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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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I walked towards the alley.
“Open the fucking door! Huh?! You guys are hoarding everything! Do you want everyone to die?! Does this make any sense?!”
A man’s voice.
“Open the door! Open the door!”
A woman’s voice.
I turned the corner into the convenience store alley.
People were standing there.
Filling the alley.
At least forty of them.
…A survivor group.
But…
…what the hell were these people?
In front of someone else’s house.
Thump, thump.
I walked out of the alley towards the boarding house.
Their gazes focused on me.
They flinched when they saw me.
I was drenched in blood from head to toe.
Barely any skin visible on my face.
Blood dripped from my hair.
I walked towards them.
The noisy crowd fell silent.
They just stared at me.
A blood-soaked man walking towards them with swords at his waist was definitely an eye-catching sight.
The man who was shouting the loudest.
He was quite large.
Not the plump, laborer-type like Hoon, but someone who looked like he worked out when he was younger.
Judo?
Maybe.
And the woman behind him, shouting for them to open the door, her neck veins bulging.
…These two were the leaders.
I could tell at a glance.
I walked towards them leisurely.
Blood dripping.
Thump, thump.
Confusion and fear filled their faces.
They looked like they had encountered a human beast.
The large man’s face was tense, but he didn’t step back.
Neither did the woman.
Were they a couple?
I stopped in front of the man blocking the gate.
And looked at him.
He was quite tall.
About the same height as me.
He stared back.
Motionless.
Without even blinking.
…This bastard, blocking the gate…
My expression hardened.
I slowly said, “Move.”
The large man looked me up and down. “Who are you to tell me to move? You little punk.”
His tone was different from before.
It seemed like he used a different tone with a blood-soaked person than with those he considered beneath him.
I chuckled and drew my sword.
Shing-
Gasp!
The crowd gasped in unison.
I calmly placed the sword against the man’s chest.
And pushed.
I had pierced hundreds of human beasts with this sword.
It had been a short time, but I’d used it day and night. With the added grip of the Maintenance Gloves, I wielded it like an extension of my own body.
There was no hesitation in my movements.
Fluid and natural.
Calm and swift.
I wasn’t trying to surprise him, but it ended up being a surprise attack.
As I pushed the sword against his chest, blood welled up.
“Ugh.”
It was sudden.
The large man wasn’t prepared at all.
He flinched, gasped, and took a step back.
I took a step forward. “…I said move.”
I continued to press the sword against him.
The man took another step, then another, and then started breathing heavily.
I stopped at the gate.
The man took another step back, then glared at me, panting.
The woman was surprised, and so was the crowd.
They hadn’t expected me to suddenly draw my sword and stab him in the chest.
They looked like they still couldn’t comprehend what was happening, as if thinking, how could such a thing happen so openly in a law-abiding country?
The rule of law died the day the apocalypse began.
These people didn’t seem to realize that.
With those looks on their faces.
The man, looking like he couldn’t believe he was bleeding, alternately pressed his hand against his chest and then stared at it.
He looked like he had just experienced something unbelievable.
Seriously, what a joke.
I said quietly, “So, what do you want? Why are you here?”
“Hey!” the woman next to the man shouted. “Who are you to stab someone?! Huh?! Who are you! What do you think you’re doing?! Huh?!”
She walked towards me, pointing her finger.
That finger…
…had a ring on it.
Jung Eun-seo’s face flashed through my mind.
“Hey! You bastard! Do you think you’re all that just because you have a sword?! Huh?! Do you know how many people are here?! What kind of thug stabs someone like that?!”
Only the woman was being aggressive.
Only a brainless idiot would openly yell at a blood-soaked person holding a sword.
I looked up.
The inline skaters were peeking out from the windows across the street.
Their faces were filled with fear.
Jung Eun-seo was among them.
I pointed the sword at the woman who was still yelling.
The woman flinched and stepped back.
I looked at Jung Eun-seo and asked, “Was this the woman who slapped you?”
Jung Eun-seo looked back and forth between the woman and me.
The crowd turned to look at the house across the street.
The woman’s face turned red, then blue, her expression shifting.
She recognized Jung Eun-seo.
Jung Eun-seo nodded.
The woman shouted, “Hey! I hit you because you deserved it! Is that my fault?! Huh?! Why is it my fault?! You were the one who was wrong!”
I said, “Shut up.”
And slashed at her with the sword.
The woman’s ear was sliced in half.
Splat-
Blood sprayed.
The woman flinched, then slowly turned to look at me.
Blood streamed down from her ear.
She touched her ear.
Then looked at her hand.
Covered in blood.
Her plump face trembled.
“B-blood… b-blood… my… my ear…”
…She was finally quiet.
I looked at Jung Eun-seo.
Then pointed the sword at the woman again.
And said, “…Should I cut off the hand that slapped you?”
Jung Eun-seo flinched, her eyes widening in surprise, and then shook her head vigorously.
I chuckled. “You’re a good person. Forgiving someone after being slapped.”
Just then, the man who was stabbed in the chest grimaced and shouted, “You bastard! How dare you act like this, you son of a bitch! Hey, you motherfucker!”
I raised the sword.
The man flinched and shut his mouth.
I said, “You were the ones causing a scene in front of someone else’s house. Are you out of your mind?”
The man, his chest still bleeding from the sword wound, just glared at me, unable to speak.
He looked speechless.
The woman was trembling, staring at the blood on her hand.
She let out a strange whimper, as if she was about to collapse and burst into tears.
I said, “I’ll ask again. Why are you here?”
I didn’t lower the sword.
The man with the chest wound gritted his teeth and said, “…If you guys are hoarding all the supplies from the supermarket, you should share with the others! That’s only fair!” He turned around and shouted,
“Everyone’s on the verge of starvation! Isn’t that right?!
Look at this!
Look what they did to my wife!
He stabbed me!
These bastards!
How dare they?!
Huh?! Everyone?!”
The crowd looked back and forth between the man and me.
Their expressions changed.
They seemed to realize they were starving.
I chuckled. “What a joke. Seriously.”
The man turned sharply to look at me.
His expression was ferocious.
He was probably trying to incite the crowd to attack me.
…Let’s see him try.
I chuckled. “You need food? There are convenience stores all over the place, you idiots. Why are you whining about there being no food left at one supermarket?”
I pointed the sword at the crowd. “Do you know why you’re here? Want me to tell you? It’s because someone cleaned out that supermarket that the inline skating club could bring you even a single pack of ramen. Who killed over fifty of those things? Me.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief. “Those people gave food and directions to the supermarket to trash like you, who are too scared to even step outside your houses. And you repay their kindness by threatening and attacking them? Even coming to their house and shouting?”
I took a step forward.
I smiled. “Go raid a convenience store yourself. Kill the things inside. But you can’t. You’re too scared. So you’re throwing a tantrum, demanding others hand over what they have, as if you’re entitled to it.”
I thrust the sword forward. “You’re not entitled to anything. The moment you laid your hands on the people who helped you, you lost the right to even a single pack of ramen.”
The man stepped back as the sword came closer.
The crowd flinched and also stepped back slightly.
The woman with the sliced ear also shut her mouth.
I said, “You can’t even raid a convenience store yourselves, and you come here in a group, demanding they hand over their supplies. Are you even human? You’re like cockroaches swarming around garbage.”
…That was a good one.
From now on, I’d call this survivor group the Cockroaches.
I took another step forward.
The man took another step back.
I smiled. “You are Cockroaches.”
The crowd just stared at me, breathing heavily.
Some looked scared, some defiant, some tense.
But their gazes were all disgusting.
I said, “Get lost, you Cockroaches. If I see you again, I’ll slice your necks one by one.”
The crowd flinched and slowly backed away, but they didn’t leave.
I took another step towards them. “I’ve already hunted hundreds of those human beasts. And I’ve also sliced a few thugs like you. You Cockroaches.”
I kept walking.
They slowly retreated and then started walking backward.
After a few steps, the Cockroaches turned around, panting.
I said, “…If you appear before me again, I’ll hunt you down one by one. Don’t ever let me see you again.”
Rustle.
The Cockroaches walked away.
The man with the chest wound, the woman with the sliced ear.
Glancing back at me with venomous eyes.
They were gone.
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