Among the corpses on the floor, I knelt down and quickly searched their pockets. The metallic coldness that met my fingers made me smile. I slid two more sturdy, sharp, and well-balanced knives from their sheaths and tucked them into my belt. Under Elara’s light, the steel of the blades gleamed for a moment. In this hell where I was left without a spear, every piece of sharp metal was now a claw to cling to life.

  "Let’s go," I said to Elara. "This floor is clear. We’re heading down to the ground floor, where the armory is."

  As we entered the stairwell, I stopped at every step and listened intently. The steel stairs groaned under even the slightest weight. However, the clawing sounds or growls we expected did not come. Luck was on our side; the stairs were clear. When we reached the ground floor, that heavy, steel door at the end of the corridor appeared, reading: "ARMORY - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY." The corridor was desolate, with only the rustle of papers on the floor dancing in the draft.

  Right by the wall, I saw a metal cover. The fuse box. I yanked it open; the switches were flipped down. Without a thought, I flipped them all up one by one. After a few seconds of crackling and static, the fluorescent lights in the corridor flickered to life. A raw, white light flooded the entire hallway.

  Elara lowered her hands and let out a deep breath.

  "Real light, finally..." she said in a weary voice. "My mana was almost depleted, Alex. Even if I don't use my skill for healing, just keeping that light active was sucking my mana like a leech. If we stayed in the dark any longer, we would have lost our vision entirely."

  Just then, I heard a slight scuffing sound from the corner of the empty corridor. I snapped my head in that direction. There was nothing in the space hit by the light. Only an overturned water dispenser and bloodstains on the floor...

  "What are you doing?" Elara asked, tensing up as she saw my reaction.

  "I thought I heard a sound," I said, narrowing my eyes to scan the corner. "Whatever... let's get to the armory."

  I had just taken a step when the same sound came again, closer this time, from the void right to our right. Was it a breath or the friction of fabric against metal? I turned quickly, but again, there was nothing. The lights were on, everything was clear, but there was a ripple in the air.

  "Yes... I heard it too this time," Elara whispered, leaning her back against the wall.

  Heart in my throat, I took another step toward the armory. Tick. This time the sound was as clear as a footstep. I didn't wait. I swung the knife in my left hand toward that empty spot, trusting my instincts. The knife sliced through the air and stopped as if it had hit an invisible obstacle. A second later, a few drops of red, fresh blood dripped onto the floor from the empty space where the knife had struck.

  "Ha!" I bellowed and lunged at that spot.

  I crashed onto the invisibility with my full body weight. A silhouette appeared, scattering like a refraction of light, and a young man emerged writhing beneath me.

  "Stop! Stop! I'm human!" the man shouted in pain. He wore a tattered police uniform; my knife was embedded in his shoulder. "I turned invisible with my skill, please don't kill me!"

  I didn't get off him. On the contrary, I pressed my knee hard into his ribcage and held my other knife right against his carotid artery. He could see that savage glint in my eyes. "Why were you following us?" I asked, my voice as cold as a blade. "What’s your aim? Were you going to ambush us?"

  The young policeman wheezed, struggling to breathe. "I... I wasn't following you. I was just trying to make sure you didn't go into the armory."

  "Why?" I asked, digging the tip of the knife a bit deeper into his skin. "Don't play word games with me. Speak. Or I'll paint this corridor with your blood."

  "O-okay! But please pull the knife back, I'll tell you everything!"

  "Speak!" I said, pressing harder. A thin line of blood began to seep from his skin.

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  "O-okay! There’s a mutant in the armory! It’s... going in there would be suicide. It's too dangerous!"

  I paused for a moment but didn't release the pressure. "We took down plenty on the way. If you’ve been watching, you’ve seen what we can do. Why should we hesitate to go in? We need those weapons; our time is running out."

  The young man's eyes widened with terror. "The mutant inside... it’s different from the others. I... I cleared this floor alone thanks to my skill. I reached Level 5 and then found a safe place to hide. But I saw that thing in the armory... that thing knows how to use weapons!"

  I paused at what I heard. "It knows how to use weapons?"

  "Yes! You have to believe me! It had a rifle and it shoots at anything that approaches the door. It must still retain its old muscle memory, but it's much faster and stronger. As long as we don't open the door, it’s fine. Look, you’ve cleared the other floors and the entrance is full of bodies, no one can get in from outside. This is a perfect shelter! We can stay here. I have food and water to share! You don't need to go back out into that hell, we’re safe here!"

  I slowly pulled my knee from his chest and stood up. I was still holding my knife, but I had moved slightly away from that savage attack mode. I looked at Elara. She was surprised too. Before us was a police officer who had survived with his own skill, cowering in fear.

  "You're Level 5 and you have invisibility," I said, eyeing him. "But you're so scared of that mutant that you've been cowering here. We don't have the luxury of fear, Officer. In 14 hours, a new nightmare will come, and I'm not going in there without a spear or armor."

  The man stood up, pulled the knife from his shoulder with a wince, and tossed it aside. "You’re crazy... That thing isn't just a monster, it’s a soldier. And the moment you open that door, it will kill us all."

  As the flicker of the fluorescents filled the silent corridor, I looked at that cold metal door of the armory. There was an armed mutant inside. This game was getting more and more interesting.

  "So what should we do? Do you really believe we'll be safe here?" I said, not bothering to hide the mocking tone in my voice. I stepped closer to the man; using our height difference and the savage, bloody aura around me, I put him under pressure. "There is no such thing as a safe place. What if a new quest comes when the timer ends? Are you too stupid to think of that? Besides..." My gaze dropped to the holster on his belt. "Do you think I haven't seen the gun on your belt? Why didn't you use it? Invisibility and a gun... aren't those enough to take down the thing inside?"

  The young policeman shook his head rapidly while applying pressure to the wound on his shoulder with trembling hands. "You saw that pile of bodies at the entrance, didn't you? There are police bodies there too! Do you think they didn't know how to use guns? But they were killed one by one by that monster anyway. Besides, bullets don't even seem to affect that thing much." He took a deep breath, the memory of that horror still fresh in his eyes. "Luckily, that monster has a strange interest in weapons. The moment it entered the armory, I approached secretly and locked the door on it. The iron locks are keeping it there for now, but I don't know what happens later. I’m telling you, we can’t stand up to that thing. It’s not just a mutant, it’s a war machine!"

  Elara stepped closer. Her hesitation was more evident under the white light of the lamps. "Alex, what are we going to do?" she whispered. "Maybe he's right. We've already found a handgun; should we not push our luck?"

  Fires were raging in my mind. If that monster had cut through so many trained police alone, it truly had to be very strong. But on the other hand, my survival instinct was screaming: You can't take the next step without stronger equipment. We had to push our luck. If we gave up now at the start of this apocalypse, what would happen when things really went off the rails? We didn't know where the system was dragging us. "I'm thinking..." I said, turning to Elara. "But no, we have to push our luck. If we give up now, we’ll be digging our own graves for the next quest."

  I turned back to the policeman, locking my eyes onto his.

  "We're going to make a plan, and we're going to kill that thing."

  The man threw his hands up in frustration. "Damn it! Am I talking to a wall? I’m not in for this! If you want to sign your own death warrants, go ahead, but you can't drag me into this suicide mission."

  "You're going to help too," I said, my voice deepening.

  "I don't have to!" the young policeman shouted. "You do what you want, but I won't get involved. I'll turn invisible and get out of here."

  I smiled slightly, but it wasn't a friendly smile. "Will you be able to stay invisible forever? Will your mana be enough? If we open that door and die, who do you think that monster's next target will be? I found your position somehow, and I don't even have a skill or a special sense. Do you think that monster won't find you? Once the door is open, nowhere will be safe anymore. Either you fight with us and end that threat, or you wait for your turn after we're dead. Stop talking nonsense and help us."

  The policeman paused. The logic of my words had begun to crack the walls of his fear. He looked at the floor silently in the cold lighting of the corridor. He had realized that he had nowhere to run, that this new world granted no one the right to hide. He let out a deep, shaky breath.

  "Ahh, damn it... Fine," he said, dropping his shoulders. "Fine, I'll help. But if everything goes south when that door opens, I'm running without looking back, just so you know."

  "You won't need to run," I said, sheathing my knife. "Because that monster isn't coming out of that room alive. Now tell me, exactly what are we going to face inside? What’s its position? What weapons is it using?"