Chapter 3: The Main Cast

Still waiting inside the SM Mall, Angelo stayed put and waited for the main characters to appear. He wanted them by his side if he knew he was gonna survive. They all will obtain great power in the future, and he hopes he can gain protection from them.

A few more minutes in and Angelo remained still, waiting for them. A few of the [Aswang] managed to enter the mall and had seen Angelo. Of course, the effects of the [Garlic Emblem] had already taken affect that made the [Aswang] monsters stay a fair distance away from Angelo, but even then, he held onto his makeshift stake just in case.

[01:35:67]

'It's almost time. Just a few more minutes.' Angelo said in his thoughts.

Angelo continued to wait. Walking around and exploring. He tried on some clothes in the many clothing stores in the mall. One such clothing was a black dress shirt paired with black dress pants, dress shoes and a white coat. He seemed to like it, but decided to place it back into the rack.

He continued to browse through the options of clothing, an activity he used to pass the time. He browsed and browsed until one outfit he thought of a combo. He picked out an outfit he liked and was mobile. A black hoodie paired with black jogging pants with a white vertical stripe on the sides and a pair of running sneakers. This was mainly for better travel.

[01:31:10]

It was time. Angelo stretched his arms from how tired he was of waiting for them. He stood up from the sit he sat on as the monsters flying around were still trying to get to him, but were unable to get near without the fear of burning their breathes inside their mouths.

With that, Angelo dusts off some dirt. "Now...it should about time."

And right on cue, the main cast characters entered in the Mall. However, as soon as they entered, Angelo's eyes opened wide. Not only was the amount of characters predicted to come in was more than one, but they were also changed. One of them was even genderbended, making Angelo worried.

'Was I wrong? It was only 3 characters...yet not only are there 4 but I don't know one of them.' Angelo's thoughts said.

He observed the changed main cast. One such that stood out was the new brown, long-haired female character, instead of the expected male character that Angelo expected. The female character was his former highschool classmate, [Marie Rocaldo].

Angelo got down the steps. "Marie?"

"Angelo! You're here!" Marie ran towards Angelo and grabbed his cheeks, stretching it.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! I'm real!" Angelo said, his cheeks puffing out red from Marie.

"So-sorry. I'm just...making sure." Marie replied.

Angelo nodded in understanding. He looks behind her to see the three people she came in with. two males and one female. However, the girl was an unexpected change. It was normally just three people, however the addition of the fourth girl surprised Angelo, but not by a large margin.

Angelo let out a smile. "It's great to see fellow survivors as well."

"Oh! Ye-yeah! Me too." The man spoke.

The man who had just spoken was a tall, and well built male, who seemed to be in his mid 30's. He had short hair and visible muscles. Angelo knew this man was [Chris Lawrence]. In the novel, he was a frequent gym goer, but was interested in joining the police force, going to the shooting range frequently as well.

"I'm Chris Lawrence. This is Christian Belgium and Jasmin Corvera." He introduced the others.

Angelo already knew the other male. Christian Belgium, a calm, collected but also stubborn character in the novel. He was the second-in-command in the novel's main cast, and would always bicker with the Mc. However...this Jasmin Corvera was someone else.

Angelo stared at Jasmin, confused. She didn't even appear once in the novel, or even existed in it in the first place. Seeing this made him a bit cautious.

'Is she also a reader like me?'

"...What are you looking at?" Jasmin shouted at Angelo.

"O-oh! Nothing...just wondering about something."

"Well, stop staring while doing it. Feel's weird...creep."

Angelo was taken aback. He gets that he probably made her feel a bit weirded out but to call him a creep, a bit too much. It would have been valid to call him that if he eyed her from top to bottom. However, Angelo just takes a breath and let out sigh to calm himself down.

"Anyways, you seem to be doing well, Angelo." Marie clocked in.

"Well...I just stayed hidden here. The Aswangs are for their biases on blood flavor."

It was true. If given the opportunity. Most of the current monsters that are flying around would most likely attack children or pregnant women in hopes of getting their rich and pure young blood, since pure blood was considered thw sweetest for them. Angelo did feel bad but...why was he not that remorseful?

Even then, Angelo pushed that feeling aside and continued on. Though, he did think about his lack of remorse about thinking of the children dying. He did feel bad but...that's just it. Not remorse or even sympathy, just felt bad. Like something didn't allow him to feel remorse. Even then, he continues.

'No time to think about. Let's just get this over with.'

"So...how are you all doing? Is everyone fine? Especially during this...incident?" Angelo asked everyone.

"It all feels so unreal. It's like I'm in a videogame. Like one of those...comics or something?" Chris Lawrence compared.

"I get it. It's like an rpg. The more we kill monsters, the more we get stronger." Marie also compared.

All of a sudden, Jasmin came in. "Yeah, yeah, it's all surprising. What's important right now is we fortify this mall like we planned." She said in a demanding tone.

Jasmin was visibly in a hurry. But even with her tone, everyone agreed, but not Christian. Christian began to walk towards the entrance and exit. However, Jasmin got between him and the door.

"Where do you think you're going, big guy?"

"Out of my way. I have no time for this." Christian took out the sword he had chose from the option window.

"Oh please. There's an army out there. If you go-"

"Let him go." Angelo butted in.

Jasmin looked at Angelo with an angered expression. "Huh? What did you ju-"

"I said to let him go. If he doesn't want to be here...then go." Angelo said.

Christian glared at me as if to say he didn't need my help. This was obvious. The reason his like this was because of his backstort. Filled with betrayal and loneliness and this apocalypse is his way of finally venting. But, this was also part of Angelo's plan. Christian is strong, but was rough and uncooperative. If he was given orders, he'd be mad as hell. As of right now, his a liability to the group...but alone, he'll be strong, like in the novel.

"...I don't need you're help." Christian said.

He pushed Jasmin away with a seriousy face and left. As soon as he left, we see some of the mobs go after him, only for blood to spill around and stain the outside of the door, but we also hear his footsteps leave.

"Damnit! Why'd you do that!?" Jasmin shouted me.

Losing Christian was also a lost of manpower, but if he wanted a strong [Christian Belgium], he has to go through his original path in the novel. A lone wolf. The overpowered side-character. Then, Angelo can work with him, because he doubts that Christian would listen to him then, so working with him will suffice in the future.