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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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“Khh…!”
Pleasure shot up his spine.
Ye-eun moaned, holding him tight.
“Haa…”
He slowly moved his hips, savoring the warm tightness, and let out a long sigh.
After showering together and lying in bed, about to fall asleep, Ye-eun whispered in his arms,
“…Oppa, when are you leaving again?”
He roughly calculated the time.
“Probably before sunrise.”
“…Let’s have breakfast together… okay?”
He caressed Ye-eun’s breast and said,
“I’d like that too. But safety comes first. Understand?”
Ye-eun didn’t say anything more.
She snuggled closer.
He turned her around and held her from behind.
He put his hand between her legs and closed his eyes.
He enjoyed the soft sensation against his fingers.
He hadn’t been getting much sleep these past few days.
But it was a necessary sacrifice.
It felt like it was around 2 AM.
He would leave at six.
He woke up to the faint vibration of his phone.
It was time.
Ye-eun was fast asleep.
He carefully got out of bed so as not to wake her, went downstairs, and restocked his emergency rations from the supermarket.
Then, he returned to the subway and went down.
“Huu…”
The fountain was red.
The water had turned this red from just three bodies.
Unlike blood, it was a slightly translucent red, like strawberry juice.
It was a little before 3 PM.
“Haa, haa.”
After catching his breath, he called up his status window.
He had gained 4 levels.
A total of 7 level-ups in 9 hours.
Leveling was getting faster and faster.
He had 15 levels left.
He put 3 points into Spirit, raising it to 65.
And 1 point into Strength, making it 36.
Three o’clock…
He hadn’t slept much these past few days because of the leveling, and fatigue was catching up to him.
He felt like he could fall asleep instantly if he lay down.
He would get a good night’s sleep after today’s raid.
So, he would return in the evening.
He set a vibration alarm on his phone for when his stats would be recovered.
Chewing on a blood-flavored energy bar, he closed his eyes.
He shot up.
Damn it, he had heard the alarm.
He’d dawdled, thinking he would get up in just 10 more seconds, and then fallen back asleep.
Wasted time.
His mouth felt dry.
It wasn’t because of the energy bar; it was probably because he’d swallowed some of the blood that had splattered on his lips.
He spat it out and opened a bottle of water, gulping it down.
“Huu.”
It was lukewarm.
But it was refreshing.
He slapped his cheeks and stood up, picking up his sword.
He had completely cleared out the bookstore and cafe near the fountain.
Now all that remained was the path leading to the subway station.
There were still rows of shops and hordes of zombies.
He rolled his shoulders a few times and drew his sword.
Shwing
“Huu… Let’s go.”
He was so sleep-deprived, damn it.
His vision was blurry.
He shook his head and took deep breaths to clear his mind, then strode towards them.
He inhaled.
“Hey! Shut up your barking!”
Their heads swiveled.
“Groar!”
They barked and charged.
A wave of human beasts.
He pulled back his sword and bent his body.
Then, he kicked off the ground.
“Hah!”
Accelerate!
“Huu…”
He grabbed the railing at the subway entrance and lowered his head.
He had 1 Accelerate left. He’d used it 12 times.
Rumble!
The sound of beasts roaring and mountains collapsing echoed from deep within the subway.
He didn’t even care about those sounds anymore.
3 level-ups, bringing his Strength to 39.
Strength. Good.
The more he raised it, the faster he leveled up.
He was already Level 88.
It was happening so fast.
It was good, it was all good.
But, ugh, he was tired.
He needed to go back.
After catching his breath, he returned to the supermarket building.
He didn’t even care if there was a spy in the alley or not.
It was quite dark.
What time was it?
Nine o’clock.
…Oh, Soo-hyun had sent him a message.
[Oppa, something terrible happened. Where are you? Come quickly.]
Something terrible?
He was about to reply, but since the building was right in front of him, he put his phone away and walked.
As he returned to the building, the shutter rattled open.
Hoon and Soo-hyun were there together.
“S…Sir. You’re back.”
“Oppa! Why are you so late?!”
Their expressions were grave.
Slightly alarmed, he asked,
“What happened?”
Soo-hyun’s face crumpled slightly as she said,
“Jung Han-seo… he died.”
…Jung Han-seo?
Who was that?
Jung…
…Ah.
Jung Eun-seo’s brother!
He looked back and forth between Soo-hyun and Hoon.
Their faces told him it wasn’t a joke.
He asked,
“When? Why?”
Soo-hyun shook her head.
“I don’t know. The nurse, you know, Myung-jin unnie? She said it was probably a cerebral hemorrhage, but she’s not a doctor and didn’t do any tests, so she’s not sure.”
He nodded and walked towards the elevator.
“Where is everyone?”
“They’re all gathered in Han-seo’s room.”
Clatter.
He heard the sound of Hoon lowering the shutter.
He entered the elevator, pressed the button for the 10th floor, and said,
“So this was the emergency. I didn’t see the message because I was dealing with those things.”
Soo-hyun shook her head.
“That’s not why I sent the message. Han-seo just died.”
He tilted his head and looked at Soo-hyun.
Was there another emergency?
Soo-hyun opened YouTube on her phone and showed him a video.
“Look at this, Oppa.”
It was drone footage.
Skyscrapers.
A drone flying through the city center.
And zombies filling the city.
And…
…Korean signs?
He narrowed his eyes and asked,
“Where is this?”
Soo-hyun bit her lip and said,
“…Gangnam.”
…What?
Gangnam?!
“That’s right next door. Just a few subway stops from here, isn’t it?”
Soo-hyun shook her head and said,
“Oppa, the shutter reinforcement work is far from finished. And we can’t just reinforce the first floor. If the horde comes here… if they swarm this building…”
…That was serious.
Even he couldn’t kill tens or hundreds of thousands of them swarming together.
He had extraordinary abilities, but they came with equally powerful limitations.
Besides, even with his zombie immunity, if he ran out of Accelerate and was completely exposed, he had no chance of survival if he was caught by them.
He would be ripped to shreds.
“…That is a big problem.”
He nodded as he said this.
Soo-hyun nodded too.
“We’ll do what we can for now. You never know, they might not come here and go somewhere else.”
…That was wishful thinking.
If they took a wrong turn, they would be completely exposed.
They couldn’t leave it to chance.
As Soo-hyun said, they needed to reinforce this building.
But the countless glass windows covering the walls…
Even if it was reinforced glass, glass was glass. If it was subjected to pressure beyond its limit, it would eventually shatter and break.
…How could they reinforce all the glass?
Damn it.
He didn’t have that kind of knowledge.
Lost in thought, he reached the 10th floor.
As soon as the doors opened, he knew which room was Jung Han-seo’s.
The open door.
And the people standing around it.
That was Jung Han-seo’s room.
The place where he had died.
As he walked towards it, people recognized him and made way.
Jung Han-seo was lying in bed.
He looked like he was sleeping.
Jung Eun-seo was kneeling next to the bed.
One hand tightly clasped her brother’s hand.
The other rested on her knee.
Clenched into a fist.
Her fist was trembling.
He looked at Jung Eun-seo.
He had said he was dizzy.
A healthy person wouldn’t suddenly get dizzy, collapse, and die.
It was because of them.
Because the Cockroaches had attacked him as a group.
Who would tell this woman, holding her dead brother’s hand, that there was some other reason, that it wasn’t their fault?
Her act of kindness, her good intentions to help people, had ultimately resulted in the death of her only remaining family.
He couldn’t imagine how she must be feeling.
Drop. Drop.
Tears fell from Jung Eun-seo’s eyes.
Soo-hyun and Ye-eun passed him and entered the room.
So-eun and Hoon’s wife followed them.
They tried to comfort her, patting Jung Eun-seo’s shoulder and telling her to be strong.
Empty words.
Jung Eun-seo forced a smile and glanced at the women.
Then, her eyes met his.
She looked at him, covered in blood.
Without blinking.
He didn’t speak.
He just looked at Jung Eun-seo.
Jung Eun-seo didn’t say anything to him either.
He thought he knew what she wanted.
Jung Eun-seo also seemed to know what he knew.
He held her gaze for a moment, then turned away.
“I’m going to wash up.”
He entered Soo-hyun’s room, took off his clothes, and went into the bathroom.
The water rushed down.
Cool.
Refreshing.
And, as a favor…
Cockroaches.
Don’t show yourselves right now.
If he saw them, his sword would move before his words.
He lay in bed, catching up on much-needed sleep.
The others seemed to be discussing what to do with Jung Han-seo’s body.
They couldn’t bury him.
They couldn’t just leave him on the street and burn him.
Soo-hyun came into the room.
“Oppa. Are you sleeping?”
He opened his eyes slightly and looked towards the door.
Soo-hyun was leaning against the doorframe.
“What?”
“We’re going to cremate Han-seo on the roof. Do you… want to come?”
…Cremation…
…What Jung Eun-seo wanted wasn’t a proper funeral and mourners for her brother.
He got out of bed and put on shorts and a t-shirt.
“Okay.”
He walked with Soo-hyun towards the stairwell leading to the roof.
Soo-hyun said,
“Oppa. The women are going to get together today and spend some time with Eun-seo… is that okay?”
She asked cautiously.
She felt it wouldn’t be right to be intimate with him in this kind of atmosphere.
Yes, that made sense.
He nodded.
“Alright.”
When they arrived on the roof, the preparations for the cremation were already complete. Pieces of wood torn from furniture, and three plastic bottles filled with gasoline. That was all.
Two of the inline skating club members placed Jung Han-seo’s body, wrapped in a bedsheet, on top of the wood.
And they were about to pour the gasoline.
Jung Eun-seo stepped forward and took the bottles.
The men handed them over and stepped back.
Jung Eun-seo stood there, looking at her brother for a long time.
Then, she poured the gasoline.
There was no eulogy.
Jung Han-seo’s body went up in flames, sending bright light and black smoke into the sky.
The others watched silently as Jung Han-seo burned.
Jung Eun-seo stood a step back.
He felt a gaze.
She was looking at him.
Sadness and rage filled her eyes.
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I feel bad for saying this but at least none of the girls that he’s close to died. Anyways thanks for the chappie!