44 Hunters arrival

In a dimly lit room, a man was struggling to move his arm because of some unknown force. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't press the trigger at all. His hand was completely frozen.

However, as he was trying, the intruder suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Wha-?!"

Before he could react, the intruder grabbed his head and slammed him against the cold and dusty floor.

The man couldn't even cry in pain as his head collided with the hard surface, blood trickling down his face. Bashing the man's face against the wall a few more times, the intruder suddenly stopped with a surprised expression.

He did not expect to get experience points this soon. The intruder watched his own hand with an interested expression, then looked back at the man's corpse.

"I am still not used to my own body yet." 

After some reflection, Frederick deduced that the reason why it had been relatively easy was likely because he was already stronger than before the purification.

In fact, he was only feeling weaker due to not being in his prime state. However, this didn't necessarily mean that he was actually weak compared to before; rather, his strength had likely increased significantly already.

With a cold expression, Frederick stepped over the man's lifeless corpse, his gaze fixed on the little green orb clutched in the man's forehead. Without hesitation, he retrieved the orb before turning his gaze to the rest of the group huddled together in the corner.

"P-Please stop hurting my husband! We'll give you everything, but please go away!" the woman pleaded, her voice trembling as she held her daughter tightly. She didn't seem to know her husband was now a limpless body. Or perhaps she knew but preferred to deny reality.

Everything happened so fast that her brain couldn't process what was happening.

"S-Stop, please. We have a daughter... " the woman begged, her voice wavering as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Gather all your food and authorities," Frederick commanded

"W-What?" the woman stammered, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"You heard me. Give me all your food and authorities, and I will let your family go. Don't you dare try to deceive me..." Frederick repeated, his voice colder and harsher this time.

Without wasting even a single second, the woman immediately complied.

"O-Okay. I will do as you say," the woman replied, her voice trembling as she rose to her feet, with her daughter still clinging to her.

"Don't worry, Mommy will be back soon," the woman assured her daughter, her voice wavering as she tried to remain strong for her daughter.

"O-Okay," the little girl whispered, her voice barely audible as she reluctantly released her mother.

The woman quickly gathered a few cans of food and some bottled water they had hidden. She even took out a few lesser authorities they obtained with great difficulty and placed them on the table.

"That's all we have ... Now please-" However, before the woman could finish her sentence, the intruder sent two sharp blood projectiles toward them. With two thuds, there were now two additional bodies inside the room.

"It seems like training my aim against moving targets paid off," Frederick remarked, his tone devoid of emotion, as he extracted the authority from their foreheads, each sphere representing a life extinguished.

Looking at the orbs for a short moment, he sneered, "Useless."

Without hesitation, Frederick began to collect the blood of the individuals into small fruits that served mainly as containers, employing the same gruesome efficiency he had used countless times before. Each movement was precise and deliberate, as he wasted no effort in his task. 

He looked like a very experienced butcher, even with a dull knife he had randomly found while looking around.

With 13 authorities on him, this wasn't Frederick's first encounter with a group attempting to hide inside this neighborhood. Each time he met someone, he would ask for some information. If he considered what they knew was too limited, he wouldn't waste time on them—like this time.

Yet he was still very far from leveling up. At this rate, he wouldn't even fill out 1/7 of the required experience points before the main story.

After the purification, he acquired a heightened ability to sense blood in addition to an enhancement to his overall sense… If we exclude his still blurry vision.

Frederick could now discern the subtle presence of blood, allowing him to detect the presence of most living beings in his vicinity. He would often feel the faint pulses of life emanating from some people trying to hide. 

Although it was still extremely faint, he only needed to sense that there was something. Being able to feel blood was a strange feeling. It was almost like a sixth sense. This feeling was incredibly useful for locating experience points.

After not leaving a single drop of blood... or flesh as a matter of fact, he turned his attention to his loot.

'How did they find a gun?'

He was slightly surprised to see a gun in the man's hands. While wondering, he checked the gun's magazine and noticed there were only three bullets left.

Without a second thought, Frederick pocketed the gun and the remaining bullets before voraciously consuming all the food laid out on the table. Despite devouring enough provisions to sustain five people for a week, he found himself inexplicably still hungry.

"It's surprising they had so much food. But it's not enough. I guess I will need to hunt a few more people to fill my stomach," Frederick mused as he left the place, leaving behind some bones and some empty cans.

He had scavenged everything from this place, even the flesh of the unfortunate family. In his current state, every source of sustenance was fair game, even human meat.

The more Frederick ate, the stronger he felt. It was more than just a refreshing sensation; it was as if he were undergoing a rebirth. There was also this odd feeling all around his body. This was a familiar sensation ...

'Am I growing taller? It feels quite similar to when I was a teenager.'

Frederick's body was slowly changing. His height increased, his muscles were becoming more defined, and his skin was becoming smoother.

 However, Frederick was aware that no matter how much he ate, he wouldn't be at his peak by the start of the main story as his body still needed time to recover.

"I still need about three to four days to recuperate fully," he acknowledged to himself as he watched the time left before the first main story

<Time 12 19 until the beginning of Main story: hours minutes>

As Frederick traversed from street to street, a sudden scream pierced the air, echoing from a distance but resonating with startling clarity as though it originated right beside him.

 Soon, another scream joined the cacophony, followed by yet another and another, until the entire city reverberated with the chilling sounds of shrieks ... and gunshots.

More importantly ... Those screams weren't the ones of a human. They were shrill, high-pitched screeches akin to those of a banshee, each one like a thousand nails scratching against a chalkboard.

'They are here.'

Slowly but surely, the sun was beginning to set, painting the sky in shades of orange and red until the last rays of light disappeared, and the darkness engulfed everything.

The screams grew louder and louder, and the gunshots became more frequent.

"This is going to be a long night," Frederick sighed as he quickened his pace.