—Well... are you ready?
With that, both of their expressions hardened slightly. Kris's playful, relaxed gestures were replaced by a serious look, while Jess's calm and shyness gave way to a pained expression of concern.
Who could blame them? Even I could feel my face getting more tense. Just a moment ago, I'd been bursting with joy and euphoria at getting a new toy.
I let out a sigh to relax a little and activate the challenge system.
I raised my left arm in front of me, and the letters began to form before me.
The first thing that appears when you call the system is usually your status. During these 90 days, I haven't leveled up as much as at the beginning. After the troll incident where I became level 4, I've only leveled up 3 more times in the following days.
This is because the monsters we encountered after them were level 4 or lower, with the occasional level 5 monster, which meant I didn't gain any bonus points for the level difference, so my growth slowed down.
Of course, it's also due to the fact that experience was divided among three individuals. When the monster is small or weak, the experience goes to whoever landed the final blow, but when the enemy is large or has a significant level difference, the experience is distributed according to each individual's contribution to the hunt.
Even so, the harvest wasn't bad. With each level increase came increasingly significant improvements, in addition to acquiring superior skills and equipment.
Among the skill improvements was [Greater Pulse], which improved after repeated use. There was also the upgraded version of [Goblin Vision], called [Night Vision], which considerably improved my ability to see in the dark. The increase in these two skills further boosted my magic power and perception.
I also obtained the skills [Quick Cut] and [Stone Skin], which increased my attack and defense.
With that information, we learned that each skill, depending on its rank, grants a certain amount of experience and stats.
Common +2 exp +6 points
Rare +4 exp +12 points
When a common skill is upgraded to rare, it increases your stats by 6 points to match the rare version. The downside is that this upgrade doesn't grant the difference in experience points, leaving it as experience gained only from acquisition.
I could see that the 15 speed points from the Dark Jacket were already implemented in my new stats, as well as the increase from the Black Steel Nodachi.
All this information took a second to appear before me, only for another text to appear below a second later, revealing the reason for our gathering.
Observing the number of remaining survivors and enemies.
"Relax, relax. You can't get so worked up about this every time you look at it. It's not healthy, man."
The numbers were rapidly taking shape before me, yet this moment felt so slow, as if the world had frozen to give me just enough time to watch the numbers appear one by one, only to drive me to despair.
<0,089,752,159 vs 1,857,329,147>
The numbers in front of us felt so cold, but…
"The number of humans is the same as yesterday."
The three of us let out a long sigh of relief the instant we finished reading the numbers. The human population hadn't changed for the first time in days.
Those simple numbers described the state of what had once been more than 900 million humans. For the last three months, they had been steadily declining.
The first major blow came on the first day, when we lost 10% of the total, the day we survived the troll. On the third day, we lost a total of 25%. 250 million people had died. We speculated that these were the people who hadn't managed to find a water source or somehow reach the first level.
After those two turning points, the decline became constant. Tens of thousands of people died every day, while the monsters only fell in the thousands, or sometimes their numbers remained stagnant.
From the second month onward, the number of humans began to decrease much more slowly, a sign that the remaining people had found a way to survive, perhaps by forming groups like ours, surviving alone in some way, or in larger groups—the possibilities are too numerous to mention.
In the end, humans are a species whose strongest quality is adaptation. Those who couldn't adapt died, but those who did became stronger.
"The law of survival of the fittest."
A few seconds of silence passed, each of us lost in our own deductions.
I glanced at them to observe their thoughtful expressions.
"What are they thinking?"
I stood up, stretching slightly.
—Well... not too bad, huh? The number is the same as yesterday. It seems only the best of us remain, and even if there are far fewer of us, the three of us alone have killed over 100 of them.
I noticed a small glimmer in the depths of Kris's hazel eyes, and immediately a slight curve at her mouth, a faint smile.
She jumped to her feet.
—Exactly! Even if there are only a few of us left, we'll win. And if there are many left, we just need to kill them all little by little. Those bastards will see who's boss.
I returned her smile with a firm handshake.
—Well said.
Jess remained seated on the log with a somewhat sad expression. She gave us a rather hard look before speaking.
—But what if we don't have enough time?
An awkward silence fell. She was right. Despite our optimism, we had a ten-year time limit to reach our goal.
Kris looked at her and spoke.
—Relax, Jess. It's true we have a time limit, but think about it. The stronger we are, the faster we can finish them off. Just imagine it. I can see myself as level 100 in golden armor, wiping out everything in my path.
When he finished speaking, he burst out laughing, puffing out his chest.
I couldn't help but hide my face a little in embarrassment.
I cleared my throat and offered Jess a genuine smile.
—Yeah, like he said, without the golden armor and all that, well, who knows? Together, anything is possible.
Jess covered her face and looked away.
—O-Okay.
"What? Was that a little blush I saw?"
***
We spent some more time talking while we prepared dinner, then we started our watch.
Jess and Kris were sleeping in the tent, while I sat outside on a rock in complete darkness. After all, I could see on it, so I didn't need any light.
"90 days... we've come a long way."
I didn't like being negative. Before coming here, I was just another employee, and now I was here guiding two former college students.
I didn't want to appear weak in front of them. Even though the age difference was only two or three years, they looked up to me as if I were their leader, the one responsible for them.
"Is it similar to when an adult messes up and looks for an older adult to help them?"
I hoped not. What kind of help or wisdom could I offer these two? Perhaps how to cope with a cruel world. I was always told that the world punished the bad.
"Does that mean I'm a bad person? And that's why I'm here?"
Thoughts like that swirled in my head. But what kind of sin could I have committed? I didn't live the best life, but I studied hard, I got along with people as best I could, and I always loved my parents, even though there were tough times.
I couldn't help but remember the day I fought with my mother.
***
My mother looked at me with a worried face, tears welling in her eyes as I spoke to her.
—You don't understand how I feel. You don't know anything.
—But son, everything will be alright. Remember that good people are rewarded…
—Shut up! Enough already! Leave me alone!
Life wasn't treating me well. Because of an accident, I had to drop out of school. Because of dropping out, the woman I loved had left me. The bright future I had imagined was crumbling in my hands like sand slipping through my fingers.
I shot my mother a cruel look. She just tensed up at my glare.
—What do you know?! You didn't go through this. You just married Dad, who had everything arranged.
I clenched my teeth in anger and didn't think straight.
—How easy it is to say life treats good people well when nothing happens to you, right? You just give me a pretty look and say everything will be alright.
I couldn't look her in the face completely. My gaze was forced down until I could only see her mouth and the tears streaming down her cheeks to her feet.
—What?, Aren't you going to say anything? How easy, all you had to do was sleep with pa…
Before I could finish, my face was struck, my cheek burning intensely.
As I brought my hand to my reddened cheek, I stared in stunned disbelief at my mother, the woman who had given me everything in life.
Her face expressed sharp pain, her eyes red and slanted from crying, her mouth trembling, unable to utter a word, her face worn and stressed.
"What the hell did I just say?"
—Huh? Wait, I…
I wanted to apologize, but I couldn't. I was scared, terrified to speak. I thought about what I'd said as I stared at her tearful face.
Frightened, I turned away and locked myself in my room for the rest of the day.
***
I sighed heavily in the darkness of the forest.
"Maybe I do deserve this punishment…"