Chapter 5

Stomp!

Stomp!

Stomp!

The ground trembled. Ishigami Yu looked down as he squatted beside the chimney on the roof of a fifth-floor house.

"Sixteen titans on every road. There's no way out," he muttered, checking his surroundings cautiously to avoid being caught by the titans.

The reason was simple.

"Never expected to learn a new skill again."

[Active skill: Stealth has been awakened!]

[Your presence has significantly dropped.]

[You'll be able to use active skills without mana and cooldowns on the tutorial floor]

Yu looked at his reflection in the blade on his left hand; he could see his face clearly.

The skill seems just to make his presence lower.

He thought, maybe, he awakened this skill after sneaking out from Miyuki. He then stealthily made his way to where he had heard a scream—a soldier's scream. There, he retrieved his ODM gear and managed to slash the nape of the smiling titan.

[Identity]

Name: Ishigami Yu

Age: 14

Race: Human

Class: None

Level: 1

HP: 100/100

MP: -

Fatigue: 55

[Stats]

Strength: -

Health: -

Agility: -

Sense: -

Intelligence: -

[Passive Skills]

Tracking (Lv.1)

Calisthenics (Lv.1)

Dagger Art (Lv.1)

[Active Skills]

Critical Strike (Lv.1)

Stealth (Lv.1)

So far, he has managed to learn five skills on this tutorial floor.

He acquired the passive skill Calisthenics after several attempts to adapt to using the ODM gear. As a result, he felt his body change slightly, but also noticed he was using too much stamina moving in three dimensions while wielding two blades to kill the titans.

[Fatigue: 56]

His body felt numb and tired. While the system granted him skills, he understood he wasn't yet that strong. After all, he had never trained in this new body.

As for Dagger Art, it was likely because he had cut his two blades in half, making them shorter and lighter. They were more like daggers now than swords.

For now, after checking his surroundings and understanding the map with the help of passive skill Tracking, he decided he should return inside.

---

After Miyuki, Yu, and Yoshiteru manage to kill the titan, they decide to bring Carla after Hachiman finishes giving her first aid for her injured foot.

However, titans blocked every route leading to the only gate connecting Shiganshina District with the Wall of Maria. Knowing their limits and the mission objective: to survive and rescue Carla Yeager. Right now, they had to hide in the abandoned buildings to evade the titans.

In the dark silence of the abandoned building, Hachiman spoke up, looking at Carla.

"Chris, we can't wait any longer."

Miyuki looks at her as he thinks the same way.

But how?

"I'm back," Yu announced as he walked down the stairs after assessing their situation.

"How is it?"

Miyuki asked as they gathered around a circle of wooden boxes. Yu sat on an empty box and shook his head.

"It's bad. This area is completely surrounded. If we step out of this building now..."

Miyuki clicked his tongue.

Remembering the skills they had discussed earlier. It seemed Yoshiteru's decoy skill not only lured the smiling titan but also attracted others, complicating their situation. Miyuki looked at the boys.

"Tell me how bad your fatigue is."

"Mine is 48," Yoshiteru replied.

"...15," Hachiman said, showing better stamina.

Yu sighed. "57..."

Miyuki nodded, assessing the situation grimly.

"Yu's been working the hardest. I'm at 49. I think we could take down two titans at most. Any more than that, it's death. We could wait until they leave, but she might not make it... She could die at any moment."

Eren and Mikasa paled at the dire situation.

"We don't have much time either," Miyuki added, glancing at the system's timer.

[00:39:48]

After all they had been through, they had wasted 20 minutes.

The boys even used almost half of their stamina.

What could they do? Eren was with them, but he didn't possess that power yet. That girl Mikasa was still inexperienced. The soldier, Hannes, relied on them too much. Carla fainted and her condition was worsening.

Unless they took extreme measures...

"No..." Miyuki looked down, murmuring slowly, "There's nothing we can do..."

Even in his whispered voice, everyone heard him clearly in the heavy silence.

Everyone understood.

"This is my fault. If I hadn't been afraid earlier, maybe I could have gained a skill."

Hachiman blamed himself, feeling responsible for their predicament.

"The fault is mine. I shouldn't have convinced all of you in the first place..." Miyuki admitted, understood the gravity of their situation. "Even with the skills the system gave us, we're not ready for this."

Chris was a realist.

He knew it had taken everything just to fight that titan before.

Even with the skills they had received from the system, they were still unprepared for this.

He once planned to join a political party while getting rich. He starts to think, 'So this is how it feels when you send your army to war with patriotic speeches, and later feel bad for those underpaid soldiers who die because of your ambition.'

This is not a game, nor a dream, but reality.

Chris regrets bringing the boys here in the first place after how disappointed he was. Chris misses his past life. Losing it made him angry. Before that, he was a man with nothing to lose. But now, he might see his brothers devoured by titans because of him.

[Player Shirogane Miyuki in a state of doubt; all stats will decrease by 10%]

It's not the windows that pop out privately, like announcing a new skill.

But the message that his party could see, much like when Hachiman felt fear.

"Brother."

Miyuki snapped back as Yoshiteru tapped his shoulder.

"We're waiting for your plan."

Yoshiteru said his expression without a doubt.

Miyuki chuckled, "We could die here, you know…"

"Whatever happens, we're prepared."

Rudy isn't sympathetic towards Chris.

It's the trust he gave long ago.

He knows his brain isn't that smart, but he has brothers.

Miyuki looked at him again, then to the others. They had the same expression. There was no doubt in their eyes.

Miyuki chuckled once again.

That's right, when he was broke.

Before he had a lot of money, he had his brothers.

"Alright then. You're right. This is not the time for regret. Just like old times. Let's kick their ass, boys."

---

Yoshiteru likes to fight.

In his past life, Rudy seemed like a bully, but he never liked bullies.

It was just that people around him sought fights, so he had to lay his hands on them. When he stopped every bully, eventually everyone saw him as a bully too. People branded him a "bad guy," but that was okay.

If they saw him as the strong, 10-abs bad dude, he would become a magnet for the real bad guys. He wasn't a hero, but at least he would set things right around him. He would endure everything, even if his body crumbled; he would take it all until his body gave up on its own.

But he believed in one thing...

"Huft, huft, huft!"

His breath was poor.

Despite his body being fat, he kept running with the mentality he had built over the years, never give up.

"RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

[Active skill: Decoy has been activated]

[Enemies will solely target you and be prevented from targeting your allies for 10 minutes!]

[You'll be able to use active skills without mana and cooldowns on the tutorial floor]

In the minds of the titans, they felt something pulling them. It was then that all of them started looking for Yoshiteru.

Stomp!

Stomp!

Stomp!

"There you go..."

Yoshiteru kept running as he heard a loud noise behind him. Glancing back briefly, he saw many titans jostling as they rushed after him. However, Yoshiteru was lacking speed at this point. Some titans from the back were running faster and closing in on him.

As one of the titans ran, its body size about 7 meters, its hand reached out towards Yoshiteru.

But he wasn't alone.

Miyuki was behind him, swinging the sword in his right hand as he saw it coming.

Slash!

He cut the titan's left foot.

With that simple move and at this speed, he was able to make the titan lose its balance and eventually fall.

Bang! Bang! Crush! Crush! Crush!

The ground trembled.

Miyuki looked behind him.

The titan that had lost its left foot had fallen and tripped two other titans.

Soon, three titans were ignored as they were trampled to death by the others.

[Player Shirogane Miyuki has slain the enemy!]

[Player Shirogane Miyuki has slain the enemy!]

[Player Shirogane Miyuki has slain the enemy!]

"Shit! This is hell."

Miyuki's job was solely to prevent titans from getting to Yoshiteru's back. His intention was never to kill them, but to make the faster titans stop running. Miyuki had never imagined he would be able to kill one of them, let alone three with a single slash.

"I used the titans to kill titans. Sounds more like it." He grins.

After seeing this, Miyuki glanced back to the front.

"Just as planned, keep going, Yoshi!"

"ALRIGHT! LEAVE IT TO ME." Yoshiteru's response was fired up.

Currently, Miyuki and Yu were running on Yoshiteru's back, maintaining a similar pace to him.

"The titans only see Yoshiteru as their target," Yu said, running not far from Miyuki.

"Yeah, I noticed that too," Miyuki nodded as he panted.

After a brief observation, they both noticed that the Decoy skill not only made the titans hunt Yoshiteru but also made all the titans lose focus on anyone else. At this point, the titans didn't seem to notice Miyuki or Yu.

Just like before, Miyuki realized he could get close to the titan and slash its feet without any problems. If they caught the only human decoy they had, Yoshiteru. It's the end game.

"Yu-chi, you're up."

They squinted their eyes. The titans weren't just coming from the back. Thanks to the buildings lining up on both sides, they were protected from titans that might come from the left or right.

They spotted two titans running towards them like models from the front.

Flick!

Yu aimed and fired the grapple hooks at the building, activating the gas mechanism to reel himself toward the titans. Thanks to Yoshiteru's decoy skill, he easily passed the two titans stealthily as he swung his double daggers.

Slash! Slash!

[Player Ishigami Yu has slain the enemy!]

[Player Ishigami Yu has slain the enemy!]

Yu cut the napes of the titans as they fell.

[Active skill: Critical Strike has been activated]

[Daggers only. Your attacks have become more efficient. You'll be able to deal damage to enemies' vital areas.]

[You'll be able to use active skills without mana and cooldowns on the tutorial floor]

What is this? His hands and body both felt numb.

[Fatigue: 65]

As expected, using ODM gear to kill titans made his fatigue increase faster.

He checked the gas tank that had belonged to Hannes before.

"I'm still using too much gas."

The first two gas tanks were empty after he used them to attempt a quick learning and managed to slice the Smiling Titan's nape. But now, he had managed to adapt to using the gear more 'efficiently' than before. However, he still made unnecessary moves that caused him to lose too much gas.

Yu landed on the roof with rough breathing.

"They keep coming back here again."

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The ground shook again. Three titans were headed their way.

The decoy skill had a flaw that caused all the enemies to come together. At this rate, he hoped his inner lazy soul would last until the end.

He glanced a bit farther and could see the southern town square, their destination.

"One! Two! Three!"

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Unlike Yu, Miyuki continued using the same bowling strategy to slow down the titans. Some died, and some crawled on the ground.

Miyuki managed to cut three titans' feet. They fell and were trampled by the running titans.

[Player Shirogane Miyuki has slain the enemy!]

[Player Shirogane Miyuki has slain the enemy!]

"These bastards keep catching up! I've been sick of this long 10 minutes."

Miyuki glared as he turned ahead again.

[Fatigue: 62]

[00:29:48]

His stamina was about to reach red limits and so... the first step to end this plan.

He then saw the southern town square ahead.

One minute left.

"Yoshi! I'll slow down as many titans as I can! When your decoy skill's time is up, use it again! Run, when you're about to reach the town square!"

Yoshiteru nodded without glancing back.

"See you at the checkpoint, brother."

Miyuki slowed down a bit as he ran on the sideline. He waited until he was running beside the titans' feet, then slashed again and again. At this point, the titans were still chasing after Yoshiteru, but Miyuki managed to create a safe distance between him and the titans.

"Next one, the northern town square."

Then he turned to take the alley for a shortcut. As he checked the time, the titans could be seen at the back chasing Yoshiteru.

[00:28:53]

"Alright! Let's keep going for another round!"

Yoshiteru screamed as he activated his skill.

[Active skill: Decoy has been activated]

[The enemies will solely be attracted to you and prevented from targeting your allies for 10 minutes!]

[You'll be able to use active skills without mana and cooldowns on the tutorial floor]

At this moment, Yoshiteru checked his skill set. His skills weren't designed to damage titans, but at least he could help Chris and Nico by diverting the titans' attention.

As planned by Chris earlier, they would protect Yoshiteru from the back and front.

When the three of them reached the southern town square, Chris and Nico would try to slow down as many titans as possible, then use a shortcut to reach the main road. Meanwhile, Yoshiteru's main job was to lead as many titans as he could to the southern town square.

"Huft! Huft! Huft!"

Yoshiteru's breathing was fast, even his body was now fat but his mindset sharp as before.

The titans were still chasing him from behind but at a slight distance, and thanks to Yu, there were no titans from the front as he saw their bodies lying on the ground.

If he gave up now, he would waste the boys' hard work.

"The town square."

He arrived at the vast area in the southern town square, close to the hole recently destroyed by the Colossal Titan.

"Haha... alright!"

He smirked as he saw many titans start walking towards him as soon as they spotted him.

Screeeech!

He scrubbed the ground as he arrived at the middle of the town square.

"This is outside the plan, but I'll do it anyway."

Yoshiteru crouched down and knelt with one knee, then placed his hands on the ground.

Titans were approaching from every side of the town square. He waited, feeling the ground shake and tremble.

The man who thrived in every dangerous situation, Yoshiteru never thought he would find himself preparing like Usain Bolt with titans chasing and jumping after him.

Yoshiteru grinned as he looked sharply ahead into the distance. Suddenly, shadows loomed above him as titans desperately jumped over his head.

But then…

Fwosh!

[Active skill: Sprint has been activated]

[You'll be 30% faster for one minute.]

[You'll be able to use active skills without mana and cooldowns on the tutorial floor]

"Gotcha! Huahahahaha!"

Yoshiteru dashed away, a wide grin on his face.

"Hahahahaha! How does it feel you shitheads?! You're grabbing dirt instead of me?!!"

It was very satisfying. The titans piled up like idiots as he ran away from them.

[00:27:29]

The skill quickly ran out after a minute.

[Fatigue: 41] -> [Fatigue: 73]

So, his stamina took a hit even though he had only used the skill twice.

Yoshiteru saw two guys running ahead and, with his speed, was able to catch up to Miyuki and Yu who had used a shortcut.

"Chris! What the fuck with your face?! You look so tense. Scared of titans?"

Yoshiteru mocked with a mocking smile.

"You're talking shit while running like a scared chicken with that skill!"

Miyuki grinned back at Yoshiteru.

"Kahahaha! No way I'm scared of those motherfuckers."

"Save your breath. Huff! Huff! Dammit!"

Yu panted, annoyed by Yoshiteru's energy.

"Shut the hell up, you lazy shit!"

Yoshiteru countered.

Despite their harsh words, the boys didn't take offense to each other.

What mattered now was the plan and their lives.

"Boys heads up. We only have around 10 minutes to get there. Probably."

Miyuki said as they glanced at the far northern town square.

The ground trembled once again.

"Those fuckers are catching up!" Yoshiteru and the others glanced back.

A horde of titans was chasing after them, their numbers multiplying.

"FASTER BOYS! FASTER!"

With their last reserves of stamina, the three of them ran for their lives.