Reincarnated With The Degenerate System

The rest of the A-rank Seekers nodded. Better preparation meant a better chance of making it through.

"Is your HQ far from the forest entrance?" I inquired.

"No. And if you take the lead, we can easily carve a path through it—enough to grab the equipment we need. We can also pick up more armor and weapons to equip the others."

His logic held up well, so I didn't bother pretending to think it over.

I picked out twenty people, all C-rank and below, but I made sure most of them were nothing special—except for a few who looked physically fit, capable of carrying heavy loads without collapsing halfway. Him included, of course.

While the team was busy gearing up, I slipped over to Hai-Min. She was still grimacing, favoring her leg, so I handed her another vial.

She drank it, and almost immediately, the wound started knitting itself back together. Within minutes, she was moving on her own—no more being carried which was really my favorite part.

Still, I wasn't taking chances. I gathered the remaining A-ranks and made it clear: her life came first. I didn't just say it—I explained why.

"She's a VIP," I told them bluntly. "Keeping her safe is a must. She's the key to getting rescued faster. Don't forget that."

A few of them nodded, trying to hide their suspicion, but the moment they actually saw her… well, let's just say a strange sense of duty washed over them. Protecting her suddenly felt like the obvious thing to do.

Couldn't really blame them. Even I—usually the first to roll my eyes at sentiment—found myself thinking the same thing.

With that out of the way, I turned to my makeshift team and cleared my throat, making sure every one of them was paying attention.

"Alright," I began, eyes scanning the twenty faces. "Here's the deal—fast, quiet, and clean. We get in, grab the supplies, and get out. No heroics, no wandering off, and definitely no noise. Stick to me, follow my lead, and you'll make it through this in one piece."

Some nodded nervously. A couple looked as if they wanted to back out. I didn't give them the chance.

"Let's go. Double time!"

Wasting no time, we headed back the way we came. The streets were quieter now, but distant explosions echoed from across the city—probably other Seekers fighting desperately for survival. I didn't have the time to save them, nor did I plan to.

All I could do now was pray they lived long enough to do their one real job: bait the hordes away from us.

"No loud abilities," I ordered, glancing at Adam. "Anything that generates noise will get us swarmed."

He nodded, understanding immediately, and the others fell into line. The streets were a mess—piles of debris everywhere, cracked pavement, shattered glass crunching under our boots.

And scattered between all of that were the corpses of the monsters we'd killed earlier, some still smoking, others sliced clean.

I noticed Adam staring a little too intently at the monster remains, his brow furrowed.

"What are you looking for?" a rookie whispered, which was good, because I was wondering the same thing myself.

"It's the core," he explained, pointing at the bodies. "None of them have cores yet. That means we're below the 10th floor. That's… actually good news."

"Mr. Adam, do all the monsters above the 10th floor have cores with them? And… how are they different?" the rookie asked, leaning closer.

Adam glanced at him before speaking.

"Yeah, most of them do. The higher floors are where monsters get stronger and smarter. Their cores make them tougher, packed with energy. The higher you go, the more dangerous they are—but the more valuable their cores."

He started talking more, probably just to pass the time, and I didn't interrupt. Truth be told, I was just as busy absorbing every bit of useful knowledge he was sharing.

Unfortunately, his little lesson came to an abrupt end when my ears caught something in the distance.

We could've circled around it if we really wanted to play it safe, but the building we needed was already within sight, practically daring us to push forward.

"We're approaching an area with a lot of monsters," I warned, eyes scanning the streets ahead. "But don't use your powers unless it's absolutely necessary. Let me handle this."

"Enemies!" one pointed to the left.

Before anyone could even twitch through the first syllable, I was already moving.

I slipped through the horde with ease, severing tendons, silencing every last one before they could shriek their usual alarm-call nonsense.

By the time I stopped, the final body slumped to the ground with a soft thud… and the team were speechless.

"Snap out of it and let's go," I barked, clapping my hands to get their attention.

They jolted back to life—some embarrassed, some pale, all equally useless. Which was fine. They weren't here to slay monsters; they were here to carry whatever loot I shoveled into their arms.

We headed further, and just like I expected, the enemies started piling up.

First a few wandering monsters, then groups of five, then ten—each one popping out of alleys or crawling over broken walls.

It didn't matter.

I cleared the path while they followed behind me, clutching their weapons but barely needing to lift them.

By the time we reached the base of the guild building, the team looked both exhausted and amazed. They still couldn't believe we made it through without losing anyone.

The guild building itself, unfortunately, was a wreck. The top floors were engulfed in flames, fire shooting out of shattered windows, and thick black smoke twisted into the sky. Even from the street, we could hear beams collapsing and glass shattering.

"We're… still going in there?" one of them stuttered out of fear and hesitation.

"It's fine," Adam announced, stepping past him. "The armory's in the basement. Fire won't reach it right away."

Heading inside, the air was thick with heat and smoke, but the stairs leading down were still intact.

The twenty-man team dash toward the basement, Adam at the front, shouting orders and doing his best to act like a competent leader while everyone scrambled to grab whatever gear they could.

As for me?

I stayed outside the basement door. Sat down. Closed my eyes.

After slicing through every monster dumb enough to cross our path, I burned through a decent chunk of Qi. Not enough to slow me down—but enough that I would rather recharge now than regret it later.

But before I could fully gather my Qi, my hair stood on end—every instinct in my body screaming danger before I even opened my eyes.

Ten figures stood at the far end of the hallway, half-shadowed by the flickering lights. At first glance they looked like the usual black-skinned monsters we'd been running into… but then their eyes were different.

Blood-red. A glow burned behind them, as if coals had been pushed right under their skin.

And their mouths—wide, trembling, drooling thick strings of saliva that hit the floor with soft splats. Like rabid animals barely holding themselves back.

My hand tightened around my spear until the grip groaned. These weren't the usual trash mobs.

The largest one leaned forward, its neck cracking sideways with a nasty pop. It sniffed the air, its tongue sliding across yellow razor-sharp teeth.

"Well," I muttered, rising to my feet. "So much for my little break time."