章節 17: 16. Escape from the DEAD (1)

[FIRST KILL CONFIRMED; SYSTEM INITIATED]

[THE SYSTEM WILL NOW BE UNLOCKED]

[GIVEN THE NATURE OF THE WORLD, THE SYSTEM WILL ADAPT TO THE HOST CONDITIONS]

[SCANNING THE HOST BODY… MUTATION FOUND… REGISTERING: THE FOOL.]

[ALL PROCESSES ARE COMPLETED]

The bright blue transparent screen in front of Kazuki changed with each message. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, his attention completely taken, and he didn't even notice that the zombie in front of him had approached in the few seconds he was disoriented. His trance was only broken when someone finally pulled him forcefully backward, removing him from the path of the undead's deadly embrace.

"KAZUKI!" Shura pulled him back while Saeko dealt with the zombies around them with extreme efficiency and without hesitation.

Looking around and seeing the worried looks of everyone, Kazuki understood that he had made a foolish mistake that almost got him killed.

'Damn it, how was I supposed to know a system would pop out of nowhere?!' he thought angrily.

The situation caught him off guard. He had tried several things in the past few days, but besides his physical parameters matching those of an athlete and his great stamina, nothing extraordinary had shown itself. However, he quickly gathered his thoughts and responded to the concerned people.

"Sorry, I lost my senses for a moment. But I'm better now. I need to help Saeko." He didn't give them time to continue asking and quickly went to attack two zombies that were approaching from behind the group, coming from the infirmary hallway.

He didn't even bother to attack the furthest one since, "FWOP, FWOP, FWOP," three nails pierced its skull. Kohta fired the nail gun he was carrying, two shots, one in each eye and the other through the forehead, the nails disappearing into the zombie's head as it fell lifeless to the ground.

'Carai Borracha, o gordinho é pica!' (Damn, the fatty is incredible!) Even his language reverted to Portuguese with Kohta's impressive feat. Seeing it through anime was one thing, but witnessing it happen in reality only showed how absurd his talent was.

Swinging his hammer horizontally, Kazuki smashed the skull of the approaching zombified student, gray matter and brain remnants splattering against the hallway wall as the zombie fell to the ground.

[EXP+]

'Yep, I'm not going crazy.'

Kazuki and his group continued clearing the hallway as they followed Saya's established route to exit. After nearly half an hour of a relatively slow march, as they were avoiding large concentrations of zombies, they encountered a duo that Kazuki didn't expect to find, but considering the time that had passed, it made sense.

"KOMURO, MIYAMOTO!" Saya exclaimed excitedly upon finally seeing someone alive, especially two people she knew.

'Of course he's with her...' Only Kazuki heard her low murmur.

Upon seeing Kazuki's group, the two sighed relieved.

"Takagi! It's good to see... you're alive," Takashi almost cried for a second, but he held back his emotions. And seeing the size of the group, he felt embarrassed to ask if he could join.

Seeing that the situation was about to lean towards the lack of action of a Japanese protagonist, Kazuki stepped forward and, seeing Rei Miyamoto up close for the first time since arriving in this world, he had to admit, she was hot.

Rei had waist-length orange-brown hair tied in a small ponytail at the back of her head, while the rest of her hair hung loose with bangs draped over her face, with two prominent strands above the rest of her hair, reddish-brown eyes, and a slim body with large breasts.

'No wonder he's whipped for her, ugh now I'm in internal conflict. Well, let them figure it out. I already have too many women to deal with. And yes, these girls are already on my list. I'm greedier than I thought,' Kazuki pondered.

"Hey, you two... Takashi, right? And you must be Miyamoto, whom I heard Saya shout," Kazuki observed the two, Takashi recoiled slightly as he approached, Rei had red eyes from crying, her face sweaty and tear-streaked, Takashi was pale and seemed to be holding on by the mercy of Christ.

"Yes, I'm Rei Miyamoto, um, I don't know your name, senpai," Rei said.

"Oh, right. I'm Kazuki. And I'd like you both to join us. We're heading to the school minibus to escape."

"Do you have the keys?" Takashi asked.

"Yes, Kyoko got them for us," Kazuki replied, pointing to Kyoko who was still vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

"So, if it's not a bother to you all, we'd like to accompany you," Rei said.

"No need to be so formal. In the situation we're in, all this politeness seems superfluous. Besides, you're armed, and by the look of that piece of metal I can tell you didn't hesitate to use it, so you don't seem like dead weight."

"Thank you, senpai. We... went through a lot in the last two hours," Rei replied with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

"Hey, let's stop talking and go already, I don't want to stay in this place for another second," Saya interrupted.

"Ah, right. You two, I don't think I need to say this, but PLEASE don't leave the group alone or try to save someone on impulse. We'll only stay alive if we take care of each other. If you value someone's life outside our group more than who's beside you, I ask that you go alone, OK?! I'm not saying we won't help if it's within our reach, just don't throw yourself into a situation without thinking." Kazuki looked seriously at the two and established this basic rule. As soon as they nodded their heads, his demeanor returned to the calm and focused one that everyone was beginning to get used to, generating a sense of security and comfort in the group members.

"Alright, let's go." After Kazuki's command, the group slowly made their way through the school, avoiding the corridors that were clogged with zombies, with Saeko, Kazuki, Rei, Kohta, and Takashi taking care of most of them. Kasumi and Shura kept watch at the rear dealing with stragglers or surprise attacks.

At one point, as they passed by one of the first-year classrooms, which appeared to be empty, two zombies attacked Taniuchi and Kyoko, who was close to her. Shura and Miwa didn't hesitate to crush the skulls of the two. Still trembling slightly from the shock, Taniuchi hugged Kyoko, and Kazuki, concerned, went to them.

"Kyoko, Taniuchi, are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"Y-yes, thanks to the formation that Saya and you came up with, we're fine. It was just a scare," Kyoko replied while Taniuchi still trembled.

Kazuki then hugged Kyoko, and consequently, Taniuchi, who was hugging her, was sandwiched between them with her face pressed against Kyoko's chest. Because her face was hidden, no one could see her flushed face, but both Kazuki and Kyoko noticed that Taniuchi's accelerated heartbeat was no longer in rhythm with fear, and Kyoko noticed that she was breathing deeply into her cleavage. She looked at Kazuki, who had also noticed and nodded toward Taniuchi with her eyes, and he subtly nodded back, eliciting a slight smile from her.

After a few minutes in which Taniuchi had calmed down from the scare but needed to compose herself for another reason, the group moved on.

As they descended the stairs to the ground floor, they encountered in the middle of it a group of three students fighting desperately for their lives. If they didn't help them, they would surely die, and as soon as Kazuki saw them before Takashi could act, he took a quick step forward and instructed the group.

"Kohta, cover us," Kazuki said, and with him were Saeko, Rei, and Takashi, who reacted half a second after Kazuki.

The three survivors were two girls and a guy who had a towel around his neck. Kazuki knew them, but the moment wasn't right.

Turning his war hammer to the pointed side, Kazuki plunged the metal into the zombie's skull, ceasing its actions. Saeko, sliding as if gliding along the floor, struck with strength and mastery at the fragile part of the attacking zombie's neck, knocking it down without a reaction. Rei pushed back two more zombies with her makeshift spear, and Takashi finished them off, while Kohta took down three more with his precise shots.

'Man, this nail gun should be illegal. How come something like this is just lying around in a classroom?! Besides that, if I'm not mistaken, this group was supposed to have 5 people...' Kazuki looked at the bodies around and understood the situation. 'The chubby guy who would hit the pole and alert half the zombies outside is already dead, and the other extra too... Probably our breaks cost the lives of these two...'

[EXP+]

'This is another thing that I'll only be able to stop and see when we get to the bus. Now I have to be diplomatic.'

"THANK—" The short-haired black-haired girl tried to thank them loudly before being interrupted.

"Not so loud," Saeko said. "Were any of you bitten?"

"Uh? None of us!" she replied.

"They seem to be telling the truth," Rei added.

"Okay, let's get out of here. And will you come with us?" Kazuki asked, his strange attire catching the attention of the small group, but upon hearing his question, they immediately nodded.

"YES."

"Great, I'm Kazuki, a third-year. And you?"

"I'm Nobuhiko Takuzo from the second year, the one with black hair is my girlfriend Naomi Shishido, and she's our friend Momo Kawamoto."

Takuzo had black hair and brown eyes and was wearing the Fujimi Academy uniform. He also had a sports towel hanging around his neck.

Naomi had raven-colored hair and was wearing the female Fujimi Academy uniform. She had freckles on both of her cheeks, shaped like downward triangles.

And Kawamoto was a redhead, with a color closer to brown, and with golden brown eyes. She was also wearing the female uniform of Fujimi Academy. She had a thin figure and medium breasts.

"Alright, Takuzo, Naomi, and Momo. I just ask that you keep as quiet as possible. We've noticed that they're blind and extremely sensitive to sound, at least the ones we've seen so far. Don't take it as a rule for all of them. And Takuzo, my brother in Christ, take off that towel from your neck for God's sake. You're fighting against creatures with immense physical strength and walking around with a leash made for them to grab onto?"

Takuzo at that moment went as pale as paper. The scenario that Kazuki painted came to his mind almost as a certain future. In the middle of the fight, a zombie would grab him by the towel, and another one would easily bite him... He had completely forgotten about the towel and remembered how they grabbed his other two friends by their clothes before biting them. Trembling, he took off the towel from his neck and handed it to Naomi.

With a nod to confirm his right choice, Kazuki repositioned the group, and they continued walking stealthily, this time doing everything to ignore the zombies they saw along the way until they were close to the main entrance hall, their silent steps contrasting with the threatening presence of the zombies roaming the space.

The hall was a spacious and well-lit area, with metal lockers positioned in a way that didn't affect the flow of people. On the walls, notice boards displayed important announcements and school event advertisements that would never happen.

Beside the lockers, the undead were scattered, some standing still and others shambling slowly, waiting for any sound stimulus to act. Noticing the situation, the group moved away so that the sound of their conversation wouldn't echo in the hall, and upon reaching a safe distance, Saya noticed Kazuki looking at her.

'Tsc, he knows very well what needs to be said, but he won't say it.'

"We're going to need a distraction to clear the hall and open the doors. But it can't be too loud, or we'll attract more than we can handle. Someone needs to lead them in the opposite direction of the exit," Saya Takagi said.

The group fell silent for a while, the task was dangerous, and whoever fulfilled it would take a great risk. Takashi then raised his hand, offering himself as bait.

Kazuki was initially surprised by the gesture. 'Ah, right, this guy occasionally has balls of iron. Of course, this has something to do with him not caring about dying since hitting the boyfriend of the girl he likes can't be very good for the mental health of an average teenager, especially one who was already somewhat depressed before.'

"Takashi, you don't need to worry so much, with so many people, we can force it if necessary. What you need to do is simple, grab any object throw it to the other side, and then open the door. I noticed that one of the corridors between lockers was clear," Kazuki said, dispelling all the tension from the 'noble sacrifice' Takashi would make. The effect was so good that Rei didn't even say anything to dissuade Takashi, as unlike the original with half a dozen people, the group now had at least twice as many.

They got back to the entrance and with a determined look, he prepared to act, knowing that every second counted. Takashi, walking down the corridor pointed out by Kazuki, saw a shoe on the ground, and with a quick gesture, he grabbed it and threw it in the opposite direction of the desired exit.

"BAM"

The sound of the object hitting the side of one of the furthest lockers echoed through the hall, catching the attention of the zombies, who immediately began to move in the direction of the noise like a shark that smelt of blood.

'Man, I shiver every time I see a horde like that move, how horrible,' Kazuki thought.

As the undead moved away from the exit, Takashi signaled to the group, indicating that it was time to advance. With quick and cautious steps, the group followed Takashi, seizing the moment of distraction from the zombies to escape the school without being detected. The tension was palpable as each member of the group struggled to stay calm and follow Takashi toward freedom, aware that their survival depended on how quickly they could move without attracting the attention of the zombies.

Kazuki positioned Saeko and Shura at the front of the group, while he and Kasumi were the last to leave.

"Phew," everyone released a breath they hadn't realized they were holding. Looking around, they saw dozens and dozens of zombies in the courtyard and calmly made their way to the bus. Before they boarded, Kazuki checked if any windows were broken or if the door had been forced, but realizing that it wasn't, he opened it and instructed everyone to get on, and that no one should sit in the back as there were several backpacks and boxes there.

Despite being curious to find out what was in the boxes, the timing wasn't right for that.

"Well, the easy part is over. Now for the hard part: who can drive a minibus?" Kazuki asked, looking at Kyoko and Shizuka.

"I've never driven one," Kyoko replied, a little embarrassed.

"Shizuka, it's going to be you," Kazuki said to avoid fatigue. "Don't worry and step on it!"

Shizuka's face lit up with the confidence placed in her, and making a small guts pose, she went to the driver's seat. And the moment of truth had arrived.

"VRRROOOMMM"

The loud noise of the engine caught the attention of all the zombies in the area. The count was already in the hundreds. As Shizuka went to press the accelerator, they heard a scream coming from the entrance which they passed a few minutes earlier.

"WAIT, PLEASE, HELP ME!"