The corridor outside was spacious and branched. More than a dozen classrooms on this floor were empty - all the students had rushed down in panic as soon as the incident with the girl from the radio room happened.
However.
Judging by the incessant screams, yells, and growls from below, these students hadn't been very lucky.
Tsubasa held his breath as he led Shizuka Marikawa out of the medical room. At his suggestion, she had taken off her high-heeled shoes, and now their footsteps were almost inaudible.
Tsubasa, who was well acquainted with anime, understood that zombies were especially sensitive to sound. If you didn't make any noise, you could even walk right in front of them and nothing would happen.
But now, at the very beginning of the apocalypse, this was impossible.
The classroom building was full of running students and newly infected zombies, making it impossible to avoid a confrontation entirely.
— Hr-r... hr...
As soon as they descended from the fifth floor to the fourth, they immediately encountered danger.
There were a few low growls and more than a dozen figures staggered out of the nearest classroom.
Only 14 zombies!
All were female students in school uniform.
Their eyes were bulging out of their sockets, leaving only the whites, and the skin on their faces and bodies was covered with dark veins.
One zombie even had a piece of bloody flesh hanging from its mouth!
"Ah-ah!"
Even someone as absent-minded as Shizuka couldn't bear such a terrifying sight. She screamed and instinctively hid behind Tsubasa.
"Sensei, have you forgotten what I told you? You're causing us problems!" Tsubasa turned to Shizuka with annoyance.
Although her figure was beautiful and the feeling of her body pressed against him was pleasant, this scream was not at all pleasing!
And indeed!
— Hr-r... hr...
— R-r-r...
— Ooo... hrr...
Initially, the 14 zombies had not noticed them, but Shizuka's scream, like a bright light in the darkness, instantly revealed their presence.
"Sorry, sorry... Tsubasa-kun, I won't do it again!" Seeing the zombies quickly approaching, Shizuka realized her mistake. Her face contorted in panic, she grabbed Tsubasa's clothes tightly and began to apologize while shaking.
Tsubasa grimaced. It wasn't scary when a grown woman got angry, it was scary when she apologized like this!
"Sensei, don't press so hard! You're actually deforming me!" he muttered, only half-joking.
"Sensei, stand here and don't move!"
He ruffled her soft golden hair firmly, like a teacher scolding a student. The warmth of his palm caused the absent-minded Shizuka's cheeks to turn strangely red.
Tsubasa tightly gripped the Kuyo Knife in his left hand, placed his right hand on the handle, turned to face the zombies, leaned forward slightly, his black eyes raised, filled with a sharp gleam.
He didn't actually blame Shizuka!
That was just her personality. Could he really expect her to be like Saeko Busujima - not to lose her head in a dangerous situation and even to rush into battle with joy?
Would she have been so absent-minded then?
Moreover, at the beginning of the apocalypse, such direct clashes couldn't be avoided; it was only a matter of time.
And the most important thing!
Tsubasa wasn't against this situation; he even looked forward to it.
He had to kill zombies to earn points!
— Hr-r... hr...
— R-r-r!!!
The zombies were already close and immediately pounced on them. Shizuka's eyes widened - from such a close distance, she could clearly see the blue veins on their faces and smell the sickening odor of blood.
Just an hour ago they were beautiful, full of life schoolgirls, and now they had turned into such terrible monsters.
Who would have thought!
Ding!!!
Tsubasa had no time to think!
In his eyes, these schoolgirls were just a source of points.
It was time to reap the harvest!
He firmly grasped the hilt with his right hand, his muscles tensed, and he pulled the blade out of its sheath. His body, leaning forward at that moment, rushed forward like a tiger charging down a mountain.
The essence of the ancient martial art Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu was the technique of quickly drawing a sword!
There was one main thing here.
Speed!
The moment the sword is drawn is the moment of impact!
So fast that you can't react, so fast that you can't see.
Even if the enemy is a zombie, it doesn't matter.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
The blue-gray Kuyo Knife shone with a cold light in the air. In half a second, Tsubasa rushed through a group of 14 zombies and appeared behind them, holding a blade unstained by blood in his hand.
"So this is the perfect level of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu?"
Tsubasa looked at the Kuyo Knife in his hand, his eyes full of amazement.
This was the first time he had used this ancient martial art!
To be honest, he himself was shocked!
How cool!
He remembered three years of training in swordsmanship with Saeko's father, Kitao Busujima, and his own experience with the sword.
But compared to Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, the difference was huge.
Half a second - fourteen strikes.
In one second, that's twenty-eight strikes!
And every blow delivered at full force.
No comparison!
Absolutely no comparison!!!
Boom, boom, boom...
Fourteen zombie schoolgirls in uniform fell to the ground, their heads severed from their bodies.
"So fast... Tsubasa-kun, how did you do it? I didn't even have time to see it, it was really fast~"
Shizuka Marikawa finally came to her senses.
Fast?
What kind of ambiguous words were those?
Surely it wasn't an insult?
"Sensei, stop chatting, it was too noisy here, new zombies will come soon. We need to leave quickly."
Tsubasa looked at the absent-minded teacher with bewilderment. He suspected that she was experienced in such matters, but he had no proof.
But this did not stop him from doubting.
He decided that once they got out of Fujimi School and into a safe place, he would definitely find an opportunity to have a good chat with this absent-minded teacher.
Says he's fast?
Yes, it lasts at least an hour every time!
"Uuuu~ Tsubasa-kun, I'm coming!" Shizuka, with her arms slightly raised, carefully walked around the scattered remains of zombies and approached Tsubasa. She then opened her arms and tightly grabbed his arm.
Only by clinging to Tsubasa did she feel safe!
Looking at his arm, which Shizuka was hugging so tightly, Tsubasa at that moment even envied his own limb.
By the way, weren't there too many privileges?
"Marikawa-sensei, you really don't consider me an outsider!" he thought wryly.
Shaking his head—now was not the time to think about that—he listened. The sound of zombies growling could be heard at the far end of the hallway. Apparently the recent noise had attracted quite a few monsters, and they were approaching quickly.
He immediately led Shizuka away from there.
At that moment, a series of system notifications sounded in his head:
[Ding, one zombie killed, 9 points earned!]
[Ding, first zombie kill, [First Blood] achievement completed, reward: [Scroll of Enhancement +2] x1.]
[Ding, first point gain, achievement [First Capital: Stage 1] completed, reward: [Free Stat Points] +5.]
[Ding, one zombie killed, 11 points earned!]
[Ding, one zombie killed, 7 points earned!]
…
[Ding, ten zombies killed, achievement [Ten Kills] completed, reward: 3000 points.]
[Ding, one zombie killed, 8 points earned!]