The Current Situation

After exiting his house and stepping out of the building, And noticing how there is just slightly more destruction than before, gave Ellis some ideas about the current situation. And with rays of sunlight breaking through the clouds, he walked towards the outskirts of the city, searching for a still-functioning car. But as he walked, suddenly a thought occurred to him.

"You know, Aurora," he asked aloud.

[Yes, Host]

"How much time has passed since I merged with the gray shard? Do you know?"

[Nearly three days.]

Reading the response, and remembering how he stayed three days in the gray gate, making it six days since the awakening. While he didn't know how the situation developed exactly through these six days, seeing just a little more destruction, it has probably gotten better. It would mean the blue gate were normal like he thought. And there should be something inside that will help those who cleared them, even the skills, they should appear there. If everything was possible through learning, there would be no need for the Twilight Codex. Its existence proves that it will be helpful, despite it being a parasite.

Following this line of thought, Ellis reasoned that clearing out the zombies would be a lot easier after some people had cleared the gates, as they would have higher levels and more skills. However, he wasn't sure if he shouldn't worry about his sister, considering his hypothesis and knowing that she was with the military. If the gates were as beneficial as he suspected, she should be safer, provided she didn't expose herself to unnecessary danger by entering one.

While worrying and maybe over-thinking a little, Ellis continued walking, and finally spotted a passerby. The man had a disheveled appearance and wore tattered clothes, looking like a beggar. While Ellis didn't mind, the man seemed not the same and began to run.

Without much thought, Ellis took a few steps—what seemed like a mere few steps to him—and quickly caught up to the man, placing a hand on his shoulder and pressing down slightly. Not even minding the man crying out in pain, with his barely exerted force.

"Hello, brother," Ellis greeted casually. However, to the other man, it didn't feel the same. Being pressed at his shoulder by some force that felt like a mountain, taking all his newly gained strength just to stay standing. And being stared at by those mysterious gray eyes that sent shiver down to his spine, he didn't remember being scared more in all his life. While the monster spoke normally and maybe casually, it still didn't make him look human in his eyes. Trying not to stutter, the man responded with as much respect and composure as he could muster."Yes, how may I help you?"

"I've been hiding in my house since the awakening," Ellis began, feigning ignorance. "I had some spare food and was afraid of getting killed if I went outside, so I haven't left until now. Can you tell me what the situation in the city is like?"

Hearing this kind of bullshit, the beggar tried to control his stupefied expression and answered truthfully, albeit cautiously.

"When the awakening first happened, some people gathered together making some kind of groups to try and survive from the zombies. But that didn't last long—then the gates started appearing. Some groups tried to challenge them, while others didn't. The groups that successfully came out became a lot stronger, while the groups whose members didn't come back got absorbed by others. This went on for about four days, and during this time, the city got divided into three main factions—two large groups and some smaller ones. But then the military arrived yesterday, uniting one of the big groups and some of the wandering people. There were skirmishes yesterday, and today there's talk of a bigger battle, so some people have fled to the western part of the city to avoid the fighting or being dragged to it."

Hearing his very long explanation to the question, but not getting any useful information, Ellis trying to have some patience asked again.

"What about the zombies? And how do people get stronger after coming out of the gates?" While asking, Ellis suddenly noticed the use of word "Coming out" rather than "Clearing", but not noticing his changed expression. the beggar replied.

"The zombies are mostly cleared out now. There's a large group in the south and some wandering zombies, but they're not a big problem. Even the large group would have been dealt with if not for the ongoing conflict between the factions and now the military."

Finishing his first explanation and looking at Ellis weirdly, he continued, "As for how people get stronger after going through the gates, it's mostly due to the skills they acquire inside and how they level up faster."

Ellis perked up at the mention of skills, but knowing how he doesn't have time now for entering the gates. So hesitating for a moment, he decided to not ask about clearing the gates. "Oh, thank you for the information. By the way, I was planning to leave the city and wanted to take a car. Are there any still available?"

"Most of the cars got destroyed during the battles. The ones that are still usable are controlled by the two main factions. If you search carefully, you might find one, but even then, fuel is even scarce and hard to come by now."

"Okay, take care," Ellis said, then started running towards the western exit of the city, deciding to continue on foot.

Along the way, he encountered a lone zombie. Curious to test the results of his new abilities, Ellis punched the zombie in the head. The force of his blow was tremendous, causing the zombie's head to explode like a watermelon. Bits of skull and brain matter splattered everywhere, with some black blood covering his hand.

[You have obtained 0.1 blank points.]

"Huh," Ellis muttered, surprised. "Not even a full point, just a tenth? Is farming blank points going to be this difficult in the future?" Thinking so, he couldn't help but grimace a little.

But Shaking his head to clear it, Ellis resumed his run, killing any zombies he encountered along the way.