I looked at Miss Rika with wide eyes as I heard what she said. They might be wiped out by that giant?
"Is it because of that giant?"
Miss Rika took another puff of her cigarette and replied to me.
"No, I don't think so. They must've gone into the area where communication is impossible."
I looked at her questioningly and asked her. "Why are you so sure?"
"The laboratory." She said as if that's all the answer I needed, but when I didn't show any sign of understanding her, she continued. "Because it's located underground, there is a chance that the signal won't reach them there."
"Hmm..."
I had guessed that but I was hoping it was just my delusion.
Still, even with that answer, I couldn't shake the bad feeling that had been building up in me since the moment I saw the choices. I felt uneasy and my heart was racing.
It was probably just a gut feeling but it felt real enough. That's why I chose the second option rather than the third.
[Ding! You have received 500 Shop Points + 1 Stamina!]
Enough point to get myself another stamina pill, though I would like to get something that could heal my cut first.
But more importantly...
"Are we retreating now?" I asked Miss Rika, who was leaning against the trunk of the tree. "Or should we wait a bit longer before returning?"
She thought for a moment, looking at the mansion in the distance, before she spoke.
"No. We'll stay here for a little while longer," she replied. "If the STARS team really is inside that place then they won't come out until their job is done. But if they don't come out in 30 minutes, then we will go home."
I nodded and sat down next to her, leaning my back against the tree trunk. Miss Rika then asked me.
"What about your wound?"
"It's nothing," I answered. "It'll heal soon enough."
Miss Rika raised an eyebrow, seemingly not believing my words.
She then said, "Really? Let me check it then."
Jumping down from the tree after lowering her gun to me, she began to check on my face.
I didn't resist and just let her examine me. When she finished inspecting my wound, she pulled away and sat beside me, lighting another cigarette. After she exhaled, she spoke again.
"You know, you're really lucky. That giant could've easily crushed you into pieces. And that's without taking into account the fact you're not a superhuman with a mutated virus inside you. None of us are, and if we get injured like that... We die."
Miss Rika took another puff of her cigarette, looking up at the sky.
"If you're a soldier or a trained officer, you'd know better than to charge in like a dumb idiot. But you... you're not trained for combat. You don't have the experience of fighting in wars or dealing with terrorists or any kind of dangerous situation."
I looked at her with a soft gaze.
Even when she looked so strict and bossy, she was actually a caring person deep inside. The fact that she scolded me like that was enough proof. And she had the guts to say what others thought but no one dared to speak aloud.
"What? She noticed my gaze and turned to face me, looking slightly annoyed, "What are you staring at?!"
I smirked at her and replied with a smile. "Miss Rika, has anyone told you that you're really beautiful before?"
"What?" She looked shocked at my sudden compliment, "Have you gone crazy? Oh no, the giant hit your head so hard, you went dumb!"
Laughing, I replied, "I'm just stating the fact. You're pretty, you know?"
She stared at me for a moment, and then sighed, turning her gaze back to the sky, seemingly ignoring my comment.
We sat there silently, watching the mansion with El Gigante corpse sleeping in front of it.
It was a strange scene.
A few months ago when the apocalypse hadn't struck yet, I would have laughed at someone who told me I would be sitting on top of a cliff, holding a sniper rifle to guard an abandoned mansion from a monster. It sounded too absurd for me.
But here I was now. A survivor who survived countless zombies, a tyrant, a mutant, and now, an El Gigante.
It made me feel like a hero from some video games or a main character from a movie or an anime.
The feeling was good. I liked being a hero and saving lives.
Of course I had no hero complex or anything. But being praised when doing something made me feel really good. Not to mention I was now strong enough to fight El Gigante. I only had to push myself a little bit further and I could even defeat Nemesis without any trouble.
As for the reason I was thinking about this...
It was simple. My system.
Yeah, I had to admit that without my system I was no one. But that was what made it so interesting. I could grow to the strongest human just by making the right choices.
It was easy. I could do it, and I wanted to try.
I was bored sitting on this tree and waiting for something to happen. So, after thinking for a while, I asked Miss Rika. "Hey, Miss Rika. It's been 10 minutes since I returned but no one came out from that hole. What do you think we should do?"
Ten minutes was too long for a mission like this. A communications blackout for more than 10 minutes was a sign that something bad happened. Either the entire team was dead, or worse, the enemy was inside that mansion and was trying to kill them.
I didn't care what happened to the other STARS members since I barely knew them. The only ones I knew were Jill, Brad, Leon, and Wesker, though the last one was a traitor.
The problem was, Leon was among the team. And that meant that if something bad happened, he could be in danger too.
Miss Rika looked at the mansion for a moment, and then she sighed and looked at me.
"I don't know. It's hard for me to make a decision. We can't go in because we don't have any idea where the team went or what happened to them, so I'm afraid we might just end up being trapped inside that mansion. I don't want that to happen."
I understood what she meant. I also didn't want to get caught inside a mansion with no communication and possibly enemies.
But... The situation was different.