***
The next day.
Aamon woke from a very restless sleep and found that the firewood had long gone out, the logs reduced to cold gray ash.
He glanced to the side. Avery was no longer there. She had left her blanket neatly folded on the floor, with a small note tucked on top of it.
[Thank you for keeping me company. I have to go. My little brother must be worried about me.]
[Ps. You burned the bread too much. It tasted bitter. I made a new one for you.]
Aamon smiled faintly and left the note with the blanket on the floor. He looked over and saw a piece of bread that had been toasted properly.
He picked it up and ate it slowly.
She was right. Yesterday's bread… had been burned too badly.
When the bread was gone, Aamon stood up and opened the basement door. He carefully observed the surroundings.
There were no signs of monsters wandering nearby.
He walked out cautiously, making his way through the narrow alley until he could clearly see the road in front of the military headquarters.
Unlike yesterday, there were not many monsters roaming around the base. Because of that, the number of soldiers standing guard had also decreased.
Aamon stepped out. Seeing movement, the soldiers immediately became alert and pointed their rifle barrels forward.
"Stop!" the captain of the soldier squad ordered firmly. "He's an elite member. He was the captain of squad three yesterday."
"Aamon? The one reported missing? I thought he was dead."
After hearing their captain's order, the soldiers gradually lowered their guard and lowered their rifles from Aamon's direction.
Aamon walked toward the front of the military headquarters and was greeted by the soldiers guarding the concrete perimeter.
The girl from Aamon's squad noticed their captain's arrival. She quickly left the headquarters building and walked toward him.
"Where have you been? They were worried about you," the girl said.
"I'm fine."
Aamon glanced behind the girl. There were clearly more elite members than yesterday. They walked around casually in their elite uniforms, all dressed in black.
"The number of elite members has increased. What happened?"
The girl explained that after yesterday's incident, many young people wanted to become elite members.
They were given weapons to fight the monsters.
As a result, once they managed to kill monsters, the system appeared as a reward for them.
The system awakening plan had worked. More young people had awakened and were now working for the military.
Aamon nodded in agreement. With greater numbers, it would be easier for humanity to defend themselves against the monsters.
Even so, their efforts would be meaningless if they did not eliminate All-Seven soon.
"That's good. Our job will become easier."
"There's something else you need to know, Captain."
"What?"
The girl explained that Aamon was no longer the captain of squad three. The military commander had declared him killed in action, and his position had already been replaced by someone else.
Aamon was not bothered at all. He understood that since he never returned to report, they would assume the worst.
And they had.
They thought he was dead.
While Aamon and the girl were talking, a man approached and interrupted them. He looked about twenty-five years old, seven years older than Aamon.
"Nate, who are you talking to?"
The girl looked awkward and introduced Aamon to the man. The man looked shocked.
"Aamon? The captain you guys thought was dead?"
Aamon narrowed his eyes, glanced at the girl, then looked back at the man. The man smiled and lightly patted Aamon's shoulder.
"You're tougher than I thought. Impressive."
"Who is he?" Aamon asked the girl.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the man said. "I'm Ralph, the new leader of Squad Three."
Aamon smiled slightly and extended his hand.
"I'm Aamon."
"So? What's your achievement rank?" Ralph asked.
Achievement rank?
Had the system opened already?
The girl explained about the achievement system. It was a system that appeared today based on someone's contribution points.
The rankings were arranged like a leaderboard and divided into three sectors.
Local sector, regional sector, and global sector.
Each sector had a different scope of ranking.
Aamon already knew what the achievement system was. In the past, before he had been killed by Gerrard, he had once ranked in the top three of the global sector.
[Achievement System:]
[Local Sector:]
[...]
[15. Aamon Viremont || Contribution Points: 100]
"Looks like I'm still ranked 15th."
"Rank 15th?!" Ralph exclaimed.
"Yeah. Each monster gives ten contribution points. In short, I've killed ten monsters."
Ralph and the girl exchanged glances. The girl then explained that the highest-ranked elite member was ranked 33th in the local sector.
That was because many young soldiers were stationed on the front lines, killing monsters with rifles.
"Your rank 15th makes you the highest-ranked elite member," the girl said.
This wasn't high at all. Rank fifteen in the local sector, not even regional—let alone global.
She grabbed Aamon's hand and pulled him toward the headquarters building to report the matter to the commander.
Ralph clearly didn't like that. He had thought Aamon's rank would be lower than his, but the reality was the opposite.
What irritated him the most was that Natasha kept standing so close to Aamon.
Inside the commander's office, the door was knocked and the commander's aide entered. She looked shocked when she saw Aamon alive.
"Aamon?"
"He's alive, and do you know… his rank is 15th."
The commander was startled. He looked at Aamon and praised his ability. His performance was comparable to trained soldiers attacking with rifles.
"HAHA! Looks like you'll become quite famous here, Aamon."
"It's nothing special. That… isn't a big rank," Aamon said.
"You're an elite member, still young, with little experience. Rank 15th in the local sector is good," said the commander's aide, a woman.
The commander turned to her and asked if there were any squads with empty spots. The aide checked the files and said there were none. All squads were already filled.
"Is that so? Looks like you'll have to wait until a new squad is formed in Awakening System Batch 2."
Aamon looked at the aide and the commander, then nodded.
He would wait until the next recruitment.
"Good. While waiting, you can train your swordsmanship with our instructor," the commander said.
"That… won't be necessary," Aamon replied. "I'll wait while hunting monsters."
Natasha was shocked, and so was the aide. They didn't expect words like that to come from a high school student like Aamon.
But the commander reacted differently.
He saw a reflection of maturity in Aamon's eyes.
Clearly, Aamon said that because he was confident he could defeat the monsters alone.
In the end, he made his decision.
"Alright."
He turned to his aide and asked her to prepare a mission letter for Aamon. The young man listened carefully as the commander spoke.
"There are currently 68 elite members divided into 17 squads."
"Five squads are assigned to search for food and medical supplies in residential houses."
"Ten squads are assigned to search for other survivors."
"Two squads are assigned as reserves and reinforcements."
"I'm going to give you a special mission," the commander said.
Aamon listened carefully. The commander's aide and Natasha also listened to what the man was about to say.
"Go to another city and rescue the survivors there. You don't need to return to the base regularly. You can come back once you've saved many people."
Aamon fell silent, then smiled faintly.
"You're giving me an impossible mission. That's basically suicide."
The commander smiled as well and asked his aide and Natasha to leave the room. They nodded and left.
Now only the man and Aamon remained in the room.
He walked over to the window, closed the curtains, and turned on the light.
"Do you know what caused this disaster?" the man asked. His name was Robert.
"No."
"I heard that an organization triggered this disaster. I don't know who they are or where they are."
"I trust you with this mission because among the 68 elite members here, you're the only one who can kill seven monsters in a single attack—even though you're still level one," Robert explained.
So he already suspects my 10x ability.
Robert stood in front of Aamon and lit the cigarette in his hand.
"Leave this base and start traveling. You have one mission—find the origin of this disaster and report it to me."
Aamon smiled widely and crossed his arms, "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."
"You want to travel?"
"Staying trapped in this cramped place will only slow my growth. No offense," Aamon said.
"HAHAHA!" Robert laughed loudly. "I knew you were different from the other elite members."
Slowly his laughter faded, and his eyes locked onto Aamon, "Are you ready, Aamon?"
"I'm ready."
"This mission is dangerous and life-threatening," Robert said. "We'll provide food supplies for you. But whether you live or die… that will be entirely in your own hands."
Aamon nodded obediently, "I understand."