I’m the Only One with Powers in the Apocalypse – Chapter 34

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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Early evening.

I descended the rooftop stairs, gazing at the distant sunset.

In the yard below, the women and the large man were surrounded by a mountain of supplies.

Clothes, vegetables, meat, toilet paper, tissues, all sorts of daily necessities, snacks, and sweets – it was a veritable hill of goods.

Soo-hyun saw me and called out excitedly,

“Oppa! Look at this!”

“Whoa, that’s a lot.”

“We brought back a ton, right? Hehe.”

She seemed quite pleased.

I smiled back.

The new mother, also with a bright face, was looking at the newly acquired frying pans and pots, then turned to me.

“I heard from my husband. Thank you so much.”

So-eun, squatting and munching on dried shredded squid, peeked up at me.

Ye-eun smiled and said,

“It’s been really dangerous lately, but thanks to you, we were able to bring back so much. Thank you, Sung-hoon.”

I chuckled and replied,

“You’re being too formal.”

I reached the bottom of the stairs.

The large man was smiling cheerfully.

I casually rested my hand on the hilt of my sword and asked,

“What happened to the inline skating club members?”

“Ah, yes, sir. They loaded up the shopping carts inside the supermarket with ramen and other things and scattered in all directions. They said they were going to deliver them to people.”

…Hmm…

They were good people.

Different from me.

I ended up clearing the supermarket because I was trying to level up.

I nodded and reached for the gate.

Soo-hyun said,

“Oppa, where are you going? It’s dinner time. Let’s grill samgyeopsal tonight. Okay?”

…Hmm…

Samgyeopsal…!

Damn, my hand froze.

I was starting to feel hungry.

…Ah, wait.

If I secured the hardware store…

Hmm…

I said to the large man,

“Would you come with me for a bit?”

“Yes? Ah, yes. Of course, sir.”

He didn’t even ask where we were going.

I looked at Soo-hyun and tilted my chin.

“I’ll be back soon. It won’t take long. Let’s go.”

The women waved.

Soo-hyun said,

“Come back, oppa. I’ll get the samgyeopsal ready and wait for you.”

We left the house, and the gate closed.

Buzz-click.

The automatic lock engaged.

…Wait a minute.

The gate was also reinforced with wood, top and bottom.

Even the gap at the bottom was mostly blocked.

Soo-hyun really…

…I needed to secure the hardware store quickly.

I looked at what Soo-hyun did to the gate for a moment, then turned and walked towards the convenience store.

The smell of the accumulating bodies, both at the convenience store and everywhere else, was getting worse with time.

“Hoo…”

I waved my hand in front of my face and exhaled, and the large man, who was following me, said,

“Sir, if we leave those bodies there, won’t it cause some kind of epidemic?”

…Epidemic?

I stopped as I was about to pass the convenience store.

…Indeed.

Leaving bodies on the streets was definitely unsanitary.

I remembered learning that somewhere in Europe, after a war, they couldn’t properly dispose of the bodies, and rats started spreading the plague, or was it the Black Death? Something like that.

If we left the bodies here, wouldn’t we end up with a rat infestation or something?

…Not good.

I had to find a way to dispose of the bodies.

The large intersection by the residential complex.

I could see a gas station across the street.

…Gas station…

I glanced back and said,

“…Should we gather them and burn them? What do you think?”

“B-burn… them…?”

“Yes. It’s easier than burying them. We can get some gasoline from over there, pour it over them, and burn them all.”

The large man blinked, speechless.

Just then, a pungent smell drifted in with the wind.

I looked around and saw black smoke rising in the distance.

From the direction of the supermarket.

…The supermarket.

Almost 50 bodies.

…The inline skating club members.

They must have had the same idea as me.

There was no other reason for smoke to be coming from there.

People facing similar situations tended to think alike.

I nodded and said,

“Let’s call those inline skaters tomorrow and gather the bodies to burn them. For today, let’s just move them to the middle of the road.”

“Yes, sir.”

But…

There was no smoke coming from anywhere else.

…That meant they hadn’t killed as many human beasts as I had in other areas.

It was probably just me.

The only one capable of hunting this many human beasts.

I nodded and crossed the road, crouching down and walking between the cars.

Right past the residential complex was McDonald’s.

…The glass walls were completely exposed, with no stickers, and the entrance was right in the middle, so I couldn’t sneak in.

Hmm…

I didn’t know how many were inside, but McDonald’s was more difficult than it looked.

I wouldn’t have even tried if I didn’t have enough Accelerate charges.

I sat down next to an Accent and slowly drew my sword.

Shing-

“…Wait here.”

The large man whispered,

“…Yes, sir.”

Bending down, I used the Accent’s headlights as cover and peeked inside McDonald’s.

The distance to the entrance was about 10 meters.

The problem was…

…McDonald’s also had automatic doors. Damn it.

If they were regular sliding doors, I could just charge in with Accelerate, but with automatic doors, even with Accelerate, the doors wouldn’t open until I reached them.

…Damn it.

Couldn’t be helped.

I stood up and walked straight towards McDonald’s.

I’m here.

Look at me.

The expressions of the few human beasts staring blankly in my direction changed instantly.

What? Something’s there!

There!

Their faces contorted in real-time.

“Kraaagh!”

One of them roared.

“Kyaaagh! Kraaagh! Kaagh!”

Several of them roared simultaneously and lunged at the glass walls.

There were tables and chairs by the glass walls, so they couldn’t easily break through.

“Eek!”

The large man behind me flinched.

Just stay put and don’t bother me, mister.

I walked towards the automatic doors, sword in hand.

Thump, thump.

“Kaagh! Kraaagh!”

They swarmed towards the automatic doors.

At the same time, more of them started pouring down the stairs.

Shit, how many were there?

They opened.

The automatic doors opened!

Whirr-

“Kraw!”

They poured out.

A pickup truck was behind me!

“…Inhale!”

“Kyaaagh!”

They were coming!

Accelerate!

Their clawing hands froze barely a meter away from me.

I didn’t know how many hands there were.

I pulled the sword back and thrust with all my might.

Crack, crack, crack!

I dodged to the side, avoiding their reaching hands.

“–a-raw!”

Accelerate.

The ones with pierced heads were about to collapse onto the pickup truck, then froze mid-air.

I raised the sword.

Crack! Crack!

I took a step to the side, and with all my might!

“Ha!”

Crack!

I stepped back.

“–Ra-raw!”

Accelerate.

I quickly looked around.

The ones that had rushed out from the entrance to the pickup truck in a straight line.

I immediately stepped forward and stabbed.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A total of 9 eliminated near the entrance.

A few I missed were on the other side.

I took another step back.

“Hoo.”

Blood droplets decorated the air.

“-Raw!”

Nine of them collapsed like dominoes.

Thud, crash! Heavy sounds of bodies hitting the ground.

…Wait.

Two more beyond the fallen ones.

And more crawling out of the entrance.

I raised my sword and waited.

“Kyaaagh!”

The human beasts swarmed over the bodies towards me.

Everything around me seemed to darken.

Accelerate.

“K–a—-a——”

The eyes of the human beasts froze mid-air.

Countless eyes.

I immediately raised the sword and thrust.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

“Ha!”

I pulled out the sword and stepped onto the road.

“–a-ruh!”

Accelerate.

The collapsing and charging figures froze.

I stepped onto the sidewalk and thrust the sword.

“Ha!”

Crack!

One more step!

Crack!

To the side!

Crack!

“-Raw!”

Accelerate.

The human beasts, heads pierced, were about to collapse.

I ducked and quickly moved between them.

And aimed the sword at the ones crawling out of the automatic doors.

“Ha!”

Crack, crack!

One step back!

“–a-ha!”

Thud! Crash! They collapsed again.

More of them were coming down the stairs.

The automatic doors were clear!

Accelerate.

The ones running towards the automatic doors froze.

I stepped over the bodies, through the doors, and onto the ground.

I raised the sword and thrust with all my might.

Crack!

Done.

One step to the side!

“-Ruh!”

Accelerate.

The moment the one with the pierced head went limp, the world froze.

A pair of legs coming down the stairs.

Two more already down.

I leaped forward, landing in front of the stairs.

Thump—

“Ha!”

Crack!

One more step!

Crack!

I pulled out the sword and took a step to the side of the stairs.

Thump!

“-Ugh!”

Crash! The bodies flew forward and collapsed.

More legs tumbled down the stairs.

“Kraaagh!”

Accelerate.

…Where the hell was this girl looking?

She was glaring at the spot where I had been, but there was nothing there.

I raised my sword.

“Ha!”

Crack!

I yanked the sword out, and blood spurted out like a mushroom cloud.

I looked up the stairs.

There didn’t seem to be any more coming down.

“–a-ah!”

Thud!

A woman in a rainbow-printed t-shirt with English words tumbled down the stairs.

I continued to watch the stairs.

…There might be more.

…Should I provoke them?

…No.

About 30 meters away.

Right next to it was the parking lot of the residential complex.

I might accidentally lure them all here.

I held the sword and gently pushed the restroom door next to the stairs.

It seemed empty.

I went inside and checked the stalls.

I checked the women’s restroom as well and confirmed that no one was there, then slowly went up to the second floor.

…Nothing.

I checked the second-floor restroom as well.

Definitely nothing.

“…Hoo…”

A message was floating before my eyes.

…?

…7?

I must have killed over twenty just now.

“…Status.”

…Level Max?

Maximum level?

…Wait a minute.

So, level 100 was the max level…

…Huh?

Specialization was blinking.

Time Controller was highlighted.

Flashing and blinking?

…There was something there.

I looked around.

The status window disappeared as I turned my head.

…McDonald’s.

I had to check this carefully.

I couldn’t examine it here, surrounded by bodies.

I’d go back to the rooftop room and check.

I cleared this place anyway.

It was clean.

I went down the stairs.

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