Li Ke pulled out his lighter and flicked it open. A tiny, bead-sized flame flared to life, instantly cutting through the heavy gloom and casting a dim glow over their immediate surroundings.
Usually, they simply slept through the night. If an emergency arose, they could easily light a campfire for illumination. Since there were no modern entertainment activities to keep them up anyway, Li Ke hadn't bothered to craft or prepare any proper flashlights or electric lanterns yet.
Compared to their survival needs, the minor inconvenience of navigating the dark was a trivial matter.
In the flickering, amber firelight, the reality of their situation became starkly clear. Tsunade—the one person among them who should have been least afraid of zombies—was curled up in a corner. She was clutching her head, her body trembling violently. Her loose hair spilled forward, completely obscuring her face and hiding her expression.
The relentless, deafening roars and heavy thuds of the zombies outside muffled the sound of her weeping. Yet, there was no mistaking it. Tsunade was crying, gripped by a state of absolute, paralyzing terror.
Li Ke was baffled by her sudden breakdown. But just as he moved to close his lighter, Kiri spoke up from the shadows.
"It's likely claustrophobia, triggered by her hemophobia. Back in my world, a lot of soldiers developed similar conditions. After watching the corpses of their friends and family pile up outside their bunkers and trenches, they would completely snap and develop severe trauma. I don't know what Miss Tsunade went through in her past, but it's probably the same thing."
Li Ke didn't say a word. He simply nodded in silence and flicked the lighter shut, plunging the room back into darkness.
But Kiri didn't want the suffocating silence to swallow them entirely. In the dark, she turned her eyes toward Li Ke and asked a question to break the ice.
"By the way... what kind of person were you before all of this?"
Li Ke froze for a moment, looking toward Kiri in the dark. Right then, Kiri flicked her own lighter, letting a small splash of orange light illuminate her face.
"What I mean is, we have no idea what's going to happen to us in a little bit," Kiri said, her voice dropping. "If we're going to end up dying together here, shouldn't we at least get to know each other? That way, we'll at least know who we're facing the end with, and what kind of lives we lived. Besides, just sitting around waiting like this is incredibly boring."
The playful grin was completely gone from Kiri's face. In its place was a tense, strained expression. No one trapped inside a suffocatingly small room with a sea of flesh-eating monsters hammering on the outside could possibly feel cheerful.
"As for me... there really isn't much to say," Li Ke replied quietly. "I was just an ordinary guy. I lived in a peaceful country, hadn't even gotten married by my mid-twenties, and then suddenly ended up dropped right into this place. I crossed paths with a girl named Erina Nakiri, and during the last zombie horde, I managed to send her back... That's pretty much it."
Li Ke absentmindedly toyed with his lighter. Over on her side, the metal of Kiri's lighter had grown too hot to hold, forcing her to release the striker. Darkness instantly swallowed the small bunker once more.
"I see... So everything you told me before was actually true?"
"Every word. Though honestly, I find the whole situation completely ridiculous."
Li Ke leaned his head back against the vibrating iron wall. Thanks to Tsunade's flawless craftsmanship, even though the zombies were relentlessly hammering the exterior, the tightly interlocking steel pillars showed no signs of buckling. If anything, the sheer weight and pressure of the monsters packing against them only seemed to jam the structures more firmly together.
"Why do you think it's ridiculous?" Kiri asked from the dark, her tone curious.
"Because the women who are willing to cross that line with me are, without a doubt, the ones I've developed real feelings for," Li Ke said, taking a slow, heavy breath. "But the lives they left behind are bound to be a million times better than this hellhole. If I truly want what's best for them, my only real choice is to send them right back to their own worlds."
He paused, staring into the pitch black.
"Just look at Erina. Her world is a truly bizarre and magical place. The food people cook over there tastes so unbelievably delicious that it practically gives you an aphrodisiac-like rush, even without adding any weird ingredients. To someone like me who grew up in a completely mundane world, it's just mind-boggling."
As he spoke, a wave of melancholy washed over Li Ke. He truly missed Erina. She was a beautiful, radiant girl, and incredibly gentle beneath it all.
Although her classic tsundere traits were fully on display in her original manga, she had mostly shown him her affectionate, sweet side. To him, Erina was absolutely precious.
"In her world, even if people have massive conflicts, they settle them through cooking competitions to see whose food tastes better," Li Ke continued. "Erina possesses the 'God Tongue,' a gift that lets her perceive the most microscopic flaws and flavors in any dish. A talent like that can only truly flourish in a world that treasures gourmet food. But in a brutal hellhole like this? Having a hyper-sensitive sense of taste is nothing but a curse."
Li Ke couldn't help but sigh heavily.
"That's why during the last Blood Moon, the moment I realized we had absolutely no way to stop the horde, I sent her back... To be completely honest, right after we crossed that line and I discovered my summoning ability, my very first instinct was to hide it. Surviving in this world entirely on your own is just too exhausting."
Li Ke shuddered involuntarily at the memory. The Blood Moon had arrived ahead of schedule tonight, and the zombies were noticeably stronger and more aggressive than last time. He didn't care about inheriting the grand title or the Power of the Primordial; he simply didn't want to live here anymore.
But unfortunately, he had no way to hop to other universes at will.
Without upgrading his core System ability, traveling to safer dimensions was an impossibility...
And even if he tried to force things with the women he summoned, Kiri and Tsunade could easily pin him to the floor without breaking a sweat.
"I see."
Kiri flicked her lighter open once more, letting the tiny flame cut through the heavy darkness.
"I think I finally understand you now."
Kiri had never truly disliked Li Ke; she had simply found his explanation of the circumstances incredibly suspicious. No matter how you looked at it, Li Ke seemed like the shadowy mastermind behind their summoning.
But right now, feeling the sheer vulnerability and reluctant despair in his voice, her lingering doubts completely vanished. She finally believed him.
"I already told you my story last time, right? Just an orphan whose parents were murdered by the Kartel, who grew up to become a gunner and fought back against them."
Kiri clicked her lighter shut. After all, the fluid inside was a precious commodity for starting fires later, and wasting it in the dark wasn't a smart tactical move.
Instead, she pulled out two clinking glass bottles from her inventory.
"Speaking of which, I've got a couple of leftover beers here. Want one? The beer in this world tastes a bit strange, but it definitely hits the spot."
Kiri's voice bounced back with its usual vibrant energy. Li Ke felt the cold, liquid-filled glass bottle pressed firmly into his palm. Before he could react, Kiri pulled him up by the arm.
"Come on. Let's go have a drink with Miss Tsunade!"