—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I went to the back of the pharmacy and found a container for storing medicine, so I made a simple first-aid kit.
Bandages, band-aids, medical tape, ointment, and antibiotics.
I closed the small container and stuffed it into the utility pocket of my Adidas backpack.
While making the kit, I realized that pharmacies sold all sorts of things these days.
Even fitness supplies.
I stared at a lifting belt, thinking it might be useful, and grabbed one.
If I adjusted the size and added some straps or loops, it would be perfect for carrying weapons.
Just right for a utility belt.
Weightlifting gloves… they protected your wrists? Hmm.
There was even a jump rope. I didn’t need that, though.
What was this pharmacy?
They had so many useful things.
I grabbed a box of Bacchus drinks, various medicines, and the sanitary pads Ye-eun asked for, and my bag was full again.
It was quite heavy.
I had spent quite a bit of time shopping.
Hmm… if I waited another hour, I could recover one more Accelerate charge…
I’d just go.
I only saw two in the chicken restaurant anyway.
I left the pharmacy and put my bag down in front of the chicken restaurant.
I peeked inside…
…There were three now.
…Their positions had changed too.
The man who was in the kitchen was now standing at the kitchen entrance, and a pot-bellied man, probably a delivery driver, was standing there looking at the menu.
And there was a woman next to the kitchen, probably by the bathroom entrance.
…Where did she come from…?
Were they the owners?
Were they lying down before?
Damn it.
…Three.
…One Accelerate charge.
…No good.
I shouldn’t take any risks.
I had become stronger, but I was still weak.
I needed to level up more.
I carefully turned around and went back to the pharmacy.
I grabbed a Bacchus drink from the bottled drinks section, opened it, and took a sip as I sighed.
…Damn it.
I wanted to become stronger.
Stealth and ambush were good, but I wanted to just barge in and wipe them all out.
“Ha.”
Weak.
I was weak.
I couldn’t forget that.
I didn’t know what would happen if I was bitten.
I grabbed another Bacchus drink, cracked it open, and went behind the counter.
I left my bag there.
No one would take it anyway.
Let’s wait.
An hour passed, and Accelerate recharged.
Two charges.
Good.
I drew my sword and left the pharmacy.
Shing-
The street was quiet.
A quiet night street, brightly lit by streetlights.
I took a deep breath and pushed open the door of the chicken restaurant.
“Kyaa?!”
The pot-bellied delivery guy.
The woman.
The man in the kitchen.
Accelerate.
[Auto-casting: Accelerate]
“Kra-a–a—-”
I took a large step forward and thrust the sword into the delivery guy’s head.
Thwoo—
Crack!
I yanked it out and took two steps forward, piercing the woman’s head.
Crack!
-Thump!
“–a-awk!”
Accelerate.
[Auto-casting: Accelerate]
Beyond the collapsing woman.
The man.
I took a step to the side and thrust the sword with all my might.
“Ha!”
Crack!
He was pierced through the temple and out the back of his head as he peeked out from the kitchen entrance.
I yanked the sword out with all my might.
Thud!
“…Hoo!”
I took two steps back.
Slow.
Blood droplets moved like slime in the air.
Squishy, jiggly.
“–a-ugh!”
All three collapsed at the same time.
Thud! Crash!
Blood splattered everywhere.
“Ugh.”
It splattered on my face, damn it.
[Leveled up 3 times.]
Done.
I wiped the sword on the woman’s pants and looked around.
A chicken restaurant… anything worth taking?
…Should I grab some frozen chicken?
Grandma asked for meat.
“…Hmm…”
I went into the kitchen, opened a large freezer, and saw bags of frozen chicken piled up.
Bags of just wings, bags of just legs, a variety.
I grabbed four bags of whole chickens; they were quite heavy.
Maybe 7 or 8 kilos.
Would we have chicken for breakfast tomorrow?
Let’s go back.
I returned to the boarding house, knocked on the main house door, went inside, and dumped everything I brought back onto the floor.
Frozen chicken, sanitary pads, pain relief patches, pain relief spray, digestive medicine, cold medicine, birth control pills, bandages, band-aids, all sorts of things tumbled out of my bag.
I brought back clothes in the afternoon and chicken and medicine at night.
I leveled up quite a bit too.
The women’s faces brightened.
Ye-eun glanced at me, her face flushing, and grabbed a few packs of sanitary pads. So-eun, seeing her sister, also grabbed a few.
Soo-hyun massaged my shoulders, praising my work.
Grandma, in particular, seemed pleased.
“Oh my, my knees have been bothering me, thank you so much, young man.”
She happily tore open a joint pain patch and put it on her knee.
“S… Sung-hoon.”
Ye-eun called me, glancing at Soo-hyun.
“Oh? What?”
“How are… things outside?”
Outside…
I was covered in blood splatters, so they probably knew what I was doing.
I scratched my chin and said,
“Hmm, I’ve cleared out a few of the smaller stores around here. The clothing store, the supermarket down the alley, and the pharmacy are safe. The streets are quieter than I expected. Across the road is still a bit dangerous.”
“…Ah…”
Ye-eun nodded.
I smiled.
“Why? Do you want to go out?”
Ye-eun shook her head.
So-eun’s eyes widened as she also shook her head.
After experiencing the chaos at the convenience store, they seemed to have developed some trauma.
Soo-hyun said,
“I want to go out. I want to go to the hardware store. How about you?”
I shook my head.
“It’s dangerous over there. There are more of them than you think. Just stay put for now. I’ll tell you when it’s safe.”
Soo-hyun stuck her tongue out and didn’t say anything more.
She hadn’t been outside since the apocalypse started.
She was fearless.
I couldn’t let Soo-hyun go out and risk her dying.
I opened the lifting belt package and handed it to Soo-hyun.
“Can you take a look at this?”
Soo-hyun took the lifting belt and tilted her head.
I said,
“I want to attach my swords and other things to it. Is that possible?”
Soo-hyun hummed, then nodded.
“I just need to add some loops, right? I have some thick wire left, so it should be possible. I just need to attach the scabbards. Give it to me.”
“Thanks.”
She took care of all the bothersome tasks.
I could have attached the loops myself, but since she offered, I was grateful.
It seemed like Soo-hyun was doing most of the work fortifying the house; she was a valuable asset.
I went back up to the rooftop room, washed off the blood, and lay down.
I still felt like I smelled of blood.
“Status.”
Oh…
Six points.
Where should I put them?
First, 3 into Spirit to secure 4 uses of Accelerate.
Hmm…
4 uses of Accelerate…
Let’s think about this.
My current tactic was hit-and-run.
I could wipe out small groups in one go with Accelerate, but against hordes, I had no choice but to hit and run.
I needed at least 1 Accelerate charge to escape.
So, I had 3 charges for the attack.
Assuming 2-3 seconds per kill…
…I could kill 5 or 6 in 15 seconds.
Then 7 Strength should be enough for now.
I put 3 points into Health, making it 26.
When my Health reached 30, the stat recovery amount and the hourly recovery rate would be the same. Much more manageable.
I wished the stat recovery was faster or greater… but this was the best I could do in this situation.
Get Health to 30, then some into Strength.
And then pour the rest into Spirit to maximize Accelerate uses.
Done.
Now let’s sleep.
Breakfast was quite good.
Grandma and Ye-eun made braised chicken with two whole chickens, and the five of us ate our fill. Ye-eun seemed to have properly inherited Grandma’s cooking skills.
I left the boarding house, feeling full and satisfied.
Soo-hyun took the lifting belt and one of the real swords, so she should have it ready by today.
Today seemed like it would be a good day.
Thinking that, I went to the supermarket…
…He wasn’t there.
The large man, hadn’t he arrived yet?
What the hell.
He was the one who suggested it, that bastard.
The morning sun was scorching.
Hoo, midsummer, damn it.
I took a chocolate bar from the ice cream freezer in front of the supermarket and took a bite.
The bodies of the old gangsters were still lying there, and the smell was awful, but the breeze made it bearable.
If he didn’t come by the time I finished this, I was leaving.
The cool, sweet treat felt good.
I heard footsteps as I was halfway through the chocolate bar.
I tossed the rest of the bar onto the street and put my hand on the hilt of my sword.
Looking towards the source of the footsteps, I saw the large man.
He was walking slowly.
Why was he so late, and why was he walking like that?
…His face was quite dark.
He looked like someone who had just woken up after chugging 10 bottles of soju.
And why didn’t he bring the axe I gave him?
What was with this guy?
“…Ah, hello.”
The man bowed awkwardly when he saw me.
“You’re late.”
“…Yes… I… had a suicide…”
…What?
“…Suicide? Who?”
“The…”
The large man started to speak, then his face crumpled, he covered his eyes with one hand, and began to sob.
…What was this?
Suddenly turning into a morning drama.
He said he needed diapers.
The man said, tears streaming down his face,
“All of… this… is so hard…”
…Ah…
This was driving me crazy.
“Look, mister. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Don’t you need diapers anymore? If not, I’m going alone.”
“S-sir.”
The man desperately grabbed my wrist.
His face was streaked with tears and snot, eye boogers still clinging to his lashes, his hair matted from days without washing, his beard unkempt – he looked like a homeless person.
And he smelled, shit.
Couldn’t he wash up?
“What?”
I pulled my hand away and asked, and the man said,
“C-could you… come with me for a moment?”
…Ha…
…I needed to go level up, damn it.
“Please, please, I beg you, sir. Please. Okay?”
I looked up at the sky for a moment.
Glanced at the house next door.
And then looked down at the ground.
I was thinking.
This was so annoying and bothersome.
The man was practically on his knees, begging me, and he looked not only unwashed but also gaunt and pale, like he hadn’t eaten.
What was so urgent?
“…Fine. Where do you want to go?”
“Th-thank you. Thank you, sir.”
The man’s face brightened slightly, and he led me into the alley.
After passing a few houses down the alley next to the supermarket, we arrived at his house.
The layout wasn’t much different from our boarding house.
Two households on the first floor, one on the second.
No rooftop room.
That was typical for single-family houses in this neighborhood.
Creak.
He opened the gate, and we went inside.
A smell immediately assaulted my senses.
…The smell of a corpse.
No, there was another smell mixed in.
The smell of feces and urine?
“Did someone die here?”
I asked, frowning.
The large man looked at the floor with a dark expression, then slowly opened the door to the first-floor house, the one that would be in the same position as Soo-hyun’s room.
…A woman was hanging from the ceiling inside.
She must have tied a rope or something to the bathroom doorknob, looped it around her neck, and then sat down.
Feces and urine had stained her lower body.
“…Sh-she was… abused by those bastards every day… she was finally free after you killed them all… but last night… I found her like this…”
…This was messed up.
The large man continued,
“…A few days ago, when it all started, they begged me to open the door, so I… I opened it. That night… the old man and his grandson who lived there were beaten to death. This university student… she was captured by them and…”
…Ah, I didn’t want to hear this.
I remained silent, and the man, noticing my expression, continued,
“I… I have a wife and a baby… I was afraid they would hurt them. I told them I’d do anything they asked, as long as they left my family alone…”
…Ah, so that’s why he was alone at the supermarket with a monkey wrench.
The man opened the door to the next house.
Another wave of the smell of feces hit me.
Inside the room, a haggard-looking housewife was holding a baby.
Feces-stained diapers, reused multiple times, were scattered around the room and kitchen.
The housewife looked at me.
…Even a corpse would have had more life in its eyes.
Her eyes were unfocused, her face like a black-and-white photograph.
The man said, tears streaming down his face,
“…I-it’s so… so hard. I… can’t take it anymore. Sir. Sob…”
The smell of corpses, the smell of feces and urine, the crying man, and the haggard housewife.
I stood there, amidst it all.
This was driving me insane.
So what did he want me to do about it, shit?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
