The day it all began - IV

"Damn it!" Haru felt a surge of panic as he observed the multitude of Zombies gathered outside the classroom.

He found himself trapped with no clear escape route.

On one side, a large group of Zombies encroached upon the windows which wouldn't hold on for long, and on the other, there were four windows that overlooked a four-story drop outside the building.

'What should I do!?' Haru anxiously considered his limited options.

If he stayed there and opted to fight against the group that would flood in immediately after breaking the windows, he was fully aware that he wouldn't stand a chance, even with a sword in hand, considering the overwhelming number of Zombies.

With no other choice available, he swiftly turned towards the left side of the room, his gaze fixated on the lone route of escape before the room was completely overrun by the bloodthirsty zombies.

'Shit! What option do I have besides this!?' Haru sprinted toward the open window, knowing it was his only chance of escape.

Gulp.

'Is this the right idea?!' As the wind blew strongly against his face, Haru swallowed his saliva as he glanced down at the ground below.

The realization of the daunting height intensified his racing heartbeat. Despite his past daring adventures, the prospect of jumping from the fourth floor was something he had never imagined he would have to do.

In addition, contrary to his expectations, there was nothing to grip onto, such as a drainage pipe, which could support his weight if he attempted to climb down.

Crack!

"GROWL!!!"

"AH!! SHIT!!" Haru frantically scanned the area, desperately searching for anything that could aid his escape as the seconds passed and the sound of the window cracking grew louder.

"!!" Haru's gaze settled on the long curtains nearby, and a sudden and terrifying idea formed in his mind.

"HA!!!" Using his all strength, he grasped the curtains and yanked them down along with their metallic rods that supported them.

'Quickly! Quickly! Quickly!' In a hurried frenzy, he skillfully knotted three of the curtains together, making sure the connection was firm despite his trembling hands.

"GROWL!!!" As Haru meticulously tied the curtains together, the horde of Zombies outside grew increasingly restless and began exerting more pressure on the windows, causing the cracks to expand even further.

"It's done!!!" With one end of the curtain securely fastened to the long metallic rod and the other end firmly secured around his stomach, Haru let out an exclamation, expressing a mix of urgency and determination.

After setting the metallic rod in a way that it wouldn't fall off the window despite bearing his weight, Haru wasted no time and threw the remaining curtain outside.

Standing at the window frame, he looked down at the ground, which seemed much farther away than he had initially thought.

"Ha Ha Ha" Feeling his breathing quicken, Haru fought to steady himself against the terror of the height.

'Will it even work!?' Haru battled with his racing thoughts, feeling trapped by the overwhelming fear that threatened to immobilize him.

He wanted to escape but it wasn't easy.

Crackle!

Shatter!!

"!!!" Hearing shattering noise of the windows, Haru urgently looked back and saw the Zombies breached in the classroom.

"GROWLLLLLL!!!!" They did not waste a second before the quickly darted toward Haru.

'Shit!!! Think!!!! Think about Aki!! If you die here, who would save her!?! Jump!! JUMP!!' Caught in a moment of desperation, Haru knew he couldn't delay any longer.

'I CAN DO THIS!!!!!!' With his resolve strengthened with the determination to save Aki, Haru took huge leap into the air like a swan.

'SHIT!!! WHY DID I JUMP!?!' As Haru started falling toward the ground, he realized that he could have used the curtain to climb down, but the urgency of the situation had driven him to take a leap of faith instead.

"AAHHHHHHH!!!" He screamed his lungs out as he plummeted towards the ground, the wind howling in his ears.

"AAHH!! SHIT!!" Haru's eyes narrowed and his heart almost gave out as he saw the distance between him and the ground reducing at a frightening speed.

However, with a jolt, his descent abruptly halted, and his body, due to momentum, slammed slightly against the building. But it left him suspended in mid-air, just around the second floor of the building.

"Ha Ha Ha! HAHAHAHA!" Ignoring the slight pain after being slammed into the wall, his heavy breathing turned into maniacal laughter as the realization that his plan had worked dawned on him.

He was safely out of their reach.

Turning his body to face the window he had just escaped from, Haru bellowed, "SEE THAT F***ERS!? COME TRY GETTING ME NOW!!!!"

However, as soon as the words left his mouth what he didn't expect was that the Zombies that were piling up at the window from which he had just leapt began to tumble down, falling in his direction one by one.

"GROWLL!!!!!" Despite falling, they didn't forget to open their bloody mouth toward Haru.

"SHIT!! WHY!? WHY!?!"

Desperately trying to avoid the plummeting Zombies, Haru utilized the curtains as a support to swiftly propel himself against the wall, evading the trajectory of the falling Zombies.

But overwhelmed by the sheer number of descending Zombies, Haru found it nearly impossible to avoid them all in time.

"COME!!" Haru braced himself against the wall, tightly holding onto the curtain with his left hand and the gleaming sword in the other, prepared to face the falling Zombies.

In an instant, a Zombie lunged towards Haru, its mouth aiming directly for him.

But this time, there was no nervousness or fear in his eyes, only a fierce determination to survive.

Haru might not have realized it, but after going through such extreme situations, his mind and body were slowly getting accustomed to the chaos. The surge of adrenaline certainly played a role, but it was his unwavering determination to reach Aki and save her that primarily fueled his resilience.

"GROWLL!!!"

"AH!" Without a moment's hesitation, Haru swiftly swung his sword, aiming directly at the incoming Zombie's head, with a fierce determination to survive.

But since it was his first time using a sword, his aim was slightly off, and it ended up striking the zombie's neck instead.

[You have killed a Level 1 Zombie! 1 EXP gain!]

'Shit! That was a close call!' Haru sighed in relief as he jerked off the dead Zombie from his sword and braced himself for more.

Fortunately for Haru, no Zombies fell in his direction, and thanks to his quick-wittedness from earlier, he managed to evade the clutches of the oncoming Zombies yet again.

Bang! The figures of Zombies that fell kept hitting the ground and with a strong impact, their whole body caved in the ground and their head cracked opened with their black blood splashing everywhere.

Haru took a deep breath as he looked at the aftermath, realizing how close he had come to joining the fate of those fallen Zombies had his plan not succeeded.

But it wasn't just that. On the ground, because of the commotion, multiple Zombies were coming toward Haru as their eyes spotted him hanging midair.

'No... Be positive! I can do this! We are all going to survive this hell!!'