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 shelf.

I didn’t know how many human beasts were outside. I carefully lifted it and moved it to the side without making a sound, then slowly opened the door.

Four bodies lay sprawled in front of the door.

Four.

If four people had died from having their heads pierced, there should have been a massive amount of blood.

A pool of it.

But the floor was clean.

The image of the police officer at the station, his neck bitten, blood gushing out, flashed through my mind. That’s how much blood a healthy body with a working heart and circulating blood would lose.

But four people had died with their heads pierced, and the floor was clean?

…It really had nothing to do with the heart.

It was the head.

“Let’s go, So-eun. Get up.”

Ye-eun was helping her sister.

What about the bodies on the floor?

Ha… shit.

I grabbed the checkered shirt guy by the scruff of his neck and dragged him inside, behind the counter.

I grabbed the high schooler by his uniform and, grunting, dragged him inside too.

Two bodies were still lying in front of the door, but I could see the floor now.

“Hoo, hoo.”

I was out of breath from the exertion.

Ye-eun and So-eun slowly walked out.

“…I-Is it okay to go out now…?”

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

“Be careful of the floor. Don’t fall.”

I held the pipe spear and walked towards the entrance of the convenience store.

Shattered glass crunched under my feet.

It was dawn.

Quiet.

It would be another hour or two before sunrise.

Even though the world was in this state, the streetlights were still dutifully illuminating the streets.

They must have been automated.

We entered the alley next to the convenience store without making a sound.

Quiet.

Silent.

Not even the usual sounds of cats or barking dogs.

Bathed in the dawn streetlights, we walked down the alley.

An alley lined with two-story houses.

Ye-eun, who was following me, tapped me on the shoulder.

Ah, this was it.

A low brick wall topped with sharp iron bars, just an ordinary two-story house.

A black iron gate.

Ye-eun entered a code, and the lock clicked open with a whirr.

Even this shabby house had an automatic lock.

Was this a neighborhood with a lot of burglaries?

After the girls went inside, I followed them through the gate.

There was a staircase along the stone wall in the small yard, and two doors on the first floor.

It seemed like two families lived here.

The girls went up the stairs.

Their house must be on the second floor.

Ye-eun took my hand.

What?

Ye-eun whispered,

“Have… dinner… with us.”

…Hmm.

It was hard to refuse.

I had only eaten one cream-filled red bean bun in almost two days.

I nodded and followed her inside.

She opened the door with a key, and the scent of someone else’s home wafted out.

A slightly old scent.

The smell of an elderly person?

Click.

As the door closed, the two girls, seemingly relieved, collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath.

Ye-eun looked at me and bowed.

“Thank you for bringing us back.”

It wasn’t really “bringing them back,” their house was right there.

The third house from the convenience store alley.

Still, in this situation, even a few dozen meters could feel like a long distance.

I nodded and put down my bag.

The dumplings were inside.

Damn it, what was I thinking?

Frozen dumplings that I couldn’t even boil or heat up. Seriously.

It would have been much better if I had grabbed hot bars or bread like these girls did.

“Here, take these.”

I took out the dumplings.

The girls, seemingly drained from relief, didn’t reply.

Just then, someone came out of the main room.

A hunched-over grandmother.

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

Her eyes widened when she saw me.

Ye-eun said,

“He saved us and brought us back.”

The grandmother looked at me, her face crumpled, and she dropped to her knees.

“Oh, thank you, sir. These girls didn’t come back all night, I was so worried. The police wouldn’t even answer the phone, I was so anxious. Thank you, sir.”

I shook my head.

“No, it was nothing.”

Growl, gurgle.

…Damn it.

That wasn’t something I could control.

Ye-eun quickly stood up.

“I’ll make you some food. So-eun, help me.”

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

So-eun got up groggily and picked up the dumplings.

Our eyes met.

Hmm, she looked young.

She definitely resembled Ye-eun.

She bowed to me.

She was quite shy. She hadn’t said a word to me yet.

Was she uncomfortable around men?

The grandmother urged me to come in.

I took off my shoes and sat on the floor.

The house was…

It had an old-fashioned feel.

The dark brown furniture looked like it had been handcrafted decades ago, and a simple ink painting hung on the wall.

It was exactly the kind of house a middle-class elderly person would 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 grandmother was being nosy.

I shook my head.

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

The grandmother’s face crumpled, and she sighed deeply.

“Oh dear… What is happening to the world? Why has it become like this? The KBS isn’t working. Neither is MBC. Only SBS is working, but they’re only showing the news. And all the news is terrible.”

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 would be news about the SWAT team or the military being deployed.

The grandmother shook her head.

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

…Running through the streets like a demonstration?

…She must have been talking about the human beasts.

If those things were swarming in the hundreds or thousands…

…Shit, this was more dangerous than I thought.

Even with Accelerate, I couldn’t handle thousands of them.

Ah… shit…

A delicious smell wafted through the air.

It seemed like they were making dumpling soup with the dumplings I gave them.

Growl, gurgle.

“Ah… I’m sorry. I haven’t eaten all day.”

The grandmother patted my shoulder.

“Oh, don’t worry. We’ll feed you. You brought my granddaughters back, that’s more than enough. Have some food, and then do you have anywhere to go? You said your home is far away.”

“Ah… yes. It is. I need to take a plane.”

Ye-eun, who had been listening to our conversation from the kitchen, spoke in a slightly brighter voice,

“Grandma. Can he stay in our rooftop room for a while? No one’s using it right now.”

The grandmother nodded.

“Of course, who would mind? Sir, have some food, and I’ll bring you the key. Just wait a moment. Sigh, there are only women in the house right now.”

The grandmother awkwardly got up and left the room.

Hmm…

Right.

This was an absurd situation.

Giving food and shelter to a strange man they had just met?

Unthinkable.

With man-eating monsters running rampant, they must have felt unsafe being alone as women.

The monsters outside were more frightening than letting a strange man into their house.

That must be it.

Being alone in the room helped me organize my thoughts.

First, I had to level up.

I needed a place to stay until I had enough uses of Accelerate. To do that, I couldn’t have a strained relationship with the people living here.

Moreover, it was all women, so I had to be even more careful.

Just then, I heard a knock on the door.

So-eun, who was in the kitchen, scurried to the door and whispered something.

Then she opened the door.

A short, young woman with glasses entered the house.

“Something smells delicious. Are you eating?”

So-eun whispered something to the woman.

The woman glanced at me in the main room and widened her eyes, as if observing me.

Then she bowed.

“Hello.”

I bowed back.

“Ah, yes.”

This was awkward.

Ye-eun called me, just as the meal seemed ready.

Hoo…

It was a bit uncomfortable being the only man among all these women, but I was hungry, so…

As I sat at the table, it felt quite crowded.

The grandmother, Ye-eun, So-eun, the woman with glasses, and me.

We sat around the table and each received a bowl of dumpling soup.

“Thank you for the food.”

…Five people?

That meant there were four before me.

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

It was the woman with glasses.

I shrugged as I ate the dumpling soup.

“I’m a university student. I finished my military service and came here to go back to school, but I woke up to this.”

“Ah, you’re a university 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 learned anything yet. I retook the entrance exam, got accepted, and then went straight to the military.”

“Ah, I see. How old are you, then?”

“Twenty-five.”

The woman with glasses nodded and said,

“I go there too. Mechanical Engineering. 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 mean Mechanical Engineering?”

“It’s rare, right? I’m the only girl in our 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 had a somewhat comforting presence.

I smiled back and looked at Ye-eun and So-eun.

The woman with glasses, noticing my gaze, said,

“Haven’t you introduced yourselves yet? Goodness. That’s Ye-eun unnie, twenty-four. She’s working as a Japanese instructor at a hagwon. And this is her younger sister, a senior in high school getting ready for the college entrance exam.”

“Ah.”

Ye-eun and So-eun bowed again.

I bowed back.

A Japanese instructor, a high school senior, and an engineering student.

Quite a variety.

I nodded and devoured the dumpling soup. Ah, this was so delicious.

Eating after starving was pure bliss.

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 for becoming stronger.

From now on, this was my base camp.

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