Chapter 7

Be polite with others and strict with yourself.

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[Time Remaining: 40 Minutes 20 Seconds]

It had only been 5 minutes since the fight for survival had begun, but five of them had already gone down. With the remaining time and their losing numbers, it was proving to be harder than the last time both Berret and Wil had experienced.

"Tch! I could not find an opening to take out one of them. I should just follow them for now."

One of the brothers was a strangely six-foot-tall buffed disfigured human exposed to extreme radiation. Anyone should not be able to withstand such a high radiation index, which would literally cook their insides. However, these brothers somehow managed to survive and eventually unlocked a potential they should not have possibly got.

Four of them. One was a lightfoot, two of them were twin midgets, and the one dragging all three bodies was the tall brother. Each of them resembled the other with different disfiguration all over their bodies. One's nose was fried so horribly that it looked like it was melting. As for the midgets, originally they were not like that. Being exposed to extreme radiation inexplicably affected their bone structure, causing them to shrink like they were.

The Lightfoot brothers were not so different from them. Instead of his bone structure, his insides were so severely damaged that his whole body tightened due to the radiation index, thus turning him into a malnutrition figure. Nevertheless, the incident somewhat tapped with his potential as a fast runner, giving him an annoying skill plus his accurate marksmanship makes him a deadly hunt.

Stealthily, Berret was quietly following the four enemies, narrowing down the possibility of him taking at least one of them.

"One at a time," just when he found a great opportunity, he conspicuously stepped on a fig branch that snapped and gave the enemies the caution. "Shit!"

He froze right where he stood, afraid that his slightest movement might give away his position. Moreover, the monster-looking brothers seemed to have a sharp vision. However, it did not take that long for them to brush it off as nothing.

"Hihihi"

"Nothing funny."

Once he was clear and off the hook, Berret had the best gasp for air in his life. He had envisioned a plan in his mind, constructing possible outcomes and also the worst ending he could get, eliminating impossible routes at the same time.

"I'll follow them for now and wait for them to split up."

Girded at his waist was Berret's kitchen knife sheathed in a homemade cover. Wielding it was much better than any other weapon he could find.

"I smell cowardice."

***

The student, the gangster, and the old man were not so far from the three others who got massacred by their enemies. They were around the area that one of their fellow second chancers' screams didn't go unheard.

Upon happening, Berret immediately disregarded following the three and moved to the nearby location where he found the dismembered second chancers, thus leading to the way it was.

"The forest has gone silent once again. Only our footsteps can be heard and the snapping of figs."

Irritated at how talkative the old man was, the gangster walked up in front of him and roughly clinched at the old man's suit.

"Hey, quit yer fucking yapping before I tear that mouth of yours! If those ugly bastards possessed keen hearing, we'd be targets by now!"

"I--I get it, so please let go. You're wrinkling my favorite suit."

It was the suit the old man was worried about. A memento from his daughter.

"And isn't it you who's viciously trying to get their attention by yelling right now?" added the student, who immediately stepped down after getting eyed by the gangster. "Ah, I'd shut my mouth too, haha!"

As if no danger looms around the forest, they were carefree as children playing under the setting sun. They were incapable of measuring and discerning the amount of risk they could possibly get just by standing around in an open area.

"Soon it will be dark. We can't just roam wherever we feel like."

For once, the gangster became logical and let things slide. Out of all of them, he wants to survive the most. Being a single father left with his three-year-old daughter, Baron can't afford to die. He can't die for his daughter's sake.

"Did you two bring what was inside your briefcase?"

"Uh, I brought mine," said the old man.

However, the student shook his head. "I deemed what was inside did not really matter, so I just left it back at that place."

"Fucking idiot. You're most likely to die."

Not that the Baron was being judgmental or rude but having their tech with them increases the possibility of them surviving.

"This is like a game of cooperative survival. We must integrate our techs to the way we should survive and make use of each other's tech to fill in the gaps our own lacks."

One second Baron was an asshole, and one second after and he became the most reliable of the three.

"But shouldn't we meet with the others to raise our chances of winning against our enemies?" Asked the old man as he showed the other two his tech he got inside his briefcase.

They can't be seen standing in an open area, therefore the three of them moved to a much inconspicuous place to further investigate the qualities and utilization of their techs.

"This slope will do. We're under this tree's care."

Uncomfortably, they sat down and checked how the techs worked.

[Kineshield]

[Description: Able to deflect and absorb kinetic energy from physical projectiles, melee attacks, and brute force, by creating a localized distortion field that the force upon the impact.]

Basically, Baron would be able to tank most physical attacks directed at him using his kinetic shield or in short "Kineshield."

"That is so useful. With that, your chances of surviving just skyrocketed to the ceiling!"

No, Baron can't still be complacent about it. Letting his guard down just because he has a defensive type of tech is the worst possible thing he can do. The stupidest.

"Whoa! It's like one of those games or science fiction movies! That's insane! I should have brought mine!"

The student wanted to touch Baron's tech, but he jerked it away from the student's reach, disallowing him from touching it and also preventing it from breaking.

"It's like a brass knuckle that has a button you can press with your thumb. Does this mean you can also use it for offense?"

"I'd rather not risk my tech for that until I'm a hundred percent sure."

Moving on to the old man wearing a suit he always puts on whenever he is going to work, Gregorio Hernandez, or Greg for short, inspected his tech.

[Nanites Wristband]

[Description: Providing basic wound healing and minor tissue repair. When activated, it releases a controlled swarm of nanites that target superficial wounds, such as cuts, bruises, and abrasions, accelerating the healing process and reducing pain and inflammation. This basic functionality ensures that the user can quickly recover from minor injuries sustained during training exercises or skirmishes, allowing them to return to peak condition more rapidly.]

"Wait! That is more broken! It happens that I have a small knife with me!"

The student showed them his foldable pocket knife and tightly hung it onto the old man's hand after having him wear the wristband.

"Hey, y-young man! What are you trying to do?"

Afraid of pain, the old man tried to pull his hand away, but even Baron helped the student with what he was trying to do. By inflicting a wound on the old man, they will witness whether the wristband is legit or not.

"Stay still, geezer. We're trying to see if it's real!"

"Argh!"

His suppressed cry of pain died at the gentle sweeping breeze as the wound bled. The three of them waited for the wound to heal, silently staring at the cut on the geezer's palm.

[Nanites Wristband activating. Beginning nanites distribution to the user's bloodstream to repair the damaged skin.]

Like a miracle in sight, the nanites worked under a microscopic structure, repairing tissues and damaged cells in the geezer's palm. Slowly, the wound closed, and within seconds the cut was no longer there.

"Amazing!"

"Oh no! Look at the wristband! It shows two more usages!"

The bar like a battery shows the limit of usage decreased, meaning that there was limited utilization of the wristband.

"My tech has the same concept. I can only use it a maximum of 3 times."

Regret was expressed in the student's face. Had he taken his briefcase, he would not be ogling Baron's and Greg's tech but his own. He was imagining what kind of cool invention he had at the moment, using his own tech against the brutal brothers.

[Time Remaining: 34 minutes 48 seconds]

As time passes, the second chancers get close to their enemies. Wil and Mary were lurking around the cabin after they almost got found by the four brothers, who went out and came back several minutes after that.

Baron, Greg, and the student silently traverse the forest with little knowledge of the place's topography and the path they are taking.

~