Looking at Ethan’s sorry state, I actually felt sad. Just a little. Then there’s Zach… I swear, I just want to smack him with a bag. Coward.

  My eyes shifted to the two new men. The one who had pinned me down went back into the room to put on some clothes. I could still feel the cold, wet substance running down my back. Disgusting. Unforgettable. Whatever it was, I didn’t even want to think about it. My body itched, my skin crawling as if trying to shake it off on its own.

  But what hit harder than that was what I saw through [Identification].

  They were high—Level 13, 14, and 15. All three of them. Higher than me. More experienced. The good part was, they had solid abilities.

  ‘Looks like I will getting two new abilities... One has Strength, another Physic, and the st one I already has Agility—all of them Level 5. That’s crazy.’

  It made me pause.

  If I’m not wrong, hitting Level 5 in an ability this early means they must’ve started training or killing from the first two or three days of the apocalypse. These guys weren’t lucky survivors—they were predators. Monsters dressed as men.

  We were lined up like cattle. One by one: Samantha, Zach, me, Lena, Nathan, and Ethan—who looked like he’d passed out. Blood was leaking from his temple. His breathing was shallow but there. Barely.

  The man with the Strength ability stepped forward, his shadow long, towering. He pointed at Ethan and Nath like he was picking out items at a store.

  “Leave those two,” he barked. “They need to watch. Kill the rest.”

  Just like that.

  ‘F***… this guy’s not even following a script. Just raw cruelty. If I was some average Joe, I’d be dead before I ever got to see actual p*rn—or live through one.’

  I looked around and noticed—no one was guarding me. Not even a gnce. But Ethan, even while unconscious, had someone standing over him.

  I don’t know if they thought I was weak… or if they were just pin stupid.

  I stood up. Quiet. Smooth. Fluid. I summoned an axe into my hand. The bde materialized like a whisper of death, cold and ready. My grip tightened.

  I swung it hard to the right.

  “Swoosh!”

  It cleaved through the air with a deadly arc, biting clean through the arm of the man pinning Lena. Blood sprayed, hot and sudden. He let out a piercing scream, stumbling back, clutching the stump where his arm used to be.

  Thinking that Zach was just next to me—and remembering how fast he ran earlier—yeah, I’ll admit, it amazed me a little. But I still hated that he did it to me.

  My eyes swept across the room, locking onto every target, waiting... watching. Then I saw it—just as I suspected. The agility user was reaching behind his back, confirming my guess.

  No hesitation. I hurled my axe at him with pinpoint precision.

  “Woshhh…”

  The weapon spun through the air like a drill. It nded square in his head with a wet crunch. Clean hit.

  ‘Gotcha.’

  I could’ve charged in and wiped them all out in one go. But I held back. I didn’t want to reveal everything—not yet. I needed to stay under the radar. The novels, anime, and movies I’ve read or watched always show the importance of keeping a hidden ace.

  At first, I thought the loudmouth giving orders was the real boss. Turns out, the agility user was the one actually pulling strings. It made sense. These kinds of dogs—they don’t follow leaders out of loyalty. They follow whoever holds the leash.

  The one pinning Nathan was just two meters to my right.

  Still stunned. They were all stunned.

  Their brains couldn’t process what just happened.

  “What the hell was that?”

  “Where did the axe come from?”

  “Is he dead?”

  I sshed horizontally—fast, clean. My axe dug into the side of his head, cracking through bone. It got stuck, so I let it go. Summoned another one.

  Dual-wielded.

  I didn’t stop.

  The next one—he was pinning Samantha. Farther. Four meters out. I hurled an axe from my left hand. Missed.

  ‘Tch… I never trusted my left aim anyway.’

  I created another in my right and threw it at the one behind Zach.

  Swoosh.

  Square in the chest. Crumpled him.

  Only one left—the bastard who’d held Ethan.

  He backed away, terror written across his face. He knew.

  I lunged, closing the distance in an instant. Sshed across his throat. Blood sprayed like a fountain as he stumbled, choking on his own screams.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the man whose arm I severed still squirming on the ground. Screaming. His face was pale, drenched in sweat. Blood pooled around him.

  Then my attention turned to another.

  The man behind Samantha had dropped to his knees. No wounds. Just fear. Pure fear.

  “I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!” he screamed.

  Over and over.

  Desperate.

  I walked slowly. Calmly.

  There were only two left: the strength user and the one with Physic.

  They were still standing.

  I locked eyes with the strength user. He didn’t hesitate—charged at me, fists clenched.

  The physique user? He bolted the other way—toward the corpse of the agility user.

  ‘So either this was a coordinated move… or one’s dumb, and the other’s smart. Probably just coincidence.’

  I waited.

  Then, when the strength user got close, I sidestepped and sshed. He tried to block. Too slow.

  My axe sank into his neck. He dropped.

  The physique user was halfway to the corpse.

  I didn’t waste time.

  I kicked the strength user’s corpse—hard.

  “BOOM!”

  The body flew like a wrecking ball, smashing into the fleeing man.

  They crashed in a heap of limbs and curses.

  Without pause, I sprinted over. Before he could stand, I brought my axe down.

  Straight into his skull.

  Crack.

  Blood gushed. His body jerked once, then stilled.

  > [Decompose]

  I used the skill. The body disintegrated.

  Next—the agility user. Gone.

  Then the strength user. Gone.

  Just two left.

  The man with the severed hand writhed, moaning in agony. Still clutching the stump. Eyes wide in shock, body trembling from blood loss and fear.

  A few steps away, the other one—the one who had begged for mercy—was still on his knees, sobbing.

  “I’ll make sure you keep that promise,” I said coldly. “By making it so you can’t break it.”

  He looked up, confused. Eyes filled with hope.

  “W-What?!”

  I didn’t answer. He saw the bde instead—embedded in his forehead.

  Just like that. Dead.

  > [Decompose]

  Finally, I walked over to the one still in pain.

  Tears and snot ran down his face. He was barely conscious.

  “I’ll help you,” I whispered.

  He looked up—eyes gzed.

  Then the bde found his neck.

  > [Decompose]

  Silence returned.

  The area was now filled with the scent of blood, the heavy silence after the chaos, and the distant drip of something flowing on the floor.

  Everyone else was still frozen. Shocked.

  I stood there. Breathing steady.