Universal Sign-in: Ascending to Godhood With My 10x Rewards!-Chapter 49: The Descent

—Well, come on in!—

With Gruffy in front of us, we cautiously marched into the open gate.

Immediately, I stepped inside—

Damn.

—The pristine scent of air freshener danced into my nose.

We all paused for a second, taking in the ambience of this compound.

"Whoa!" Katie exclaimed.

"Magnificent," Jerry uttered in a low voice.

Marcus just looked around with widened eyes.

Truly, it was a very magnificent, spacious place. We stood on a ground decorated by interlocked stones that framed a wide compound surrounded by various large, steel-enforced buildings. Most of the buildings were dome-shaped and had curved roofs.

The now perfectly bright moon showered its light on the buildings, creating bouncing reflections on the metal roofs.

I moved my neck, surveying the compound with widened eyes.

At various corners of the buildings, large, long trees stood tall, their leaves moving along the cascade of the cool night air.

"This way, sirs." A young but stern voice called out.

I blinked, snapping out of the subtle awe.

I turned my neck toward the source of the voice.

Four soldiers — each properly dressed in green uniforms — clenched their AK-47s with gloved palms. They wore heavy, tired expressions, like they’d done this one too many times.

Richard, Gruffy, and the other NPC immediately adjusted their postures, raised a hand to their forehead, and saluted.

The four armed soldiers did the same.

"Soldiers, follow us. General Vince’s orders. He demands a detailed report from you three." One of the four soldiers declared with that stern voice.

Gruffy turned and waved at us, "I guess that’ll be it, lads. My journey with you guys has come to an end."

Two out of the four armed soldiers escorted Gruffy, Richard and the other one.

And just before Richard walked away with them, he turned back, offering us all a bright smile as he waved. Then, his eyes locked with Marcus’s. And he mouthed something, I traced his words: ’Thank you, Mark.’

"Thank you for the treatment and everything, guys! Goodbye! Hope you all survive til the end of this apocalypse thing!" Richard yelled, waving.

Hearing Richard, the third soldier — that NPC — turned, waved at us, and faced forward.

Richard wrapped his arms around the NPC’s shoulder as he, too, faced forward.

"Weren’t you taught soldier etiquette? That’s no way for a soldier to act toward civilians!" One of the soldiers reprimanded Richard as they walked away.

"Oh, yeah?" Richard retorted, "I should be all stiff and unfriendly like you guys?"

"Shut it, kid," Gruffy ordered.

"Sorry, but do we really need to enforce this stereotype about sol–"

"Shut it, kid!"

I chuckled, watching as the soldiers argued while making their way toward one of the larger buildings. I almost shook my head until I remembered Katie was on top there.

"Well, fellas. Let’s move now, shall we?" Jerry asked the two remaining armed soldiers.

"Yes, let’s go." They replied.

Immediately, the two soldiers made their way to our front, and we began walking. They lead us to– where the hell were they even leading us?

"Where to?" Katie asked.

Jerry turned, staring at Katie with a soft smile, "Good question."

One of the soldiers in front of us raised an arm as he spoke with an untypical, amused voice: "You’ll see."

I raised a brow. Katie kept spamming the word "Naruhodo."

Jerry sighed as he turned to Marcus, "I hate surprises."

Marcus shrugged, "I don’t know, man. At this point, I don’t think I can even be surprised about anything anymore."

"Well, true that." I replied, "I have seen some pretty unbelievable shit during this past week."

You guys have no idea. I’m even a primordial guardian now!

Although I have no clue what a primordial guardian is even supposed to do.

"Welp, I have an inkling we’re going to be seeing a whole lot more unbelievable shit from now on," Jerry said in a low voice.

Marcus hummed, "Like what?"

"We’re here," Katie interjected, prompting a pause from all parties.

"Right," one of the soldiers said. "We’re here."

I looked around.

We stood in front of a metal building, smaller than the other buildings here.

"We’re where, exactly?" Katie’s mom finally spoke out, her voice a bit weak and shaky.

"I told you to wait for it." That one amused soldier fellow spoke up as he brought something out of his pocket. A kinda thick plastic card.

The metal building had a door, and the door had no knob, handle or even a door lock. Only a small, rectangular outline where the doorknob was supposed to be.

Then how the hell do we get in?

The soldier tapped the plastic card on that rectangular outline.

Gim––

A small green light buzzed from the outline, and the door opened immediately.

"Come in," the other soldier ordered.

I frowned.

Is he ordering us?

"’Come in,’" Jerry mimicked with a low, mocking voice as he made a weird face.

"Pfft." Marcus almost burst out in laughter.

Katie giggled, and even her mom cleared her throat.

I chuckled lightly.

Damn soldiers.

We walked through the open door into an enclosed space with dim lighting. The place was like an elevator of sorts, but more spacious, like it was built to fit more than twenty people at once.

The soldier with the card stood next to the steel wall. He raised an index finger, pointing it at an angle at the wall.

I gazed at the area he pointed to.

Ah,

It turned out that...

We’re really in an elevator.

...There were control buttons on the wall. The type one would see in an elevator.

He tapped a button, and the door closed. Tapped another one, and the ground began to tremble softly.

"What the hell is that?!" Jerry spasmed. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Language, Jerry! There’s a kid here." Marcus reprimanded.

"Uh... Mr. Nameless, why are we shaking?" Katie’s mom asked.

I shrugged.

This is gonna be fun.

"This is gonna be fun," Katie said aloud.

I scoffed lightly, "Naruhodo."

"Don’t scream too loudly now." The soldiers declared with low chuckles, "This is the good part."

Boom–!

The elevator dropped immediately, descending downward with great speed.

I crouched and took Katie off my shoulders immediately, holding her in my arms as I gritted my teeth.

"Aaaaaaarghhh!!!!" Katie screamed, and her shrill screams mixed with that of her mother, almost deafening me.

Great.