I’m the Only One with Powers in the Apocalypse – Chapter 6

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Translated By Arcane Translations

Translator: Xrecker

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“Huff… huff…” My heart hammered against my ribs. The crazy girls were still screaming and trembling in terror, and the storage room door I was leaning against continued to rattle and shake.

“Huff… huff…”

First things first. I wasn’t exactly altruistic. I’d attacked the clerk to save my own skin, not to rescue these screaming attention-grabbers. They were loitering near the entrance, then just sat down and started trembling. What the hell did they expect me to do?

If they’d gotten bitten by the clerk and died, I would have been trapped in here. And not just with one beast, but with three, after these idiots turned as well.

I didn’t even know why I’d brought them into the storage room.

Why had I done that?

“Ha… ha…”

Breathe… Calm down… Breathe…

Was I really going to die in a convenience store stealing dumplings?!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Okay, I got it. Seeing a monster with half its face ripped off, jaw agape, lunging at you was terrifying. But why freeze up and panic? Didn’t they realize that would get them killed?

“Kyaaa! Agh! Aaagh!”

“Shut up, damn it! Can’t you be quiet?!”

I roared. It didn’t matter if these bitches screamed or if the monsters roared outside; it was all the same.

Yelling at them just pissed me off even more.

“If you keep screaming, you’ll attract more of them! Are you trying to get yourselves killed?! Huh?! Think, damn it!”

The screaming stopped. The girls clung to each other, trembling, and stared at me.

They almost looked like they were glaring.

Oh, great, they could glare. Maybe they could glare at the beasts outside and kill them with their eyes.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Graaagh! Graaagh! Graagh!”

My arms were shaking.

I had escaped for now, but I had no idea what to do next.

This was incredibly stressful.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Graagh! Graaagh! Graagh!”

Those fucking beasts!

I gritted my teeth, feeling the vibrations through my back.

“Look… uh… I’m just here for food. I already got what I needed. When all this is over, I’ll leave, and you can go your own way. And then… ugh, shit. Let’s never see each other again. Okay?”

Being stuck with these crazy girls would shorten my lifespan. If anyone lectured me about helping people and surviving together, please, take these siren-bitches away. I’d rather be cursed and go it alone.

“Ha… ha…”

This was insane.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Didn’t those beasts outside ever get tired?

They were relentless.

Damn it. I couldn’t just keep holding the door shut like this.

I kept both hands pressed against the door and looked around the storage room. There were several shelves inside.

Right. I could use those.

The owner wasn’t coming back anyway.

I gritted my teeth and grabbed a shelf on the right, pulling it towards the door.

Screech!

This one was heavy.

Ah, it was the shelf stacked with drinks.

I grunted and shoved it against the door, finally feeling a sense of relief. With two shelves wedged between the wall and the door, even if the door gave way, they wouldn’t be able to get in.

“…Ha… ha…”

I gasped for air and finally sank to the floor. With three people inside, the storage room felt cramped. The banging continued outside, but I felt a little more at ease. The girls huddled together as far away from me as possible, their faces pale and trembling.

Yeah, whatever.

Stay over there.

And don’t talk to me.

“Hoo…”

I let out a long sigh and looked up.

…Accelerate.

Would I have been able to fight off the clerk without it?

I looked down at the baton.

Blood and hair were matted to it.

…Disgusting… This was crazy.

…Still…

Accelerate had saved my life. It said “auto-cast,” but I didn’t know exactly when it activated. So far, it had triggered at the right moments, allowing me to escape danger. The timing seemed pretty good.

I wasn’t sure if I could turn off auto-cast, but I’d leave it on for now.

…Oh.

The message had said I leveled up, right?

“…Status.”

…Just one point?

Sigh…

Couldn’t I get more?

Accelerate was important. I needed to increase my Spirit.

How did I do that?

Tapping the Spirit stat didn’t do anything.

The Stat Point was blinking.

I tapped on the Stat Point, and the other stats started blinking. Ah, that’s how it worked.

I allocated the point to Spirit, feeling a sense of anticlimax. I almost died, and all I got was one stat point.

Damn it.

Chosen One, my ass.

I was chosen, they said!

Then shouldn’t I get, like, a machine gun with tons of ammo?! Or some grenades?! Something to kill these monsters!

This was infuriating.

“Ha… ha…”

Now that the tension had eased, I felt thirsty. I grabbed the Gatorade from my bag and chugged it down, drinking almost half the bottle in one go.

“Ha…”

Ah, refreshing.

Banging outside, clueless girls with pale faces beside me, and I was trapped.

But at least the drink was cold and refreshing.

Right.

Calm down.

Stay calm.

I needed to assess the situation rationally.

These things were dangerous.

I could only use Accelerate once, and if they swarmed me, I was dead.

I needed to increase the number of times I could use it.

To do that, I had to kill them and level up.

…I had to ambush them.

Pick off isolated targets, activate Accelerate, and kill them in one blow.

I was worried about Mom and Dad.

And that bitch, even though I didn’t know why, I was worried about her too.

I hoped she hadn’t died eating tteokbokki.

To find out if my family was alive, to survive, leveling up was the most important thing right now.

Eating, sleeping, and shitting weren’t important.

Leveling up was.

…Leveling up…

Why had I leveled up?

…Did I level up from fighting?

There was no experience bar on the status screen.

Maybe there was another way to find out?

“Achievements.”

…Nothing changed.

Oh, right.

“Inventory.”

Huh.

Something appeared.

…Soul Stone?

What was this?

I poked it with my finger, but nothing happened.

Soul Stone… Stone of the Soul…

…Soul…

Ah…

The clerk I had beaten… was he dead?

Did this appear in my inventory because he died?

That was the only explanation that made sense.

I could check when I got out of here.

Anyway, I had decided on my survival strategy. I could get food from convenience stores and other shops, at least for now.

Damn it.

I wished I were in America.

I’d heard they had gun stores in malls and on the streets.

A shotgun would make surviving much easier…

No.

I had the baton.

This thing was…

…Wait.

The baton…

…looked dented?

The metal shaft was slightly bent.

Oh, shit.

I thought it was sturdy, but it was less durable than I’d thought.

I wouldn’t be able to use it many more times.

…I needed to find a weapon.

A weapon…

Where could I find one?

“…Ha… damn it.”

I rubbed my forehead and leaned against the wall.

Bitten, bleeding, collapsing… yet they got back up roaring. These weren’t normal. They defied common sense. They should have been dead a hundred times over.

Hitting or breaking their limbs wouldn’t be enough to stop them.

I had to attack the head, like I did earlier…

…The heart?

Would attacking the heart stop them?

…The heart…

…No.

I’d just thought about that. They were bitten, bled profusely, suffered injuries that should have killed them a hundred times over, and yet they were still running around.

It wasn’t the heart.

…It was the head.

I had to destroy the head.

I gripped the baton, renewing my resolve. Earlier, I had just swung it instinctively, in a half-crazed state. I hadn’t thought about killing or anything. I just swung.

Two hits to the head and he was dead…

I’d been lucky.

But from now on, it would be different.

I would aim for the head.

With the intent to kill.

…This was suddenly very real.

The baton’s handle felt rough. Probably a non-slip grip.

I ran my fingers over the textured surface and took a deep breath.

I could do this.

They bit people, attacked with the intent to kill.

So, I would attack them with the intent to kill.

A life-or-death struggle, blow for blow.

A fair game.

…Wait.

But the victims…

There weren’t any bodies on the street.

…Bitten necks, blood spurting like fountains…

The police officer, the convenience store clerk…

Wasn’t it unnatural that they could still move after suffering such injuries, losing so much blood?

…No way.

No way they were…

Already dead?

No fucking way…

Like some kind of zombies…

Zombies walked!

Slowly, groaning!

It was absurd that they could jump around like that after dying!

So, no.

They couldn’t be dead.

…But those injuries… they were definitely fatal.

“Ha…”

I didn’t understand any of this. Sitting here doing nothing was just making my head spin. The banging outside had stopped. I could still hear faint growling.

“…Um…”

A girl spoke. Her voice was hoarse. She’d probably strained it from screaming.

I glanced at the girls.

The one in the jeans and t-shirt spoke.

“Thank you… for saving us.”

…Right.

I didn’t even know why I had saved them. Probably only God knew. Not that I believed in God or anything.

I nodded.

“I’m sorry for screaming earlier. Are you hurt?”

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