a white beard, black hair, a moustache curled like the villains in Hollywood films, and, like the rest of the group, wore a leather jacket, jeans, and had a sword at his waist. The old man looked to be around 45 or 50 years old.
This person was someone Maxwell didn't even know was here, a man who was introduced in the fourth book of the story.
So why had his ability been triggered...It didn't make much sense that an ability Elise couldn't trigger had been triggered by someone who had been introduced into the story after her.
"I suppose you didn't see the warnings," said the old man.
His name was Callum Brightstone.
He was a swordsman who hated the main character but still managed to think about humanity even in such a shitty world, choosing to save others rather than succumbing to his hatred.
Callum was the very man who would appear in the fourth book of the series and be seen as hundreds of times more powerful than the main character.
"Sword Saint," Maxwell thought to himself.
The man before him was someone who had awakened with an [SSS-Class] class in this world, and many of his abilities were unique and legendary in nature, meaning they were of A-Class and S-Class calibre.
In short, he was a walking killing machine.
His death, however… it would be fair to say it was not exactly peaceful.
"I didn't see a warning, no, but I came here for a job anyway," Maxwell replied, standing tall, unafraid, and, frankly, behaving with more respect than even he would have expected of himself.
"You're stupid enough to come here even though we couldn't find the area covered in zombie blood, young man. Tell me, who are you?" Callum had said.
When Maxwell heard these words, he reached into his inventory, took out the ordered materials, and replied, "I'm here for a delivery. I have to make the delivery to your settlement. I'm a Delivery Driver."
At that moment, the group members, who were on high alert, and of course Callum, let go of the position they were in, ready to reach for their weapons. They were calm now. It would be fair to say they were looking at Maxwell in utter bewilderment.
"So it's you? You're the reason that the shop window suddenly appeared in front of us a few days ago, right?" Callum said suddenly, gesturing for Maxwell to follow him in a way Maxwell hadn't expected.
After putting the order back in his inventory, Maxwell began to follow the group, not forgetting to say, "Yes, I suppose so."
"You know what?" Callum said suddenly, walking along while seeming to take a real interest in Maxwell.
"What?" Maxwell asked.
"A few days ago, when we first saw those shop windows, the things the system showed us, we were quite surprised. It was incredible that we could buy as much food, drink, clothing, and even weapons as we wanted with things as worthless as Energy Stones. Still, the funny thing is... that wasn't even the strangest thing to us," Callum said.
"What is it?" Maxwell couldn't help but ask.
When he asked this question, a woman in the group turned to him and replied, "Not only can awakened people use this system, young man, but normal people too. In short, this thing is, in a way, a lifesaver. Normal people wouldn't even be able to live easily, yet if your power can reach up to many...and if you can bring those things to them, not sure how many people you can save."
When Maxwell heard these words, he began to get a deeper understanding of how the system worked. After all, he didn't even know how the people who sent delivery requests were selected, which had been a big mystery to him, but now the veil on that subject seemed to have been lifted.
"Maybe only people who have killed zombies can place orders," Maxwell said, clearly indicating that he didn't really know how his ability worked.
"That's possible. Now that you mention it, I remember that some of the children and elderly people couldn't see this window..." Callum said.
With these words, the group had approached the area.
Maxwell could see that this area, previously covered with trees, had been cleared of trees and that huts had been built on top of it.
Still, there was another sight he hadn't expected. The sight that was so awful that just looking at it could make your hair stand on end.
A sight he truly found disgusting.