Obvious Purpose

The two found a place where they could rest for a while. It was near the city's main street, right next to where Seth had slaughtered Jack's group members.

The crows flew over, cawing at each other as they found the corpses scattered over the city street. One crow came, and hundreds more would come.

Seth could see it after peeking through the window of the room he was staying in. Even though the world was collapsing due to the alien invasion, Seth still kept his morals. He would not let two people without any kind of relationship share the same room.

"What exactly is the purpose of them joining a party?" asked Seth, his head trying to wildly measure why those people joined Jack's party.

The more Seth tried to analyze, the more his head throbbed until the pain in his head made Seth lose his balance. He tried to hold on by leaning on the room wall, accidentally dropping some items made of glass until he startled Mia, who was in the next room.

Mia spontaneously left her activities, running fast enough with her right hand seemingly holding a candle, useful to brighten the dark area of her room.

The wooden door to Seth's room opened. To her surprise, she saw Seth lying on his bed helplessly, his breathing laboured as if he had run a marathon.

"Seth!" 

Mia placed the candle on the wooden nightstand, walked over to Seth, and helped him to his feet. She wrapped Seth's arms around her shoulders, carrying him with all her might to the couch.

"What happened?" asked Mia, worried.

"Medicine! Get my medicine from my bag," Seth said softly.

The girl nodded her head. She darted her eyes around, trying to locate Seth's bag. Mia's eyes focused on a bag lying in the corner of the room, black in color, with a crossbow and arrows strapped to it.

Mia wasn't scared in the slightest, her anxiety about Seth's condition far greater than her fear of Seth's weapons. She unzipped the bag one by one, clearly spotting the bottle containing tablets to relieve headache symptoms.

There was only that medicine in the bag. Mia was sure it was the medicine Seth was referring to. Quickly, Mia took the medicine bottle and walked over to Seth as her other hand appeared to hold a glass for Seth to drink.

Seth took two tablets to drink. Mia was worried about the high dose, but after Seth took it, there were no symptoms afterwards.

The throbbing in Seth's head began to ease, his breathing sounded back to normal as before. Mia started to relax, sitting on the empty couch close to Seth.

"Since when do you have a headache problem?" Mia asked, curious.

"The past few years. Maybe it was because of my job as a doctor that made me exhausted and always feel dizzy," Seth said.

Mia nodded several times. She couldn't deny the job as a doctor was indeed fairly tough, so it was natural, according to Mia, that Seth often had headaches. 

Seth was forced to lie to her. He didn't want Mia to know he had a unique ability to loop time. The impact he felt from that ability was the headache that kept troubling him.

The more Seth repeats time, the more intense the dizziness in his head can threaten his life. Seth realized he could no longer do a time loop like before.

"I'll go rest. You can return to sleep," Seth said, asking the girl before him to get some sleep.

"Alright. You should also get into bed soon so that the headache won't come back," Mia pleaded. Seth smiled lightly as he nodded.

That night, it was already 11 PM. People were already resting in the pitch-black city. Mia said goodbye and walked back to her room, carrying her candle.

Seth alone began to step closer to his bed. He lay down on it and began to close his eyes. He just hoped that nothing bad would happen to the two while asleep.

***

One of the advantages of apocalypse periods like this is that everything comes for free. Seth stayed at a 5-star hotel, and no one came to charge him for his stay. Some survivors stayed at the same hotel and had even stayed there for days.

Seth, however, had no plans to stay longer in Calumet. His main objective was to travel to the big city to join the people on floor quest as soon as possible.

Seth remained in his room, having finished washing himself comfortably and wearing only the towel that covered his lower body. The curtains of his room's window were open, letting the sunlight come in to warm Seth's body.

Wearing only a towel, Seth sat on a wooden chair with his attention fixed on the system bracelet on his right hand.

He pressed the menu on the bracelet screen, specifically the second menu showing information about the currently unlocked floor.

[Floor Information]

[Unlocked Floor: 3]

[Game Location: Madrid, Spain]

[Game Type: Escape Plan]

[Game Rules: Default]

[Note: Participants who have registered for the game are eligible for information about the game rules]

Seth's eyes flashed, shocked to find the second floor had been completed, and now the third floor was unlocked. The game's location also made Seth pessimistic; it's located on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

When Seth was paying attention to the words that appeared, he gasped at the previous memory that suddenly crossed his mind. He hurriedly tore up a piece of paper provided in the room, writing something on it.

"I remember! The floor locations haven't changed, just like before," Seth said.

He wrote down the locations from the 4th floor to the 55th floor. Seth could still remember it because none of the memories were erased when he did a time loop, combined with the specific memories of each floor he passed through.

For example, on the seventh floor, the game was hunting alien rabbits. He almost died due to being surrounded by the carnivorous rabbits. Fortunately, Seth was able to handle it and won the game with the highest number of rabbits.

Memories like that were difficult for Seth to forget because they had become an integrated part of his experience. Now, Seth could clearly determine his objective.

"The locations of the third to fifth floors are in Europe, the sixth is in Asia, and the seventh is in New York," Seth said.

He grasped the Note well, planning to find a world map and mark it directly on the map. Now, Seth could only hope that the game's location would not change so that he could focus his destination directly on New York.

There was a gentle knock on the door to his room. Mia opened it just before Seth told her to come in. Her eyes took in Seth's shirtless body, with rock-hard muscles on his arms and abs.

"Sorry, I didn't know you had finished bathing."

Mia immediately closed the door again with a red blush on her face. Seth put on his clothes immediately after realizing Mia was ready earlier. He slipped the Note into his pants pocket, keeping it carefully so that Seth would have no hassle when buying the world map.

Shortly after, Seth came out of his room with his clothes neatly wrapped around his body. He turned to his right, finding Mia waiting while leaning against the hotel corridor's wall.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Seth said.

"It's okay, I understand," Mia replied.

The girl lifted her head, turning to Seth, who seemed to be standing nearby. She picked up her bag, unzipped it and took out ten roses, ready to be delivered.

"Now, where will you drop them off?" asked Seth flatly.

"I've opened the map on my system bracelet. There's a side quest post near our hotel. I'll go there," Mia replied.

"Are you getting a handle on how it works?" asked Seth.

Mia was hesitant when answering Seth's question, but she understood what Seth meant. Mia took a deep breath, nodding slowly as she began to stand up straight.

"I get it," Mia replied.

"That's good for you. I don't need to stay with you anymore," Seth said.

The man's words surprised Mia. She was indeed a solo survivor, not yet part of anyone's party. However, for some reason, when she was around someone she trusted, it felt pleasant and less lonely.

"Sorry. I might be so presumptuous to ask this question. Can I join you on your journey?" asked Mia, looking pitiable with tears in her eyes.

"My journey? That would be extremely dangerous for a low-level survivor like you," Seth said.

"Find a friend and join their party. You'll feel safe with them," Seth said, trying to politely decline Mia's invitation.

"I'm not good at communicating," Mia whispered, her words so faint that Seth had to move closer to her.

"Did you say something?" asked Seth, curious.

Mia smiled lightly, like she had to smile to show she was fine. Mia nodded her head, saying goodbye to Seth as she dashed away from him.

"Hey, wait," Seth said.

The man sighed softly as his hands clasped around his waist. He was curious about Mia's attitude, a sense of curiosity that grew along with the fear in Seth's mind.

"What the hell is she thinking right now?"