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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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“Kraw!”
They were coming!
The moment I saw the human beasts opening their jaws and reaching out, I turned and ran.
I burst out of the alley, past the clothing store.
Crash!
A tremendous sound erupted from behind.
The glass side door of the supermarket shattered, sending shards flying.
“Kaaaagh! Kraw!”
They were chasing me!
Shit!
I ran past the Korean medicine clinic.
“Kraw! Kaaaagh!”
They were getting closer!
These damn human beasts were fast!
I was about to pass the rice cake shop when…
[Auto-casting: Accelerate]
“Kya-a–a—a—-”
What?!
Crazy! I didn’t activate it!
That meant they were that close!
…Shit!
I threw the large axe forward and pulled out the two tomahawks from my waist.
Turning around, I saw several human beasts entangled with each other, moving slowly in mid-air right in front of me.
I swung a tomahawk with all my might.
“Hraa!”
Thwack!
The middle-aged woman human beast holding a shopping basket.
A direct hit to the head!
No time to waste!
I swung again with all my might!
Thud!
The supermarket employee wearing an apron.
A direct hit to the top of her head!
Even though they were small, axes were still axes.
But they were only stuck, not embedded deep enough.
Different from the large axe.
I didn’t know if they would die from this, but I didn’t have time to swing twice.
Without even trying to pull out the tomahawks, I immediately turned and ran.
And then I realized.
Objects that left my hand were also affected by Accelerate.
The large axe I had thrown was floating in mid-air ahead of me, moving slowly.
I sprinted and caught the axe.
“–a-awk!”
Accelerate wore off!
I ran forward with all my might.
Thud!
I heard the sound of bodies collapsing and something crumbling behind me. The human beasts I hit must have fallen.
Were they dead?!
[Leveled up 2 times.]
Oh!
The head was definitely the weak point!
Any damage to the brain, and they died easily!
The more I killed, the more I learned!
“Kaaaagh! Kyaaagh!”
Shit, this was crazy.
They were closing in fast!
Carrying two swords and an axe was quite heavy!
[Auto-casting: Accelerate]
Ugh, shit!
Again!
Ah, no.
No time to waste!
5 seconds of running!
I sprinted and arrived at the convenience store.
“Huff, huff.”
I glanced to the side and saw the human beasts moving slowly about 10 meters away.
I immediately ran into the convenience store and threw open the storage room door.
I saw the bodies next to the counter.
The human beasts I had killed.
I tossed the heavy axe into the storage room and turned around.
Right.
Here!
“–awk! Kraaagh!”
I heard the rumbling sound of them running.
I held onto the storage room door and looked outside.
The human beasts were swarming.
I took a deep breath.
“Here, you bastards!”
The human beasts turned to look at me.
And then they all fell forward.
Unable to control their speed, they tripped over each other, piling up and collapsing in a heap.
They saw me.
They knew where I was!
They frantically tried to get up.
I immediately ducked into the storage room and slammed the door shut.
And locked it.
Screech!
I shoved the drinks shelf against the door, wedging it between the door and the wall.
Done.
“Gasp, gasp!”
At that moment, roars erupted.
“Kraaagh! Kaaaagh!”
Crash!
The door rattled and shook violently.
Holy shit!
“Kaagh! Kyaaagh!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The door trembled.
“Huff, huff.”
Chills ran down my spine.
I hoped the door wouldn’t break.
If it did, it was all over.
I grabbed another shelf and used it to further barricade the door.
Hold!
Hold!
I picked up the axe from the floor.
“…!”
Shit.
This axe was different from the spear.
I just had to thrust with the spear, but I had to swing this.
It wasn’t suitable for the cramped storage room.
It would hit the walls and shelves.
I saw the shelf where I had placed the baton.
I put the large axe there too.
And then I took out a sword.
Shing-
This was a sword.
I’d never practiced kendo, but I’d seen it a few times on YouTube.
You could thrust with this too.
It wasn’t a spear, but it was much sharper than the pipe spear.
Thrusting with this would be much more effective than the blunt pipe spear.
“Hoo, hoo.”
As long as the door held.
As long as those hinges held just this once.
I gripped the sword with both hands and stared at the door.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Kaaaagh! Kraw!”
The human beasts roared and pounded on the door.
I’d already experienced their behavior.
They would quiet down in thirty minutes, an hour at most.
They would collapse somewhere nearby or just stand around blankly.
All I had to do was hold out here.
As long as the door held!
“Kaagh! Kraaagh!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Hoo, hoo.”
I wanted to open the door a crack and stab them in the head right now.
But I couldn’t.
I had already used Accelerate twice.
“Ha… ha…”
I was nervous.
That door…
It was a metal door, so it was sturdy.
They couldn’t break through it.
But the problem was the hinges.
The screws were under constant stress.
The door was already creaking when I left here a few days ago.
How long would the hinges hold?
“Hoo, hoo.”
I took deep breaths, listening to the banging and roaring. This plan was reckless, if I had to be honest.
But I had a feeling.
It was also because I had no other choice, but I had a feeling this would work.
The enclosed space of the convenience store storage room.
The relatively sturdy metal door.
Lure them in, and then pick them off.
I came up with this method because of their swarming behavior.
If they were roaming around in groups of two or three, there would be no reason to take this risk.
But they didn’t roam.
They gathered in hordes.
I had to move around to get food, tools, and equipment, and I had to kill them to level up.
How to deal with the hordes?
Lure them in and then take them out one by one.
That was the only method I could think of.
“Kraaagh! Kaaaagh!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Ha… ha…”
About ten minutes passed.
The door was still holding.
Lure and eliminate.
It was my idea, and the only method I could use right now, but it was incredibly reckless.
I knew that.
I wished I had a gun.
…Gun…?
Gun…
Would a gun even be a good idea?
Guns were incredibly loud.
You could hear gunshots from hundreds of meters away.
…Gun…
Useful.
But also dangerous.
…Something that wasn’t a gun, but could take them out from a distance.
…What was there?
The door rattled, and the roars continued, but my mind calmed down.
I gripped the sword with both hands, stared at the door, and took deep breaths.
…I remembered.
A bow.
A bow… or a crossbow.
With that, I could silently eliminate them one by one from a distance.
…After I leveled up some more, I should try to find a bow or a crossbow.
I couldn’t go now.
I was too weak to travel far, I needed to get stronger.
“Hoo… hoo…”
The banging on the door gradually subsided.
About thirty minutes must have passed.
If I waited a little longer, it would become completely silent.
…It was a good thing the door held.
…Good.
I needed to recover my uses of Accelerate, so I should rest too.
“Ha… ha…”
I put the sword away, sat down on the floor, and leaned against the wall.
It would probably be sunset before I fully recovered.
…Ah, right.
I leveled up.
I was currently level 13.
…I had killed 12 of them.
I put 1 point into Spirit, making it 15.
Good. 3 uses of Accelerate.
I had 2 points left.
…Recovering quickly was important, so I should put them into Health.
…Huh?
Why was my Spirit at 1?
Ah, it recovered.
1 Health point was consumed.
Hmm… then…
I only used 1 Health point.
Well, I only walked about a block from the house, climbed some stairs, and then ran.
It couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes.
1 point, okay. I understood.
The problem was…
…Strength.
I had 3 uses of Accelerate.
But Strength…
Ha… could I only kill 5 at a time?
No, wait.
It seemed like my mind wasn’t working properly after only a few days of the apocalypse.
Killing 5 at a time wasn’t a normal thing.
Ordinary people, unless they were highly trained, couldn’t even kill one.
How could you stop something charging at you with all its might, biting and tearing?
It was because of me that I felt like killing 5 wasn’t enough.
Shit, it was funny when I thought about it.
“…Chuckle…”
I buried my face in my knees and laughed for a bit, then took out my phone from my bag.
[Soo-hyun. I think I’ll be late today. Don’t wait for me, have dinner without me.]
A moment later.
Buzz-
A reply came.
[Where are you?]
[Just around the corner. I’ll be back as soon as possible.]
[Is something wrong?]
[It’s fine. Just around the corner. Something came up.]
[Okay. We’ll have dinner without you, then.]
[Okay, see you later.]
Hmm…
…That conversation was pretty normal.
It didn’t feel like the kind of conversation we should be having in this situation, but… did it matter?
I looked around.
Dozens of boxes filled with canned drinks, bottled drinks, and snacks were stacked here.
I could just grab something if I got hungry.
I’d wait here until I recovered.
Thinking that, I leisurely lit a cigarette.
“Hoo…”
The smoke curled and dissipated.
It tasted good.
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