Chapter 20: CHAPTER 19 - Stay away…

"So, what did you do for a living before all of this??"

'Sigh….'

Alex sighed for the umpteenth time as he heard another one of Garvit's questions.

Garvit and Shera were sitting on a large debris and the ground respectively, surrounding Alex.

They have been sitting like this since the moment the system went out.

Garvit and Shera seemed to be casually talking and enjoying their time, but their eyes would scan the surroundings now and then.

Shera's sensitive ears would pick up even the smallest rustle in the area, while Garvit's keen observation would help him keep an eye out not only for some external threats but also for the other humans sitting a bit far away.

They were saved by Shera and Garvit, and they were crying like he had given them a new lifeline, but from the moment Shera surrendered to Alex, their attitude changed.

They realized that Garvit was not anything special, there must be people out there who would be even stronger, all they had to do was survive for now, but did Garvit care about any of their thoughts?

No.

All Garvit cared about was to get in the good books of Alex, and so did Shera.

It was not easy to get close to Alex, much less sit right next to him….

..............................…

(4 minutes and 30 seconds ago, when the system vanished.)

Alex's body tensed the moment he saw the system go offline.

He gritted his teeth as he realized how vulnerable he was right now.

Even a child could kill him right now.

And the child he meant was the one before the apocalypse, not right now.

*Step*

Alex's already tensed body jerked as he heard the sound of a step.

With his body petrified, his senses were heightened.

So, right now, that single step was as loud as a grenade explosion to Alex.

His eyes which were closed, snapped open, and his killing intent flared up.

Alex didn't use his skill, he just glared at Garvit.

"Waoh, woah, calm down, man…

I don't want to hurt you…."

Garvit, who took a single step toward Alex, jumped back with his arms raised in surrender.

'What the hell!'

Inwardly, however, he was scared shitless.

That look in Alex's eyes said just one thing to Garvit - 'Death'.

It was as if a single step ahead would mean death.

'And this is when he can't even move…'

Garvit shivered as he recalled the chills he felt when Alex was about to use his skill before.

"Stay away…"

Alex growled in a low voice, sending a shiver down Garvit's spine.

A look of hesitation appeared on Garvit's face.

He just wanted to stay close to Alex and protect him.

He never had any intention of harming Alex.

He could see the eyes of some people sitting a distance away from here.

All of them, just like him, heard about Alex's penalty, and some of them didn't seem to have a good impression of Alex.

And from the way those guys were clenching their weapons, glaring at Alex, one thing was clear - they didn't have goodwill for Alex in their minds.

But then Garvit's eyes widened.

"Hey! Shera! Stop it!"

He yelled in a hushed tone as he saw Shera moving toward Alex with its head down, and body almost touching the ground.

"Stop."

Alex glared at the large tiger that was moving toward him.

"Shera, come back here!"

Garvit hissed.

He knew that Alex was petrified, and they didn't have to worry about him attacking, but for some reason, he didn't want to try their luck.

But Shera continued forward.

Its head was still down, its body relaxed, and its fur softened. S~eaʀᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

<Its body is relaxed, heartbeats stable, and head down.

It is not going to attack.>

The AI analyzed the situation and reported to Alex, but right now, Alex was not listening to any of that.

*Ba-dump**Ba-dump*....

All Alex could hear right now was his loud heartbeats.

He could feel the adrenaline rushing in his head.

The blood was being pumped into his heart at a high speed.

He could hear it all as he saw the large tiger nearing him.

His body which was tensed till now started to tremble, but not out of fear, it was because of rapid contraction and relaxation of his muscles.

He forced his body to move, he tried his best.

'Move!'

He ordered as he saw the tiger right in front of him.

'Move!!'

His breathing turned rapid.

Others might have ignored this point, even Garvit, but Alex didn't.

[1- No human can harm another human.]

None of the people inside the dome could harm him.

None of them besides the large carnivore that moved its head toward his waist.

The only being that could harm him was about to attack him, or at least that's what it looked like to Alex.

Alex gritted his teeth.

He saw it all in slow motion as Shera's head moved closer and closer.

It was his adrenaline that was making it possible, but Alex was already hyperventilating.

The thought of dying after he survived the worst betrayal was hateful.

He didn't want to go down like this.

"Stop! That guy is not stable right now!"

"Shera, Stop!"

Garvit's shouts were ignored by Shera while Alex couldn't even hear them.

'I swear to god that if I survive you will pay-'

Alex's inner roar was cut off by the AI's voice.

It had been trying to contact Alex for a while, but Alex didn't respond, so it decided to make a decision on its own.

Unlike Alex's humane and untrusting feelings, the AI could see that the tiger had no intention of harming Alex, so it decided to calm Alex down first.

'Ah…'

Alex, who felt a sudden rush of relief and calm in his head, sighed inwardly.

His mind felt like it was melting in relief, he closed his eyes to enjoy that feeling.

But it was not uncalled for, after all, the AI did release a high amount of serotine in Alex's head.

'Wait!'

But Alex snapped open his eyes, his body tensed, and he hurriedly looked at Shera, but his body relaxed as he saw what Shera was doing.

The AI uttered inside of Alex's head.

'Never do that again.'

However, Alex ignored the large tiger that was not rubbing its head on his waist. Too tired to even ask it to move away.

It was not doing any harm to him, so it was fine, at least for now.

But, he couldn't ignore the AI's action.

The AI tried to defend itself, but…

'Never. Do. It. Again.'

Alex was not in the mood for jokes.

This was his body, and even if the AI was doing it for him, he didn't want it.

......................................

(Present)

"Were you a fighter? A gold medalist or something?"

Alex just closed his eyes as he heard another one of Garvit's questions.

Garvit came forward after he saw Alex letting Shera stay close to himself without any hyperreaction, and since then he had been sitting close to him, trying to get at least one answer out of Alex.

He had been going on and on since then.

Alex didn't say anything, he was in a bind. He couldn't even move his body. So, for now, he decided to stay still and let them do whatever they.

'20, 19, 18….'

He continued what he had been doing.

Counting the time.

The number of people in the dome had increased.

[13/ 18]

One more group arrived during the time Alex was petrified, and they noticed Alex's situation as well.

Some tried to come close to inquire about it, but the sight of Shera sitting next to Alex, glaring at them, changed their minds.

"Hey, say something, man. I know you can talk-"

Garvit tried his luck again, but his words paused as he saw Alex's body move.

"Oh, 5 m-minutes are already up…?"

Garvit shuttered as he hurriedly stood up and created some distance between Alex and himself.

Shera did the same.

Both of them knew that Alex didn't like them staying close.

But their fear turned into elation the moment they saw Alex turning his back toward them and going back to rest on the debris he was sitting on a while ago.