A single punch splattered blood across the hallway's ceiling.
Once he was a kind teacher who cared for his students, but now his body, which was a monster that killed, devoured, and dismembered, collapsed to the ground.
In just a few seconds, ten creatures were eliminated. But it was only the beginning.
"Aa... aa... AA!"
"Gah... ah... A!"
Soon, more zombies poured out from the classrooms, all of them still carrying horrific wounds—missing body parts, organs dangling from their torsos, some without an arm or a leg. Wounds so grotesque that, if they had still been human, they would have been left in a constant state of suffering. Yet these monsters advanced toward the group without showing the slightest sign of pain. On the contrary, their guttural growls expressed impatience and obsession with reaching them.
"Ugh... It's horrible." Saya clamped a hand over her mouth, fighting nausea. She knew she had to get used to scenes like this. She couldn't allow her thoughts to freeze when faced with corpses, death, and blood. And yet, controlling something as uncontrollable as emotions was hard.
'Allen said to throw away useless thoughts, but I can't help but wonder—what caused all of this? A terrorist attack? A biological weapon? A genetic mutation? A virus? Spores?' Saya frowned, striking her forehead. 'No! I can't let my thinking be so rigid. I need to consider every possibility. It could even be something supernatural… demonic possession… a curse… the end of the world from the Bible'
Saya bit her fingernail.
'This is hell,' Kyoko whispered, trembling. She was trembling but forced herself not to panic. Allen had warned her—In a world like this, being paralyzed by fear is a death sentence. Kyoko was a teacher whose biggest worry had been not getting married before wrinkles showed up, but now she doubted whether she was even qualified to survive in this world. Still, she didn't want to die. She gripped the broomstick tightly in her hands.
'I won't die... I refuse to die as a thirty-year-old spinster!'
"No signs of pain... they don't seem to have vision, are they guided by sound?"
Once again, Shizuka demonstrated an abnormal calmness. It wasn't that she had no fear, but rather that despite it, she understood her own physical limitations. Since she couldn't fight, she at least wanted to be useful.
"Their movements are slow. Allen-kun said they don't have their limiters. The human body unconsciously limits its own physical capabilities to protect itself, but if that instinct for self-preservation were removed... this is dangerous..."
"Shizuka, trained in medical school, chose to work as Fujimi Academy's nurse rather than a doctor. Even so, her knowledge was more than decent. Observing the zombies' conditions and understanding what they could or couldn't do should have been easy for her.
Kazu Ishii had been watching Allen and was left speechless. Had his quiet classmate always been this terrifying? This wasn't a level of strength one could get from street fights. Maybe the girls hadn't noticed, but if Allen could kill ten zombies in mere seconds, that meant he could kill ten people just as easily.
He's dangerous!
—What about you? Do you want to come?—
Kazu thought for a moment that he should keep his distance from Allen. But then he remembered Allen had reached out to him. What kind of man would he be if he walked away just because Allen had proven himself strong?
Kazu gripped the coat rack tighter in his hands. I can fight too.
....
Allen paused to observe the group behind him and smiled as he noticed their changes. Each of them, in their own way, had shown the potential of a survivor. Satisfied with their shifting mindsets, Allen turned back to face the group of zombies, which was larger this time.
Almost twenty...
Allen cracked his fingers before bending down, pressing against the floor with his feet, and charging forward. His body shifted from that of an athletic student to a killing machine. He only needed a single strike or kick to take down a zombie. This wasn't just thanks to his strength and speed, but also to his skill and efficiency.
With one kick to the first zombie, he knocked down most of the ones behind it. As expected, with Allen's abnormal strength, some zombies were sent flying down the hallway, breaking their necks. Others tripped and fell, and Allen swiftly moved in, grabbing them with agility and tossing them out the window.
Allen knew that even he didn't have unlimited stamina. A normal punch was useless—he needed to use enough strength to damage a zombie's brain or snap its neck, which would eventually wear him down. Throwing them out the window was simply more practical.
As he grabbed the fifth zombie by the neck, another scuttled across the floor with alarming speed. Allen frowned, lifted his foot, and stomped its head flat like a piston while hurling the other zombie out the window.
'That was unexpected', Allen realized he couldn't gauge zombies' limits from just a few dozen. Without wasting time, he needed to carve a path down the long hallway toward the music room.
The girls swallowed hard. No matter how many zombies appeared, they were all taken down with ease. Some even died when their heads exploded from one of Allen's terrifying punches.
But... reality wasn't so kind.
Once they reached the stairwell in the middle of the building that led to the gym and sports fields, they understood this wouldn't be simple.
"..."
Allen raised his hand, signaling the group behind him to stop. What lay ahead was hell itself. It was the beginning of a tightly packed horde of hundreds of zombies. Naturally, most had died near the entrance.
The moment they noticed Allen, they quickly advanced with deafening growls. Almost instantly, a dozen open jaws and just as many pairs of hands reached toward him.
For the group, it all seemed like slow motion. They couldn't help but be terrified. Saya even stretched out her hand, trying to help.
"Allen-kun!"
"Careful!"
"Allen!"
"No!"
Hearing their panic, Allen gave them a smile that showed a complete lack of fear. At the same time, he placed a finger over his lips, signaling them to stay quiet. Without wasting time, he stepped back and delivered a spinning kick, sending the horde of zombies tumbling down the stairs.
Then Allen tossed a phone from his pocket to the floor below. The device began blasting Highway to Hell by AC/DC. Hearing the music, half the zombies were drawn downstairs, while the rest got back up and charged at Allen, who remained calm.
At that moment, a beautiful girl with purple hair appeared on the stairs from the third floor. Without hesitation, she tossed him a wooden sword. Allen caught it with such skill that it seemed as though he had been born with a blade in his hand. Without wasting a second, he crushed the skulls of five zombies in a single swing.
Saeko smiled darkly, her cheeks flushed. "I knew it~"
Allen knew his actions could cause him problems in the future, but it didn't matter.
"Saeko clears the way to the music room. I'll take the rear and hold off the horde".
Saeko obeyed without wasting time, dashing from the stairs with another bokken in her hands. She leapt toward a dozen zombies ahead, her movements swift and skillful. In midair, she struck the heads of three zombies before landing gracefully. If Allen didn't exist, she would undoubtedly be the strongest one here.
"You all go ahead..." Allen said while breaking the neck of another zombie that tried to climb up with a single kick.
"We're not leaving you!' Saya snapped, her face torn between stubbornness and worry.
Everyone hesitated, but Shizuka decisively grabbed Saya's hand.
"Let's go!"
"..." Saya didn't want to leave Allen behind, but after being scolded she obeyed. Even so, as she passed by Allen she muttered something.
"Kyoko."
Allen turned to the stunned teacher.
"I..."
"Be strong."
Allen's words weren't a scolding or a shout, just a simple comment that strangely calmed Kyoko's fear. Among the group, she was the most terrified and therefore the one with the least chance of survival. And yet...
Kyoko opened her eyes wide. At this moment she knew she was a burden, but even so, Allen hadn't discarded her. He didn't look down on her, he didn't think of her as an obstacle—he only gave her a kind smile and words of encouragement.
Kyoko felt her heart pound and stopped trembling. She stood up and followed the group with determined eyes. Even if she couldn't help, at the very least she didn't want to be a burden to Allen, this young man who had decided not to abandon her.
Finally, Kazu also followed the group of girls, but he stopped on the stairs, staring in horror at the sea of zombies that, if not for Allen, would have already flooded the second floor. It made clear just how desperate the situation was—no matter that Allen had taken down fifty zombies, there were still over a thousand waiting to devour them.
"Allen-san, I..." Kazu hesitated, implying that he, too, would stay behind to help hold the line. But Allen only chuckled.
"Don't worry. If I had to kill them all, even I'd be forced to escape. But if I just have to stop them..." Allen unleashed another powerful kick, knocking down a line of zombies like dominoes, toppling those behind them as well, "It's fine..."
Kazu decided to trust Allen and moved on.
At the front of the group, Saeko smiled while wiping a drop of blood off her cheek. Around her lay five unmoving zombies, all with deadly head wounds.
"Busujima-san!" Marikawa called out, catching her breath with Saya right behind her.
"Marikawa-sensei, and you must be Saya Takagi."
Saeko glanced at the pink-haired girl. Saya, feeling that piercing gaze, didn't want to look weak for some reason, so she stepped in front of Saeko with a proud look.
The two girls stood in silence, facing each other as if they were evaluating a rival.
Rei arrived next and saw the scene without understanding, while Shizuka tilted her head, equally confused. Kazu, who came after them, also didn't understand—was there some kind of grudge between Saya and Saeko?
"That's right, Saeko Busujima-senpai." Saya lifted her chin and crossed her arms, this action lifted her big breasts. "I had heard Saeko-senpai was strong, but I didn't expect it to be this much... no wonder Allen can't get rid of her 'constant harassment.'"
Saeko smiled, though her eyes remained cold. "Likewise. It's well known how Miss Takagi is always 'chasing' Allen and causing him trouble."
Despite no real hostility, neither girl would yield, driven by unspoken rivalry.
....
Inside the music room, Rei sat hugging her knees. She had called her mother and father after contacting Allen, only to hear gunfire in the background as her father spoke. He told her to find shelter and especially not to come looking for him. Then the call cut off, and Rei couldn't reach him again. The fear was suffocating.
She thought about going out, but decided to wait for Allen, just as she had promised. Somehow, Rei felt that Allen would know what to do. Soon she heard voices outside the music room, but she didn't open the door right away.
....
With Allen, the situation was under control. He didn't need to defeat the zombies, just hold them back.
One zombie lunged at him, but with a simple push from the tip of his wooden sword, it fell down the stairs, dragging others with it.
Allen glanced at the wooden sword in his hand and silently thanked Saeko. Using the bokken saved him more stamina than relying on his fists. He knew that when the time came, he might find himself surrounded and forced to use every bit of his strength. Wasting energy on random zombies now was dangerous.
He should regroup with the others.
Allen pulled out two more phones and tossed them toward the zombies before slipping away quietly, careful not to make noise. The zombies that weren't distracted rushed to where Allen had been, only to crash uselessly into the windows.
Allen ignored them. Thanks to their lack of sight, avoiding them wasn't a problem. Honestly, if Allen were alone, he wouldn't even need to fight. But since he had already decided, he wasn't going to abandon the others to their fate.
Or so he thought...
"Aaaa...."
Allen turned just in time to see a zombie climbing over the others. But this one was different. Not because it was drenched in fresh blood, not because it was more agile than the rest, and not because it seemed to breathe heavily like a human after a marathon—though that alone was horrifying.
No, it was because...
The zombie looked at the phone on the floor where two others had lunged, ignored it, and instead turned directly toward Allen.
"...!"
Allen's eyes met the zombie's. They were eyes with completely black pupils, like a bottomless abyss, with dark veins crawling through them. Those inhuman eyes held a chilling gaze, making it clear this was no longer human—but neither was it a mere corpse like the rest.
It was a monster!
Without hesitation, Allen tightened his grip on the sword and attacked with all his strength. The zombie had no time to react as its head was severed. And yet Allen felt the weight of the blow. Killing this one had cost him more than the others—it had taken at least twice as much force.
"A mutation?" Allen clenched his teeth. He didn't want this. Fighting ordinary zombies was already dangerous, but if abnormalities like this could appear at any time, the danger would multiply.
"A variant...?"
Even worse than a mutant zombie was a variant. Because a mutant could be a rare case, one in a million. But a variant implied the existence of entire hordes of stronger, faster, deadlier zombies.
Allen slid another phone down the hall where the blind zombies were pouring in. They followed the sound. Compared to the previous one, they seemed like livestock.
He turned back, noticing Saeko had everything under control. Saeko was strong—but the rest of the group wasn't. And that was reality.
Allen didn't even want to imagine what would happen to this world if zombies like those from Left 4 Dead, Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, World War Z, or Resident Evil showed up. The last one would still be fine as long as no biological weapons appeared, but what about the rest? That would be a game over—unless you planned to spend your life running.
> > >
The Chat was worried.
Gwen – Isn't this way too unfair?!
MJ – It makes no sense. If these were zombies like in The Walking Dead, Allen's current level would be fine. But throwing in zombies like that? Totally unfair!
Tony – Yeah, this doesn't make sense. In that case, Allen should've been allowed to keep at least one skill.
Erza – What a terrifying world...
Lucy – What a tragedy :(
Mirajane – I don't get it. How can there be so much death in so little time?
Asia – The Bible says when Hell is full, the dead shall walk the earth... oh Lord, please do not abandon that world.
Amanda – I don't think it's supernatural. More likely some kind of virus.
Unohana – I can't tell without seeing them in person. Only by examining their souls could I say if it's biological or something else... Regardless, that world seems doomed.
The Chat fell silent. Their own worlds had problems, but none had reached the level of apocalypse—except for Samantha, whose world had been destroyed by the Viltrumites in her universe.
Natasha – Don't worry. Allen wouldn't allow an unfair game. Even if things look bad, he definitely left himself a lifeline.
Natasha's words made everyone stop and think. Allen wouldn't let Lucifer stack unlimited advantages against him. For now, all they could do was hope that was true.
===
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