I’m the Only One with Powers in the Apocalypse – Chapter 35

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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Corpses lay scattered inside and around the entrance of McDonald’s.

I carefully stepped over them and walked outside.

A large man, who had been hiding by the car, watching me, slowly stood up.

Come to think of it…

What was his name again?

Hoon?

I think that’s what it was.

“T-Teacher. Th-that was incredible…!”

I smirked and walked towards the road, scanning my surroundings.

It was quiet.

*Kyaaaaagh-*

Screams echoed in the distance, but overall, it was relatively peaceful.

The large man looked at me with an expression bordering on awe.

…How did I appear to him?

I wondered what others saw when I accelerated, stabbed, and moved.

I was curious.

“It’s safe inside now.”

“Yes, Teacher. What should we do now?”

The man nodded obediently and approached me.

I looked at the surrounding stores and said,

“Let’s clear out the bodies from the hardware store and the hair salon and pile them up on the empty road. The sun is setting, and if we continue working, we’ll miss dinner. Let’s just do that much and head back. We can bring more people tomorrow to finish the job.”

“Yes, Teacher. Understood.”

Hmm…

Obedient.

I grabbed two towels from the hair salon, gave one to the man, and wrapped the other around my face. The stench of corpses was overwhelming, and I needed this to be able to move them.

I imagined that a pile of shit, mixed with vinegar and rotten fish, would probably smell similar to the corpses.

Covering our noses and mouths with the towels, we carried the bodies from the hardware store to the road.

It was easier with two people.

The problem was, the corpses had been there for a while, and a disgusting, black liquid was oozing from them.

It wasn’t blood, it was…

I didn’t even want to describe it.

It was just… nauseating.

After moving the bodies, I turned on the faucet in the hardware store bathroom and used a mop to clean the floor.

Even with my nose and mouth covered, the stench was…

It was coming from the liquid.

Disgusting and horrific.

The mangled corpses and the crazed human-beasts were almost… preferable, compared to this smell.

The hardware store smelled a little better after I cleaned the floor.

There was a reason why I was taking such care with this place.

It was for Soohyun, my most valuable worker, the one who had helped me, and would continue to help me, fortify my base.

Soohyun’s comfort was my comfort.

She had been working tirelessly from morning till night, hammering and dismantling everything, turning the boarding house into a fortress, so I had to do this much for her.

I threw the mop, soaked in the disgusting mixture of water and corpse-juice, onto the pile of bodies.

I sighed, removed the towel from my face, threw it onto the pile, and said,

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Yes, Teacher. *Ugh*.”

The large man followed me, gagging.

He had witnessed death, seen pools of blood, and hadn’t vomited, only shown fear.

He had a strong stomach.

And yet, he was gagging now.

That’s how bad the smell of decaying corpses was.

We crossed the road and returned to the boarding house. I took a long, hot shower and threw away my clothes.

I could handle the smell of blood.

But this was… too much.

I gathered everything from the trash can, put it in a bag, tied it up, and threw it in a corner of the rooftop.

“*Sigh*.”

Time for some samgyeopsal.

Dinner.

I couldn’t say I had a hearty appetite.

The women, chattering excitedly about the food they had brought, happily wrapped pieces of samgyeopsal in lettuce leaves, dipping them in ssamjang.

The large man, after some initial hesitation, began devouring the meat, wrapping several pieces at a time in lettuce leaves.

He had a strong stomach, alright.

I, on the other hand…

…*Ugh*.

I ate quickly, then went upstairs to shower again.

When I came out, Soohyun was sitting on my bed, smiling.

“Oppa, you cleaned the hardware store?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you do it for me?”

“Yeah.”

I sighed and sat beside her.

Soohyun looked at me, then smiled.

“Thank you, Oppa.”

“If you’re grateful…”

I removed the towel from my waist.

Soohyun raised an eyebrow, then smirked and bent down.

Her head moved between my legs.

I felt the smooth, wet touch of her tongue and lips.

“*Ahh*…”

That felt good.

Soohyun went downstairs to unpack the things she had brought.

She was amazing.

She had ridden me, her hips moving against mine, until I came inside her. And then, while we showered together, I came in her mouth again.

And she swallowed it. Thankfully.

And after all that, she still had the energy to unpack. She was definitely a hard worker.

Yes.

I needed someone like her.

Yaeun and Soe은 seemed to be helping out as well, and once the newlywed downstairs recovered, she would probably join in, caught up in the atmosphere.

Honestly, I didn’t really care.

I had decided, from the moment I entered this house, that I would leave once I was strong enough.

I would return home and check on my family.

They were probably…

Probably dead.

My friends too.

Either dead or transformed into human-beasts.

But…

…they were my family, my friends.

If they had changed…

…I would have to be the one to end it.

My parents, my sister, my friends.

I couldn’t just leave them like that, snarling and monstrous.

And if they were still alive, somewhere?

…I would protect them.

Anyway, I would be leaving this place eventually, probably soon, and having gotten to know these people, I wanted them to be safe in this fortified house. It would ease my conscience.

Whether I would return or not…

I didn’t know.

If I did, I did. If not, then not.

For now, I had a task to complete.

I lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

“Status.”

Good.

First…

…allocate the points.

The Time Controller specialization was maxed out and flashing, which meant a new specialization was available.

But regardless of the new specialization, I would continue using Acceleration.

And Strength.

I needed more Strength to kill more efficiently.

I allocated 5 points to Mind and 2 points to Strength.

Mind 60, Strength 27.

12 uses of Acceleration. If I aimed carefully, that was enough to kill 27 of them.

Good.

Next…

…that flashing thing.

I touched the Time Controller specialization.

A new message appeared.

…What the…?!

What was this?!

Survival Specialist? What did that even mean?

Shadow Warrior?!

What the hell?!

Wait.

What was that “???” at the bottom?

Why was it unavailable?

…There were no descriptions…

…would touching them provide more information?

I touched the first option.

…?!

The screen disappeared!

Wait, what?!

I didn’t select it!

I just wanted to see the description!

Goddammit!

…Are you…

Fucking…

Kidding me…?

I didn’t select it!

What the hell is this?!

I rubbed my forehead.

“*Sigh*…”

This status window was so inconvenient, so lacking in information. I already knew that.

But this was ridiculous.

Was this some kind of forced purchase?

Like those shady merchants who tricked you into buying things.

“*Ugh*…”

…Calm down.

It was done.

“…Status.”

…Hmm…

Survival Specialist… starting at level 1…

Damn it…

Well, my title had changed.

It seemed to change every time I maxed out a specialization.

Empowered Chosen One…

Whatever.

Not much else had changed.

Intelligence was still unavailable.

Skills…

…Recovery? A passive skill?

I touched it.

…?!

…Wait a… minute.

Increased stat recovery rate?!

Wait.

Let’s do the math.

HP recovery rate – 1 minute 30 seconds per 5 HP.

So, with 30 HP, that’s a 9-minute reduction?

Originally, 1 tick per hour, now 1 tick every 51 minutes?

Stat recovery rate…

A total reduction of 4 minutes and 30 seconds?

Originally, 1 tick every 20 minutes.

So, now 1 tick every 15 minutes and 30 seconds.

…Then…

If I had 100 HP…

HP would recover every 30 minutes,

And stats, every 5 minutes?

From 3 points per hour, to 12 points per hour.

With 60 Mind, and 100 HP, I could fully recharge my stats in just 5 hours.

Even with 120 Mind, it would only take 10 hours.

Right now, it takes 20 hours to recover 60 Mind.

…A very useful passive skill in my current situation.

“…*Sigh*…”

Damn.

I guess I was lucky.

Survival Specialist?

Not bad.

…Wait a minute.

Hold on.

The previous specialization, Time Controller,

That was focused on Acceleration.

A Mind-focused specialization.

Survival Specialist.

This was clearly an HP-focused specialization.

…The other specializations…

Shadow Warrior, Wild Hunter, Space Explorer.

They probably corresponded to other stats.

…Was this for real?

I rubbed my forehead.

“What the actual fuck…”

I might have mostly played RTS games, but I had played RPGs too.

And you usually focused on one stat, not all of them.

Strength for warriors!

Intelligence for mages!

Agility for archers!

That was the golden rule!

Why did I have to raise all of them?!

“Ah, fuck.”

This was the most… well-rounded character build ever.

Only 1 point per level, and I had to distribute it among all my stats?

…No, wait.

Perhaps it was different for new specializations. Maybe I would get 2 points per level!

…No…

That was unlikely…

“*Sigh*…”

This was so frustrating.

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