As luck would have it, the nearest department store was just a stone’s throw away from the red dungeon entrance they plan to visit.
Thus, Raive didn’t waste his chances.
He placed a hand over the dungeon’s frame, feeling it. And just as before, his skill reacted, allowing him to create a new save for this moment.
Without hesitation, he overwrote the oldest checkpoint.
"So...?"
After a while, Shymine peeked at his face and asked.
"Did you see anything?"
Raive slowly pulled his hand away and shook his head. He sighed exaggeratedly with a shrug.
"Unfortunately, my skill didn’t activate. Apparently, it’s still on cooldown."
Of course, that was a hundred percent lie.
Though it was an important one, since it set a precedent that his skill wouldn’t always activate. It gave him more liberty when claiming things through his "precognition," or the lack thereof.
And unlike before, on a previous loop where he claimed a fixed "two hours" cooldown, this time, he didn’t choose to be specific about it. This way, he could bullshit about how the cooldown changes depending on the difficulty or the depth of the precognition.
Everything was done with a purpose.
"I see... So it’s not like your ability is almighty, huh."
"Well, it does have a long cooldown." He shrugged.
After he finished creating a "save point," the group continued on their way to the department store. However, unlike what they’d expected from an empty place... It was chaos.
"Hey, that’s mine! Fuck off!" "If you don’t want to die, let go of me!" "It’s alright. Nobody saw me... Nobody... Phew..."
Left and right, one could see people stealing things, breaking the glass walls, and running around. If pandemonium was pulled to reality, then this might’ve been how it looked.
"Everyone, let’s be careful."
Raive quickly warned as they strode forward.
"Avoid contact with others as much as possible. Only grab what we need and then run."
"Yes!"
Hearing their firm reply made Raive feel at ease. But still, a safeguard was required.
"Shymine. If someone approached us with ill intent, immobilize them. I don’t mind if they end up losing a leg or a hand. Protect Hershey and the others."
"Humph!" Shymine scoffed, as if exasperated. "Even without you telling me, that’s what I intended to do."
"Then that’s good."
After their planning was over, they started heading inside the department store.
No, it was more like a mall, actually.
There were famous, branded shops lined up on the first floor alone, from wristwatches to jewelry, with daily necessities and such located at higher floors.
A perfect setup to have more visibility for those expensive items.
Most of those in chaos were people who were trying to nab anything expensive for themselves. However, Raive was aware that their act might be futile in the end.
With the world changing, and everyone dying left and right, what would having expensive jewelry matter? It’d be worth shit instead.
What really mattered was what others basically ignored.
After entering the elevator, riding up to the 7th floor, everyone was shocked.
"Compared to the ground floor, the daily necessities floor is quiet." Therese lightly commented.
There was literally nobody present but them on that floor. Not even salesladies, or other staff manning the shelves. Not only that, the floor was clean, with no "meat chunks" scattered about, almost as if this place was untouched by all that happened.
’Did they all run away? Or...’
Idle thoughts circled Raive’s mind, but he quickly dismissed them.
Whichever it was, it didn’t really matter. What’s important is that, given that nobody was present, they could wholeheartedly empty every shelf without anyone stopping them.
For free.
"Khamish, grab everything from there to there. Don’t hold back. Get everything we can before others realize what they should be doing."
"Roger!"
With Khamish’s infinite storage bag, he literally could store anything he wanted inside it, as long as it wasn’t a living being and could fit through the opening of his satchel.
Of course, Raive didn’t forget that they needed to visit an incinerator later. They had a lot of "meat" to dispose of, after all. Even if Khamish claimed that all items were stored in different places with no risk of contamination, it was still a matter of emotions.
In under a quarter of an hour, they swept all the items off the seventh floor, leaving nothing but near-empty shelves.
From simple towels, to even camping gear, they looted all they could get.
But of course, they weren’t done just yet.
After that, the girls headed for the 3rd floor where the food was, while Raive and Khamish went to the back of the mall. That was where the incinerator should be located, after all, where burnable trash was handled.
"Hm?"
But after turning the corner, the two came to a stop.
Someone was already using it ahead of them.
A black-haired woman with a detached expression, looking at the flames with indifference. She, too, seemed to be burning things at the moment. And from the black smoke and the disgusting, burning meat stench, they didn’t need to ask what it was.
"You guys... Will you be using this too?" The woman asked.
Raive stepped forward, smiling as he answered.
"Yes, we will. But we can wait." Then he waved his hand in greeting. "It’s been a while, Hazel. I didn’t expect to see you here."
"Your acquaintance?" Khamish whispered, surprised.
Raive paused, as if deliberating what to say, before nodding. "Well, something like that."
"And you are...?"
But the other party just stared at him, tilted her head in puzzlement, and asked curiously. From her gesture, even Khamish could tell that she was genuinely clueless as to who Raive was. But the man himself didn’t seem fazed.
"Well, I don’t blame you. I don’t have much presence in class, after all." He shrugged. "We’re in the same course, so we have a few classes in common. And it’s not like there’s anybody in our class who doesn’t know the campus Madonna."
Hazel gazed straight at Raive, as if thinking... But obviously gave up.
"Oh... I see." She answered in a flat voice, as if losing interest.
Raive just shrugged it off, as he didn’t really expect to see her there.
They weren’t even close. This was maybe his third, or maybe fourth time speaking directly to her too, aside from when they had group projects.
But what shocked him the most was her survival.
Given her attitude, it wouldn’t be weird if she was "culled" early on. But here she was, burning away someone else’s "trash."
"Just out of curiosity but..."
After a minute of silence, Khamish pointed at the incinerator. "Is that someone you know?" He asked curiously.
"Not really."
Hazel’s reply came fast.
"They’re what used to be my teammates who survived the first trial."