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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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“Kyarreuk?!”
Heads popped up one after another between the shelves.
They turned to look at me.
Then charged.
“Kraaak! Kyaaak!”
Crash, boom! The displayed products toppled over.
The floor became a mess.
I gripped my sword with both hands, smiling.
Smiling?
Laughing?
Me?
Ha.
I guess I was starting to enjoy this.
“Come at me, you bastards.”
Multiple creatures crashed through the display stands as they charged.
Acceleration.
[Auto-Cast: Acceleration]
The creatures surrounded me as they charged.
At a glance, there were more than ten.
I leaped forward with all my might and thrust my sword.
Whoosh—
Crack! Crack! Crack!
I took a step back.
Droplets of blood wavered in the air.
The human beasts flailed around as if they’d escaped from a jar of jelly.
“–Kr-warak!”
Acceleration.
[Auto-Cast: Acceleration]
Three of them were about to collapse, blood spraying from their pierced heads.
I took a step toward the human beasts right beside me.
Drew back my sword.
Thrust!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The front line was cleared.
I moved straight ahead while sliding sideways.
Blood droplets splattered on my face and body.
“–Kya-rreung!”
Acceleration.
[Auto-Cast: Acceleration]
The human beasts charged murderously at the empty space where I had been.
Bodies collapsed in death.
I moved sideways, thrusting my sword as I went.
Crack!
Step, crack!
Step, crack!
“Hm.”
I pulled out my sword.
I passed by the dead ones still clawing at the air with fierce faces, not realizing they were already corpses.
The world moved.
“–Kr-reung!”
Acceleration.
[Auto-Cast: Acceleration]
A human beast with arms outstretched as if about to sweep up razors and shaving foam from the shelves, knocking things over, staring at something other than me.
I raised my sword.
Crack!
Ducking past, there was another one reaching out from behind the shelves.
I thrust upward.
Crack!
The sword pierced from cheek to crown, and I pulled it down with force.
“Hm.”
Droplets of blood stretched and merged, forming beads that sprayed out slowly.
Nothing left.
I stood at the edge of the shelves, watching the corpses and waiting.
“–Kr-warung!”
Eleven beasts.
Eleven corpses crashed down in a heap at the corner of the mart as they were running and jumping.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
It got on my face, the back of my head, my clothes.
Ugh, fuck.
Everything’s fine except for all this blood.
I looked around while wiping my cheek with the back of my hand.
…Seems like there aren’t any more.
[Level increased by 11.]
No, better make sure.
Had to be certain.
If any were hiding somewhere, I needed to draw them out and eliminate them all.
I took a breath.
…What should I shout?
Something caught my eye.
“Trees are on bomb sale!”
I shouted with all my might, making the mart ring.
If anything was hiding, there’s no way it wouldn’t have heard that.
…Silence.
I waited a bit longer.
Hmm…
Not a sound.
Better check around just in case.
I inspected every corner, going through the long space with shelves on the left, the vegetable section on the right, and past the butcher shop.
Pretty spacious.
It took about 5 minutes to look everywhere.
I checked every spot where someone could hide.
If we’re considering the slightest possibility, this place was 99 percent safe.
“…Good enough.”
I nodded and walked towards the entrance, past the toilet paper and tissue aisle.
“…Oh.”
Right after the toilet paper aisle came the diapers.
…Hmm…
They did ask me to bring diapers.
I picked up a large pack of diapers and walked towards the stairs, passing through the aisles.
Ahead, eleven corpses were piled up in a heap.
“…Hmm…”
Blood dripped from my sword.
I went to the corpses and wiped the sword clean on their waists and backs.
Got to take care of the sword.
I only had two of them.
…Ah!
Suddenly I had a good idea.
From tomorrow, dual wielding…?
…No.
I’m right-handed, damn it, and I’m not sure if I could aim properly at heads with my left hand, or if I could pierce skulls with one hand.
Better stick to what works.
Thinking about this, I walked out of the mart entrance carrying the pack of diapers.
The pile of corpses made it really uncomfortable to walk, damn it.
“Whew…”
How many times did I use acceleration?
One, two…
Oh, four times?
I could still use it five more times.
Not bad.
“…Ah.”
A sound from the side!
I stood straight and turned.
I don’t know what my eyes looked like.
My grip on the sword tightened until my palm burned.
…Six strange-looking figures!
“Um, excuse me.”
Acce…! Wait?!
Acceleration didn’t activate.
What?
What I just heard, was that human speech?
A woman’s… voice?
Can human beasts talk…?
…No.
These weren’t human beasts.
Six figures standing by the streetlight in front of the mart in the morning sun.
None of them were baring their teeth or raising clawing hands.
…What’s this?
“…Are you human?”
I asked without thinking.
Are they human?
The question felt natural when I asked it.
But after saying it, it felt strange.
Having to ask if they’re human when they have heads, arms, legs, eyes, nose, and mouth.
One woman with a ponytail rolled forward from the six.
…Rolled forward?
There was something odd about how they moved.
Looking at their feet, they were wearing something.
…Inline skates.
What were these people?
The woman spoke.
“Ah, um… we saw what you did inside from outside. Last night too. How… how do you move like that?”
…Huh?
What was she asking…
How do I move…
like…
…Oh, they saw me using acceleration and killing instantly.
I’d killed human beasts in front of people using acceleration several times before.
In front of Ye-eun and So-eun.
But they were too terrified to process anything strange about what they saw.
…That big guy.
When I killed those old thugs, he saw what I was doing with his own eyes.
That face pale with terror, those trembling eyes.
I’d thought he was overreacting a bit, but maybe this was why.
…I wonder how I look to people when I use acceleration and move?
Suddenly curious about that.
Is it really that frightening?
Ah.
This wasn’t the time to wonder about such things.
I looked at the woman, and the people behind her.
Only then did I really see them.
I’d assumed they were human beasts, so I’d only registered their human shapes, but now I could see clearly.
Inline skates, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, and two of them were wearing teardrop-shaped helmets.
“…Who are you people?”
The woman answered.
“…Ah, we’re members of an inline skating club called the Speedsters.”
Inline skating club?
Inline…
The inline skates all six were wearing.
Pretty cool.
I’d never tried inline skating.
Are those fast?
…Is that how they survived?
Three men, three women…
The women looked surprised, while the men watched me with shocked and tense eyes.
They didn’t look very old.
…Not sure what to make of them.
“…So, did you need something from me?”
“Ah, actually…”
The woman started to speak, but a tall man behind her cut in.
“Where are your companions? Surely you didn’t kill all these by yourself. No way.”
All these by myself?
…Hmm…
How many did I kill?
Must have been over 40.
I looked at the man and said.
“I did kill them all.”
“…That’s impossible.”
The women gasped, their breathing quickening.
“You… you did all this alone? By yourself?”
A woman from the back asked with an astonished face.
Damn it, why do they keep asking the same thing?
Who are these people to hold me up asking useless questions?
I just nodded without answering.
The six people looked at each other, unable to hide their amazement. They kept gasping as they looked back and forth between me and the corpses behind me.
“How did you kill so many alone?”
…Ah damn, this is getting more annoying.
“Because I’m a Sword Master.”
Believe it or not, damn it.
After saying that, I looked at the ponytailed woman who had stepped forward and asked.
“So, what did you want to say?”
You people are annoying me, damn it.
Coming here in a line on inline skates and asking useless questions, what are you doing holding people up?
The woman spoke.
“Ah, well… We’ve been surviving these past few days by raiding a convenience store up ahead. But with six of us eating, it ran out quickly. We still have some drinks and alcohol left…”
“And?”
Pretty brusque.
The woman flinched.
She glanced at the mart before speaking.
“Well, um, we know you… dealt with those things, but if it’s okay with you, could we maybe take some things we need…?”
Hmm…
I glanced at the six people in front of me and the mart.
The woman said.
“We can help you with whatever we can. Would it be okay to share?”
Hmm…
The mart…
There was quite a lot in there.
To be honest, how much food and other stuff was in the mart wasn’t really important to me.
What mattered to me was the creatures swarming inside.
I shrugged and said.
“Then just clean up the corpses. Do whatever you want with the rest.”
The six inline club members brightened up and nodded.
Only then did I put my sword back in its scabbard.
Shwing- click.
“Anything else?”
I asked, half-turning.
The ponytailed woman smiled and said.
“No, thank you. We’ll clean up the mart. Thank you so much.”
“Yeah.”
I walked away, leaving the six behind.
Ah, right.
I turned back and added one more thing.
“Leave the diapers alone if you can.”
The woman looked at me in surprise, then smiled.
“Ah, we don’t need diapers… Understood. Thank you.”
…That look…
Did she think I was a father?
…Whatever, damn it.
Too bothersome to explain.
I walked slowly back to the boarding house carrying the diapers.
Behind me, I could hear the sound of inline skates rolling. They were probably going to start moving the corpses from in front of the door.
They couldn’t get through that door on inline skates.
Too many corpses piled up.
They’d clean it up if only for their own needs.
Hmm…
Speaking of marts…
Where else had crowds inside?
Mixed-use buildings, and…
…Hypermart…
…Good.
The hypermart was my next target.
But first, I needed to clean up the path to the hardware store.
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thanks Xrecker you cutie!