Chapter 155: Ch 155: You are a danger to yourself

Using Alex felt like cheating. But they were in an apocalypse, not a video game. Rin had to use every advantage he could get.

"Alex, help Serena and get us out of here."

Rin commanded, and for a moment it looked like Alex would not respond to his words. But thankfully, Alex decided to listen. He turned his head to the side before letting out a sharp cry.

All the monsters froze before they started backing away and retreating toward the volcano. It left the group with a clear path to escape.

"What is going on? The monsters are retreating."

Serena asked with an almost dejected look on her face. She seemed disappointed that she would not get to fight those monsters after all.

Unfortunately for her, Rin still had use for her, so he could not allow her to die here.

"Alex...cough...has bought us some time. Let’s get going."

Rin told the group, and Alex landed on his shoulder, causing Rin to instinctively reach out and pet him. The bird leaned into his touch before nudging harder against his hand in obvious affection.

Everyone nodded—though Serena still looked disappointed—and they finally left the dungeon.

[Dungeon has been cleared. It will disappear in 5 minutes.]

The message appeared on their screens once they got outside, and Rin noticed Serena staring at the dungeon with a longing expression.

She almost took a step toward it when Albus’s cheerful voice stopped her.

"Man, that was one heck of a ride. I never want to go there again. I still can’t believe someone died and then came back to life. Talk about a miracle."

The mood that had just started recovering instantly dropped again, but Albus did not notice it.

"Let’s not talk about what happened here again."

Shelly’s voice was low, but it carried authority. Her tone made it clear that she would not forgive anyone who ignored her warning.

Even Albus did not have the heart to argue with her. So, with heavy hearts, they started heading back home.

Rin remained quiet on Shelly’s back while Albus drove them halfway before it became too dark to continue.

Usually, they would have pushed through the night. But this time, they decided to spend the night in an abandoned hotel for Rin’s sake.

There was just enough clean furniture to make two rooms usable, and they decided to split the rooms between the men and women—much to Shelly’s protest.

In the end, Rin lay down on the bed beside Albus. Unlike Rin, however, Albus fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

Rin was exhausted as well, and he wanted to sleep. But every time he closed his eyes, sleep refused to come. Rin could hear his heart beating faster and faster as the night grew deeper.

Finally, after trying for several more minutes, Rin accepted that he was not getting any more sleep tonight.

Since Albus was fast asleep, it was the perfect time for Rin to sort things out with the system. But at the moment, Rin had nothing he wanted to say to it.

So he decided to take a walk to clear his head. He got out of bed and quietly left the room.

The air outside was fresh and cool. The night breeze carried away the heat of the day, and Rin instantly felt a little better.

He was not sleepy anymore, but his heart was finally starting to calm down. But just as he was about to head back, he heard a loud crash followed by something hitting the floor.

Rin’s heart skipped a beat, but he decided to investigate anyway.

He slowly approached the corridor where the sound had come from. As he walked closer, he grabbed a short-range bomb from his inventory and held it tightly in his hand.

Rin stayed silent as he moved toward the source of the noise. He was getting closer and closer when he suddenly felt a hand reaching for his shoulder, causing him to throw the bomb instinctively.

But the other person was fast and dragged Rin out of the corridor before the bomb could explode.

Rin’s back hit the floor first before he felt an unfamiliar weight pinning him down. The impact knocked the wind out of him, and Rin coughed desperately as he tried to force air back into his lungs.

’W-What happened-?!’

Rin questioned as he tried to make sense of the situation. But all he could see was the dark figure holding him down suddenly grabbing his face. His head was twisted painfully to the side before the grip abruptly loosened.

"You-!"

Rin started to complain, but the moment he saw the terror on Serena’s face, his words died in his throat.

Serena looked half-awake, and her eyes were glazed over. It was almost as if she was not really seeing him at all, but staring straight through him instead.

Rin’s anger vanished instantly, replaced by concern.

"Are you alright? What are you doing in the middle of the night?"

Rin asked Serena, but instead of answering, she simply kept staring at him. Somehow, he had the feeling she was not fully aware of what was happening around her.

Without saying a word, Serena stood up and started walking away again. Rin immediately followed her toward the balcony, unease tightening in his chest.

His instincts told him to stop her, but another part of him wanted to understand what she was doing. So he stayed quiet and watched.

Serena walked toward the railing and looked down. Her body leaned forward, and Rin felt his heart skip a beat as he watched her bend over the second-floor balcony.

Realistically, he knew she would not die from a fall at this height, but it would still hurt like hell.

Still, no sane person would try to jump from this height without a reason, right?

’Hey, she’s leaning too far forward, right? Is she actually going to fall-?! No way-! Ah shit-!’

Rin moved faster than he ever had before and grabbed the back of Serena’s shirt before she could fall. He was not physically strong, but he was just strong enough to yank her back to safety.

The force of his pull caused Serena to crash into the balcony railing, finally snapping her out of her daze.

Serena blinked as she looked around before noticing where she was. A deep frown appeared on her face.

"What...am I doing here?"