As soon as Peter heard Rem’s miserable scream, he shouted, “System, all points in AGI!” Feeling his muscles constricting and becoming more taut, he instantly bolted forwards with full power. Using [Body Enchant], [Ghost Walk], and the ring simultaneously, Peter took off at almost 60mph, which is twice as fast as the world record.

Breaking the old world record, Peter managed to reach Rem just before the Ogre’s foot landed. Aiming both swords upwards, Peter almost doubled over from the ogre’s weight upon impact. Barely resisting the combined five hundred pound ogre and the force of the collision, Peter let out a low growl.

As one would feel pain stepping onto two nails, the ogre fell backward clutching onto his feet.

WAHHH!!

Feeling the sudden release on his back, Peter exhaled deeply. ‘Jesus… I think my back is broken.’ Looking at the half destroyed boy, he felt deep regret. Rem looked back at Peter with bulging red eyes.

“Not yet boy, you’re going to live I promise.” Peter smiled. Taking out an HP potion, which Anne and Rem hunted earlier, he poured it into Rem’s mouth. Since his right lung was flattened, Peter reluctantly performed mouth to mouth to help Rem swallow the liquid. Within seconds, the flattened torso and leg slowly inflated back to its normal size.

Luckily only a few seconds elapsed or else Rem would’ve died from shock and blood loss.

“AGHH! DIE DIE DIE die” Anne vented her rage by stabbing the ogre to death. She immediately ran over to Rem and Peter, but she dropped to both knees once she saw Rem’s half-broken state. “He’s ok Anne.” Although Rem was quickly regenerating, Anne still couldn’t help but cry.

“I…I’m so sorry. If only I didn’t get caught… If…hic. If…hic.” Her tears hit Rem’s face, but he didn’t seem to mind. Rem smiled and attempted to get up.

“AHH!”

“Stay down boy. You need to adjust your mind again. Try and move your right pinky first.”

“Sir, I’ve heard of this before. Is this called, phantom pain?”

‘Guess he isn’t completely dumb.’ Peter wordlessly nodded and let Anne watch over Rem.

“Alright you big oaf, you better drop something good for all that trouble.” Peter lowered his center of gravity and charged at the dead ogre. Like a sumo charge, the ogre flipped over and rolled twice before hitting the tunnel wall.

The tunnel suddenly brightened due to the treasure box’s glow. About to pick up two white boxes, Peter noticed an orb glimmering under the ogre’s hand. Pocketing two treasure boxes and the orb, he walked towards the duo.

“Hey, where’s James?” Anne asked

“Drop your weapons and kick them over.”

Turning around, he noticed James with a knife next to his throat. Behind him was a young woman with brown hair and dark green eyes. Her nose and mouth were covered in a mask.

“NOW!” she screamed

“Go ahead. Kill him.” Peter smirked at the girl and even laughed. Anne grew slightly nervous but trusted that Peter wouldn’t let James die.

“You want me to kill this man? Do you not care about his life?” This time, her voice seemed less confident. She stuck the knife closer to James’ neck, drawing a trace of blood. James shot an uneasy look at Peter, unclear of what Peter was trying to insinuate.

The young woman holding James hostage slowly lost her patience watching Peter smugly smile. Finally, Peter spoke up. “How do I know you’re not going to kill him after we give you our belongings?” The woman hastily responded, “You’re not going to know, but if you don’t comply I’ll kill him right away and run.” The two were at a stalemate yet again.

Taking another chance, Peter casually pointed at the ogre. “You see this fat oaf ere? The man you’re carrying right now played a big, big role in killing it.” The woman finally seemed to notice the huge ogre in the middle of the tunnel and gulped. Then she looked at James’ harmless face and her eyes flashed wickedly.

James tilted his head sideways and locked eyes with the young woman. “I can give you what you want, but you have to let me go.” The women grinned darkly before raising her knife.

Seeing her actions, James threw his head back and knocked the woman off balance. Losing her hostage, the woman didn’t bother negotiating any further and ran away.

‘Probably a high leveled person or AGI-oriented.’ Peter thought

Helpless throughout the entire hostage situation, James finally realized the ugliness of humanity. ‘She was prepared to kill me because of some item? Are we so helpless to temptation?’ James sat down next to Rem and mulled over what just happened. Peter could see James’ perplexed expression and chose to say nothing.

‘Hmph, I hope you can finally understand that monsters aren’t the only monsters.’ Ignoring James, Peter walked towards the lovers. “You both did well today. Here’s your loot.” Rem and Anne looked at the treasure boxes hungrily and immediately snatched them out of Peter’s hands.

“Ding!”

[War Glaive – Uncommon]

[Effect: +5 STR +5 AGI]

[Skill (Warcry): +5 to VIT for 10 minutes. Uses 30 Mana]

“Ding!”

[Wave Shield – Common]

[Effect: +5 CON]

[Skill: None]

Rem looked excitedly at Anne’s shield and asked, “Anne, want to trade?” Anne immediately said yes and passed on her sword as well. Rem looked at Anne in confusion, but she said, “I can’t wield both a sword and a glaive.”

Nodding in agreement, Rem accepted the sword and swung it around.

“Hey, brats. I like what you have. Give it to me.” A group of five walked into sight and looked menacingly at the group. They were all masked and dressed in a leather jacket.

Anne and Rem immediately pointed their weapons towards the new group. On the other hand, Peter seemed unfazed by their numbers and coldly smiled. Knowing that he wouldn’t be much use, James scuttled behind the trio.

“You should’ve killed me.” The masked woman angrily spat. However, she was immediately pulled back by the tallest masked man. The masked man pointed at Peter and said, “Yo, you look strong. Join our group.” Peter’s smile vanished and a devastatingly evil grin replaced it.

“Yo, I don’t join weaklings.” Peter mockingly said.

“In fact, I think I’m just going to take your shit.” Peter vanished in front of their eyes and immediately the group jumped back. Although he spared the woman last time, it didn’t mean he couldn’t kill her. ‘Good job bait, I’ll save you for last.’ These people seemed to have decent stats, but they couldn’t compare with Peter’s monstrous speed.

Activating [Ghost Walk], he jumped towards the fattest goon and thrust his sword into the man’s heart. Then he pounced on the rude man from earlier and decapitated him. The three only saw Peter re-emerge from nothing and kill two men. “Sad. Not even a challenge.” Feeling threatened, the three banded together and charged at Peter. ‘It’s always a charge. These guys are as dumb as the goblins.’

Peter sidestepped the woman and deflected the other two’s swing. Then he flicked his wrist twice and a fountain of blood painted the tunnel’s ceiling red.

Plop. Plop.

The woman turned around only to find two men bleeding to their deaths. Her legs uncontrollably shook and she immediately got onto two knees. “Pl…please spare me! Please! Please!”

Peter looked at the woman in disappointment. Feeling a presence loom behind her, the woman quickly turned around and met face first with a glaive. “Anne! I didn’t even question her yet!” Although Peter scolded her, he inwardly approved of her ruthlessness. 'She has a survivor's mentality.'

Cleaning her glaive with a dead body along the way, Anne began to wonder why she killed the woman. ‘Why did I kill that woman? She already surrendered…’ Feeling a pair of eyes locking onto her, she swerved around and noticed Rem.

“I…I saw what you did Anne.”

“Was I wrong?”

“Yes, she already surrendered.” James interrupted.

“Dad stay out of this! She didn’t do anything wrong and you know it. That woman almost killed you and brought back four other people to kill us!” Screaming at his father only made matters worse. “Son…” His father pitifully looked at Rem as if he was damaged goods.

Rem hatefully dragged Anne away and began to console her.

“Well, at least you didn’t say it was wrong to kill. It’s an improvement pops! We should celebrate. How about some whiskey? Eh? Eh!?” Peter’s cheers fell on deaf ears, but he still rambled excitedly about the prospect of drinking whiskey. James finally snapped back into reality and processed what Peter just said.

“I never said it was right to kill eith—” Before James could finish his sentence; Peter interrupted and clapped James on his back. “Well, that means it’s not wrong then!” Unable to retort, James once again retreated back to his mind to mull things over.

‘Philosophical bastard. Well, it’s only a matter of time before he’ll embrace reality.’ Suppressing the guilt hidden inside his own heart, he softly whispered to himself, “They have to kill to survive. For survival.” Before his past memories could overwhelm him, Peter decided to shift his attention to the orb in his pocket.

“Ding!”

[Light Orb – Rare]

[Effect: None]

[Skill: Glows. 1 Mana/min]

‘I thought monsters only drop treasure boxes. Maybe this is a personal item?’ Holding the orb at eye level, Peter let a trickle of mana flow from his body into the orb. The orb lit up like a star.

‘So you can take out the orbs from the tunnel.’ Peter mused.

Peter retracted his mana from the orb and strained his Mind’s Eye. After stretching his senses out for 10 meters, he began to feel uncomfortable. Comparing the orb and his skill, he remarked, “Mind’s eye is farther and clearer.” Nodding his head in approval, Peter handed the orb over to Rem.

The group set off and walked for another twenty minutes before reaching the end of the tunnel. In the process, they killed dozens of [Meat Eater]s and a new species, [Blood Bats]. The [Blood bats] were shaped like bats and were not aggressive. If James hadn’t screamed when Rem flashed the orb at the bats, the group would’ve left unscathed. They also found a few cars scattered around, but sadly they were all unusable.

As they finally felt the sunlight on their skin, James pointed at the mini-van twenty feet away.

“Hey, Peter isn’t that a car?”

Peter’s eyes lit up when he saw the undamaged car and signaled the group to stop. Remembering his encounter with James, Peter used his Mind’s Eye to scan the van.

“There’s someone inside…” Peter whispered to the group

“Sir, I suggest we find another car then.” Rem whispered

“No way.” Before the group could respond, Peter dashed towards the car and knocked on the windows. “Hi, my name's Peter. I know someone is in there, but I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to use your van.”

“No!” A deep voice shouted back.

The trio caught up with Peter and happened to overhear his conversation. Hoping to not scare the man off, Peter pulled the group away, but Rem interrupted before Peter could yell. “Sir, can’t we just walk to wherever you need to go?” Peter angrily stared at Rem and replied, “You wanna walk? All the way to Mt. Rose? Are you out of your mind kid?” As Peter was reprimanding Rem, the group suddenly heard an engine noise taking off into the distance.