Before leaving, Ethan and Dan put on their denim jackets and wrapped scarves around their necks while wearing thick jeans, leather gloves, and trail running shoes.
And lastly, they put on their motorcycle helmets.
Claire, who was watching them, almost burst into laughter.
"What the hell, guys? Aren't you weirdly too prepared for this?"
Ethan and Dan looked at her at the same time.
"It's my hobby to stack up costumes just in case…" Dan replied, while Ethan just nodded.
"Weirdos…" Claire rolled her eyes.
"It's better than getting bitten and infected," Dan said defensively. "How about you? I still have some here… though they're all for men."
Claire immediately disagreed.
"Nah, I'm good. I have low stamina, and if I put those on, I'll be dead weight," she explained.
"Oh, is that so? Alright."
Then, Ethan handed both of them an empty backpack.
"What's this for?" Claire looked confused.
"We're going to the nearest convenience store. You should put your food in there," Ethan explained to Dan and Claire while he also grabbed his own backpack.
"Don't we have an inventory, though?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's not for food. It's for weapons and system items."
Ethan grabbed a bottle of water and tried to put it in his inventory, only for it to fall to the ground.
"See? Now, is everyone ready? Let's go."
After confirming the plan, they finally headed out. Ethan took the lead while Claire stayed in the middle and Dan watched the back.
Because Ethan had already cleared most of the apartment building's first floor, there weren't many monsters left—only a couple that had wandered in from outside.
At the entrance, Ethan halted.
Monsters were scattered everywhere across the road.
They were the neighbors who had been outside watching the rain of insects earlier. There were also some pets that had turned into monsters, especially dogs.
The convenience store was quite a distance from their apartment. Ethan looked back at Claire.
"How many minutes do you need to activate your strongest crowd control?"
Claire checked her screen.
"It says ten minutes, but I can't move until I finished chanting."
Ethan nodded. "Start chanting. Exactly nine minutes from now, I'll aggro them and lure them back here. Dan will stay behind to protect you. Do you think you'll be able to stop their movements?"
"Hmm… I think I can do that. Okay, let's give it a try."
The chanting began, and they stayed still for eight minutes straight.
Then, Ethan slipped out of the apartment gate and bolted.
It caught the attention of every mindless monster nearby, and they started chasing him.
While running, he opened his status window.
---
[ STATUS WINDOW ]
Name: Ethan
Strain: (Dual)
Parasite: None
Ability: None
STRENGTH: 8
AGILITY: 10
ENDURANCE: 7
INTELLIGENCE: 10
Current stat points: 5
---
"Put three points in Agility and two in Strength."
---
AGILITY: 10 → 13
STRENGTH: 8 → 10
Current Stat Points: 5 → 0
---
Ethan felt it immediately.
His body felt lighter, and his speed was definitely faster than before.
After luring them all, he checked his watch.
Exactly nine minutes had passed since Claire cast her spell.
He ran back, the monsters right on his heels.
At exactly ten minutes, he dove through the apartment gate. Right then, Claire triggered her strongest crowd control ability.
"Static Field!"
The monsters chasing Ethan froze. The ground beneath them turned to ice, locking them in place.
"GROWL!"
They started to struggle, fighting the frost.
"Hurry! I can't hold this for long!" Claire shouted.
Ethan and Dan nodded.
They charged out, smashing heads with a fire axe and a battle mace.
They killed nearly thirty of them. By the time they were done, their clothes were soaked in the blood of the monsters they'd just put down.
The two collapsed among the corpses, gasping for air.
Ethan looked over at Dan; his friend's hands were still shaking.
He understood.
Even though they were monsters now, they had been humans just a few hours ago.
He looked at his friend but couldn't find the words. He didn't feel like he had the right to say anything anyway.
All he could do was hope Dan would adapt to this new, horrible reality.
After clearing the monsters in the vicinity, the three walked in silence. No one dared to speak.
After walking for almost five minutes, they finally reached the convenience store.
The store's glass windows were burst open; shattered glass was scattered around the entrances, and fresh blood was everywhere but there was no one around.
Not even a corpse.
The convenience store was deserted.
'I'm finally here,' Ethan muttered to himself.
Yes, their goal was to stack food, but that wasn't the only reason he had come here.
In his previous life, he had come here with Dan, and this was where he found his physical strain. The missing bodies were the doing of this Physical-type parasite.
He immediately entered the store.
"Stay here; this place is weirdly silent. I'll go check it first," he said, turning around to warn Claire and Dan.
"What are you saying? If it's dangerous, it's better that the three of us check it out," Dan strongly disagreed.
But Ethan didn't back down.
It was true that this was incredibly dangerous; in his previous life, he had almost lost his life to acquire that strain.
Seeing that Dan wasn't backing down either, Ethan could only do one thing: target his weakness.
He looked back with a grim expression.
"Dan… are you going to let everyone get killed if there's really something in here?"
Dan froze. "N-No… that's not what I meant, dude."
"I know… but that's also a possibility, so just wait for me here."
"Then let's go together," Dan insisted.
"How about Claire? What will happen if a horde of monsters shows up? You know she can't handle it alone."
"That…" Dan hesitantly looked at Claire.
"Just stay here with her and wait for me," Ethan said one last time before heading inside.
Dan couldn't say anything more and could only watch Ethan's back.
He clenched his knuckles fiercely until blood dripped down his palm.
"Fuck!"
---
[ STATUS WINDOW ]
Name: Dan
Core: Solo
Strain: Physical/Ferrum Strain
Parasite: Metal-type Parasite (Unique)
Ability: Metal Metamorphosis
STRENGTH: 9
AGILITY: 6
ENDURANCE: 10
---
[ STATUS WINDOW ]
Name: Claire
Core: Solo
Strain: Elemental/Gelum Strain
Parasite: Ice-type Parasite (Unique)
Ability: Absolute Zero
INTELLIGENCE: 15