Main Room
'Hey Bob, I wanted to tell you that monster has formed our core to 82%,' Remo said happily.
'How so?' replied Bob.
'A normal Pioneer Beginner wouldn't give that much percent, but this one obviously had a strong ancestor. Too bad we didn't have a core; he was a good candidate for a family member,' explained Remo. Bob didn't say anything else, so he ended the conversation.
Bob finally decided that he would go out of this secret tunnel and continue with the main quest.
So, Bob came out of that tight tunnel and was back in the main one he had been in before. But now, Bob felt a bit different. He felt calm because he had a good fight, got a good skill he could use now, and gained a strong mutation. Before, he had been pretty mad about not having a good fight for a long time, but now he was in a good mood.
Bob thought there wouldn't be any enemies in the main room similar to the one he fought earlier because he had already used Shadow Cloak, and without it, he probably would have lost against that thing.
Bob continued to walk around, wondering what might be in the main room.
After about 5 minutes of walking, he saw a light at the end of the tunnel.
Bob knew when there was light coming from something because it was brighter than the surroundings. When Bob walked into a room where there was light everywhere, his eyes would get used to the light, and he would see the same as in the dark.
"Finally," Bob said out loud in excitement.
He saw three people who looked drunk. Bob came up behind them.
He looked at one of the drunks and asked, "What's up ahead?"
"H-Hey kid, you don't have any booze? I'll pay the coins," one of them asked back.
When the drunk looked at Bob, he noticed that Bob's eyes were glowing red. This was the result of the mutations. The first mutation that improved Bob's eyesight also made his eyes glow, and the second mutation that gave him night vision made his eyes glow red. When combined, they resulted in glowing red eyes, which was pretty scary.
Bob pulled a sword out of his inventory, which, of course, scared the drunks even more, and put it to the neck of one of them.
"Answer my question," Bob said coldly.
[43 watchers like your approach]
"It's another s-station. There's a lot of p-people there, a safe z-zone, and there are g-green zones," the drunk replied.
"Green zones?"
"I-I don't know exactly w-what it does, but they're different, and different n-numbers of people can f-fit in each one. N-Nobody knows what it does y-yet," replied the stuttering drunk.
"Now give me all the coins, or I'll kill you," Bob replied coldly.
The drunks wanted to protest, but they saw that Bob might just kill them, so they all gave Bob their coins.
[+120 coins]
'Those beggars had a total of 120 coins on them. They probably spent almost all of it on alcohol,' Bob mused.
Bob then went upstairs and found himself in a large room with a lot of people.
[You have entered the Safe Zone]
[Congratulations, you have completed the quest]
[+300 coins]
Bob noticed that some individuals were hacking at the air with their swords, which was strange. Then he realized it was warrior training, where one could gain XP without fighting.
He looked up at the second floor, which had a non-functioning escalator leading to it. On the second floor, there were green zones with people in them.
Because of Bob's unusual appearance, everyone started turning toward him, afraid. He was wearing a weird crown, had glowing red eyes, was covered in dried blood, and gave off a really creepy aura.
Some of the survivors thought he was a monster and considered attacking him, but they were too scared.
Bob didn't want to get into a fight here because some of the people looked like they might have strong skills, and Bob didn't want to risk someone killing him with an overpowered ability.
Bob continued through the room, but as he was almost at the escalator, he was stopped by a girl and a man, both holding swords.
The man was about 190 cm tall, with a muscular build, looked to be about 30 years old, and had temple fade hair and a short beard. The girl was about 170 cm tall, with a slim build, looked about 20 years old, had long white hair, good curves, and was just really pretty.
"Hey, monster, leave!" yelled the girl.
[13 watchers say the girl deserved to die]
Bob grinned and looked at them in amusement. "Don't you know no monster can enter the Safe Zone?" Bob replied, amused.
They both remained dumbfounded for a moment but then said, "We know, but that demon can do all sorts of tricks. Explain your appearance."
"I got the crown as a reward for killing the boss, I got those glowing eyes because of the mutation, and the dried blood was from fighting monsters," Bob said indifferently.
The two remained silent for a moment. "Sorry we suspected you," said the man.
"I'm Rod, and this is Jenny, my younger sister," he said, pointing at Jenny.
"Bob," Bob said.
"You look strong. What level are you? I'm a 6, and Jenny is a 5," Rod continued.
"10," said Bob firmly.
Their gazes shifted completely. They knew that each level was 2x more expensive than the previous one, and they couldn't imagine how much XP Bob had to gain to reach level 10. Rod was level 6 and still far from level 7 because of the external requirements.
"Level 10... that's impressive," Rod said, his voice carrying a mix of respect and caution. "You must've gone through hell to get there."
Bob bypassed them and made his way up the escalator to the second floor.
As Bob turned and headed toward the escalator, he heard whispers ripple through the room. People were talking about the "level 10 with the red glowing eyes"—the intimidating figure who might be more than even the Safe Zone could handle.
Bob noticed Rod, Jenny, and some random people still watching him, their initial hostility turning to cautious curiosity. He didn't mind the attention but did mind being bothered.