Ryuji watched Tsunoda charge at him and delivered a kick. The blonde flew back several meters — faster than he'd come — and crashed to the ground, his fate uncertain.
〖 Ding! Energy Points +10! 〗
〖 Total Energy Points: 350! 〗
The girls on the school bus looked delighted. Having seen Ryuji dispatch the undead before, they weren't worried about his safety.
The male students, however, were stunned. To kick a nearly six-foot-tall, strongly built guy flying several meters — how much strength would that take?
Ryuji made it look effortless. Kōichi felt an ominous premonition.
Sure enough, Ryuji turned his gaze toward him.
"Well, well… if it isn't Shidō-sensei? I really must thank you for your 'guidance' to Rei yesterday…"
Ryuji's words carried three parts gratitude, three parts pity, and four parts ice-cold malice. If it weren't for Kōichi's stunt, he wouldn't have established relationships with Rei and Saya so quickly. He really had to thank him "properly".
"Heh heh heh… Student, yesterday's incident was a misunderstanding, heh heh, a misunderstanding…" Kōichi broke out in a cold sweat, backing away.
Ryuji didn't bother with more words. He walked toward him.
Kōichi turned and tried to run. But he'd barely taken a few steps before Ryuji caught up, swinging the baseball bat at his shins.
"Ahh!!!Mmph…" Pain shot through both legs. Kōichi fell backward.
Just as he was about to scream, Ryuji shoved the baseball bat into his mouth. His mouth tore, his teeth shattered. The bat blocked his voice — he could only emit muffled whimpers.
Ryuji tossed the bat aside in disgust. He stepped on and broke both of Kōichi's arms, eliciting more agonized whimpers. Grabbing his tie, he dragged him to the bus door and said to Rei inside:
"Rei, do you want revenge? If so, use the spear I gave you and pierce his heart."
Rei immediately stepped down from the bus.
Looking at Kōichi lying on the ground wailing, eyes full of hatred and anger, her grip on the spear tightened.
"It's all your fault. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have…"
Squelch!
The sound of the spear entering flesh.
"Mmph!!! Mmm!!!"
Rei still didn't have the courage to kill directly — the spear only pierced Kōichi's stomach.
But that was enough. No ambulances were coming. He'd soon die from blood loss.
"Pfft!! Why… why?" Kōichi coughed up blood.
He couldn't understand why, despite having no real grudge with this student, he was being condemned to death.
Honestly, Ryuji didn't object to Kōichi's methods. After all, if someone wanted to harm your family and you had the means to punish them, wouldn't you use it rather than let them continue to threaten those you cared about?
{T/N: In the original story, Kōichi's father was an influential, corrupt politician who was being investigated by Rei's father.}
With Kōichi's personality, if he survived to the end of this apocalypse, he'd likely become a faction leader or key member.
The reason for brutalizing him was simple: Ryuji was displeased seeing him bully the female protagonist. No other reason was needed.
Ryuji stopped paying attention to the dying man. He reached out and embraced Rei, who was trembling from stabbing a living person for the first time.
Watching Ryuji embrace Rei while gently stroking her head left Saya with mixed feelings. First she felt happy that her best friend had gotten revenge, then angry that their relationship had grown closer.
Saeko, however, looked at Ryuji with gleaming eyes — as if seeing one of her own kind. No, that admiring gaze was like a devotee looking at the god they served, tinged with fervent passion.
Her gaze made Ryuji shudder involuntarily.
'Why do I feel a stare no less intense than before?'
Ryuji shivered, then looked at Rei in his arms, feeling that only her soft, voluptuous body could warm his heart.
After sending Rei back onto the bus, he turned and coldly surveyed the remaining male students, making them tremble in fear.
Earlier, when Ryuji was pursuing Kōichi, someone had tried to board the bus, only to be knocked to the ground by Saeko's wooden sword, preventing the group from getting on.
Though he needed to complete the world's Special Mission, he only planned to recruit females — and only beautiful ones at that. As for males, he had no interest.
{T/N: After the virus outbreak, establish a shelter with 100+ people! Reward: Ownership of the "Highschool of the Dead" Instance World.}
Withdrawing his gaze, Ryuji had wanted to experiment on this group to see if living humans yielded Energy Points based on their strength level. But considering the bus was full of girls, brutalizing one had been bloody enough. If he dealt with this group of boys as well…
He thought about it and decided to abandon the test.
Returning to the bus, Ryuji was greeted not by fearful looks from the girls, but by gazes tinged with admiration. The girls clearly knew what kind of person Kōichi was, so they felt no discomfort at his brutalization.
"Marikawa-sensei, let's drive. The undead are closing in." After speaking, Ryuji sat down in a seat near the door.
"Oh… okay. Everyone please sit tight… we're departing now. And… from now on, just call me Shizuka-sensei." After responding, Shizuka reached out to fasten her seatbelt, making her ample bosom even more prominent.
Kyoko in the passenger seat, though not as magnificent as the doctor, wasn't far behind — at least ranking second among the women in the vehicle.
Rei had wanted to sit next to Ryuji, but he'd taken a single seat, with Saeko across the aisle. With no choice, she returned to Saya's side and sat down after placing the bloodstained spear under the seat.
Greeting her was Saya's resentful gaze, leaving her completely baffled.
Rumble! Rumble Rumble!
The school bus started up and left the parking lot.
The boys from before had long since fled, leaving only Kōichi lying there barely alive — both legs and arms broken, blood gushing from his abdomen.
Awaiting him was a gradually cooling body and eternal darkness.
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
Shizuka drove the school bus out of the parking lot to find the road filled with undead.
With the sound of the engine, quite a few undead were already running in their direction. She looked at the approaching undead and lowered her head.
Ryuji knew she was giving herself a psychological suggestion.
"They're already dead, they're no longer human, they're undead…"
After a moment, Shizuka raised her head, gripped the steering wheel tightly, and stepped on the gas with determined eyes.
Bang! Bang Bang Bang!
The school bus plowed forward like a bulldozer, sending undead flying through the air or crushing them beneath its wheels.
Finally breaking through the school gates, it headed toward the road leading to the city center. Perhaps because they'd left early, they didn't encounter the bus full of undead from the anime and smoothly entered the urban area.
Seeing smoke rising throughout the city, everyone couldn't help but feel frightened and lost.
Ryuji looked at the setting sun and turned to Shizuka, "Shizuka-sensei, don't take the main road to the bridge."
"Eh?! But the main road leads to the city center — why not take it?" Hearing his words, Shizuka slowed the vehicle.
"Because everyone's taking the main road right now. If we continue, we'll get stuck in traffic."
"Oh… then where should we go?"
Hearing her question, Ryuji stood and looked at the girls, "Has anyone managed to contact their family?"
The girls all shook their heads.
"Does anyone have family members who need picking up?"
"My parents are in another city."
"My parents work in America."
…
"I only have my father, and he's a workaholic. No need to worry about him."
The girls shared their family situations one after another, with that last comment apparently coming from the gyaru Miku.
Ryuji looked toward Rei and Saya.
"I want to pick up my mom. I don't know if she's safe right now…" Rei lowered her head, worried.
"My family should be fine. We have lots of security guards at home, so it's relatively safe." That's what she said, but Saya was still worried her mother might come looking for her.
"How about this — it's already getting late, and it might be more dangerous outside at night. Let's find a place to rest and think about other matters tomorrow."
Since only these two girls needed to pick up their mothers, tomorrow's plan would be to collect them while checking for other suitable candidates.
"My friend's house is really big — we can go to my friend's place…"
Shizuka stopped the school bus at a crossroads. Going forward would lead to the main road; stopping here made it convenient to change routes.
Order had long since collapsed in the city — no one would care where the school bus was parked.
One of the girls, seemingly wanting to break the somber atmosphere, stood up and asked Shizuka curiously, "Eh, eh, eh! A friend's house? Could it be Shizuka-sensei's boyfriend's house?"
"N-no, it's not! It's my best friend's house…" Hearing the girl's question, Shizuka explained in a flustered manner.
"Tch… so it's just a girlfriend…"
The girls who'd been expecting some juicy gossip all showed disappointed expressions.
Ryuji doubted Shizuka would ever find a man. After all, with Rika Minami — a special assault police officer — protecting her, any male with impure intentions would probably be investigated inside and out by Rika before even getting close.
It was now evening, and the setting sun was about to descend. The school bus arrived at an area with many detached villas, and Shizuka drove it to the front of Rika's house.
After parking, they discovered quite a few undead being drawn over by the engine noise.
"I'll get off first to clear out the undead. Everyone else wait in the bus." After speaking, Ryuji prepared to exit.
"I'm going too!" ×2
Saeko and Rei spoke simultaneously, then looked at each other, both women's eyes seemingly sparking with intensity.
"Miyamoto-kōhai went with Ryuji-kun to find gasoline earlier and must be tired. Let me go this time."
"It's actually Busujima-senpai who should be tired, having guarded the school bus alone. I should be the one to go."
Neither woman would yield, and their confrontational atmosphere instantly made the bus fall silent.
Ryuji was at a loss. He didn't want to get dragged into this battle, so after steeling himself, he spoke to both women in a tone that brooked no argument:
"Enough. Both of you wait in the bus. I'm enough on my own!"
Saeko and Rei stopped their standoff and both looked at him.
Ryuji immediately felt a chill run up from the soles of his feet.
Swallowing quietly, he mustered his courage and said, "Ahem! Just wait obediently in the bus."
"But — "
"Since Ryuji-kun has decided to protect the girls, we shouldn't interfere with his resolve." Watching Ryuji about to exit the vehicle, Rei was about to speak when Saeko immediately cut her off, "Besides, you know Ryuji-kun's strength. Nothing will happen to him."
Hearing her words, Rei calmed down, though a competitive spirit welled up in her heart.
Why should you be the one who gets to say such virtuous things? I can do that too.
When women get jealous, there's truly no reasoning with them.
Ignoring the conversation in the bus, Ryuji got off and closed the door. A baseball bat appeared in his hand once more.
As for the previous one, he had no intention of keeping a bat that had been touched by Kōichi's saliva.
Looking at the undead running toward him from several alleyways, Ryuji gripped the baseball bat.
Why wouldn't he let Saeko and Rei help? Of course — it was to farm Energy Points.
Without further thought, he charged toward the nearest undead.
✦✦✦
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)