The green-haired punk's name was Xiao Jiang Nan.
A few years back, he'd been a third-year at Fujimi Academy.
Back then his biggest dream was getting into Tokyo University—the same elite school as the senpai he idolized. He studied like his life depended on it. Every single day, his favorite hobby was sneaking around near her house, secretly watching her every move.
He honestly thought that quiet routine would last forever. He'd ace the entrance exam, stand in front of her, and say, "Hey, Senpai… remember me? I'm your former kouhai, Xiao Jiang Nan."
But right before he finished third year and was about to take the Todai exam, everything shattered.
He saw his beloved senpai walking hand-in-hand with a tall, handsome Tokyo University alumnus.
In that moment he wanted to run up and scream, "Why did you betray our promise?!"
Except… there had never been any promise. It was all in his head.
The guy was tall, good-looking, came from money. Compared to him—an awkward, friendless nerd—he might as well have been a rat crawling out of the sewer.
Just like that line from the Todai movie he'd once watched: "They're a perfect match—talented guy, beautiful girl. Who the hell are you to speak, you freak?"
From that day on, he lost it.
He dyed his hair a freakish green, quit studying, and gave up on his Tokyo University dream. The only thing left in his broken mind was stalking his senpai and her boyfriend, watching their lovey-dovey daily life like a ghost.
He even tried writing a light novel to tell the world how deep his love was.
The editor called it "whiny trash with no market value." Even when he posted it online for free, almost nobody read it.
Then one day he found out his senpai had married the guy and moved overseas.
He snapped completely.
The quiet, gloomy Xiao Jiang Nan disappeared. He started hanging with street thugs, biker gangs, the whole delinquent crowd. Eventually he became the infamous "Green-Haired Nan" in the area.
When the zombie outbreak hit, the madman gathered a crew of punks and set up an ambush at this gas station. Every traveler who stopped for fuel became a target for him to vent his rage and insanity on.
Today, a ridiculously good-looking couple rolled in.
It reminded him of his senpai and that nameless pretty-boy alumni.
So Xiao Jiang Nan told the black-haired guy in front of him: leave the purple-haired woman and the motorcycle, and he could walk away unharmed.
It wasn't really about the bike or the girl. He just wanted to prove—to the memory of his senpai—that the other man was trash and that he was the only one truly worthy of her.
He knew it was pathetic. He knew it was just him trying to salvage the last scrap of his pride.
But he didn't care. He was still going to do it.
What he never expected was the black-haired guy's calm reply:
"You're right—I am lucky. But you? You're about to have the worst fucking day of your life."
Xiao Jiang Nan laughed out loud.
The guy had no weapon. He looked like he couldn't even throw a punch. Meanwhile, Xiao Jiang Nan had fifteen armed thugs surrounding them.
Fifteen against one.
Advantage: him.
What the hell could this pretty boy do?
The next second, a hand clamped around his throat like a steel vice and lifted him clean off the ground.
Choking. Suffocating. Pure terror flooded his brain.
He clawed desperately at the fingers crushing his windpipe, but they might as well have been made of iron. No matter how hard he pulled, they didn't budge.
In panic he shot a desperate look at his crew.
"LET GO OF OUR BOSS!"
One of the punks grabbed a steel pipe and swung it straight at Shuya's head.
Shuya caught the pipe with his free hand, then kicked the guy square in the chest. The thug flew several meters and slammed into a concrete support pillar with a sickening crunch. He hit the ground wheezing, probably crippled for life even if he survived.
"M-Monster…!"
Somebody whispered it first.
The rest of the punks saw the writing on the wall and immediately tried to scatter.
A few hundred bucks a month for this shit? Screw that—wait, being a thug didn't even pay; it was straight-up negative income. They wanted to run even more.
Shuya's voice turned ice-cold. "Nobody moves. Anyone who runs dies."
He casually hurled the steel pipe. It stabbed into the ground right in front of one fleeing punk, sinking deep into the reinforced concrete like a spear.
The rest of the gang swallowed hard. Nobody dared take another step.
But Shuya wasn't done. "If even one of you tries to run, I'll break every other person's legs. Feel free to test me."
With that, he flung the green-haired leader aside like garbage.
"Cough—cough—cough—!"
Xiao Jiang Nan hacked and gasped, sucking air into his burning lungs. He finally understood—he'd kicked the absolute worst iron plate possible.
The rest of the punks didn't even think about running anymore. They glared at each other instead, silently daring anyone to make a move that would get them killed.
Betting that Shuya was bluffing? None of them were stupid enough to try.
Classic crab-bucket mentality: one crab can climb out of the basket alone, but when there's a whole pile, the others drag the escaping one right back down.
Shuya flicked his wrist. Two chains materialized in his hands. One wrapped around the half-dead punk he'd kicked earlier and dragged him over. The other shot into a dark corner and yanked out the zombie he'd already sensed with En.
Saeko watched the whole thing, confused but smart enough not to interrupt. She just stood quietly and observed.
Shuya ripped the zombie's arm clean off and let the infected blood drip straight into the half-dead thug's mouth.
Saeko finally couldn't stay quiet. "Kouhai… what exactly are you doing?"
"Testing the zombie virus infection rate," Shuya answered calmly.
He waited.
Nothing happened. The guy didn't turn.
So he sliced open the thug's skin and forced more infected blood directly into the wound.
Still nothing.
Blood transmission ruled out.
Next, Shuya turned to the chained-up zombie, remembering how people who got bitten always turned. Was it the saliva? Or the teeth?
He conjured a pair of pliers and started yanking the zombie's teeth out one by one.
The surrounding punks watched in horrified silence, skin crawling.
Only Xiao Jiang Nan realized the terrifying truth: if the experiments kept going like this, they were next on the list.
He didn't want to die. He definitely didn't want to become one of those mindless monsters.
He still wanted to see his senpai one last time—even if it was only from afar.
While everyone was distracted, Xiao Jiang Nan quietly picked up the knife he'd dropped earlier. Moving like a ghost, he charged at Shuya without making a sound.
In that moment he felt like every ninja and assassin in history had possessed him. This was going to be the most beautiful strike of his miserable life.
But Shuya dodged sideways like he had eyes in the back of his head.
Shuya sounded mildly annoyed. "Seriously, you just—"
He was about to break the guy's legs as punishment when he realized it wasn't necessary.
Because Xiao Jiang Nan had already received the ultimate punishment.
He'd charged too fast. When Shuya dodged, he couldn't stop in time and slammed face-first into the chained zombie.
Even worse—he landed mouth-to-mouth with it.
The toothless zombie still followed its instincts. Its jaws clamped down, desperate to bite anything nearby.
Right in front of everyone, the most explosive, unforgettable scene unfolded.
Xiao Jiang Nan… was French-kissing a zombie.