After signing the contract, Ryuji checked the time. It was already 9:30 a.m.
The girls gradually shook off their earlier shyness, and Ryuji spoke at once, "You're not strong enough yet. In a bit, Saeko will take you out to grind some levels. Whatever happens, don't split up."
The girls nodded solemnly. Ryuji's face hardened as he continued.
"In this apocalyptic world, the most terrifying thing isn't the dead bodies. It's people. With order almost completely gone, the darkest parts of human nature get magnified. When you run into other survivors, be careful. Be cautious." He looked at Saeko, "And if you have to… kill them."
'My husband really does understand me…' A flicker of red flashed through Saeko's eyes as she nodded.
As for Kiriko Miyamoto and Yuriko Takagi, Ryuji had already agreed with Rei and Saya the night before that they would start searching early the day after tomorrow, and both girls had accepted.
"Alright. Let's move out!"
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After parting ways with Saeko and the others, Ryuji activated slaughter mode.
Along the way, every dead body became Energy Points for him. And the system's Energy Points also broke through the one thousand mark.
〖 Ding! Energy Points +10! 〗
〖 Total Energy Points: 1010! 〗
〖 Ding! Achievement completed: Zombie Hundred Slayer! (Sharing the Same Bed) 〗
〖 Title Obtained: Zombie Butcher! 〗
〖 Title Effect: When facing zombie-type enemies, damage increased by 20%. 〗
Ryuji was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected that killing a hundred of "them" would also earn him an achievement. Now killing would be even easier.
Bang! Bang Bang!
Boom!!!
In the distance, gunshots and explosions could be heard.
When Ryuji got closer, he saw a bare-chested burly man wielding a shotgun, laughing maniacally as he continuously attacked the dead bodies, occasionally taking shots at running survivors as well.
After scanning the area and finding no qualified individuals, he lost interest and headed in a different direction. As for that crazed brute, he couldn't be bothered to care. He wasn't some saint with a suspended savior complex.
Ryuji arrived at a street and looked around, thinking, "Rather than aimlessly killing "them" here, I might as well go to places where people gather, like schools or hospitals. There might be qualified individuals there."
With this thought, he immediately opened the map and ran toward the nearest elementary school.
Ryuji arrived at the entrance of an elementary school, where zombies about a meter tall were wandering everywhere inside.
Although he had killed quite a few of "them" along the way and his stress tolerance had improved, plus after last night's several intense battles that battlefield syndrome psychology had long been dispelled. But seeing a group of child zombies, he still felt somewhat reluctant.
However, Ryuji knew this hurdle had to be crossed. The Reincarnation Space encompassed all heavens and myriad worlds — this kind of situation couldn't possibly only happen once. Should he avoid it every time he encountered it?
No sooner said than done, he charged right in and immediately swung his bat at the nearest one.
〖 Ding! Energy Points +5! 〗
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
At the back of one of the classrooms, a tall cabinet sat in the corner, meant for storing brooms and cleaning supplies.
Cramped inside were two frightened children, clinging to each other in silence. One had short chestnut hair and matching eyes. The other had long black hair and eyes the color of amber.
"Myu… I really need the bathroom." the short-haired girl whispered, her voice trembling.
"I know." Myu murmured, trying to sound brave, "But there are monsters everywhere." They had been hiding since yesterday, barely daring to breathe, let alone open the door.
"Then what do we do? I can't hold on much longer…"
Fear tightened their chests. They pressed their knees together and listened to the chaos outside, hoping the sounds would move away.
"Alice…"
Bang!
A heavy удар rattled the cabinet. Both girls froze, hands flying to their mouths. Their hearts pounded so hard it felt loud enough to give them away.
"Grr!! Grr Grr!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
More blows followed, mixed with snarls and scraping footsteps. The cabinet shuddered with each impact.
Then —
Bang!
The sound changed. This one was sharper, like wood being struck by something solid.
The door creaked, inching open. The girls squeezed closer together, bracing for the worst.
But when the gap widened, they saw not a corpse, but a stranger: tall, blood-splattered, gripping a bat.
Ryuji opened the cabinet fully and stopped. Two terrified children stared up at him, shaking with exhaustion and shock.
Realizing how badly he must have startled them, he quickly stowed the blood-stained bat into his Personal Space and raised both hands, keeping his posture calm.
"It's okay." He said softly, "You're safe now."
The last of their fear and stress finally broke, and the tears they had been holding back since yesterday spilled over at once.
The girls' wide, expressive eyes fixed on Ryuji through a haze of tears. Big droplets slid down their cheeks, as if blaming him for scaring them.
Ryuji pulled them into a gentle hug. He ignored the unpleasant smell clinging to them and soothed them with slow strokes over their hair.
"There, there. Don't cry." He murmured, "Big brother will protect you."
He had never been able to stand the sight of a girl in tears, and seeing two of them like this tugged at him even more.
After a while, their shaking breaths steadied, and Ryuji finally let out the sigh he had been holding.
The short-haired girl in his arms lifted her tear-streaked face and managed a sweet, trembling smile.
"Mm… Big brother, my name is Alice Maresato. Thank you for saving us, big brother."
Alice — so that was her. In the original story, she was the brave little girl who even dared to shoot at the dead.
The other girl raised her head as well, her amber eyes steady despite the fear.
"Thank you." she said quietly, "My name is Myu Kamiya."
{T/N: I based her general apperance on Kaai Yumi from Vocaloid. Just for the sake of finding pictures more easier and not depend on AI.}
Myu stayed calm, especially for someone who had been trapped here since yesterday. No wonder the two of them had survived by hiding together.
Ryuji had searched classroom after classroom on the way in, but he had not found a single survivor. In this entire elementary school, these two seemed to be the only ones left alive.
"I'm Ryuji Ken." He said, "Call me whatever you want."
That only made them hesitate.
"Mm… Big brother?"
"Ryuji."
Ryuji blinked. At least Alice still called him big brother, but Myu said his name without the slightest awkwardness.
"Alright." he said, pushing the thought aside, "Let's find you two something to change into."
He took their small hands and led them out of the classroom.
With Alice guiding the way, they quickly found the school's changing room, where spare clothes were usually kept.
As they walked, Alice chattered nonstop, while Myu followed quietly at Ryuji's side.
Any child zombies that stumbled toward them were knocked aside with casual swings, and Alice clapped excitedly each time.
Myu said nothing, but the light in her eyes grew brighter. Ryuji's calm, overwhelming strength etched itself into her memory.
At the changing room, Ryuji checked the area, then stood guard outside while the two girls went in to change.
'I should probably stock up on clothes too.' He thought, 'Once Saeko and the others reach the island, finding anything usable will be a pain.'
But when he glanced at his Storage Space — barely under 1m³ — he immediately dropped the idea.
"Ta-da!! Alice is changed!"
Perhaps due to their conversation along the way, Alice had lost her initial awkwardness around him and spoke much more cheerfully.
Ryuji turned around to see the two little girls had changed into somewhat ill-fitting elementary school uniforms.
Blue tops and pink plaid skirts that reached mid-calf — though the clothes were ordinary, the two little girls were so adorable that they made the uniforms look quite nice.
"Very cute, Alice." Ryuji reached out and ruffled her chestnut-red short hair.
Beside them, Myu's eyes flickered as she looked at the hand resting on Alice's head.
"And Myu too, very cute." Ryuji's other hand gently settled on her black hair, stroking it.
After interacting with the two adorable little girls for a while. He checked the time and realized it was nearly lunchtime, so he picked up both.
Feeling the soft touch of the two little girls' bottoms against his arms, he cheerfully headed out of the school.
On the way back, the two girls kept exclaiming in amazement. The corpses along the road couldn't get close at all, each one kicked flying by Ryuji.
Alice kept calling out "Big brother is so amazing!" and "Big brother, hit that one!". Even the usually quiet Myu clenched her little fists to cheer him on.
Feeling the two little girls' small, soft bodies and the sweet scent wafting from them, Ryuji was filled with motivation. Even with both hands occupied, his thinking far beyond that of ordinary people allowed him to easily handle all the corpses.
〖 Ding! Energy Points +10! 〗
〖 Total Energy Points: 3,885! 〗
"The apocalypse dungeon really is a holy land for farming system Points."
Looking at the over three thousand Energy Points, Ryuji couldn't help but feel emotional.
If he went to other worlds without large numbers of monsters, he figured it would be very difficult to collect Energy Points.
After all, though he didn't want to be a saint, having Ryuji indiscriminately slaughter innocents still didn't quite sit right with him.
Of course, it only didn't quite sit right.
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
When he returned to Rika's house, Ryuji noticed several gazes outside. However, their presences weren't strong, so he didn't pay them much attention.
Entering the villa, he found the girls had already returned before him. Ryuji looked around — good, not one missing.
After a morning of slaughter, their retainer levels had all increased.
The highest was Saeko, who had already reached Level 3, having killed at least a hundred corpses. The more proactive ones like Rei and Saya had all reached Level 2, having killed at least 20 corpses each.
The rest, led by the lazy — or rather, timid — Shizuka, were all still Level 1.
But Ryuji didn't mind. Whether they were strong or not didn't matter; as long as the base had combat power, that was enough.
When the girls saw him, they immediately surrounded him, chattering about everything they'd experienced that morning.
Including how to use their skills, how they killed the corpses, and complaining about how the corpses smelled terrible when burned.
"Ah, don't push…"
"Oh my…"
With so many people crowding around, a few bolder girls quietly took advantage of the chaos. Others used being "pushed" as an excuse to steal quick kisses on his face and neck.
"Mm… it's so crowded…"
"Mm…"
Only when the two little girls in Ryuji's arms were squeezed too tightly and let out small whimpers did the women finally notice what he was holding.
That was when they realized he had brought back two adorable little girls, delicate as carved jade.
In an instant, the pressure around Ryuji vanished, and the women gently lifted the girls from his arms, giggling as they fussed over them.
Ryuji stood there, stunned, watching the two little girls disappear into the sea of women.
"Pfft…" ×3
Seeing his face and neck covered in lipstick marks, Saeko, Rei, and Saya couldn't hold back their laughter.
When Ryuji shot them a glare, they turned away, but their shaking shoulders made it obvious they were still laughing.
"Ara… Ryuji-kun is quite popular, isn't he…"
Shizuka wrapped her arms around his neck, her formidable assets pressing tightly against him.
"Hiss!"
Ryuji discovered that she had great potential as an assassin. Every time she attacked from behind, it was completely silent — only when those assets pressed against him did he notice.
This made him shudder, "J-cup weapons, terrifying indeed…"
"Eh?! What are you saying, Ryuji-kun?" Shizuka rested her chin on his shoulder, tilting her head.
"Nothing, nothing at all…"
❖❖❖❖❖
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! (-‿◦)