As Takashi Kuromo leaned against a stairwell rail, he didn't know what the day had in store for him. He'd just had a rather harsh conversation with his childhood friend, Saya Takagi, that was more like a scolding as he wallowed in self-pity.
Takashi skipping class wasn't uncommon these days. Ever since his long-time crush and other childhood friend, Rei Miyamoto, had started dating her now boyfriend, who was ironically also Takashi's longtime friend, Hisashi Igou, he'd spent a lot of time on this stairwell.
As he leaned against the stairwell, overlooking the courtyard far below him, he expected to stay here for a while, skipping not just this class but also the next one. For a while, he'd been feeling empty - as if the world around him was falling apart in front of his very eyes. He had no idea just how true that feeling was about to become.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Takashi was pulled out of his gloomy stupor as a voice rang out in the courtyard, belonging to a female teacher walking towards the gate.
What's that guy doing?
Takashi watched blankly, being mildly entertained as he was dragged from his own pitiful thoughts while the gym teacher, Mr. Teshima, started roughing the man up. Then, his eyes went wide as he watched the man get bitten and fall over - looking dead in an instant.
What…
The scene only continued to get worse as he seemingly came back to life, slowly rising to his feet, and then lunged to attack the female teacher, Kyoko Hayashi. But, in a situation that Takashi would've never imagined was possible, something even more surprising than his gym teacher turning into a zombie happened.
In a single instant, as if he'd appeared from thin air, a man appeared. A hulking man, who stood far taller than Teshima as he towered over him, and a man who certainly didn't fit in at a school. With a massive sword hung over his shoulder, a body bulging with lean muscles, and a height that would've made him a superstar in basketball, the man looked more like a demigod than a human.
When he appeared, Takashi didn't even notice that Teshima's head was cut off right away. Instead, his thoughts froze as his body tensed. The air around him suddenly felt thick, and a pressure pushed down on his shoulders. His hand tightened around the handrail, instinctively holding himself up as his legs started to shake.
In that moment, Takashi felt a strange emotion. Fear wouldn't be an accurate way to describe it, though there was definitely a fair bit of it. In that moment, Takashi felt like he wasn't looking at a fellow human, and he didn't even feel human.
The man was far below him, standing on the ground dozens of feet below the stairwell, but it certainly didn't feel that way. It felt as if the man was towering over him - as if he were standing right in front of him, his eyes boring into his head.
In that moment, Takashi felt like an ant staring down a lion. He wasn't a gazelle - he wasn't a prey for the man to stalk and hunt. No, he was more like an insect - someone who could be crushed at any moment. Even as the man didn't pay him any attention, Takashi felt like a god was hovering over him, judging his every move as he decided if he would smush the ant or not.
The feeling lasted a long time, and Takashi didn't know how long he stood there, frozen in place as the man talked to Kyoko. Then, as they started to walk toward the entrance of the school building, Takashi was finally dragged out of his stunned stupor.
He took a step back, his legs shaking as he struggled not to fall to his knees. His brain could barely process what had happened - both with his teacher becoming a zombie, being murdered, and with the appearance of the god-like man.
But while his brain couldn't process it, his body could. And, when faced with life or death, a man such as Takashi Kuromo was unique in this world.
Every person faced their impending doom differently - some would run, screaming in terror. Others would fight to the bitter end. And, as the apocalypse began in the world around him, some would even take themselves out, delusionally hoping that they were simply stuck in a nightmarish dream.
But Takashi Kuromo was different. In a different reality, he would get along extremely well with a woman named Saeko Busujima - a woman who was nearing the line of a psychopath as she took advantage of the apocalypse to indulge in her own sadistic nature. That wasn't because Takashi himself was a sadist, but because below his rather normal surface, there lay a very selfish man.
A man who would do whatever it took to survive.
In a different reality, he'd use that nature to escape the school and survive the apocalypse. He'd value only his longtime love, Rei, as even his new group of friends became afterthoughts. Through a long process of growing closer with his friends and romantic partners in life-or-death situations, he would slowly lose his selfish nature and start to risk his own life to protect others.
But that reality hadn't come to be. Instead of the threat of zombies hanging over his head - monsters that he could kill with the swing of a bat - there was a god-like man who could crush him at any moment.
Takashi turned away from the courtyard, and he ran as fast as his legs could take him.
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After saving Kyoko, I made quick work of the zombie outside the gate and then headed deeper into the school. As I walked into the school entrance, I quickly realized that my 'kill the two zombies at the gate' plan was a bit flawed.
"A-Attention students, there has been a commotion within the school! Please listen to your teacher's instructions as you evacuate!"
Thinking back on what I knew about this world, it was a bit bold of me to assume that the zombie at the gate was the start of the whole attack. I had assumed that it was a non-linear effect - he bit Teshima, who bit Kyoko, who bit the other two teachers, who ran wild as the number of zombies increased by the minute. More zombies meant more people being turned into zombies, which meant more zombies.
But it wasn't actually that simple. Originally, the timeframe between Takashi seeing the first infected bite Teshima and the school turning into a free-for-all invaded zone was rather short. He saw the scene unfold at the gate, ran to get Rei and Hisashi, got his bat, and then the zombies were already deep within the school as the announcement rang out.
Even if the zombie numbers were exponentially increasing, the school being taken over in what couldn't have been more than ten minutes, and was maybe closer to five, shouldn't have been possible. I quickly found that out as I glanced over, watching a zombie flop over one of the outer walls as I pushed open the door to enter the school.
Fujimi Academy's layout was pretty simple, as it was just a normal school. There were small walls surrounding the outside of the school, being only ten feet tall at most, along with a gate in the middle to enter and exit from. As a result, for any zombies in the area, who had supernaturally strong strength and physical abilities despite only brainlessly walking toward any sound they heard, clawing their way over the walls was pretty simple.
I disappeared for a moment, casually beheading the zombie before he even reached the ground as he rolled over the wall, then appeared back in front of Kyoko. The woman didn't even react, not even noticing I had moved as we entered the school.
The walls being so non-protective, and thus there already being more zombies within the academy, made this situation pretty annoying. I had hoped that by killing Teshima, I would stop the invasion in its tracks, and I'd have maximized my [Low] pull rewards from the quest.
Instead, I'd just have to try to keep as many people alive as I could. It wasn't like I knew exactly where every zombie was, so I couldn't just run around killing them. I also couldn't use a large AOE skill to take them all out, as in the process, I would kill the students and teachers.
I could use some of my skills to track them down, but in the process, other zombies would be eating precious quest rewards - by which I meant students - so it wasn't the best course of action in my mind. Instead, I should group up every person in one big room, and then board up the room until I kill all the [Undead] in the area.
"Where's that announcement coming from?" I asked casually, glancing back at Kyoko, who still looked like she was a bit disoriented from the situation.
"The principal's office, probably," Kyoko answered quickly.
"Lead the way," I said simply, gesturing for her to walk ahead of me.
In this situation, while the principal was trying to do a good thing by warning the students, he was actually doing the worst possible thing he could. The announcement was loud enough to draw in more zombies from the city around us, and, most importantly, when he was killed mid-announcement in a minute, he'd send the school into chaos.
That chaos would just result in more zombies being lured here by the screams, and the students would run out into their deaths trying to escape the school. If he'd just died silently without saying anything, then teachers would've barricaded their rooms upon the zombies showing up, and the situation would've been manageable.
I'd been a bit careless, assuming that the zombie at the gate was the only one who entered the academy, and as such, wasted too much time talking to Kyoko. The principal was already making his announcement, and he'd probably be killed mid-sentence in a minute or so.
Kyoko led me through the hallways quickly, speed-walking, although we were still moving pretty slowly. The principal continued speaking for a minute, talking about the evacuation protocol, but that quickly devolved a moment later.
"S-Stop! G-Get away from me! No, don't, S-STOP! H-HELP! SOMEONE HELP!"
I clicked my tongue in annoyance as they were already on him, and I activated [Bloodhound Sense]. I didn't even really know how the skill worked, but as I focused on the voice begging for help, I suddenly felt the urge to move in a particular direction.
"Don't yell," I just said bluntly, stepping forward as I sheathed my sword and reached down, casually sweeping Kyoko off her feet and into my arms.
"W-What are you- AHHHHH!" Kyoko didn't heed my instructions very well, blushing for just a second as I bridal-carried her, then started screaming when I shot forward. I guess I couldn't really blame her, as she probably wasn't used to moving so fast that the world around her looked like a blur.
I followed the urge in my chest, dashing through the hallways quickly. On the way, I casually raised my elbow, slamming the back of it into a zombie and knocking his head clear off his body, and I soon reached the principal's office. The door was already open, and the man's fading voice was audible.
"H-Help… someone… hel-"
I was slightly annoyed as I walked into the office, casually placing Kyoko back onto her feet as the principal was being munched on by a zombie. He was an older man with a large, round body and a bald head. At the moment, his eyes were glazed over as a small hand-sized microphone lay next to him, and a zombie was bent over and digging its teeth into his neck.
I casually unsheathed my blade, swinging it and cutting through both the zombie and the principal's necks in one swoop. The man was too far gone to save and was already turning into a zombie, so it was necessary.
"H-He's dea-"
"Shush," I muttered quickly, raising a hand to cut off Kyoko. I needed to be quick, as the microphone was still on, and the whole school had heard the principal's screams.
I thought quickly as I bent down, grabbed the microphone, and raised it to my mouth.
"This is a member of the Japan Self Defense Force," I lied casually, as saying 'this is a traveler from another world who's going to save you, so stay put!' wouldn't work as well, and I didn't know if [King's Command] could be felt through a microphone, "The principal is fine. Please remain in your classrooms, and teachers, please board up the doors to your rooms while the situation is dealt with."
I glanced around the room, which just had an overturned desk, a couple of chairs, and the two corpses on the ground. Luckily, the cord connected to the microphone was plugged into an outlet on the wall, so I just ripped the cord in half to end the broadcast.
With that, the students would at least remain safe in their barricaded classrooms until I finished taking out all the undead-
"LET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
"LOOK OUT THE WINDOW! THAT GIRL IS EATING SOMEBODY!"
"HE WAS BEING KILLED! I'M LEAVING!"
"I NEED TO GO HOME!"
I frowned lightly as I heard various classroom doors in the hallway outside the office being slammed open, and a roar of students stampeding down the hall rang out. It seemed that my words weren't very reassuring after they heard in great detail their principal being murdered.
Well, I guess it is an E-Rank world instead of an F-Rank one for a reason. I'll have to put in at least a bit of effort to complete it.
As I stepped out of the office and readied myself to go save the students, I had no idea that I was about to unintentionally become the god of this world.
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be out tomorrow!
Minor spoiler because I've gotten some complaints about this arc being much more relaxed than prior ones, but I'll just say that's what the low-ranking worlds are meant to be! This short mostly waifu-gathering/flexing arc is a bit of a break between the war with the devils and the next couple arcs (which will definitely not be so relaxed or safe for Valon lol) So, enjoy it while it's here, because after this world it won't be so easy!
You can also read the next 7 chapters right now on Patreon.com/Koyon !