My Childhood Friend Turned Yandere in the Apocalypse

Chapter 237: Ch 237: Exploding Demon King

"Is that...a data drive?"

Rin asked as he approached Shelly. The pink-haired girl did not look at him, but she carefully reached toward the hard drive and picked it up using a piece of cloth she carried with her.

"It seems like important evidence, so I will bring it back to examine it. Please don’t stress about it too much, Rin."

Shelly told him while straightening her back.

Rin wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but the system interrupted their conversation with another notification.

[The Demon King’s castle will be destroyed in 1 hour. Please find your way out during that time before it is too late.]

[Anyone trapped inside when the timer expires will disappear along with the Demon King’s castle.]

It was a warning for everyone to head back, and Rin started to make his way out. But Mira and Kyle seemed to have no intention of leaving with them.

Instead, they appeared much more interested in the castle itself.

"Are you both not going to head out with us?"

Kael asked in a surprised voice as he looked at the two people in front of him who seemed to have already made up their minds.

He did not expect an answer, but he was surprised when Kyle decided to give him one anyway.

"We are going to stay here. The system said that this castle is going to disappear, right? But I want to see where it will go. The system presented it, so there has to be a place where it stores all this stuff, right? Maybe we will get more clues about the situation there."

It was a risky move on Kyle and Mira’s part, but there seemed to be no hesitation in their decision. Their logic almost made Rin want to stay as well.

[I wouldn’t advise you to stay here, Rookie. This place is going to disintegrate once it disappears, and the data, along with anything inside, is going to be shredded.]

[Of course, anyone who wants to stay here at their own risk is welcome to do so. But you should get out if you want to stay alive.]

The system warned Rin, and he felt obligated to pass on the warning.

His tone was serious enough to make Mira and Kyle exchange a look before they changed their minds.

They headed out, and it did not take them long to break through the major obstacles. The others had started running out by then as well.

They were among the last people to make it out in time, and Rin regrouped with Reina and Teressa.

Those two looked to be in bad shape, but they were alive thanks to Albus.

They all watched as the Demon King’s castle collapsed and the demons flying out of it started to die one by one.

[Task 11 has officially concluded. Reward distribution has finished.]

[You have gained a ’Stigma Mark.’]

[Stigma Mark can be used to uncover traces of the past and find hidden treasures. Follow the stigma marks left by the system to unlock a hidden location.]

[Number of people with Stigma Marks: 20 survivors of the Demon King’s castle.]

Rin looked at the back of his hand and saw a glowing rune etched onto it. He could feel energy emanating from the mark.

Shelly, Albus, and the rest of his party had the same mark. Apart from them, the only person he could see with the mark was Kyle.

Mira, who had killed the Demon King, had no mark on the back of her hand, which was strange.

’Why didn’t Mira get a mark? Even Kyle got one...’

Rin was curious about the reason, and the system decided to inform him about this abnormality.

[That girl did not receive a mark because she is not part of the system’s interface. User Kyle is connected to the system’s mainframe, but both sides have no access to each other. However, reward bestowment is still possible as a one-sided transaction.]

That explained things while creating even more questions at the same time.

[Don’t worry too much about it, Rookie. It’s all stuff you don’t need to concern yourself with.]

The system assured Rin before it went silent. He had a feeling he would not be getting another response from it for the rest of the day.

For now, the system did not matter. What mattered was gathering everyone with these marks and finding a way to access the place to which they led.

People were looking at their marks in surprise and then at each other. They all wanted to ask what this meant and what they should do next, but no one was willing to step forward and speak.

It left an awkward atmosphere in the air, which was finally broken by Teressa. She noticed how everyone was hesitant to step forward and decided to do it herself.

"Everyone, you got the mark on the back of your hand, right? Then let’s work together for now to uncover its mystery. Please allow us to take a picture of the mark, and we will share any information we discover."

She took charge of the situation, and because she was loud and confident, people started listening to her. Although, Rin had a feeling that her charm as a succubus also played a part in all this.

What was even more surprising was the fact that she still carried a fully charged phone with her.

’Must be a habit from her days before regression.’

Once the photos were taken, they needed to be processed. But how could so many photos be analyzed to find a solution?

"Looks like we will need a computer or a printer to arrange these photos. Does anyone have any idea where we can get those?"

Kyle asked, and Rin immediately nodded.

"We can provide a computer since we have the power to spare. Let’s hurry back."

With so many specialized staff members, Rin’s settlement was able to function normally. But the use of technology was still sparse.

There had never been much reason to turn on a computer because no online services were available. But since there were no online services, the software had never needed updating either. So the PC started up easily, and Rin opened photo-editing software.

"We will likely need to arrange these photos in order."

"You can leave it to me."

Mira declared before pushing him out of the seat and taking it for herself.