"Hey zombies! Over here!"
Zombies—mindless undead, as classic as slimes, skeletons, and goblins.
After punching out half the rooftop, Liz finally attracted a horde from the floor below. But their "first encounter" was hilariously one-sided. The zombies couldn't jump high enough to reach him.
Normally, a single-story gap is impossible to clear without a running start. But zombies aren't "normal humans"—if this were a Resident Evil world, Hunters or Lickers would've scaled the walls already.
Luckily for Liz (unluckily for the zombies), this outbreak seemed fresh. No super-zombies yet. Just your standard:
"Muscle-powered but sluggish"
"Insta-kill via infection"
"Blind but sound-sensitive"
—perfect for a newbie grinder.
Exploiting his MC system, Liz built a "floating platform" (which looked like magic to Rei and the others). Zombies couldn't reach him, while he leaned over and bonked their heads with a stolen metal pipe.
Not cowardice—gamer ingenuity.
"Whew~" Ten minutes later, the school rooftop was a graveyard. Dark, congealed blood pooled beneath his platform.
"I feel stronger, but no stat boosts… Guess this isn't a combat system." Rubbing his sore arms, Liz dragged his gore-smeared pipe back to the half-demolished roof.
"Oh? You recovered fast. Did you eat something?" Igo Hisashi, once pale and dying, now looked healthier—his wound even healed.
"Yeah, Rei had chocolate…" Hisashi smiled at his girlfriend. "But thank you, sir. You saved my life."
"Don't mention it. I'm a nice guy~" (Whether [I] am is debatable, but Liz definitely is.) "Ahem… I've only eaten an apple since yesterday…" Hint, hint.
"S-Sorry, that was my last piece." Rei winced.
"Figures. You'd have fed your boyfriend first." Liz sighed. Not like he'd rob a dying man. "Anyway, where's the cafeteria? I need food." Starving after surviving zombies? Embarrassing.
"The cafeteria's risky. Better loot classrooms—students bring lunchboxes."
"Genius! Can I punch through to one from here?" Liz immediately jumped down his hole and started whacking the floor with the pipe (less dumb-looking than fists).
"Uh… the stairs…?"
"Dumbass! Why risk it when you can cheese?" Sure, Liz wrecked zombies earlier, but a swarm would shred him. "Hey, you two—help me dig! You got the system now, right?"
"Huh? Us?!"
"We can… punch floors?"
Rei and Hisashi exchanged glances. Tentatively, they climbed down and mimicked Liz.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
"Dumbass! You're mining under my feet! Go that way!"
"S-Sorry! …W-Wait, it worked?!" Rei gasped as concrete vanished into her hands.
"And we can place it too… Rei, let's wall off the stairs!" Hisashi, ever the quick thinker, saw the potential.
"...What about me?" Komuro Takashi muttered, watching his crush and best friend bond over demolition.
"Stay there. You weren't bitten—party members steal my EXP."
"..."
———————————————————————————————
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the school:
"I'm Takagi Saya, Class 3-A."
"P-Please take care of me! I'm Hirano Kohta from Class B! Th-Thanks for saving us!"
"No need for— Hm?"
As the few fight-capable survivors (teachers and students) gathered, an odd noise echoed above.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
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"!" Takagi Saya, kendo champion, signaled the group to retreat.
"?!" Military otaku Hirano Kohta aimed his gun at the ceiling.
Then—
"Impossible!"
A chunk of the ceiling vanished.
They'd braced for zombies crashing through—maybe due to shoddy construction. But the entire section disappearing?
As they gaped, Rei's face popped through the hole.
"Hisashi! There are survivors here!"
"Mmph— Oh, Takagi-senpai? Nurse鞠川?" Hisashi chewed something (healing food) as he peered down.
"Igo-kun?!" (They'd met through martial arts clubs.)
"Rei, build a ladder."
"Got it! Everyone, climb up! We blocked the doors with concrete—it's safe!"
A crude but functional stack of concrete blocks materialized below them.
"..."
The survivors stared.
What kind of apocalypse is this?!