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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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By lunchtime, I was fully recovered. While resting, I realized I hadn’t leveled up after killing that thug bastard. …It seemed leveling up only applied to human beasts.
Damn it.
That was a shame. I would gladly kill any obnoxious, troublemaking punks if I could level up from it.
I went downstairs, and they had a pot of kimchi jjigae simmering on the stove. It smelled amazing. As the five of us sat around the table, eating, I realized… five people ate a lot. They must have used over half a head of kimchi for the jjigae, plus other ingredients. If we ate like this three times a day… that was a considerable amount of food. We’d go through 10kg of rice in a week. That must have been why parents left their homes to look for food, even in this dangerous situation.
Hmm…
I wasn’t planning on staying here long. I would leave once I felt strong enough. I had to find my family, and, more importantly, I needed to find a bow and crossbow. To survive in this apocalyptic world, I needed to be fully equipped to deal with those human beasts.
…But… what about Grandma and the other women once I left? They would probably struggle without me. But Soo-hyun… It was a shame to leave her behind. She had mechanical engineering knowledge and could handle batteries and other tools. She was also quite level-headed in this situation. She was useful.
…Should I take Soo-hyun with me?
I pondered that as I ate. It wasn’t time to make that decision yet. I wasn’t strong enough.
After lunch, I went back to the rooftop room and laid out my weapons.
Two tomahawks.
One large axe.
Two swords.
And the baton.
Quite a collection.
Hmm… What should I take?
I tucked a sword into my belt and a tomahawk on the other side as a secondary weapon. The large axe was powerful, but it was too slow.
As I slung my backpack over my shoulder and went downstairs, Soo-hyun, who was reinforcing the windows with wooden boards, turned to look at me.
“Leaving now?”
“Yeah. You said you needed nails and wire? I’ll bring back anything else that looks useful.”
“Sung-hoon.”
I turned around as I descended the stairs. Soo-hyun was leaning against the railing, watching me.
“Don’t forget about tonight. Be careful.”
…That minx.
I’d give her a good fucking later.
I chuckled and went down the stairs, leaving the boarding house.
Time to level up.
I stopped by the convenience store before heading to the hardware store. Bodies were piled up in front of the storage room next to the counter. Damn, I had killed a lot.
…The smell.
The smell of rotting corpses… like sour vinegar and rotten fish… it was nauseating.
I covered my nose and looked at the storage room. This place had been useful…
…Should I lure them in again?
But… the door… The hinges were practically ripped out of the wall.
…No.
The door looked too unstable.
I turned and looked towards the hardware store in the distance. The hardware store itself wasn’t a problem. I had killed the two people inside. All I had to do was go in and grab what I needed. The problem was the hair salon next to the hardware store.
The mixed-use building, the McDonald’s, the hair salon, and the hardware store—the number of human beasts increased the closer you got to the hardware store.
The mixed-use building was like a final boss level. Or was it the hypermarket? They were about the same. Once I was strong enough to clear those places easily, it wouldn’t be a problem, but I was still a long way from that. The convenience store storage room door was wrecked, so I couldn’t use that tactic again.
This was tricky… damn it.
…Right.
I had an idea.
I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword, left the convenience store, and walked onto the road. Cars were parked everywhere. The mixed-use building was right across the street. I crouched down and made my way along the center divider, using the cars as cover. I passed the McDonald’s. No more cars for cover. The hair salon was right next to it. At least ten human beasts were inside. I peeked inside—except for a man who looked like a stylist, all the employees and customers were women. Or rather, former employees and customers. Ten of them were standing. There were probably more lying down. I crouched behind a car, observing the hair salon. It was broad daylight; if I moved, they would see me. I just stayed hidden, watching them. They turned their heads occasionally, sometimes even their bodies. They weren’t just standing still.
I waited for about ten minutes. My knee, which I’d been resting on the ground, started to hurt.
…Finally, one of the female human beasts moved. She looked to the side.
…Good.
Accelerate!
[Auto-cast: Accelerate]
I immediately darted out from behind the car and sprinted towards the hardware store. The human beasts inside the hair salon were frozen like mannequins. I entered the hardware store and grabbed the door to steady myself. “Ha… hoo…”
—Tinkle—
…!
The chime!
I turned around and drew my sword. Shing! Damn it, why did I grab the door?! I was such an idiot! I knew there was a chime! I waited. And waited. Staring outside, I waited.
…Nothing happened. …The chime wasn’t enough to attract them.
“…Ha…”
Damn it.
…I had to be more careful.
I glared at the chime, carefully grabbed it, and cut the string with my sword. Damn chime. Placing it gently on the counter, I glanced around the hardware store. I hoped there weren’t any human beasts lurking inside. I had to be careful—always.
In the zombie and horror movies I used to watch, it was always the careless, reckless ones who got bitten or stabbed to death. I wasn’t going to end up like that.
Even though I had been here before, I cautiously scanned the store, sword in hand.
…Just the two bodies lying on the floor.
“…Hoo…”
Good.
Nothing else.
I searched the hardware store and gathered some nails, wire, a hammer, and a saw. Metal was heavy. I couldn’t carry too much. Besides, I couldn’t be weighed down, considering what I was planning to do next. I filled about a third of my Adidas backpack, slung it over my shoulder, and sat down. The bodies of the man and woman were right there, but this area was relatively dark, making it a good place to rest. …The smell was awful. Just like in the convenience store, the stench of rotting corpses was… I vaguely remembered reading something about plagues caused by rotting corpses in the Middle Ages.
…Plague…
…Hmm…
I’d have to check out a pharmacy next time. Anyway, the smell… damn it. The smell of rotting corpses. I couldn’t get used to it. If the door had been closed, I might have suffocated.
“Tsk.” I covered my nose and waited for two hours.
…Accelerate recharged. Three charges. I stood up and carefully left the hardware store. The entrance to the hair salon was right next to it. The glass door was right there. The lower half of the glass door and walls were covered with a translucent film, but the upper half was transparent.I crouched as low as possible and set my bag down. Slowly, I drew my sword. Shing—the blade whispered as it left the sheath.
Gripping the rounded, arched door handle, I slowly pulled. The door creaked open outward.
There couldn’t be anyone watching me. No one. Please!
I kept pulling on the door, focusing all my attention on it, my sword ready in hand. With a soft click, the door swung open completely.
“…Ha…”
I took a quiet breath. From outside, I had seen that most of the customers were middle-aged women, and the younger women were employees. It was a fairly large salon.
…Tomahawk…
Should I take it out?
Sword in my left hand. Tomahawk gripped tightly in my right. I took a deep breath and lunged into the hair salon.
“Hah!”
The entrance! A human beast right in front of me! I slammed the tomahawk down.
Thwack!
“Raagh?!” As the one I’d hit stumbled, all the other human beasts turned to look at me.
Accelerate!
[Auto-cast: Accelerate]
“Gaaa—aa—aa—”
Their mouths slowly opened.
Their arms slowly rose.
I dropped the tomahawk. Gripping the sword with both hands, I charged at the slow-moving human beasts. Thwack! One middle-aged woman, one head! The female employee next to her! Thwack! Two heads! The middle-aged woman trying to get up from the floor! She had those ridiculous curlers in her hair; she must have been getting a perm! Thwack! Three heads!
“—Aa—raagh!”
Accelerate!
[Auto-cast: Accelerate]
The middle-aged woman staring at the mirror! Thwack! Four heads! Blood droplets sprayed in slow motion, like fireworks. In that slow-motion, almost surreal space, I sheathed my sword and ran outside. I grabbed my bag and was about to stand up when…
“—Gaaa—!”
Shit, Accelerate!
[Auto-cast: Accelerate]
“—Raaa—aa—” I didn’t even try to put on my backpack; I just ran, clutching it in my hand. I dove between the cars, crouched down, and kept running. Damn it, running hunched over was exhausting! My back was killing me!
I heard roars behind me. “—Aa—raagh!”
Crash! The sound of shattering glass. I ignored it and kept running, weaving between the cars. An Avante, a Genesis, a 5-ton truck!
[Leveled up 5 times.] The pounding of feet. The growling roars. Echoing behind me. But fading. The further I ran, the fainter the sounds became. They didn’t know where I was!
Crash! Bang! I heard the sounds of them crashing into cars and climbing over them. But it was too late. I was already near the convenience store. “Ha… ha! Huff… ha!” Damn it. Try and find me now, you bastards.
“Ha… hoo… hoo… ha…”
I hid behind a delivery truck parked in front of the convenience store and looked back at the road. I could hear growls, but they were distant.
…I was safe.
“…Hoo… ha…”
I slowly stood up, staying low, and slipped into the alley next to the convenience store. …I was safe. I had made it. I leaned against the brick wall and observed the street. The human beasts were wandering around in the distance, growling.
“…Hoo…”
I wondered what would happen to those that had come out of the hair salon. Would they roam the streets? Or would they randomly enter buildings? Or would they go back to where they came from?
…I should head back. I was out of Accelerate charges. It was dangerous to be outside for too long without it. Now wasn’t the time for idle curiosity.
I turned and headed towards the boarding house.
…The plan had worked.
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