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"I swear, you've got way too much free time!"
"Coming all the way here in the middle of the night—what were you thinking?"
"You really believe you're invincible or something?"
Julian didn't hold back as he scolded her.
With all that gold sitting in your house… if you die, who am I supposed to cash in on?
"Well… I've gotten stronger, so my grip's stronger too…"
"At home, when I was fighting the Rathalos, I broke three controllers…"
"I just came out to find a replacement…"
Asuka lowered her head, looking pitiful.
"You, honestly…"
"Do I even exist to you?"
"From now on, any errands go through me. Got it?"
Julian's tone turned serious.
If she handed things off to him, he could just subcontract them to Nanami Kento and skim a little profit in the middle. Easy money.
"Got it…"
Asuka kept her head down and stuck her tongue out slightly.
Looks like she really was scared this time. That spoiled princess attitude had toned down a lot.
Just then, a faint sound came from the stairwell.
Footsteps.
Not zombies—their steps weren't this light.
"They're here!"
Asuka shuddered and hid behind Julian.
A dark shape suddenly darted up from the stairs.
In the dim light, Julian finally saw it clearly.
A zombie dog.
Its fur had all fallen out, its skin riddled with rot. Its teeth were fully exposed, stained with blackened blood.
"Grrr…"
The zombie dog stared at them, a low growl rumbling in its throat.
"Oh, it's just a dog…"
"You're scared of dogs?"
Julian chuckled.
"That's not a normal dog!"
"It's a zombie dog! It's terrifying!"
"Have you never played Resident Evil?!"
Asuka clung to his back, too scared to even peek out.
She could kill mutated zombies without blinking, but one look at this thing and she folded instantly.
"Hana, how strong is it?"
Julian asked.
"Stronger than a normal zombie, but way weaker than Goldie."
"Oh, right… if Goldie gets bitten, would she turn into one of those?"
Hana sounded worried.
Goldie was so cute now—if she turned into that…
People would definitely hate her.
"We'd have to test that to know."
Julian was curious too. If someone drank his blood, would they still get infected?
In theory, awakened ones were immune. Asuka and Goldie, who had both drunk his blood, should be the same.
"Grrr…"
The zombie dog crouched low and crept forward, eyes locked onto them.
It looked ready to attack.
Julian shielded the two girls and took a small step back.
Then—suddenly!
The zombie dog lunged!
It was faster than a normal dog, noticeably so.
Julian reached out, grabbed the double-door fridge beside him, and yanked it forward—
Boom!
The fridge slammed down right on top of the zombie dog.
Solid build too—it pinned the creature completely.
The dog thrashed wildly, claws scraping deep marks into the floor.
Julian stepped forward and crushed its head with a single stomp.
"Is that it?"
He shrugged.
Not that impressive.
Just faster and stronger than a regular zombie, that's all.
At that moment, more footsteps echoed from the stairwell—much denser this time.
Among them was one heavier, slower tread.
One… two…
Twelve zombie dogs in total.
Then, a hooded figure appeared at the top of the stairs.
The dogs slowly surrounded Julian and the others.
The hooded figure stepped past them and moved to the front.
Under the hood, Julian could make out half a pale, lifeless face.
A mutated zombie.
His instincts told him this one was stronger than Amano, the one he killed earlier.
Still, in a one-on-one fight, Julian was confident he could win.
But those twelve zombie dogs…
Too many. Too fast. That would be trouble.
If anything happened to his "client," that'd be a disaster.
"Human…"
"Leave this place."
The hooded zombie spoke, its voice hoarse.
It didn't attack immediately, which meant it had its own concerns.
It probably recognized Julian's strength and didn't want unnecessary losses.
"What exactly is going on here?"
"Why are there so many mutated zombies?"
"If you can answer that, I might consider your request."
Julian replied calmly.
The hooded zombie paused.
This human… had some nerve.
Offering him a chance to leave, and he refused?
If not for fearing the other's strength—and the risk of losing too many underlings—it would've attacked already.
"My master is asking you a question!"
"Answer him, now!"
Hana puffed out her chest.
"A zombie?"
The hooded figure froze for a moment.
So it hadn't been mistaken earlier on the second floor—she really was a zombie.
And she called this human… "master"?
Was he powerful enough to enslave zombies?
Not good… better not fight head-on.
The hooded zombie thought it over carefully before speaking.
"Fine. I'll answer."
"I don't know how I awakened consciousness. When I came to, I was holding a graphics card."
"After that, I just kept searching for food."
"For zombies, getting stronger means eating. Constantly."
"Humans are best. But if there are no humans, other zombies work too."
"In the basement of this building, there used to be hundreds of humans trapped."
"They became our food supply."
"After we ate them all, we naturally grew stronger."
"I'll tell you this—there are three others down there about as strong as me."
"If you try anything, I guarantee you won't be leaving here unharmed."
The hooded zombie's voice turned cold.
"Threatening me?"
Julian smiled.
If my client wasn't here, I'd have killed you already.
"You're not an ordinary human."
"And I don't want trouble."
"It's better if we stay out of each other's way."
The hooded zombie offered an out.
It clearly didn't dare to clash head-on.
"Fine. Call off your dogs."
Julian nodded.
He'd learned what he needed. Time to get Asuka out of here.
He could always come back later and wipe this place out in one go.
Letting them keep growing wasn't a good idea.
The hooded zombie let out a few low growls. The ring of zombie dogs retreated, heading back down the stairs one by one.
"Let's go."
Julian took Asuka's hand and calmly headed down the stairs.
As Hana passed the hooded zombie, it couldn't help but glance at her a few more times.
It really wanted to understand—why would a zombie stay with humans?
Wasn't eating people the best thing there was?
Before long, Julian led the two girls out of the computer mall.
Under the moonlight, the streets were crawling with zombies.
Most of them had been drawn there earlier by the truck.
But with Hana around, the three of them made it back to the vehicle without trouble.
"....."