NOVGO.NET Chapter 50 Stranded Vii
Chapter 50: Chapter 50 Stranded Vii
Several hours later, the next shift took over.
Luna had also woken up by then and decided it was finally time to prepare breakfast for everyone.
She walked over to her bag before crouching down to unzip it.
"Good morning, boys. How was your night?" she asked while pulling out a portable gas stove and a cooking pot from inside.
Both were items she had bought from her supermarket.
Keeping them inside her bag made traveling much easier, especially since she couldn’t exactly reveal that she possessed a supermarket space.
She carefully set the stove on the floor before bringing out a few ingredients.
"I’m making scrambled eggs and spaghetti."
A faint smile tugged at her lips.
"So I hope all of you enjoy it."
She wasn’t exactly sure why she suddenly felt like cooking.
Maybe it was because everyone had survived the night.
Or perhaps she simply wanted to enjoy the rare peaceful moment before another disaster came knocking at their door.
Whatever the reason, she decided not to overthink it.
As Luna busied herself preparing breakfast, Adrian naturally stayed beside her, occasionally handing over whatever she needed.
Meanwhile, Ethan had nothing better to do.
Since the room was already a mess from the previous night, he quietly began putting things back in order.
Unlike everyone else, however, he paid attention to places nobody had bothered checking.
His curiosity eventually led him to the far corner of the room where a large wardrobe stood almost hidden against the wall.
Because of where it was positioned, no one could clearly see him.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Interesting..."
He stepped closer.
"I wonder what’s inside."
The wardrobe was locked.
Instinctively, he began searching for a key.
Not wanting to wake Kai and Rowan, who were still sleeping peacefully, Ethan carefully tiptoed around the room.
His search finally paid off.
Inside one of the drawers sat a small wooden box containing several different keys.
His eyes lit up.
"So that’s where you were."
Without making a sound, he grabbed the bunch and returned to the wardrobe.
One by one...
He tried every key.
Click.
Nothing.
Click.
Still nothing.
Click.
Another failure.
His excitement gradually disappeared.
Just as he was about to give up—
Snap.
The lock finally turned.
A satisfied grin appeared on his face as he slowly opened both doors.
"...Seriously?"
His excitement immediately faded.
Inside were only neatly arranged clothes.
Nothing else.
At least...
That was what he thought initially.
His brows furrowed.
"They’re men’s clothes..."
That surprised him.
The room itself gave off a rather feminine atmosphere.
The cosmetics.
The decorations.
The careful arrangement.
Everything had made him assume the owner was a woman.
Apparently...
He had been wrong.
"This can’t be serious."
He scratched his head.
"The room screams feminine taste."
For a brief moment he hesitated.
Would going through another person’s belongings be too much?
If someone searched through his own things...
He would definitely be furious.
But then another thought crossed his mind.
What if the owner was already dead?
If that was the case...
There was no harm in checking.
Curiosity eventually won.
He began searching through the wardrobe.
Most of the clothes looked incredibly expensive.
Even someone with little knowledge of fashion could tell they weren’t ordinary.
They carried the unmistakable aura of wealth.
Unfortunately...
The designs were far too flashy for his liking.
Bright colors.
Complicated patterns.
Accessories everywhere.
He immediately grimaced.
"Way too much color."
He shut one side of the wardrobe before noticing something tucked neatly underneath a folded jacket.
A black diary.
Beside it rested a simple fountain pen.
He looked over his shoulder.
Luna and Adrian were still occupied with breakfast.
Neither of them had noticed him.
Satisfied, Ethan carefully picked up the diary and gently dusted it off.
"Hmm..."
"I wonder why someone still keeps a diary these days."
He flipped it open.
Surprisingly...
The writing wasn’t old.
The entries looked fairly recent.
His curiosity instantly deepened.
He started reading from the very beginning.
It quickly became obvious that the writer was most likely the owner of the room.
Possibly...
The very person they had unknowingly been searching for.
But where had he gone?
There wasn’t any answer to that.
Only the words left behind.
---
If you’re reading this... then maybe you’re smarter than I was.
Don’t stay here.
That was my biggest mistake.
The moment I entered this place, my awakened powers disappeared. I couldn’t use even the smallest amount of magic anymore.
Then night came... and so did they.
Creatures started crawling out of the darkness.
The daytime wasn’t any better. Different monsters roamed under the sun.
The beasts began mutating.
Birds that should have been harmless became terrifying monsters.
Tiny insects turned into savage predators.
Even ordinary snakes transformed into weapons of destruction.
The dead buried beneath the cemetery crawled back out of the earth, dragging animal corpses along with them.
Everything around this area changed because of the meteor.
I watched every one of my friends die.
I rescued them from floods... earthquakes... disasters...
I built shelters and safe zones with my own hands.
Yet bringing them here became the worst decision of my life.
Don’t repeat my mistake.
They’ll make you believe this place is safe.
They’ll wait.
Patiently.
Then they’ll attack when you’re at your weakest.
That’s the worst part.
Without your awakened abilities... you’re nothing.
Leave.
Leave before they come.
Get your powers back while you still can.
---
The diary ended there.
At least the first entry did.
Ethan’s eyes widened.
A chill ran straight down his spine.
Without another thought, he slammed the diary shut and hurried toward Luna.
Coincidentally...
Luna had just finished preparing breakfast.
She was carrying a tray filled with steaming plates of scrambled eggs and spaghetti, ready to hand them out.
Ethan stopped directly in front of her.
"I found something."
His breathing was uneven.
"And you need to hear it right now."
Before Luna could answer, Adrian rolled his eyes while taking a plate from the tray.
"Don’t start being dramatic."
He sighed.
"We’re about to eat."
"Whatever it is can wait until after breakfast."
"Don’t make her put everything down."
His voice carried obvious annoyance.
Ethan clenched his fists.
He wanted nothing more than to yell back.
This idiot...
Why was he always interfering?
Didn’t he realize he was trying to save everyone?
Luna looked at Ethan.
Then she turned toward Adrian.
"Put the food down."
Her voice remained calm.
"Let’s hear him first."
Adrian frowned.
"Luna—"
She interrupted him before he could continue.
"One thing you should never do during the apocalypse..."
She looked around at everyone.
"...is dismiss someone before hearing what they have to say."
Her expression became unusually serious.
"Sometimes the smallest piece of information is the difference between living and dying."
Those words weren’t spoken without reason.
They came from experience.
From regret.
In her previous life...
A frightened woman had desperately warned her not to head toward a particular location.
Luna hadn’t listened.
She had been too desperate to find food.
Ignoring the warning...
She walked straight into a zombie nest.
That single decision had cost her everything.
She had been torn apart before humanity’s final battle against the zombies had even properly begun.
She never got the chance to witness how that war ended.
She had died far too quickly.
Back in the present...
Adrian still didn’t look convinced.
"But don’t you see?"
He pointed toward Ethan.
"He’s been negative since the beginning."
"What useful thing could he possibly have to say?"
Ethan’s expression darkened.
"Don’t say that."
His voice trembled.
"You were busy feeling safe."
"You got to stay beside Luna."
His breathing became heavier.
"While I was out there..."
"I was barely surviving."
"I scavenged every day just to stay alive."
"I fought for scraps of food."
"I watched the person I loved the most get taken away from me."
His eyes lowered.
"So tell me..."
"Why should I trust anyone so easily?"
Adrian wasn’t moved.
Instead, he scoffed.
"Luna was the one who saved you."
"So stop throwing yourself a pity party."
His voice became colder.
"You’ve acted like an asshole since joining us."
"You almost ruined our plans."
"You got yourself attacked."
"And because of your recklessness..."
"You almost got me killed too."
His gaze sharpened.
"If Luna chooses not to be angry with you, that’s her decision."
"But I am."
"What you did was selfish."
"I won’t tolerate childish behavior from you."
"So take it somewhere else."
The room immediately became tense.
Before Adrian could continue—
Bang!
Luna stomped her foot against the floor.
The sudden sound echoed throughout the room.
Everyone went silent.
She slowly lifted her head.
"Do you no longer respect my words?"
Her tone wasn’t loud.
Yet it immediately stopped Adrian.
"I said enough."
She glanced at both of them.
"We’re at the end of the world."
"If we keep fighting among ourselves..."
"The disaster won’t need to kill us."
"We’ll destroy ourselves first."
She took a slow breath.
"Enemies."
"Friends."
"It doesn’t matter."
"The apocalypse doesn’t care who you are."
"It’ll kill anyone standing in its way."
"So stop these arguments."
"Let’s hear him out."
Silence settled over the room once again.
Ethan hadn’t expected Luna to defend him.
Even now...
His hands were still trembling from Adrian’s outburst.
Swallowing nervously, he lifted the diary.
His voice came out quieter than before.
"I found this inside the wardrobe."
He held it up for everyone to see.
"It belonged to whoever lived here."
His face turned pale.
"And according to what I just read..."
He took a slow breath.
"We need to leave this place."
"Immediately."
His eyes slowly swept across everyone.
"Because if we stay here any longer..."
"...the only thing that’ll remain of us..."
"...will be our corpses."