"Thank God... you two made it," the man said, approaching them quickly. "Everything was thrown in such chaos and—"

Deon didn’t hear a word of it, stepping in front of Hana as the man approached.

He looked confused for a second, staring down at the bloodied knife in his hand before realizing and dropping it on the floor.

"Look, I just used this to defend myself! Those things were so vicious, they killed everyone and just...left."

The man breathed out slowly. "I just barely managed to kill one of the ones that lingered."

But before Deon could press any further, the familiar blue panels unfolded in front of their eyes all at once. Even the suited man stiffened slightly as one opened before him.

Ding!

[Scenario Leaderboard Updated]

[1. Levi Knox — 15 Points]

[2. Deon Day — 3 Points]

[3. Jason Crowe — 3 Points]

The rest of the rankings trailed beneath them in a blur of zeroes and names Deon didn’t care about right now.

Fifteen points? What the hell had Levi been doing this whole time?

But the question was quickly shoved aside just as quickly by the third name on the list — Jason Crowe.

Beside him, Hana let out a small breath of relief as if the panel itself had reassured her. She looked past Deon toward the suited man and spoke before thinking.

"Mr. Jason...you’re in third place."

The man blinked once before giving a tired laugh, running a hand through his disheveled hair.

"Am I?" he said, glancing toward his own panel. "Guess I got lucky."

He shook his head lightly, as though even he found it hard to believe. "Doesn’t feel like third place after everything that happened."

Hana gave a small, uncertain smile. "Still...that means you really did fight one."

"Barely," he said. "Good thing it was already injured."

Deon had said nothing, his eyes lingering on the leaderboard for a second before he closed it. Then he scanned the surroundings, quickly finding the corpse of the Hound he had killed.

"Then that means you have one of these, too?" he said lightly, raising his blue card and showing it to the suited man.

"Oh yeah, I do, here lemme—" the man fidgeted in his pocket before pulling one out.

It was a Gray Card with a slightly shiny hue on it. Deon read the front of the card, only to see how useful it was.

The [Blade] Card.

A reusable weapon card. Even if the card was of Common-rarity, it might be a lot better in the long run...

No...I don’t fully understand the system just yet. Let’s hold off for a bit until I do.

He glanced at the gray card before his eyes caught back on the man’s face. "Alright then, Mr. Jason. Good luck from now on. We’ll be taking our leave."

"...Wait, what?" the man started, already reaching out. "No no, hey! You can’t just leave an old man here! Don’t you have a human heart?!"

The man looked between them desperately, breathing unevenly.

Deon didn’t even pause. "You’ll be fine."

"...What?"

"You understand the system now. You’ve got points. You’ve got a weapon card." Deon gestured lightly toward the Blade card in his hand. "That already puts you ahead of most people."

He turned slightly, already prepared to leave. "Besides, we’re competitors. You want your wish. I want mine."

But before he could take a step, a light tug pulled at the back of his shirt. Deon glanced down, noticing Hana’s fingers pinching the fabric hesitantly.

"...Deon."

"What?"

Her eyes flicked toward the man, then back to him. "I know we’re competitors, but...he’s still an older man."

Deon stared straight into her soul. She shrank slightly under the look, but continued anyway. "And...he seems smart."

"If we’re going to survive," Hana said softly, "wouldn’t someone like him help more than hurt?"

Deon held her gaze for a second longer, then slowly looked back toward the suited man.

The man had gone strangely quiet during Hana’s plea, shoulders slumped just enough to look pitiful while wisely keeping his mouth shut.

Tch. Of course, he’d let her do the talking for him.

Deon exhaled through his nose.

"...Fine."

The man’s face brightened immediately. "R-Really?"

"You can join us."

Relief flooded across his features so quickly it almost looked rehearsed. "Thank you, truly—"

"But—" Deon cut in, raising a finger. "You’re paying an entry fee."

The man froze. "...Entry fee?"

Deon pointed directly at the gray card in his hand. "The Blade card. Give it to me."

Silence settled over the ruined supermarket. Even Hana blinked in surprise beside him.

"W-What?" the man said after a beat. "You want this?"

"You said you barely survived," Deon replied evenly. "If that’s true, then staying alive should matter more to you than loot."

The man opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Deon continued before he could recover. "You’ll have two extra people watching your back. Someone to share information with. Someone to help when the next monsters show up."

He tilted his head and shrugged. "Sounds like a bargain to me."

The suited man’s grip tightened around the card. For the first time since Deon met him, his calm expression had cracked for a brief second.

All the emotions ran through his face at once—hesitation, greed, calculations, Deon saw it all.

Beside him, Hana leaned in and whispered urgently. "Deon...isn’t that a little harsh?"

"No," he said without taking his eyes off the man. "It’s generous."

After a moment, the man forced a laugh that didn’t fully land. "Young man, surely there’s room for compromise?"

"There is," Deon’s voice stayed flat. "You can compromise by surviving alone."

The man’s smile twitched at the edges.

For a second, Deon thought he might refuse outright. His fingers tightened around the gray card, loosened, then tightened again.

The look in his eyes shifted rapidly, weighing pride against survival, greed against fear.

In the end, fear won.

"...Alright," he said with a strained chuckle. "You drive a hard bargain, young man."

He stepped forward carefully and placed the card into Deon’s open hand. The moment Deon touched it, a faint metallic weight settled into his palm.

[Blade]

A non-consumable common card. This’ll come in handy for sure.

The man immediately clasped both hands together and dipped his head with almost theatrical gratitude.

"Please take care of me from now on!"

Hana blinked at the sudden shift in tone.

Deon stared at him for a second before sliding the card into his pocket. "...You recover fast."

"In times like these, humility is a virtue," the man replied smoothly.

No shame at all, huh?

Then, almost as if eager to prove his worth, the man straightened and spoke again. "Now then, there’s no time to waste. We should use that Party feature immediately."

He gestured toward the blue panels.

"If we’re together officially, perhaps there are bonuses. Shared rewards. Protection systems. Something beneficial—"

"No."

The man blinked. "...No?"

"I don’t understand how it works yet," Deon said flatly. "And I’m not taking unnecessary risks because a stranger told me to click buttons."

The suited man opened his mouth, then slowly closed it again. Deon could practically read the expression on his face.

’Reasonable, damn him.’

Beside him, Hana tried to speak up as well but ultimately decided to stay silent.

Deon ignored both of them. Instead, he casually opened his own panel where only he could see it.

[Party] → [Create Party]

He selected it without hesitation.

[Party Created] → [Party Name: ______]

Deon typed the first thing that came to mind.

[Debt Collectors]

Then he immediately sent an invite to Hana. A small panel appeared beside her. Hana’s eyes widened almost immediately. "Ah—!"

The suited man turned at once. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Deon cut in smoothly. "Keep standing there."

Hana looked between them, then down at the glowing invitation only she could see. She turned toward Deon, catching onto his expression before she turned away and accepted.

[Contestant Hana Jung has entered your Party]

Deon nodded, satisfied as he turned toward the ruined city just beyond the scope of their supermarket.

Now...what to do...?

But as he thought about it, a single name popped into his head. Deon rummaged his mind, trying to remember where that person landed.

Somehow, he felt like that person knew more than he let on. And Deon was eager to find out what. He stretched in the ruined supermarket before pushing the broken glass door out the way and stepping out.

Above, the clock still counted down:

70:34:01

Good, there’s still a lot of time left.

"Now," Deon said, cracking his knuckles as he looked West toward the next objective.

"Let’s go find that actor."