Problems occured one after the other. When I accidentally killed the woman and indirectly let the man die because of it, someone from the group unlatched his hand and perished as well. I was left with twenty seven people and three survivors in my group. If I added them up, that made them thirty survivors. I still didn’t know if these twenty seven people entrusted their lives to me just like these three people did. But I would find out once we were out of this place and help others who needed us.As if that wasn’t enough, the cloud of smoke gradually disappeared. I had to use another smoke grenade just to secure our retreat. I didn’t want any more bloodshed to happen. This fight didn’t even include Vulcan. And that old man wished to join in the battle, the fight would immediately turn in their favour.“LET’S GO! JUST HOLD ON TIGHT, SO WE CAN MAKE IT THROUGH!” I yelled, and shot every Pests that I could in our surroundings.Thankfully, we got outside the smoke and momentarily safeguarde

We had been wandering around the place, but we didn’t find anything worth our time. After what had happened with the groups that left our party, we were now standing at eleven people, including me. It was easier for me to handle and protect a small number of groups. But this wasn’t just protecting them. It was saving every person who I could save with these two hands of mine.As we trod deeper inside the jungle, the sun high above us had finally faded its light Soon after, the darkness would consume this world. And if that happened, maybe the Pests would attack us under the cover of the night. If the worst occurred, maybe Vulcan would attempt to seize me and take the achievement away from me.Just as I was lost in thought, another panel showed up and a direct message inserted itself in my mailbox. It came from a familiar friend. And when the sapphire box appeared, the environment changed for the better or for the worse. But instead of checking my surroundings, I first told the group t

When I was too focused on watching the place, someone tapped my shoulders. As I averted my gaze and turned around, the boy who I had first saved met my eyes. He had a worried look on his face, as if telling me that the boy feared, not only for his life, but also for his mother as well. That kid came to me and tugged the ends of my attire. I had my mask on, but it appeared that this child saw right through me.“Is everything alright, Aoi? Are we going to be alright?”This child knew my name after I held a conversation with everyone else. Although I told them to not use my name willy-nilly, it didn’t matter right now, considering that we were inside an artificial portal. And the government or the Crimson Guild wouldn’t breach this dimension.I shuffled the boy’s already crazed hair and patted his head. “It’s fine. Don’t worry. It’s just the…” I paused before continuing my sentence. “The boars and a wild forest fire happened away from us.” “Are you sure? You’re not lying, are you?” the

I computed inside my head the overall distance of the place and the amount of time we would need to reach the other side, including other casualties we might face once we reached the latter area. We still didn’t know if the horizon would lead us to the stairs, so I just had to multiply the distance and time twice after gathering the results. As it turned out, the road measured around five kilometres. By adding another five kilometres for good measure, we would have ten kilometres in total. Our group could walk for around ninety minutes or run continuously for seventy seventy minutes to reach the goal. However, there was one problem. Given our circumstances and the age related to our group, most survivors couldn’t run fast enough compared to me. And our party wouldn’t run consistently, given the aforementioned problems. So I deduced that eleven of us would arrive at the end of this line around eighty to ninety minutes, as long as nothing obstructed our way. But I doubted that would ha

“What do we need to do, Aoi,” one survivor asked.The mother and her child braced themselves for impact as the monsters kept creeping closer in our direction. There were creatures in front of us and monsters at our flank. There was no way for us to escape. And the only thing left for us to do was to fight our way onward, together with the people and my sniper. This would be a mesys battle, but it was the only option left for our group. Even though my sniper and my magical bullets could deal tons of damage, the beasts ambushing us were far too many. I could save myself and kill them while dodging their attacks, but I wasn’t alone. These people behind me needed my protection, and if I let my guard down the survivors might die. “Everyone, move if I move. Stop when I stop. Let’s proceed one little step at a time.”If Neil Armstrong took baby steps on the moon and finally achieved his goal, we could do that too. We couldn’t risk it and charge straight onward without a plan. If we do just