Two men stood outside the storage room in the gaming store, each holding a weapon.
The entire place had been destroyed after the huge fight broke out. Those who managed to have killed someone and completed the quest were placed in an invisible barrier that protected them from anyone who wanted to attack them.
So far, only five people seemed to have completed the quest; some had already run out of the store, but considering what awaited them outside, there was no doubt they were already dead.
That left only two people, two of whom were best friends and hadn't gotten the opportunity to kill anyone else.
(Time remaining: 10:11 minutes.)
They were aggravated and desperate, especially after knowing two people had managed to hide themselves inside the room during the chaos.
"Bastards! Open this damn door! We just want to talk!"
The man holding the bat slammed it against the door, forcefully trying to get his way through.
There was no way he was going to kill his friend when he could just kill a stranger.
Paa!
As he slammed the bat on the door, it suddenly opened, slowly revealing the darkness that was inside.
At the end of the room were Jayhan and Kara, though she was standing in front of him, her hand that held the screwdriver in front of her.
Scared? Yes. But she didn't plan on backing down.
"There you are. Gosh, you wasted so much time I was starting to think you wanted us to die or something," the man said as he walked into the room.
His partner followed behind him.
"Uhn? What is this? Are you hiding behind your bitch? Ah, hell no, this dude is a pussy! Hiding behind your girl?! Come out, man, don't embarrass yourself!"
Jayhan was calm, occasionally taking a peek at the giant screen.
'We have less than ten minutes, and there are two guys here. I should be able to take on one of them if I try really hard. The other one is the issue. Is Kara willing to kill if it means she would live? Not that I plan to let her die to begin with.'
Reaching for his back pocket, he pulled out the game he had bought, meant to be a present for Kara. Opening it up, he removed the CD and broke it, giving him a usable weapon for combat.
As the men moved closer, Kara stood her ground and didn't seem like she was phased at all.
"Damn, she a baddie. Such a shame we have to kill her though," one of them said.
"I mean, even if she's dead, we can still—"
"Kara! Move!"
Kara flinched. As she turned around to understand why Jayhan had yelled her name, he suddenly charged forward, his eyes solely fixed on his target.
Chuck!
He missed.
He had intended to slit the man on the throat with his broken CD, but the man reacted, and he ended up just slicing his cheek.
With his body rolling on the ground, Jayhan yelled, "Kara! Run!!!"
Before he launched himself forward again, slamming his shoulder against the man's gut and driving him to the ground.
About to land a punch, the partner, who had been unaffected by the attack, suddenly sprang into action.
"Damn you!!!"
His knee struck Jayhan at the side of his face, blood spewing as he fell to the ground.
Just then, the man picked up the bat and was about to slam it on Jayhan's head, even though he hadn't gotten up.
It was then Kara acted.
It was swift, so no one expected it.
As she casually walked behind them, she stabbed the man in the side of his head.
Blood dripped from the lower part of the screwdriver, even after she had pulled it out of the man's head.
"B-bitch..."
The man died.
(Congratulations, you have killed someone. You have passed the requirements to advance to the next stage.)
(You have received 5000 coins.)
"Saho?! Damn you b—"
Just like his friend, he also died, right after Jayhan took the distraction to his advantage and slit the neck of the man like he intended to do from the start.
As the man collapsed to his chest.
The notification played in the atmosphere like everyone else.
(Congratulations, you have killed someone. You have passed the requirements to advance to the next stage.)
(You have received 5000 coins.)
Panting heavily, Jayhan took one more look at the giant template.
(Time remaining: 5:09 minutes)
'Barely made it,' he said to himself, relief spreading across his face.
He suddenly remembered Kara. While he was able to handle the fact he had just killed someone well, the same couldn't be said about her.
Just when he was about to stand up—
"Babe!!!"
Kara was right on top of him, pushing the dead human off him, before placing her hand on Jayhan's cheek.
"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" She was genuinely worried and didn't seem to be affected by the fact she had killed someone.
Not that Jayhan didn't find it better; it was simply a bit concerning. Perhaps she was trying too hard to hide it from him? He wasn't all that sure.
"Yeah, I'm fine. We managed to stay alive for now. Once the timer goes down, we'll understand what's next after this," he said while sitting upright.
The system did say they met the requirements for the next trial.
"I'm glad. If you're alright, that's all I need to know, that's all I need to understand," Kara uttered with a hushed tone, before resting her head on his chest.
Jayhan used the opportunity to pet her, his eyes occasionally shifting outside the room where he could see the rest of the survivors staring at him.
And then...
Ding!
[Congratulations, you have awakened your survival system.]
'Eh?'
Unlike the big screen that had been playing in front of everyone, this particular one seemed to be specifically for him.
[Notice, you have awakened the SSS skill Radar.]
[Notice, you have awakened the SSS skill, Lord of Information.]
[Notice, you have awakened the SSS skill, Absorb.]