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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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“Ha!”
Crack! I pulled the sword out of the woman’s head, and blood droplets shimmered.
13 kills.
3 Accelerate charges used.
“Hoo.”
[Leveled up 3 times.]
Thud, crash!
The sound of collapsing bodies from all directions.
Blood splattered.
I looked around.
Snacks, drinks, water bottles.
Some blood splatters, but they landed on the boxes, so it didn’t matter.
I checked the restroom, confirmed there was no one else, and left the 3rd floor.
It was a bit disappointing there weren’t more of them.
Perhaps out of greed, I wished there were 200 on each floor.
What could I expect from just a storage room and an office, though?
I had 9 Strength and 7 Accelerate charges left.
Still plenty.
I went down to the 2nd floor and knelt on one knee.
Grrrr… grrrr…
Hmm.
That chair would be in the way.
No.
I’d leave it.
I stood up and went down the stairs.
I turned the corner.
Light flooded my vision.
Figures appeared before me.
“Kya?!”
“Inhale.”
Accelerate.
[Auto-casting: Accelerate]
I immediately charged in and thrust my swords.
Wherever my eyes landed, the swords followed.
The feeling of skulls being pierced transmitted through my hands.
Crack, crack, crack, crack!
Just as Accelerate was about to wear off, I activated it again.
I moved through them, continuously piercing heads.
2 Accelerate charges, then 3.
Nine heads.
I pierced them all, then turned and leaped over the chair.
[Level Up.]
As I passed the side entrance, crunching on shattered glass,
“–Ka-ugh!”
Thud! Crash!
The sound of nine bodies collapsing at once.
“Kraaagh!”
They were coming.
Accelerate.
[Auto-casting: Accelerate]
I sprinted forward, disappearing from their sight.
I ran to the convenience store and stopped.
I looked back; I had definitely lost them.
I took out my phone, catching my breath.
Ugh, it was covered in blood.
Was it around 1 a.m.?
Not yet. 12:49 a.m.
I swung the swords in the air, scattering the blood, and then sheathed them.
Shing-
“Hoo…”
Running and killing human beasts every day since the first day of the apocalypse had definitely improved my stamina.
I wasn’t even that out of breath after running this much.
…Was there something there?
I went onto the road beyond the convenience store.
I couldn’t see clearly.
I climbed on top of a car.
Thump, thump.
I stepped onto the roof and looked into the distance.
A large group of people were gathered.
They seemed…
…organized.
Mostly men, holding something in their hands.
Baseball bats, wrenches, things like that.
…Ah.
They were raiding the convenience store.
One of them ran out.
A few human beasts chased him.
The men charged at the human beasts.
They swung their weapons.
Dozens of people were attacking three human beasts.
Oh…
Wait a minute.
Dozens?
Dozens of men…
That couldn’t be right.
…Ah.
They were bringing people outside.
Increasing their numbers.
Those who could fight were gathering and systematically scavenging for food.
As long as they didn’t make too much noise, the human beasts wouldn’t swarm them, so it was possible to do it like that.
They were quite well-trained.
Last time, one of them was bitten and beaten to death by his own group. They must have continued raiding after that.
Ah, they had no choice.
To get people to come outside, they had to give them food. And they needed food for themselves too.
There were dozens of men there, so including women, elderly people, and children, there must have been about a hundred of them.
One convenience store wouldn’t last long.
We were a small group, so what we had was enough. Since I was the only fighter, we could live comfortably even with a small number of people.
But they were different.
Even to clear out a convenience store with only two or three human beasts, they needed a double-digit number of strong men.
If one of them was bitten, even a scratch, even a single drop of blood, they would be beaten to death by their own group.
They had to swarm and subdue the human beast instantly before it could bite.
For that, they needed a lot of people. But the more people there were, the more supplies they needed.
So, they had no choice but to keep raiding.
They adopted that method.
Well, if they didn’t have someone like me who could kill dozens alone, that was the most efficient way.
I chuckled and got down from the car.
The Cockroaches had their own way of surviving.
I’d just leave them be.
Beating their own bitten comrades to death, whether they were close friends, siblings, fathers, or sons.
It wasn’t my concern.
I passed the convenience store and entered the boarding house alley.
Hmm?
…The supermarket at the end of the alley.
The utility pole in front of the supermarket.
I thought I saw something there.
A human figure?
I tilted my head and slowly walked down the alley.
After a few steps, I heard rustling sounds.
It was a person.
What?
…Were they scouting?
What were they up to?
I scoffed in disbelief.
I couldn’t help but chuckle as I returned to the boarding house.
Scouting…
What were they planning to do?
Pick a fight?
Please, come on over.
I would gladly slice your neck.
I smiled as I opened the gate and went inside.
Those people didn’t know what I was capable of.
Even in our group, only Hoon and Jung Eun-seo had seen me in action.
Even Stinky hadn’t seen me kill anything because he was trapped inside.
…Hmm…
…Should I show them tomorrow?
If they were spying, they must have been up to something. If they attacked the boarding house while I was gone, it would be a nuisance.
How many were left at the supermarket entrance?
About twenty, it seemed.
It was time to move.
I washed up, lay down, and looked at the status window.
Level 31, 54 Health.
Always 1 point short.
17 Spirit, so it would be fully recharged by morning if I rested.
7 a.m.
I washed up and went downstairs; breakfast preparations were underway.
Stinky, no, Han-tae was also there.
He was definitely the type who wouldn’t miss a meal, his physique a testament to that.
“Han-tae.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“After breakfast, tell the hyungs and noonas to prepare for the move.”
Hoon and the women looked at me.
I smiled. “It’s time to go. Pack your things after breakfast.”
Soo-hyun smiled and said, “That was faster than I expected. I thought it would take about ten days.”
“Why would it take ten days? Ah, right. We need to pack all the tools. I haven’t seen the residential floors yet. There might be empty apartments, and there might not be, we’ll check them out together today.”
The apocalypse started during the day.
The single-family houses would have been empty because people were at work, and there might also be vacant apartments.
Besides, there were dozens more human beasts at the supermarket entrance.
I assumed they were the people who came down from the residential floors and were bitten.
Then there would definitely be many vacant apartments on the residential floors. I thought our group could move in without any problems.
Soo-hyun and Hoon nodded.
“Okay. Anything else?”
Hmm… anything else.
I thought for a moment and said, “I’ll clear out the supermarket entrance today, but we need to seal it off. Even if we clear the inside later, if the entrance is open, someone might be able to come up the stairs.”
Soo-hyun exchanged glances with Hoon and nodded. “If you move the aluminum panels we collected, I’ll weld them in place.”
Han-tae asked in surprise, “N-noona, you can weld?”
Hoon also looked at Soo-hyun. “Now that you mention it, did you learn that at school?”
Soo-hyun smiled and said, “No, my family runs a scrap metal yard. I’ve been handling machines and welding with my dad since I was little. That’s how I got interested in mechanical engineering.”
I smiled. “Oh. I thought it was rare for a woman to study mechanical engineering. So that’s why. Were there any other women there?”
“There were no other women. I was the only one. One woman in the electrical engineering department, and one in mechanical engineering.”
I chuckled. “You must have been popular.”
Soo-hyun grimaced and said, “Oh, please. One relationship was enough. I prefer playing games.” She sighed. “I miss WoW.”
Hmm.
She said she was taking a break, not quitting.
That game.
I’d never played it, but judging by her reaction, it must have been fun.
After breakfast, everyone started packing.
They tied the aluminum panels they had collected from the cars with rope, packed their belongings, and soon it was almost lunchtime.
“Mother, you don’t need to bring chopsticks and things like that. They have everything at the supermarket. Pots, pans, everything.”
Hoon tried to persuade Grandma.
He was right.
We could get metal tools and utensils from the supermarket, and they would last practically forever if we took care of them.
The problem was consumables.
Things that were difficult to replace once used up.
We packed bags and bundles of food, toilet paper, and other consumables, and the moving preparations were complete.
It was much easier with the help of the inline skaters, who didn’t have many belongings.
The inline skating men still had dark bruises on their faces.
But they seemed much better.
There was life in their eyes.
“How are you feeling?”
“Much better, thanks to you. Give that to me, I’ll carry it.”
He reached for the Adidas backpack I was carrying.
I smiled and handed it to him.
It was better to be unencumbered when clearing the supermarket entrance.
Thirteen bags and bundles filled with food and toilet paper. And a heavy bag of tools for Hoon to carry.
Everyone carried a bag, and we left the house.
I was the only one empty-handed.
I looked towards the utility pole in front of the supermarket across from the house.
No one in sight.
Even spies had to eat lunch.
“Let’s go.”
I strapped on the two swords and led the way.
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