The Caffeine System: Critical Heart Protocol

Chapter 13: Rat Wave Attack

But then he felt a new strength within him. His heart had been upgraded to a speed he had never experienced before.

A hint of arrogance began to creep into his heart.

“No,” he said quietly. Not at Baginda but more at himself. “I won't run anymore.”

He looked back, looking at Baginda who had flown down from the washing machine. "Wait here."

Baginda just tilted his head as if to say, "don't do anything stupid."

Raka grinned. Even though Baginda didn't speak, he knew what the swan meant. "I'm just testing my new machine."

He downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp and began to feel his heart rate rise rapidly. He stepped out of the shophouse and into the shadows of the wrecked car to approach the Bellringer. The creature didn't notice him and continued walking.

Raka's plan was simple: get close, enter Bullet Time mode , destroy the bell, or kill the creature before it could react.

Raka was twenty meters away. Then ten meters. Five meters.

The bell ringer stopped as if sensing something. Raka lifted its head and saw the creature begin to pull on the leather cord connected to the bell's pendulum.

"Now!"

Raka's heart beat reached 180 beats per minute (BPM). The world around him suddenly slowed down. The extra three seconds felt like an eternity. He could see the bell's pendulum moving in agonizing slow motion. He could see every particle of rust that had fallen off the bell.

Raka shot forward. His newfound speed felt incredible to him. He felt like lightning. He wasn't aiming for the bell.

'Why destroy the tool when you can eliminate the user?' he thought. There was arrogance in his mind.

Raka arrived in front of Bellringer in the blink of an eye. The creature hadn't even had time to register his presence. With crowbar in hand, Raka didn't hesitate and began swinging the sharp end of the crowbar with all his strength, aiming for the monster's thin neck.

SHLIIICK!

There was no resistance. The crowbar tore through flesh and bone with ease. Bellringer's head was detached from his body in a clean, silent motion.

Raka stopped a few meters behind the headless corpse, his breath slightly ragged with excitement.

'I did it. I evolved. I'm no longer prey.' His insides were still filled with joy.

His arrogance continued to swell. He stared at Bellringer's collapsed body with immense satisfaction. However, he forgot one basic law of the universe, namely gravity.

The severed head, with the bronze bell still tied around its neck, didn't fall to the ground immediately. It arced through the air for a moment before finally beginning to fall.

Raka watched it in the afterglow of Bullet Time , horror slowly replacing his satisfaction.

He saw the creature's head fall.

CLAAAAAAANG!

The bell fell too but not with a soft thud . Instead of a small clank, the resulting sound was a deep echo and much louder than he had ever imagined.

The sound waves spread in all directions, bouncing off buildings and seeping into every alley and gutter. The entire city of Jakarta, once silent, now vibrated with a single sound.

Then, the ground beneath his feet began to shake. It wasn't an earthquake. It was a rhythmic, heavy, and deep tremor coming from underground. It was as if something immense, slumbering beneath the streets of Jakarta, had just been awakened by the sound of its dinner bell.

Raka stood frozen as he realized his fatal mistake.

“Oh, no,” he whispered in horror. “Now what?”

Then, the ground beneath his feet shook. The tremors weren't from a tectonic earthquake or shifting of the earth's plates, but something far more terrifying.

The vibrations felt alive. They then spread from the depths of the dark city sewers to the cracked asphalt surface.

Raka stopped in his tracks. His breath was still ragged from running. He stared at the metal drainage cover in the middle of the road.

The heavy metal lid clanked and moved on its frame as if there was steam pressure about to explode from below.

"System, please tell me this isn't another big monster," Raka said breathlessly. His eyes were fixed on the shaking metal lid. "My legs haven't recovered from the previous sprint. I need at least five minutes of rest."

A translucent blue dialog box appeared before him, typing text at a leisurely yet mocking pace.

[Don't worry, Raka. These aren't big monsters. Technically, they're very small. You should be grateful.]

"Small?" Raka frowned. "Define 'small' according to your standards."

Before the System could answer, the drainage cover was thrown into the air with a loud bang.

BANG!

It wasn't hot steam that gushed out, but a wet, dirty, squeaking black wave.

Thousands of mutant rats the size of adult cats with glowing red eyes poured out of the hole like a flood.

"For God's sake!" Raka took a step back, his face turning pale. "How did that rat get so big?!"

"HONK!"

Baginda standing beside Raka, spread his wings and hissed loudly. His long neck tensed, ready to peck at anything that came near.

[Mus musculus domesticus. Variant: Sewer Demon. They're small, but there are thousands of them. Enjoy your meat feast.]

Raka's eyes widened as he heard the system's explanation. One thing was on his mind now.

"Run! Baginda, we have to run!" Raka shouted, then his hand pulled on the protective vest the goose was wearing.

As Raka turned around, he realized that the road behind them had changed. Another sewer cover behind them had opened.

A similar wave of rats flooded the street from the opposite direction, blocking the only escape route.

The asphalt road was now covered by a sea of ​​fast-moving black feathers, leaving only an empty circle three meters in diameter where Raka and Baginda were standing.

"We're surrounded," Raka hissed, his eyes searching for an opening to escape. "System! Give me a route! Where's the opening?!"