Chapter 9: The turn of things

Jamie entered the city to find it extremely quiet, just as he left it before. No one was in the streets, and the shops were deserted.

He continued wandering until he reached the place where he had awakened before.

There, he found some mysterious symbols on the walls, sparking his curiosity because they hadn't been there before.

At that moment, Carter emerged from the shadows. He was wearing strange clothes, with one of his legs amputated, and he had a patch over one of his eyes.

"Hello, Jamie," Carter said quietly.

"You've startled me, Carter. I'm sorry, but what are you doing here, Jamie?"

Several things have happened since that old man sent me.

Jamie, listen carefully. I know everything that has happened. But now, we must leave this place first.

But how do you know everything that happened to me?

Jamie and Carter headed towards the house where Carter lived and where Jamie received his initial training from Carter.

However, this time, Carter didn't take Jamie to the same house but led him to another one outside the city.

Jamie asked Carter why he didn't take him to that particular house.

Carter remained silent, not uttering a single word. This made Jamie feel that there was something different about Carter.

At the same time, Jamie felt he was being observed by four individuals, but without catching their attention, he continued on his way.

Nevertheless, Jamie looked at Carter's hands and found that he had both of them.

He swiftly drew his sword and stepped back at least five millimeters.

"What are you doing, Jamie? Why did you draw your sword? You're not Carter."

What do you mean I'm not Carter?

At that moment, four individuals stood, each positioned in a direction. Jamie was puzzled, but it didn't catch his attention because his gaze was directed towards Carter.

"Activate time-stop field."

Jamie's body didn't move; the four individuals began moving towards him. However, Chromos switched bodies with Jamie.

"I haven't seen you in a long time, leader. I believe you're still true to your word."

Carter, you've done well.

Thank you, leader.

These four bowed to Chromos, as if they knew him well.

Chromos knew these four, but Jamie couldn't return to his body.

"Did you bring what we discussed that night?"

"Yes, we found one, but he's not with us; he's in the possession of a girl."

What do you mean he's not with you? You know that time is approaching, and this body...

What's happening here, Chromos? Who are these zombies? What are you talking about?

Leave immediately, as I can't control this body for long. We'll talk later.

Jamie returned to his body, but Chromos wiped that conversation with the four from Jamie's memory.

Where am I? What am I doing here? I was heading to Carter.

Jamie retraced his steps into the city and arrived at Carter's house.

The door was open. "Hello, Carter, is anyone here?" but no one answered.

He entered the house, finding it in disarray, as if a war had taken place inside. Jamie went down to the basement where Carter worked, but everything was scattered there too.

There was a charred body in the basement, and Jamie didn't know whose body it was. However, once again, he saw that symbol he had encountered several times, this time on the wall in red.

Jamie searched for anything that could indicate what had happened there. He found a message addressed to him, opened it, and discovered a ring and a note inside:

"Hello, Jamie. I believe you've become stronger, and your body has changed, even the features of your face may be different. But that's not the most important question on your mind. What happened to me, Trick, and Break? Don't worry; we're fine. By the way, that ring, when you wear it, will merge your power with the zombie inside you, increasing the flow of energy within your body. I specifically designed it for you to ensure that the zombie won't take over you."

This was all stated in the message.

Boom boom boom.

What's happening to the house? Why is everything here moving? Is it an earthquake or something else?

Jamie rushed out of the house. The first thing he did was look at the collapsing home—the place where he first encountered someone since waking up in this world.

A very loud noise echoed from a distance. Jamie decided to hide atop a tree.

Soon, a horde of zombies, numbering precisely in the thousands, appeared before him. Yet, there were people fighting these zombies—four individuals in their early twenties, showing strength.

However, Jamie stayed hidden up the tree, not out of fear but to observe who these four were.

The Sword of Leaves swiftly cut through, delivering a decisive blow that wiped out half of the zombies walking on the ground.

The other half was dealt with by the remaining three.

These four effortlessly eliminated the zombies.

"Oh God, I've only killed a few of them. Are we finally done? This was so exhausting."

"Stop complaining, Frex. You always complain even though you don't do anything."

What do you mean by that? Did you take them out by yourself?

The important thing is, I killed half of them.

What do you mean by half of them? Were we just watching?

Even if you're the one who killed them, you relied on that monster you summoned through your inner power.

Are you jealous because I can summon monsters using my exciting inner power?

They began to argue among themselves.

"Stop this! We're here to protect this world, and just because we were summoned here doesn't mean we can do whatever we want, right, Nico?"

"I don't care about protecting this world. I want to eliminate anyone who wants to face me."

"Alright, let's go back to the city, tell them we killed the zombies, and get a reward."

Jamie overheard their conversation and decided to follow them.

"I think I'll follow them to that city they belong to."

Jamie quietly descended from the tree and followed them.

"We finally arrived," the city the four emperors spoke of was more than five kilometers away from where they faced the zombies.

However, their speed allowed them to reach the city in less than seven minutes. The issue with this city was that it was surrounded by giant walls, and above those walls, there were guards.

Jamie raised a question: "Why are there such giant walls? Are they afraid of zombies to this extent?"

There was a problem facing Jamie; there was no way to enter the city except through the gate used by vehicles.

Jamie began to think of a solution. He stood in front of the gate for a whole day and noticed that there were vehicles entering the gate twice a day.

Afterward, he decided to follow one of those vehicles after it left the city. He followed it, and it turned out to be a vehicle carrying vegetables in barrels. There was one man handling it. Jamie struck a deal with the man for a very small amount of money.

On the following day, with the help of that man, Jamie entered the city.

The man spoke, "We've entered the city; you can leave now."

Jamie exited the barrel, thanking the man for the kindness he had shown. However, the man advised him to be cautious about using his sword within the city and to avoid fighting in the streets.

Jamie asked the man about the city's name.

The man replied, "The city is called 'Acoutirata.'"

Jamie started wandering the city streets to observe scenes that indicated a certain social hierarchy that persisted in this world despite the changes it had undergone.

He swiftly stole money from a man passing by, who remained unaware of the act.

Entering a shop, Jamie ordered some ramen, a popular dish he enjoyed, and took a short nap afterward, despite being haunted by nightmares.

Continuing his stroll, Jamie reached a market where weapons and zombie slaves were sold, along with various other items.

"Hey, young man, come buy this legendary sword; it swiftly deals with zombies."

But Jamie had no interest in anything from the market other than finding a place to rest because night was approaching.

He entered a house with a sign that read "Old Shemtai Hotel."

"Hello, is anyone here?"

"Welcome, young man. What can I do for you?"

"I want a room for one night. How much is it?"

"Are you alone, or do you have someone with you?"

"I'm alone; there's no one with me."

"Alright, the room for one person is one hundred gold coins."

Jamie paid the requested amount to the old Shemtai, who then led him to his room.

Jamie took a short nap, only to wake up to a commotion downstairs.

He descended the stairs to find some men attempting to rob the old lady.

"What are you doing? Leave the old lady alone, you fools."

"Who are you? Go back to your room before you become one of the dead."

But Jamie continued to stare at them, further angering one of them. He approached Jamie, grabbing his hand. However, Jamie didn't remain standing; he swiftly sent him flying in another direction after spitting on him.

The other two men then rushed towards him, drew their swords, and attacked. Yet, Jamie swiftly dealt with them without a scratch, cutting off one hand from each and leaving them with only one hand each.

"You stop! What are you doing?" Old Shemtai spoke.

"They tried to rob you, and this is what they deserve."

"But you don't know that they'll come here in large numbers and kill you."

"Haha, they'll kill me? You're joking."

"But you're not from this city. What is this energy emanating from this boy? That monster inside you is truly astonishing."

Jamie chuckled mockingly at what was happening in this city. "Yes, I'm not from here."

The old woman closed the hotel and asked Jamie to follow her to a completely secret room.

"Sit here; we'll talk a little.

Do you want anything from me?"