Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Cockroaches (3)
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1 a.m.
Acceleration was fully charged.
As I stepped out of the office, I saw the kids' corpses.
...Whatever.
I left the calligraphy academy and walked up to the door of the cooking academy.
Even as I carefully muffled my footsteps, the low growls kept coming.
No idea how many are inside.
It's a wooden door.
That's unusual. Most places have glass doors, right?
Maybe because it's an academy.
I crouched down in front of the door and drew a sword.
Shing—
I cautiously gripped the handle and turned it.
Cracked it open just a bit and peered inside.
I could see the prep counter in the distance, and right by the entrance was a partitioned office with glass doors and walls.
Inside the office's glass walls.
Perfectly visible.
The office was empty.
But not the prep counter area.
A young man and woman in chef whites and hats. The white hats and clothes were soaked in blood—a chilling sight.
Some standing, some sprawled out.
Easily over twenty just by rough count.
There was another door by the prep counter—probably the ingredient storage.
I slowly opened the door.
They didn't notice even when I swung it wide open.
...Good form on them.
I stood up straight and steadied my breath.
"...Hoo... Suck."
I strode inside and shouted.
"Kimchi fried rice!"
...Fuck if I know.
No brains, no thoughts.
"Kyarrk?!"
The cooking students' heads whipped around.
Their faces twisted in an instant.
"Kraaaak! Kyaaaaak!"
The human beasts in white chef uniforms came charging in a horde.
Here they come, come on!
I grinned.
"Egg drop soup... extra!"
Acceleration!
"Hup!"
Crack!
* * *
Acceleration used 7 times.
Human beasts killed: 22.
Oh. Three levels up?
Guess I killed enough to hit a number ending in 8 or 9.
Still...
"...Kinda disappointing."
Thirty would have been nice.
Fuck, and I even pumped Strength.
Adding the ten from the calligraphy academy, that's four levels total.
I smacked my lips in mild regret when the storage room caught my eye.
...Might be more in there.
I walked over to the storage door and grabbed the handle.
Five Acceleration uses left.
No way there's twenty crammed in this tiny room, no matter how many.
"Hoo... Suck."
I steadied my breath and opened the door.
Click.
...?
It's locked?
"...What the hell."
I pressed my ear to the door.
Something sounded like it was moving inside?
Tried the handle again, but no dice.
Click, click.
"...Poke it with the sword maybe."
...Nah.
This is a metal door.
If it were wood, maybe I could stab through, but metal's a no-go.
Probably has refrigeration inside or something.
"Ah, keys must be in the office."
I muttered as I turned around, and that's when a clattering crash came from inside the storage.
"...?"
...What?
...A bad premonition crawled up my spine all of a sudden.
No way...
Fuck, no fucking way.
I let out a deep sigh and said,
"...Someone in there?"
No answer.
I knocked on the door.
"Hey. You hear me? Anyone inside?"
Something was definitely there.
Sounds were coming.
Rats?
Or a cat maybe?
...Or a person.
I sighed.
"It's safe outside. Come on out."
No response even after waiting, so I said again,
"Keys are in the office, right? I can open it anyway. Come out. It's just me out here."
After a moment, rustling, then a click.
And the door slowly opened.
I took a step back.
The smell!
A blast of cold air and shit stench hit me like a wall, choking me.
A person emerged.
It was a guy who'd been inside.
I clamped my arm over my nose and backed up a few steps.
Fuck, seriously.
Guy was ghostly pale, hair matted to hell, wearing a chef uniform.
Maybe just turned twenty?
Yeah? Face looked super young.
Short and chubby.
Absolutely should not be wearing a chef uniform looking like that...
"Ah... Is... is everyone gone...?"
"Yeah. They're gone."
He glanced at me, flinched, and backed away.
What a varied bunch, fuck.
Probably because I'm covered in blood.
"Th-that blood, the b-blood..."
"Not mine."
"R-really...?"
"Yeah. Not mine."
I coughed once and took another step back.
"Fuck, either come out or crawl back in, just close the damn door. Smells like shit."
This dumbass must've holed up here since the apocalypse hit.
Locked in for nearly two weeks, shitting where he slept.
Plenty to eat in a storage room, sure, but...
Come on, man.
The chef newbie slunk out and shut the door.
Total mess.
Even with the door closed, the shit smell lingered—the clothes were fully soaked in it.
I coughed again.
"Cough, fuck. Not that I should talk covered in blood, but you really reek. How the hell'd you survive, kid?"
The chef newbie eyed me warily without a word, checking for wounds probably.
Then he spotted the corpses lining the entrance and shuddered.
"Th-they, ugh, c-c-corpses, d-dead, they're d-dead? Ugh."
...Lightweight.
"Yeah, all dead. I neatly skewered their heads. They ain't getting up, don't worry."
"Hngh, hah, haa..."
He collapsed to the floor.
...Tch.
I clicked my tongue.
"Why freak over a few bodies? How old are you?"
"S-se-seventeen. S-seventeen."
...Not just baby-faced—a real baby.
I shook off my sword and sheathed it.
Schwing—click.
"Eek!"
Even the sheathing sound scared him.
"...Haa..."
What to do.
Just leave him?
Then the kid piped up.
"P-please, hngh, h-help me. Hngh, I w-wanna go h-home. Hnnngh...!"
"............"
Gonna lose my mind.
I scratched my head and said,
"Your home's gone. World's fucked."
The kid's eyes welled up, tears streaming down soon after.
He looked up at me pleadingly.
Suddenly I was stuck with a homeless orphan.
From his face, he'd half-expected it.
Duh, unless you're a clueless kid who doesn't know apocalypse when the world goes mad.
The kid stared at me with fat teardrops rolling down his sweat-and-grime-caked chubby face.
What a pathetic sight.
Plus, barely any beard—just a few scraggly chin hairs like a total newbie.
Jeez...
The kid said,
"Wh-what do I, hngh, do now... hngh, hnnngh...!"
"Don't ask me."
Anyway, I got him out—that's enough.
Doomed to suffocate on his own shit in that hole, this should count as saving him.
Fuck this.
Time to head back.
I turned to leave, but the kid called out pitifully.
"S-sir, b-bro! P-please, help me out. Yeah? Please, just a little... hngh..."
"............"
...Fuck my life.
I turned around.
Chubby stinker bawling his eyes out, reeking of shit.
I'm gonna snap.
"...Haa..."
I looked up at the ceiling and sighed.
...Guess he took that as permission.
"Hngh, hnnngh, hngh, b-brooo."
He staggered to his feet and shuffled toward me hesitantly.
...Ah...
Picked up another stray.
Fuck...
I looked down at the chef kid with utter pity.
Short as hell too.
Like 160 cm.
Ah...
This little shit won't even curse me out once, huh.
Then I'd happily stab his skull with a smile.
...Too much hassle.
What am I, fucking UNICEF? Gotta save every stray I find?
Aaah, fuck.
The pathetic feeling surged so hard I couldn't handle it.
I stared at the ceiling, let out a long sigh, and said,
"Don't come closer. You stink like shit."
"Hngh, hnnngh, hwaaaangh... hngh."
Stinky backed off a step.
Obedient at least.
Fuck!
Why's he so obedient!
Why!
Curse me out, damn it!
Let me smash your head!
"...Ah..."
I clutched my waist and hung my head.
"Haa..."
...The stink though...
Don't wanna bring him...
But he's so meek and listens well, can't just stab him...
I rubbed my forehead.
If I take this kid...
Across the street to that house for now...
To do that...
...Hold up.
First floor means blasting through with Acceleration.
Stinky can't make it through there.
...Gotta cover for him.
...Fuck my actual life...
"Haa..."
I sighed long and thought it over.
Five Acceleration left.
Enough to cover, but Strength's lacking.
Eight left.
Can't have it fall short 'cause of weak Strength.
It's past 1 a.m. now.
...Better go in the morning.
I nodded and looked at Stinky.
He flinched in surprise.
Just looking, fucker.
Ah... Don't snap.
I took a deep breath, coughed from the stink, and said,
"It's late. We'll go in the morning."
"Hnnngh, hng, hwaaaangh... Y-yes, b-bro. Hnnngh...!"
...Who the fuck's your bro.
Pushing down the pathetic vibe, I pointed at the office.
"Rest in there. I'm crashing at the calligraphy academy across the way. See you morning."
Hate being near this kid.
Stinky said,
"Hngh, hngh... B-bro, I-I wanna stay with you..."
Don't wanna be near you.
You fucking stink.
Held back the curses and pointed at the office again.
"Told you to rest there."
"Hngh, hnnngh... Hwaaangh..."
Don't wanna tell him not to cry either.
I just left the cooking academy.
And thought.
Big building.
Could be decent people alive in here.
But...
Why'd I end up saving this one.
...What if I hadn't opened the storage.
...Why did I open the storage.
...Was it some cosmic force compelling me to open that door.
If so...
He's not my responsibility then.
Hmm...
Worth pondering...
Lost in those thoughts, I trudged back to the calligraphy academy and flopped into the director's chair.
"My fucking fate."
Sigh.
And morning.
Just past 9 a.m.
Emergency rations all eaten, stats fully recharged.
Gonna lose it.
With these stats, I could climb upstairs easy.
Stinky... fuck, gotta escort the fucker.
"Haa..."
...Let's go.
I got up and headed into the cooking academy.
"Drrrrrrumble— Kraaaaoooooh—"
...What a snorer.
Stinky was sprawled on the office floor, snoring loud enough to shake the walls.
I nudged his side.
Ah, the stink.
Why'd you close the office door, idiot.
Covering nose and mouth with my hand, I kicked lightly until Stinky jolted awake.
He blinked at me blearily.
I said,
"Morning. Let's move."
"Uh..."
His dazed denial-of-reality face slowly focused. Tension crept over his grime-crusted mug.
"Ah, y-yes, bro."
...Hasn't washed his face.
I haven't either, so whatever.
I'm skipping 'cause I'll get splattered again getting him out.
This stinker needs a wash though.
Haa...
Pathetic feeling in tow, I headed down the stairs.
Not empty-handed.
Carrying a chair from the director's office.
No normal method's getting Stinky out—gotta chuck this thing.
Fucking heavy as shit.
"Hoo..."
Stinky was fumbling his way down.
I said,
"Hey. Grab the wheel. What're you doing."
"Ah, y-yes, bro."
He awkwardly gripped the wheel and lifted.
Better.
Hoo...
"Let's go."
We took breaks on the landings going down.
Couldn't afford heavy breathing.
And I laid out the rules.
"When I say run, you haul ass no matter what. Trip, cower, whatever, and I leave you. You'll get grabbed and die right there."
I shook my head slowly for emphasis.
"I'm telling you now, no saving you. When I say run, run for your life. Got it?"
Stinky nodded vigorously.
"Yes, bro."
Answers well, at least.
Then the L-turn on the second floor.
Stinky stood beside me.
Face tense.
I pulled him close and pointed at the shattered glass wall.
Stinky nodded.
I said,
"Run."
"Hngh!"
Thud thud thud!
Stinky bolted down.
"Kyarrk?!"
Growls.
I hurled the chair with all my might.
It flipped end over end.
Charging human beasts.
Collision.
Crash!
Something burst amid the chaos—the front ones tumbled, and the followers piled up unable to stop.
I leaped down the stairs and bolted from the mart.
Stinky running his ass off.
Fuck, slow!
Get some exercise!
"Kyaaaaak! Kraaaak!"
"Uwaaa, hngh, hngh, uw aaaah!"
Thrashing sounds from behind.
But we were already 20 meters ahead.
Footsteps thudding behind.
I barked,
"Keep running! No looking back. See the convenience store ahead? Sprint there!"
"Hngh, hngh! Yes, bro! Hngh!"
"Kyaaaaak! Kraaaak!"
...They're closing.
Acceleration.
I skidded to a halt.
Taaaa—
Drew my sword in a flash.
Shing—
Turned around.
One meter away!
"Hup!"
Stab, stab!
Skewered two heads and spun back to run.
"—aaarrgh!"
Thud, flop!
Thud!
Late footsteps and bodies hitting the floor.
Stinky hadn't even taken a step yet.
Acceleration's effect.
As it ended, we bolted forward.
Stinky tried glancing back at the falling noises.
I said,
"Eyes front! Run!"
"Yes, bro!"
More tumbling thuds behind—fresh corpses tripping up the rest.
Twice they'd been blocked.
Gap widened plenty.
Convenience store.
We rounded the corner back to the boarding house.
Slam!
Shut the door and panted.
Fucking hell.
Hassle city, now I'm gasping, and Stinky's right there.
Gonna snap for real.
Growls from afar.
Shook 'em somehow.
"Haa, hoo... Wait here."
"Hngh, hngh, hnnngh, y-yes, bro. Hngh."
I cracked the front door and stepped out.
Growls everywhere.
They're milling confused.
Like at the salon.
They lose track if you're too far.
"...Hoo..."
I walked to the convenience store alley.
Five or six rampaging fiercely on the mart road and sidewalk.
Don't know we're here.
...Hmm.
The more you fight 'em, the more you learn, easier to handle.
I turned to look across the street.
...Something small wriggling way over there.
People.
Shifted a bit...
...Cockroaches.
What're they doing?
Climbed on a car for a better look.
...They were looting the convenience store.
...Oof. Busted.
Oh. Getting bit?
A bunch piled on one guy, beating him senseless with clubs.
The beaten guy went down quick.
Others stared at the bitten one.
Bitten guy backed away bleeding profusely.
Shaking his head wildly.
Saying something.
...Ah.
They started beating the bitten guy.
...Brutal.
Dead for sure...
...These fuckers are desperate too...
I sneered at them and hopped down from the car.
Cockroaches can do whatever—they're not my problem.
Heading back.