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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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The streetlights came on.
It felt like sunset just a moment ago, but as I closed the gate and looked ahead, all I could see was the night sky.
Looking back, the sunset was fading.
Hmm.
It would be completely dark soon.
Quiet.
Silent.
Not even the sound of a dog barking.
I walked towards the convenience store.
According to the map, I had to cross the main road and go a few blocks to the left, where I would find McDonald’s, a hair salon, and the hardware store.
There were also academies and clinics, each occupying their own buildings, but those weren’t my concern right now.
I arrived at the convenience store.
“…”
Should I take the baton…?
I stood there for a moment, looking around.
Quiet.
The human beasts hadn’t disappeared. They were somewhere. Probably sprawled out somewhere, pretending to be dead.
“Hoo…”
I was feeling peckish, so I should grab something to eat first.
Inside the convenience store, bodies were piled up on the floor by the counter and in the storage room.
The bodies I had stabbed to death.
An unpleasant sight.
Crunching on broken glass, I looked at the shelves.
Triangular kimbap…
Hmm.
They should still be edible.
I should eat the ones with the shortest expiration dates first.
I didn’t know when this situation would end, or if it even would, so I had to be careful with food.
I should save the ones that could last and eat them later.
No one seemed likely to steal them anyway.
I grabbed the triangular kimbap from the shelves and stuffed them into my bag.
I took a 500ml bottle of water from the refrigerator and put it in the utility pocket of my Adidas backpack.
It was called a utility pocket, but it was just a rubber net on the outside of the bag.
I peeled open a kimbap and took a bite as I left the convenience store.
I could leave the baton there, it wouldn’t matter.
No one would take it.
The pipe spear would be enough.
Crunch.
Munch, munch.
…The rice was a little hard.
Damn it.
I really should eat the ones close to expiring first.
Crunch.
I munched on the kimbap as I walked towards the main road.
…Was it okay to just walk onto the road…?
I hadn’t thought about it before, but I had to be careful.
Were any of them hiding under the cars?
I crouched down, practically lying on the ground, and looked under the cars with the kimbap in my mouth.
Hmm…
I didn’t see anything from here.
Where were all the human beasts?
I stood up and took another bite of the kimbap.
Crunch.
Holding the spear, I carefully stepped onto the road.
I had to be careful with every step.
I had Accelerate, but I couldn’t be reckless.
I only had one life.
Crunch.
Munch, munch. I finished the kimbap.
My stomach felt a little full.
Gripping the pipe spear with both hands, I crossed the road.
A gentle breeze blew.
Aaaaagh-
A scream carried by the wind.
Someone had been attacked somewhere far away.
It sounded like a man…
How did he get attacked?
Was he out looking for food?
“…Hoo…”
They were there.
Here too.
Just because I couldn’t see them, didn’t mean the human beasts were gone.
I crossed the road.
Fortunately, nothing happened.
A brightly lit street where the main road curved and formed a three-way intersection, lined with streetlights.
This looked even more dangerous than the road.
There were alleys between the buildings here, and I couldn’t see what was inside them until I was right there.
Keeping an eye on my surroundings, I cautiously walked towards McDonald’s. After McDonald’s, there was the hair salon.
And then the hardware store.
“…!”
I stopped.
Chills ran down my spine.
…I knew it.
I finally figured out where all the human beasts were hiding.
A large residential and commercial complex.
The parking lot inside.
A dark, unlit parking lot.
I heard sounds coming from there.
Grrrr… grrrr…
It wasn’t just one.
I didn’t know how many.
But there were a lot.
It sounded like dozens of people snoring softly.
I leaned against the building and peeked towards the parking lot.
My heart pounded.
…Holy shit…
At the entrance to the underground parking lot, human beasts were standing like a crowd waiting for a popular restaurant to open.
There were probably even more of them inside the parking lot.
Why were they there?
…Did they prefer dark places…?
But come to think of it, they appeared in broad daylight.
They chased and bit people in the middle of the day.
Sunlight didn’t seem to affect them.
They just preferred the dark.
That was it.
“…Hoo… hoo…”
I carefully turned around, breathing quietly, and leaned against the wall.
…Could I pass by safely?
If I didn’t go this way, how would I get to McDonald’s…?
I saw the underpass.
This was it.
I’d go through the underpass and come out on the other side.
The underpass exit happened to be near McDonald’s, since it was an intersection.
I carefully walked towards the underpass, grabbed the railing, and turned.
And then I stopped.
Grrrr… grrrr…
“…”
The underpass was also full of them.
These… these bastards, the underpass was full of them too!
Damn it, the underpass was well-lit!
Why?!
…It had nothing to do with… light.
Should I assume they were just crammed into any place they could find?
I looked around.
Numerous buildings.
Parking lots within the buildings.
Underground passages.
…They were all dungeons.
Shit…
I broke out in a cold sweat.
I slowly backed away from the underpass.
Right.
Every single building, every single underpass, was a dungeon.
I got it.
The main road was actually the safer place to walk. Shit, great. Walking alone on a brightly lit street, I’d be a sitting duck.
I had managed to cross the street by hiding between cars, but walking in a straight line on the road was another matter.
The cars were stopped here because of the traffic lights, but up ahead, it was just an open road.
The entire road wasn’t jammed with cars.
Some sections were blocked, and some sections were open.
…But I had no choice.
Passing through the building parking lots or the underpass was too risky.
If I had to take some risks, walking on the road was better.
“Hoo…”
Gripping the pipe spear, I stepped back onto the road and slowly started walking.
At least there was one good thing.
These things didn’t roam the streets.
If they were holed up somewhere, I just had to avoid those places, right?
How many could there be in a small store? I could just take care of them and grab what I needed.
“Hoo…”
I walked cautiously, keeping an eye on my surroundings.
Even just walking like this seemed to consume a lot of stamina. I was already drenched in sweat.
I must have reeked, shit.
I didn’t know how much I had sweated since yesterday.
Kyaaaaa-
A woman’s scream echoed in the distance.
It was so faint that it quickly disappeared into the air.
Survivors who had made it through the first and second days of the apocalypse were being picked off, one by one.
Thump- thump-
I couldn’t do anything about those people dying. I just had to focus on my own task.
I arrived at McDonald’s.
Looking at McDonald’s from the middle of the road…
Oh, they were having a rib burger promotion.
“…”
I couldn’t go in.
It looked like there were at least ten of them inside.
Including the second floor, there were probably dozens.
They were just standing there, swaying slightly, they looked almost human… those damn human beasts.
…There were no more cars.
This was the last stretch where I could hide.
…Shit, let’s go.
The hardware store wasn’t going to come to me just because I was hiding behind cars.
I took a deep breath and slowly started walking.
A few steps further, and the hair salon in the next building came into view. Shit, it was the same situation there.
Hairdressers and middle-aged women getting their hair done, young women, all covered in blood, just standing there blankly.
It looked like there were about ten of them there too.
…How many were in the hardware store?
Shit, it would be a problem if there were dozens of them.
“…!”
A woman in the hair salon looked at me.
Or so it seemed.
Was she really looking at me?
I slowly continued walking.
Staring intently at the woman.
Her head slowly turned towards me.
Her eyes were fixed on me.
S…She was definitely looking at me.
The woman slowly took a step.
I also took a step.
My heart pounded.
Thump-
The woman lightly bumped into the glass.
I kept walking without stopping.
Soon, the hair salon’s glass window shrunk and disappeared from my view. Even then, the woman continued to stare at me.
“…Ha…”
The woman’s actions seemed to say, “What’s that?” as if she wasn’t sure if she saw me or not.
I didn’t know if her eyesight was bad, or if becoming a human beast had affected her long-distance vision.
But…
If I had been a little closer.
She would have probably run, smashed the window, and charged at me. Then the other dozens would have roared and joined the chase.
Even with Accelerate, I wouldn’t be able to make it back to the boarding house from here. I would have ended up leading those human beasts back there.
…Then everyone would have died.
…The house…
I had to reinforce the house.
Board up the windows, do something about the stone wall, make it safer.
I’d have to talk to Soo-hyun when I got back.
The hardware store came into view.
“Hoo… hoo…”
Holy shit.
My heart was racing.
Gripping the pipe spear, I crossed the road and walked towards the hardware store.
The road was quiet.
The street was quiet.
But this place was teeming with human beasts.
Damn it, I was already drenched in sweat.
My whole body was damp.
Keeping an eye on my surroundings, I entered the hardware store.
Faucets, showerheads, outlets, and power strips were hanging from the shelves.
The lights were on.
The door was open.
Maybe because it was summer.
How many of them were inside?
I held the spear in front of me and slowly stepped inside.
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