Chapter 43
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Apocalypse, But It's Too Easy for Me Alone
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"Hey, bro, could I maybe change into some different clothes before we go?"
"Clothes?"
At Yejin's question, I glanced down at the outfit she was currently wearing—now it was just natural for her to be in my clothes. A baggy white tee that hung loose, and shorts that reached her knees.
Since the top was white, her underwear underneath was even visible. Yeah, I definitely needed to get her some proper clothes.
"Should we swing by a department store around here? There should be tons of good stuff just lying around."
"A department store? Awesome!"
The word "department store" made Yejin's eyes sparkle as she answered quickly. I'd heard women loved department stores, and it looked like Yejin was no exception.
"Where's the nearest one around here... My memory's a bit fuzzy. Do you know?"
Hard to believe, but it'd only been about two weeks since I returned to this world after rolling around in that other one for ten years. Plus, the zombie apocalypse had hit pretty much right after I got back.
So yeah, I'd forgotten a lot about what was around here.
"From here... probably that way."
The direction Yejin pointed was conveniently similar to the way toward the Haedong Faction's turf.
"Alright then, come here."
"Huh? Why all of a— Whoa!"
I scooped Yejin up in a princess carry as she approached, then leaped from building to building until we reached the rooftop.
"H-Huff! B-Bro... What the heck was that?!"
We were just about to head toward the Haedong Faction when her startled voice made me look down. There she was, staring up at me in shock.
Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd shown her something like this, huh?
"What do you mean? I just got us to the rooftop."
"But! The way you moved just now was straight out of an action movie! Are you really human?"
"Of course I'm human. What, you think I'm a zombie? Just roll with it. Anything that happens when you're with me? Accept it as something only I can pull off."
I had no idea when I'd tell Yejin about going to that other world, living as a Black Magician, and coming back. For now, no explanations—this was the best way to put it. Keeping black magic info to myself was the biggest advantage.
No one else could replicate it anyway, but still, better if only I knew.
"Got it for now. But why the rooftop... Aaaah!"
Nothing more to explain to Yejin, so I picked her up and started hopping from rooftop to rooftop, pushing forward. No warning, so the startled Yejin buried her head against me, eyes squeezed shut, clinging tight like she was afraid of falling.
Before I knew it, we'd reached the building where the Haedong Faction was holed up, but I still hadn't spotted the department store Yejin mentioned, so I set her down for a sec.
"Where's this department store? I don't see it."
The moment her feet hit the ground, Yejin collapsed to her knees, hands on the floor like she'd collapse.
"Huuuh... Having your feet on solid ground feels sooo good."
"Hey, cut the weird talk and spill. Did I go the wrong way?"
"No, that's not it. If you go a bit further past here, it'll show up."
So, I'd never gone past the Haedong Faction's spot before, which was why I hadn't noticed the department store.
"Then let's keep going."
"Eek!"
Same as before, I scooped her up and shot forward. Glancing down, she seemed a bit more used to it now—no death grip like earlier. She even lifted her head, scanning around.
"Ah, there it is, bro!"
Then Yejin loosened her hold and pointed with her finger. I stopped immediately and looked—there, between some high-rises, was a flashy building. The tall structures around must've hidden it from my view before.
"Okay, so we gotta head there, but..."
The problem? Looking down, the streets were overflowing with zombies.
They said no new zombies spawned today, but the horde still hanging around meant no other Awakeners around here, or no chance to hunt them. Fine by me—I'd chow down on every last one.
"Stay put here for a bit. I'll clear out the zombies below."
"Below... You mean all those zombies by yourself? C-Can you even do that?"
"Obviously. The reason I could dump coins into boosting your skills? 'Cause trash like those zombies are no problem for me solo."
Before heading down, just in case, I slapped a simple trap spell on the rooftop door. Couldn't have anything happening to Yejin while I was zombie-hunting. Where else would I find such a prime onahole healer? Plus, I'd sunk a whopping 1,500 coins into her—she was irreplaceable talent.
Zombies weren't climbing up here anyway, so that blocked every scenario where she could get attacked. Then I leaped down to street level.
"Whoa? Brooooo!"
I jumped without a word, and Yejin let out a huge yelp of surprise. Makes sense—from at least ten stories up.
Normal person jumps from there? Instant death. So her worry was valid. But in my current state? This wasn't even risky.
Falling, I kicked off the building toward another, spun mid-air right before impact to kick off again, bounding to the next one.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Each kick cracked the walls or shattered windows, the massive booms echoing everywhere. Final landing shook the ground hard, perfectly aggroing every zombie on the street.
Even for me, dropping like that made my leg bones rattle. Tried copying a movie stunt—turns out, not so great in real life.
Next up: same old routine. The aggroed horde charged me like mad, trying to chomp. I dodged quick, keeping distance while luring them along. No big open plaza nearby to pull them into, though, so no luring there. Time for a different spell.
I thrust my hand forward at the zombies trailing me in a neat line down the street, gathered demonic energy at my palm, and when they closed in max—blasted it out.
Darkness Blaster
Black demonic energy exploded forward, engulfing the horde. Every zombie in that line vanished without a trace under my black magic. Naturally, I slurped up their demonic energy nice and tasty.
Dunno why so many zombies piled up here, but they were sweet. A few stragglers not in line dodged the spell, but I pulled my sword from subspace, slapped Mana Drain on it, and slit their throats quick.
Seemed cleared out, so I headed back to where I'd left Yejin. She gawked at me, mouth open in shock. Wait, this was her first time seeing me wipe a horde with magic, right?
"Bro... What did you just do? The zombies all vanished in a flash."
"Yeah? What'd it look like to you?"
"Uh... You were running around luring them, then suddenly stopped. Right when I wondered why, poof—the horde just deleted like files on a computer! How?!"
Hmm... So Yejin couldn't see my magic? To me, it was clearly black demonic energy swallowing them whole.
Maybe low mental stats mean low mana affinity, so they can't see my demonic energy. High mental stats? They see it clear as day.
Not confirmed, but if normals can't tell what I'm doing? Jackpot intel.
"Just chalk it up to my abilities. Won't teach you even if you ask. Zombies around here's cleared, so let's hit that department store."
"Mm... Okay."
Yejin looked like she wanted to pry more but came over without asking. I scooped her up and jumped down like before.
Landed, then walked into the department store.
- Groooaaan
Inside, uncleaned zombies littered the place. I'd pulled aggro hard outside, but the doors must've kept them trapped. No issue handling the charging horde solo, but babysitting Yejin while fighting sounded annoying. Magic it was, quick and easy.
Darkness Arrow 10-Shot Barrage
[Targets all visible zombies]
I conjured ten arrows of demonic energy around me, fired them at the zombies in sight. Aimed to pierce heads, so the black arrows zipped around like living things, threading through and popping skulls.
Using demonic energy anyway, might as well clean house proper.
"Hold up—close the door and stay here."
Told Yejin that, then sent the black arrows scouting ahead as I headed upstairs. Floor by floor, zombies lunged at the noise. The second they hit my sight, arrows flew, wiping them out.
Seven floors total. Took under a minute to lure out and kill every last one drawn by my steps.
Black magic makes hunting a breeze... if only the efficiency wasn't trash.
Rough count: about a hundred zombies down. But summoning those Darkness Arrows? 50 demonic energy each.
That's 500 gone already, plus constant drain to maintain 'em. Pure demonic energy math? Straight loss.
Could do it easy 'cause I vacuumed street zombies first for the boost. Otherwise? I'd be slashing one by one with a blade.
Finished all seven floors, back to the first.
"Okay, all clear. No zombies left inside now."
Dismissed the spell after cleanup and looked at Yejin. She wore this meaningful expression.
"...Bro."
"What?"
"Um... Bro, are you... a magician?"