I’m the Only One with Powers in the Apocalypse – Chapter 10

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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I slowly moved the shelves, careful not to make any noise. I didn’t know how many human beasts were outside. I lifted the shelves and set them aside, then slowly opened the door.

Four bodies lay sprawled in front of the entrance.

Four.

Four people with their heads caved in should have resulted in a massive amount of blood. There should have been a pool of it.

But the floor was clean.

I remembered the police officer at the station, blood gushing from his neck. That’s how much blood a healthy body with a functioning heart and circulating blood would lose.

But four people with their heads caved in, and the floor was clean?

…It really wasn’t about the heart.

It was the head.

“Come on, So-eun. Get up.”

Ye-eun was helping her sister.

What about the bodies?

Sigh… damn it.

I grabbed the checkered-shirt guy by the scruff of his neck and dragged him behind the counter. I grabbed the high school student by his uniform and dragged him too, grunting with the effort. Two bodies still lay in front of the entrance, but I could see the floor now.

“Hoo… hoo…”

I was out of breath from the exertion.

Ye-eun and So-eun slowly emerged from the storage room.

“…C… Can we… go out now…?”

So-eun clung to Ye-eun’s arm, her face buried in her side. I nodded at Ye-eun.

“Watch your step. Don’t fall.”

Spear in hand, I walked towards the convenience store entrance. Shards of broken glass crunched under my feet.

It was still dark—pre-dawn. Sunrise was still an hour or two away. Even with the world in this state, the streetlights continued to illuminate the street, undisturbed. They must have been automated.

We slipped silently into the alley next to the convenience store. It was quiet. Eerily so. Not even the usual sounds of cats or barking dogs.

We walked down the alley, bathed in the pale light of the streetlamps. A row of two-story houses lined the alley. Ye-eun, walking behind me, tapped me on the shoulder.

Ah, this was it.

A typical two-story house with a low brick wall topped with sharp metal spikes. A black metal gate.

Ye-eun punched in a code, and the gate clicked open. Even this shabby house had an automatic lock. Was this a neighborhood with a lot of burglaries?

I followed the girls through the gate. A narrow courtyard, stairs along a stone wall, and two doors on the first floor. It looked like two families lived here. The girls went up the stairs. The second floor must have been their home.

Ye-eun took my hand.

What?

She whispered, “Have… have dinner with us.”

…Hmm…

It was hard to refuse. I’d only eaten one cream-filled red bean bun in almost two days.

I nodded and followed her inside.

She unlocked the door with a key, and the scent of someone else’s home washed over me. A slightly musty scent. The smell of an old person?

Click.

As the door closed behind us, the two girls seemed to finally relax, collapsing onto the floor and gasping for air.

Ye-eun looked at me and bowed.

“Thank you for bringing us back.”

Bringing them back? It was right around the corner. The third house from the convenience store alley. Still, in this situation, even a few dozen meters probably felt like a mile.

I nodded and set down my bag. It contained the frozen dumplings. Damn it, what had I been thinking? Frozen dumplings that I couldn’t even cook or heat up. I should have grabbed hot bars or bread, like the girls did.

“Here, take this.”

I pulled out the dumplings and offered them to the girls. They seemed too relieved to respond.

Just then, someone emerged from a room. A hunched-over old woman.

“Oh, Ye-eun, So-eun. I told you not to go out.”

Her eyes widened as she saw me.

Ye-eun said, “He saved us and brought us back.”

The old woman looked at me, her face crumpling, and then she dropped to her knees. “Oh, thank you, sir. These girls weren’t back by nightfall, and I was so worried. The police wouldn’t even answer the phone. I was so worried sick. Thank you, sir.”

I shook my head. “It was nothing.”

My stomach growled loudly.

…Damn it.

I couldn’t control that.

Ye-eun quickly got to her feet.

“I’ll make dinner. So-eun, come help me.”

“Yes, hurry up and make something. Oh, thank you, sir. Thank you so much.”

So-eun got up, still groggy, and picked up the dumplings. Our eyes met. Hmm, she looked young. She definitely resembled Ye-eun.

She gave me a small bow. She seemed incredibly shy. She hadn’t said a word to me yet. Was she intimidated by men?

The old woman urged me to come in.

I took off my shoes and sat on the floor. The house… felt like an old person lived here. The dark brown furniture looked like it had been handcrafted decades ago, and a rather unimpressive ink painting hung on the wall. It was exactly the kind of house you’d expect a middle-class elderly person to live in.

“My son and his wife live downstairs. They went on a trip to Japan, but I can’t get in touch with them. How about you, sir? Is your family alright?”

The old woman was being nosy.

I shook my head.

“My home is far away. I can’t reach them.”

The old woman’s face fell, and she sighed deeply.

“Oh dear… what in the world is happening? How did the world become like this? Huh? KBS isn’t working. Neither is MBC. The only channel that’s working is SBS, and all they show is the news. And every news report is just horrifying.”

Oh. There were still broadcasting stations operating? The SBS building must have been relatively safe.

“SBS is working? What are they saying on the news?”

I hoped there was news about the SWAT team or the military being deployed.

The old woman shook her head.

“The reporters are trapped in the building. They can’t go outside. The reporters who are hiding are sending in what they see, but thousands of people are running through the streets like it’s a protest, what’s going to happen to the world…”

…Thousands of people running through the streets like a protest?

…She must have been talking about the human beasts. If they were roaming in packs of hundreds or thousands…

…Shit, this was more dangerous than I thought. Even with Accelerate, I couldn’t take on thousands.

Ah… shit…

I smelled something delicious. It seemed like they were making dumpling soup with the dumplings I’d given them.

My stomach growled again.

“Ah… sorry. I haven’t eaten all day.”

The old woman patted my shoulder. “Oh, don’t worry about it. We have plenty of food. You brought my granddaughters back safely; that’s more than enough. Eat your fill. Do you have anywhere to go after this? You said your home is far away.”

“Ah… yes. It’s far. I need to take a plane.”

Ye-eun, who had been listening to our conversation from the kitchen, spoke, her voice a bit brighter now, “Grandma, he can stay in the rooftop room for a while, right? It’s empty now.”

The old woman nodded. “Of course, he can stay. Who would say no? Sir, finish your meal, and I’ll bring you the key. Just wait here. Goodness, it’s just us women in the house right now.”

The old woman got up and shuffled out of the room.

Hmm…

This was a strange situation. Offering food and shelter to a complete stranger?

It was unheard of. But these were desperate times. They were scared, being alone with only women in a situation where people-eating monsters roamed the streets. The monsters outside were more terrifying than letting a stranger into their home. That must have been it. Being alone in the room helped me clear my head. I needed to level up. And I needed a place to stay until I could use Accelerate more frequently. To do that, I couldn’t afford to have a bad relationship with these people. Especially since they were all women, I needed to be extra careful.

Just then, I heard a knock at the door.

So-eun, who had been in the kitchen, hurried to the door and whispered something. Then, she opened the door. A short, young woman with glasses entered.

“Something smells good. Are you eating?”

So-eun whispered something to the woman. The woman glanced at me, her eyes widening in appraisal. Then, she bowed.

“Hello.”

I bowed in return. “Hello.”

This was awkward.

Ye-eun called me, indicating that dinner was ready.

Sigh…

Being the only man among all these women was uncomfortable, but I was hungry, so…

I sat at the table, and it suddenly felt crowded. The old woman, Ye-eun, So-eun, the woman with glasses, and me. We sat around the table, each with a bowl of dumpling soup.

“Thank you for the food.”

…Five people? That meant there were four of them before me.

“I heard you saved Ye-eun and So-eun. What do you do?”

It was the woman with glasses. I shrugged and spooned up some dumpling soup.

“I’m a college student. I just finished my military service and came back for the new semester, and then… this happened.”

“Oh, you’re a college student. What’s your major?”

She didn’t ask which university. Well, there was only one university in this neighborhood.

“Journalism. But I haven’t really learned anything yet. I retook the entrance exam, got accepted, and then went straight to the military.”

“Oh, I see. How old are you?”

“Twenty-five.”

The woman with glasses nodded. “I go there too. Mechanical Engineering. I’m twenty-three, Ahn Soo-hyun. Nice to meet you.”

She extended her hand, and I instinctively shook it.

…Wait.

“Han Sung-hoon. …Mechanical Engineering? You?”

“It’s rare, right? I’m the only girl in my department.”

Ahn Soo-hyun, the engineering girl with glasses, smiled brightly. She had a cute face when she smiled. Short, slightly chubby, with a large chest, she gave off a warm and approachable vibe.

I smiled back and looked at Ye-eun and So-eun. Ahn Soo-hyun seemed to notice and said, “Haven’t you introduced yourselves yet? Goodness. That’s Ye-eun. She’s twenty-four and works as a Japanese language instructor at a hagwon. And this is her younger sister, So-eun. She’s a senior in high school, studying for the college entrance exam.”

“Ah.”

Ye-eun and So-eun bowed again. I returned the gesture.

A Japanese language instructor, a high school senior, and a mechanical engineering student. Quite a diverse group.

I nodded and continued devouring the dumpling soup. Damn, this was good. It tasted amazing after not eating for so long.

Good. I didn’t know how to cook anyway, and now I had a place to eat and sleep. A place to level up. A base of operations to become stronger. This was my base camp now.

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