Chapter 29: Mall

In the midst of a dense forest stood a large three-story shopping mall. The mall was completely destroyed, and the silence was unnerving. You could feel large amounts of dark energy lurking around, and from time to time, you could see black beings with horns on their heads or wings on their backs. These particular beings had bloodshot eyes, their bodies black with red stripes, and the stench of rotten blood surrounded them as they wandered aimlessly through all the floors of the mall.

These creatures are known as demons or imps. They are usually very small, but those that reach adulthood are stronger than their predecessors. At a minimum, they have more than 20 levels, which means they are stronger than me, a demon that is below them. If you look more closely, these beings have a large hole in their chests. They are demons who lost control of themselves. When a demon gives in to its desires, it loses control and goes completely insane, becoming a human-killing machine, a beast in other words. Because of this, they have this form—or rather, I should also have a similar appearance. But since I haven't lost control, I can maintain a human appearance.

The mall is infested with those imps. If you want to get supplies, food, or water, you have to kill them and at the same time kill others from different classes who have the same goal. It's a complete battlefield. The mall must be more than 79,999 m², which means it's huge, so there shouldn't be any problem with unexpected encounters. But that was also thought of by the researchers, as there are three floors. It's basically...

[On the first floor, there should be tools to create a basic survival house and some necessary items to craft objects. By the way, there are some bathrooms on the first floor... that can be brought in dimensional rings. You can also find low-quality weapons and armor.]

[The second floor has clothes, simply clothes... since it's seven days, they are essential to avoid bad smells. This is basically for women.]

[The third floor is the most important for survival. There's meat, groceries, basically food. You can also find fruits... but there are also medicines.]

On each of these floors, there's a large number of demons. You must be very careful; if too much damage is caused, the materials might break or spoil...

"That's what they should see when they reach the mall," as I said, it's a big trap set by the organizers, but it's the easiest way to get the necessary things... obviously, I know where the most important things are, but I didn't tell them anything about that. In the first place, they left me in this damn room. Although I didn't care much about the event, I couldn't starve to death before they killed me... I was thinking of joining the supply squad, but...

"…"

"Finally, we're alone..." Leslie kept repeating the same thing... it was like an eternal loop...

Right now, only three of us are in the ruined mansion... Leslie, Evelyn, and me...

Leslie's violet eyes shone, and she showed her white teeth as if she was about to bite Evelyn's neck, who was quietly breathing next to me, using my shoulder as a pillow... in Leslie's mind, it's just the two of us, but...

"Damn... why am I the only normal one here?" This is more boring than I thought, an abnormal silence, along with Leslie's panting and Evelyn's breathing, but I also have to admit that I couldn't be better protected... but I really wish I could move my arms a little, at least...

"You're getting warm, aren't you?" Leslie looked into my eyes with a smile... she pressed her body even harder against mine and hugged me tighter...

Sometimes I think that I don't know what's more annoying, the chains around my body, Leslie's iron-like arms, or the simple fact that I can't move my upper body....

"…"

*****

"What's the situation?" Daniela asked in a low voice, looking at the huge shopping mall in front of her. A group of 10 students was hiding in the trees. Including the saint, there were a total of 11 students. The supply squad, led by Adrián, and the exploration squad, led by Beatrice, were in the trees...

"It's not good at all," Beatrice pursed her lips while her emerald-green eyes gazed deeply at the mall: "It's infested with demons. For every 20 steps, you can find up to two demons roaming the surroundings." She stroked her cheek...

"I see..." Daniela clicked her tongue: "Have you found any other classes?" she asked...

Beatrice shook her head: "I haven't detected any other group." She returned her gaze to the mall: "This place is full of dark energy, a perfect cover to suppress presence. It's quite risky to do a frontal attack."

"I agree, all the demons will react to the slightest noise, and in the worst-case scenario, we'll be surrounded within seconds... and besides that, there's a possibility that another group from another class will take the opportunity to grab all the important things... the best we can do right now is kill silently and find the best path to explore." Adrián adjusted his glasses...

"Hmmmm," Daniela frowned: "Quite complicated, but even so... we need to get inside. If we wait any more days, we could run out of everything, and it'll be much worse... Beatrice, did you send Sophia to scout the surroundings?"

Beatrice nodded: "She's quite good at navigating the forest. She just left a few moments ago..."

"I think it's better to split into groups of three; fewer people means less noise. Our goal is simple: investigate what kind of supplies are on each floor and, if there's an opportunity, take some things..." Adrián commented calmly...

"I agree with Adrián. Additionally, with this approach, we can cover much more ground, but we still need some sign that we've encountered another group of students," said Beatrice.

"No, for now, we shouldn't fight. If any of you happen to come across another group, just watch them in silence. Of course, if you have the opportunity, kill them without exposing yourselves..." Daniela's smile turned dark. "So, it will be... the groups of three will be..." Daniela began giving orders.