Ethan's whole body shook. It wasn't because of how loud the voice was in his head, but how sure it sounded.
Ethan immediately understood.
The universe or God never pitied him for being a hero. It was this damn creature that had reincarnated him.
"I… I will accept you in my body. Just help me save my friend." Ethan clenched his knuckles, blood seeping through them.
He almost puked just by saying it, but…
'Dan needs me. He needs to stay alive! And I will do anything for that to happen,' he thought.
His resolve was far higher than his disgust.
The creature laughed.
Making Ethan's ears bleed.
"Good choice. Alright, I'll lend you my strength today."
Ethan might have been unable to see its whole body, but he was sure this was the real body of the Adamas Strain.
'In the first place… it knew that I would come and look for it,' the thought sent shivers through his spine.
His consciousness snapped back to reality.
When he woke up, he had already cleared the remaining hundreds of mindless creatures.
And… the head of the evolved monster was already in his hand.
Snapped from its body.
It was a brutal sight, as the human spine was still attached to the evolved monster's head—proof that it was pulled off by raw strength.
Ethan didn't have time to process everything before his vision went blurry and he collapsed on the ground.
He was lying in the middle of the road—far from the parking garage where he lost consciousness.
When he woke up again, he was back in that same place.
Concrete walls were all over the place, with a few cars parked and an ice-like door sealing the only entrance.
"Thank God you're awake, dude! You fucking scared the shit out of me! How the hell did you do that?" Dan's loud voice rang in Ethan's head.
It didn't annoy him. In fact, he felt relief.
This meant… he saved Dan. He finally saved Dan!
A chuckle escaped his mouth as he sat up.
"What the hell? You're laughing? Seriously? You looked hella fire earlier! Damn! Straight like fiction movies type shi!"
Dan began explaining to Ethan what he saw.
He said that when he was about to collapse, Ethan suddenly merged with darkness and became buffed and tall.
"You started smashing the heads of the monsters like they're eggs, dude! Then, you ran like Flash! Killing the monsters in your way before BOOM!!! You pulled that leader monster's head like DAMN!!!"
Ethan's brows knitted.
Even in his previous life, he didn't have that skill.
"You didn't even look human anymore… your whole body was covered in something black—like smoke, but solid. And your eyes… they weren't yours."
Ethan's fingers twitched.
"What?" Ethan's voice came out more rasped than he intended.
Ethan was still trying to process what happened—
Then the system interrupted.
---
[ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: FIRST TO KILL AN EVOLVED MONSTER ]
Rewards:
5 stat points
1 random gacha box
---
Dan kept talking excitedly, but Ethan's mind was somewhere else.
He skimmed it in a second—nothing urgent. He closed it immediately.
Ethan cut Dan off and asked, "Did you get any achievement notification?"
Dan tilted his head, like he was trying to remember, then immediately nodded.
"Yeahhh!!! I got that. It says 'High group assists' and gave me 5 stat points just like a game." He laughed. "Oh, and I got this, but I tried opening it and it won't budge at all."
Dan took out a small Rubik's cube-like box with question marks all over its sides and gave it to Ethan.
Ethan immediately read its description.
---
Gacha box (Random Armor)
Description: Pull a totally random armor! Has a 0.000000001% chance to pull a Legendary-rank Armor!
---
"Hmm… just toss it upward and it will open on its own," Ethan said, giving it back to Dan.
"That easy???"
He immediately tossed it upward and, sure enough, it spun, opening on its own.
The moment the small box opened… Dan's pupils dilated.
Ethan stared at him for a second… then suddenly smirked.
"I got you. Dumbass."
"Fuck you!" Dan said, the ringing tone still vibrating in his eardrums.
"Where's Claire?" Ethan asked, seeing she wasn't there.
"Oh… she's sleeping there."
Dan pointed at the pickup truck parked in the parking garage.
"She said she needs to sleep coz her MP drained or whatever she meant."
Ethan nodded, checking his watch. It was already 7 PM; he had slept for five hours.
"You should sleep now too, dude. I'll be on guard."
Dan yawned. "Alright, wake me up if something happens. Aight?"
"Yeah, I'll kick your ass," Ethan shrugged, watching Dan lie down where he had been sleeping.
Silence followed as Dan immediately fell asleep.
Ethan sat in front of the sealed entrance, quietly guarding the place.
He knew that the price for asking the parasite's help was high.
But looking at the alive and healthy Dan, he would gladly pay for it.
Not knowing that this was the first time he willingly gave something away… and the creature would never let him take it back.
---
GREAT HELM (NORMAL)
Description: Once owned by a righteous paladin. Has higher durability than a normal Great Helm.