010 Parasyte Kabane
Turning around the corner of the second-floor corridor, Lin Moze caught sight of three figures cautiously advancing below through the window.
They were three boys, all wearing the school uniform. The tallest one led the group, holding an axe of unknown origin. Books were taped to his forearms and lower legs, likely a makeshift defense against Kabane bites.
The two behind him were similarly equipped—one wielded a baseball bat, the other a kitchen knife.
As they walked, they whispered to each other. Lin Moze saw the one in the middle turning to the shifty-looking boy and asking:
"Hey, Zeji, maybe we should just go back to the classroom? It's too dangerous out here. I really don't wanna end up like Kenichi—getting half my head sliced off by a monster."
"Shut up. You think I don't know it's dangerous out here? But it's even worse inside the school!"
The one called Zeji, walking in front, hissed back in a low voice:
"There were hundreds of students in our school. How many of them do you think turned into those zombie creatures after being attacked? But now look—the monsters are gone, and even the bodies have disappeared!"
Just then, the boy at the back chimed in:
"Yeah, yeah! You remember that noise in the hallway earlier? It was obvious something was killing those monsters."
"But… what if it was someone coming to rescue us?" the middle boy still clung to hope.
"Bullshit. If it was a rescue team, why would they kill the monsters, clean up the bodies, and just leave without saying a word?"
Hearing this, Zeji growled again:
"If you ask me, there's something even scarier than those monsters in this school! Maybe it hasn't come after us survivors yet because it's not interested. But what if it gets curious one day? Then we'll be dead before we can even run!"
"But still—"
Just as the boy in the middle tried to say something more, a voice suddenly rang out beside them, loud and completely unfiltered:
"I think he has a point. It's never a bad thing to be cautious. That kind of vigilance might save your life someday."
The sudden voice scared all three boys out of their wits. The most timid among them nearly screamed, but luckily the others reacted quickly and covered his mouth.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I should've made some noise when I was coming down," Lin Moze said with zero sincerity, noticing their terrified expressions. He then cut straight to the point:
"I heard you mention someone named Kenichi. Mind telling me what happened?"
The reason he asked was because his former desk mate was named Konan Kenichi. They weren't best friends or anything, but they got along fairly well. Otherwise, he wouldn't have warned the guy earlier.
Unfortunately, the three boys were still shaken and didn't respond. Instead, one stammered:
"H-how did you just appear like that? There was no one around a second ago..."
"Sorry, I don't like people answering my questions with more questions," Lin Moze cut him off, repeating calmly, "So how about you just tell me what happened to Kenichi?"
The boy with the axe was the first to collect himself and replied:
"The guy we mentioned—Konan Kenichi—was hiding with us in the home economics classroom. The four of us stayed there for a while. When things seemed quiet outside, we decided to take a chance and see if we could escape."
He continued, "We headed for the main gate, but there was this terrifying monster there. Kenichi was at the front and got half his head chopped off in an instant. The rest of us panicked and ran back."
"I see."
Lin Moze paused, not exactly grief-stricken but clearly somber. His warning had helped Kenichi survive the initial chaos, only for him to die later at the hands of some unknown creature.
Still, in such a terrifying world, dying quickly and without suffering might not be the worst fate for a normal person.
Seeing Lin Moze fall silent, Zeji gathered some courage and asked:
"Um, classmate, who exactly are you?"
"Just think of me as a psychic or something. I'm the one who killed all the Kabane in the school. Now, tell me what that monster you saw looked like. I'll give you directions so you can escape."
He spoke so matter-of-factly that the three boys didn't know how to respond.
Normally, if someone claimed to be a psychic, they would've thought he was some delusional weirdo. But in a world that had clearly ended, who could say for sure what was real or not?
And the way Lin Moze had appeared out of nowhere only made his claim more believable.
Eventually, Zeji stepped forward and tried to negotiate: "If you're really a psychic, how about we stick together? We could help each other out—"
"I'm not interested in being your babysitter." Lin Moze checked his phone for the time and added casually:
"You've got two minutes. Tell me everything you know about that monster. If you waste my time, I'll kill all three of you."
His tone was light, almost casual, but the natural confidence in his words sent chills down their spines.
The third boy—the one with the kitchen knife—hurried forward and blurted out:
"I'll talk, I'll talk! I was the slowest runner, so I had time to look back. That monster looked a lot like the other zombie creatures. It even had a limp. But its arm—its arm was different."
"Different how?"
"His left arm looked like a whip. A whip made out of muscle, with barbs and blades sticking out. I didn't get a good look, but I think that's what sliced Kenichi's head."
A right arm turned into a muscle whip, complete with blades?
Lin Moze frowned deeply. He had initially thought it might be a Kabane mutation, but from the sound of it, this monster didn't seem related to the Kabane at all.
It reminded him of another creature from an anime he had seen in his past life—
Parasyte.