"I'll give you food, a lot of food, if you help me get new clothes."
That was her offer in exchange for his assistance
Earlier, she had expected to be rejected and probably left alone in such an unfamiliar place.
Nevertheless, a weak and subtle nod of approval from the male lead Caelan made her sigh in relief.
It seemed like a sealed deal between them.
Hence, Aria believed that the male lead would not leave her alone so easily, for the sake of food, at least.
That was what she thought, naively.
As she was changing, the Fluff Ball System reminded her that this was an apocalypse world, where no one could easily get a bite of food.
Did she really think the male lead would believe her?
Hearing that, Aria fell into thought.
Her system was indeed correct in that idea, and she realized her offer had been sloppy and foolish.
Give you food?
The male lead wasn't that stupid to believe her silly words, so she no longer expected to see him again.
Yet, before Aria could sigh at her own loneliness, the clattering from the kitchen told her somebody was still in the condo unit.
Aria's ears perked up quickly, and without realizing it, her heart felt a sudden wave of relief.
Because she believed the male lead was still here, Aria felt certain that Caelan hadn't left her alone.
The moment she stepped into the kitchen, an unpleasant smell hit her nose.
Aria quickly pinched her nose with her finger and looked around, trying to figure out where the rotting scent was coming from.
It was like the decaying corpses of rats, cockroaches, and probably other small animals.
It was so hard to pinpoint the smell, but she could tell it was inside the kitchen.
Aria finds Caelan crouching around the kitchen's sink cabinet, and she also catches sight of a mutant dead rat that looks like a zombie with an open belly.
She is naturally shocked at the sight.
It's absolutely revolting, making her feel like she's going to puke right on the spot.
And Aria feels like she's about to do just that. With her stomach twists and churns, making her cover her mouth as she gags.
The reaction is quite strong.
Caelan clearly notices Aria's arrival as she walks in, and catches the unwelcome look on her little face.
He can't help frowning, suddenly wondering what kind of delicate woman she is.
"Get out if you can't handle the smell."
Aria nodded, teary–eyed. "I'll wait for you outside."
That's exactly what she does, not even a second later.
Aria is out of the kitchen, away from the nauseating smell, and calms herself down.
Her whole body feels much more comfortable than before.
Feeling the need for fresh air, Aria steps out onto the unit's small open balcony, only to find the air outside just as unpleasant.
The stench of decaying creatures is everywhere.
What is that?
Why is this place so smelly?
Aria didn't notice that Caelan was already out in the living room.
He had been watching her quietly for a while before announcing his presence.
"We're leaving."
Aria, having heard the familiar male lead's voice, turned around, only to meet Caelan's cold gaze.
His whole presence screams that he's not someone to mess with, and the obvious lean muscles on his arms speak for themselves.
She nodded, following behind.
Both leave the unit without glancing at the other closed doors, walking into the abandoned hallway and down the emergency stairs.
There was nothing but silence between them.
No questions, not even a tiny conversation.
Aria doesn't mind this silent, no-words-needed interaction, since she doesn't want to talk much in such a stench-filled place anyway.
After all, she and the male lead aren't very familiar with each other.
As they walk further toward the male lead's vehicle, her eyes keep landing here and there, taking in the scattered debris, trash, and probably piles of rotting corpses.
Aria begins to understand where the stench could be coming from.
But what she doesn't seem to get is that she's also seen these piles of corpses in City C, near the station, yet it wasn't nearly this unpleasant.
"Do you have any idea why this place smells so bad?" Though it sounded like a very stupid and unnecessary question, Aria just can't help asking the other party once they are already far away from the stinky place.
On top of that, Aria doesn't recall ever writing anything specific about the smell of mutant corpses.
Was it the natural smell of mutant corpses and zombies in this world?
Hearing her words, Caelan gave her a side look, as if she were truly asking a stupid question.
The silent stare was enough to make Aria feel a bit judged, and she couldn't help feeling a bit shy and embarrassed again.
"I just want to ask...since I've been in City C, they didn't smell like this."
Aria tried to explain her reason for asking, showing the male lead that she wasn't speaking nonsense.
It was important for her to better understand this world.
"They were freshly killed. The smell of mutant monsters these days has gotten worse."
Caelan had known for the past few months that their base superpower and ability users were also noticing these strange changes in the affected monsters.
Mutant animals and plants were also showing signs of change in their appearance and scent, and the scientists were now panicking about it.
Although Caelan had no idea why this was happening, he decided to take missions outside these days.
It was a chance to help the base more and prepare for possible dangers in the future.
"Worse… you mean it didn't smell like this before? Then how did it suddenly change?" Aria asked as they finally arrived at the armored military vehicle.
Her attention was instantly caught, and her follow-up questions suddenly forgotten.
"Wow, you actually have such a cool baby!" Aria exclaimed, her eyes twinkling with excitement.
These four wheels looked so cool, and she had never seen a military-looking vehicle up close in her original world.
Now, having it face to face made her very delighted.
After all, one of Aria's favorite hobbies was watching cars!
Thinking she could actually get to ride in this cool baby, wasn't that perfectly awesome?
Aria went around it, touching and feeling the design, admiring its sturdy build and dark color, and nodded approvingly.
This was such a great product!
Caelan finished putting the bag of supplies in the back seat and didn't pay much attention to her.
Instead, he opened the door on the passenger side.
Seeing Aria still looking around his armored vehicle with no intention of stopping anytime soon, a small frown tugged at his eyebrows.
Caelan asked, his voice edged with impatience.
"Are you done? And have you not found any suitable clothes?"
Aria stared back, confused, and asked.
"Is something wrong with what I'm wearing?"