20 Careless!

Choosing between saving the world or destroying it... that's the mission for this world-class event?

Is there really any need to think about it? Of course, saving the world is the better option.

Even though this is an apocalyptic world, saving it is still simpler than destroying it. Saving the world means finding a way to counter the elements that destroy it, while destroying the world generally means wiping out all of humanity.

Whether from a psychological standpoint or considering the difficulty, Altair wasn't the type who enjoyed destroying worlds or a psychotic lunatic who needed to create a world where he ruled alone.

After all, Earth is quite large. Ensuring that not a single human survives on Earth would be difficult for Altair at the moment. Especially since during the process, he'd also have to deal with the zombies.

When searching the world for survivors, the zombies wouldn't leave him alone.

Therefore, Altair naturally chose to save the world.

After closing the mission window, Altair glanced at Shizuka Marikawa standing in front of him and couldn't help but nod.

She really lived up to being the most blessed character in Highschool of the Dead... truly huge! Even his wife, Hestia, couldn't compare.

Moving his eyes away, Altair focused on the school gate. The plot of Fujimi Academy starts at the gate, where a passing zombie bites a security guard, and from there, the infection spreads to a few teachers, and then the teachers infect the students. Soon, the entire school falls into chaos.

Right now, though, everything was still peaceful, and there was plenty of time.

"Tch, in an apocalypse... I prepared ammo but forgot to stock up on food."

Altair shook his head, realizing he'd overlooked this simple but essential need.

"Marikawa-sensei, where's the school cafeteria?"

"The cafeteria? It's in that direction. Are you going to eat? But it's not lunchtime yet."

Shizuka Marikawa answered Altair without hesitation, not caring who he was.

'You're even more clueless than you appeared in the anime.'

"I'm going to gather some supplies."

Altair turned, intending to head toward the cafeteria. After taking just one step, he paused and turned to look at Shizuka again, who was still standing there.

"Marikawa-sensei, why don't you come with me to the cafeteria?"

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes, come with me."

Shizuka tilted her head as if thinking about it, but after only two seconds, she nodded.

"Alright, I'll go with you."

She quickly moved and stood next to Altair.

Altair twitched at her response. Too easy to fool. She didn't even ask why or refuse. Aren't you going to question this at all?

Forget it. The point was to protect her anyway. Her naive nature was one reason, but her blessings were another.

Leading Shizuka, Altair arrived at the school cafeteria. Since it was still morning and not lunchtime yet, there weren't many people around. He immediately found a vending machine and clenched his fist.

With one punch, he shattered the glass of the vending machine, reached in, and began grabbing items. He stuffed them into his 4D Pocket one by one until the machine was emptied.

Shizuka, watching Altair, widened her eyes in shock but didn't scream. Instead, she curiously asked, "Why did you smash the vending machine?"

"Because I don't have money, so I had to break it."

"Oh, I see."

Shizuka nodded in agreement at his seemingly logical explanation, but after a few seconds, she suddenly realized something was off.

"Wait, even if you don't have money, you still can't smash a vending machine. You'll have to pay for it!"

"I can't pay because I don't have money. Even if they wanted me to, I couldn't."

"Uh... that seems right."

Altair couldn't help but laugh. There's no way this innocent woman could argue with him.

"Alright, let's go grab some more food."

The vending machine only had drinks, so Altair considered them as water supplies, but he still needed food like bread or something more substantial.

However, bread was sold by someone at the counter, not freely available like the vending machine items.

Looks like I'll have to take it by force.

"Are you going to take things inside too?" 

"Yeah, I'll be taking what's inside too."

"But there are people in there. They won't let you take things."

"That's fine. I'll just knock them out."

"Huh? Is that really okay?"

"It's fine. After I knock them out, I'll close the cafeteria."

"But that's a problem! You can't just close the cafeteria; people need it!"

"Don't worry, this place will be permanently closed soon."

Altair didn't bother explaining further. He entered the small store within the cafeteria and immediately approached the clerk, who was arranging goods. He punched the clerk, knocking him out cold.

"Oh no..." Shizuka didn't know how to react, watching Altair knock out the cafeteria worker right in front of her.

"Alright, let's grab the supplies and go."

Altair quickly began gathering the food, mostly bread and instant meals. Shizuka just stood there, wide-eyed, watching as Altair grabbed the food, which then disappeared into thin air.

"What… how did you do that? Where did the food go? Are you doing magic?"

Shizuka stared at Altair, bombarding him with questions, leaving him speechless.

Your sense of priority is really something else.

"It's not magic; it's a special ability."

Altair continued explaining while grabbing more items, swiftly storing the rest. He left a few things behind for the unconscious clerk, since he figured the guy would wake up soon.

"Alright, let's get going."

"Huh? Where are we going now?"

Shizuka was still dazed.

"There's still some time. Let's take a break."

Altair closed the shop window and door, making sure the unconscious clerk wouldn't get bitten by zombies when he woke up.

"You're a school nurse, right? Let's head to your infirmary."

***

Keeping a precious item like the Power Stone is hard, so for your own sake, drop the Power Stone here, otherwise I can't guarantee your safety!