Immortal In A Death Game-Chapter 153: So, Why Not?

"T-they’re back!"

"Mr. Adam is back!"

The crimson portal flickered as Adam emerged from the Leak, dragging the massive Skayrnmuder corpse with him. Beatrice and Harvey walked behind him, still processing what they’d witnessed inside.

He glanced at the two before glancing back at the monster he was dragging—or rather, glancing to what was no longer there.

The Crystal was gone—from how it was explained to him, if the entire corpse of the Boss monster is dragged outside, the Crystal will be left beside the portal on the other side.

And eventually, it will slowly crack by itself and close the Leak.

Leaks were... more complicated than he thought.

If he killed the Boss, it doesn’t mean the portal would close—but it does mean no more smaller monsters would appear. That would make sense to do if the Leak was rich in ores and other materials that didn’t come from monsters.

But if he killed the Boss, the Crystal would slowly crack. So, there was a time limit to it as well.

That means you shouldn’t kill the Boss, Adam. Just continue to kill the endless supply of monsters to level up. No.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Fortunately for him, an IBAA officer helped to refocus his thoughts.

"Mr. Adam, we need to talk."

The IBAA officer leaned closer, the two of them talking quietly. And after a brief, private conversation, the officer took out his phone.

"Just... wait here," the IBAA officer said, walking away as he dialed. "I need to confirm it to base."

Adam nodded, releasing his grip on the monster’s leg. The volunteers who’d been watching from the perimeter began creeping closer, their eyes wide with a mixture of fear and fascination as they circled Adam.

"Did... you really kill all of them inside?"

"What was the inside like...? Are we safe now?!"

Beatrice and Harvey watched the people circle around Adam. Adam talked to them, and he seemed to have said something to them that caused their eyes to turn wide. The two couldn’t hear what it was, however, and they didn’t really care about that.

"Dude," Harvey whispered to Beatrice, "The inside was like a fucking slaughterhouse. Are we sure this guy’s just a B-tier Hero? Why haven’t I seen him before?"

Beatrice remained silent, studying Adam with those sharp eyes of hers. The kid looked exhausted, blood still drying on his clothes, but he stood perfectly straight. No visible injuries at all, not even one.

The officer returned, snapping his phone shut. "Alright, Mr. Adam. Since you cleared the Leak solo, you have primary salvage rights. Standard IBAA cut is—"

Before the officer could finish his words, a cheer erupted from the volunteers. The officer was confused at this, staring at Adam for answers.

"Oh..." Adam blinked. "I... promised the materials to the volunteers here. For their relief efforts."

The officer’s jaw dropped. "You... what?"

"The materials," Adam repeated calmly. "I... won’t be claiming anything."

"...Are you sure?"

And within minutes, the volunteers had joined the IBAA staff in collecting materials. Adam wanted to help them, but they all insisted that he stay back and just watch. He did watch, and he watched all of them struggle to pierce through the skin of just a single skayrn.

"Hm..." Adam looked at his hands. The difference in strength between him and normal people had been obvious from the start, but it was only now that he was realizing just how... different he was now. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Mr. Adam." The officer approached again, followed by two men in suits. "We need to discuss percentages. Revenue sharing. There are protocols..."

Adam... wasn’t listening to anything the officer was saying at all. Or rather, he doesn’t understand half of what he was saying. Fortunately for him, Derek noticed this.

Derek immediately rushed to his side, throwing his arm over the officer’s shoulders.

"I’ll handle all the business talk," Derek winked at Adam, raising his thumbs up as he dragged the officer away.

Adam’s shoulders sagged with relief. Nodding and quietly thanking Derek as he watched them disappear into the crowd.

And so, with nothing to do, Adam walked back toward his motorcycle. The red and black bike gleamed in the afternoon sun, surprisingly untouched by the chaos. He ran his hand along the fuel tank, checking for scratches or dents. But there truly was not even a single dent, nor even a chip on it.

"Hm." He nodded to himself and then pulled a new phone from his saddlebag, his third just this week, and started searching for nearby hotels. But then, when he realized he probably just pissed off the Hospital, he stopped.

They were clearly blatant enough to attack him in public places; he can’t risk endangering more people.

Maybe he should buy a house. Somewhere secure, defensible. But then he’d be tied down to one location, and he planned to keep moving around.

And all of a sudden, as he was lost in thought and staring at his phone, an advertisement suddenly popped up. A sleek camping tent that attaches directly to motorcycles. And the bike in the photo just happened to be identical to his—same model, same color, even the same silver helmet hanging from the handlebars.

He looked around suspiciously. Was the government reading minds now? Had the Hospital developed psychic surveillance?

Look for the buildings, Adam! They might be here watching you! What if... they put a tracker in you...? What if—

And before his thoughts could spiral into wilder territory, someone approached from behind.

"Here."

Adam spun around. Beatrice stood behind him, holding out what seemed to be a blue energy drink. Harvey approached from the other direction, carrying two more bottles.

"Thank you," Adam said, accepting the drink.

"You are wel—"

"You look like hell," Harvey interrupted. "But that makes sense. How the fuck did you even clear that by yourself? Are you sure you’re just B-tier? Who even are you?"

"You... don’t know who I am?" Adam blinked, studying the faces of the two—and they did, indeed, look like they didn’t know him at all.

Beatrice tilted her head. "Should we? We know you are Adam Smith, B-tier Hero. That was what the liaison told us."

"No. It’s just... everyone seems to know me lately," Adam said, relief evident in his voice. "It’s... refreshing."

"Are you like... fucking famous? We don’t have time for news," Harvey said, cracking open his drink. "Been running Leak to Leak for weeks, we don’t even have time to leak. When do you sleep? What’s sleep? I’ve forgotten."

"Wait." Beatrice’s eyes narrowed. "Are you perhaps a new Hero?"

"Yes. I... turned into a Hero around a week ago."

Both Heroes stared at him.

"A... week ago?" Harvey’s voice cracked. "And you jumped inside a Leak alone? What are they feeding you nowadays? Hey, Bea. What do you think—B?"

Both Harvey and Adam turned to Beatrice, only to see her with her eyes closed and swaying slightly on her feet. And if one just leaned a little bit closer, one could hear her almost snoring.

"B!" Harvey clapped his hand, causing Beatrice’s eyes to snap open. "It’s not fair that you get to sleep if I can’t!"

"I was not sleeping," she whispered. "I was merely... processing."

"What, are you a robot now?" Harvey clicked his tongue. Beatrice then pulled out a coffee packet from her pocket. She tore it open and dumped the grounds directly into her energy drink, lightly stirring the entire bottle. A monotonous, stuttered, quiet laugh escaped her lips as she watched the mixture swirl.

Adam stared at this, wondering if he should be worried... or impressed.

"We haven’t slept properly in two weeks," Harvey noticed his expression. "The Leak frequency has tripled. IBAA’s got us running on fumes."

"Fumes...?" Beatrice suddenly stared at Harvey, and then grabbed another packet from her pocket—this time, a nicotine patch which she placed on her neck... right beside the six other patches already there.

"You guys..." Adam frowned. "Haven’t slept for two weeks? That... can’t be legal."

"Ha. Tell them about it."

"Sleep." Beatrice’s eyes closed again, and this time Harvey didn’t wake her. He simply sat down on the curb, leaning against a concrete barrier as he closed his eyes.

"Are you two just going to sleep... here?" Adam asked, bewildered.

Beatrice’s eyes popped open instantly, and she pressed a finger to her left ear. She started nodding and then quietly saying yes a few times.

Harvey heard this and groaned, pulling himself upright. "Shit. Another one?"

"Yes," Beatrice confirmed, her voice flat. "A High-risk Leak. Forty-five minutes away. We are the closest."

"Well," Harvey said to Adam, "It’s been real. But we gotta go when we gotta go."

"You’re... not going to rest?" Adam blinked in disbelief.

"Rest? What is rest?" Harvey’s shoulders sagged as he walked away.

"We can not rest just yet, Adam," Beatrice said as she turned around. "There are people who need our help."

"Where?" They turned to leave, but Adam’s voice stopped them.

"Huh...?" Harvey looked back. "What do you mean where...?"

Beatrice also looked back, and Adam was already putting on his helmet.

"Where is the Leak?" he asked again. "Is it close to here?"

"...Yes?" Beatrice said slowly. "Why?"

"I’ll follow behind."

Harvey and Beatrice exchanged glances.

"You’re... coming?" Harvey squinted. "Why?"

Adam swung his leg over the motorcycle and lowered the visor of his helmet.

"You said people need help...

...So why not?"