10. You Did All This Alone? (3)

“Krrrk?!”

Heads pop up between shelves.

They spot me.

Charge.

“Graaah! Kyaaah!”

CRASH! Merchandise topples everywhere.

The floor becomes chaos.

I smile, gripping my sword with both hands.

Smiling?

Am I laughing?

Me?

Hah.

Guess I’m enjoying this now.

“Come at me, fuckers.”

Multiple zombies charge through toppled displays.

Acceleration.

[Auto-cast: Acceleration]

A dozen surround me.

Lunge forward, thrusting my sword.

Whoooosh-

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Step back.

Blood droplets float mid-air.

Zombies flail like trapped in jelly.

“-Kr-rack!”

Acceleration.

[Auto-cast: Acceleration]

Three with skulls pierced, bleeding front and back.

Step toward nearby zombies.

Pull sword back.

Thrust!

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Front row cleared.

Dodge sideways.

Blood splatters face and body.

“-Kya-rrok!”

Acceleration.

[Auto-cast: Acceleration]

Zombies charge where I stood-now empty air.

Corpses collapse.

Move sideways while stabbing.

Crunch!

Step, crunch!

Step, crunch!

“Hup.”

Pull sword free.

Pass a dead zombie still clawing air, unaware.

The world moves.

“-Kr-rok!”

Acceleration.

[Auto-cast: Acceleration]

A zombie knocks over shaving supplies, glaring elsewhere.

Raise sword.

Crunch!

Dodge under shelf-stab upward at reaching arm.

Crunch!

Pierce from cheek to crown, yank blade free.

“Hup.”

Blood droplets merge, stretching before slowly splattering.

Clear.

Lean on shelf corner, watching corpses.

“-Kr-rawk!”

Eleven.

Eleven bodies collapse in mart corner.

Blood sprays everywhere.

On face, back of head, clothes.

Ugh, fuck.

Great except for all this blood.

Wipe cheek, scan surroundings.

…Seems clear.

[Level increased by 11.]

Wait-better check.

Must be thorough.

If any hiding, drag them all out.

Deep breath.

…What to yell?

Something in my eye.

“SU-MOK SALES EVENT!”

My shout echoes through mart.

Nothing could miss that.

…Silence.

Wait longer.

Hmm…

No sounds.

Circle around to be sure.

Check left aisles, right produce section, butcher area.

Pretty big.

Took five minutes.

Checked all hiding spots.

99% safe now.

“…Done.”

Nod, head toward exit via paper goods.

“……Ah.”

Past tissues-diapers.

…Hmm…

Someone asked for these.

Grab large pack, head past shelves.

Eleven corpses piled ahead.

“…Hmm…”

Blood drips from sword.

Wipe blade clean on zombie backs.

Must care for weapons.

Only got two.

…Ah.

Sudden idea.

Dual-wield tomorrow…?

…No.

Right-handed-might miss with left.

Stick to sure kills.

Exit mart with diaper bag.

So many corpses-hard to walk, fuck.

“Hoo…”

How many Accelerations used?

One, two…

Oh, four?

Five charges left.

Good.

“…Ah.”

Sound from side!

Freeze, turn.

Don’t know what my eyes show.

Grip sword-palm burns.

…Weird outfits, six figures!

“H-hey there.”

G…Grocery?!

Acceleration didn’t trigger.

What.

Was that human speech?

Female… voice?

Zombies talking…?

…No.

Not zombies.

Six figures by lamppost in morning light.

No bared teeth or claws.

……What.

“…Human?”

Blurted it out.

Human?

Felt natural to ask.

Now sounds weird.

Asking limb-having creatures if they’re people.

Ponytail girl steps forward.

…Steps?

Movement’s odd.

Look down-wearing something.

…Inline skates.

What the hell.

She speaks:

“Ah, we… saw you inside just now. Last night too. How… how do you move like that?”

…Huh?

What’s she asking…

How I move…

Like that…

…They saw me use Acceleration to kill.

Done this before in front of others.

Ye-eun and So-eun saw.

But they were too terrified to process.

…The large man.

Watched me kill thugs.

His pale, trembling face-now makes sense.

…How do I look when Accelerating?

Suddenly curious.

That scary?

Ah.

Not the time.

Study the group.

Now notice details-assumed they were zombies at first.

Inline skates, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, two with teardrop helmets.

“…Who are you?”

Girl answers:

“Ah, we’re Speedsters-inline skating club members.”

Inline skating club?

Inline……

Six pairs of skates.

Pretty cool.

Never tried inlines.

Fast, huh?

…That how they survived.

Three men, three women…

Women look shocked, men horrified and tense.

Not very old.

…Who are these people.

“…So, you want something?”

“Ah, actually…”

Girl starts when tall man interrupts:

“Where’s your team? No way you killed all these alone. Impossible.”

All this alone?

…Hmm…

How many killed?

Over forty, probably.

I meet his eyes:

“I killed them all.”

“…Bullshit.”

Women gasp sharply.

“Y-you did all this alone? By yourself?”

Another woman asks, horrified.

Fuck, why keep asking same thing.

Why accost people with dumb questions.

Just nod-no answer.

They exchange shocked looks, alternating between me and corpses.

“How’d you kill so many alone?”

…Fuck, annoying now.

“Swordmaster.”

Believe it or not, fuckers.

Step toward ponytail girl:

“So, what do you want.”p>
Stop wasting my time.
Inline parade asking stupid shit.
She says:
“Ah, we’ve… been looting a convenience store. Six people eat through supplies fast. Just drinks left…”
“And?”
Sound gruff.
She flinches.
Glances at mart:
“Since you… cleared this place, could we maybe take some things…?”
Hmm…
Study the six, then mart.
She adds:
“We’ll help however we can. Share with us?”
Hmmm…
The mart…
Plenty inside.
Honestly, supplies mean little to me.
Only the XP mattered.
Shrug:
“Clear the corpses first. Take what you want.”
Their faces brighten, nodding.
Finally sheathe sword.
Shhhk-click.
“Anything else?”
Half-turn to leave.
Ponytail smiles:
“No, thank you. We’ll clean up. Thanks.”
“Yeah.”
Walk away.
Ah-turn back:
“Leave the diapers.”
She blinks, then laughs.
“Ah, we don’t need diapers… Got it. Thanks.”
…That look…
Think I’m a dad or something?
…Whatever.
Can’t be bothered explaining.
Carry diaper bag toward boarding house.
Skate sounds behind-probably moving corpses.
Can’t skate past entrance-too many bodies.
They’ll clear it for their own sake.
Hmm…
Speaking of marts…
Where else are they packed?
Mixed-use building, and…
…Superstore…
…Nice.
Next target: Superstore.
After clearing path to hardware store.