Ethan began dragging the cabinet toward the door, shoving it into place to block the entrance.
"What are you doing? Are you nuts?" Dan stared at him like he was the most idiotic person he's ever known.
"It's almost time…" Ethan muttered.
Right on cue, the screams start. They bleed through the walls, filling the room. Outside, the people who had been watching the falling insect phenomenon are now begging for their lives.
"Help! Argh!!!"
"No!!! Go away!!! Help!!!"
"What is this? I-I don't want to die!"
Dan's heart begins to palpitate. He lunges toward the window to see what's happening, but Ethan stops him mid-motion.
"Don't look."
Hearing that, Dan's face turns a deep, burning red.
"What are you saying? People are asking for help outside, Ethan!"
He lunges forward and grabs Ethan by the collar, shaking him. Ethan doesn't fight back; he just stands there, weathering the outburst.
He remembers reacting the same way when he first witnessed this nightmare.
Ethan already knew what was happening outside.
The insects had taken them.
Soon, people would start calling them zombies.
It's a parasitic phenomenon: the insects regain consciousness and seize the host just to stay alive.
Even the insects Ethan picked up earlier aren't exceptions to this rule.
The only difference is that merging with a parasite that has specific traits is relatively safer than merging with a pure one.
Ethan looks Dan dead in the eye, his voice dropping to a chilling edge.
"What are you going to do—get killed together with them?"
Dan stares at him, his face twisting into disbelief.
"Ethan… I didn't know you were this kind of person. Didn't we promise each other to save other people in need?"
Disappointment is written all over his face, heavy and sharp.
Ethan shook. His heart beats faster.
'What… since when did I become this cold-hearted?'
He recoils as the realization hits him. He had spoken as if the people dying outside weren't even his problem.
'Was it because I was used to people dying already?' No—he knows it deep inside. Something is changing.
"N-No…" his voice cracks.
"And you seem to know things… why didn't you warn others earlier?" Dan presses, his voice rising.
"I thought they wouldn't believe me... I was just thinking logically—" Ethan tries to explain, but Dan won't listen. He cuts him off.
"But you could at least save a few!" Dan's gaze falls on Ethan, full of disbelief. It's as if the person standing in front of him isn't the best friend he's known for years.
Ethan clenches his jaw. Dan is right.
'Why didn't I do that?' He questions himself.
The truth is, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He had been too busy picking a parasite for Dan to merge with later on.
'Was I too tired after being betrayed by my people countless times?'
His heart tightens.
He is changing, and for the first time, he notices it.
Dan starts moving toward the cabinet, his hands gripping the wood to shove it aside.
He was about to walk out when his consciousness suddenly faded.
With a heavy thud, he collapses onto the cold flooring of the apartment.
Ethan stands over him, his hand still positioned from the precise strike to the back of Dan's head.
"I'm sorry, Dan… but I can't afford to lose you again."
He hooks his arms under Dan, hoisting his limp body up and laying him onto the couch.
Ethan sat beside Dan, still listening.
The screams outside are growing quieter with every passing minute. It's the sign—the dying gasps of those being taken over.
In his past life, only the two of them had survived this block.
Back then, it was because Ethan was paralyzed by a fear of bugs, locking every window and door, and Dan had stayed behind simply to comfort his friend.
The final scream dies out into a ringing silence.
Ethan stands.
"It's time…"
He heads to his room and picks up a fire axe. He looks at Dan once again, then leaves the apartment, locking the door properly behind him.
The reason he looked for Dan's strain first was to make him evolve first, but now, that plan was clearly not the right choice. He could only do this himself.
In his previous life, only one human had obtained the dual core.
Him.
And it had started with ten kills.
He muttered the words to himself, but the moment he exited the apartment room, something lunges.
"GRRR—"
A man with a head that looks exactly like an octopus charges toward him.
This is what a human who failed to merge with a pure parasite looks like—no longer human, with no way back.
Ethan grits his teeth. He grips the axe.
He doesn't dodge; he waits for the monster to close the distance at high speed. Then, he strikes.
THUD—CRACK.
The blade bites into its skull.
The impact numbs his wrists.
The octopus head burst, blood spraying across his body.
Ethan wipes the gore from his face to regain his vision and moves forward.
"I'm sorry…" he mutters, looking back at the man lying flat on the ground with a burst head.
He tells himself it's necessary.
It still feels wrong.
"Fuck!"
He runs.
He bolts toward the first floor.
Two more monsters appear.
One lunges.
Ethan ducks and swings.
CRACK.
The axe sinks halfway in.
He yanks it out with effort.
"Three…" he counts.
He needs to be quick. If others kill ten first, he won't get the dual core. And with every second, these things are changing. They're evolving.
He bursts onto the street and skids to a halt. Twenty monsters. All of them stop. All of them look at him.
"Shit. I'm dead."
He pivots and bolts back into the apartment, luring them into the narrow, cramped staircase.
It's a bottleneck.
One by one, they scramble up after him—
And one by one, he meets them with the axe.
THUD.
CRACK.
The blade chips slightly after repeated blows.
His arms begin to tremble.
Their bodies are tough, but their heads…
Still the same weakness.
He loses count.
His breath comes in ragged, burning gasps.
After the twentieth falls, Ethan leans against the wall, gasping.
"Did I make it…?"
For a moment, nothing happens.
Then—
A blue screen flickers into existence.
[ CONGRATULATIONS: REWARD ELIGIBILITY CONFIRMED ]
[ INITIALIZING EVALUATION... ]
[ NOTICE: PLAYER KILL COUNT EXCEEDS BASE REQUIREMENTS ]
[ KILL COUNTS: 23 / 10 ]
[ CALCULATING ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE BONUSES... ]
Rewards:
Dual-Core (Mythical)
Gacha Box (Random Weapon)
5 stat points
"This… is more than my previous life."