Ethan eventually joined the humans, taking shelter with them inside an abandoned building. They had purposely chosen the rooftop, hoping to avoid monsters, since only a few could climb that high.
They were setting up tents, lighting a fire, even pulling out a grill and boiling water. It was surprisingly well-organized.
The leader of the party turned out to be Ash, the loudest and, frankly, the most annoying one in the group.
Ethan sat off to the side, watching silently as the meat began to sizzle over the flames, its juices bubbling and dripping down onto the fire. Despite how ridiculous it was... he could see and hear it all vividly. And yet, his damned skeleton body had no sense of smell. No taste. Nothing.
Wouldn't it be enough, just once, to be able to inhale the rich, savory aroma of roasting meat?
He almost drooled, if that were still physically possible. It was as if he could feel his stomach growling inside the hollow of his ribcage... even though he didn't have one.
Not being able to feel pain was its own kind of blessing, sure. It let him fight like a madman without fear. But what good was leveling up so quickly if he couldn't even enjoy the basic pleasures of life?
Like eating. Drinking. And even...
He glanced briefly at Diora.
He hadn't even gotten the chance to get married before that stupid desk came crashing down on him and ended it all.
Coren, the gunner, was tending to Ash's injuries, carefully pouring a crimson liquid from a small vial onto his wounds. The effect was instant, Ash's cuts and bruises visibly began to heal.
Apparently, humans had learned how to refine whatever magical essence monsters left behind. Be it from their bodies or their cores, into practical items like this.
No wonder they'd said hunting in this region was more trouble than it was worth. Just preparing for survival here demanded so much, healing potions, upgraded weapons, armor, and every other necessity they needed to stay alive.
"Mr. Skell…"
Ethan turned his head as Diora approached him. She stepped closer to where he sat on a chunk of broken wall.
"Do you like it raw… barely touched? Or maybe just a little rare. Still juicy in the middle? Or…" her smile curled, "do you prefer it hot and slow… roasted until it drips?"
"What?"
"I mean, the meat."
Ethan liked his meat raw. He was a monster, after all. Unfortunately, he was the skeleton type… so it didn't matter either way.
He couldn't taste it. Couldn't enjoy it. And that made all this roasted temptation feel like a cruel joke.
"No, thanks. I don't eat…" Ethan replied flatly.
Diora paused, tilting her head just a bit, her eyes narrowing playfully.
"Oh, don't worry… this meat's perfectly safe. No poison. Nothing that'll rot your bones…" She leaned in slightly. "Just tender, juicy, and… slides down real easy if you give it a chance."
"I have my own way to satisfy my hunger," Ethan replied coolly.
Seriously… was it just him, or was this woman's choice of words a little too... suggestive? Or was his undead brain just misfiring?
Diora didn't miss a beat. She gave a soft laugh, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Oh? Well, now I'm curious what kind of taste you have… Maybe I can match it," she said, her smile lingering. "I'm pretty flexible. I can adjust the meat however you like it…"
Cough...
Ethan cleared his throat, more out of habit than need, and tried his best to brush the woman off.
"Can we talk about the Maze already?"
That got their attention.
The rest of her party looked up, pausing whatever they were doing. Ash, having just finished treating his wounds, stood and waved the others over to sit together and eat the meat they'd prepared.
The morning sun had started to rise, casting a warm light across the rooftop. Ethan made sure he was well-covered.
As they ate, Ash began rambling again, long-winded, animated, and clearly trying to steer the conversation away from the subject Ethan had brought up.
But Ethan wasn't fooled. Not after what he'd seen.
Because the moment he defeated the zombie monster, he'd received something. Something they were all looking for. Something they knew was valuable.
[Item Acquired – "Deathbloom Emblem"]
[Item - Deathbloom Emblem: Binds to its user upon activation and grants access to the sealed entrance of The Mausoleum of Thorns labyrinth. One-time use.]
This had to be the key they were all talking about. The one needed to enter the Maze.
But Ethan still wasn't entirely sure what Maze they meant. Was it something like the dungeons he used to know from RPGs back in his gaming days?
Most likely.
It seemed that to access these places, one had to first hunt down a specific monster, like that zombie monster, and obtain the key. Only then could they enter the Maze or dungeon, and face whatever challenge awaited within.
The rewards were probably incredible. But the danger? The risk of death was almost guaranteed.
Still… if the Maze was filled with monsters, and offered a fast track to leveling up? That was worth considering. Especially for someone like him.
After all, what was there for Ethan to fear?
He was already dead. And more importantly, death couldn't touch him anymore.
But instead of answering his question, Ash veered off into another ramble, changing the topic entirely. And while Ethan couldn't care less about anything other than the Maze, even he had to admit… some of it was new to him.
"I used to live around here," the ever-annoying party leader began, as if delivering a morning bedtime story. "But then the Doom hit, and we were forced to evacuate. Monsters started flooding the streets, and nearly everyone in the city was wiped out. A few managed to escape before the calamity spread too far."
So that explained why there were no human settlements around this place anymore.
Ash continued talking, and Ethan, despite himself, began to piece together a broader picture of what had happened over the past five years.
It turned out that only a small portion of people were granted abilities from the System. Most of them received starter packs similar to his own: a basic skill or two, an item, and some stat points. Nothing game-breaking.
Except for the lucky few who were gifted high-tier skills, rare-grade items, or even unique stats from the start. Those individuals surged ahead, gaining strength faster, outpacing the rest. Eventually, a new society began to take shape around them.
That's how the Hunter Association came to be. Though Ethan still didn't get why they were called hunters and not something like awakeners. But whatever.
The job of these hunters was to deal with something they called the Maze, essentially dungeons or dimensional rifts that transported them into enclosed zones filled with monsters.
The reason was if those monsters weren't eliminated inside the Maze… they'd break out and wreak havoc on the world outside. Which was exactly what had happened here.
Humans had begun building new settlements, though cities was hardly the right word. These were more like Fort Zones, isolated sectors fortified with towering walls, built to keep the monsters out rather than welcome anything in.
They were truly living in a new era.
Hunters roamed the outside, risking their lives daily to fend off threats, while the rest huddled within those walls, surviving under the constant shadow of fear. No one ever knew when it would be their turn. When death might come knocking next.
From what Ethan had gathered, nearly half of Earth's population had perished within just those short years. The scale of it was terrifying, more horrifying than anything Ethan could have imagined.
And yet, even with everything falling apart, people were still trying to live… trying to hold on.
Those with power quickly rose to the top, taking the reins of leadership and shaping a new world from the ashes. In the span of mere months, the old social structures of nations collapsed completely. The idea of countries became meaningless in this post-apocalyptic phase.
Still, traces of them remained, fragments of former nations, now reshaped and renamed. Instead of countries, they were now called Unions. Territorial alliances forged from what used to be smaller independent nations.
Each Union was ruled by the strongest among them, and the world was now governed by their strength, their laws, and their vision for survival.