Quirk

The puppets had already slipped a good distance off. Those traitorous little bastards. By the time I caught up, every one of them was playing dumb.

Then I crossed the road, and—what the hell were those?!

The patrol zombies had tripled. They weren't even moving as separate bodies. They clung together in a tight file, packed shoulder to shoulder like people standing in line.

I hid first. Don't tell me this is because we wiped out a single patrol team? I could hardly believe it. Which meant only one thing. There's something out there giving them orders?! I couldn't read it any other way. Ordinary zombies wouldn't notice a hole in a patrol rotation and try to plug it.

Ah... At ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this rate, getting back in looked impossible. And just leaving it like this feels like a waste? Waste, my ass. I already had more than enough.

Krrrrgh! Hell yes, this is it!! This is a C-grade option! The thrill was sharp enough that a zombie moan nearly crawled out of my throat.

The E-grade Sturdy Hand Axe hadn't carried any special option, and even that thing had shown absurd power. A C-grade with a special option stacked on top!! I was starting to feel sorry for the zombies.

The part-shatter was especially unhinged. Against a stage-two zombie, aiming for a vital was difficult to begin with—but the C-grade Bone Breaker Crowbar was different. Land a hit anywhere and they'll be shut down! Crack this one, crack that one, crack the next—what were they going to do besides crawl? A valid-hit judgment was still required, of course, so a mere graze wouldn't trigger the shatter. Oh yeah? Then I just practice swinging a crowbar five thousand times, don't I?

The answer was obvious. Big hospital or not, they're finished. Humanity's strongest weapon: secured. Hah! Not the time. I barely hauled my head back together. Back to base. A nod. Let's see what you farmed.

I upended the bags the puppets had been carrying. Ooooh!

Supplies poured out—not just junk, but weapons worth using. Oh! A hand axe and a full axe! I hadn't even hoped for that much. I'd feasted so hard I was about to burst. The miscellaneous gear I'd actually needed caught my eye too. The rope shop had been open! When I'd gone to rescue that hunter, the puppets had lost their bags and I hadn't been able to recover the rope. This was perfect. They'd even brought wire rope, tougher than ordinary rope.

"You guys farmed this properly. Heh heh heh. Nice work."

A nod. Nod, nod. A thumbs-up. I was pleased enough that I wanted to praise not only the mannequins, but B, who was throwing a thumbs-up of its own.

Time to hand out the gear. I kept the C-grade Bone Breaker Crowbar for myself. I had to get used to it first; that was how the puppets' proficiency would climb. It was the strongest weapon I owned, so I needed to adapt fast. The E-grade Sturdy Hand Axe, which I already knew well, would be more efficient in Puppet 1's hands. A standard hand axe went to Puppet 2. The two-handed axe to Puppet 3. The large wrench to Puppet 4.

Puppet 4 hadn't received an axe, the type I was used to, but a large wrench's hitting power shouldn't be bad. It was a solid lump of steel. The big hammer, on the other hand, was too heavy for a mannequin to swing, so I passed on it.

B, how about the club hammer? A nod. Fists alone had a ceiling. To deal with something like a zombie in a hard hat, you needed a weapon that could work into the gaps. When you're not using it, hang it on the tool belt. Nod, nod. I handed the tool belt over as well. In situations where fists were better, it could just hang there.

Once the gear was divided, I cleared the area in the direction opposite the construction site. There was nowhere left to farm, so all that remained was waiting for Puppet 3. I stretched out on the mattress and shut my eyes for a bit.

Restore. The cooldown came back around, and I restored Puppet 3. Cross over this way. I called it in to base. No need to go out and meet it. Even if a mannequin got spotted by zombies, it could play dead and slip free unharmed.

I was about to lie back down when an exit appeared nearby. They pop up around here more often than I thought. While I'd been waiting out the cooldown, an exit had opened in this area twice. Maybe because of the construction site? I'd have to look the place over on the next entry.

I waited in front of the exit until Puppet 3 arrived. Good. You're here. Nod, nod. We went in together.

This shows up here too? The shop had never appeared at an exit before. You could use it the moment you escaped anyway. Is this a perk too? If I didn't feel like leaving, I could just use Storage and go right back to farming. Right now, though, I had to go strip Sia's quirk.

Thirty seconds passed. A flash—and I was back in my apartment.

Ding. I checked the push notification.

"Precision? A positive quirk?!"

I opened the option.

"Holy shit! A quirk like this exists?!"

Hunter Gallery's best posts had a running list of the quirks hunters had made public, so I'd had a rough idea of what might come out. I had not expected a positive quirk like this. This is top-tier positive-quirk territory, isn't it? Right up there with Nimble Movement, currently rated as a first-tier positive quirk. The exact option had never been released. Maybe this one's even better. Quick movement was nice, but situations that demanded accurate motion came up far more often. Slipping into a building. Crossing a road. Parkour. Climbing a rope would be the same.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Push alerts started chiming one after another out of nowhere. What? I checked.

What the—?! ...Ah! Right, now that I think of it! An option cut through my head.

So that's what it meant. Then the puppets leveled up. They shared skills under the EX ruling. They gained Unique Skills of their own, stayed safe through Restore, and received quirks on top of that? I wanted to grab someone and demand what kind of disgustingly broken Unique Skill this was.

"Ahem."

It was my skill, so I allowed it. I allowed it again.

"Kehehehehe."

All I could do was laugh. Is she working right now? Sia would be waiting. She'd want to get back in fast to search for the anti-cancer medicine, and because of me she'd have to wait another three days. But I brought good news. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I called at once.

What was that reaction? She hadn't misunderstood this as that kind of conversation, had she?! No. That wasn't it. That wasn't it!

Right. Shower first. And something to wear...

I got there ahead of her and waited. Why was I shaking like this again? This is all Yoo Sia's fault. Why did she have to react like that?

Jingle, jingle. I looked toward the door at the sound of the bell, and Sia walked in wearing a light, fluttering dress. Hnnngh!! I nearly sprayed my coffee. That's Sia, all right. Just looking at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her lands like a hit. I barely settled myself by chanting this is because of Vivid Presence like a sutra.

"Y-you're here? Ahem."

An embarrassingly cracked voice came out.

"Y-yeah. Did you have a good run?"

"O-of course!"

"I-I'll go order a coffee."

I knew I shouldn't have picked a café. No matter how many times I came, it was awkward. While Sia went to order, and while she came back with it, every time our eyes met I was busy looking anywhere else. I-I have to get Vivid Presence off her, fast. My eyes kept drifting on their own, and every time they did, I flinched.

Even after she set the coffee down, the silence held. Then I spoke first.

"I found a way."

"H-huh?!"

Sia startled. Was that really so shocking? I hadn't even gotten to the point.

"I found a way for us to take on the big hospital together."

"Oh... yeah. Really?!"

Only then did she react like she understood.

"My skill can remove the Vivid Presence quirk now."

"What?!"

Ah, damn. It was surprising news, sure, but Sia's voice pulled every eye in the place. I offered the people around us a small apologetic nod. So why wasn't a single one of them looking away? They looked like they'd been waiting for an excuse to stare.

"S-sorry. But is that actually true?"

"Yeah."

I told Sia the option.

"With this, I just have to move the quirk onto a puppet."

"Haaa..."

Sia folded onto the table in relief and let out a long sigh.

"And I found something that should work with Puppetry."

"...Thank you."

"Huh? For what?"

A thank-you out of nowhere.

"...For everything."

She buried her face in her arms, then lifted her head just enough to meet my eyes. Ghk. The effect was devastating. Keheum. I wasn't sure what she was thanking me for, but it felt good.

"Um, hey."

"Yeah."

"There's one thing I haven't told you."

"What is it?"

How was I supposed to say this?

"It's, well."

"I'm curious, so just say it."

Uh. Um. How did I tell Sia I had to cast Puppetry on her?! If it was only a brief application and done, that would be fine. But to receive Restore, it had to stay active, didn't it?! And if I gave Sia an order, she'd have to obey. Probably. Would she accept a situation like that? Wh-what kind of orders did I think I'd give?! I didn't even trust myself!

"F-first, let's go to the Hunter Association! If I'm going to show you, it has to be there."

"Boo! You get me all curious and then you won't say it?"

"I-it's a little hard to explain here."

Ghk. I was in a bind too!

"Just tell me. Hmph."

"Sorry."

"Fine. Let's go."

I'd bought some time. Now I had to figure out how to talk her into it. Brain: full power!