I did it.

As expected, grenades were the easiest to handle. The discharge of this consumable [Nano Disruptor] was also flexible in many ways.

You could hold it like a pepper spray, throw it like a baseball, or even stick it on the sucker and use it when you’re far away. Seems like the Nano Disruptors activate based on thought alone.

The last experiment that I’d attempted was to see if it would blow up even if it was damaged. Turns out it still worked, even after the cylinder had teeth holes in it.

Very convenient. 

The zombies in a stunned state almost felt as if they’d been suspended in time, only flinching from recoil. So I made quick work out of these practice targets for my metal bat.

Stun, and hammer away. Aim their heads, and they’re gone with a few swings. 

If anything, well, my arms get kinda woozy. Being a NEET does make it hard to breathe after swinging a few times at full strength. I should make it a point to exercise more when I can…

There’s the matter of getting used to “killing”, but I got over it surprisingly quick. Zombies didn’t feel human at all. Blood does dirty the process, but once it dried up, it just stuck to the clothes without much of a smell. 

In the end, I used up 5 of them, all with successful targets. Floor 16 where I stayed was now cleared of zombies.

…You may ask: Why don’t I use the Incendiary mode? In the game, that thing blew up ruined buildings into rubble. I didn’t want to take a chance and topple the building.

As for the other choices, my reason was simple.

I prioritized time. I don’t trust myself to learn and use an unfamiliar weapon so easily, even if they’re powerful enough. If they weighed me down, I wont be able to outrun a zombie with baggage.

Better to not get caught up with a simple 3-star weapon and look at the broader perspective.

Speaking of…

Combat milestone, achieved! My heart raced as I watched the currency balance go up to 1,000.

Without hesitation, I accessed Cupid’s rate-up banner—

The moment my finger tapped on [Yes], something unexpected happened.

For one, the [Map] UI became available.

Second, 10 dots were immediately updated on the map.

“...Eh? What’s this?”

No wait before that… 4… 4-staaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrr?!

Not even a 5-star…You’re fucking with me.

A 4-Star! 

I realised then, that I had completely forgotten about my shitty luck in this game. That one 10-pull that secured Lucid was probably the only time I’ve ever gotten lucky with gacha.

My thoughts were cut off as I heard footsteps approaching.

Drats, I cursed on instinct earlier. Someone’s coming over! I hurriedly ascended the stairwell back to my apartment. 

Yeah. Don’t let your guard down, me. I’m outside right now, there is no time for idle thoughts.

“”Grrrr… aahhh…!!” Before me, were two familiar-looking girls. The name tags on their uniforms read “Remi” and “Aki”.

Those two from earlier…

Well there’s no point thinking about what happened to them now.

These girls were humans no longer. They’re… zombies!

I threw a Nano Disruptor towards them, and a bright flash of light blinded their eyes.

Thwack! Thwack!

Shit… my arms are too sore…  I didn’t finish off the second one properly! The zombie with a half-dented skull lunged towards me with a wide-open mouth. Adrenaline filled my body again, and I tumbled to the side and kicked it away.

The zombie tripped over the other one which was laying flat on the ground. Taking that opportunity, I hurriedly ran up to my apartment floor. My footsteps were no longer subtle, and the echoes seemed to have caught the attention of multiple zombies in the vicinity. All of them started entering the stairwell and chasing after me. 

I hurriedly bludgeoned an approaching arm, tearing it off the zombie. But it didn't even falter.

These are... zombies!!! Swallowing all the curses in my mind, I ran like a madman. I've probably never sprinted faster in my life. As soon as I reached my floor, I slammed the entry shut and slid my metal bat in between to keep the door from opening on the other side. The ghastly groans and thumping could be heard on the opposite. Through the transparent part of the door, I could see tens, twenty... probably even more zombies filling the stairwell.

I finally made it back to my apartment, but at what cost... I wasn't careful enough... Looks like using the stairwell is going to be troublesome now. 

I sighed again, and opened the map UI. Bad luck aside, the pull system had completely changed from the game. I had my suspicions when the pull result didn’t show the item or character names. Looks like it’s turned for the worse. My pulls were no longer given to me automatically. Because this was real life, the “summoning animation” of beaming down items and characters with capsules now was re-enacted here.

These spots on the map appeared to be similar in distribution to my pull result, 9 blues 1 purple. In other words, I had to go to these places in person to confirm what I’ve pulled.

Otherwise, there was no other way to retrieve the capsules.

“Ha… hahahaha…!”

Fuck. Fuck… This is Hell difficulty. Some of these are kilometers away! 

…Well, the 4-star capsule isn’t that far away. Coincidentally, it seems to be located at the same convenience store below the block.

I wonder, did that woman manage to escape, or…

My eyelids started to feel heavier, and soon I dismissed those thoughts. There’s no point thinking about it now. I wasn’t such a morally upright person that I would feel guilty about not warning her about the zombie outbreak anyway. Well, if she stayed cooped up in there, there’s probably enough to last her for some time. 

“...”

Taking my equipment off, I plopped onto the couch.

Ahh… I’m tired. I’ll think about it after I’ve gotten a good rest.

Let’s think about how to get out of here when I wake up.