Becoming a Monster-Chapter 69: Making a decision

In the cafeteria, Mark’s group was discussing with Ishii and his group about Noah’s odd behavior.

"Wait! You said he was eating something from their hearts? Are you sure?"

"We all saw it, he seemed to be quite interested in them too, he had a stupid smile after he was done. I’m sure those things benefited him in some way...I’m just not sure if we can do the same...and then! The freak started eating the zombies’ hearts like snacks!" Alice recounted what she saw, her emotional state shifting as she discussed Noah’s new habit.

"....Why don’t any of you seem surprised? Di- It’s not the first time, is it??" She noticed their odd behavior and came to her own conclusion. It dawned on her that Noah hadn’t just developed such a disturbing craving right after meeting them; of course these people saw him do it before.

’I knew it! That guy IS crazy.’

Meanwhile, the people who heard this new bit of information and didn’t witness what happened during the zombie king altercation were all confused.

’Eating zombies? What the hell?’ How is he not a zombie yet??’

"You haven’t seen it, but when we were back in the gym, we fought some kind of zombie boss! And he was crazy enough to eat it while it was still alive!"

"I still get shivers just thinking about it...I’m glad he’s gone."

As everyone shared their different experiences about Noah, it was a huge eye-opener for Ishii and his group. Just hearing about the showdown between Noah and the Zombie King in detail left them in awe. This was also the first time that Neal and Regina were hearing of Noah’s deeds.

A cold sweat went down their backs. If they had known he had become that crazy, then they wouldn’t have messed with him, at least not directly . The guy clearly lost more than just his sanity.

"So what should we do now? Are we leaving?" Ishii’s voice broke the tension, trying to steer the conversation away from bad-mouthing Noah, especially since every time they did, an intense glare came from the corner of the room. He attempted to refocus the discussion on the main point of why they were there.

"Why should we leave? We have food, and it seems most of the zombies on the campus have been taken care of, right? It should be easy to wait it out here before help arrives, why waste our lives?" Neal was the first to answer. He very much enjoyed the leadership he had so far, even though the world was dangerous in every sense of the word now, he wanted to enjoy this new role as much as possible.

Moreover, he understood the importance of building strong relationships with his fellow survivors. He knew that earning their trust and respect now would ensure his continued leadership even when they were under the protection of the government.

A lot of people seemed to be in agreement with Neal but then there were others who found what he said to be foolish.

"I don’t think that’s the right call." Ishii spoke, raising a few glares from Neal and Regina respectively.

"Well, you are the one who came to us, it doesn’t really seem right for you to try to come here and tell us what to do."

To Neals’ combative retort, Ishii managed to maintain his composure, his outlook on the situation was simple. "Look, I came here because Noah said there were people here that could help us. If you don’t want to come then that’s your choice, I won’t force any of you." he replied calmly. "I’m just saying that staying here isn’t as safe as we think it is." That voice clearly warned us of something potentially happening.

Even if we manage to lay low here, we will always have to depend on others to save us because we will be left behind. We need to be getting stronger too, these zombies are already out pacing us, I don’t want to imagine how hard it’ll be to live if they grew stronger and we stayed this weak."

Ishii then began to sit up, noticing his actions, the people who followed him and considered him a better leader also stood with him. Unsurprisingly Ailetta and Bailey’s group stood with him, joining his side.

Jasmine remained rooted in her seat, stealing glances towards Ailetta and Bailey, longing to stand beside them. Originally she was the first to be against leaving, it was her suggestion to Mark from the beginning to use the cafeteria as a base, a suggestion that externalized her stance to await for aid. However she realized first hand how dangerous the world really is and how fast you can lose everything if you don’t have the strength to defend it.

Leading a group demanded strength, a fact that weighed heavily on Jasmine’s conscience. The thought of commanding others and risking their lives in the face of danger left her feeling uncertain, her confidence waning as she questioned her ability to protect those under her charge.

She then looked towards Mark, noticing her brother’s stern expression and contemplated frown. It was clear to her that he, too, harbored a desire to leave, yet he remained seated, his hesitation clearly noticeable.

As Jasmine pondered the reasons behind her brother’s reluctance, she couldn’t help shake the feeling that his indecision was somehow linked to her friends. ’Is it because of them?’ She glanced back at Ailetta and Bailey. She began to suspect that Mark just didn’t want to follow along in their footsteps, she couldn’t go on like this.

"Jas?"

"Mark, we are going to! How can you consider yourself a hero if you hide here like a coward? Weren’t you going to show me that you were gonna be stronger than ’him’?"

"!" Mark’s body trembled at his older sister’s words, the weight of her challenge hitting him like a physical blow. With a heavy heart, he lowered his gaze to the ground, lost in a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.

’That’s right! If I stay here then how much can I fight to level up?’ "Fuck!" The realization struck him like lightning, jolting him from his seat and startling those nearby with his sudden outburst.

"I’m not a coward! I just didn’t see the point in getting up when no one else was leaving. Don’t forget, it was my idea to fight the zombies in the first place!" He talked loudly to try to convince everyone of his resolve. While his sister remained unconvinced, she smiled inwardly, knowing that Mark’s actions spoke louder than his words.

"?"

"You guys are really leaving? You’re the ones who experienced the worst of it, and you’re gonna go out there still? Isn’t that stupid?" Neal attempted to reason with them, secretly relieved about losing Ishii’s group since converting Ishii’s followers would be challenging. However, he was apprehensive about losing his potential prize.

"It’s because we experienced these things that we know we shouldn’t stay here. Hopefully, you won’t have to experience it yourself." Jasmine responded with an indifferent expression before turning towards Ishii.

"Ishii, was it? Are we going now, or do you have unfinished business here?" she continued, prompting Ishii’s surprise at the unexpected number of people following them. Nonetheless, he felt relieved that he had chosen to follow Noah’s advice, silently thanking him, whilst his admiration for the worst role model gained higher standing in his heart.

"Yes, we should go now before it gets too late. No one knows if the zombies are capable of traveling in the dark, but I’m certain the animals won’t have an issue. I’d rather cover as much distance as we can before we need to find shelter." Ishii concluded, his decision reflecting his level-headed approach to the situation.

"Wa-Wait, wait dammit!" Neal called out, halting the departing group, he didn’t want this. He would only be left with the cowards and just a few people who were prepared to fight. Wouldn’t that mean they would be in danger if even just one creature like the one they mentioned before comes?

"Everyone, we’re going too! There should be bags upstairs, we should grab food and water before going. We might not find anything out there, so it’s better to be safe.." Neal announced, walking towards the group as if he hadn’t just argued against their departure.

"Ne-Neal? Weren’t we staying here?" Regina asked in astonishment. She had always felt safer indoors, shielded from the dangers that lurked outside, and she lacked the combat skills necessary to fend for herself in the grim reality awaiting them outside. The thought of venturing outside, where death was looming around every corner only filled her with apprehension, especially now that she no longer had Lucas to cater to her every need. The realization that the people strong enough to do her bidding were not so easily manipulated only added to her unease.

In her perspective, staying with weak willed people would give her the highest guarantee on her life. Not to mention, out of everyone here, she was the one most confident about being saved; just not from the same people everyone else is hoping for.

"I changed my mind. It’s better if we stick together. There’s strength in numbers, and we can all keep each other safe." Neal declared, almost breaking character at the threat of his safety. He didn’t care about anyone, but himself, however, he wanted to follow them to ensure his own safety.

It took them all a while to gather supplies from the store on the second floor. Ishii scanned the area, hoping to catch sight of the mysterious shopkeeper he had heard so much about. He had hoped to acquire an item as mysterious and useful as Noah. However, the elusive figure remained elusive, leaving Ishii disappointed.

After several tense minutes passed, the group of a little over a hundred individuals exited the building and began their journey towards the front gate of the university.

The walk through the campus was eerily quiet, keeping them all on edge.

As they passed the library without any notable incidents, the group began to relax. However, their guard went up again when they encountered a gruesome scene: a pile of rat corpses and zombie bodies strewn along the side of the building.

"You guys didn’t say anything about these things being here." Someone voiced their concern, however their tone hinted at their skepticism.

"Well, that’s because they weren’t here before, obviously they were attracted to the dead bodies." Alicia responded coldly, refusing to accept blame.

Ahead of them, they encountered a swarm of insects, and not just any particular insects, but ants. From different spots in the vicinity, there were small and big mounds coming up from the ground, most likely from the ants digging through the ground.

People like Ailetta wondered why they never saw ants before when they saw other insects because they were so common. Now, however, the ants had grown in size, growing as much as the other insects did. Most of them reached up to everyone’s knees, while a few oversized black soldier ants stood as tall as Arachne. In the sunlight, their shells gleamed with a shiny luster, heightening the threatening presence of these oversized insects.

The size of the ants sent a wave of alarm through the group of students. What heightened their unease was how effortlessly the ants lifted the corpses and carried them into the holes, with others emerging to replace them.

"What should we do? Do we fight them?"

"How many ants do you think there are? There could be thousands of them!" Someone speculated.

"No..." The voices trailed off as they noticed Jasmine kneeling on the ground. They might have assumed something was wrong with her if not for the small dryad perched on her shoulder.

"There are a lot of them, but there seems to only be about a hundred of them, if that. My guess is that growing under the ground killed most of them, but it’s only a guess." Jasmine explained, rising to her feet and brushing her hair out of her face before addressing the group.

If it was anyone else, she would’ve been met with scruitnity after making such claims when no one there could verify it. However, Jasmine’s mature beauty captivated the group, and her cosplay-like ears only added to her allure.

"Jas, are you sure? If that’s the case then we should fight! I’d rather fight these things than-"

"Crap they’re coming!"

.....

While the group were going through the fight of their lives, Noah had almost made his way to his first destination. It took him longer than he expected because he met some zombies along the way.

The zombies were made quick work out of just by Arachne and Fenrir alone. What took most of his time was obtaining all of their cores. Noah just couldn’t help himself, even when he came upon a corpse he didn’t put down, he would still open their chest to obtain his treasure.

However, because of the frequent stops, nightfall wasn’t far away, and he was beginning to feel the strain of the mental fatigue accumulating. Despite his excitement, the day’s events had drained him, leaving him feeling exhausted even though his body remained relatively fresh.

"I shouldn’t go on like this...I’m in too much of a hurry for strength, but time waits for no one, how else am I supposed t-Wait! It’s not like I still can’t receive experience while resting." Noah came to the realization.

Initially headed towards the rear parking lot closer to the women’s dorm, Noah reconsidered. Opting to play it safe, he backtracked towards the dorms instead. There, he could eliminate any remaining threats, and at the same time, he could implement his broken privilege as a monster tamer, especially when he now had a creature that seemed to have never ending energy.

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