After finishing his meal, Ryuji went into the nearby woods and chopped down a few trees. Gathering enough wood, he started building a wooden frame around the RV. Since he already knew that his stone axe could upgrade these structures, he quickly figured out how to do it—just by clicking.
Upgrading a single wooden frame required eight pieces of wood, and once upgraded, its durability reached 500. Curious, Ryuji tried upgrading it again, only to find that he now needed cobblestone. To make cobblestone, he needed clay and stone.
After thinking for a moment, he crafted a stone shovel and experimentally struck the ground. Instantly, a durability bar appeared, and a notification told him he had collected some clay. After a few more swings, a large pit had formed in the ground.
Looking at the one-meter-deep hole, Ryuji scratched his head.
"Well... that's quite user-friendly."
He had only dug three times, yet the pit was already this deep. He felt a little dumbfounded, but this also confirmed something—surviving in this world wasn't going to be too difficult, as long as he didn't do anything reckless.
Ryuji crafted ten pieces of cobblestone—not because he didn't want to make more, but because he had run out of stone. He used one piece to upgrade a wooden frame, and in an instant, the simple wooden structure transformed into a solid brick wall.
He tapped on it with his stone axe, and a number popped up:
1457/1500.
"So, its defense increased too!"
Excited by the discovery, Ryuji attempted another upgrade, only to be met with a message indicating he lacked the required materials—cement.
Cement, however, was going to be a headache. Unlike wood or stone, cement required a cement mixer to produce, and the mixer itself could only be crafted at a workbench. That was another layer of complexity, and Ryuji sighed in frustration.
"Looks like I'll have to become a full-time miner tomorrow."
He glanced at the darkening sky and decided to stop working for the day. Erina, having finished cleaning up the campfire, was helping him upgrade the remaining wooden frames into sturdier wooden planks.
Yes, they had built a wooden fence around the RV and even installed a system-crafted wooden door for easy access.
After all, once a wooden frame was upgraded, it couldn't be retrieved.
"Time for bed."
Stretching his arms, Ryuji walked inside, and Erina followed.
As usual, they each occupied their own rooms. Erina slept soundly, but Ryuji ... did not.
The effects of that meal hadn't worn off completely. If anything, lying down only made the lingering heat in his body more noticeable.
Though he still had a slight fever, his body's natural reactions were unavoidable.
"Damn it..."
Unable to sleep, Ryuji sat up in frustration, pressing his hands against his face.
He just couldn't calm down!
His body burned with restless energy, and his mind was already forming a solution.
Not with Erina—he wasn't planning to make a move on her just yet. He wanted their relationship to develop naturally over time.
No, his thoughts drifted toward the merchant woman.
Her large chest, her curvy hips, and those toned legs—she was the perfect candidate for… relieving some stress. Sure, she wasn't as stunning as Erina, but the biggest advantage was clear:
There wouldn't be any complicated emotional entanglements.
Unlike Erina, who relied on him and fought alongside him as an equal, the merchant was just a convenient option.
"Am I really going to cross that line?"
Ryuji stared at his hands. Though he had washed them with clean water, he could still faintly smell the stench of zombie blood. God only knew if "manual relief" would risk infecting him.
Getting turned into a zombie because of something so stupid would be the most humiliating death imaginable.
Yet, the relentless heat inside him refused to subside. Frustrated, he pulled the blanket over his head.
What he didn't know was that, in the next room, Erina was also struggling to sleep.
The human body is a strange thing. After intense battles or physical exertion, it naturally craves release.
Especially activities that flood the body with adrenaline—they tend to awaken an instinctual desire to reproduce.
That's why people who exercise regularly often have higher libidos, while those who live sedentary lives rarely feel the same urges.
If you don't believe it, try comparing the difference yourself—see how things feel after a few months of working out versus after being inactive for a long time.
That night, Ryuji dreamt of many things, but the most vivid were two sensations:
The memory of kissing Erina, and the softness of the merchant's chest when he had groped her.
When morning came, he woke up feeling drained and muttered a curse under his breath before getting out of bed.
Still half-asleep, he stepped outside to check their wooden barricade.
He placed a wooden frame in front of him, then jumped onto it. Suddenly, an idea struck him—he remembered a common trick from sandbox survival games.
Jumping again, he leapt about a meter into the air and, in that brief moment, placed another wooden frame beneath his feet.
In an instant, he was standing on top of it.
"Holy shit, this actually works..."
Ryuji felt a surge of excitement—this trick opened up countless possibilities!
He could use it to climb mountains or reach places where zombies couldn't grab him.
"That means getting to the top of that gas station might be easier than I thought!"
With this in mind, Ryuji moved along the wooden barricade, scanning the area for any signs of zombies or wild animals.
Fortunately, there were none—not a single creature in sight, and even the barricade's durability remained untouched.
Just then, Erina stepped out of the RV, carrying some leftover food from the previous night. Seeing her, Ryuji jumped down from the barricade and gave her a small nod.
"After breakfast, we'll head into town to scavenge for supplies—mainly duct tape and anything else that looks useful."
Erina had no objections. She hadn't slept well either and began reheating their meal while listening to Ryuji excitedly talk about his latest discovery.
When he mentioned the ability to place blocks in mid-air, her face lit up with excitement.
However, just as they were about to start eating, a sharp, chilling scream suddenly pierced the air from outside. The sound was distinctly inhuman.
Both Ryuji and Erina tensed immediately. Without hesitation, Ryuji leaped onto the barricade and turned toward the source of the noise.
But as soon as he saw what was coming, his brief hope of encountering another survivor vanished.
The screeching figure was not human.
It was a pale, ghostly zombie, covered in wounds, shambling toward them.
The creature bore an uncanny resemblance to Sadako from horror movies. The moment Ryuji laid eyes on it, he knew there was no way this thing was alive.
Its hollow, greedy eyes locked onto him, and it let out another ear-piercing shriek.
In the next instant, a series of crashes erupted from the town nearby. Doors and windows shattered as at least a dozen zombies—previously hiding in the shadows—burst into the open, sprinting toward them.
Yes—sprinting.
Despite the bright daylight, these zombies displayed unnatural speed, dashing toward them with the velocity of Olympic sprinters.
"Shit!"
Ryuji didn't hesitate. He jumped down from the barricade, summoning a stone spear out of thin air. At the same time, he retrieved his axe from his inventory, gripping both weapons tightly as he charged straight at the shrieking zombie.
In just five seconds, he closed the distance.
The Sadako-like zombie opened its mouth to let out another scream, but before it could, Ryuji drove his spear straight into its gaping jaw, pinning it to the ground.
Without wasting a moment, he gripped his axe with both hands and swung it down with all his strength.
The sharp blade embedded itself deep into the zombie's skull, silencing it forever.
But the sprinting horde did not slow down.
They continued their relentless charge, closing the distance at terrifying speed. Less than 100 meters separated them now.
Ryuji yanked his axe free and bolted toward the barricade without a second glance.
By the time he reached it, the zombies were already within ten meters.
"Grab my hand!"
There was no time to place a wooden frame, and opening the door wasn't an option.
Thankfully, Erina was already on the barricade, half-kneeling, her arm stretched out toward him.
With a powerful leap, Ryuji grasped Erina's outstretched hand while using his other hand to grip the barricade. With her help, he managed to haul himself over the top.
The very next moment, a horde of zombies crashed violently against the barricade.
"Damn it... so there are special zombies!"
Ryuji's heart pounded as he counted at least twelve of them. If he had been caught in that stampede, there was no doubt—he wouldn't have just been infected.
He would have been ripped apart and devoured.
Lying on the barricade, he took a moment to catch his breath. But then, the sound of bones scraping against wood filled the air.
Looking down, both he and Erina saw the zombies furiously clawing at the wooden wall beneath them. Some had even turned toward the wooden gate.
The only relief was that their movements were slowing down—they no longer moved with the insane speed they had shown before.
"At least that's one good thing," Ryuji muttered, taking a deep breath.
Without hesitation, he flipped over the barricade and landed inside. Grabbing his axe, he yanked open the wooden gate and swung his weapon down on the head of a zombie girl scratching at the door.
Blood splattered as the axe split her skull open.
Stepping aside, he made room for Erina, who brought her own axe down on another zombie.
The two of them worked in sync, systematically eliminating each zombie trying to force its way through the entrance. Once they had cleared the gate, they moved outside to finish off the rest still clawing at the barricade.
By the time the last zombie fell, Ryuji collapsed onto the grass, panting heavily.
Erina, on the other hand, wasn't even out of breath. She walked over and crouched beside him, concern in her eyes.
But from this angle, Ryuji had a very clear view of her underwear and the outline of her figure.
He froze for two seconds.
His adrenaline was still pumping, and his thoughts started wandering.
Realizing he was dangerously close to making a mistake, he snapped his head away, sat up, and grabbed his now-dulled axe. Turning toward the town, he forced himself to focus.
"We need to find guns. Fast." His voice was serious. "And we need to start taking shifts—one of us has to be on guard at all times. Also, until the RV is repaired, staying here is way too dangerous. We need a secure base with a watchtower and a proper guard rotation."
If he had a gun earlier—and knew how to use it—he could have killed that white zombie before it even finished screaming.
Hell, he could have wiped out the entire horde before they reached the barricade.
And if someone had been on watch duty, they could have eliminated that Sadako-lookalike the second she showed up.
"Alright. I'll follow your plan."
Erina nodded without hesitation. She saw no flaws in his logic.
After finishing their meal, they cautiously ventured back into the town.
Ryuji moved carefully—there were still plenty of unexplored buildings, and if another Sadako zombie appeared, they had no clue how they would handle it.
But this time, Ryuji came prepared.
Since he didn't have feathers to craft arrows and didn't know how to use a bow anyway, he skipped making one. Instead, he discovered that spears could be thrown.
So, he loaded his backpack with a massive stash of spears.
If they encountered another Sadako zombie and it was blocked by other undead...
He'd let Erina spear it to death.
That's right—he had tested it.
Even when it came to throwing spears, Erina was more accurate and deadlier than him.
That fact alone hurt his ego.
So, as they scavenged inside a house they hadn't explored before, Ryuji found himself distracted.
Erina was bending over to search through a cabinet, and her chest bounced slightly with every movement.
A dangerous thought crept into his mind.
"Wait a second..."
"Is SHE the real protagonist?"
"And me...?"
"Am I just the expendable old guy who dies to unlock the main character's hidden potential?"