Minori glanced down at the luminous watch on her wrist, her sharp, sword-like eyebrows furrowing into a barely perceptible crease.
Clearly, time was not on her side.
"Our mission is to rescue a VIP inside this shopping mall," she stated bluntly. "I can't tell you their name... but within my power, you can name any reward."
Minori had decided to be completely upfront. Right now, Luo Jie held all the cards; she had no room for haggling.
"I see." Luo Jie mused. At a time like this, only certain high-ranking officials or dignitaries could mobilize SAT elites like Minori for a no-holds-barred rescue. As for the target's identity? He couldn't care less.
"I need weapons," Luo Jie stated his condition.
Minori nodded decisively. "Agreed. Help me get the person out, come back to the camp with me, and you can choose any weapon, light or heavy."
Luo Jie wagged a finger, chuckling softly. "Officer Minori, I trust your character, but that doesn't mean I trust the integrity of SAT..."
"What do you mean by that?!" a SAT team member couldn't contain himself, snapping out a sharp .
"Stand down, Tajima!" Minori snapped sharply. She could perfectly understand Luo Jie's concerns. After all, SAT was a state apparatus of violence, not individuals like her who could turn a blind eye to certain matters. Someone of Luo Jie's unknown background would likely find it extremely difficult to leave once inside.
After a moment's thought, Minori reached into her collar, pulling out a necklace with a key. "This is the key to my personal armory. You can have Shizuka take you to my place. Take whatever you want from inside. If you can carry it, you can even the whole house for all I care."
Luo Jie's eyes lit up immediately. "You mean the guns and ammo in the storage box in the bedroom?" he asked, feigning nonchalance, testing if this was Minori's final bottom line. "Using something I can get my hands on at any time as payment to hire me—don't you think that's ridiculous?"
Minori's expression flickered slightly, then quickly returned to normal as she smiled. "That silly woman Shizuka really does trust you, doesn't she? She even told you about that... But those are just toys to me. Otherwise, do you think I'd keep them somewhere so easily accessible?"
"Oh?" Luo Jie hadn't expected this unexpected bonus. This hadn't been mentioned in any of the players' guides. He might very well be the first to discover this secret. It made sense. Activating this hidden quest had been highly fortuitous. At night, players' vision was impaired, and the threat from the undead increased dramatically. Besides him, this freak who didn't need sleep to recover stamina, who would be bored enough to come to this Minami-cho Shopping Mall on the first night of the mission—a place not even mentioned in the original work—and court death? Even if someone stumbled upon it, how many could fight their way unharmed from the first floor to the fifth to rendezvous with Minori's team? Moreover, Luo Jie had a hunch that Minori's willingness to reveal her hidden armory so readily, besides the prerequisite of having Shizuka's trust, was likely related to their favorability. After all, in this instance, he had that special title that gave him a +30 initial favorability with everyone he met. Coupled with his earlier verbal sparring with Minori, he conservatively estimated their favorability was likely already above 60—"Friend" level. Otherwise, even with Minori's forthright nature, she wouldn't have casually mentioned, "Maybe I'll even chase after you."
"Alright, then. Pleasure doing business." Luo Jie and Minori shook hands, then exchanged a smile, a tacit understanding passing between them. Compatibility was a strange thing; some people could know each other for years and remain strangers, while others could recognize a kindred spirit with just one look. Minori was undoubtedly the latter for Luo Jie.
Most of the zombies on the south side of the fifth floor had been lured away by the earlier grenade. Luo Jie gestured for them to follow, then gently pushed open the glass door of the café. After casually cutting down a few wandering zombies at the entrance, he turned to Minori, who was right behind. "Do you know exactly where in the mall the person you're rescuing is?"
Minori pulled a highly detailed architectural floor plan from her tactical vest, switched on a flashlight, and pointed to a section. "The last distress call we received from them was in the women's clothing department on the third floor."
"The person you're rescuing is a woman?" Luo Jie asked. Even if he wasn't interested in their identity, he at least needed to know their approximate gender and appearance.
"No, a man."
Luo Jie considered this earnestly. "A cross-dresser?"
Minori: "..."
"Okay, just kidding." Luo Jie smiled, pretending to examine the floor plan, when in reality he'd spent 50 points to import it into his visual projection as a 3D model. "Whether that VIP is still in the women's department or not, we first need to figure out how to get down to the second floor."
Minori nodded in agreement, but then frowned again. "But the way down seems blocked." She was referring to the emergency staircase Luo Jie had used to ascend. The grenade explosion had drawn hundreds of zombies to the outer corridor, blocking it completely. Clearing it would take too much time, which they were critically short on.
"What about the elevators...?" one of the SAT team members began, only to be silenced by a cold glare from Minori. The power was still on, so the elevators were technically functional, but no one could guarantee there wasn't a horde waiting right outside the doors. Getting trapped inside would be a death sentence.
"Do you have rappelling ropes?" Luo Jie suddenly asked.
Minori immediately understood. "Find suitable anchor points! Prepare for rappel!" she ordered her team.
Soon, four thick, high-strength ropes were lowered over the edge of the fifth-floor atrium.
"Move out!" At Minori's command, the other three team members descended with practiced efficiency.
She then noticed Luo Jie holding a rope, peering down curiously. "What are you waiting for?" she asked, slightly annoyed.
"I don't know how to rappel," Luo Jie replied matter-of-factly. In his previous life, before he'd had a chance to learn, his constitution had already been high enough to jump from ten-meter heights unharmed, so he'd never bothered.
"Oh, for... " Minori couldn't help but mutter a curse. This mysterious man, who'd seemed like a battle-hardened veteran, couldn't even rappel? Time was critical. She didn't have time for a lesson. Stepping to the atrium's edge, she held out a hand. "Get over here, I'll take you down!"