Another student Kain pointed at climbed onto the mini-bus, looking a little anxious, but even more relieved.
Only those he selected were allowed on board.
And he was not picking at random. From their words, behavior, and eyes, he analyzed who was more likely to obey and not cause trouble, then let those people on.
After all, this world was about to descend into utter chaos. A huge number of people would die. And if he wanted the STC to be usable in this world, he would definitely need manpower.
If he could get a few more obedient students to help, that was not a bad thing.
Besides, they likely would not be able to reach Saya Takagi's home in one straight shot. Something would probably go wrong along the way.
And the time he could afford to stay here was limited. He could not waste it.
When the time came, he would head straight for the hospital, and those students would become assistants there.
That said… couldn't he invite people from other worlds to come help as well?
He asked Saeko about it, then analyzed the situation.
Because the "Cross-World Invitation" was on an accelerated cooldown this time due to him, if other people used it, they could only invite him specifically. They could not invite anyone else.
So what if he used it himself?
Then perhaps he could mass-invite people into the hell he came from.
"Huh? Me?"
The orange-haired girl he had pointed at froze in place, stunned.
Truthfully, she had not expected to be chosen.
The reason was simple: after linking up with him, she had been one of the more proactive ones, helping fend off the living dead from the sides and the rear.
Someone who performed that well should have been chosen early. But the mini-bus had already been more than half filled and she still had not been called, so she had already given up hope.
Of course, she had not been trying to show off in front of him. She was simply trying to keep more classmates alive.
To him, it probably did not matter. He likely did not care.
Now that he had finally picked her, she could not help feeling a small spark of hope.
"Why are you just standing there? Get on, Miyamoto!"
Already on the bus, Saya called out the name of the girl who had just been selected.
Saya knew her. She was her classmate, and also the childhood friend of a boy Saya liked a little.
Saya had heard the two of them had been arguing recently, and she felt an inexplicable flicker of delight.
But that was one thing, and this was another. She absolutely did not want Rei Miyamoto left behind.
Now that Rei had been selected, Saya quietly let out a breath of relief, then urged her again to hurry up and get on.
As for Takashi Komuro and Hisashi Igou, they were not with them, but it was not because something had happened to them.
According to Rei, it was because there were too many living dead. In the chaos, panicked students had accidentally scattered them, and then the living dead had separated them.
They had agreed to regroup at the school parking lot, but in the end only Rei's group made it here.
In fact, after Saya did not return for two class periods, Takashi and Hisashi had stopped attending class to go look for her, worried about her. That genuinely moved her.
Now, with Takashi still nowhere to be seen, Saya could not help worrying.
But what could she do?
That mysterious man would not wait. And she could not stupidly stay behind to die. She still had to go home to see her father, and her mother as well—who she had not been able to reach on the phone. Her father had said her mother was handling something and was not in town.
Even though her father insisted everything was fine, without seeing it with her own eyes, Saya still could not help worrying.
Worrying that her mother might have been infected.
And this virus might not necessarily spread only through bites.
For something this sudden and this widespread, there had to be other routes of infection.
Water supply, food, and so on.
"You too, get on."
"O-okay."
Another classmate of hers was selected, and Saya was surprised.
It was Kohta Hirano—that overweight creep.
But on second thought, it was not strange. Kohta was bold in his own way. Somehow he had gotten his hands on a nail gun from somewhere in the school, linked up with Rei, and fought his way out.
So it made sense that Kain would consider him "useful."
In short, Saya could tell: the people Kain chose were either obedient-looking, well-behaved types, or those who had some real capability.
Which meant the other half—those not allowed on board—would despair. Some of them might decide, "If we can't live, nobody does," and try to stop them from leaving.
Saya could easily imagine the bloody outcome.
If they tried to drag everyone down with them, he would kill them all.
No—worse than that.
More and more people were gathering here now. If they did not leave immediately, it would become a disaster.
And the more people gathered, the bigger the commotion, the more living dead would converge.
To be honest, the fact that so many people were still alive was, rationally, also because of that mysterious man's "contribution."
He had killed an enormous number of living dead—well over a hundred.
If he had not killed them, those living dead would have kept biting other students, spreading infection, and the number of visible survivors right now would likely be cut in half.
"These are the keys to the other cars. If you can drive, drive yourselves."
He suddenly tossed out a ring of keys, and Saya froze.
He had brought the other keys out of the staff office, too.
The moment the keys hit the ground, the students who had failed to board this "ark" stared blankly for a beat, then surged forward in a frantic scramble to seize them.
"Let's go, Ms. Marikawa!"
"Huh? Um… okay. Uh, this is the accelerator, this is the brake, and this is the clutch…"
That made Saya's forehead twitch.
Saya could tell Ms. Marikawa was not stalling on purpose. She genuinely was not familiar with the mini-bus.
This was terrifyingly unreliable. Do not tell her they were going to crash.
Saya glanced at Kain.
He did not seem to care. Or rather, he could tell Ms. Marikawa was a bit of an airhead and looked mildly at a loss.
"Um, I'm starting the car. Everyone, sit tight!"
One by one, people tensed up.
Ms. Marikawa took a deep breath, then the mini-bus lurched forward in a clumsy, almost slingshot-like start, surging toward the school gate.
"Takashi! Hisashi!"
Rei's cry made Saya jolt.
Following Rei's gaze through the window, Saya did see them.
Not just the two of them—there was a whole group with them, including teachers.
"Shido? You actually saved him? Why?!"
Rei's muttered words came next, her face twisted with hatred. That made Saya realize Rei had likely concealed part of the truth earlier.
The reason Takashi and Hisashi had been separated might have been because they could not accept going back to save Koichi Shido, that teacher.
Saya felt deeply uncomfortable around Shido. Her father had also warned her: this man was good at disguises, and he was dangerous.
As for why Rei hated Shido so much, a "genius girl" like Saya could easily infer the likely reason.
Rei's father was a police officer investigating Shido's politician father. Rei's repeating a year might even have been Shido's small act of retaliation.
Yes—repeating a year. Otherwise, Rei should have been a third-year student.
Then Takashi's group quickly disappeared from Saya's view. Saya, half-risen from her seat with her mouth slightly open, could only sit back down again.
Bang—!
A sudden impact startled Saya.
Ms. Marikawa had driven straight through the school gate, smashing it open and sending two living dead flying.
And because the school was not in the city center, but closer to the outskirts, once the bus drove into the city, flames and black smoke were everywhere.
It forced everyone to soberly recognize that the world they had known was already gone.
The world was collapsing.
(End of Chapter)
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