Universal Sign-in: Ascending to Godhood With My 10x Rewards!-Chapter 33: The World is Fucked, but hey, more Exp!

My yell surprised Jericho as he turned to look at me with subtly widened eyes.

"Whoa, calm down. Don’t get all heated up. I’m sure he must have a reason."

I’m not heated up!

At least I don’t feel that way.

But Marcus can be really annoying.

What the hell did he jump out there for??

With a quietly sizzling voice, I said, "I’m NOT angry."

"Yeah..." Jerry smiled awkwardly, "Sure."

I heaved out a resigned smile as I folded my arms, staring at Unc.

Marcus stood in front of the otherwise ruined road, arms opened wide like a scarecrow. A dumb, wide smile stretched on his lips as his dimples deepened.

Fucker.

Marcus sucked in a deep breath.

Jericho chuckled. "This is gonna be fun."

I shook my head.

Yeah, right.

"Heyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Marcus screamed with every fiber of his being. And his voice echoed throughout the entirety of the ruined city.l

And from faraway distances, loud, skin-shivering roars echoed. As if the monsters I’m various parts of the city replied to Marcus’s wild greeting.

As soon as Marcus auditorially displayed his madness and stupidity, screeching sounds echoed from the vehicles as they all halted, the vehicle at the front stopping just a few inches away from Mark.

Marcus’s chest rose and fell rapidly. And the subtle fear that had encroached on him earlier visibly showed on his face as he looked at me with a bright smile.

I sneered, raising my arms to cover the brightness.

Jerry chuckled once more. "Told you it’s gonna be fun."

I scowled.

NO.

That’s just dumb.

He’s stopped them and gotten what he wanted.

Now what?

Kiss them all and tell them he loves them?

A head stuck out of the window of the front lead military vehicle. "Hey, who the hell are you?!"

Marcus still smiled as he walked toward the window.

Jerry looked at me. A hint of worry in his eyes.

My scowl dissolved as I sighed.

"Let’s get a closer look at what he’s doing," I said.

Jerry’s face lightened up slightly as he nodded. "Yeah."

Bromance, perhaps?

Marcus scratched an itch on his forehead. "Uh, excuse me, good sirs, I just wanted to know what got you all in such a hurry. And I also wanted to know if the mall over there is still... if there are still... if the building is still recognizable."

As I walked toward them, I noticed something.

The green-uniformed soldiers that sat at the open trunk of the armored vehicles, shakily holding onto their guns — and the ones inside the vehicles — had strange looks on their faces.

The look of horror.

Most of them were badly hurt. Wounds and injuries, both minor and major, riddled their bodies, and thick, hurriedly applied bandages that didn’t do much to stop the bleeding wrapped around their injuries.

These people were frozen in fear.

"Y-you’re going back there?" The driver asked, lips trembling as he clenched the steering wheel.

"Hey." One soldier from a vehicle at the back called. "You have to go back now! Get to a safe zone!" He coughed out blood, "This place is not safe at all!"

"What happened to you guys?" Jerry asked.

"What happened to us?" The driver asked. Although it felt like he threw the question at himself as he stared blankly at the steering wheel. "Our guns couldn’t harm those things. Grenades didn’t touch them, not even a bazooka. They’re.. they’re horrific. Those things are monsters! I..." The driver turned to a bleeding comrade in the backseat, "I wonder... Did the commander send us to die?"

"Nonsense." One said with a weak, yet calm and rational voice. "Do not go to that ruined mall. Right now, it’s a hub of flying monsters. You see, the entire world has been thrown off balance in just one day by these monsters. I heard that the entirety of Australia has been engulfed by monsters. No humans left there. In just one day."

"That’s top secret, Lukas!"

"Top secret?!! Is that what you care about right now?! When the world has gone awry?! When we almost died?!!"

I raised a brow.

Jericho’s face turned solemn.

Marcus, who stood next to the window where the driver was, had a strange expression, like he was about to cry or something.

The moment he cries, I’ll tease him about it til we part ways.

"I see," Jerry said, putting a hand on his chin. "It makes sense."

I asked, "But what do you mean by safe zones?"

"Leave this place. Head to a City H safe zone." That calm, rational voice rang out again. "There are five in this city. A military-facilitated zone where civilians can find refuge. All the food and water you want would be there."

"What’s the catch?"

The man’s face darkened. "I... don’t know."

"What are they going to do about Australia?" Marcus finally spoke up.

"Last I heard," one said. "The president gave the permit to go nuclear."

My eyes widened.

It’s that bad, huh?

"I hope you all survive." The calm soldier said, turning to face the driver. "Now hit it. We have a report to make. That nuclear might not even work."

Just as they were about to drive off, I held the car.

And I brought my face inside the window.

"By any chance," A smile surfaced on my lips, "Have any of you heard of people with supernatural abilities?"

The moment I said that, all the soldiers’ eyes widened.

But the calm one raised a hand. "No. We’ve never heard of such."

Bingo.

That slight twitch in his eyes.

He’s lying.

I see.

The awakening was global.

What the hell is even happening?

Oh, I know what’s happening now. But... I have no other dramatic phrase to spout in my internal monologue. One that’ll emphasize my confusion and increase the shock value.

Hmm.

I got it.

Is this really all... Is it my fault?

I shook my head.

Nah, it was that word-of-a-guardian stuff.

"Tch." I clicked my tongue, moving out of the car window.

I’ll find another shock/confused phrase to spam later.

"Sorry for the disturbance," I said.

"It’s no problem." The calm soldier replied, facing the driver. "Now step on it."

Vrooom–!

All the vehicles drove away.

Marcus turned to look at us. A saddened expression on his rough face.

Then, he forced a tight-lipped smile. "See how helpful that was? And you guys probably insulted me in your heads, haha."

Oh, I did. But Jerry just thought it was fun.

Heh.

Gotta admit, though. Unc is kinda smart.

That was a good info gathering.

Now my knowledge of the state of the world overall has increased.

After a while of silence and quiet contemplations, Jericho finally spoke up. "We’re still headed to the monster-infested mall, right?"

Simultaneously, Marcus and I nodded.

"Definitely."

"Hell yeah."

Jerry smiled, "Let’s fucking go!"