I Gained Powers as the World Ended – Chapter 110

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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“Are you sure you’ll be okay? By yourself?”

“I’m fine. Just make sure to lock the windows while I’m gone.”

I left the special forces members behind and slipped on my shoes. Sung Ga-yeon approached me, holding out a wireless earphone.

“You can at least keep us updated, right? We’ll all be listening on speaker. If anything happens, we’ll provide immediate support.”

Her face held a stubborn refusal to be denied. I glanced down at the earphone, chuckled, and took one, putting it in my ear.

“Just one should be fine, right?”

Sung Ga-yeon handed me her phone. I punched in my number and gave it back to her.

“I’m off.”

I left the house and got on the elevator. Honestly, people worried too much. Even though I said I was fine. Especially Sung Ga-yeon, who had seen me fight.

…But to be honest, I was a little nervous too. A dog the size of a house and a cat bigger than a tiger.

Ding

As soon as I got off on the first floor, a call came from Sung Ga-yeon.

“Honestly.”

I accepted the call and stuffed the phone in my pocket.

“Yes.”

“I’m putting you on speaker now. I’ve fully charged the battery, so the call should last for four hours.”

“Alright.”

I shrugged, readjusted my duffel bag, and started walking towards Dongchang-ri.

The sun had already set, the evening sky a bluish hue with no sign of the afterglow. Walking alone down the empty streets felt eerie. I would have felt more at ease if I had heard a dog barking somewhere. A normal dog, not a monstrous one.

“Sung-hoon. Are you sure you don’t want us to wait nearby? We can head out now.”

“I’m fine. Nothing will happen.”

Don’t come. It was better to fight alone. If they were around and became a target for the beasts, it would be a hassle to fight while protecting them. And I couldn’t just leave them to die.

I looked up at the sky. One side of the sky was night, the other, evening. A strangely beautiful sight that could only be seen at this time. It even felt elegant, combined with the wide fields. But enjoying the scenery would have to wait.

Feeling rather leisurely, I left the downtown area and continued walking north, and soon it was night. I could hear someone’s voice through the earphone.

It’s okay. Nothing’s wrong. Don’t worry. It’s just taking longer than expected because things are different, blah blah blah.

It must have been the special forces member with the new girlfriend.

I chuckled to myself and kept walking until a house appeared. It was a detached house with a stone wall. Such houses were scattered throughout the neighborhood. The streetlights were sparse, barely illuminating the ground beneath my feet. It was just an ordinary rural village.

…I could see why people were so afraid. With the houses so far apart, you couldn’t help a neighbor even if something happened. You might not even know that something had happened. The number of households seemed to be quite large. Although scattered, the village was quite large. Was that why so many had survived? Densely populated areas had been wiped out in an instant. Like subways or supermarkets.

I walked slowly across the village. I could see the river in the distance. …Something was squirming. Like a swarm of worms… I squinted and looked at the riverbank. …It wasn’t a swarm of worms. The human beasts that had been submerged in the river were crawling onto the land. They didn’t die when they fell into the water, but they definitely slowed down. The human beasts were squirming and crawling up onto this side and the other side of the river. For some reason, they were flailing their arms like mudskippers and couldn’t get up properly. The water definitely seemed to be a significant debuff to their mobility.

“……”

I walked slowly, my hand on the hilt of my sword. …The bow would be good here. The arrows had regenerated, and then regenerated some more, until my quiver was overflowing. I had brought thirty-five. With the regenerated ones, I had almost seventy. If they had been replicating at a rate of one per minute, people would have noticed, but since they only replicated at a rate of three per hour, if an arrow fell out of the quiver, they would just assume it had come loose. The idea of an object replicating was nonsensical, and people tended to rationalize strange occurrences within a logical framework they could understand. Still, they would find out someday. That I had special abilities. My hypermarket group and the special forces members, including Sung Ga-yeon, seemed to have some idea.

I drew my bow from its case. Twang And I unzipped the duffel bag slung over my shoulder. I couldn’t bring my usual Adidas bag on this trip. Since the purpose was to secure weapons, we had all brought large duffel bags, 1.3 meters long, to carry as much as possible. And this duffel bag was perfect for holding arrows that were less than a meter long.

I took out an Ingram MAC-10 magazine from the open duffel bag and put one in the front and back pockets of the leather strap on my thigh. The magazine pouch Soo-hyun had attached to my thigh strap after I got the Ingram MAC-10s. The lifting belt too. I didn’t know how I would have carried all this gear without Soo-hyun. I had to give her a big hug when I got back.

After preparing the magazines, I drew an arrow from the quiver on my waist. Rustle. The wooden shafts of the arrows rubbed against each other, making a slight noise. I knocked the arrow and let my arms hang loosely, looking ahead. The squirming, crawling human beasts.

…Should I snipe them now? …No. Let’s wait a little longer. I could kill the human beasts anytime.

“Sung-hoon. Your breathing has slowed. Where are you now?” It was Sung Ga-yeon.

I said quietly, “I’m standing about fifty meters from the riverbank.”

“Are the animals out?” Sung Ga-yeon’s voice was slightly tense.

I shook my head. “Not yet. But the ones that fell into the water are crawling out again.”

The sound of men whispering. Too quiet to make out what they were saying.

Sung Ga-yeon said, “Let me know if anything happens. We’ll be there right away.”

I shook my head. No need to come. “…Alright.”

Just then, I heard a sound. Shoo, shoo. I turned my head. The window of the master bedroom in the detached house next to me. An old man was peeking out, shooing at something. Our eyes met.

The old man said, “Young man. What are you doing there? It’s dangerous. They’re coming out. I’ll open the door for you. Come in. Hurry.”

…This old man was a good person. He was whispering so much that I could barely understand half of what he was saying.

I smiled slightly. “Thank you. I’m fine.”

Growl

I had spoken normally, or perhaps a little louder than usual, and the human beasts must have heard me. That familiar, barking sound. They had reacted to my voice.

I gestured to the old man with my chin. “Close the window and draw the curtains. And don’t make a sound.”

“B-but, young man. Don’t do that. Huh? Come in.”

Hmm. Kindness was good, but it was a hassle. Let’s just leave it. He’d close the window on his own.

I turned my head and looked into the distance. The human beasts were slowly rising to their feet on the land.

Growl

Roar

And mixed in with their sounds, another sound.

Wooooo

A sound like a deep-voiced opera singer holding a long note. Far away. An echo, as if coming from deep within the mountains.

I looked up at the mountains across the river. A large shadow, turned into darkness by the night. There.

Rumble!

At that moment, I heard a sound. The air seemed to tremble. I turned my head. The riverbank beyond the detached house on the other side. A black shadow was attacking the human beasts there.

Crunch, crunch, crack!

It was eating the human beasts, clumsy after crawling out of the water. It was too dark to see clearly. Just a dark shadow. But I could tell it had four legs. And a long tail. …It was big. The human beasts next to it gave me a rough idea of its size. About the size of a one-ton truck. The creature, crunching on a human beast, lifted its head and opened its mouth.

Rumble!

The air trembled. What was that sound? It was familiar… I’d heard it somewhere before… With that question in mind, I slowly raised my knocked bow and aimed at the creature. I must have been clenching my jaw without realizing it. Was I nervous? Damn, it felt like the first day of the apocalypse.

“Phew…”

I took a deep breath and drew back the string.

Whirr

A transparent circle appeared. And in the circle, the giant beast. It began to glow red. The creature whipped its head around. In the darkness, only its two eyes glinted like fireflies.

I was about to release the string…!

It disappeared. …Fast!

Where did it go? Damn it, should I have used Acceleration and shot? I looked around, scanning the area. I couldn’t see it. Just then, the air behind me trembled.

Rumble!

A chill ran down my spine. I spun around instinctively. The roof of the detached house. On it, a giant figure. The creature smashed through the tiles and leaped. Its form rapidly grew larger!

Rumble!

Acceleration!

The gentle breeze turned into a slow, jelly-like substance pushing against the air. I immediately drew back the string and aimed at the creature. It glowed red. At that moment, I realized. This was… a black cat. Its fur was patchy, its vertical pupils were veined with blood, and its mouth was open so wide that it looked like it would tear to its neck. But it was definitely a cat. A cat the size of a truck…!

I released the string. Thwip. I immediately dropped to one knee, grabbed an arrow from my duffel bag, knocked it, and shot.

Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip!

Second activation of Acceleration. The creature was getting closer. I had to dodge! I grabbed my duffel bag and leaped to the side.

Acceleration ended. The monster cat swiped its front paw. At the same time, half a dozen arrows rained down on its eyes, mouth, and head.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!

“Roaaaargh!”

The monster cat collapsed, as if it would shatter the ground, and crashed into the wall. A thunderous crash, and the wall crumbled. I heard a faint scream from inside the house.

“Phew, haa.”

Damn it, that rumbling sound earlier. It was the purring of a cat. I thought it sounded like a helicopter propeller. That thing was a crazy monster. I knelt on one knee and looked at the collapsed wall. I’d shot it right in the head. It had to be dead…

Rustle, thud.

The debris of the collapsed wall moved.

Growl, growl

The creature was slowly lifting its head.

“Sung-hoon? What’s going on? What’s that sound?”

…It had arrows stuck in its head and it wasn’t dead?

I was so flabbergasted that I laughed. “…A cat.”

“…What?”

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