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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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10:00 PM.
My Spirit had recovered to 60. Damn it, that was a long time.
Too long!
It took fifteen hours to fully recharge. Without the Recovery skill, it would have taken twenty hours. Recovery had shaved off five hours, but it was still too long.
Damn it, I needed to increase my HP and boost my recovery rate. As I got up and started getting dressed, Soo-hyun stirred and opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep from them.
“Ugh… where are you going?”
She was naked.
Her sleepy, tousled appearance, with her breasts exposed, was… cute.
I chuckled, pushed her back down onto the bedding, and took a nipple into my mouth. Soo-hyun moaned.
“…Ah…”
I swirled my tongue around her nipple for a moment, then pulled back and said, “I’ll be back soon, so go back to sleep.”
Soo-hyun looked at me with sleepy eyes, then buried her face in the pillow.
“Mmm… be careful… okay…?”
“Okay.”
I put on the lifting belt and left the room.
Right… the supermarket and the house aside, I had to finish what I started.
I walked towards the convenience store.
The streetlights still cast a warm, yellow glow on the street.
Two weeks into the apocalypse… or was it more?
It felt like a short time, but so much had happened. And yet, the streetlights were still on.
…Would the power go out?
When would it happen?
…A life without electricity…
I had never imagined such a thing. I crossed the road, looking up at the streetlights. The growls from the mixed-use building parking garage had stopped. They were gathered somewhere deeper inside. I stepped over the scattered bodies and descended the ramp.
Rrrr… Rrrr…
Faint growls echoed from below, amplified by the enclosed space. They were deeper inside. I drew my swords.
Shing—
The grip of the Maintenance Gloves felt secure in my hands. I walked down the ramp, entering the underground parking garage. Pillars stood at regular intervals, and electric lights cast a steady glow over the space. I took a deep breath and began to sing.
“Never gonna give you up~ Never gonna let you down~” → “Never gonna give you up… Never gonna let you down…”
“Grrrr?!”
Heads popped up from behind the parked cars. I smiled.
“Come on.”
“Graaagh!”
They surged forward, swarming towards me like ants on a hunt. They were coming!
They were coming!
Accelerate!
[Auto-cast: Accelerate]
I spread my arms, swords extended. Swoosh—
The sound of ripping air, slow and distorted. I stepped to the side and thrust with all my might.
“Hah!”
Thwack!
“Hoo…”
I flicked the swords in the air, and the blood and other matter splattered off, leaving the blades pristine. One of the benefits of the Maintenance Gloves, which kept my weapons in optimal condition, was that I didn’t have to wipe the blood off.
A flick of the wrist was all it took.
This was perfect.
[Leveled up 2 times.]
Bodies lay scattered around me.
Twenty-two kills.
I had used seven Accelerate charges. My left hand was getting better; I was using fewer charges.
Good.
“Status.”
My HP was currently at 38. I had earned 2 stat points, so I’d bring it to 40. I allocated the points to HP and left the parking garage.
HP recovery tick: 48 minutes.
Stat recovery tick: 14 minutes.
It was a gradual improvement, but it was getting shorter.
As I walked out of the underground parking garage, I thought about it. Should I keep focusing on HP? Or should I reinforce my Strength and Spirit?
…HP was the most important for now.
I needed to level up, and I had a new group of survivors to consider.
I needed to recover my stats quickly, just in case.
I needed to increase my HP to at least 60 or 70 to comfortably manage two raids per day and be prepared for any unexpected situations. But… If I increased my Strength by 3, to 30, I could guarantee at least 3 levels per raid.
…Right. 3 Strength it was. I had 5 Accelerate charges left.
Should I secure another house?
“Aaaaagh!”
A woman’s scream echoed in the distance. I was getting used to it, but it happened almost once an hour. People were still risking their lives for a pack of ramen. And I was on a killing spree.
I chuckled and walked past the convenience store, heading towards the single-family house across from the boarding house.
Grrrr… Grrrr… …Hmm. I could hear them.
The layout was probably similar to the boarding house. The gate was slightly ajar. Had someone run out when it happened?
I sheathed one of my swords and pushed the gate open with my other hand. The growls were louder now. The first floor… both units seemed empty. I couldn’t hear anything. I knocked, but there was no response.
The apocalypse had started during the day.
They must have been at work or school. Then the second floor. I went up the stairs.
The growls grew louder with each step. …Would the door be open?
Click, click. …Locked.
…What should I do?
The light was on in the main room.
…Hmm… The window behind the metal bars was closed.
…Was it locked too?
I slipped my sword through the bars and gently pushed the window. It moved. Oh. The window was unlocked. I grabbed the window frame and slid it open. Screech! A face lunged at me.
“Graaagh!”
An elderly man. Half of his face had been ripped off, the blood dried and caked. The muscles of his face twitched and dangled.
“Gyaaagh! Graaagh!”
…Were there any more?
The door to the room was wide open.
Thump, thump, thump! Rapid footsteps.
“Haaagh! Graaagh!” An old woman. She rushed into the room, grabbed the old man’s head, and then pushed her face against the window, her nose hitting the metal bars with a sickening crunch. It bent and broke, but there was no blood.
“Graaagh! Gyaaagh!”
…Hmm. Just an elderly couple, it seemed.
Accelerate.
[Auto-cast: Accelerate]
“Graaa—aa—aa—” The two faces strained against the bars, reaching for me, teeth bared. I raised my sword and stabbed.
Thwack! Thwack! “—Aa—gah.”
Their chins hit the window frame, and they slumped to the floor. Blood splattered against my cheek. I wiped it away with the back of my hand and stood there, listening. Any sounds? Any growls? Were there any more nearby?
…Silence. …Done. I couldn’t pick locks. I’d have to ask Soo-hyun. That was a total of twenty-four kills tonight. …Time to go back.
I returned to the rooftop room, showered, and lay down next to Soo-hyun. She looked a little grumpy; she hadn’t been sleeping well with me coming and going and showering constantly. Hmm. There wasn’t much I could do about my schedule. And Soo-hyun had her own routine. It was nice being together, but it was also inconvenient. If we kept this up, she wouldn’t be able to sleep properly, so we probably needed separate rooms.
I’d talk to her in the morning and have her move into the empty house.
My current Spirit was at 20. It would fully recover by morning. Tomorrow, the hypermarket raid.
Morning.
6:00 AM.
The sun was just beginning to rise. I got up, got dressed, and left the room. I had considered waking Soo-hyun up and having my way with her, but she hadn’t been sleeping well, so I left quietly. The raid was more important. I needed to level up quickly. I walked down the convenience store street and turned right, past the Korean medicine clinic, past the rice cake shop, and past the now-empty clothing store. I crossed the first lane next to the clothing store building—the hypermarket. Bodies littered the path leading to the entrance. The ones I had killed—lured out and stabbed while escaping. The stench of decay… damn it. I sat down behind a small signboard for the clothing store and looked at the hypermarket. One of the glass panels near the side entrance was shattered.
…Wait a minute.
Why were there so many figures inside? The last time I was here, there had been about ten at the entrance. I had lured most of them out and killed them. Now, there were almost twenty milling around the entrance. Maybe closer to thirty, including the ones lying on the floor. There couldn’t be that many at the entrance.
They had a strange homing instinct; even after being provoked, they would return to their original positions if they couldn’t find their target. Why? Why were there so many? I looked around. Everything was the same. Quiet, still. …They hadn’t come from anywhere nearby.
I looked up at the building, examining it carefully. Supermarket signs and banners were plastered all over the first three floors. Right, those were the supermarket floors. Fourth floor: signs for a kendo dojo and a pilates studio. Fifth floor: karaoke, DVD room… DVD room… nice… I could relax there with a girl… hmm… Sixth floor: PC room, occupying the entire floor. Seventh floor: cooking academy, calligraphy academy. Eighth floor: hair salon, comic book cafe. That looked like a fancy hair salon. I had never been to one, but the sign was different from the local salon. Ninth and tenth floors: no signs.
…Wait a minute.
…Ninth and tenth floors… were those residential floors?
…Seriously? I looked down at the hypermarket entrance.
At least twenty, just from what I could see.
…Residential floors above, and an increased number of human beasts at the supermarket entrance. That meant the residents from the upper floors had come down and been bitten. That was the only explanation.
…This was crazy.
I looked up at the building again. So, the supermarket… I started to get up, then stopped. I sat back down.
Wait.
Should I clear out the supermarket first? After I cleared out the mid-sized supermarket, people had swarmed the place and taken everything. We had taken the most, but still… If I cleared out this supermarket first, other groups would notice and come scavenging. …That wouldn’t do. I looked up at the building. It was quite tall and large for a ten-story building. We had plenty of food at the house, enough for a month or two. I’d target the upper floors first and then clear out the supermarket entrance on moving day.
…Damn it, that was a lot of stairs. It would be quite a workout. I sighed deeply, stood up, and walked towards the hypermarket.
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