Twenty-one days of the apocalypse caused the collapse of human morality. The horrifying 1% survival rate in Yokohama already belongs to the upper percentile. Some places have less than 1%. The zombie apocalypse alone caused massive casualties in the first ten days. When the zerg apocalypse came, they cleaned off humans and zombies alike, resulting in even lesser survivors.
A city retaining 100,000 survivors is a place that has experienced hell and surpassed it. The group of espers and skilled fighters it possessed is no joke compared to smaller towns and villages. Yokohama belongs to that population.
However, there are two cities that surpassed it: Tokyo and Kyoto.
For some reason, they were able to enter a state of emergency immediately. The SDF Bases in its vicinity acted to quell the chaos in the early days of the zombie apocalypse. They also possessed special assault teams made entirely of espers. Though they had to cede more than half of Tokyo, they managed to isolate the remaining half for survivors. They blocked all pathways, open or discreet, using rapid hardening cement walls and espers.
Once the zerg apocalypse comes, their firepower is more than ready to defeat the endless swarm of insects. Ultimately, this led to the zombies' extinction within Tokyo. Humanity suffered casualties from the assault, but they ended up as the biggest winner.
The official shelter was able to reclaim the rest of Tokyo in ten days, turning Japan's current capital into a walled city. The places where the insects came from are designated as forbidden zones. These were walled to oblivion, with a strict rotation of soldiers monitoring them every day.
Overall, Tokyo's situation is a far cry from the rest of Japan's cities—even to its major economic zones such as Yokohama.
"What a coward…"
Shino's innate talent gave her a god's perspective. Its mental consumption is immense, compensating for its god-like effect.
She held the cold grip of the L96A1, camping at this specific position for days, but to no avail. A piece of cloth is placed in its scope, preventing any accidents of revealing her whereabouts.
Tokyo's immense military strength came at a cost. The government had to pass on weapons to the conglomerates in this city. Their lack of manpower is one thing. Their industry is the most crucial point.
With their help, the city's electric grid was restored. Their stocks of food removed the need to scavenge themselves. Only the water problem was left.
The spread of hot weapons eventually reached Shino. She acted as an independent esper, taking 'commissions' from the city hall in exchange for rewards. The L96A1 along with its 7.62mm bullets came from them.
Everything was going fine if not for the Sword Art Online survivors' plight.
Prior to the city-wide cleanup, she worked alongside them in exchange for resources. Their trustworthiness made Shino closer to them, eventually treating them as friends.
Eishi's assistance to her was there. He provided her with a lot of crucial information: the esper ranks, ways to level up, the zombies' strength, forecasted outbreak of the zerg, and so on. These were things she could never pay back.
Hence, the SAO group took up the second place in her spot.
Upon hearing that an official faction has malicious intentions towards the group, Shino went out of her way to help them. She went up and scouted their leader, Sugou Nobuyuki.
He used to be the chief researcher for RECT Incorporated, the company that took over Argus after the Sword Art Online incident. He rose up in the official shelter as a strong esper. Coupled with his prior background, he managed to gain a part of the shelter's leadership.
'If not for it….'
Shino recalled the group's leader, Yuuki Asuna. Her parents background surpasses that of Nobuyuki's. However, through a stroke of misfortune, they perished, leaving her like a fallen rich heir.
The appearance of superpowers, espers, zombies, and insects did not help. Society's class structure was reshuffled, with strong espers taking the leadership spots.
Her only saving grace was the experience gained from Sword Art Online. Even with the lack of combat assistance functions such as the game's skills, their fighting experience far outclassed anybody else's at the start of the apocalypse. The Sword Art Online survivors at the vocational college used it to establish themselves at the early days of the apocalypse. Most, if not all, have become espers.
Withholding the lack of hot weapons, they are a considerable esper force. Nobuyuki expended a great deal of effort, framing them up before arresting them.
Ultimately, the Sword Art Online group broke out of the official shelter's encirclement, hiding in the vast and unpopulated Tokyo.
Shino, as someone who had supported them, was implicated. She is also placed on the 'wanted' list.
What they did not expect was her decision. She did not run away, instead camping for days outside a building adjacent to the city hall!
Just then, the vibrations of her phone caught Shino's attention. The moment she saw who the caller was, she was startled.
She placed the phone near her lips, and while in a proning position, answered the call.
"I am driving to Tokyo. Are you still at the villa?"
"..."
For a moment, Shino could not answer. She wasn't clueless about the dangers outside of Tokyo. The official channels state that the zerg meteors only struck the major cities. Outside them, zombies still run rampant.
Eishi's trip to Tokyo meant he took huge risks to do so, at least in her eyes.
"No. I… I am now a wanted fugitive."
It was Eishi's turn to fall silent. He was updated up to Tokyo's re-establishment of order.
Shino was about to explain when he got ahead of her.
"Give me an hour. Stay where you are. I will pick you up."
"A-ah..?"
"Tell me what happened first."
Hearing his tone, Shino could only honestly explain the entire sequence of events…
*****
It all started with Eishi's occasional glimpses on Saeko's thighs. Her black stockings pressed against her plump skin, causing a part to be squeezed out.
In the end…
"...Huff."
…the two did it.
The back of Eishi's seat was pushed down. Saeko rode on his hips, causing his glans to rub against her cervix. The pleasurable sensation caused her to curl her toes. Her face dug deeply on his shoulder, her twin peaks pressed against his chest. Her skirt had long been soaked wet with her fluids.
Only the duo's breathing was left inside the car.
"Hm..?"
Eishi glanced at the source of the slight noise outside. A zombie with a blade-like bone struck relentlessly at the land rover. Not once did the land rover's black-tinted windows shattered.
'I am too reckless…'
He let go precisely because of this sixth rank land rover. By logic, it cannot be harmed by anyone below the sixth-order.
Most human espers are still at the first-order; zombies at the fourth-order. The latter are also weaker than their human counterparts. A fourth-order zombie's strength is the equivalent of third-order espers.
Simply put, they can fuck all day and nobody will be able to disturb them.
Eishi placed his nose near Saeko's neck, inhaling her addicting scent. It wasn't flawless, containing hints of sweat and the likes, but Eishi paid them no heed.
The two remained like this for a while. Once they cooled down, the awkward cleaning of the aftermath came. A flush of redness emerged on her cheeks as she looked at the 'dirtied' flesh rod that pounded her insides earlier. At the same time, she was also ensnared by it.
Before her horniness could rise further, Eishi stopped her.
"Let's clean the mess first."
Under his persuasion, Saeko regretfully cleaned herself. She replaced the dirtied school uniform (which she loved) with a pair of jeans and a breathable white t-shirt.
As for Eishi, he had stepped outside and dealt with the 'small nuisance' in one blow. He asked Saeko to get out first before placing the land rover on his spatial backpack.
The next moment, it reappeared, but this time, it is spotlessly clean.
'What a freaking cheat…'
While still in his sage-like state, they continued on their roadtrip. Whatever rubble that blocked their path was run through by the land rover. Whatever the special land rover hits gets sent flying. They no longer needed to worry about wreckages and the likes, unless the road itself was broken; fortunately, they are not.
The high-rise expressways were damaged, but the road on the ground wasn't.
He looked at the crystal that crumbled into white dust in his palm. He glanced at Saeko and saw her doing the same, but on both hands.
'Game characters kill for experience, yet here we are undergoing a true xianxia experience…'
Eishi's boredom led to the explosion of ideas. His 1,400% comprehension boost is no joke. Now that he realized how stupid he was for not using it properly, he no longer repeated the same mistake. He used it to find ways to increase their leveling speed.
To him, having combat techniques like the [Seven Star Severing Art] is secondary. The lower-ranked [Origin Swallowing Method] had more uses.
'Instead of establishing a connection through the palm, I can mimic those wuxia and murim martial arts. Hm, absorbing spiritual qi? No, it's quite tasteless. A leveling cheat device is more fitting…'
He did not forget their objective on going to Tokyo: to rescue Airi's sister and to bring Shino over. His fingers tapped swiftly at his phone, dialing Shino's number.
It did not take long before she picked it up.
When Eishi heard about her being hunted by the official shelter, the faint smile on his lips was wiped off. Saeko saw his expression turn serious… which turned her on.
'No, no. I was not like this before…'
Her inner struggles were unsurprisingly weak. She recalled the times she spent with Eishi. Her heart warmed up… and her insides too. The strange and hidden side she tried hard to repress back then showed extreme attraction towards Eishi. Only Saeko herself knows how bad she is being addicted to his presence.
Eishi, who had just finished talking with Shino, pressed on the gas pedal harder.
More zombies got attracted to the commotion caused by his car clearing the way, though none stood a chance against its speed and durability. The car's spring hadn't even budged when it ran over corpses.
In less than an hour, they cleared a way from Yokohama to Tokyo. They also encountered a 'mutated animal' for the first time. The dog-like creature tried to catch up with the land rover, only to be left in the dust.
Animals have a lower survival rate than humans. They had long been eaten by zombies during the earlier days. Seeing a live and mutated animal made him want to bring it to Saya for research.
In the end, a huge dog corpse was placed inside his spatial backpack. Time was frozen inside, making it the best place to store biological experimental materials.
"Tokyo…"
"Not like before, no?"
Saeko nodded.
They stopped the land rover at a distance. Tokyo's suburbs now looked like an abandoned city. Rubbles, burnt trees, traces of blood, zombie and insect corpses…
Once they got past the suburbs, they saw a five-meter-tall wall blocking the road. A group of armed espers stood guard atop it.
The moment they saw Eishi's land rover, they all tensed up.
One of them held a megaphone in their hands and shouted:
"Identify yourselves!"
Eishi paid their warnings with no heed. His finger tapped rhythmically on the steering wheel.
In the end, he came to a decision.
"Wait inside."
Click.
The world turned colorless. His spirit attribute is at 2,074. Coupled with the 50% less consumption from his third-order innate talent, he can now stop time for about forty seconds.
It was more than enough to get off his land rover, jump atop the wall, disarm the soldiers, and steal their megaphone.
Click.
To the others, they only blinked once.
Yet…
'What the hell..?!'
…the world had changed in their eyes.