Chapter 33
Chapter 33
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Results of Roaming and Killing (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Jeong Eun-seo rolled over on her inline skates and spoke up.
"Actually, there's something we wanted to discuss. While we were clearing the entrance earlier, we talked among ourselves, and we figured we'd bring it up with you too, Seong-hun."
Discuss?
I tilted my head.
"What's that?"
Jeong Eun-seo glanced back before saying,
"Truth is, we've been staying at that milk depot over there. By some stroke of luck, it was empty inside. While we've been holing up there and going out for supplies, we found out something—"
Su-hyun cut in with an exclamation.
"Whoa... You've been going outside? Those... things don't chase you?"
"Oh, yeah, they do chase us. But we're wearing these."
Su-hyun's eyes widened as she looked down at Jeong Eun-seo's inline skates.
"These go pretty fast?"
Jeong Eun-seo gave an awkward smile and replied,
"Yeah. If you skate fast, you can hit 30 or 40 km/h easy. On a downhill, even 70 or 80 km/h is possible. You just have to keep up with the oil and maintenance."
...70 or 80 km/h?
Whoa.
I was impressed too.
That's insanely fast.
Slower than Acceleration-boosted charges, sure, but still way faster than it looks.
Su-hyun said in amazement,
"Whoa... I should've learned inline skating."
Jeong Eun-seo gave a bitter smile.
She's got a beauty's face, and dimples when she smiles, this woman.
"A lot of people from our club... got taken. We used to have over twenty members."
"Twenty?"
Su-hyun sounded shocked and asked,
"So when it all went down, all twenty of you were together? Where do that many people even meet up? Is there a skate park nearby?"
"No, at the park over there..."
Jeong Eun-seo smiled sadly again.
"When it happened, we were having a club meetup in the park. Screams everywhere, a few of our members got hit... Everyone panicked and ran, but more got taken in the chaos. The six of us now are the ones who hid separately and managed to link up again after getting in touch somehow."
Hmm...
Looks like a good number of her close friends got bitten. Not my problem, though. I've got leveling up to do.
So what's the reason for holding me up?
"Anyway, what were you saying earlier?"
Jeong Eun-seo went, "Ah," and said,
"Right. Um, as we've been going around, we've realized there are a lot of survivors out there. But they're so terrified, they're just holed up in their homes starving. Mostly elderly folks, or houses with kids whose parents never came back..."
...Ah, I get it now.
"You want us going door-to-door?"
Jeong Eun-seo nodded.
"Yes. If we bring them stuff from the mart—even just bread or instant noodles—it'd help them a ton. That's what we wanted to talk about."
Hmm...
This woman's a good person.
I'm only focused on leveling up.
Su-hyun, who'd been listening, chimed in.
"There are tons of houses like that in our neighborhood too."
Hmm...
Single-family homes...
Yeah, probably a lot...
It's been almost a week since the apocalypse hit, right?
Over a week? Damn. Killing and getting covered in blood every day has me losing track of time.
Which means the food in those houses is running out by now.
No wonder I've been hearing more screams lately.
"I'll help too."
Su-hyun said.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
"No. You're not."
I looked at Jeong Eun-seo and said,
"You said it's fast, right? Let the quick-footed people handle the deliveries."
Su-hyun turned to me.
What are you stepping up for?
I shook my head, looking down at her.
Jeong Eun-seo nodded with a smile.
"Got it."
The inline club members who'd been listening nodded to each other.
Ye-eun and So-eun probably don't want to run into that again after last time.
The big burly guy's too scared anyway.
The issue is Su-hyun.
She's useful.
Plus, she feels great to hold.
Can't have her dropping dead in the street somewhere.
I took Su-hyun's hand and walked a few steps away.
"I brought you because it's safe. If it wasn't, I never would've. You need to watch yourself too."
Su-hyun pouted and poked my side.
"Fine."
Ugh, fuck.
My side!
I chuckled and said,
"I'm heading out."
"Come back safe, oppa."
I left the group and headed to the road.
Talking delayed me, and now Acceleration has 6 uses left.
Strength at 10.
I took out a few at the hair salon earlier.
10 should be more than enough.
I slipped between the cars, walking the median toward the hardware store.
Across the road, shops lined up.
Through the glass doors, I could make out human shapes here and there.
One or two, maybe three inside each.
Not my concern.
I want to power-level.
The hardware store came into view.
...The corpses inside have rotted pretty bad.
The smell...
Almost made me cough.
Damn.
I crouched in front of the hair salon and took deep breaths.
"Hoo... Sssup!"
I yanked the door open hard and went in.
Kreek, thud!
"Kyarrk!"
Mirrors lined up, chairs, cape-like gowns, wheeled tool carts.
From between them, eyes gleamed.
Feral gazes locked on me.
"Kraaaagh!"
[Acceleration Lv. ?]
[Auto-cast]
"Kya—aaah—"
I drew my sword.
Shing—
"Hup!"
The feel of the blade piercing skull.
I yanked it out with force and thrust sideways again.
Splurch, splurch, splurch!
"—Kr—raaak!"
[Acceleration Lv. ?]
[Auto-cast]
The corpses I'd dropped earlier were spilling gross juices from face to crotch.
Smells like fuck!
I took a big step, leaping over the bodies, and thrust hard.
Pulled it right out and pierced the heads of the two aunties next to them.
Splurch! Splurch, splurch!
"Hup!"
What's left.
Two in front of the mirror.
"—Kya—aaak!"
[Acceleration Lv. ?]
[Auto-cast]
Blood droplets rippled through the air like dust.
Blood splattered my face as I leaped behind the Human Beasts and charged straight at the mirror.
"Hup!"
Splurch, splurch!
Everything in sight pierced.
I spun immediately, eyeing the bathroom in the back.
"—Rraaak!"
Rumble, crash!
Eight corpses mid-leap, mid-run, suspended in air.
They all flopped forward like marionettes with cut strings.
I'm still glaring at the bathroom.
"............"
The door's slightly ajar.
I prodded it open with my sword.
It swings easily.
...Nothing there.
Standing still, I listened closely.
If anything's left, I'd hear even faint growls.
Once I'm in, I kill everything.
I cautiously checked the entire salon.
Nothing.
Good. All clear.
I wiped my sword on the white blouse of a woman sprawled there, dressed head-to-toe in black like a salon employee.
...Her bra's black too, huh.
Matching the uniform.
...Eight of them.
Yeah, about what I expected.
Acceleration's still got some left, but Strength's nearly tapped.
Rest up, hit McDonald's tonight.
I stepped out, scanned the street.
Still quiet.
Path to the hardware store's as safe as the hair salon now.
Sheathed the sword.
Shurrk—click.
Time to head back.
Back at the rooftop room, I washed off the blood again and flopped down.
Feels like I shower more since the apocalypse.
Four times a day minimum.
But this damn blood never fully rinses out smell-wise.
...Come to think of it, I've used the sword a ton.
Is it okay?
I pulled it out and checked the blade.
Mostly thrusting, not much hard chopping, so no chips.
Still good.
"Status."
Chosen One
[Specialization: Time Adjuster] [Level: 93]
[Title: Ordinary Person]
Distribution Points: 19
Skills:
[Active - Acceleration] (Auto-casting)
Hmm, 93.
Leveled up like crazy.
19 points too.
Managed this much in one morning... The system's weird; leveling speeds up the higher you go.
Where to put the points?
...Securing Acceleration fully is smart, but...
Today showed Strength's lacking...
...Next is McDonald's.
Probably over 20 there.
...20...
...Need both Acceleration and Strength secured.
The big mart and apartment building after that will have over a hundred each.
...Both crucial.
I put 10 into Mental Power for 55 total, rest into Strength.
Now Acceleration 11 uses.
Strength 25.
McDonald's should be doable in one raid.
"Hoo..."
Man, I'm really curious now.
What's the level cap?
Already 93.
...Fuck if I know.
I'll find out when I hit it.
Problem's not the cap, though.
Secured 11 Accelerations, great.
Enough to sweep most places in one go.
But recovery...
3 points per hour.
Burn all 11? Takes 18-19 hours to recover 55.
...Insane.
Raid once, rest a day, raid again, rest another full day?
...What if something happens on a rest day after burning all Acceleration?
Old thugs or whatever could show up again.
Then I'd waste Acceleration uselessly, and recovery time stretches to 24+ hours. Inevitable.
......Tricky...
I closed my eyes and sighed.
Fuck it.
I'll figure it out.
This power level's beyond what most could dream of imitating anyway.
Wanna recover faster, but if not, just rest fully. Nothing else for it.
With 3 Accelerations secured now, nap till late afternoon or early evening, then hit McDonald's.
Time for a nap.
...Chicken curry...
I closed my eyes.