Li Ke took out his lighter and gently flicked it. The tiny flame instantly ignited the dark space, illuminating the area around him and his companions.
They usually rested directly at night, using a campfire for light in emergencies. There were no entertainment activities at night, so Li Ke hadn't prepared any modern lighting tools.
After all, compared to other things, the inconvenience of moving around at night was a minor issue.
In the dim firelight, he could see clearly that Tsunade, the one among them who shouldn't be afraid of zombies the least, was crouching in a corner, clutching her head, trembling uncontrollably. Her hair fell down, obscuring her face, making her expression impossible to see.
And amidst the continuous roars and thrashing of the zombies, they couldn't quite make out Tsunade's cries, but there was no doubt that she was crying—crying out of extreme fear.
Li Ke didn't know what was going on, but just as he turned off his lighter, Kiri spoke up.
"It's probably claustrophobia. Some people with hemophobia have this problem, and many people where I live have it too. After seeing the corpses of their loved ones in bunkers and trenches, they develop similar symptoms. Although I don't know what Tsunade went through, it's probably the same thing."
Li Ke didn't say anything, just silently nodded, and then closed his lighter.
But Kiri didn't want the silence to die down. She looked at Li Ke and asked her question.
"By the way, what kind of person were you before?"
Li Ke paused, looking at Kiri in the darkness. Kiri then flicked on her lighter, letting a small orange light illuminate her face.
"What I mean is, we don't know what we'll encounter later. If we end up dying together, shouldn't we at least get to know each other? That way, at least we'll know who we're dying with and what we've been through. Besides, just waiting like this is boring."
Kiri's smile vanished, replaced by an awkward twitch. Anyone trapped in a small space surrounded by swarms of cannibalistic monsters wouldn't feel happy.
"As for me… there's nothing to say. Just an ordinary person, living in a peaceful country, not even married until my twenties, and then suddenly I came here, met a girl named Erina Nakiri, and then sent her back during the last zombie horde… nothing to say."
Li Ke fiddled with his lighter, while Kiri, finding it too hot, released it, letting darkness return to the small room.
"I see... So what you said is all true?"
"Yes, but I find this whole thing ridiculous."
Li Ke leaned his head against the constantly creaking steel wall. Because Tsunade was so reliable, despite the zombie's constant pounding, the tightly packed steel pillars didn't loosen; instead, they became even more compact with each pounding.
"Why?"
Kiri asked, puzzled.
"Those who are willing to do that kind of thing with me are undoubtedly people who have developed feelings for me. Their original lives must have been countless times better than this world's. And if I want what's best for them, then I have to send them back to their own world."
Li Ke took a deep breath.
"Like Erina, her world is a magical one. The food they cook there, even without any strange ingredients, has an aphrodisiac-like quality, and it's incredibly delicious. For someone like me living in an ordinary world, it's unbelievable."
At this point, Li Ke felt a pang of melancholy. He truly missed Erina, that youthful, beautiful, and incredibly gentle girl.
Although he could see the tsundere attitude she displayed in the manga, while Erina would show him that arrogant side, she was mostly charming and adorable. To him, Erina was incredibly cute.
"Even if there are conflicts in their world, they can settle them by competing to see whose food tastes better. Erina's tongue can taste the most subtle flavors in any dish. For her, this ability only shines in a world that values food. In this world, however, this ability to appreciate food to such an extreme degree is actually a burden."
Li Ke sighed as he said this.
"So when we faced the Blood Moon last time and found that we couldn't stop those zombies no matter what, I sent her away... To be honest, when I did that kind of thing with her and discovered my ability, my first reaction was to hide it, because living in this world alone is just too tiring."
Li Ke couldn't help but shudder as he said this. The Blood Moon had started earlier, and the zombies were clearly stronger than last time. He didn't care about the so-called power of a Dimensional Lord; he didn't want to live here at all.
But unfortunately, he couldn't travel to other worlds.
Without upgrading that ability, he couldn't travel to other worlds...
And if he used force, Kiri and Tsunade could easily defeat him.
"I see."
Kiri lit the lighter again, letting the flame illuminate the darkness once more.
"I think I understand you now."
Kiri's initial impression of Li Ke wasn't actually bad; it was just that Li Ke's words were so suspicious. No matter how you looked at it, Li Ke seemed like the mastermind.
But now, sensing Li Ke's hesitation and unwillingness, she finally truly believed him.
"I told you what I said before, right? It's a story about an orphan whose parents were killed by the Kartel and who grows up to fight back against the Kartel."
Kiri turned off the lighter; after all, it was meant to be used for starting a fire later, and it wouldn't be good to waste it here.
However, she took out two glass bottles.
"Speaking of which, I have some leftover beer here. Want some? The beer here tastes strange, but it's really good."
Kiri's voice was so energetic, and Li Ke felt a bottle full of liquid placed in his hand. Then Kiri pulled him up.
"Let's go, have a drink with Miss Tsunade!"