Chapter 177: Held Captive
Chapter 177: Held Captive
After walking into the grocery; Jin first walked through the smoke that took form due to the explosion he’d caused. He walked with his eyes kept to slits. Then he suddenly stopped. He found himself staring at a slew of people; all of whom possessed magical abilities. Some held weapons, whilst others kept their hands to their sides. But all—each and every one of them— were ready. Ready to fight. Profound alacrity was present in their intimidating demeanors. They were indeed ready.
Whereas, on the other hand, Jin—one with a system—was not. Far from it. His health was soon to plummet to five, the number at which an alert would usually be triggered. He deflated, letting out a breath he had been holding for a while. Right then, he decided not to fight his way out of this one.
A man stepped forward, furrowing his brows. “You entered the wrong house, fool!”
Jin cursed, narrowing his eyes. “Ah fuck, just gimme a damn lunch break!”
A few started to approach him. But he chose to remain stagnant, not bothering to get tensed about the situation. He had met bad people in the past. These people weren’t going to kill him without a good reason. So, he found it safe not to worry.
People in the large group spoke amongst themselves, and Jin was able to overhear the conversation.
“He’s unarmed … and injured,” one said. “But that’s great. Taking him down oughtta be a piece of cake.”
“Yeah, we can just take him down and put an end to the possible problems associated with him,” another said, “but that isn’t right. He looks … normal. We should take him back to the village. Finding other survivors is one of the main reasons we’re here, after all.”
“Can we even trust him? Is it even safe to take him to the village? ‘Cause, he looks a bit dark. That tattoo under his eye is familiar and quite intimidating.”
“He’s kinda hot,” yet another person chimed in, “I say we take him back to the village. We’re finished packing all the food anyway. And since he broke the door down—which was also hot—we should just leave this place. One night of rest was enough.”
“Shut up, Kaylie! No way we’re gonna stomach all your bullshit! Are you seriously gonna risk your life because a guy’s hot? I say we kill the son of a bitch. And then Kaylie if she gets in the way. Her cockiness stemmed because of her ability, has been getting to me lately. Let’s kill the pretty mother fucker!”
A tall man, quite taller than Jin, stepped forth. He was slender in form. Slender in all body parts, except his belly. He was skinny fat. A paunch belly was clearly visible even through the thick leather jacket he wore. Where had he found the time to eat so richly in an apocalypse?
“Who are you?” The man asked. “No. That’s not what I should’ve asked. The real question is,” he glared, “who are you?” His voice was gruff.
“What do I look like?” Jin asked. “I’m just a hungry guy who wants something to eat so I can heal already. This is an entire grocery,” he looked down at the man’s belly, “I can see you’ve already helped yourself to it.”
The man scowled. “You—”
“Hurry up and decide what you’re gonna do with me already,” Jin said curtly, “I’m really hungry right now.”
“That’s it!” The man snapped. “I hate him already. Knock him out!”
Jin started slowly retreating. “I can’t remember the part where I gave you the permission to steal my consciousness. I’m bleeding out, and I’ll die if you- … no I can’t,” he closed his hand, “allow that …” his dagger manifested in his hand. “I need to get food so that I—”
Suddenly, Jin heard a sound from behind him. He quickly looked over his shoulder and was about to teleport away when suddenly, a baseball sunk into his face. There was immediately nothing but darkness for him. He didn’t even feel himself collapse.
***
Jin slowly opened his eyes. When his eyelids were fully raised. The light went rushing into his retina, and subsequently, his pupils dilated. Then, they dilated again. He woke up to a young woman healing his wounds. She was a bit older than him. Twenty-one years old of age, or rather more so what she called ‘eighteen, part three’.
She was a good-looking woman with facial features that reminded Jin of Sylvia for a second. Jin hated Sylvia. This girl had a fleshy nose, that was slightly dented yet somehow made her a bit more appealing. Attractive but not as attractive as Sylvia. She used a wet cloth to wipe away the blood from Jin’s wounds.
She was on her knees, whilst his back rested upon the hard floor. Where was he? The girl crept toward the bucket of water, dipped the cloth, wrang it, and then crawled back over to Jin. Most of her breasts were exposed as she crept back over to him. He was awake, but she knowingly continued working, not bothering to fix her clothes, and keeping that soft smile on her face.
Jin noticed that he didn’t have on a shirt. Where did his hoodie go? Suddenly, the woman started to carry a hand to his chest. The hand slowly inched closer. Jin grabbed her wrist when it was an inch away from touching his skin. He furrowed his brows and squeezed her wrist.
She winced. “G- good morning, hottie. I see you’re awake.”
Jin released her hand, sneering. “What were you doing to me? I hope you didn’t touch anything when I was asleep.”
She giggled. “I wish!”
“Where am I? And what are you doing to me?”
She cocked her head, smiling. “Isn’t it obvious? We brought you to the village. The others still aren’t that fond of you yet though, so I’d try keeping a low profile if I were you. I did a lot of convincing for them to allow me to heal your hot ass. That fever had you burning up, and I couldn’t just watch you die. Those wounds were massive. Ran into one of those vengers?”
Jin sat upon his behind. “A Void,” Jin said, “I ran into a Void, at least that’s what Cliff called it. What a stupid name.”
The girl’s mouth gaped. “No way. You’re kidding, right?”
Jin grimaced. “About what?”
“Running into a Void,” she tittered, “that surely doesn’t happen around here at all. You ran into a Void and just survived? All by yourself?”
“Benjamin and Cliff wanted to help,” Jin said, eyes slit, “but I didn’t let them. I still wish that thing was a bit more challenging.”
“You’re saying you killed—not just survived—a Void. Uhm, good sir,” she folded her arms, skeptical “you’re hot and all but I’m not gonna believe that.”
Jin shrugged. “Does it look like I care?” He stood.
She stared at him thoughtfully.
Then the girl’s eyes widened. “No way!” she stood, shouting loudly. “You soloed a Void. At first, I didn’t believe you but after seeing the absence of bluff and bullshit in those cute, green eyes I just had to believe you!”
Jin folded his arms, narrowing his eyes at the rather short female. “Okay then. But I could’ve just used Deceptive Delusion on you if I really wanted you to believe me.”
She perked up. “That’s perfect. You iterally defeated a Void on your own! I’m sure I can do the same. I boast all the time around here. Quite the cocky gal, because I’m confident in what I can do. My ability is soooo freaking cool,” she started hopping on her feet, “My brothers and I are like the strongest in these parts. Maybe we can be partners. Just me and you. I’m taking all the credit since I was the only one who convinced Chuck into saving you. And I’m spending the credit on one thing: being your only partner!”
Jin simply narrowed his eyes at her, apparently stressed and tired already. “I’m free to go, right? I’m starving.”
“Yeah, I’m finished healing you but—”
“Great.”
He thought about his system, and a screen subsequently opened in front of him, displaying his health.
[HP: 37/47]
“Hey,” he furrowed his brows, glaring at the girl. “I thought you said you were finished healing me.”
“Yeah,” she said, smiling, “They ordered me to heal only forty percent of your wounds just in case you try attacking us. In that way, it’ll be easy to take you down. But, I,” she winked, “healed eight percent of your wounds.”
Jin averted his eyes. “Whatever. I’m leaving now.”
“You can’t leave go walking about all by yourself yet,” she said, “I’m Kaylie and my brother, Kai, is supposed to take you to get scanned.”
Jin grimaced. “Scanned? Elaborate, woman.”
She clasped her hands behind her back and chuckled. “Newcomers are scanned. Y’know, just to make sure they’re not shapeshifting vengers. If the test shows positive,” she closed her eyes, cocked her head, and smiled, “let’s just say you’ll have to fight against over one hundred ability users.”
Jin smirked, rubbing his hands together. “So much Exp. Sounds fun!”