I see him heading toward the store's loading area. Meanwhile, I continue wandering through the massive three-story building until I stop in front of a TV and monitor shop.
"Most of it is still here. I guess no one wanted to come all the way to this corner to grab stuff in the middle of the looting."
I start storing the TVs, monitors, and various screens. They could be useful for entertainment, surveillance, or even for their components—especially with his dismantling ability.
As I search the second floor, where the sofas and kitchen appliances are, a shiver runs through my entire body. Every hair stands on end, as if a predator is watching me. But when I look around, I see nothing except the faint light coming through the skylights and the darkness filling the stores.
As I walk, I begin to notice claw marks and cracked chunks of concrete on the floor. I follow the trail and find a store that, unlike the others, is still closed. The thin steel plates used as shutters are bent inward and riddled with bullet holes—but strangely, the bullets seem to have come from inside.
I approach the entrance, but the silence is suddenly broken. I hear a sound over my shoulder and spin quickly, swinging my machete—only to hit a pillar, the clang echoing loudly through the building.
It's just the walkie-talkie.
"Testing, one, two, three. Are you deaf? Why aren't you answering?" he says, his irritating voice crackling with static.
"I hear you. Now stop rambling and tell me what you want," I reply, still annoyed from the scare. But that strange feeling remains.
"I was just testing it—and to remind you there's only one hour left until sunset. I'll probably need a little more than an hour to finish devouring the truck, but not much more. If you're done, you might as well come here. You know that after the time limit passes, it gets dark instantly."
I press the button and ask, "Hey… did you also feel like you were being watched? Like something was staring at you and you could actually feel it? Or anything strange like that?"
There's a short pause before he answers. "No. Nothing here. Still dark, still quiet, no weird feeling. Maybe it's a female ghost coming to drag you away forever. Or maybe it's your ego—you haven't fed it enough—"
I cut him off by turning the radio off. I'm not about to become the target of his jokes again.
I head deeper into the store.
Right at the entrance, there are several stoves. But in the middle of the store, entire rows have been knocked over, as if something massive tore through—four rows, maybe more creatures, judging by the damage. In the back, I can see a wall stained with blood. Whoever barricaded themselves here definitely didn't meet a good end.
I store the stoves still in good condition, along with a few electric ones, and move toward the inner section of the store. In front of a locked door, I notice a small crystal near the blood-soaked wall, dark red and black with dried blood.
Looking closer, it's not a crystal. It's a scale—hard as metal.
There's nothing else valuable in the shop. So maybe what they were protecting wasn't the stoves, but whatever was behind that locked door.
To test my theory, I break it down. The crash echoes across half the building. Inside, I find several gas cylinders.
I was right.
That's what they were protecting.
I store them all.
When I finish, my watch beeps—fifteen minutes left. Today was productive. I've gathered nearly half of everything here, even if it's just for materials.
It's time to regroup before it gets completely dark.
But as I step through the broken entrance, the sensation returns—stronger this time. It feels like something is suffocating my breathing.
I descend to the second floor and reach the stairs to the first. I count the two bodies that had been near the stairway earlier.
Now there's only one.
No trace of the other.
The feeling intensifies.
And now that it's completely dark, it's worse than ever. As if something is right behind me.
Every time I turn—
Nothing.
Then something in my mind screams: Move.
I leap to the side.
A massive tongue slams into the support pillar in front of where I had been standing moments earlier, leaving a deep crack. Before I can even stand, the tongue retracts.
I look up toward the second floor I just left.
Only darkness.
I begin backing toward the exit, never taking my eyes off the shadows. I switch on the walkie-talkie.
"There's a monster here—and it's not a zombie. If you're done, meet me at the train. Now."
Without even checking if I pressed the button correctly, I move my hand toward my kunai.
A sound comes from my left.
I can't lower my guard.
I shift into a position where I can see both sides.
A noise from the right—
I roll, narrowly avoiding a tongue strike.
Then two more, this time from the left.
I roll again, ending up on the floor but dodging both attacks.
In response, I launch a fireball toward the right—the side that requires less repositioning—and immediately start sprinting toward the exit, zigzagging between pillars without even checking if I hit anything.
Near the exit, instinct tells me it's a trap.
I stop.
Outside the building, a third shadow emerges.
Two behind me. One in front.
All three make the same attack sound.
If I don't think of something now, rolling won't save me again.
My mind races—fear, discouragement, anger, frustration, helplessness—all in a single second.
Then something snaps.
Clarity floods in.
My thoughts sharpen to an incredible degree.
And without realizing when it happened—
I can see the trajectories of the tongues.
Something I definitely couldn't do before, even when reacting ahead of time.
Now, in my vision, they move slowly.
My Sharingan… it evolved.
With my enhanced reaction speed, I find a path that lets me evade all three tongues and land in a favorable position near the exit.
The moment I dodge, I spin and unleash a massive fireball forward, consuming 20% of my chakra toward the enemy blocking the front door.
The flames illuminate it.
A frog-like, lizard creature covered in black scales with red eyes.
Now I understand why I couldn't hear it.
Just before the fireball hits, it splits into multiple smaller lizards.
Just like—
"Ding. New skill acquired: [Multiple Shadow Clones]."
Exactly as I thought.
It's similar—but instead of dividing chakra, it divides body mass among the clones.
Which means the ones behind me are clones too.
Knowing the situation is dangerous, I create two clones, each with 15% of my chakra.
We attack the main body as it reforms. I aim for all four legs, channeling chakra into my strikes to increase my power. I sever the hind legs while my clones deal with the front ones.
We surround the main lizard in a triangle formation.
At close range, we unleash simultaneous fireballs, not giving it any time to split again and escape.
The explosion engulfs me, burning and injuring me badly.
But something calms me.
"Cloning Lizard Monster eliminated. Experience gained +250."
A wave of relief washes over me.
That was the closest I've ever come to dying.
For a moment, I truly thought it was the end.
But before I can keep celebrating—
A sound behind me makes me turn.
The two smaller lizards from before are inflating like balloons. Their flesh behaves like separate fibers in constant, uninterrupted growth. They become more and more deformed by the second.
I'm exhausted. And it's not worth continuing this fight.
I create one more clone, this time using 5% of my remaining chakra as a distraction—
And I run toward the train with everything I have.
I don't look back.
As I run, I hear weak explosions—clearly fireballs—and increasingly distorted screeches that soon turn into bubbling sounds, like someone trying to scream with liquid in their throat.
"Hah… hah… damn it, you're still not inside?" I ask, leaning on my knees, covered in sweat, dust, soot, and light burn marks on my clothes. I'm exhausted, physically and mentally, with less than 15% of my total chakra left.
"I heard you shouting. Then the explosions. I almost went to help, but after that huge blast earlier, I knew I'd just be a burden if that didn't finish it. So I came here."
"Hah… fine. Just get in. Let's get out of here before more show up because of the commotion."
I climb the train's steps and step inside.
He grabs the railing to board right after me—
And we both freeze.
Behind us, we hear the sound of gravel being crushed.
A lot of it.