"Hah... Hah... Hah!"
Lee Gyeong's breaths came in ragged gasps as she continued her tremendous sprint.
She risked a glance over her shoulder, and her heart pounded faster as she saw several shadows pursuing her.
Wolf-like creatures with reddish fur and sharp fangs. Intermediate Grade 9 Bloodhounds. Not only were they strong, they also travelled in parks making them very hard to hunt.
And right now, she was running with all her might away from those dangerous bloodhounds.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Lee Gyeong was fast, but not fast enough. They were slowly catching up to her as if it was one big joke.
She was running in a straight line—no cover, no escape. It was only a matter of time before they caught her.
"So-Somebody help!"
As she screamed, the bloodhound that was right behind her, leaped and opened its jaws wide. It looked like it was going to crush her head in one go.
Spurt—!
Blood scattered everywhere. Not the blood of Lee Gyeong but the blood of the bloodhund.
A metallic gleam flashed through the air and pierced the bloodhound's skull, exploding its head on impact. But that was not the end.
Bang, Bang—
One by one, the bloodhounds' heads burst apart, blood and brain matter splattering across the ground. In mere moments, seven of the twenty bloodhounds were killed.
Before the surviving beasts could even register the threat, two black figures darted through the air.
Peok— Puok—!
The skulls of the bloodhounds was crushed. Lee Gyeong recognized the newcomers immediately—Jung Yunhee and Angelica. Both women moved with lethal precision like the hand of a giant.
Grrr, Grrr—
The bloodhounds growled at the new actors with malicious intent. They crouched, ready to pounce. However, that was all part of the plan.
"It's time," a deep voice called from behind.
Lee Jongho emerged from the shadows and swung a metal pipe like a baseball bat.
Pow—
The sound of skulls cracking echoed as the bloodhounds were swept away into the air. A home run. Even baseball players would be jealous.
"Twelve down, six left,"
Without wasting a second, Jongho, Jung Yunhee, and Angelica charged at the remaining beasts like savage beasts.
Slam— Crack—
Three bloodhounds were taken down simultaneously in no time. Now it was remaining three bloodhound.
The bloodhounds in question were shaking seeing their fallen brethren. The party was slowly approaching the bloodhounds to finish them off.
And then something unthinkable happened.
The bloodhounds turned tail and ran.
Lee Gyeong's eyes widened in disbelief. Monsters were retreating from humans?
If anyone had told her this, she'd have called them insane, but now she was seeing it with her own eyes.
Before she couldn't even think further...
Spurt—!
Just as the last bloodhounds attempted to flee, their heads exploded in an instant. Lee Gyeong barely saw something flying past her.
"Good work, everyone."
Lee Gyeong slowly turned her head and saw the new speaker. It was a person with a mysterious presence.
180 centimeters tall, slender physique, pale skin and brown eyes. His messy hair parted just above his left eye and cascaded in soft waves a few inches past his neck. His features were undeniably attractive—handsome, though not quite to the level of an idol.
I looked around and saw the others finishing off the ground rats and extracting their cores. It was another overwhelming victory.
Next, I saw Kang Manshik and Lee Gyeong opening up the corpses of the slain ground rats. While luring the hordes, the two were not negligent, killing a few monsters here and there.
I approached Lee Jongho, who was extracting a core from a particularly large ground rat.
"Jongho-ssi, how many cores do you have now?"
"Twenty-eight. You?"
"I've got thirty-two, but the drop rate's been decreasing."
I frowned. This was becoming a problem. As we hunted, the number of monsters was dwindling. No monsters meant no cores. No cores meant failure.
That was the problem with this Fable.
However, there were two ways we could solve this situation.
Firstly, we can look around for stronger monsters which was out of the question. Secondly, we hunt other walkers and steal their cores.
I knew which option I preferred, but the others wouldn't agree. Morality was a weakness in this world, yet some clung to it like fools.
I summoned the system timer.
[ 57:59:45 ]
Fifty-eight hours left. We had time, but I wasn't going to risk it.
"Everyone, gather the cores quickly. We're going to find shelter."
After making the announcement, I began to pick up the monster cores one by one and placed them in my storage pouch.
Jongho asked, "Jakga-ssi, are we going back to the safe zone?"
"No, it's too far from here. We have to find somewhere else to stay."
Of course, we will be safe if we go back to the safety zone. But what was the point traveling all that distance and coming back here.
We moved through the ruined streets, scanning the buildings for anything that might serve as temporary shelter. Most were destroyed or overgrown with vines, uninhabitable.
We kept walking for a long time and we haven't found any good shelter. Anything will do.
Should we just camp in an empty alley? I started considering that option, but I quickly decided against it. If we stay in the open and make a fire, we will draw monsters to our location.
"Hey, look over there."
Angelica gathered everyone's attention and pointed towards a building. Instead of an apartment, it was an ordinary house and it seems to be still in fact.
Good! That's good! We finally found a place.
"Let's go."
We quickly rushed towards the house and entered without hesitation. We did not knock or remove our shoes. Besides, there was no need to. The house was empty.
The house was a mess. Everything was disorganised including the furnitures. It seems the original owner was in a hurry to leave. I wonder if he managed to survive.
"Since it has come to this, search around for food."
"Jakga, I feel this is wrong."
I looked at Angelica and responded.
"You don't have to worry. I don't think the owner will come back soon."
"Are you saying the owner is died?"
"It is a possibility but I don't think that is the case. In the end, it doesn't matter if he is dead or alive. He won't be coming back here and I'm sure you know why."
Angelica fell silent. We both knew the truth.
Naturally, what we were doing would have been a crime in the old world—breaking and entering, theft. Back then, we would have been arrested on the spot.
But that world had already crumbled, and with it, the police who once enforced its laws. Perhaps they were the first to fall in Seoul. Now, there was no one left to stop us.
The world had become lawless, where criminals roamed free without consequence.
But in the end, it didn't matter. In this new world, the only thing I cared about was survival.