As they approached the quest marker, Johnquis broke the silence.
"These F-rank missions are all cleanup. Stray Eaters that wandered off after their nests were destroyed. Some make it to settlements, others just rot in places like this. Usually two to four of them... sometimes only one. That's the worst kind of luck."
A sharp chime rang from the device.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Quest Range Entered: F-TIER
Objective Activated: Eliminate all Eaters in the area.
Time Limit: 3h00m
Status: Solo
Johnquis glanced at the Runner beside him.
"Don't expect me to finish this under the time limit. Might as well tell you now. Your master is a noob. Weakest. Hardstuck. Tryhard. Trash. Pick a word, it fits me."
He smiled faintly.
"But we better get a three-to-five-star rating out of this. I need those stars if you want your master to stay alive. No, we better, for my sister Jiana, right?"
They stepped through the rusted gates of a ruined school building. The wind stirred loose papers on the floor, and distant creaks echoed down the halls. Moss had crept across walls. Broken lockers were buckled and gutted. A smashed vending machine lay on its side, covered in soot and dried blood. The whole place felt hollow like it had forgotten it used to be full of life.
Johnquis glanced at a cracked mural on the wall: children in uniform, laughing under a blue sky.
"This school's too damn big. Too many facilities. It might've been a nest before. If that's the case, we need to be careful. Could be plenty of strays still crawling around."
He wandered into the main hall, spotting faded posters on the wall—clubs, festivals, smiling faces from a world long dead.
"Early people were lucky to have this kind of life. If this world hadn't gone to hell, we might've been students here. Might've had normal childhoods. Friends. Exams. Bullshit drama."
He turned slowly, eyeing every hallway, stairwell, and shattered door.
"You know what makes this hard? Three hours. And I have to sweep every corner of this damn place. Every floor, every closet, every shadow. How the hell am I supposed to clear this whole school solo?"
As they walked deeper in, the Runner's ears twitched. It froze. A low growl rumbled from its throat.
"Grrrr..."
It crouched low and suddenly bolted forward on all fours. Johnquis shouted,
"Hey! What are you doing? Come back here!"
But the Runner was already gone, sprinting ten meters ahead in a blink. Suddenly, a metal chain snapped into existence between the collar on the Runner's neck and a link on Johnquis's belt.
[WARNING: SYNC LIMIT - 10 METERS]
"What the—? A leash?! Sync limit - 10 meters?!"
At the far end of the hall, a classroom door burst open. A Level 1 Eater stumbled out, its limbs twitching unnaturally. It let out a guttural shriek.
"GRRRRKKKHSSSS!"
The Runner stopped, snarling right back with more force, more fury.
"SSSKRRRRAAAHHH-GHHHRRRHHHK!"
Then, like animals in a death match, they both charged.
"Wait—WAIT!!"
The chain went tight.
Johnquis didn't even have time to brace.
"WAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
He was pulled straight off his feet, dragged down the hallway behind his crazed Runner bouncing hard against walls and debris. The Runner scrambled ahead on all fours, Johnquis's weight nothing to it.
The Level 1 Eater struggled to keep up, eyes wide as it watched the Runner's lightning speed. In a flash, the Runner lunged and bit the Eater's head clean off.
[Feed count: +50]
[Feed count: 10,050/20,000]
Johnquis clutched his head in surprise.
"What? I got a feed count? But why only 50? That's half…"
He glanced at his Runner.
[Feed count: +50]
[Feed count: ??????/??????]
His eyes widened in disbelief.
"It has its own feed count?! HA??? So... my feed count's always going to be halved? No… This grind just got way slower and harder."
Before he could protest, the Runner's senses sharpened again. It peered down below. A dozens of Eaters moving inside the buildings. Without hesitation, it darted forward and leapt down.
"For fuck's sake—!"
Johnquis was pulled again.
"AHHHHH!!!"
The Runner jumped from the fifth floor down to the level below. For the Runner, the fall was nothing. For Johnquis, it could be fatal.
He summoned his blade.
"BLADECALL!"
Chains erupted from his right arm, latching onto the nearest pillar. He threw the chain hard, stopping their fall midair.
The Runner thrashed wildly, claws scratching against the air like a claw machine grabbing at stuffed toys. Johnquis gripped the chain with both hands, muscles burning to hold his ground.
"YOU BASTARD! I'M FUCKING CHAINED TO YOU!"
The pillar he chained to cracked under the strain, creaking ominously as the Runner clawed and snapped at the Eaters below.
Johnquis fired his grappling hook from his belt toward a nearby beam. The hook latched on with a sharp clang.
"I'M GONNA RIP YOU TO PIECES AFTER THIS—"
The pillar splintered, the hook and chain twisting as everything gave way.
They plummeted. Falling straight into the swirling mass of Eaters waiting below.
They hit the ground hard, straight into a thrashing pack of Eaters. The stench of rot and blood filled their nose. Johnquis barely kept his grip on the chain, rolling away just in time to avoid a snapping maw.
The Runner didn't hesitate. It sprang into action.
With savage precision, it tore through the nearest Eaters. Jaws clamping down, claws slashing. It unleashed a rapid barrage of kicks. So fast. So brutal. It was nonstop.
Its legs moved too fast. Spinning, sweeping, stomping. Eaters flew back. Some crashed into walls, others shredded mid-air by the talons on its feet.
[Feed count: +1500]
[Feed count: 11,550/20,000] - Johnquis
[Feed count: +1500]
[Feed count: ??????/??????] - ???
Johnquis struggled to stand, heart pounding, lungs burning. The smaller Eaters kept snapping at his legs, forcing him to backpedal, slash wildly with his free hand, trying to keep them at bay.
One lunged. He barely blocked with the hilt of his blade, the force jolting up his arm. Another came from the side and he twisted, barely dodging a savage bite.
Sweat mixing with dirt on his face. He muttered,
"This is a nightmare…"
Above the chaos, the Runner moved, tearing through Eaters as if they were nothing but paper. Its teeth dripped with fresh blood, eyes blazing with feral hunger.
Johnquis found a moment's breath and locked eyes with his Runner.
"You're unstoppable…"
It growled in reply, then crushed the last Eater with a kick that snapped bone.
[Feed count: +50]
[Feed count: 11,600/20,000] - Johnquis
[Feed count: +50]
[Feed count: ??????/??????] - ???
The swarm was gone, reduced to shredded limbs and twitching corpses.
Johnquis collapsed. Panting, shoulders heaving.
"…I need… a break."