Sooner Than Expected

At the motel, Rodney was sitting alone in his room. He looked into the mirror where he could see his own reflection. 

Those gray eyes seemed to be telling him that he should stop wasting time. And proceed to make the next plan. 

Now he is at a very high Level. His current level completely exceeded all the Regressions he had experienced. Even many times over. 

With all his knowledge of what was going to happen, coupled with this high Level and Stats, Rodney was confident that he would be able to pass this Selection and advance to the next. 

But one person worries Rodney. 

That person is Clyde.

A young man who he didn't know how could be so strong. 

He was the one who allowed Rodney and the other Regressors to reach this Chapter so easily. 

It was also thanks to him that they could reach this high Level in just two days. 

But because of that great power, Rodney was worried that he might mess up his plans. 

"Hhhh...." Rodney sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror. 

'Should I get rid of him now before he gets stronger, or can I use him to make my way easier later?'

If Rodney could get him to work together, then his path forward would be significantly easier. 

However, Clyde doesn't seem like a fool. 

So maybe Rodney should also think of a way to get rid of him if Clyde notices something strange and starts to wonder. 

But that won't happen if Rodney can play it safe and smart. 

After all, there were two girls he could take advantage of if Clyde threatened his plans. 

Rodney grinned. This time he must succeed. 

Rodney was tired of going through everything over and over again only to die by an imitation creature on the fifth day.

He would start feeding Clyde information to get the young man to do what he wanted. 

After that, he would get rid of him and qualify as the candidate with the highest Grade. 

Rodney saw his reflection in the mirror and smirked. A sly grin that no one even the Regressors had ever seen before. 

A moment later, as if he had come to his senses, Rodney returned to his usual facial expression. 

"No, I can't look like this in front of all of them."

~~~

Clyde finally came out of the place where there was still a lot of that thick green fog. 

He had wanted to explore further but he suddenly felt hungry.

Clyde wouldn't know what happened when he got hungry in this apocalypse so he didn't want to take too many risks. 

Last night they ate some leftover food at the motel where all the guests and their owners had left. Coupled with the food they get from the shop around. 

By now the food should still be left. Clyde felt quite at ease. 

He thought nothing bad would happen once he was at a high Level and had a useful [Title]. 

With his current power, Clyde was able to handle the monsters that appeared easily

Even earlier he had killed a huge monster that seemed impossible to kill. 

The people in his party were also at high Levels. So they won't hinder him too much. 

However, he still didn't know what the day of the third Chapter tomorrow would have in store. 

While it was still a day 

light, perhaps they could use this time to prepare. 

With the presence of the four Regressors, everything becomes easier. 

Clyde even felt that this was all too easy. His life feels better after the apocalypse happened than when everything was still running normally.

Clyde snorted at the irony of this. How the destruction of this world could be something good for him was beyond his expectations. 

Clyde arrives back at the motel. He stretched out his hand to grab the door handle. 

But before his hand could grasp the door handle, a tremor happen as the sound of alarm echoed through the air. 

The sound of the alarm is like the sound when an earthquake or tsunami is coming. 

Clyde know this was a clear sign of alarm signaling disaster. 

The people in the motel rushed out with their weapons in hand. They saw Clyde standing outside and looking up. 

"What's going on?" Asqa asked in a panicked voice. She spread her eyes around but still couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.

"This is the sound that comes when the Boss in the second chapter spawned," Rodney answered. "This is too soon. How come this happen already?" 

Clyde had one guess. Maybe the appearance of the Boss was triggered because the progress that had occurred was much faster than it should have been. 

"Maybe it happened because we destroyed one Zombie Spawner and Leveled Up quickly," Sonya said. "Maybe our progress is considered enough for the Boss to appear." 

"But in our previous Regression, no one was able to destroy the Zombie Spawner or reach this kind of Level. Even so, the Boss still appeared when the time came," Mona said. 

"That's because the time is up. So like it or not the Boss has to appear to finish this second Chapter," Sonya said. 

"It doesn't matter now," Clyde said. "The Boss has appeared. We just have to kill it." 

They are all silent. What Clyde said was true. No matter the reason why the Boss appeared so early, in the end, it still appeared and had to be killed. Before the Boss killed them. 

"But before that, is there any food inside?" Clyde asked. 

Clyde's question left them dumbfounded. What more is he saying by asking that with a straight face?

The sound of the alarm blaring through the air seemed less important than his hunger. "T-There's still plenty of food inside," Asqa said. 

Clyde just nodded and went inside without saying anything. 

~~~