I’m the Only One with Powers in the Apocalypse – Chapter 13

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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I took a step inside the hardware store.

A cute little chime hung above the door.

I had to be careful with this door.

If I bumped it, the chime would ring.

The counter next to the door was empty.

The narrow hardware store was almost completely filled with wall displays of tools, from tweezers to monkey wrenches, and shelves stacked with various types of tape, batteries, and other items.

It was so cramped that it was difficult for even one person to pass through.

Why was it so narrow?

It made it hard to see.

I slowly walked between the shelves, checking each aisle and keeping an eye on the outside.

I had to be careful.

Huh.

There was another doorway next to the counter.

The lights were off in there.

Why?

I looked up at the ceiling; the lightbulb was broken.

…Not good…

I cautiously took a step.

Grrrr… grrrr…

“…!”

There it was.

Inside, where the lightbulb was broken!

Should I go to the left of the shelf and along the left wall to get there?

Or should I go to the right and go behind the counter?

I had to choose.

I couldn’t just grab what I needed and leave the human beast there.

If it attacked me from behind while I was picking something up, I would be caught off guard.

I had to take care of it first.

Which way should I go?

…It didn’t attack me when I came in.

That meant it couldn’t see me from the counter area.

My heart pounded.

I slowly inhaled and retraced my steps.

Don’t touch the tools hanging on the wall.

Carefully.

Each step felt like an eternity.

All my attention was focused on that dark space.

Thanks to the lights on this side, it wasn’t completely dark over there, but the heavy shadows created an eerie atmosphere.

My heart pounded.

I thought I could hear it beating.

I took another step closer.

…I could see them.

Electrical wires and screws were scattered on the floor.

And two people were lying face down there.

Grrrr… grrrr…

At first glance, they looked dead.

They weren’t dead.

They were just lying there.

Some of them stood, and some of them lay down.

I didn’t know the difference.

Maybe they lay down if there was space to lie down?

…No way.

There were those lying down and those standing, it must have been random. How could I know what they were thinking?

Then the ones I saw on my way here… meant there were more of them inside than I could see.

…This was driving me crazy, shit.

Thinking that, I gripped the spear with both hands and raised it.

Tap. Clang-

Shit!

The spear hit the door!

The chime rang!

“Kraw?!”

Two figures sprang up from the darkness!

Too close!

I couldn’t dodge!

I couldn’t escape!

Holy shit, whatever!

I charged at them.

The figures, spotting me, roared and reached out.

Shit, Accelerate!

“Kaaa—”

They slowed down! It was dark! I couldn’t see their faces!

But those shapes were definitely heads!

I gripped the spear with both hands and thrust it into the head with all my might.

Crack!

The horrifying sensation of piercing something hard and then ripping through something soft transmitted through my hands.

I yanked the spear out and thrust it with all my might towards the other head.

Squish!

“-a–urk!”

Thud! Crash!

The two human beasts immediately fell forward. One of them hit the counter with a loud crash.

“Huff, huff, huff!”

That was loud.

I immediately turned around.

If anything came, I had to escape immediately.

“Ha… ha… ha…”

My breathing was loud.

I couldn’t hear anything else.

Silence.

…That was a relief.

“Ha… hoo…”

One level per kill.

Ha… shit.

At least I was leveling up quickly.

I stood there, focusing on any sounds.

If there were more inside, I would hear something.

I waited for a moment, but I could only hear my own breathing.

…Good.

Looking down, I saw the body with its head impaled on my pipe spear.

Its neck was almost completely twisted from being skewered on the spear.

…A woman.

The other one was a man.

The hardware store owners?

…No.

They couldn’t be a couple.

One of them must have been infected and run in here.

The other one, who had been guarding the store, must have been bitten.

I didn’t know which one was the owner.

I stepped on the woman’s head, which was impaled on the spear.

And pulled the spear out.

Splat!

The spear came loose with a sickening sound.

Damn it.

It was sticky with blood and hair.

I wouldn’t be able to clean this, would I?

I cautiously looked around the hardware store.

It reminded me of those zombie dramas I used to watch.

Someone would go into a store after clearing out a few zombies, happily gathering supplies, and then suddenly get bitten and die by a zombie that popped out of nowhere.

I would never become one of those people.

Gripping the spear with both hands, I walked around the store, staying alert.

Nothing.

Definitely nothing.

There was nowhere for them to hide.

Just walls, shelves filled with tools, and two bodies lying on the floor. That was it.

“Ha…”

I was relieved.

Shit.

Now I could finally look around.

First, the machete…

…Not there.

Shit, there was no way a machete would be in a small neighborhood hardware store like this.

It was a tool mainly used for cutting trees and bushes, and this was the middle of a city.

There were no trees or bushes to cut.

Was there anything else I could use as a weapon…?

There were plenty of wrenches, monkey wrenches, and pliers, but fewer bladed tools than I expected.

…!

Shit!

F…Found it!

There were only useless things like wire cutters, showerheads, and electrical wires on the brighter side, but as I moved into the darker area, it was hanging right there on the wall!

An axe!

A big axe and a small axe!

The big one looked like it was over a meter long!

“Hoo… whoa!”

I was so happy I could barely breathe.

I clenched my fists in excitement, then looked around. Silence.

Good.

Let’s grab them.

The small axe looked like a tomahawk.

I didn’t know why something like this would be in a hardware store, but if there was no machete, shit, there had to be something like this.

It wouldn’t be a hardware store otherwise!

Ah, I was so happy.

I grabbed the axes and stuffed them into my bag, then picked up the large axe with both hands.

Heavy.

“Hoo…”

A satisfied smile spread across my face.

This weight.

With the right angle and swing, the centrifugal force would drive the blade deep into the target.

Perfect.

I hadn’t noticed it earlier because it was dark, but in the corner, I saw an electric weed whacker. It looked like a vacuum cleaner with rotating blades at the end.

…That wouldn’t be a good weapon, would it?

I’d used one before while mowing the lawn, it was quite heavy, and the noise would attract every single one of them in the vicinity.

No good.

I was still weak.

I couldn’t go around making a racket with such an attention-grabbing machine.

I had to be careful.

I had a 1-meter long axe.

And four tomahawks.

These small axes…

I wanted to hang them on my waist.

Would that work?

Hmm… I didn’t have a belt…

I looked down at the pipe spear.

My belt…

Now that I had axes, I didn’t really need this awkward pipe spear, did I?

I unscrewed the bolts and removed the belt.

As I put the belt back on, I looked outside. I didn’t know how long I’d been here.

It was just getting dark when I left the boarding house, so it must still be a while before midnight.

I fastened the belt and attached two tomahawks to either side of my waist.

With the blades facing upwards, they hung quite nicely. The problem was, shit, they were uncomfortable.

I felt something pressing against both sides of my pelvis.

Damn it, it looked cool, but it was so uncomfortable!

Hoo.

I had to endure a little discomfort.

Safety first.

With the large axe in my hand and two tomahawks on my belt, I decided to look around the hardware store some more.

What did Soo-hyun ask me to bring back?

I took out my phone.

[I’m at the hardware store. Do you need anything?]

I waited for a moment, and then a message notification chimed.

Holy shit!

I grabbed my phone and looked outside.

I waited.

No sound.

“Ha…”

Crazy shit…

I had to change it to vibrate.

After changing the settings, I checked the message.

[A welder, or maybe some strong adhesive? And any kind of tools would be good. Oh, and if they have any large batteries, could you bring some back?]

…Large batteries?

[Why batteries?]

The reply came a while later.

[The news isn’t working anymore. There are hardly any updates. The power plants seem to be working, but we can’t be sure. I hope this situation gets resolved, but if it doesn’t, the power might go out eventually.]

…I…

I see…

Electricity…

Wait.

[Then what about water?]

[The water is still working, but if the power goes out, the water will probably stop too. The water treatment plants need electricity to purify the water and supply tap water.]

…Right…

Soo-hyun was right.

Electricity and water…

Important.

[Okay. My bag is small, so I can’t bring back too much.]

[Okay, be careful coming back.]

…Hoo…

My phone battery was now at 14%.

14%…

If there was no electricity, I wouldn’t be able to charge this.

Then I wouldn’t be able to contact Mom and Dad.

Or my damn sister.

…I hoped they were safe.

I found some batteries in a dark corner.

The largest one was bigger than my two fists combined. I tried to lift it, and shit! I almost cursed.

Crazy, this was fucking heavy.

Batteries were heavy, though.

Ah, shit!

I grunted and managed to stuff it into my bag.

I hoped the bag wouldn’t rip.

I grabbed a few tools, some tape, and, just in case, some wire and electrical cords. My bag became heavy.

“Ha…”

This was heavy, shit…

It felt like it weighed over 20 kilos.

It reminded me of running with a full combat load, damn it.

I had been in the hardware store for a while.

It felt like about an hour.

Let’s go back.

I picked up the bag, slung it over my shoulder, and stood up.

“Ugh…”

I felt like I was in the army again.

Damn it.

With the heavy bag on my back and the axe in my hand, I left the hardware store.

I carefully walked towards the nearest car on the road.

The hair salon bothered me.

Was that crazy bitch still staring at me?

…Thankfully, she had her back to me now.

Nothing happened until I was hidden behind a car.

I was carefully making my way back towards the convenience store.

“Sob, gasp, sob! Uwaa…”

A terrified voice.

What?!

I looked up from between the cars.

A young man.

No, a young boy.

A middle schooler at most.

He was running frantically.

And behind him.

“Grrrr! Kraw!”

A young woman was chasing him.

He was going to get caught!

“Ugh!”

Looking back as he ran, he tripped and fell.

He twisted his leg badly as he fell.

He was too scared to run properly.

“Sob! Aaagh!”

“Kaagh!”

The woman instantly pounced on him.

“Aaaaagh! Gurgle…!”

A scream echoed through the air.

His neck… was bitten.

“Hoo…”

I had been watching the whole thing.

I knew he was going to get caught.

I waited, watching everything unfold.

Crunch! Thud!

The sound of flesh being torn reached my ears.

I slowly walked towards the woman who was biting the boy. Quietly, carefully.

The woman’s back was facing me.

She was enjoying her meal.

I raised the axe.

Bitch, moving her head around while biting…!

Stop moving your fucking head!

Here goes, bitch!

Accelerate!

“Kraw-a–a—”

There.

I swung the axe down onto the woman’s head with all my might.

Thwack!

The large axe blade split her head open in one swift motion.

Done.

I hooked my arm around the axe handle and pulled it up with all my might.

Thud! The axe came loose.

“-Agh!”

Accelerate wore off.

The woman collapsed face-first.

“Gurgle… grrrr…”

The middle schooler.

His neck was torn, and blood was pouring out.

He was gurgling and spitting blood.

And he was looking at me.

With pleading eyes.

…Look.

I saw you being chased from over there.

I let you get bitten.

Because I didn’t want to put myself in danger by helping you.

I raised the axe.

The middle schooler reached out to me with trembling hands.

He seemed to be asking for help.

But you were bitten.

Just…

Die.

I swung the axe down with all my might.

“Ha!”

Thwack!

The axe split his head open.

Blood splattered.

I closed my eyes.

“…Huff… huff…”

I gritted my teeth, slowly stood up, and walked forward.

I pulled the axe out with a grunt.

…Let’s go back.

To the boarding house.

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