Chapter 76: Claiming the Dead

The worst of the pain finally receded.

It did not vanish all at once. Instead, it faded slowly, like a storm withdrawing from the shore. The burning along Jagger’s forearm dulled first, followed by the crawling sensation in his side where the spike had pierced him. The deep ache in his palm lingered the longest, a stubborn reminder of teeth and claws that had nearly taken his hand. Eventually, even that softened until it became nothing more than a distant throb. Regeneration had finished its work.

Jagger sat where he had collapsed earlier, his back pressed against the cold metal frame of the refrigerator. The steady hum of the cooling unit vibrated faintly through his spine. Cold air drifted over his damp clothes while rain whispered somewhere beyond the broken storefront. For a while, he simply breathed. The chemical sweetness of the energy drink still lingered on his tongue. The crushed onigiri wrapper rested near his boot, half-soaked from melted ice and soda syrup that had spilled across the floor during the fight. Broken glass glittered across the tiles around him like scattered frost.

He slowly rolled his shoulders. The movement felt smoother now. The stiffness was still there, but the sharp pain had faded. His fingers flexed experimentally. The claw wounds had sealed into thin pink lines. Even the bite in his forearm had already shrunk into a swollen crescent of bruised flesh. His body was recovering, but the store still smelled like death.

Jagger lifted his head. Across the aisle, the body of the woman lay where the rats had dragged her. He had barely looked at her before the fight. In the chaos of survival, she had only been an obstacle on the floor. Now the silence forced him to see her properly. He stood slowly and walked toward the aisle.

The fluorescent lights above flickered weakly, casting a sickly glow over the wreckage. The woman lay half curled on her side near the toppled shelf, as if she had tried to crawl away in her final moments. Her white office blouse had once been neatly pressed, but now it was soaked dark with blood and torn open along the shoulder. Her black skirt clung to her legs, where rainwater and blood had mixed together. One of her high heels still clung loosely to her foot. The other was missing.

Jagger crouched beside her for a moment. She looked young, probably close to his own age. Her hair, once carefully styled, now hung across her face in damp strands. What remained of her features suggested she had been beautiful once, but the rats had not left her untouched. He looked away.

The silence inside the store pressed down harder. Jagger exhaled slowly and stood again. His gaze drifted across the floor until it settled on the corpse of the first rat he had crushed beneath his boot. He walked toward it. The creature lay sprawled beside the crushed mint display, its grotesque body already beginning to stiffen. The bone spikes along its back protruded at uneven angles, stained black with its own blood.

Jagger nudged the corpse with the toe of his boot. There was no movement. He crouched, and the smell hit him immediately. Rot mixed with sewer filth and coppery blood, a foul stench that clung to the back of his throat. Jagger gripped his dagger and pushed the blade carefully into the creature’s underbelly. The flesh parted with sickening ease. Black blood oozed onto the tile, thick and sluggish like spilled oil. He grimaced but forced himself to keep going, widening the cut enough to peer inside.

That was when he saw it.

A small red gem sat lodged within the creature’s body cavity. It looked completely out of place, perfectly smooth and perfectly cut. Jagger reached inside and pulled it free.

The gem rested in his palm, warm against his skin. A faint glow pulsed beneath its surface, the light shifting softly through its crimson facets like a heartbeat trapped in crystal. The moment it touched his hand, the system reacted.

–

[Item Acquired: Monster Core]

[Grade: Minion]

[Description: A crystallized life essence harvested from a monster. Contains concentrated energy.]

–

Jagger stared at the gem. A memory flickered in his mind. Reika. He remembered the way she had handled the monster core earlier, the casual confidence in her movements as if the process were second nature. The word surfaced in his thoughts.

Claim.

Jagger hesitated for a moment before thinking it clearly.

“Claim.”

The reaction was immediate. The red gem dissolved in his hand. Crimson light burst outward in a thin stream, flowing between his fingers like vapor before dispersing into the air. The energy gathered again almost instantly, swirling above his palm before condensing into form.

White brilliance wrapped around his hand, slowly shaping itself into something solid. The glow hardened into bone colored metal that wrapped around his knuckles, and spikes began emerging from the surface. Sharp. Brutal. When the light faded completely, Jagger stared down at the object now wrapped around his hand.

Bone brass knuckles.

Jagged spikes jutted outward from the knuckle guards, each one sharpened into vicious points designed to puncture flesh with every strike. The structure felt heavy but balanced. A new panel appeared.

–

[Item Acquired: Bone Rattlers]

[Grade: Minion]

[Effects: Deals piercing damage]

[Durability: 50/50]

–

Jagger slowly closed his fist. The spikes aligned naturally with his knuckles. Bone Rattlers. The name sounded ridiculous in his head, but the weight of the weapon felt undeniable. Solid. Real. Dangerous. He flexed his hand again and felt the subtle shift in his wrist’s balance. The weapon fit almost too well.

His eyes drifted toward the other rat corpses scattered around the store. Three more. The thought of digging through their bodies made his stomach tighten. Black blood. Rot. The smell alone was enough to make him gag. But another thought followed close behind.

Power.

He needed it. Every fight so far had proven the same brutal truth. The world had changed, and the only way to survive inside it was to grow stronger. Disgust did not matter. Survival did.

Jagger forced himself forward and repeated the same process on the remaining bodies. The second rat yielded another core, glowing faintly red in the dim light of the store. He claimed it the same way.

This time, the light formed differently. White energy wrapped around both of his forearms before hardening into dark leather plates reinforced with rough stitching. The material was stiff but durable, built to absorb impact and protect the vulnerable muscles beneath. He strapped them securely into place.

A system window appeared.

–

[Item Acquired: Rat-hide Vambraces]

[Grade: Minion]

[Effects: Increases Defense]

[Durability: 50/50]

–

Jagger flexed his arms slowly. The leather tightened around his forearms, reinforcing the muscles beneath. The weight was minimal, but he could already feel the difference in stability when he rotated his wrist. The final two cores produced similar minor gear. Nothing impressive, but useful.

–

[Item Acquired: Scavenger Fang knife]

[Grade: Minion]

[Effects: 10% chance of applying bleed to target]

[Durability: 50/50]

–

[Item Acquired: Scavenger Band]

[Grade: Minion]

[Effects: Slightly increases stamina recovery by 5%]

[Durability: 50/50]

–

Jagger stood in the dim light of the ruined store, the new equipment settling slowly against his body as the last echoes of regeneration faded from his nerves. The fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting a dull, uneven glow across shattered glass, toppled shelves, and dark bloodstains that the thin mist drifting through the broken storefront had begun to dilute. The hum of the refrigeration units filled the silence like a distant mechanical heartbeat.

The Bone Rattlers wrapped tightly around his knuckles, their jagged spikes catching the faint light whenever he moved his hand. Along his forearms, the Rat-hide Vambraces hugged the muscle beneath his sleeves, the stiff leather reinforcing each subtle shift of his wrists. Around his wrist rested the Scavenger Band, a thin strip of dark metal that clung to his skin like it had always belonged there.

None of the equipment looked impressive.

But every piece meant survival.

Jagger lifted the Scavenger Fang knife and weighed it in his hand. The blade curved slightly, its serrated edge lined with jagged teeth that resembled broken fangs rather than polished steel. When his thumb brushed lightly along the edge, the system flickered faintly in response.

Sharp. Ugly. Effective.

After a moment, he slid the weapon into his inventory, keeping his original dagger in his hand where it felt familiar.

For a few seconds, he remained still, listening.

The ruined store breathed quietly around him. Refrigerators rattled behind shattered doors. Rain tapped steadily against broken windows and leaking ceiling panels. Somewhere outside, the wind rocked a loose sign back and forth, producing a hollow metallic clang that echoed faintly down the street.

No monsters.

No movement.

Only the dead.

His gaze drifted once more across the aisle to where the woman’s body lay near the toppled shelf. The mist creeping through the store had begun washing the blood from the tiles around her, turning the dark stains into diluted streams that crept slowly toward the drain near the entrance.

“…Sorry,” he muttered under his breath.

Then he turned away.

Jagger moved toward the refrigeration units and grabbed several drinks, along with packaged snacks and sealed meals that had somehow survived the destruction. One by one, they dissolved into particles of light and slipped into his inventory.

When he reached the shattered storefront, he paused briefly.

Outside, the mist had thickened.

Singapore stretched ahead of him, dark and broken beneath a sky that no longer promised safety. Empty streets disappeared into shadow between silent buildings, and somewhere in that darkness more monsters waited.

Jagger cracked his neck once, the faint pop echoing softly in the quiet store.

“Alright,” he said.

Then he stepped back into the night.

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