I’m the Only One with Powers in the Apocalypse – Chapter 22

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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I left the coffee shop and carefully walked past the chicken restaurant and pharmacy, returning to the convenience store alley.

Fortunately, or perhaps unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

The lights were off in Soo-hyun’s room and the main house; they must have been asleep. It wasn’t wise to leave lights on at night in times like these.

You should sleep when the sun went down.

I’d give them the coffee I picked up tomorrow.

I returned to the rooftop room, showered, lay down on the blankets, and opened the status window.

Hmm…

My Health decreased quite a bit.

It was at 17 when I left after resting at the hardware store.

Distributing the points was a dilemma.

I wanted to increase Health for faster recovery, but I also wanted to secure 4 uses of Accelerate, and I also wanted to increase Strength to kill more.

…Damn it.

Only 1 point per level up, and I had to raise all the stats. What the hell was this, shit.

Argh…

What should I raise?

I had to go to the mid-sized supermarket tomorrow.

There were probably dozens of them there…

…Dozens…

…Then, I should devise a plan for the supermarket and allocate my stats accordingly.

…Damn it.

It was a mid-sized supermarket.

It probably wouldn’t have a bakery or a prepared food section, but it would have a butcher shop.

A conservative estimate would be 40, at least 20.

With 4 uses of Accelerate, getting in and out would be easier. On the other hand, it would take more than 10 hours to recharge 4 uses.

…Fast recovery, or hit-and-run tactics in groups of five?

…That was the choice…

After some deliberation, I put all 5 points into Health.

With 3 uses of Accelerate, I could do short bursts of hit-and-run even if it wasn’t 5 at a time. I would secure a recovery rate of 2.3 per hour to quickly recharge Accelerate.

With 2.3, I could recharge every two to three hours.

Quick recharge, quick utilization.

I’d have to find some cover for the hit-and-run tactics.

What about that large man?

…If a horde of those biting human beasts swarmed him, he wouldn’t stand a chance with just a monkey wrench.

I looked to the side.

…The large axe.

It was better to give it to him.

He seemed strong, so he should be able to handle an axe.

I had two swords and a tomahawk.

Of course, one large axe wouldn’t be enough to deal with a horde of human beasts.

If things went south, I’d have to abandon him.

My priority wasn’t the diapers he wanted or the food for the women.

My priority was leveling up.

Everything else was secondary.

But I suddenly became curious.

I understood why the stores were filled with human beasts. It was either where they were when they turned, or where they were headed. They probably turned nearby and then went inside.

…Then what about the rest?

People waiting at bus stops, drivers and passengers in countless cars, and countless other people on the streets who were trying to get somewhere.

…Where did they all go?

Did they hide in buildings?

Countless people must have been attacked on the streets, bitten and turned by the human beasts.

Where did they all go?

This was a decent-sized city.

With a university district nearby, there was a lot of foot traffic, plenty of stores, and a significant residential population.

The stores I’d visited so far had quite a few human beasts, but not an unreasonable number.

In the case of the residential complex, it probably had quite a few offices, and when the chaos started, people probably rushed to the parking lot to get their cars and were all attacked.

Normally, they would have taken the elevator to the parking lot, but because of the crowd, they probably all rushed down the stairs, resulting in a large group gathering at the parking lot entrance.

That was a simple guess.

The same applied to the underpass.

Since it was connected to the subway and underground shopping mall, I probably heard the sounds of a horrifying number of human beasts.

In other words, the number of human beasts inside the stores or parking lots was probably proportional to the number of people who would normally be there.

…What about the rest?

Considering the foot traffic in this area, there should have been at least twice as many human beasts.

But they were gone.

A large number of human beasts had disappeared somewhere.

…Where?

Hmm…

I couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard I thought about it.

“Hoo. Shit, this is giving me a headache.”

How could I possibly know what those beasts were thinking?

I should just sleep.

I had to get up early in the morning.

I ate breakfast with a sleepy face.

The atmosphere was the same as usual.

As I ate, listening to their chatter, I suddenly remembered something and pulled my Adidas backpack closer.

“Ah, right. I brought you these. I picked them up last night.”

I said to Grandma as I took out four coffee bottles.

“Oh my, thank you. I’ll enjoy them, young man.”

As I smiled and handed her the bottles, So-eun mumbled to herself,

“…Why not bring back condoms instead.”

The women froze.

…It seemed like she heard what happened in Soo-hyun’s room yesterday afternoon. Damn, there was no soundproofing at all.

No.

It couldn’t have been that bad, could it?

…Soo-hyun must have told her.

Soo-hyun chuckled and said,

“I’m on the pill, so it’s fine.”

Grandma pretended not to hear, and Ye-eun coughed awkwardly.

Hmm…

…Breakfast was quite lively.

After finishing the meal, I left the house.

With a sword and a tomahawk on either side of my waist, and the large axe in my hand, I headed towards the neighborhood supermarket.

On the way, the body of the man in his 50s, lying face down in a blackened pool of dried blood, gave off a foul stench.

That was disgusting.

Should I move it?

…Where should I move it to?

There wasn’t a crematorium nearby, and there was nowhere to bury it.

…Too much trouble.

When I arrived at the supermarket, the large man was waiting for me.

“Ah, h-here you are.”

…Why did he look like that?

His face was contorted.

Angry? …Didn’t seem like it.

…Fear.

Why?

Ah, because I killed that bastard?

I chuckled and walked towards him, and then several men emerged from both sides of the alley.

Men in their 40s and 50s.

“Hey, Hoon. Is this him?”

What was this?

They were wearing t-shirts and jeans.

One of them was wearing dress pants, but they were badly wrinkled. They looked like they hadn’t been cared for.

Three of them in total.

They stood in front of me, behind me, and beside me, looking at me with disdain.

The one in front was wearing a gold necklace.

Gold Necklace said,

“You think you’re our boss now, you little shit?”

…What the fuck, did these guys crawl out of an 80s drama? Acting like wannabe gangsters.

This was hilarious.

I chuckled.

“Pfft… shit. Ah… yeah. So?”

“So, you little shit…”

The man raised his arm.

Accelerate.

Judging by his posture, he was either going to slap me or grab me by the neck and push me.

He seemed experienced in picking fights.

What a joke, shit.

All old farts, still acting like gangsters and calling each other “boss” at their age.

I put down the large axe and drew my sword.

And in the same motion, I slashed at the man’s neck.

A clean cut.

I had used the sword so much that it felt like an extension of my arm.

I took a step to the side.

The arm of the man who was standing to my left was also raised.

He was about to hit the back of my head.

The man who was standing to my right, now in front of me, had his leg raised.

They worked well together.

“–Gurk!”

Accelerate wore off.

Gold Necklace collapsed face-first, blood gushing from his neck.

At the same time, the large axe fell to the ground with a thud.

“Gah! Ugh!”

Gold Necklace thrashed on the ground.

The two older thugs flinched and lowered their hands and feet, then froze.

“Uh, uh oh!”

“B-Boss!”

Then, belatedly seeing me, they stumbled backward.

Surprise and fear were etched on their faces.

Splash.

One of them stepped back further, wincing as he stepped into the pool of blood.

Gold Necklace, lying on the ground, was twitching like a frog.

I reversed my grip on the sword and brought it down on Gold Necklace’s head.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

“Uh!”

The three men flinched and backed away.

I stepped on his head and yanked the sword out.

Then I asked the large man standing to my right,

“Who are these guys? Why did you bring them?”

This man was timid.

He probably didn’t bring them to harm me.

But I glared at him slightly and asked again, as if accusing him of setting me up.

The large man’s jaw trembled as he stammered,

“Th-they…”

Hmm.

This man was way too timid.

The thugs were also in a state of panic.

They weren’t running away or screaming, but their faces showed that they were in shock.

Their comrade had just died in front of them.

“Why did you come here?”

The older thugs looked at each other, speechless.

I asked,

“Your boss? That idiot lying over there? I killed him. So? What are you going to do about it?”

The thugs breathed heavily.

One of them pulled something from his back.

…A knife.

“Y-you, l-little shit… h-hey, you bastard. Who are you? Huh? Do you want to die? Huh?”

…Seriously, these guys were something else.

Then the large man said, trembling,

“Th-they’re bad guys. Th-they broke into my h-house, they’re b-bad guys.”

The thugs glared at the large man.

“You little shit. Do you want to die? Want me to crack your skull open like the old man in the main house?”

Old man in the main house?

I scoffed in disbelief and muttered,

“…Ah, shit… blocking my way and bothering me when I can’t even level up from this…”

Every single Accelerate charge was precious, damn it.

The old thugs flinched and looked at me when they heard me muttering.

Damn it, they saw someone die right in front of them, yet they were still standing there, pulling out a knife and making empty threats.

“Ha…”

I sighed deeply.

I had already wasted one Accelerate charge.

Shit, this was pissing me off.

“Y-you! You little shit, do you know who we are? Huh?”

Like I cared who they were, you idiots.

They were adding fuel to the fire.

“Ah, whatever. Just die.”

I took a step forward and activated Accelerate.

Thump.

“Wha-a–a—-”

Their startled movements were slow as I walked towards them.

The man with the knife raised it.

I raised my sword and slashed at his neck.

And then, immediately moving forward, I thrust the sword into the head of the thug in the white shirt.

Crack!

“–Ugh!”

I heard a strange sound from behind, along with the splat of blood spraying.

The face of the man I stabbed went slack.

I immediately pulled the sword out.

Thud!

He collapsed, blood gushing from his forehead, the back of his head, and his nose.

At the same time, I heard a thud behind me.

“Gah! …Gurgle!”

I was busy leveling up, and these bastards were making me waste Accelerate.

I was covered in blood, shit.

Disgusted, I grimaced and looked at the large man.

“…Hey, mister.”

The large man was trembling, his face pale. He looked at me.

I said,

“You’ve been bringing annoying people with you since yesterday, shit, this is starting to piss me off. Are you kidding me?”

The man lying next to me was making strange sounds, blood gurgling from his neck.

He struggled, trying to grab his throat and jaw…

I raised the sword and brought it down on his head.

Crack!

Two wasted Accelerate charges, damn it.

The large man flinched with a gasp. He stumbled backward, knocking over a stack of snack boxes displayed in front of the supermarket.

Seriously, these guys…

I pulled the sword out and glared at the large man.

You idiot, shit.

“I don’t care if these guys are bad guys or whatever. If something like this happens again, you’re dead too. Got it?”

The man stared at me, his face completely pale. He clung to the snack boxes, unable to stand or sit.

His jowls trembled.

Seriously, shit.

I picked up the large axe from the pool of blood and tossed it in front of the large man.

Thud!

Blood splattered onto the man’s pants.

“Go. We’re done for today, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

It felt like blood splattered into my mouth again.

The taste of iron, shit.

I turned my back and walked away, spitting on the ground.

“Fucking disgusting.”

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