Chapter 12: They’re All Yours

Salamanders? As in plural?

Just a few seconds after that thought crossed her mind, several giant salamanders emerged from their camouflage and crawled toward Summer and Archer.

Not just one or two, but around seven.

Summer immediately raised her Poison Gun and took a few steps back. Each salamander was nearly as large as a car, their thick bodies crawling across the floor while their long tails dragged behind them.

Unlike the lower-ranked mutated creatures they had encountered earlier, these salamanders had an extremely fast healing ability, even the one Archer had just shot was already recovering.

Summer watched as the hole in its body began to close at a speed visible to the naked eye. Torn flesh pulled itself back together, and within seconds, the wound was almost completely gone.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," Summer muttered.

The livestream immediately exploded with comments.

[That regeneration speed is insane! I’ve never seen anything like that before!]

[Brother, you’re just a D-Rank Sentinel. Of course you’ve never been allowed to enter a zone above your rank.]

[Ouch, that hurts!]

[Fuck you! At least this D-Rank can live longer!]

[Yeah, sure. Live a long life and stay poor!]

While the viewers were busy arguing with each other, Archer kept his attention on the giant salamanders.

"These creatures aren’t easy to kill," he told Summer. "You need to aim for the heart."

Summer glanced at him while keeping her Poison Gun raised. "Where?"

"Near the front of the body, just behind the forelimbs." Archer lifted his gun and aimed at one of the salamanders. "Their regeneration is fast, but they still need a working heart. Destroy it before the wound has a chance to heal. But they’re S-Rank, so you don’t need to—"

"Shoot them right in the heart. Got it," Summer cut him off.

[Summer, you’re way too confident!]

[Girl, did you miss the part where he said they’re S-RANK?!]

[She heard it. She just chose to ignore it.]

[Archer was definitely about to tell her to stay back LMAOOO.]

It wasn’t like Summer planned to charge straight at the salamanders and act like she had nothing to lose. Instead, she took another step backward, then another, and another.

Her actions immediately confused the viewers.

[Why is she backing away?]

[LMAOOO all that confidence disappeared real quick!]

[Finally! Her survival instincts are working!]

[RUN, SUMMER! THERE’S NO SHAME IN RUNNING FROM SEVEN S-RANK MONSTERS!]

[She really said "Got it" and immediately started retreating T_T]

Even Archer glanced back at her, probably wondering what she was doing.

However, Summer had no intention of running away.

Her eyes moved toward the tall equipment rack behind her. It was made of thick metal and firmly bolted to the floor, with several wide shelves filled with old tools and abandoned equipment. More importantly, it was tall enough to give Summer a much better view of the salamanders.

In other words, it was the perfect spot for her.

Summer quickly hooked the Poison Gun onto her waist before grabbing the side of the rack.

[???]

[What is she doing?]

[SUMMER, THE EXIT IS THE OTHER WAY!]

[Why is she climbing the shelf?!]

[Girl has finally lost it.]

Summer ignored them. She stepped onto the lowest shelf, grabbed the metal frame above her, and pulled herself up. Her rabbit ears bounced with every movement as she climbed higher and higher until she finally stopped several meters above the floor.

Right at that moment, the viewers finally understood what she was doing.

[OH.]

[WAIT, THAT’S ACTUALLY SMART.]

[HIGH GROUND!!!]

From up there, Summer could see the whole basement much more clearly.

The salamanders’ huge bodies were no longer blocking one another as much, giving her a much better view of the spot Archer had told her to target.

And even better, Archer was still standing right between her and the salamanders.

Summer couldn’t help but smile because she had a clear shooting position while an SSS-Rank Sentinel stood in front of her.

What more could she possibly ask for?

[HAHAHAHA SHE’S USING HIM AS A HUMAN SHIELD!]

[Human shield??? That’s an SSS-Rank shield!]

[Girl knows how to use her resources.]

The salamanders’ weak points were actually very easy to find, but unfortunately, aiming at them accurately was extremely difficult, especially since they could move as fast as lightning.

One second, a salamander could be several meters away. The next, its huge mouth could already be snapping right in front of Summer.

Fortunately for her, Archer was even faster.

Bang!

The moment one of the salamanders tried to leap toward the rack, Archer shot it out of the air.

Its huge body crashed onto the floor, but it immediately started struggling to get back up, a sign that Archer had missed the spot. However, it didn’t matter because Summer was also his backup.

While the salamander was still unable to move properly, Summer quickly raised her Poison Gun and aimed right at its heart.

Bang!

The bullet pierced straight through its chest and the salamander’s huge body jerked once.

Then, right before Summer’s eyes, its flesh slowly began to melt. The poison spread from its heart to the rest of its body, quickly turning the giant creature into a disgusting mess on the floor.

[You killed ×1 S-Rank Mutated Creature: 150,000 Credits]

Damn! That was such a huge amount of credits!

No wonder Archer had been willing to give her five million credits so easily. He had probably killed so many S-Rank mutated creatures and above that five million barely hurt his wallet.

His bank account must be ridiculously thick!

For a brief moment, Summer completely forgot that she was still in the middle of a fight.

How many salamanders were left again? Six?

Six times one hundred and fifty thousand would be—

"Summer, focus." Archer’s voice immediately snapped her out of her thoughts.

Right.

She had to kill these salamanders first and think about the money later.

"Archer!" Summer shouted from above. "Can you leave the kills to me?!"

She raised her voice on purpose, worried he wouldn’t hear her from that far away.

Archer, on the other hand, frowned slightly because his ears were ringing from how loud she was. Still, he looked up at her and replied, "Sure. They’re all yours."