Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Crunch!!
[Acquired 5 EXP]
"Oh, right."
I snapped back to reality as a window popped up while I was following Harang, admiring her sexy butt.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
At her question, I started manipulating the system window.
[Change Party Settings]
[Accept] [Decline]
I pressed the Accept button and said,
"I passed level 10."
"Already?"
Harang pressed the Accept button, looking puzzled.
Perhaps because the change was complete, even though a zombie had just turned into polygons and evaporated, the familiar chime didn't ring.
"Ah, Harang-ssi, you don't have production-type skills, so you wouldn't know. There must have been a stealth patch because the EXP for production skills has increased significantly."
"What?!"
Stab!
I thought her eyes, widened in surprise, were cute, and I thrust my spear, bursting the head of an approaching zombie.
[Acquired 5 EXP]
Now, the only answer is my own hunting...
Should I take this opportunity to learn a production skill, too?
"Why don't you take this opportunity to learn a production skill?"
Harang scratched her head vigorously and sat on a car parked nearby.
"Hmm... Then what level is your mother?"
"I didn't ask, so I don't know."
Wouldn't she be around 7 or 8 by now?
"You're really no help at all..."
Harang spat out the harsh words and stood up again.
"Let's ask Mom when we get home after shopping."
"Sure, let's do that."
With that, we headed back toward A-Mart.
--
Damn it... The thing I was most worried about happened.
"Hey~ you exhibitionist lady over there~
Why don't you hang out with us instead of that little shit next to you?"
"Come over here and we'll make you happy, hehehe."
Ah... they're such cliché villains...
And in a world like this, isn't it normal to be wary of someone walking around in their underwear...?
Standing in front of us were two men wearing such trashy clothes that I wanted to ask where they even got them.
"Um, Harang-ssi... let's just ignore them and... go..."
"Shut up, honey."
Honey again?
Harang walked forward with a smile, and at her sexy appearance, the two men seemed to get incredibly excited, drooling and smiling lecherously.
Slurp...
"Look at that idiot. His woman is coming to us, and he's just standing there, scared shitless? Hahaha!"
"We're nice guys, you see~
If you come here, we'll let that guy live, hehe."
Harang stopped within arm's reach before I knew it and crossed her arms, as if to show off her massive breasts.
"Oh my, you guys...
can you really satisfy me better than that loser over there?"
I am a lifelong virgin, but a loser?!
As I was about to get worked up,
[Stay still, honey.
You're not getting worked up because he called you a loser, are you?]
Her voice echoed in my head.
Well, I am...
"Hahahaha! Of course..."
As the man smiled lecherously and reached out to pluck the massive fruit in front of him,
Slash
Thud...
"Argh!!!! My... my arm!!!"
"B-Brother?!!!"
A zombie that appeared out of nowhere had severed the man's arm just before his hand could touch Harang's chest.
The man with the severed arm was crawling on the ground, going crazy with pain, and the man standing next to him looked back and forth between his companion and Harang with trembling eyes.
"Oh my? You guys~ What's wrong? You can't satisfy me with just this much!"
On cue, zombies appeared from her shadow and tore into the men.
Crunch!! Crunch!!
"Argh!! S-save me!! Ugh!!"
"Brotheeer!!! Argh!!!"
Before long, the men couldn't even scream anymore and became tattered lumps of flesh.
But Harang still didn't seem to have vented all her anger,
Thwack!! Thwack!!
She stomped on the lumps of flesh with her small feet.
"These! Goddamn! Bastards! Because of them!! I!!"
'Ah... I don't know what happened in her past, but her switch has been flipped...'
I slowly approached her as she mutilated the corpses like a madwoman.
As I approached behind her, the zombies blocked me as if guarding her, and I smiled, raising both hands to show I had no hostile intent.
Then, I took a bottle of water from my backpack and opened the cap.
Click!
"Whew... fucking bastards..."
Harang seemed to have returned to normal, tidying her disheveled hair as she turned around to look at me.
"Sorry, honey. I showed you something strange..."
I crouched in front of her and poured the water over her feet, which were covered in red blood and gross chunks of flesh, to clean them.
"Look, human corpses have bones in them, what would you have done if you got hurt?
And shoes count as armor, so please wear them."
"Uh... yeah..."
Aww... her feet are petite and cute...
After cleaning Harang's feet, I used the remaining water to wash my own hands, and the water ran out.
I stood up and shook the empty bottle in front of her eyes.
"See? You got angry for no reason and wasted precious water."
She seemed annoyed and kicked my shin with her foot, but
[The target of the attack is a party member.]
[Cannot attack.]
"Damn it!! Are you really acting all high and mighty over just some water!?"
Ignoring her, I purchased a pair of shoes that looked similar to her foot size from among the ones I had searched for during my construction labor yesterday.
"Here, wear these."
When the women's shoes appeared from my inventory, Harang tried to say something, but
"I'm not a pervert who steals women's shoes.
It's a skill."
She stopped what she was about to say at my words.
She looked at me with an annoyed face, and
"Sigh... what a high-maintenance woman..."
I crouched down again and put the purchased shoes on her feet.
Luckily, the size fit...
They're pretty, but isn't it a bit much that just one pair of shoes costs 1 jar of Peanut Butter...?
The system's market monopoly made the prices insane, but there were no alternatives, so it couldn't be helped.
'Well, it is convenient, anyway.'
"Hmph!"
Harang turned around while wearing the shoes I had put on her and reached out into the air.
Then, the zombies nearby began to gather the items dropped by the two men who had just died.
The Ruined Game is a roguelike game with high risk and high return;
once you die, your character disappears and drops all the items you possess.
It seemed to be the same in reality, as bags, lewd books, and weapons like sickles and clubs that they hadn't been holding until just a moment ago were lying on the ground.
If I die, I'll drop all the items in my inventory too, right...
Rustle, rustle...
As the zombies searched the corpses and brought things that looked valuable to Harang, she put them into her inventory without even checking.
To change the mood, I asked her a question.
"Harang-ssi, how many slots is your inventory?"
Hesitating for a moment at my question, she said in a small voice,
"21 slots..."
That's right, this is normal.
My 84-slot inventory, unlocked by monopolizing the initial perks, is the abnormal one.
"Oh, you've unlocked quite a lot.
Shall we get moving again?"
As I smiled and walked past her, she grabbed my hand.
"Hm? Harang-ssi?"
With her face lowered, she said,
"I said thank you..."
Aww, how cute.
How nice it would be if it were always like this.
"Don't mention it. Come on, let's go."
We headed toward A-Mart, holding hands.
Thank you, passing villain.
--
Although there were some miscellaneous incidents, we were able to arrive at A-Mart before lunch.
"People must be living inside here, right?"
"Wouldn't they be?"
At my answer, Harang stopped just as she was about to have the zombies take the lead.
"Hm? Is something wrong?"
"Well... I... don't have Night Vision..."
That's right.
It's said that marts generally use marketing tactics like not providing clocks and minimizing windows so that customers focus on shopping and buy more.
In other words, the interior of the huge 4-story mart in front of us was literally darkness itself.
Of course, there might be windows in the parking lot or other corners.
"It would be nice if we could find candles nearby, but if not, we'll just have to trust my Night Vision."
"Yeah, let's do that."
I smiled at Harang's answer, which had become somewhat softer than before, and we entered A-Mart while still holding hands.
Near the entrance, there were many overturned carts, likely due to the great chaos immediately after the incident, and corpses of people that had already started to decompose were occasionally visible.
But that was only for a moment; the deeper we went, the darker it got, and eventually, nothing could be seen.
"Harang-ssi, let's take a moment to let our eyes adjust."
"Okay."
We both sat on a customer bench placed next to the lockers.
'Hmm... I do have Free Points, but...'
I agonized over my blurry vision, but once my eyes adjusted to some extent, I erased that worry from my mind.
"Alright, shall we get going?"
"Can you already see?"
"I have Night Vision."
As I stood up, Harang stood up too.
"O... okay..."
Squish
"H-Harang-ssi?"
"What!"
"Um... you're touching me..."
"I still can't see!"
I wouldn't mind if you never saw again!
And so, I started exploring the mart, stuck tightly to Harang.
--
Not long after, we stood in front of a jewelry shop near the counter.
"Harang-ssi, do you like jewelry? Like necklaces or things like that?"
If she liked them, I wanted to find a worthy owner for the abandoned jewels, but
"Not really? My family was poor, so those were a luxury."
"Is that so?"
Thus, the jewels missed their chance to meet an owner.
As we went inside through the counter, tons of clothing stores appeared.
"Hmm... Harang-ssi, you don't ne... ed clothes, right?"
Harang pinched my arm.
Ouch... System-ssi...?
"Are you teasing me right now?"
"No, I meant clothes to wear after drinking the Reincarnation Potion later."
"Clothes don't rot or anything, so let's just come back later."
"Let's come together then, too."
Squish
Hm?
Since the colors weren't very visible, I couldn't see Harang's expression well, but I could tell that the soft sensation of her breasts against my arm had intensified.
"As I recall, there were toys and groceries... and a few home appliances in the basement, and furniture was on the 3rd floor. What would you like to do?"
"Hmm..."
Harang seemed to be able to see to some extent as well, squinting as she looked ahead.
"Is that an escalator over there?"
"If you mean that... Ah! Yes, it's the escalator going to the basement."
"It's right in front of us, so since we're here, let's go to the basement too."
I nodded, and we went down, using the stopped escalator as stairs.
When we arrived in the basement, a sour smell wafted up.
"This is a bit dangerous.
Food is rotting, and decomposition gas is being released."
If I were alone, I would have just toughed it out, but since Harang-ssi was here...
"It's fine. Who do you take me for?"
I take you for a sexy exhibitionist...
"Then let's go back up to the 1st floor, tear up some clothes, and get some cloth to cover our mouths and noses."
"O... okay."
We went back up, picked up a piece of clothing rolling on the floor, and I used my spear to make two pieces of cloth large enough to cover our faces.
Then, I took water from my bag, soaked the cloths, and tied one behind Harang's head first.
"Mm... thanks."
"Don't mention it."
I also soaked the remaining cloth, covered my mouth and nose, and tied it behind my head.
"Alright, let's go back down."
"Okay."
Even though it was a temporary measure, it was easier to endure than before.
"We have enough food, so shall we take some home appliances?"
"Weren't TVs and radios completely impossible in the Ruined Game?"
"Hmm... but they work at home, you know."
Although we couldn't watch proper programs since there were no broadcasting stations or telecommunication companies.
"It's a waste to just leave, so I should dismantle them and earn some Peanut Butter."
"You... don't you think that skill is too broken?"
"I would have preferred it if it were a broken combat skill, though."
With that, I turned all the displayed TVs into butter.
Even though I dismantled hundreds of millions worth of TVs, perhaps because it recognized them as scrap metal, the butter I obtained was only 5 jars.
"Alright, next are the washing machines and dryers."
"These are essential appliances!"
Harang seemed excited for some reason.
"Since we'll have plenty of space if we don't bring in useless appliances, let's take the huge ones."
"That would be good."
Since there were no worries about electricity bills, water bills, or prices, I put the latest model washing machine and dryer, marked as HOT on the display stand, into my inventory.
When I put the two appliances into my inventory without much thought, Harang asked.
"Come to think of it, how many slots is your inventory?"
Ah... should I be honest about this...?
Since I had a friendly relationship with Harang, I hesitated for a moment, and
"Well... if you don't want to say it, don't~"
You make me feel guilty when you say it like that...
"Sigh... please don't tell anyone else..."
"Hm? The max you can unlock is 42 slots, so why?"
Harang, who misunderstood my words, tilted her head, and
"It's 84 slots."
"....What?"
She opened her mouth while still tilting her head.