Chapter 11: The Bubble

[The Readers of Fate are wondering how big the Bubble is.]

[More and more Readers of Fate are tuning in on the Host's channel, giving him Powerstones.]

The Bubble. The reason for humanity's downfall and also the reason it still stands to this day.

Once a Bubble pops, monsters and beasts start to crawl from the depths of… nothing. The bigger the Bubble, the greater the beasts.

And right now, the Bubble that reflected in the Zombie's pale blue eyes could be said to be the size of a car. One might think that it was big, but no. It was actually one of the smallest ones as some could reach the size of an entire airbus.

And of course, right now– the Zombie had no idea what it was.

[Reader of Fate: Frank, is curious if the Bubble would give the Host a skill.]

[Reader of Fate: Vicious Sheep, wants the Host to try and eat a plant if it would give him a skill.]

[...]

Once again, the Zombie was bombarded by different words and letters. This time, however, he didn't immediately wave them away. He stared at them for a few seconds, before slowly reaching his hand towards the Bubble.

[Some of the Readers of Fate are telling the Host to be careful.]

[Reader of Fate: Synergy, is urging the Host to pop the Bubble with excitement.]

"..." The Zombie stopped his hand as once again, the letters appeared in front of him. Were they trying to warn him? Or are they telling him to go ahead and touch it?

No matter what they were saying, this almost transparent blob floating in the air seemed to be something important enough for them to be going crazy like this. The deers were also running away from this direction…

…could it be that they were scared?

"What are you doing!?"

And before the Zombie could really decide anything, a voice suddenly entered his ears.

He quickly leaped back and looked towards where the voice was coming from, only to see several humans stepping out of the trees. Seeing this, he tightened his grip on his halberd, ready to throw it as soon as the humans start to rush toward him.

But to his surprise, most of the eyes of the group were on the Bubble. Like the Giant Hornet group, there were four of them. That seemed to be the most common number of them huddled up together for some reason, the Zombie noticed. This time, however…

…it was a group of only female humans.

[Some of the Readers of Fate are starting to raise their eyebrows.]

"Are you crazy?" The smallest one of the group, and the one that seemed to have screamed earlier, was the first to approach the Zombie. Despite being the smallest, she seemed to have the longest hair amongst her group, causing it to almost bounce all the way to the back of her knees.

"..." If the Zombie was to begin eating them, the hair would help him in keeping her locked.

"Were you just trying to pop the Bubble without any plan?" The girl's sigh was enough to echo throughout the forest.

"Leave him, Gab. You know how men could be sometimes," another girl approached the Zombie, this time, it was a woman wearing glasses.

"...How do you know he's a man?" The little girl called Gab squinted her eyes as she turned her gaze back to the Zombie.

"...Do you really think a woman would dress like that?" The woman adjusted her glasses as she looked at the Zombie from head to toe, "A robe on top of a cloak? What is this, winter?"

"Enough talking, Sandie,"

The tallest one of the group then stepped closer to the Bubble, not even looking at the Zombie as she did so. Judging from the fact that the Zombie could smell her scent the most, she should probably be the strongest one in the group…

"Aye, aye, boss."

"Was just watching Gab to make sure she wouldn't do anything stupid, Anna."

…and since Sandie and Gab followed her orders, she also seemed to be the leader,

"Finish setting up the perimeter," their leader, Anna, just waved her hand as she ordered the two to move; her eyes, only leaving the Bubble as she grabbed something from her pocket.

"..." The Zombie tilted his head as he heard a series of beeps coming from the small rectangular box. But after a few seconds, Anna twisted something on it that made it stop making noise.

"Threat Level should only be Low," Anna then said as she turned around to look at the remaining member of the group that still has not moved from her spot,

"But just in case, get ready to cast your spell, Isa."

"..." The blond girl, Isa, only nodded her head before slowly placing her hands together. And as soon as she opened them wide, trickles of light started to stretch between them.

"And you,"

And finally, Anna turned her head towards the Zombie; her ponytail, slightly swaying as she did so,

"Don't get in our way, this Bubble is ours."

"...You own it?" And for some reason, the Zombie replied.

"I am not in the mood for jokes," Anna scoffed as she stepped closer to the Zombie, "We've been exploring this area for days and this is the first Bubble we've encountered. I don't care if you were here first, there are more of us. And if you get in our way, we can't be sure that there won't be any accidents happening."

[The Readers of Fate are proposing a plan to eat Anna.]

"..." The Zombie looked at the woman for a few seconds in confusion, before just deciding to move away and stand beside Isa; his eyes reflecting the sparks building in front of her.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...What?" Isa could no longer hold her silence as the Zombie just stared at her.

"How… do you do that?" The Zombie then asked.

"...What do you mean how?"

"W–"

"Stop chatting with the stranger, Isa!" Anna then moved away from the Bubble, picking up a stone from the ground as she did so, "I'm forcing the Bubble to pop now. Gabriella, Sandie, you guys done with setting up?"

"Aye aye!"

"Anytime."

Gab and Sandie once again emerged from the trees, their weapons already drawn in front of them.

And soon, as the group started emitting their… scent even more as they got ready; the Zombie finally had an idea of how strong the group was– they shouldn't be as strong as the Giant Hornet group.

Should… he start devouring them now? Very slowly, the Zombie's instincts started to take over as the sound of his nails growing started whispering in the air.

But before he could do anything, Anna threw the rock towards the Bubble.

"!!!"

And almost instantly, as if they just appeared out of thin air, 5 beasts appeared– beasts that the Zombie had just encountered hours before.

"Werewolf Younglings!" Anna roared as flames started to appear in her hands, "I'll distract them, make sure not to damage their fur! We–"

However, before Anna could finish her words, another beast suddenly popped up out of nowhere– this time, noticeably larger than the rest of the werewolves.

"...Are you sure about the Threat Level!?" Gab whispered loudly, "That's a fucking full-grown Werewolf!"

"Shit," The flames on Anna's hands faded away as she looked at her group, "Nevermind the fur, guys…

…fight for you life!"

And so, the Zombie watched as the beasts and men started to fight with only a single thought in his mind--

Which group will he end up devouring?