CHAPTER 59: CHAPTER 58- NOBODY CARED

Chapter 58- Nobody Cared

The group marched out of the base into the streets. They stayed relatively close to one another as they looked left and right, anxiously anticipating any attack. This was the first time they had left the base since yesterday, and they were already afraid that this might be their last time.

Jack and Luna walked behind them, supervising the situation silently. Their senses remained alert to everything around them. Especially Jack, whose Aether has expanded quite a bit after leveling up.

Now he could feel within a 30-meter radius of his own body, and it was to a very impressive accuracy, too. He could feel moderately small rocks, large dents in concrete, or broken windows. However, unless he looked, he couldn’t feel anything smaller than that.

But, he didn’t need all that accuracy to detect monsters, so he didn’t care much.

For the next several minutes, the group marched through the streets without encountering any monsters. It was pretty quiet, unbelievably so. Jack could even hear his own breath as they walked.

’Hmm, it seems the horde has moved quite far up north. I already expected they wouldn’t stay in the same general location. But...’

Not being able to know where a massive horde like that went is a bit dangerous and not very optimal.

’I will have to go to higher ground to check later.’ Jack muttered as he looked up.

"Luna, can you move to the front of the group? I will keep guard of the situation behind." He said to his companion.

"Ok."

She didn’t question why he asked her to do that, as she knew there was a good reason for it. Jack then pulled his sword and put it to his side.

"We are almost there. Around that corner is the area where we will potentially find some monsters." Jack yelled to the group, making everyone hold their daggers close to them.

Luna was the first to take a peek around the corner.

"It’s clear." She said after a moment, letting everyone follow her. The area Jack chose as their first spot was an open street in the heart of the district. It was more spacious than most roads, making it easier for the group to move freely.

It was also an area relatively close to where the horde could be, which increases the chances of stumbling across some Undead.

However, at the moment, it was completely empty like the rest of the area. Walking through the streets, Jack ordered them to stop as he stared around.

’Hmm, no sign of movement around.’ He mused. ’It seems we will have to move the next spot.’

Saying that, Jack pulled his map out to look around for a bit. However, at that moment.

*CRACK*

He heard the burst of glass from an area nearby. Looking up, he saw an Undead fall from a building to the ground with a loud slam. Many of the group screamed in fear as they watched the body slam into the hard concrete.

Then, the Undead slowly stood up and growled at them before rushing forward to attack. Jack stepped forward as he brandished his sword.

"What the hell?!"

"It survived that fall?!"

"Oh my lord!!"

The group started retreating back in fear. This was the first time they faced an Undead head-on without running, so their instincts were screaming for them to abandon this place and quickly escape.

However...

"Don’t move," Jack said coldly. "Nobody moves."

His words carried authority and power that it made everyone immediately obey without questioning him. The monster approached him and tried to attack, only for Jack to suddenly move like a flash.

*Swish*

In the blink of an eye, the monster lost both of its legs and fell to the ground. It growled loudly and tried to attack him again, only for him to stomp its back and stop it in its tracks. The monster wiggled a bit, but to no avail. Jack’s leg crushed it into the ground and made any resistance futile.

"W-What the hell happened..."

"D-Did he swing his sword?"

"Have you seen him even move?!"

"..."

Nobody could believe their eyes. For them, everything happened faster than they could even see. The monster was running, and then seemingly instantly, it was on the ground with its legs cut into pieces.

"Now, who wants to kill this thing?" Jack asked.

"..."

Nobody responded or moved; they instead eyed one another, waiting for someone to step forward. How could they have the courage to finally do it? It wasn’t easy at all.

"Hmm... No one?" Jack asked with a frown. "Well, I will have to choose myself then. Is that fine with you?"

The group nodded their heads. It was better for Jack himself to choose the candidate than let them decide for themselves. After all, he knew better than they, and his decision would surely be the right one.

The boy licked his lips before he looked around for a bit. Every person whose eyes fell on them would look away and try to pretend like they didn’t exist.

’A bunch of cowards.’ Jack shook his head before he finally pointed at one of the people. It was a younger man, in his late twenties.

"You. Come here." He said.

"M-Me."

"Yeah, you."

"... Sir, please wa-"

"I said step forward. Don’t be a coward."

His words were strong, making the man gulp and walk ahead under the worried eyes of the masses. Reaching Jack, he looked down at the monster and gulped hard, his hands shaking.

"Aim at the head and stab. It will kill it on the spot." He explained.

"... *Gulp*... At the head?"

"Yes."

"..."

"Don’t hesitate. The more you hesitate, the more you will feel like not doing it." He said coldly.

"..."

The man breathed in and out, his eyes trembling. Then, he grabbed the dagger with both hands, flipped it, and sat down on his knees.

Jack and the rest watched silently, and for a few seconds, nothing happened.

"Do it," Jack said coldly.

"I..."

"Just do it. Don’t ask anything else, and do it."

"... Sir."

"Do. It."

The more Jack said it, the more perturbed the man became. His feelings clashed, his fear tried to consume him, while the cold, harsh words kept pushing him.

"I... I..."

"No."

"B-"

"Stab the monster!"

Finally, the last yell made the man’s mental walls break as he yelled loudly and stabbed the monster in the head.

"Die!!!" He yelled as the dagger sank deep into its skull. The monster wiggled around a few times before it stopped moving completely.

"Hah... Hah... Hah..." The man breathed in and out, still in shock. He stared at the stabbed heart, the blood oozing out, and felt the adrenaline coursing through his body.

Then, he saw it. A few odd holographic things appeared in his retina. He stared at it, wide-eyed, not understanding what was happening.

At that moment, Jack put his hand on his shoulder and said.

"Congratulations on your awakening."

Then, he walked away, leaving the man to understand what happened and process his emotions. It was their very first moment as different people, after all.

"As you saw. It wasn’t hard. It simply needs to be done, and now that man will be able to get stronger every single time he kills a monster. The stronger he gets, the better chances he has at survival."

"..."

"If you choose to be afraid, then you will regret it greatly in the future. But, once you break that fear... Things will snowball pretty quickly."

*ROAR*

At that moment, Jack heard another screech as another monster emerged out of nowhere and rushed toward them.

’Well, things are finally moving.’ He thought to himself. ’Time to turn these fools into proper tools.’

***

With that, the process began. After taking down the next target, Jack called for another volunteer to kill it. Since they have seen the first one succeed, the people started finding more and more courage and swiftly... The next one was able to kill their target.

Then, the next one, and the next one after that. Monsters kept appearing around them in small numbers. In a matter of minutes, several people were already exploring their new mysterious powers and each one was able to do it faster than the one before them.

"Wow, this looks like a game!"

"I felt that! My power increased when I killed that thing! This is insane!"

"He didn’t lie! We can actually gain such powers too!"

The fear turned into mild excitement over it. This easily fed into their childhood dreams of being superheroes or powerful characters in stories and comics.

Meanwhile, Jack simply focused on preparing each target for the next one. Eventually, Luna chimed in and started helping him, quickening the process.

A pile of corpses built up rapidly around them.

However, in a very odd sight, nobody seemingly cared. Their eyes were focused on this mystery. Even though blood had seeped into the street and even though the stench was strong.

Nobody really cared anymore.