"You know, I've always wondered why we're doing this job," She said with a soft voice, looking outside through the window.
"I never thought I would be a part of an organization like STARS. I mean... The world was fun before and now it's just fucked up. But I guess we have no choice but to deal with it."
"Yeah, you're right," I nodded. "I'm still in highschool, Miss Rika. And I never thought that this world would turn out . I'm still trying my best to adapt and survive, and I'm lucky to have some good people around me. We help each other, and we try to stay alive."
"You're a good boy, Daiki." She smiled.
"I don't know how you become so good with guns. You have no experience and you never went to any training. And yet you shoot as well as any STARS member, even better. I wonder if there is something more about you, but I don't want to dig in."
She had her own secret and she didn't want anyone to dig in it either. So, she understood that everyone had their own secret they wanted to keep.
Having a system certainly helped a lot.
If not, I would die already. I would die from my first fight with a zombie, or from the horde of them. Even now I still have a hard time believing that I'm alive and well.
And I was lucky that I got my hand on the system, although it was unreliable, which allowed me to survive until now. But I wouldn't rely on it forever, I had to train and get stronger myself.
My current strength should be enough to allow me to fight Tyrant head on. I already tried it on the zombies; my strength was enough to snap necks. But a Tyrant? Maybe I was strong enough, maybe I wasn't. I wouldn't know until I met one in the mission.
I was thinking of testing my strength against one.
[Ding! You have received 500 Shop Points + 2 Strength.]
The last choice the system gave me was completed. I went this path and the system gave me some rewards.
Now I have 40 Strengths. Compared to a normal person, I might be two or three times stronger.
"We will reach our destination in 1 hour. Feel free to take a rest before we reach the drop point. We will climb the mountain after that." She continued her explanation. "We have a place to rest, so you don't need to worry about camping and food."
I just nodded and leaned my back to the seat.
Miss Rika and I spent the next hour without talking to each other, enjoying the silence. She took out a calorie bar and began munching it. I took mine and began eating as well, enjoying the sweet and tasty chocolate flavored snack.
After the car reached its destination, we got off. We arrived in front of a small cabin located at the base of the Arklay Mountain.
A small wooden bridge connected us with the other side of the mountain, where our target location was.
Looking up, the thick forest covered everything from view. The sky was dark gray and cloudy. Rain might fall later.
Miss Rika grabbed my arm and led me into the cabin, closing the door behind her as soon as we entered. There was nothing inside but an old table with a chair. No bed, no bathroom, just a small living room with a fireplace.
However, on top of that table was nothing ordinary.
Weapons and equipment were neatly placed. They were mostly small firearms, from pistols to small caliber rifles. And on the table was a PSG-1. There was also a few magazines of 7.51 NATO ammo.
This rifle was my weapon.
And beside it stood a semi-automatic dragunov sniper rifle, together with a small backpack full of supplies. This one was probably for Miss Rika, as she quickly took the gun and put it in the bag, loading the rifle with bullets.
"New baby, huh? Let's do this together."
She talked to the weapon as she checked it. I couldn't understand her love toward her guns.
I also prepared, grabbing the PSG-1 from the table. I slung it on my back, carrying the ammo in another bag.
Moving through the Arklay Mountain wasn't an easy task. We were surrounded by forest, and there was no proper road. Just dirt trails that we had to follow.
Narrow and dangerous.
The thick trees around us made it impossible to see far away, making every step a risky one.
There were many cliffs and steep hills, so if we fell from one of them, then it would be game over for sure. The mountain was full of wild animals, and I could hear the sound of wolves howling from afar.
There was no time to rest.
However, this made a perfect place for a sniper like us.
I pulled my heavy backpack along with my PSG-1 rifle, following closely behind Miss Rika.
We had a short rest at the cabin earlier, so we were still fresh. We also had enough water and food for two days, and I was certain we would arrive in no more than 3 hours at our destination.
Because we were supposed to be undetected, we left every digital device at the camp, including our phone and watch. This was to prevent anyone from tracking us.
We had a flare gun and a walkie talkie connected with a battery, but that was the only communication device we brought. Fortunately, the walkie talkie had range long enough to stay connected with the HQ.
"Let's take a short break here," Miss Rika said. "It won't take long. I want to check our position again."
We stopped at a clearing with some rock. Miss Rika crouched on the ground, taking a small notebook from her pocket and a compass.
Like an experienced soldier, she used a small piece of cloth to wipe the compass clean before putting it away.
She took a pen and began writing in the small notebook.
"Call me Leader during this mission. I'm the team leader." She replied. "We're close. We will reach our destination soon. We need to go behind that cliff and we will see the mansion." She pointed at the tall cliff at the front.
I followed her hand and looked at where she pointed. It was a sheer wall of rock, standing tall above everything else around it.
I nodded and took a drink of water.
Now we were talking about difficulty level. Wolf's howl and zombies groaning were heard in the distance, and it was unnerving to hear them.
Rustle from bushes was heard as well, as if something big was walking in them.
"I think we should be careful, Leader," I told Miss Rika. "I can hear something moving in that direction."