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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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The man sobbed, and the housewife stared blankly.
They didn’t say anything else to me.
They were expressing their desperate plea for help with their entire beings.
Ha…
A university student committed suicide next door, so what about upstairs?
I went up to the second floor.
The door was open.
I opened it and went inside, and the smell of rotting corpses hit me.
I grimaced and looked around the house. An elderly man was dead in a corner of the living room, and the door to a smaller room was smashed.
I could only see feet, but those feet probably belonged to the grandson.
Early to mid-20s?
He seemed to have put up quite a fight.
The 40-50-year-old gangster bastards must have split up and slept in the larger room and the university student’s room downstairs.
…I got the picture.
I went back downstairs, and the man was comforting his wife.
He was patting her shoulder, but she just swayed slightly, unresponsive.
…If I left her like this, she would commit suicide too.
I sighed deeply and said,
“Come on. Let’s go.”
The man’s eyes widened as he looked at me.
“S-sir?”
“Sir or whatever, just come on. How can you live here? Let’s go.”
This was frustrating, shit.
Were the other houses like this too?
…Hmm. The other houses must have been in a similar state.
In some houses, the father went out and didn’t come back, and in others, the mother.
The remaining family members were either starving or… like this.
…Compared to them, our boarding house seemed to have a pretty decent atmosphere.
The man replied, “Yes, I understand,” and started gathering his things.
He tried to take some clothes and his bankbook, and I rubbed my forehead.
Seriously, what the hell was he doing?
“Just come. Just your body. You don’t need blankets. Let’s go.”
“Y-yes, sir. Honey, let’s go.”
He helped his wife up, and I added,
“What about the axe? Take it.”
“Ah, y-yes, sir.”
He grabbed the axe from a corner of the kitchen and came out, supporting his wife with one hand.
…Seriously, shit.
“Let’s go.”
I brought them back to the boarding house.
The women were surprised.
Of course, they would be.
There were already five mouths to feed, and now three more, including a baby.
The women seemed sympathetic to the housewife holding the baby, but Grandma didn’t look too pleased.
“I’ll work hard. Please, just let us stay, ma’am.”
The large man pleaded with Grandma.
Seriously, shit.
“Hey? Mister. Are you strong?”
It would be difficult to expect any fighting prowess from him, but judging by his size, he was definitely strong.
The man straightened his back and looked up at me.
“Yes, sir. I used to deliver bottled water. I’m quite strong.”
…A pack mule, then.
I would go in and kill them all, and this guy could carry the loot.
At least I found a use for him, shit.
It would have been better if he could fight too, but with his personality, that was impossible.
Grandma still had a displeased expression.
I said,
“Ma’am. Having another man around would definitely be helpful. There’s an empty room downstairs, right? Let them have it.”
“…Mmm. Alright. Since you say so.”
Soo-hyun, Ye-eun, and So-eun took the housewife and her baby downstairs.
“Come on, unnie. I’ll bring you some blankets.”
“I took the wardrobe apart, so there’s no furniture, but the hot water works well, so it should be fine.”
I said to Grandma casually,
“I’ll be back.”
“Mmm. Alright. Be careful.”
I left the main house and stopped the large man as he was going down the stairs.
“Mister, wait a minute.”
“Yes? Ah, yes, sir.”
“Stop calling me ‘sir.’ My name is Sung-hoon. Han Sung-hoon.”
“Ah… yes, sir. S-Sung-hoon.”
Ugh…
He smelled.
“Go wash up, and you need clothes, right? That short girl with glasses, her name is Soo-hyun, if you tell her I asked her to draw you a map, she will. The clothing store is over there. Go get some clothes, underwear, and anything else you need. And there’s a pharmacy over there, it’s empty too. You can go and grab whatever you need.”
The man looked at me with a surprised expression.
“…E-empty?”
I nodded.
“I killed them all. You can just go in and take what you need. Be careful on the streets. Got it?”
“Ah… y-yes, sir. I understand.”
…Seriously, that “sir” shit again.
I couldn’t get used to it.
I reached the bottom of the stairs, turned around, and said,
“If you have time, go to the supermarket where I killed those gangsters and grab some food. Give some to the main house, and eat some yourself.”
“Ah, yes. I understand.”
The man followed me and asked,
“S-sir, wh-where are you going?”
…Hmm.
What should I say?
My next target was the mid-sized supermarket anyway.
“You said you needed diapers, right? I’m going to get some.”
Or rather, I was going to level up.
The man’s eyes widened, and he took a step closer.
Don’t come closer, shit. You smell.
“S-sir, I’ll go with you.”
…Ah, seriously…
It was a mid-sized supermarket.
There were at least 20 of them there.
If this man was caught by a horde of human beasts, he wouldn’t be able to escape.
I didn’t care if he died, but if he died somewhere, what would happen to his wife and baby?
Another mouth to feed, shit.
Grandma and the women would be thrilled.
I glared at the man and said,
“…Mister. You’ll die if you go there.”
The man flinched with a gasp.
I continued,
“…Got it? Just go where I tell you to go. The convenience store up ahead, the clothing store over there, the pharmacy on this side, and the supermarket over there. They’re all safe, so go and get what you need. Take the axe with you when you go out.”
If he was staying here, he had to earn his keep.
“…U-understood, sir.”
…Ugh, shit.
“That’s good. I’ll see you later.”
“S-sir!”
…Don’t shout, shit.
I turned around, and the man was bowing at a 90-degree angle.
“Thank you, sir! Thank you for helping us! Thank you so much, sir!”
…Seriously, this guy…
…I focused my attention outside, but I didn’t hear any growls.
That was a relief.
…This was so frustrating…
“…Don’t shout.”
The man’s expression changed as if he realized his mistake.
…This was annoying.
I left the house and walked towards the supermarket where the old gangsters’ bodies were lying.
Shit.
I accepted his offer to raid the supermarket because I thought he could be a meat shield, but he was only useful as a pack mule.
He said he was strong, so I’d let him handle the supply runs, and I’d focus on leveling up.
According to the map, if I went one block further from the supermarket and then straight to the right, I would reach a large road.
The mid-sized supermarket was next to the road.
I could also go down the pharmacy street, but that street was lined with stores, and I would have to clear each one.
This way was faster.
The street lined with single-family houses was quite deserted.
I occasionally heard growls every few houses, but unless I went inside and killed them, they didn’t seem likely to come out.
There was no reason to waste Accelerate charges unnecessarily.
The residential area ended, and a parking lot appeared.
It was quite spacious.
It must have been the supermarket parking lot.
The supermarket next to the parking lot was a one-story building that looked like a warehouse.
A decent-sized supermarket.
Grrrr… grrrr…
…I could hear growls even from this distance.
There were a lot of them inside.
I stopped and glanced at the parking lot.
…The parking lot seemed quiet.
I needed a place to hide after raiding the supermarket and using Accelerate to escape.
I crouched down, put my hand on the hilt of my sword, and cautiously entered the parking lot.
Gravel crunched under my feet.
Inside the parking lot…
There were cars parked here and there, but it didn’t look like a good place to hide.
What about the parking lot office?
It was a small office, about the size of a small outdoor toilet.
The door was metal, and the window was small.
…Not bad.
I looked around and put my ear against the metal door.
…Quiet?
Was there anyone inside?
I tried to open the door, but it was locked.
Shit.
I sighed and slowly walked further into the parking lot.
The sound of the gravel crunching under my feet was louder than I expected.
Crunch- crunch-
I leaned against the wall of the parking lot office, took a deep breath, and took a few steps forward. I could see the back of the parking lot.
A man was standing between the cars.
He was wearing a uniform.
…A parking attendant.
What the hell was he doing there…?
…Ah, he must have been bitten while guiding cars.
…Then the one who bit him might be there too.
I focused my attention and walked towards the opposite wall.
Slowly.
Minimizing the sound.
Crunch- crunch-
I reached the left wall.
I could see the inside of a black Accent’s headlights.
It seemed empty for now.
I walked towards the Accent, drawing my sword as I went.
Shing-
The parking attendant hadn’t noticed me yet.
I reached the Accent and peered through the gap on the other side.
I had to be careful.
There might be something between the cars.
Different from the road.
I slowly walked between the cars, checking every parking space.
The rest of the parking lot was empty.
Except for the parking attendant and someone lying face down in front of him.
Two of them, as expected.
I went back between the cars and slowly walked towards the parking attendant, who had his back to me.
Directly behind him.
I just had to walk in a straight line.
“Hoo…”
Crunch- crunch-
…About 5 meters ahead.
The parking attendant was swaying slightly.
…Should I just approach him and stab him?
…No.
Let’s play it safe.
No need to be greedy.
Accelerate.
[Auto-casting: Accelerate]
“Ha!”
I took two quick steps forward and stabbed the parking attendant in the back of the head.
Crack!
About half of the sword went through his head.
“Huff!”
I yanked it out with all my might and took a large step past the parking attendant.
Kwa–a–
A woman.
Lying face down towards me.
I brought the sword down with all my might.
Crack!
“Kyaa?!”
Crack!
The moment the woman twitched,
The moment Accelerate wore off,
The sword pierced the back of her head.
Thud!
The parking attendant’s body bumped against my shoulder and fell on top of the woman.
“Hoo… ha…”
[Leveled up 2 times.]
…I wasted one Accelerate charge.
I searched the parking attendant’s body and found his keys.
I unlocked the parking lot office door and went inside, and the smell of stale man-sweat hit me.
Ugh, seriously.
I hated the smell of blood, but why were all these smells assaulting my senses?
Still, it looked quite sturdy.
It would be a decent hiding spot.
It was right next to the supermarket, and it would be a good place to hold out if necessary.
I sat down on the chair in front of the small window and sighed.
“Hoo.”
…I didn’t know how many were inside the supermarket.
Judging by the sound, there were definitely a lot.
To raid the supermarket, I would have to take a long-term approach.
I wiped the sword with the towel hanging on the wall as I thought.
Hit and run.
Recover Accelerate, and then hit and run again.
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