5. Luring (3)

“Krrraaak!”

They’re coming!

The moment I saw the beast humans opening their maws wide with outstretched hands, I turned and ran.

Dashed past the clothing store.

*Crash!*

A thunderous noise behind me – the mart’s glass side door shattering completely.

“Kyaaaak! Krraaak!”

Chasing me! Chasing me!

Fuck!

Passed the traditional medicine clinic.

“Krrraak! Kyaaaaaak!”

Getting closer!

These fuckers are fast as hell!

[Auto-activation: Acceleration]

“Kyaa-a-a-a-“

What?!

Shit! I didn’t activate it!

That’s how close they were!

Threw my large axe forward and drew two tomahawks from my waist.

Turned to see multiple beast humans tangled together, moving slowly through the air.

Swing with all my might!

“Hyaat!”

*Thunk!*

A shopping cart ajumma beast – direct headshot!

No time!

Swing again!

*Thud!*

Mart employee in apron – perfect skull hit!

Small but still an axe.

Stuck in but didn’t penetrate deep like the large axe.

No time to pull them out – immediately turned and ran.

Realization: Objects I release are also affected by Acceleration.

My thrown axe floated slowly mid-air.

Grabbed it as I ran.

“–Aaarak!”

Acceleration ended!

Sprinted forward with all my might.

*Crash!*

Behind me – collapsing sounds. The headshot beasts must have fallen.

Dead?!

[Level increased by 2]

Yes!

Heads are definitely weak points!

Brain damage kills them easily!

The more I kill, the more I learn!

“Kyaaaak! Kyaaaaaak!”

Fuck, insane.

Gaining fast!

Two swords and an axe weigh me down!

[Auto-activation: Acceleration]

Shit! Again!

No time!

Five seconds of sprinting got me to the convenience store.

Panting, I saw beast humans moving slowly about 10 meters away.

Dove inside, flung open the storage room door.

The corpses I’d killed before still there.

Threw the heavy axe inside and turned.

Perfect trap.

“–Aararak! Kyaaaak!”

Thundering footsteps approaching.

Holding the door, I watched them charge.

Took a deep breath.

“Over here, fuckers!”

They turned instantly.

Simultaneously tripped over themselves, collapsing in a tangled heap.

They saw me!

Know where I am!

Dashed inside and slammed the door shut.

Locked it.

*Screech!*

Shoved a drink shelf between door and wall.

Done.

“Hahk! Hahk!”

Then – screams.

“Kyaaaak! Kyaaaak!”

*Crash!*

Door shook violently.

Holy fuck!

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Door trembling.

Spine tingling.

Please don’t break.

That’d be game over.

Dragged another shelf to reinforce it.

Hold. Just hold!

Picked up the axe from the floor.

Fuck.

Different from spears.

Need swinging room – bad for cramped spaces.

Would get caught on walls and shelves.

Spotted a telescopic baton shelf.

Placed the large axe there too.

Then drew the sword.

*Sshing*

A real blade.

Never trained in kendo but watched YouTube videos.

Can stab with this.

Not a spear, but sharper than my pipe spear.

More efficient than the blunt rectangular pipe.

The hinges just need to hold this once.

Aimed the sword at the door with both hands.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

“Kyaaaak! Krraaaak!”

Beast humans roaring and pounding.

From experience, they’ll calm in 30-60 minutes.

Just need to hold out.

Part of me wants to crack the door open and stab heads now.

But can’t – already used Acceleration twice.

The steel door itself is sturdy.

Problem is the hinges.

Already creaked when I escaped days ago.

How long will they last?

This plan is reckless but I’m confident.

No alternatives anyway.

The storage room’s confined space.

Relatively strong steel door.

Lure then snipe.

Works because they cluster together.

If they wandered separately, this risk wouldn’t be necessary.

But they don’t wander – they swarm.

To gather supplies and level up, I have to kill them.

Lure and divide – my only solution.

About ten minutes passed.

Door still holding.

Reckless but only option.

I know guns would help.

…But gunshots carry hundreds of meters.

…Need something ranged but quiet.

…A bow? Crossbow?

Could pick them off silently.

…For later when I’m stronger.

The banging gradually lessened.

About thirty minutes now.

Will quiet down soon.

…Door held. Good.

Need to recover Acceleration uses.

Sat against the wall, sheathing the sword.

Full recovery might take until sunset.

Ah right – leveled up.

Now Level 13.

…Killed twelve.

Put 1 point in Mind – now 15 total.

3 Acceleration uses secured.

2 points left – put in Stamina for faster recovery.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The Chosen One
[Specialization – Time Adjuster] [Level – 13]
[Title – Civilian]
Status
[Stamina – 8/10] [Senses – 2/2]
[Strength – 4/5] [Agility – 4/4]
[Mind – 1/15] [Intelligence – N/A]
[Distribute Points – 0]
Skills
[Active – Acceleration] (Auto-casting)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Huh?

Why 1 Mind?

Ah, recovered.

Only used 1 Stamina point.

Makes sense – only walked a block and ran briefly.

Problem is…

…Strength.

Only enough to kill five at once.

Wait – that’s actually incredible.

Normal people couldn’t kill even one.

Only because I’m leveling up does five seem insufficient.

Fuck, funny when you think about it.

Texted Su-hyeon: [Gonna be late. Eat without me.]

Reply: [Where are you?]

[Just nearby. Be back soon.]

[You okay?]

[Fine. Just handling something.]

[Alright. We’ll eat without you.]

[See you later.]

…Weirdly normal conversation for the apocalypse.

Looked around at the storage room – dozens of drink/snack boxes.

Can eat anything if hungry.

Just waiting to recover now.

Lit a cigarette leisurely.

“Haa…”

Smoke rings drifted lazily.

Tastes good.