Exclusive Weapon
One piece of good news: the dimensional rifts that opened are on the extremely small side.
One piece of bad news: there wasn't just one rift.
Rifts tear open all throughout the shopping mall.
Huge scorpions and giant beetles pour out.
Creatures that should be off getting sand baths in the dry desert have shown up in the cool shopping mall.
─ Churrrrk!!!
A massive scorpion like a truck and a beetle like a tank.
And from some rifts, mummies shamble out with unsteady steps.
Monsters wrapped head to toe in bandages, clutching rusted weapons.
The things commonly called mummies.
─ Grraaah...
─ Uuuoooh...
The main difference from their movie depictions? The filthy bandages hang raggedly, exposing most of their rotted flesh.
Those withered, twisted hands clutch blades with zero regard for hygiene.
─ Kyaaaak──!
─ Monsters!!!
─ Call the Security Bureau!
On the spiderweb Clara spun.
Various noises seep into Rohan's ears.
Screams from people mix with monster cries, shaking the entire mall.
Lightning flashes from Sion on the upper floors, accompanied by the crack of gunfire.
Massive ice pillars shoot out with a crash, shoving back the monsters.
Anyone could tell that's Noah's power.
...
...
Points roll in as monsters get taken down by allies.
'The rifts are closing. Did they spit out everything?'
Finishing his scan, Rohan patted Ichinose's back as he stroked it down.
He leaned his head close to her ear and murmured low.
"Eungae Nose. Time to get your head straight from now on."
"..."
Ichinose lifts her head from his chest and looks at Rohan.
Forgetting to even close her eyes, she shows off those golden irises without reserve.
"Dimensional rifts opened in the shopping mall. This isn't a dream anymore—it's reality. Got it?"
Rohan grabbed her soft cheeks with both hands as she stared blankly at him.
"Eek...!"
He kneads them gently to snap her out of it.
Half mischief.
And half because he'd wanted to touch this mochi at least once.
"Stand up, grab your sword. Slash any monster you see, and you're done."
"Rohan! Any wounds...?"
"We can talk scratches later."
As Rohan dropped his hands from her cheeks,
Ichinose exhaled calmly and closed her eyes.
She gripped her sword hilt and slipped from his arms.
"...Thank you."
"Let's go."
They step onto the sturdy spiderweb Clara laid and land cleanly on a nearby floor.
Once the two were clear, Clara retracted her safety net silk.
─ Grrooooh!!!
─ Gaaahhh!!!
Monsters greet them the moment their feet hit the ground.
Mummies clutching various blades shamble toward them.
"Rohan, cover the other side, please."
Click!
Finishing her words, Ichinose thumbed back the guard on Yoru, revealing a segment of its blade.
Blade intent and mana blend in perfect harmony, tracing a mystical line.
Ichinose brushes past like mist.
The mummies' desiccated bodies slice cleanly apart, points flowing in.
'No joke. Her sword mastery is on another level.'
Shing!
Rohan drew his longsword, admiring Ichinose's flashy technique.
'Scorching Blade.'
The longsword glows red-hot with heat as he swings.
He flips a beetle with its hard shell onto its back with a kick and splits it open, shoving mummies back with close-quarters brawling.
For the scorpion, he yanks its tail with Weakness Infliction and smashes its body with his fist.
'Good spot.'
Rohan tempered his impatience as he carved through the monsters.
This was a shopping mall packed with academy cadets.
To put it simply: it was full of people trained specifically to hunt monsters.
─ Block from the left! Blunts on the bugs only! These bastards are hard as hell...!
─ Fuck! When are the security officers getting here!
Sounds of fighting echo from all around.
Plenty in plain sight too. Everyone's holding their own somehow.
'Rifts are small-scale. Monsters aren't high-tier.'
Aside from the occasional leader specimens mixed in, even regular cadets could handle them.
'Stores have their emergency shutters down.'
He'd considered asking Noah to trap people in ice, but the situation was miraculously under control in several ways.
In this chaos, he spotted injured cadets, but no civilian bodies yet.
According to the quest, the rifts had burst open simultaneously across the city.
Security Bureau response time would likely be delayed.
'Not just hold and survive—we finish them off completely.'
Rohan bisected a mummy's waist in one stroke and dropped to the first floor with Ichinose.
The group, having cleared the upper floors quickly, converged naturally.
"Oppa...!"
"Rohan. Unharmed?"
Sion and Clara descended with ninja-like grace, bounding off structures and railings to reach the pair.
"Hyah!"
Noah leaped bare-bodied from the heights, landing with a thud! thanks to her sturdy frame.
She shakes out her ankles, a slight tingle in her legs.
"Clara saved our asses."
"Glad you're safe..."
"Truly, thank you. So grateful."
"Y-You're s-safe, th-that's g-good... um..."
Ichinose bows her head politely in thanks,
and Clara panics, glomping right to Rohan's side.
"Hmmm, total mess."
Rohan gently stroked Clara's head as he quickly assessed the situation.
The mall interior was still pandemonium.
Without hesitation, Rohan laid out his call.
"Focus on leader specimens. See those oversized bugs and scorpions? Different colors."
"Rohan. Clumping up wastes firepower."
Rohan nodded at Sion's point.
Tangled limbs just slow you down.
He trusted his sync with Sion and Clara.
After all, how much had the three rolled in the scorching sun under the Monolith? Together, they could sweep at max speed.
Ichinose and Noah, though? They hadn't truly synced with him yet.
Best to pair them up here.
"Noah and Ichinose mesh well, right?"
"Duh. Nose and I are like thread and needle!"
"Split into threes and twos. Prioritize leader kills, then aid cornered folks, injured, civilians."
"Got it."
Sion handed Rohan a spare pistol without a word, as if it were obvious.
Rohan pocketed it naturally, prepped.
"Ichinose, Noah—push the opposite side upward."
Rohan moved as he spoke, Sion and Clara darting off like arrows.
The two girls moved around Rohan like extensions of a single organism.
Even as he swung freely, they never entered his radius.
They flowed wildly yet leaned on sturdy Rohan as their base without hesitation.
Movements evoking the Trinity.
Dozens of mummies shred like they'd been tossed in a blender.
Scorpions and beetles flip and split open.
"Whoa, what even are they? Married?"
Noah gawked purely at the trio's clean teamwork.
Ichinose gripped her sword tighter, steadying herself.
She could still feel Rohan's touch on her cheek from when he'd snapped her awake.
"...Noah. Move, quick. No time to gawk."
"Yep!"
Ichinose and Noah bolted the other way.
...
...
Bang! Sion's bullet drops a beetle lunging at a cadet.
Sion keeps moving, face impassive.
"Rohan. Just saved someone for sure. Praise me."
"O-Oppa! I saved people on the way down too...!"
A commendable mindset you couldn't fault.
Plus the affection hunger from her upbringing.
Rohan kicked a mummy's head and sliced a scorpion tail,
then calmly promised the flashy-moving girls.
"We'll settle all praise at once after. Gotta be deep, not scattershot."
"Mm, true."
"Hehe..."
Sion dodges a mummy's slash while swapping mags.
Reload done, she nails its forehead.
Bang!
Last one down—this floor's clear.
Share intel with cadets, give quick orders, head up.
En route, Sion and Clara glance opposite.
Where Noah and Ichinose headed.
───Kwajajak!!! Ice surges, crushing foes. Noah with her ice axe cleaves hard monsters apart.
"Frozenheart-level output."
"Mana control's insane..."
Ichinose handles with simple slashes,
but her mana use was anything but ordinary.
Every click! from the sheath sent monsters tumbling in droves—a sight to behold.
"Rohan. Academy level's no joke."
"I'm dragging the average down."
"O-Oppa doesn't...!"
Clara's full-throated denial of his joke was adorable.
Reminding himself not to skimp on praise, he climbs the stairs.
They crush over a hundred monsters en route,
reaching the floor with the beetle and scorpion leaders.
─ Churrrrk!!!
The hulks flail, trying to tear store shutters.
Low IQ—they just dent them over and over, can't rip through.
"O-Oppa! Security's here!"
Security officers trickle in at the mall entrance.
Outside must be a mess too—their gear's trashed.
They fan out fast, mopping up monsters.
'Hand off the regulars. We're good.'
The quest specified holding until security arrived.
Calculating the number of monsters processed.
Acquiring rewards.
'!'
Rohan opened his Shop skill. Rewards: massive points.
Tally with prior kills: over 37,000.
No hesitation—he bought.
No intention of slacking just 'cause security showed.
Terror-filled screams leaked from behind the monster-battered shutters.
Exclusive Weapon
Rohan plunged his hand into the rippling space.