Chapter 4: Bouncing hard

“Wow, you are amazing,” said the young man who had suddenly appeared.

Nova jolted at the unexpected greeting. His eyes examined the young man's face, then dropped to his soaked pants.

The young man smiled wide. “It’s a great thing you’re still alive! I knew they couldn’t swim, so I stayed behind, hoping you’d make it. Or maybe… I could help from here,” he said, his voice full of excitement.

“I see. Thank you,” said Nova. His expression remained somber. But he didn’t doubt the young man's words. After all, when the first creature attacked, he hadn’t run.

“Well then, how about absorbing the five corpses? They’ll die in about three minutes. We can resume our journey right after that—we’re close to the safe route,” said the young man.

…

They arrived in front of a two-story house, the first in a row of mid-height buildings lined up in parallel. Together, they formed a kind of straight wave, with the two-story house being the smallest among them.

The young man jumped and teleported mid-air to grab hold of the second floor’s lowest window frame. He dangled there for a moment, then extended a hand downward.

Nova understood immediately. He leapt onto the fence, steadied himself, and sprang up again to grab the young man’s hand.

The young man pulled Nova up until he could grasp the window frame himself. As Nova held on, the young man climbed higher, placing his feet on the lower frame while gripping the top one. With a swift jump and a teleportation, he grabbed the edge of the roof. He hauled himself up, and the moment he reached the top, he turned and extended his hand down to Nova once again.

Nova followed the young man’s lead, climbing up to stand on the lower window frame. From there, he jumped, reaching up to grab the young man’s hand. With a solid pull, the young man helped him up, and Nova climbed the rest of the way onto the roof.

The young man waited until Nova was fully upright. As soon as he was, the young man took off running and leapt across the gap to the next rooftop, two meters away. Landing smoothly, he turned back and said, “That’s right, you can’t jump this far. I’ll grab a wooden board from the ground.”

“Wait! I think I can jump,” said Nova.

“So, you’ve already absorbed around ten corpses too. That’s what it takes to make a two-meter jump feel easy. But are you sure?” the young man asked.

Hearing that, Nova thought to himself, ‘I see… but I’ve only absorbed six. Still, I did feel much stronger—especially when I was skipping across the river. Is this because of that black eel-like creature? It’s already grown as thick as two fingers…’

“Yeah, I will try,” replied Nova.

Nova took three steps back, bracing himself. Then, with a burst of speed, he ran and launched into the air—soaring clean over the two-meter gap, rising seven meters high before landing hard on the next roof. His momentum sent him skidding across the tiles, shattering a few beneath his feet.

As he stopped, he ran. “Let’s go!”

The young man followed Nova behind.

Nova remained silent as they leapt across the rooftops, slicing through the soothing wind that whipped at their hair and clothes. His gaze wandered, curiosity pulling his attention to the town below. He wanted to see what a city in the midst of catastrophe truly looked like.

Meanwhile, the young man showed no intention of speaking.

Far from where Nova stood, a skyscraper collapsed, crushing the houses in its path. The sight caught his attention immediately. He was both amazed and terrified.

Surrounding the area were ruined buildings, some engulfed in flames. One fire had completely swallowed a house. And beside it, a man was barraging fist-sized fireballs at the ground while leaping wildly across the roof.

“Hey, look over there. Do you think we should team up with him? What if a bunch of the creatures appear near the stairs like before?” said Nova.

“I’m not sure he’d agree,” the young man replied, pointing toward a distant staircase. “He’s headed for the other stairs over there. Let’s check the situation at our stairs first.”

“Okay…” Nova replied.

Nova turned his attention back to his surroundings.

The area nearby was no different—roads cracked and torn, public facilities reduced to rubble, and the walls of houses broken and scorched. It was likely the result of the creatures' attacks on the humans.

Then, as Nova turned to look in another direction, something caught his eye. A family of three was cornered against the wall of a house by a group of the creatures. The father held a torch burning with green fire, keeping it raised defensively.

The creatures didn’t advance, but they didn’t leave either. They hovered at the edge of the torchlight, watching—waiting.

“Wait, there are people who need help,” said Nova, stopping his advance and looking in a specific direction.

The young man halted as well, turning toward Nova and following his gaze. After confirming the situation, he said, "Let’s go. Even if we literally gave our lives, we couldn’t save them."

Nova immediately understood what the young man meant. More than twenty creatures surrounded the family. Even if they risked everything to draw the monsters away, maybe only half would follow. The rest would stay behind. In the end, the family would die… and so would they.

“Wait… let me think for a moment. Maybe there’s a way,” Nova said, holding out his hand as a signal to pause.

The young man turned toward the stairs. Then he ran.

“Sorry,” he said, jumping to the next roof.

Nova couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He simply watched the young man’s figure grow smaller in the distance, then sighed.

Closing his eyes, he focused, forcing himself into deep thought. He needed a solution—anything that could work.

Minutes passed in silence.

‘That’s it,’ Nova thought, his eyes snapping open. ‘It’s dangerous for them… but somehow, it might work.’

'Now… where is he?' Nova thought, scanning the area for the young man.

But he was gone.

‘It can’t be helped… I guess I have to do this alone. But… can I really pull it off by myself?’ Nova lowered his head, doubt settling in his chest. He closed his eyes once again. ‘Must I go?’

“I have decided…” Nova muttered. His eyes snapped open. Without hesitation, He ran toward the direction where the young man went.

…

The situation was dire for the family of three. With the house’s wall at their backs, they were completely surrounded by the creatures. In this desperate moment, only the father, holding a green fire torch, was able to fight.

The short-haired father swung the green torch in one hand and slashed with a knife in the other, fending off any creature that came too close. Behind him, his slim, long-haired wife and short-haired, six-year-old daughter crouched low, staying within his reach for protection. The two searched frantically for a solution—hoping, praying, scanning for any sign of help.

After scanning their surroundings for some time, the mother and daughter finally spotted something—two figures running and leaping across the rooftops.

Their eyes widened with hope. The man trailing behind had suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed in their direction. A moment later, the one ahead also paused, turning back to see what had caught his companion’s attention.

For a moment, the mother and daughter felt a surge of joy. They thought they were about to be saved.

But then, the man in front turned and left. The other one remained.

The mother and daughter were overwhelmed by a tangle of emotions. Relief mixed with disappointment, and above all, the fear that the last remaining man—could leave at any moment.

The mother and daughter could only steel themselves and brace for the worst.

Then, a few minutes later, a jolt of shock ran through them—the man who had stayed… had turned and left, following after the one who had already gone.

And just like that, the flicker of hope vanished.

They had no choice but to turn their focus back to the despair looming before them.

The mother’s gaze sharpened with sudden resolve.

Meanwhile, the daughter broke down in tears. She stumbled forward, slipping in front of her mother and stretching out her arms to hold her back.

“Get behind me, Cyre! I’ll punish you—and slap you—if you don’t listen!” the mother shouted, trying to push her daughter aside.

“No!” shouted Cyre with eyes full of tears.

“Both of you!” their father called out, swinging the green-flamed torch. “I’ll try to open a path. When the moment comes… run!”

Hearing her father’s words, Cyre sobbed even louder, shaking her head like a stubborn child.

“Noooou…” she screamed, her cheeks soaked with tears.

The sound of her daughter’s voice cracked the mother’s fierce expression. The sharp resolve in her eyes faded, and silent tears began to slide down her face.

Cyre’s father, in contrast to the rest of his family, only grew more energized. Fueled by fierce determination, he had already struck down one creature—then another.

But each time he carved an opening, another monster stepped in to block the path.

Minutes stretched on—ten, fifteen, twenty—and still he fought, torch swinging with unyielding force. Yet no progress was made. No escape in sight.

Despair slowly began to seep into their hearts. After all this time, with no rescue, no breakthrough… the thought of giving up began to take hold.

But suddenly, a thick rope and several cushions fell from above.

The three of them jolted—its because their full attention had been locked on the tense situation the whole time.

They looked up and saw a person with thick facial hair peering down at them. The father kept swinging his green torch.

“Uncle! Tied up!” shouted Nova from above. “I’ll secure the other end with a weight and throw it down. You’ll be pulled up instantly!”

'Uncle? What about your beard?' the three of them thought at once, glancing at his facial hair. But they quickly shook the thought away.

The mother and daughter realized the person who had helped them right now was the same one who had earlier stopped and looked in their direction. The two thought, 'So… he changed his mind and came back for us? Or was that the only route he could take to get here—meaning he didn’t really have a choice but to go that way first? It’s true—we’re blocked by so many things from this angle. But… that’s not important right now.'

Cyre's father, understanding what Nova meant, moved behind his wife and daughter. He gathered the cushions and the rope while fending off the monsters with the green torch.

Seeing that the father understood his instructions, Nova ran toward a plastic water tank and tied the rope securely around it. Then he smashed part of the roof, creating a hole for the tank to drop through.

Meanwhile, Cyre’s father began tying the rope, wrapping it securely around all three of them. He positioned the cushions between their bodies and the rope as a safety measure.

A few seconds later, the family was ready—so was Nova.

“We’re ready, sir!” shouted Cyre’s father, still swinging the green torch to keep the creatures at bay.

‘Sir? Whatever… that’s not important right now.’ thought Nova.

Nova pushed the plastic water tank off the roof.

As it dropped, a stray thought crossed his mind, ‘Wait… didn’t the young man also call me an old man? And what’s his name? I forgot to ask.’

“Brace for impact!” Nova shouted down.

The family slid up the wall, pulled by the force of the falling plastic water tank. As they ascended, the inertia and the angle of the pull slammed them hard against the wall. They bounced repeatedly in rapid succession, rising fast.

The mother and daughter were protected at the front by the cushions and escaped serious harm. But the father, positioned at the back—even with some cushioning—couldn’t avoid all the impact. The father had to cough up blood three times just to reach the rooftop.

However, the moment they reached the top, the plastic water tank shattered upon impact with the ground. The three of them began to fall again.