Eun Yerin's Whereabouts

"Kyaah!"

Thwack-thwack-thwack!

Lee Jihye clutched her head in sheer terror as the enemy's attacks slammed against her barrier. She instinctively crawled toward me on all fours. I barked at her.

"You idiot! Get over to Seo Jisu and protect her!"

"Y-Yes!"

Once I activated my invisibility, I wouldn't be targeted even without a barrier. Right now, Jihye and Jisu were the ones in danger.

Shhh—

As I vanished into the shadows, Jihye stayed low, crawling on her belly toward the injured Jisu.

Thwack-thwack-thwack!

Jihye threw herself in front of Jisu, blocking the incoming barrage with her barrier.

How long did the onslaught last? Soon, the wind shurikens that had been relentlessly pelting the barrier finally ceased.

"O-Oh no... She's bleeding too much!"

The moment the attack paused, Jihye cried out, looking at the wounded Jisu.

Jisu's condition was indeed critical, just as Jihye said. A deep, jagged laceration ran all the way from her shoulder down to her forearm. It was a miracle she had twisted her body at the last second with her animalistic instincts; otherwise, her entire arm would have been severed.

Gush—

"Haa... Haa..."

Clutching her shoulder, Jisu panted heavily as blood continued to pool from the wound.

I looked down at her, my expression grim.

That wound is bad.

Eun Yerin, the healer, was inside the massive Stadium ahead. But there was no telling if Jisu's body would hold out until we could recruit her. For now, I had to perform first aid here.

But we don't know when they'll launch their next attack.

I glared in the direction the attack had come from. Our position was compromised, and we had no idea how many enemies there were or what kind of firepower they possessed. Staying like this was suicide. I needed a new card to play.

If I hoard my points now, I'll lose a valuable asset.

Gritting my teeth, I opened my status window and tapped the skill upgrade tab without hesitation.

"Yes."

A golden notification window materialized in the air, presenting several options. There were various upgrade paths, such as increased attack power on the first strike from stealth, or bypassing detection skills. Among them, I chose the skill tree that would be most useful in our current predicament.

If the enemy knows our location and we're at risk of being sniped, we need to hide our presence entirely.

Vanishing by myself would achieve nothing.

My current Mana stat had risen to 24 after absorbing Jihye's stats. Sharing it with two people would consume 2 Mana per minute, meaning I could maintain it for about 12 minutes. That was more than enough time to escape the sniper's line of sight and regroup.

I selected the sharing tree and immediately placed my hands on Jisu's and Jihye's shoulders.

"Invisibility Sharing."

Whoosh—

The moment my hands made contact, the bleeding Jisu and the barrier-wielding Jihye gradually turned translucent.

"W-What...?"

Jihye flustered, looking down at her invisible hands and feet.

"Shh."

I silenced her, pulled a knife from my backpack, and sliced off a piece of the tent fabric. Then, I tightly bound Jisu's wound. I had to stop the blood from dripping onto the ground and leaving a trail. Otherwise, our invisibility would be completely useless.

"Ugh."

"Can you walk?"

Jisu gritted her teeth and nodded. Keeping our invisibility active, we moved deeper into the building, searching for a spot with no windows or collapsed outer walls.

The trajectory of the enemy's attack wasn't a straight line or a simple parabola.

Before resting, we had carefully scanned the surrounding buildings and windows to choose a spot safe from snipers. Yet we were still hit. This meant the enemy wasn't just throwing wind blades; they could actively manipulate their trajectory. Thus, we retreated into a completely enclosed space, far from the enemy's line of sight.

Flash.

As soon as I let go of them, the shared invisibility deactivated, and Jihye and Jisu materialized once more.

"Haa... Haa..."

The moment I untied the temporary cloth, blood began to gush from Jisu's wound again. Jihye grabbed my arm, her eyes wide as she took in Jisu's state.

"T-The blood won't stop... We need a hemostatic agent..."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"We don't have anything like that."

I cut her off and faced reality. We had to physically stop the bleeding and prevent infection. There was only one way to do that. I looked at Jihye and ordered.

"Use your Flame Shot skill. Don't throw it. Just create a small flame on your palm."

"What? Y-You want me to start a fire here?"

"Just do it."

Whoosh—

Jihye hastily opened her palm. Blue mana flickered, and a flame the size of a ping-pong ball flared to life. I immediately turned to Jisu.

"You, use the Fire Manipulation skill you got from killing Yoon Seongcheol yesterday. You know what I'm trying to do, right?"

Jisu, panting through the pain, understood my intention, and her eyes widened. Cauterizing raw flesh with fire to stop the bleeding. In our current situation, with absolutely no medical supplies, it was the only way to keep her alive.

First, cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding and prevent infection.

Secondary infections or scarring could be dealt with later. That was a problem for after we recruited the healer. For now, we just needed to buy time. Jisu bit her trembling lip and nodded. She reached her blood-stained hand toward Jihye's flame.

Sizzle—

As her Fire Manipulation skill activated, the fireball in Jihye's hand flickered and reshaped itself, glowing like a piece of white-hot iron. Cold sweat pouring down her face, Jisu brought the flame toward her mangled shoulder.

Tremble—

Just before touching the wound, her fingertips trembled slightly. I pulled a rope from my backpack and stuffed it into Jisu's mouth.

Sssssss!

At the same time, she pressed the flame against her shoulder. The sickening sound of flesh burning echoed through the room.

"Mmph...! Mmmgh...!"

Jisu bit down hard on the rope, swallowing her screams. Tears streamed down her face. Her entire body convulsed, shaking violently. Amidst the agonizing pain, the fire seared her flesh, fusing the bleeding vessels shut. Having endured the excruciating ordeal to the very end, Jisu finally let her head drop.

"Haa... Haa..."

Her Fire Manipulation deactivated, and the flame died out. A hideous, charred scar now covered her shoulder. It was a gruesome sight, but fortunately, the bleeding had stopped. Jihye squeezed Jisu's hand tightly.

"Y-You tough bitch. You did it."

"...Yeah."

Though they had been bickering just moments ago, the threat of death had forged them into a real team. I stared at Jisu, my gaze hardening as I watched her recover from her self-inflicted treatment.

To endure the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pain of burning her own flesh just to survive...

With that kind of will to live, she was definitely an asset worth investing in. I lightly patted Jisu's cheek as she hovered on the verge of passing out.

"...Good job. Just hang in there. I'll go kill those bastards and bring back the healer."

Meanwhile.

Inside a building near the Stadium that offered a clear, bird's-eye view of the surrounding area. One of the men who had fired the wind blades let out a disappointed sigh.

"Ah, shit. Did I hit her?"

He peered through his binoculars at their targets. Seeing the woman bleeding from her shoulder, it was clear his attack had missed its mark. The guy next to him, holding a steel pipe, scolded him.

"Hey, I told you to just break the bow on her shoulder! Can't you aim for shit?"

The wind-blade shooter replied defensively.

"I couldn't help it. I can only roughly control the trajectory, okay?"

These men were a group of four male players holed up in a building near the Stadium. They had barricaded themselves in the vending machine area of the lounge floor. Packed with snacks, bread, and drinks, they had enough supplies to last for weeks. With food taken care of, their next priority was lust. Their minds were entirely consumed with kidnapping and raping women.

"You dumbass. If she dies before we can even fuck her, it's a waste. You should've killed the guy first."

"Who cares, fuck it. If she dies, we'll just use her body anyway. There's another bitch right next to her."

"Or how about we let a zombie bite her, turn her, and tie her up? That way, she won't die, and we can keep using her as a meat sleeve forever."

They even exchanged depraved suggestions about turning the women into zombies to abuse them indefinitely.

"You crazy bastard. You'll get bitten and die."

"We can just pull out her teeth and nails beforehand. Heheh."

The three men cackled, plotting how they would violate and abuse the women without a single care in the world.

"..."

Meanwhile, a chubby man sat huddled in the corner, silent. Wearing cargo pants, an engineering student plaid shirt, and a massive backpack, the portly man kept his mouth shut, refusing to join the conversation. The other three ignored him and focused back on the situation.

"Oh, they put up a barrier."

Seeing the barrier expand, the men grew even more relaxed. The shooter launched a few more attacks to test the barrier's strength, then stopped and said,

"It's fine. That barrier will vanish once her mana runs dry. Let's rest a bit and attack again."

Time was on their side. The defenders had to keep their barrier up constantly out of fear of sudden attacks, giving the attackers a massive advantage. They could just throw a wind shuriken every now and then to drain her mana, then stroll over and capture them.

"Let's head down and get ready to grab them. She's hurt, so they won't get far."

"Kill the guy first."

"I get first dibs on the bitch in the office wear."

Just as they were licking their lips, plotting how they would taste their prey—

"Huh? Look at that!"

"What is it?"

The men tilted their heads in confusion at the unexpected sight. The man's figure had vanished into thin air. Soon after, the blue shield dissolved like a mirage, and the targets vanished from their sight completely.

"W-What the hell? Where did they go!"

The wind-blade shooter yelled in panic.

"Is it some kind of invisibility skill?"

Cold sweat trickled down their spines. The terrifying realization that an invisible enemy could slit their throats at any moment gripped them. After a brief moment of panic, they clenched their fists, trying to reassure themselves.

"I-It's fine. They don't know where we are anyway. How could they possibly know where the attack came from?"

The others quickly agreed.

"Yeah. They probably panicked after the sudden attack, used ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an invisibility skill, and ran away."

"Invisibility can't last forever. Besides, that bitch in the track jacket was bleeding like a pig. With that much blood loss, they couldn't have gone far. They're probably hiding in some blind spot nearby, treating her wound."

Steeling themselves, they gripped their weapons tighter, determined not to let their prey escape.

"Nothing to be scared of. If we go down now and search the area, we'll find them. Let's go."

"Hey, fatty. You stay here and guard the place."

Just as they turned around, preparing to head down the building—

Crack!

"Huh?"

The head of the man leading the way burst open like a ripe watermelon. A silent, devastating blow. The corpse, its skull completely caved in, collapsed limply to the floor.

"H-Hieee!"

Seeing their ally instantly killed inside what they believed to be a safe haven, the remaining two froze in sheer terror. The prey they thought had fled had become the hunter, already standing right behind them.

Still invisible, I pulled my expandable baton out of the dead man's skull.

"R-Run!"

"Fuck! You fat pig, block him!"

Seeing their friend's head burst, the remaining men panicked and tried to scatter. They shoved the chubby man toward me as a shield and bolted.

"Whoa..."

I looked down at the fat guy who had tripped and fallen in front of me. Something was dangling from his backpack strap. It was a wing-shaped accessory made of clear plastic. I recognized it from the entertainment news I used to watch during my convenience store shifts. It was the official lightstick keychain for the girl group, Angelic.

I recalled the details of the scan I had run on him earlier.

He had a non-threatening skill and didn't seem to be a hardened criminal.

I'll keep this guy alive for now. I might have some questions for him later.

Leaving the otaku aside for a moment, I chased down the other two and smashed their heads in.

Thwack!

"Aaargh!"

My baton, reinforced by my skills, struck the crown of the man's head. His skull fractured, and he collapsed to the floor with a scream.

"Crush!"

The last remaining guy yelled, activating a skill. At his shout, a massive fist materialized in the air and lunged toward me, but—

Whoosh—

He couldn't aim properly at an invisible target. I dodged the attack with ease.

Crack!

I shattered his skull as well, sending him crashing down.

"Gack!"

Thud! Thud!

To make absolutely sure they were dead, I struck their heads a couple more times. With a dull thud, their movements ceased completely.

Right before his eyes, his three companions had been turned into heaps of raw meat with nothing but a blunt weapon. The sole survivor, the man with the lightstick, lost all strength in his legs and slumped to the floor.

"A-Ah... Ah..."

He trembled like a leaf. Only then did I deactivate my Cognitive Interference, materializing out of thin air. Resting the blood-soaked baton on my shoulder, I strolled casually toward the cowering man.

A fan-turned-raider who still kept an idol lightstick attached to his bag even after the end of the world. If anyone knew about the factions gathered inside the Stadium and Eun Yerin's whereabouts, it would be him.

"Hieee! P-Please spare me!"

I grabbed him by the collar.

"A-Ah, that hurts! Please!"

He shrieked, desperately struggling to survive. I leaned in close to his ear, pressing the tip of my baton right under his chin.

"If you want to live, answer my questions. Where is Eun Yerin? And what's the situation around the Stadium? Tell me everything. Don't leave out a single detail."