CHAPTER 05

Gary looked around for Leah in that neighborhood but didn’t find her. He waited for a few hours at his house, hoping Leah would return, but she didn’t. So, he had no other choice but to go looking for her. He roamed the streets which were already getting quite dangerous at this point. He saw a dead dog rise out of the tar road and madly growl like a maddened zombie beast.

He couldn’t help but greatly worry for Leah, not knowing what she was doing or where she went, let alone how she’d survive in this doomsday-esque day, where anybody could kill anybody without giving any reason whatsoever.

There were trees everywhere, and he was yet to meet a single human even though he had walked many miles.

“Everyone seems to have turned into trees, so why didn’t Leah and I turn?” Gary voiced his mind, not at all expecting that the system would answer his question.

[You’re wearing an energy crystal, aren’t you? That thing saved you and your girlfriend.] Ai responded.

“What?” Gary was pleasantly surprised. “A-Are you saying this little shungite pendant saved me?”

[That’s a pure energy stone, and it’s mixed with your pure energy, which gives it the power to repel the dark energy. Your blood is also pure. That’s why even though there may be others who were wearing similar energy stones, they still got turned into trees. Only those who are pure in flesh and heart would have survived that dark explosion, which means only the virgins and faithful couples wearing some kind of pure energy stones would have survived that dark energy blast.]

“That’s…” Gary didn’t know what to say. “I-It’s still hard to believe that a tiny stone can do such a thing.”

[Oh, it can. Once you raise your levels, you’ll be able to see how even a tiny dust particle floating in the air will have a purpose. Nothing that’s ever created is useless, and it will not perish until it serves its purpose. The same is the case with you. You will not die unless you serve your purpose.]

“My purpose…”

[Yeah, it could be saving the world, or just becoming monster poop.]

“Geez…” Gary shook his head. “You don’t have to be so harsh.”

[I’m just putting facts out there, so you wouldn’t think you’re not going to die just because you have me, Ai, who can help you save the world.]

“You don’t have to tell me that. I know that you don’t make me invincible because Chun Fu had you and still died, didn’t he?”

[Yeah. That’s right. So, let’s start leveling up. You need to get stronger if you want to defeat the seven keys.]

“We can worry about the seven keys after I find Leah.” Gary was greatly worried about her, hoping she didn’t touch the dark witch’s body and go crazy.

[Listen, Gary. Let me be frank.] Ai’s voice turned serious. [If you let the seven keys be, your world will go through more and more changes.]

“I don’t care,” Gary growled. “Leah is more important to me than the world.”

[... Alright. I’ll give you 24 hours. If you can’t find her within that time, you should stop looking for her and listen to my words. Do you agree?]

“Of course, I won’t.” Gary didn’t even hesitate to respond.

[Then, do you want me to choose someone else?]

Gary’s heart skipped a beat. “W-What? You can change hosts?”

[Of course, I can. I’m the hero cultivating system. I can make an ordinary ant into an extraordinary ant if you get what I mean.]

Gary frowned deeply. “One week. Give me that much time. If I still don’t find her, then I will listen to you.” He didn’t want to lose Ai because he knew he wouldn’t survive in this apocalyptic world without the strength of the system.

Just then, he entered an alley.

[Stop. Look up.] Ai warned.

Gary looked up, and a living human was caught in a spider web, and a giant spider was doing its ritual before its meal. “What the hell is that?” his blood curdled from watching this gruesome scene.

Ai scanned the monster. [Blood Spider. Level 10. You can fight it, but there’s no guarantee that you’ll win since fighting this crawling beast can be tricky. However, if you defeat it, you’ll not only level up but also gain a blood crystal that will help you boost your attributes.]

“Attributes?” as Gary was asking, the spider saw him and jumped down immediately. It stood over ten feet in height, and with its many eyes, it looked hideous to say the least. “How am I going to fight this thing?” Gary grew anxious.

[Don’t move. Use your skill the moment it attacks.] Ai advised.

The spider sprang forth, bounced off the walls, releasing webs along the way, and went past Gary without attacking him and created more webs behind him.

“It’s trying to trap me,” Gary’s heart rang in his ears. “You told me to wait. Now, look! How am I going to escape this?”

[Remember what I said.] Ai maintained her calmness. [Wait until it attacks.]

Gary was quite frustrated, but he had no other choice but to listen to the system. He patiently waited as the spider also sat on top of a few webs and kept staring at him.

The staring contest went for a while, and Gary had enough of it. “Leah must be waiting for me. I can’t waste my time with this damn spider.” He rushed forward and threw his fists at the webs before him. Fist-shaped golden flames leaked out of his arm and struck the thick webs and melted them.

Gary managed to run through the melting webs and escape the alley, but the spider got greedy and chased him. As the spider closed the distance, Gary turned around and threw his fist.

His fist struck the spider’s face and paralyzed its body pretty fast.

“I-It worked,” Gary was not expecting a simple punch to be so effective. “I didn’t think that the ghouls’ paralyzing effect would work through my fist. This is superb!”

[You can celebrate later. This spider has some resistance to poison.] Ai warned. [So, kill it before it frees itself.]

Gary immediately started kicking and punching. He was no expert in fighting. All that he had was his gaming experience, but to his surprise, he was able to move his arms and legs how he wanted them to move. His body was responding properly to his thoughts, and so his attacks proved good enough to break the spider’s bones and destroy it into bits and pieces.

The spider died without even screaming, and Gary could feel the spider’s energy entering his body.

But its blue blood fell on his clothes, and it felt terrible.

“Did I level up now?” he asked.

[Nope. You’re still level 11, but the more you fight and kill, the faster you’re going to level up by draining their energy.]

“Tch,” Gary rushed back into the alley and climbed the webs to get to the human stuck in the web, but to his shock, the human was already poisoned and was very close to dying.

“H-Help…” the human was utterling, but then life left his eyes right before Gary, twisting his gut.

[One day.] Ai stated. [I’ll give you one day. If you can’t find Leah within 24 hours, I’ll find another person.]