The Grind

Saeko sharply narrowed her eyes. "A violent outbreak in our school? I'm sorry, Genji-kun. We'll have to cut our exciting spar short."

"Take this." I unstrapped the katana from my belt and tossed it her way. "Consider it a gift for our blossoming companionship."

A rush of joy flickered across her face as she unsheathed the katana, her thumb trailing reverently over the blade's cold flat edge. "It's both deadly and exquisite, but I can't accept this. It's too expensive of a gift."

The previous announcement continued in full swing, "I repeat, a violent outbreak has taken place on the school grounds—" The message was abruptly overrun by savage growls, the speaker's voice growing distorted. "Argh! Stay away from me! Get back! Help! Help!!! Someone save me!!!"

The entire school seemed to hold its breath, before all hell broke loose. Students swarmed the hallways and stairwells in a frantic stampede, and the sickening crunch of bones and bodies made my guts churn. Pleas and shrieks filled every crevice of the school building.

I could keenly hear the events unfolding in the main school building.

Saeko's pupils dilated. "Something happened to the students in the Broadcast Room. They are… hurt. Very hurt."

She tiptoed around the word 'dead' as though it was a landmine. Even with all her craziness, she was still a high schooler, likely unacquainted with the raw reality of death. The concept of students dying, in her own school no less, must be foreign to her.

Prying the bokken from her grip, I pressed the katana into her hands and gently guided her fingers around the hilt. "I believe we're dealing with something fierce here. Hold onto it until we're safe."

Her first instinct would've been to pick the bokken for its less lethal aspect, but I nudged her to keep my katana. A steel edge would prove more potent against the shambling undead than a training sword. Since I maximized durability when imagining it, it wouldn't break easily.

As she edged towards the door, I dipped a hand into my bag and retrieved my spear from the inventory. The sight of me brandishing a spear caught her off guard. Unfortunately, the current circumstances didn't allow her to make any sarcastic comment.

Nodding at each other, we slowly opened the dojo's door and took a cautious look outside. The sight outside was brutal, ripped directly from a horror movie. Pale fleshed students hunched around a middle-aged teacher, clawing his guts out with bare hands and munching on it. Some students screamed for help as they tried to run from the horrifying zombies. Their blind terror made them easy prey for the undead to swarm and devour.

These zombies reacted to noise, just like in the anime.

A few brave souls, donned in P.E uniforms, valiantly attempted to beat back the zombies with makeshift weapons. Their courage, however, was futile against the horde's sheer numbers. They were swallowed whole within moments.

I noticed that the school entrance was already crowded with zombies. The infection spread way too quickly, isn't it?

Saeko took a deep breath. "This isn't a violent outbreak."

"Dead rising after their death," I answered calmly. "It's clearly some type of zombie infection spreading throughout our school.. city… or the entire world."

Faced with the grotesque sight of the undead dragging guts and munching on human arms like snacks, Saeko was stripped of any arguments. There was no conceivable reason for her to believe this infection was exclusive to our high school.

She looked at me. "You're quite calm and analytical in this situation, Genji-kun."

"Did you expect me to freak out and run like other students?"

She shook her head, her calm smile a stark contrast to the chaos outside. "I'm glad you're with me. I can rely on a skilful fighter to watch my back."

"Same."

"We can't leave through the main entrance," she whispered pointed at the door in the distance. "Genji-kun, are you in a hurry to check on your family?"

"Have none."

Her brows arched in surprise, perhaps expecting me to be part of some bigshot family. "Are you hiding your family identity?"

"It's not a romance manga, idiot." I retorted immediately and closed the dojo's door. "I wasn't lying when I said I'm an orphan."

She let out a soft chuckle. "My father is overseas at his dojo… Would you mind if we take a detour to the infirmary? I can't trust Marikawa-sensei to survive this situation on her own."

The blonde bombshell nurse, Marikawa Shizuka. She'd be a dead weight in combat but her medical knowledge would be a precious asset outside of battles.

A tragedy she isn't a yandere.

 [Path of Voracity grants you 3 Soul XP.]

"We can leave the school grounds in her car," Saeko added one convincing reason to save the nurse. "Are you with me?"

"Here is the plan then. We'll fetch this Marikawa-sensei and any competent survivors if we run into them. Then we'll head to the cafeteria to collect some food and water."

"We'll need water to maintain our combat efficiency in this heat." She gulped, her throat seemingly parched. "Can you wait here? I'll go and quickly take care of my thirst."

Not for long, Saeko. Not for long. I'll quench your thirst for love as long as you love me like a yandere.

"No need." I slipped my hand in my bag, withdrawing a water bottle from my inventory. "Here you go."

"Thanks." She gulped down water while eyeing my bag. "Is that the same bag you stored your spear in? How does it have that much space?"

"I had it folded." I pointed at the joint on the spear shaft, which allowed me to fold the spear. "Makes it portable."

"Why are you carrying a katana and spear in the first place, Genji-kun? It's as if you knew this would happen… or you wanted to kill highschool students."

"Bold of you to label me a serial killer. Well, I keep these for self-defense. Anyone who bullied me today would've faced my spear's wrath."

Her gaze dropped to my crotch. "Does this spear's wrath discriminate against boys?"

I almost rolled my eyes at her retort. "It's reserved for women only."

Even when surrounded by zombies, she had the balls to make that kind of joke. What an absolute lunatic — just the way I like her.

After a breather, we left the dojo. A young girl in a blood-stained PE uniform caught my attention. She was weeping tears of blood with her jaw unnaturally opened wide. I slid past Saeko, thrusting the point of my spear into the girl's skull, easily lifting her off the ground. Her limbs flailed around for a few moments before she went quiet, every twitch leaving her body.

With a tug, I freed my spear, and the zombified schoolgirl crumpled to the floor, tasting death for the second time.

Sorry, Shirou. People don't die when they are killed in this world.

 [Path of Hunt grants you 9 Soul XP.]

The Soul XP gain was more than I anticipated, pushing me into the 200 territory and giving me another point in energy.

Saeko studied my ruthless kill with keen eyes, assessing whether or not I enjoyed 'hurting' others like her. My stoic face offered her no conclusive insight into my true nature. It was harder for me to express genuine emotions than staying stoic.

She stepped around me and severed the head of another male zombie with the edge of her katana. Pausing or perhaps freezing, she observed the blood staining her blade.

Her thoughts are probably along the lines of 'I didn't feel anything when I killed the zombie' or 'I'm a monster'.

I stabbed a zombie's forehead with my spear and tapped Saeko's ass with my foot. "Hey, how do you like my katana?"

"...It's worthy to be the signature sword of a dojo," she said and beckoned me to follow after her. "The infirmary is part of the main school building."

"It'll be crowded with undead, huh."

"Correct. We'll fight our way through."

My gaze fell on the cluster of about twenty zombies staggering around the stairs leading to the main building. Dozens more were scattered near the gymnasium, courtesy of students and trainers at the PE class. Yet, these numbers were nothing compared to the total count of undead within the school. We had the hysterical students to thank for drawing a larger portion of the horde away from us.

Still… So many zombies. So much Soul XP!

"Let's isolate the gymnasium side first."

She gave a nod of agreement and launched into action with her katana. Her green long skirt spun gracefully as she dispatched zombies with elegant strikes. There was a beauty in the way she killed zombies as if she was performing in a ballet. I found myself captivated by the blood-and-flesh-scattering performance. It was an unexpectedly breathtaking sight.

My heart skipped several beats. "Wow…"

She threw a glance over her shoulder, catching my appreciation for her sword dance. "Genji-kun, keep moving."

"Alright."

I surged past her, driving my spear up through the chin of a zombie and into its brain. A quick withdrawal and I stepped back, skewering another ghoulish figure. This one was a half-naked woman, her blood-smeared tits hanging out in the open.

Don't seduce me with those tits, hmph!

With a disgusted snort, I kicked her away and smacked another zombie across the face with the shaft of my spear. The skull-splitting crunch echoed eerily around us as it dropped to the ground, a pool of blood and brain matter forming beneath it.

I was getting the hang of fighting zombies. It's way too easy compared to Saeko's deadly katana.

Saeko maneuvered around the horde, using the flat of her blade to knock them off balance. She was conserving energy and making herself a harder target by constantly moving. I didn't bother with her smart tactics. Stab, smack, stab. I was here for Soul XP, plain and simple.

Armed with weapons way too formidable for high schoolers, we carved a bloody path through the undead, finally making our way to the stairs.