Time passed slowly.
They didn't encounter much else. Why? Because of Shyra's suggestion.
Instead of running around to random places and garnering more attention, they stuck to two buildings with lights.
Zaen's dilapidated bungalow and the storehouse next to it were perfectly safe. Although he had to go and clean the surrounding area of any ghoul presence.
Every fifty minutes, the group kept shifting between the two places.
Zaen had his reservations with the method, but twenty hours had passed, and they hadn't encountered any anomaly other than the ghouls they met within the first hour.
But that didn't mean their sanity didn't drop.
Lack of sleep also had an effect on their sanity. As for the food, it had already run out. The water bottle was also nearly empty.
These combined gave them a sense of dread, which in turn lowered their sanity even more.
However, things were quiet and peaceful. Hina and Shyra stuck close to Zaen, since they had the least sanity in the group.
He was sitting near the gates, a throwing knife in both his palms. Shyra was nestled close to him, sleeping with her head on his chest. Hina was holding his other arm, also asleep.
Between the switches, these were the only times they could sleep. After each switch, a person was designated to stay awake and guard, while the others napped.
This time it was Zaen's turn.
"Harris, did you set the alarm?" he asked, nudging him with his foot.
"Hm…"
Zaen didn't disturb him further and turned his gaze to Rouland. He always knew Rouland had a severe case of inferiority complex, but his intense stares had been getting on Zaen's nerves for a while.
Even now, when others were sleeping, he kept staring at him. It was almost as if he didn't trust Zaen.
Still, since they were stuck in the mess together, Zaen decided it was better to maintain a cordial relationship with him. They could sort things out once they were out of the game.
"How is your sanity holding up?" he asked Rouland. "Do you need help?"
"…I'm fine," Rouland replied, averting his gaze, but not before clicking his tongue.
Zaen sighed and decided to let it go.
Since he had to stay awake, he decided to do some analysis.
First, they were stuck in a mirror world, but this place had turned into ruins. At first glance, it seemed they were in an apocalyptic future. It could be said that it was the setting of this game.
Second were the strange words displayed before them.
Although it didn't communicate with them often, Zaen had noticed they could be instructed to do certain things. One didn't need to voice the words to do so; mere thoughts were enough.
Activate.
Zaen thought, and multiple screens opened before him.
One of them was the fortune wheel thing. Surprisingly, looking at it didn't take a toll on his sanity anymore. His theory of getting used to anomalies was proven to be true.
The second screen reflected his stats, which he had seen before. But there was something new.
—
Basic Information:
Name: Zaen Aurelia
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Level: 3 (new!)
Stats:
HP: 1900/1900 (↑)
Strength: 4.3 (↑)
Agility: 3.5 (↑)
Presence: 2.45 (↑)
Stamina: 4.1 (↑)
Sanity: 110/110
Fortitude: 3
Constitution: 7
Unique skills:
— [Recovery]
Note: The average stat of a human is 3, and sanity is 30.
—
A new level stat had been unlocked after killing ghouls. Also, there were upward arrows next to his physical stats, signaling that they had improved.
His presence had dropped by 0.05 points, which was considered good since a lower presence meant it was difficult to find him.
Also, his HP had increased, although he didn't know how it was even possible. It seemed to have increased by 200 points per level.
Zaen didn't know if it was good or not, considering he had no idea how much damage those creatures could cause. After all, he hadn't been hit once by the ghouls.
There was a third screen, which was… weird in a way. It had seven slots. Each slot could hold items, but there was a catch.
The first three slots could only hold items given by the wheel. The remaining four could hold weapons that were rewards from the wheel or found in the game.
Right now, all these slots were filled with throwing knives, which could be stacked in groups of five. This allowed him to pull the knives out of thin air.
Other than these three screens, there were two more. However, both of them had red locks placed on them. A text box appeared upon touching them.
[Reach level 5 to unlock]
[Finish your first game to unlock.]
Zaen smiled and shook his head. He had no interest in unlocking anything. After getting out, he intended to inform his superiors about the experience and be done with it.
Just then, Shyra moved, rubbing her face on his chest. Perhaps she thought it was her pillow, trying to make herself comfortable.
Cute…
Zaen chuckled, patting her head.
Perhaps Hina was awake, or she noticed Shyra's action and did the same. But this time, Zaen only rolled his eyes and gave her a quick pat.
Once they were sound asleep, Zaen focused on the fortune wheel.
Since it had been opened, it wouldn't close until he used the spin point.
He looked at the throwing knives. Those had been highly useful to him. It made him wonder what else he could get from it.
Some food or water would be nice.
Before spinning, he tried reading what the partitions said, but all he saw was gibberish. It was like he was staring at hieroglyphs. He gave up trying to decipher them and just spun the wheel.
[Congratulations!]
[You've earned a new skill: Berserk.]
[Berserk (Passive effect): As your sanity decreases, your physical attributes increase proportionally. 1 point of sanity decrease is equivalent to a 1% of attribute increase. Your sanity cannot be decreased beyond 1.]
[Berserk (Active effect): Upon activation, your sanity drops to 1. Your focus increases, and so does your presence.]
[You're exempted from the effects of losing sanity. Physical pain is temporarily negated, but hits at once after the skill duration ends. The pain disappears once sanity has been restored to the 50% mark.]
[Cooldown: 1 hour.]