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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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Growls emanated from every few houses.
Listening to the occasional low growls, I walked through the quiet alley and returned to the boarding house.
I needed to do something about those bodies in front of the supermarket.
…Too lazy to do it myself.
I opened the gate and went inside; the yard was quiet.
Where was Soo-hyun? Was she inside?
I heard chattering from upstairs.
And some banging sounds.
…It seemed to be coming from the rooftop?
What was she doing near my room?
I’d give the diapers to the new family and then go up.
Knock, knock.
I knocked on the new family’s door, and after a moment, I heard movement inside.
The door opened, and the housewife came out, holding her baby.
“Ah… hello.”
“Yes, here.”
I held out the diapers.
The housewife looked surprised, then took them.
Her expression seemed to brighten a little.
“Thank you.”
“Yes. Is your husband not here?”
“Ah, no. He said he was out of shampoo…”
“Okay. Tell him to wait for me when he gets back.”
I said that and went up to the rooftop.
I peeked inside the new family’s house through the gap in the door, and it was quite full. They had clothes hanging on makeshift shelves, baby toys, snacks, chocolate, ramen, and other things.
The man seemed to be working hard.
Come to think of it, breakfast was quite good this morning.
He must have been diligently supplying the main house too.
I went up to the rooftop, and the three women were sitting there.
Pieces of wood were scattered on the rooftop floor where the clothesline was…
Dismantled furniture?
“Ah, oppa.”
Soo-hyun waved when she saw me.
Ye-eun and So-eun also looked at me and bowed.
They must have gotten used to it because they didn’t seem to mind the bloodstains on my clothes anymore.
I nodded and asked,
“Oh. What are you doing?”
“Making something to cover your rooftop room window. Ye-eun and So-eun are helping me. This is the wardrobe from So-eun’s room.”
“Really?”
Ye-eun and So-eun were looking at me.
Their expressions were quite bright.
The terrified looks they had at the convenience store were gone.
They seemed to be doing much better after a few days of relative safety. They were even outside without hesitation.
“But you’re back early, oppa? Are you done?”
Soo-hyun stood up, grunting, and asked.
I shrugged.
“I cleared out the supermarket.”
“Already?”
“Yeah. I’m going to rest a bit, then clear the area around the hardware store and wipe out the hypermarket.”
Aaaaagh-
A scream echoed in the distance.
Ye-eun and So-eun turned sharply towards the sound.
Their faces were tense.
But Soo-hyun didn’t seem to mind.
“Wow… aren’t you scared, going around like that all by yourself?”
“Why would I be scared?”
I chuckled and went into the rooftop room.
“I’m going to rest.”
“Okay, I’ll call you for lunch. Ye-eun unnie is making chicken curry for lunch today.”
Oh, curry sounded good.
I nodded at Ye-eun and went into the rooftop room.
I washed the blood off in the shower and collapsed onto the blankets.
5 Accelerate charges left.
But I was low on Strength.
The most helpful people in this house right now were Soo-hyun and the large man.
The large man was diligently working as a pack mule, keeping the house well-stocked, so bringing him here was a good decision.
Otherwise, I would have had to carry everything myself.
And Soo-hyun, there was no need to mention her.
This house was practically airtight.
It was becoming more and more fortified each day.
Now that Ye-eun and So-eun were helping too, I could just leave it to them.
My job was to level up.
Level up quickly and become stronger.
That was the most important thing for me.
While becoming stronger, I could clear the way for Soo-hyun to work comfortably and for the large man to carry supplies.
To make the hardware store safe, I would have to completely clear out the hair salon and McDonald’s next door.
I’d finish McDonald’s today.
And start raiding the hypermarket tomorrow.
As I lay there, I suddenly became curious.
How long could I keep leveling up?
What was the level cap?
What were the other stats for?
They must have some purpose.
How strong could I become?
As I lay there, thinking these thoughts, my Strength recovered to 8.
Hmm, good.
This should be enough for the hair salon…
I was about to get up when I heard a knock.
I opened the door, and it was the large man.
He must have been busy this morning; beads of sweat dotted his forehead.
“S-sir, I… I saw the diapers you brought. Thank you. Thank you so much, sir.”
Hmm.
He seemed quite happy.
The man continued,
“You were looking for me, sir?”
“Ah, yes.”
I was about to speak, then glanced to the side.
The three women were chattering and banging away with hammers.
…Hmm…
“Wait a minute.”
I gestured for the man to wait and went over to the women.
“Hey.”
The women looked at me.
I said,
“Let’s go to the supermarket.”
The women looked at each other, puzzled.
Ye-eun asked cautiously,
“…C-can we… go out…?”
“It’s fine. I killed them all. And someone is diligently clearing out the bodies.”
Soo-hyun’s eyes widened as she asked,
“The bodies? Who?”
I shrugged.
“I don’t know. They said they’re an inline skating club, six of them. They asked if they could share the things inside, so I said yes. They’re clearing out the bodies.”
The women looked at each other, speechless.
I chuckled and said,
“Don’t worry. The streets are safe. Are we going to let other people take everything? Let’s go.”
I went down the stairs, and the women hurried after me.
Ye-eun and So-eun went into the main house and called for Grandma.
They were probably telling her they were going out.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be back soon.”
I waited in the yard downstairs, and I saw Ye-eun and So-eun coming out of the house.
The large man looked at the women anxiously and asked,
“The… h-house… will be safe… right…?”
Soo-hyun patted the man’s back.
“Don’t you see all the boarded-up windows? No one can get in if we don’t open the door. It’s completely sealed.”
“Ah, okay.”
Still worried, the man slightly opened his own door and peeked inside.
“Honey. I’ll be back. Don’t open the door for anyone else. Okay?”
I heard a reply from inside, “Okay, come back soon.”
Her voice was definitely brighter.
Compared to a few days ago, it was a significant improvement.
“Let’s go.”
As I led them down the alley, I saw the bodies of the four old gangsters lying on the street.
“…Ugh.”
So-eun covered her mouth.
Soo-hyun said,
“Ah, so that’s what that smell was. I thought someone took a dump nearby.”
I scoffed, looking at the gangsters’ bodies.
“They’re just idiots. Don’t mind them.”
“…Ugh.”
So-eun looked like she was about to throw up.
The large man scratched his head and said,
“I-I’ll… move these out of sight later.”
…Hmm.
That was thoughtful of him.
I patted his shoulder as a sign of approval and turned the corner towards the supermarket.
After walking for about five minutes, we reached the parking lot.
And then we heard the whirr of inline skates and the murmur of voices.
We turned towards the squid shop, and six people were sitting on the ground.
Empty drink bottles and energy bar wrappers were scattered around them.
The bodies that had been piled up at the entrance were gone.
These people must have moved them.
They seemed to be resting after working hard.
The woman with the ponytail stood up when she saw us.
She was also drenched in sweat.
“Ah, you’re here. You came with everyone.”
I nodded and looked past the automatic doors.
There were still a dozen or so bodies lying inside, but they seemed to have cleared the entrance area.
“You’ve cleared a lot. It must have been heavy.”
They had carried 50kg, 60kg, 70-80kg bodies.
It was natural for them to be tired, even with six people.
“Yes. We’re taking a break right now. Who are these people…?”
I gestured behind me and said,
“They’re the same. Survivors.”
Soo-hyun walked forward with a cheerful smile.
“Hello. I’m Ahn Soo-hyun. You’re from the inline skating club, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Heard a lot about them?
I chuckled.
Just like when I first met her, Soo-hyun was quite sociable.
To think she was a shut-in.
She must have really loved gaming.
“Ah, nice to meet you. I’m Eun-seo. Jung Eun-seo.”
As the two women shook hands, the large man looked at the entrance and said,
“You were… moving the bodies, right…? I’ll help.”
The inline skating club members smiled at him.
“Oh, thank you. We’re taking a break now, but please join us later.”
…Hmm…
Even though we were meeting for the first time, there was a strange sense of camaraderie between survivors.
As long as they weren’t like those shitty 40-50-year-old gangsters, survivors usually seemed happy to see each other in this situation.
“Then take whatever you need and go back. Go back the way you came. Don’t go anywhere else.”
As I turned to leave, Soo-hyun grabbed my hand.
“Oppa, where are you going?”
“To kill the ones at the hardware store. So you can safely get what you need.”
Actually, I was going to level up.
My Accelerate was almost fully recharged with 6 uses.
The woman with the ponytail, Jung Eun-seo, said,
“You’re going again after doing all that this morning? Wow… um, what’s your name?”
Soo-hyun glanced at me and then smiled brightly at Jung Eun-seo.
“My oppa’s name is Han Sung-hoon.”
“Ah, Sung-hoon. What did you do before all this? With just one sword, you killed so many… and you’re going somewhere else…”
The large man straightened up and said,
“S-Sung-hoon helped us too. He’s amazing. Really.”
…Ah, this was embarrassing.
I didn’t want to hear this.
“You weren’t joking when you said you were a Sword Master, were you? You trained in kendo, right?”
Jung Eun-seo asked.
Seriously…
It was difficult to answer.
I couldn’t tell them I was using a skill to move incredibly fast and kill…
I shrugged and said,
“I’m going. See you later.”
“Ah, Sung-hoon.”
As I turned to leave, Jung Eun-seo called out to me.
Ah, what now.
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