On the way to the Takagi mansion, Allen took the opportunity to get to know Asami and Anemone better. Both were police officers—college friends who had taken different paths in life.
Asami Nakaoka is a good-hearted girl with a sense of justice that rivaled her naivety toward the world.
Anemone, a woman who appeared indifferent to others but whose actions revealed a kind nature.
That was Allen's assessment after talking with them for a bit. Beyond that, Anemone stood out—not only because the tags appeared above their heads when he met them, but also because of her peculiar attitude that didn't fit the Japanese norm. In fact, Anemone gave off the impression of being a forty-year-old detective with two divorces, trapped in the body of a beautiful woman.
That made things very amusing, since this woman had no filter whatsoever.
"That must have been a really unpleasant first day..." said Allen, glancing at Asami through the rearview mirror. The girl lowered her head, looking depressed.
"I know I can't control what happens in the world, I know no one could have predicted this... but still, I feel awful for surviving while the people I was supposed to protect died."
"Oh," Allen smiled at the sincerity of this girl, "You're a good girl, Asami. Most people would just be worried about not dying, not about how others died. That's something noble. You should be proud that even in the face of death, you've kept that... You can't imagine the kind of monsters apocalypses create."
The woman sitting silently with her arms crossed turned to look at him.
"You're a peculiar guy..." said Anemone, narrowing her eyes slightly. "I don't mean your strength or intentions, but your mentality. Kid, aren't you a bit too used to death?"
Allen stayed quiet for a moment before smiling. "Who knows?"
Anemone didn't press further. She pulled out another cigarette, but before she could light it, Allen took it from her.
"Sorry, sister, but I don't like the tobacco smell on my clothes. Wait until we arrive."
"Tsk, fine, boss~" said the woman, her voice dripping with sarcasm and amusement.
"..." Allen shrugged.
Objectively speaking, at this moment, Allen was like their boss, even though she was older. That made the whole situation quite entertaining for Anemone. Though being unable to smoke left her somewhat unsatisfied.
Meanwhile, Allen had to think about how to tell Rei that her father might be dead.
'It has not been confirmed that Tadashi Miyamoto is dead, but...'
In this city of forty million people, how many had survived the first night?
Allen had promised to look for the families and friends of those who followed him through the apocalypse, but survival itself was practically a miracle. In that situation, he doubted anyone in his group would find their loved ones.
It might sound harsh and hopeless, but Allen had to make it clear that they shouldn't hold out too much hope. When Anemone noticed Allen had gone quiet, she couldn't help but tease him.
"So... are you gonna fuck us?" asked Anemone with a grin, waiting to see his reaction. Unfortunately for her, even though Allen was caught off guard, he didn't panic like other young men his age would when teased by an older woman.
"What makes you think that?"
Allen blinked, confused. He wasn't angry—it was just an incredibly unexpected question. You only needed to look at Asami's open-mouthed shock to see how out of line it was.
"Hehe, are you interested? Are you interested in this beautiful sister?"
"Yeah"
"...!"
The direct response caught Anemone off guard, and she soon felt embarrassed.
Allen was genuinely curious about this woman, so he took her words seriously. He didn't know why, but something about her made him want to understand her more.
Anemone smiled. "That look, that voice, those words—every one of your actions is... attractive. Even I, who have no interest in relationships and am perfectly happy with a beer and a cigarette, feel strangely drawn to you. If you're not doing it on purpose, then you're really terrifying..."
Allen stayed silent. He had never cared much about things like that, but it was true—he tended to be... gentler with women in general. Understandable, coming from someone who spent his life surrounded by them.
"I won't deny that I have more than one girlfriend, but don't worry, I don't intend to seduce either of you... for now."
"What?!" Asami jumped in her seat. Anemone's question was already outrageous, but Allen's reply? That was the pinnacle of shamelessness.
"Hahaha, you're hilarious!" Anemone laughed so hard she dropped her cigarette.
"Hey, careful, these are leather seats," Allen scolded.
"What are you talking about? It's not even your car," Anemone shot back. "And it wasn't lit anyway."
"That doesn't change the fact that I don't like it," Allen grumbled.
Asami watched the two from the back seat, feeling the odd atmosphere between them—then suddenly, she noticed something that made her panic.
"Watch out!"
Even before Asami finished her sentence, Allen had already slowed down. In front of them were two kids crossing the street—a boy and a girl, seemingly siblings.
At first, they looked scared after nearly being hit, but the older brother quickly grabbed his sister's hand and ran toward the subway entrance.
"No, wait!"
Asami jumped out of the car, but the kids had already gone into the subway.
"Wait, Asami." Seeing the girl about to run after them, Allen stopped her.
"What?! We have to catch them!"
"Idiot!" Anemone got out, caught up to Asami, and grabbed her arm.
"What are you doing, Anemone-san?! The kids!"
"Can't you see what you're doing?!"
Scolded, Asami froze for a second and looked at the subway entrance.
It was covered in blood, with clear signs that many bodies had been dragged inside. It was chilling—a place that reeked of blood and gave off a horrifying sound from below.
The kind of place where people went to die in horror movies. A place even the fiercest killer wouldn't dare to step into.
Asami fell to her knees, powerless. "Ever since I put on this uniform, I haven't done anything right... I couldn't save anyone. Everyone died—the chief, my coworkers... even Anemone-san was saved by Allen-kun. I'm useless."
"You're wrong," said Anemone. "You're not useless..."
"Thanks, but that's not true. We both know I don't have what it takes to handle serious cases. I probably would've just been writing parking tickets for the next five years. Even so, I became a cop hoping that one day I'd be as cool as you, Anemone-san." Asami lifted her tear-streaked face. "I can't even help a couple of kids... what's the point of being alive?"
Anemone didn't know how to respond, but at that moment Allen walked past them—leaving both women speechless. What was he planning to do?
"You... don't tell me?!" Anemone's heart sank. Her hands were already full, stopping Asami from doing something suicidal—she couldn't stop Allen, either.
"Why?" gasped Asami.
Allen chuckled, cracking his neck. "Well, I promised to help my group find their families. Wouldn't be fair if you two didn't get the same treatment, right?"
"You idiot! That's suicide!" shouted Anemone, unwilling to let Allen die despite having met him only recently.
"Don't worry. A lesser man would meet a horrible death down there. I..." Allen started walking toward the entrance with absolute confidence, "...I'll be back in ten minutes."
He left the two women behind as he descended the stairs. Blood and decaying entrails covered the floor, making every step squishy and unpleasant.
"It's ridiculous that kids chose to come in here..."
[Host, I've been thinking... maybe I should start a live stream.]
"Aren't you doing that already?"
[Yeah, but I mean for the people in this world. You know, there's still internet. A lot of survivors are trapped at home waiting to die. Maybe I could make a series about how to survive the zombie apocalypse—or even teach people how to fight mutant zombies.]
"We had already thought about it and" Allen stopped walking. "Honestly, I don't hate that idea..."
....
In an apartment, a young man who was dying of hunger stared out the window. The entire building complex was swarming with zombies, and searching for food would be suicide. He cursed himself for not being better prepared—for living off fast food, for not leaving when he had the chance.
*Ding*
Suddenly, his phone received a notification. He rushed to check it—it had been a day since the last message from his parents, and he feared the worst. But to his disappointment, it wasn't that. Instead, it was a new app that had somehow installed itself on his phone.
Its logo was shaped like Allen's golden golem, Timcanpy.
"You've gotta be kidding me! It's the goddamn end of the world and there are still idiots trying to steal my bank info?"
The young man tried to delete the app, but couldn't. He tried several times before giving up. He couldn't go outside anyway, and he'd probably die soon. Let them have the ten thousand yen left in his account.
"What?" Just as he was about to turn off his phone, another notification appeared.
*On Live*
The young man, along with tens of thousands of others across the country, decided to open the app—connecting directly to Allen's live stream. It was being filmed by a small, silent drone hovering around him. If he did it the traditional way, people who knew him would start asking too many questions.
Allen smiled at the camera, feeling a wave of nostalgia wash over him.
"Hello everyone, I'm Allen Walker. You're probably wondering how the hell we hacked your phones and computers to install this app, but don't worry about the details," Allen said with a mysterious smile.
– I know this guy!
– Yeah, he's the one people talk about on the forums!
– They said he's as strong as a gorilla. Doesn't look that tough.
– Bah, just a pretty face. I'd win!
"..." Allen chuckled as he read the comments again. They might not be from his world, but it was something. "Alright, quiet down. The point is, I don't care how much porn you have in your gallery. I did this to prevent your deaths—or at least delay them—by showing you what not to do."
– What we shouldn't do?
– What does he mean by that?
Allen didn't respond immediately and instead made the drone show live footage of where he was.
Tokyo's subway stations were once some of the cleanest, most well-kept places in the world. But upon seeing their current condition, everyone watching felt the hair on their bodies stand on end.
"As you can see from the rotten viscera, dried blood, and scattered human body parts—and the fact that eight out of ten lights are already broken—'don't enter here' is a lesson you should definitely learn," said Allen with the cheerful tone of a children's show host.
Allen was under all the stairs, where a dimly lit tunnel stretched out before him, filled with an eerie, ghostly sound.
"Tutorial number one: if you want to survive, don't come in here…"
– Bro, what the hell are you doing in there?!
– Get out!
– I've seen enough horror movies to know that's a one-way trip!
"Sorry, I can't."
Seeing that his local chat wasn't quite understanding the situation, Allen had another drone fly out of the subway, filming the tough beauty Anemone and the cute Asami.
"The thing is, two kids ran in here. I need to find them... to impress those two lovely girls."
– Oh, I see. Understandable 🗿
– I'd do the same... if I were stronger... and braver... and dumber too. 🗿
– It's worth it. 🗿
– Men -_-
Allen was glad that most people in his new chat were true men of culture. He focused and advanced silently. Even if he was strong, he wasn't stupid—he wasn't about to treat this place like a playground. He minimized interaction with the live chat to avoid any fatal mistakes.
Upon reaching the turnstiles, Allen noticed that the metal bars were bent and broken.
"That's not a good sign..." He touched one of the twisted bars. "Alright, this is information, and information saves lives. For example, we can tell that something very big—big enough to bend metal like paper—entered the subway. Which means going in would be suicide..."
– Shit, what the hell could've done that?!
"We'll find out soon enough."
Allen ignored his own advice and proceeded inside. The world collectively froze in disbelief. His confidence and ease as he walked straight into the fifth level of hell was both awe-inspiring and absurd.
Meanwhile...
Deeper inside the subway, corpses were piled up in blood-drenched heaps.
The walls were covered in a kind of web made of flesh that pulsed faintly—something profane, something straight out of a nightmare.
Amidst the darkness and death, a creature was feeding. It slowly lifted its head as if sensing something. Without a sound, without a growl, it slid away like a phantom—completely silent.
....
On the second floor, Hirano cleaned his pump-action shotgun, watching through narrowed eyes as the guards patrolled the mansion grounds. They'd been there from the start, but their numbers had doubled in the past few hours.
"We're not even welcome anymore…" Hirano sighed. From his perspective—and from that of anyone in Allen's group—it was clear that the ones who'd lose the most if their alliance broke apart would be Soichiro's people.
"Hm? Busujima-senpai?"
He saw Saeko walking toward Soichiro by herself. His first thought was terrifying—knowing how dangerous Saeko could be, and considering the recent tension between Allen's group and Soichiro Takagi, her deciding to slice his throat didn't sound far-fetched at all.
Saeko approached Soichiro, who was reviewing the supply lists. Three hundred people weren't a small number—feeding all of them twice a day would require vast resources. For now, they could rely on convenience stores and supermarkets, but eventually, they'd need a long-term solution.
Of course, everyone wanted this nightmare to end, for the zombies to simply stop moving—but considering they'd wiped out one of the world's top ten nations in just a single day, hoping for their extinction was naïve.
"Stop right there!" shouted one of Soichiro's men when he saw Saeko approaching. She ignored him completely and kept walking.
The man tried to raise his weapon, but before he could aim, a katana was already at his throat.
"W-What the—?!"
With a dark, dangerous look, Saeko smiled. "Trust me, if I wanted you dead, you wouldn't even have time to aim. And just so you know, the man I admire is several times stronger than I am."
The terrified man stumbled backward. The others tensed up, but Soichiro remained calm.
"My apologies, Saeko Busujima," said Soichiro with a strangely composed look.
"Soichiro Takagi, I know you were acquainted with my father—but I'm not him. I chose to follow Allen, which means his will is mine, and his enemies are mine as well."
Soichiro's eyes widened slightly in admiration. Saeko's gaze was unwavering and full of menace. From the moment Soichiro had opposed Allen, reconciliation was no longer possible.
"That Allen Walker managed to earn the loyalty of a woman of your caliber... is something I can respect," Soichiro said with a small smile, then turned serious. " I'm aware of our current positions. Even so, I must give you something."
He unfastened the katana from his belt and offered it to her.
"As Busujima-sensei's daughter, you should recognize this sword."
Saeko didn't lower her guard, but she did glance at it. One look was enough to know—it was a legendary blade.
"What are you trying to do?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
The man was silent for a moment before murmuring, "Just repaying a debt..."
Hirano, who had been aiming at Soichiro since the encounter began, lowered his weapon. He didn't want to kill humans, but he knew the world had collapsed—and that someday, he might have to.
The Takagi mansion was steeped in tension. Given the circumstances, Allen's group was seen with hostility by many, and they returned the sentiment. Every minute inside the mansion felt eternal.
"I just hope it doesn't have to happen here..." Hirano muttered, before something in the distance caught his attention. "What the hell is that?"
....
The Takagi mansion's perimeter was always guarded. The sentries had one of the most critical jobs—if zombies appeared, they had to lure them away. In the past, they had to use themselves as bait, but Soichiro had recently begun using phones the same way Allen did.
He had no pride stopping him from adopting new methods, despite his strained relationship with Allen. Pride was something you showed the masses—refusing to adapt only ensured death.
"Haha"
Two guards chatted idly; it had been a calm day. Allen's group had cleared the area of zombies while bringing in survivors, so not a single soul was in sight.
"Did you see that blonde with the massive rack? I wonder if she has a boyfriend?" said one of the men.
"Idiot, she's part of the albino's group. You trying to get yourself killed?"
"No thanks, haha—"
The man's laughter cut short. Something hot splattered on his cheek.
He turned and saw his friend's corpse—half of his head was scattered across the floor.
"Y-Yukitake?!"
"Nice shot, James!" someone shouted.
"Y-you bastard!"
Ahead stood three men dressed in military uniforms, their country insignias torn off.
One held a sniper rifle—the one called James. A blond man wearing a bucket hat.
"Shut up," James hissed. "If I missed at this range, I'd blow my own head off."
"That's why I told you to carry an emergency gun."
"Stop screwing around, Davis. Finish the job," James said coldly.
Davis, an easygoing Black man carrying a machine gun, chuckled. "You're no fun." He aimed at the second guard, who still hadn't reacted.
"Wai—"
The man didn't finish before a hail of bullets tore through him, his body collapsing in a pool of blood.
"..."
The third man, a bald, muscular brute, stepped forward silently. Without a word, he drew a knife and began cutting off the corpses' ears.
"That's disgusting..." grunted James.
"To each their own, right?" Davis mocked, glancing at the man. "Robertson's just like you and me—a freak who saw an opportunity and took it. Admit it—you use that sniper at close range just 'cause you like seeing their heads explode, don't you?"
"..."
"I've seen your face when you shoot. You're worse than Robertson."
James stared at him in silence before smiling—a slow, chilling smile.
Someone once said that humans hate rules, laws, and limits... but they also fear losing them. They fear what happens when their darkest desires take over—because once that happens, and they look in the mirror, there's no turning back.
– Yeah! Kill them all!
– Idiot, leave the women alive!
– Hahaha!
A truck full of soldiers roared past the three men, shouting and cursing.
There was no plan, no order, no discipline—just a pack of beasts who had given in to their instincts.
That truck, packed with the most depraved souls imaginable, sped toward the Takagi mansion— Allen wasn't there.
...
A/N: I don't think there's much mystery surrounding Anemone's identity and reason for existence, but let's pretend there is 👀
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