The underground parking structure remained completely silent after the mutation leader collapsed. Black blood slowly spread across the cracked concrete floor while abandoned vehicles reflected weak flashlight beams through the darkness around them. The crawler variants had already fled deeper into the underground tunnels, leaving behind only corpses, broken concrete, and the suffocating smell of blood and rotting flesh. Nobody moved immediately. Nobody spoke. Because deep down, everyone still felt disturbed by what just happened. Not the battle. Not the monster. But the fact that the mutation leader spoke. And worse—the way it looked at Arata.

Yuna finally broke the silence first while resting her bat against her shoulder again. "I’m just gonna say it." She glanced toward the dead mutation leader carefully. "If zombies start holding conversations, I’m quitting the apocalypse." Reina exhaled slowly while reloading her weapon. "You can’t quit reality." "Watch me." Kaede crouched beside the mutation leader’s corpse silently while studying the massive body carefully. "Its structure changed during combat." Miyu adjusted her glasses slightly. "Adaptive mutation." Her expression remained calm, but tension existed beneath her voice now. "It was evolving in real time." Yuna looked horrified. "Can you please stop saying terrifying things so calmly?"

But Arata barely listened to them. Because the system screens still lingered inside his mind.

[Potential Evolution Path Conflict Identified] [Mutation Leader Resonating With Host Adaptation System]

The words repeated endlessly inside his thoughts. Connection. Resonance. Evolution. Something about the mutation leader felt wrong from the beginning. The way it observed him. Spoke to him. Reacted specifically toward him instead of the others. And worst of all—the emotions Arata felt during direct contact with it. Hunger. Violence. Instinct. Those feelings still lingered faintly inside his chest now like something foreign remained buried beneath his skin.

"Arata." He looked up slightly. Airi stood near him now after arriving with several soldiers who followed the battle sounds underground. Her expression immediately softened after seeing blood covering his clothes and arms. "You’re injured," she whispered worriedly. "I’m fine." "That amount of blood is never ’fine.’" Before Arata could respond, the system suddenly appeared again.

[Warning] [Host Emotional Instability Increasing] [Residual Mutation Influence Detected] [Recommendation: Immediate Mental Stabilization]

Arata’s eyes narrowed slightly. "...Residual influence?" The system remained silent. That silence bothered him more than the warning itself.

Nearby, the soldiers started securing the underground structure while collecting usable supplies from maintenance rooms connected to the parking area. Several looked horrified after discovering the nest of corpses hidden beneath the tower. One younger soldier looked pale while staring toward the half-eaten bodies hanging from the pillars. "How long were those things living under us...?" Nobody answered. Because nobody wanted to know. Yuna suddenly walked beside Arata while lowering her voice slightly. "You okay?" "I said I’m fine." "Yeah," she muttered while studying his expression carefully. "That’s usually when people are absolutely not fine." Arata looked away silently. Yuna’s playful attitude disappeared slightly afterward. "...That thing," she said quietly. "Why was it talking to you?"

The question instantly made the atmosphere heavier. Even Reina and Miyu glanced toward him now. Arata remained silent for several moments. Then finally—"I don’t know." Technically true. But not completely. Because deep down, he feared the answer already. The group finally returned toward the upper survivor floors several hours later after sealing most underground access points. The moment civilians saw them returning alive, visible relief spread through the tower again. Survivors whispered nervously while soldiers carried reports about the underground nest toward command floors. And once again, people started looking at Arata differently. Not just with gratitude anymore. But awe. Fear. Respect. Stories spread quickly inside desperate places. Especially stories about monsters.

By the time Arata reached the residential floors, civilians were already whispering about him openly. "He killed another evolved infected..." "They said the monster spoke..." "No normal person survives things like that..." "Maybe he’s some kind of awakened..." Fear and hope mixed together inside those voices. Arata hated hearing it. Because the more people expected from him, the heavier the invisible pressure became. Daichi once carried those same expectations. And now he was dead.

Airi followed closely beside him through the hallway while carrying additional medical supplies gathered underground. Several exhausted civilians thanked them repeatedly while soldiers moved barricades and reinforced entrances nearby. The tower still looked damaged everywhere. Cracked walls. Bloodstains. Broken doors. Tired survivors sleeping against hallways because rooms were overcrowded. Yet despite everything, people were rebuilding again. Surviving again. Fighting again.

Arata stopped near one hallway window overlooking the ruined city outside. Night had already covered the streets again while distant fires burned faintly across collapsed buildings. Somewhere out there, countless infected still wandered endlessly through the dead world. And now evolved variants existed too. Smarter variants. Coordinated variants. Variants capable of speech.

Airi stopped beside him quietly. "You’ve been distant since underground." Arata remained silent. She hesitated briefly before speaking again. "...You can talk to me." He almost answered immediately. Almost. But the moment he remembered the feelings forced into his mind during contact with the mutation leader, his expression darkened slightly. Because for one horrifying second—part of him understood that creature. Understood the hunger. Understood the instinct to evolve beyond humanity itself. And that terrified him more than anything else.

"I’m just tired," he finally answered. Airi looked unconvinced immediately. "That’s not all." Arata looked away toward the city again. "If intelligent infected continue evolving..." His voice became quieter. "...Humanity loses eventually." Airi’s eyes lowered slightly after hearing that. Because deep down, she feared the same thing. They already struggled surviving against normal infected. Against endless numbers. Against starvation and fear. But creatures capable of thinking? Planning? Evolving? Humanity would eventually fall behind.

Then suddenly, alarms echoed through the tower again, Everyone froze.

The sound immediately triggered panic across nearby floors while soldiers grabbed weapons and civilians pulled children closer instinctively. Yuna groaned loudly from nearby. "Can this building survive ONE peaceful night?!" A soldier sprinted down the hallway moments later while breathing heavily. "Movement detected outside!" Reina’s expression sharpened instantly. "Another horde?" "No..." The soldier swallowed nervously. "...Survivors."

That single word changed the atmosphere immediately.

Survivors and Living humans.

The group moved toward the observation floors quickly where several soldiers already watched the streets below carefully through binoculars and spotlights. Large metal barricades blocked the lower entrances while armed defenders prepared cautiously along defensive positions. Arata stepped near the shattered window overlooking the street below.

And froze slightly, Nearly thirty survivors stood outside the tower gates.

Men, Women, Children.

Most looked exhausted, injured, starving. Several pushed makeshift carts carrying supplies while others supported wounded people barely capable of walking anymore. Their clothes looked dirty and torn after traveling through the infected-filled city for days. Some children cried weakly while several adults begged desperately toward the soldiers above.

"Please open the gates!"

"We have injured people!"

"We know survivors live here!"

One older woman collapsed onto her knees while holding a little girl tightly against her chest. "Please..." she cried weakly. "...We can’t keep running anymore..."

The civilians inside the tower immediately started whispering nervously after seeing them.

More people meant less food, Less medicine, More risk, Fear spread quickly again.

One soldier beside the barricade looked toward Arata uncertainly. "...What do we do?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

That question hit harder than expected.

Because once again—Everyone looked toward him now, Not Daichi, Him.

Arata stared silently at the desperate survivors outside while tension slowly filled the observation floor. Some soldiers looked sympathetic. Others looked nervous. Several civilians already argued nearby about whether opening the gates was too dangerous.

"What if one of them is infected?!"

"We can’t just abandon them!"

"We barely have enough supplies already!"

"They’ll die out there!"and The arguments grew louder, Messier.

Fear and humanity clashing together once again.

Yuna sighed heavily beside Arata. "...And here comes another disaster." Reina crossed her arms slightly. "If we reject them, morale inside the tower drops further." "If we accept them," Miyu added calmly, "resource consumption becomes critical." Kaede remained focused on the group outside carefully. "...Several are wounded." Airi looked toward the crying children outside the barricades before lowering her eyes slightly. "...We can’t leave them out there..."

Silence followed.

Then the system appeared again before Arata’s eyes.

[Emergency Choice Event Triggered]

[Option 1: Reject Survivors]

[Immediate Risk Reduced]

[Morale Penalty Applied]

[Option 2: Accept Survivors]

[Resource Strain Increased]

[Unknown Threat Probability Rising]

[Warning: One Survivor Carries Hidden Infection]

Arata’s eyes sharpened instantly, Hidden infection, again.Somewhere among them—An infected carrier existed again.