"Argh!" I groaned, clutching the clean stump where my right hand used to be, the hand I'd been holding the gun with. The pain was immediate and constant, and I glared at the body of the archer lying motionless on the floor.
"Damn, she was dangerous," I muttered.
[You're lucky you reacted at the last second.]
"Yeah, thanks for the assist," I shot back.
In all seriousness though, that had been way too close. When we both fired, the best decision I could make in that fraction of a second was to lean left, and it paid off because she'd aimed for my head, and she'd given up everything to make that shot count. If we ever crossed paths again, I wasn't confident I'd walk away.
"Haah," I sighed, checking my Graphto Watch.
[Number 473: +3800 points.]
"So she'd already collected more than enough to pass the exam on her own, and she still spent all that time chasing me down?" I shook my head and started moving. Better to put distance between myself and this spot before she respawned somewhere nearby with a grudge.
I scanned the aisles ahead. Empty, not a single person in sight, and quiet in a way that felt wrong.
Actually, wait. Had she been the one who caused that explosion earlier? That would explain a lot.
[Let's leave.]
I tapped my Graphto Watch, and my last healing potion materialized in my left hand. Using it on the first day felt wasteful, but I wasn't going to get far in this condition, so I drank it without arguing with myself about it.
"I'm not leaving the next safe spot I find until this exam is over," I muttered, already picturing myself holed up somewhere quiet for the rest of the week.
Then I spotted it, a newer bag lying a few meters away, in considerably better shape than the one I'd destroyed. I grabbed it and started filling it with anything that looked useful as I moved through the aisle.
That reminded me, where was my spear?
"That thing took a whole hour to make and turned out to be completely useless," I muttered bitterly.
[Shut up and leave. Someone's coming.]
"Who?" I asked, frowning as I looked around.
[Someone you really don't want to meet right now.]
A dozen faces immediately came to mind, and I didn't like any of them.
"Crap!" I grabbed the bag and bolted down the aisle, snatching anything within reach as I ran. An exit came into view ahead, and I slowed down just before I reached it.
Actually, no. Walking straight out the front would be stupid. There were probably students camped right outside, waiting to pick off anyone who stepped out, and that would explain why it had gotten so quiet inside. The ones who left first had set up an ambush for whoever came next.
[Hm. You actually surprised me there.]
"You knew about that and still told me to leave through the front?!" I snapped, already moving toward the other side of the building. I needed an emergency exit or something similar, because the alternative wasn't an option.
"There we go," I said, almost laughing when I spotted another door at the far end.
I tapped my Graphto Watch, materialized my dagger, and swung it at the door.
Thwack.
It broke open, and I stepped out into the back of the building. I looked left, then right. Nothing, just dumpsters and debris scattered across the ground. I slipped into the alleyway and kept moving, putting the supermarket's entrance well behind me.
As I rounded a corner, the question that had been sitting at the back of my mind finally pushed its way forward.
Who exactly had been about to show up back there?
[As I said, you really don't want to know.]
I grimaced as one particular face came to mind, and I genuinely hoped I was wrong.
Please. Anyone but her.