Breakthrough

"Combat Team!" Hayashi exclaimed

"Foraging Team!" Yamaguchi followed his lead getting their attention as he nods to Hayashi

"Move out!"

"Wait a minute!" Akari said, stopping the two teams.

"What is it?"

"For the Kendo team...Blade modifications...Hayashi's idea...and Nishiwaka and the Production team forged these for you, just put them over your kendo swords..." Akari took out a bag of blade modifications, a hoop with a long blade attached that outlined the edge of the Kendo sword's edge and blade. "Nishiwaka will be out front to see you all off. I have something for the Foraging team and Archery team too." Akari took out 3 large bags. "In light of the Production team once again coming through, for the Archery team we have lighter quivers than the heavy ones you use and drag around and steel arrow tips fully kitted and attached to arrows for you"

"Oh my god...I have to thank them for this when I see them!" A female archery member said as she took a quiver filled with arrows

"The production team is the real heroes here dude!" a kendo boy said taking the blade modification.

"I'll be sure to deliver your thanks to them, don't worry, for the foraging members you all got something special." Akari points to a table behind her filled with blades and what seemed to be sheaths for those blades.

"Daggers and Sickles, they went above and beyond for this...it wasn't all done in a day...remember this."

both teams respond in unison "Yes, Ma'am!" each looting the table as all of them felt fully geared as they walked out the front entrance going to the car before Hayashi stops them.

"We go on foot, the subway is a 20-minute walk away from here. We never know if someone could take it when we leave."

The members of both teams murmured and came to an agreement and kept following out the school gates seeing Nishiwaka in their way before he gets out of their way, seemingly whispering something and smiling while the two teams went into the city, not many zombies were around, even if there was, it was quickly dispatched and Harvested for resources as they went into an underground subway.

"It's dark in here...there's no electricity past this point." A member of the foraging team said.

"No need to worry. Always keep some on me." Hayashi took a knee and opened his bookbag before he threw a flashlight to Yamaguchi, took one for himself, and tossed the third to Fueki before closing his bag and getting up. "All good now let's get down. Mizuki siblings please protect Fueki."

"Don't worry about her" Kenji said looking down and drawing his swords.

"Worry about the rest of the team," Ichika said spinning one of her own blades. "Let's go."

The lights were dim and the flashlights kept them going deep before a person was blinded by the lights.

"O-other survivors..?" a person dressed in blue and black asked as he had a pistol raised.

"Relax, yeah we're survivors."

"Thank god...was beginning to think I was all alone in this place.." the man dressed in blue asked.

"Question...are you police..?" Hayashi asked the man making the signal for the Archery team to take aim. "And tell the truth, we're high schoolers, not terrorists."

"W-wait! Yes, I am part of the force!-"

"All I needed to know. You alone?" Hayashi took aim at the man as well as being cautious.

"Y-Yes! I'm alone! No one is here with me!" the man screamed out with his hands up.

"Are you part of the police and military faction that's beginning to rise?"

"The what?"

"That answers my question. Hands down, we won't hurt you. Everyone stand down." Hayashi instructed everyone as they continued on their path to take back the subways. "Feel free to follow us if you like. Everyone, if he chooses to follow us, is cautious. He has a gun." Hayashi chose to instruct the teams with Yamaguchi.

"Foraging team, split from the combat team." just as instructed the foraging and combat teams became separate, surrounding the officer on both the front and back.

"{These damn kids...they're smarter than they look..}" the officer thought to himself before looking behind him. "{They're even armed...I'm doomed if I revealed myself here} Thank you...I'll join you..." he said as they walked on.

"Hey Hayashi-san?" one of the archery kids called out.

"Yeah?" he turned around and looked back while walking.

"Of all things, why choose a slingshot?" the archery kid asked making both teams mumble and start conversations before stopping again.

"Simple. I was too weak and inexperienced to use a bow." Hayashi said his answer

"Huh!?" Both teams were dumbfounded.

"Why didn't you sign up for archery?" A kendo kid asked

"...Military summer camp,3 years... one of those years I got my ass whooped by a man who only used a bow as a weapon."

"How bad was it?" Fueki asked

"He whooped my ass like he was my mother when you hand her a slipper," he said remembering his past life again.

"Is that how you learned how to use a dagger?" Fueki asked.

"Mhm. well while we're walking through here may as well do some Q&R I guess."

She giggled "I guess so."

the rest of the Combat and Foraging teams began to laugh "we heard you fought zombies on the third floor alone, is that true?"

"Yeah..wait."Hayashi heard the moans of a zombie and a transit train that was stuck on the rails.

"Worst time to fight now... Together we stand! Divided we fall!" Hayashi took out his [Ronin] slingshot. "[Eye of the Hunter]!" He scoped out the undead hiding in the shadows, there were only a couple dozen so they could handle it. "Archery team! Fire into the shadows!" Hayashi commanded, although confused, they fired into the shadows anyways while the Kendo team moved in to protect the archers. "good job archers, but you missed three of 'em."

"do you have night vision or something?"

"something similar. Fire!" Hayashi said pointing at the zombies coming from the shadows. "Rest in Peace." He watched as they were shot down. "Let's move on. {[Harvest]!}" Hayashi harvested the materials from the zombies as they got further in while dispatching countless zombies and all of a sudden he gets two notifications, he ignored the first and looked at the second.

"The Key begins to shake...? When did I-?" it occurred to him that there was an apocalyptic dungeon inside the subway, and they were close and he had the key.

"...Yamaguchi!" Hayashi called his name. "Get back!" Hayashi yelled knowing there was a mutant hiding in the shadows as everyone hears a high-pitched screech and cover their ears.

"S-So loud!" one student sound

"AHHH!!" more students yelled and screamed.

"[Eye of The Hunter]! [Strong Shot]!" Hayashi shot where his crosshair locked on to making the screeching cease however he seemed to fall to his knees as if he were injured.

"H-Hayashi-san?" Yamaguchi and both teams tried to pull him up.

"D-Don't worry...my ears are just ringing{Rats of all things!? Come on world! Trying to kill me already!?}" Hayashi thought to himself as he got up seeing as his INT went up by 9 noticing it and then deducing it with knowledge from his past life. "{My INT stat went up? Wait...That could only mean one thing...In my past life, I faced off against demons, angels, and all sorts of monsters...while only being a soldier and at a bare minimum surviving with broken bones...That screech is a mental attack! Annoying pest!} Everyone! Get in a circular formation!, Archers in the back! Swordsmen in the front shoulder to shoulder!" He commanded making his team fall into place looking down at the shining system window showing that he had a hidden bloodline skill he just used, a skill he had since the beginning.

"R-Right!" some of the team members jumped having the guards up as if they were spooked from behind forming an imperfect formation seeing beady red eyes and squeaks surrounding them.

{"This will push my skill to its limit..} [Eye of THe Hunter!] Full power! [7 Element Channeling]![Elemental Attunment]!" Hayashi begins to glow seeing as he and the cooperative teams were surrounded by at least eight targets, each being mutated and showing hostile intentions, but also pushed Hayashi to his limits. "E-Everyone! Weapons...Out!" Hayashi instructs using the hidden skill again by accident as they all brandished weapons, even the Foraging teams bore their weapons. "Good...I'm going to need all your help..please defeat these rats...and claim victory...[Chain Rush]!" Hayashi rushes at a mutant hidden and clawing to the wall, killing it instantly by stabbing it's then stabbed another in the back the second rat died of shock as its wounds were suddenly sealed closed as the rats all focused their attention on Hayashi however only three rats got through the guard of the combined forces who focused on defending Hayashi.

"Let us play a game guys! Defend the Leader!" A kendo kid said as he cuts a rat's nose making it scurry away. "Woah..this doesn't even deserve to be called The Sword Modification, this deserves a new name, it's sharp!" He said not expecting it to cut so well.

"This isn't a game Grahhhh!!" Another kid responded as he parried and blocked a rat that nearly got to one of their Archers.

"A little help here!?" The kendo kid asked holding back the giant mutated rat

"R-Right!" some of the archers drew their arrows killing the rat they were saved, Hayashi was struggling to see as he eliminated two of the giant rats but he was tired and was no longer glowing, panting and slowly backing up, but stared directly into the rats' eyes."Come into the light..and fight...me.." Hayashi slowly moved toward the rats as they recognized this as a hostile attack, time felt like it slowed down to Hayashi as he planned to sacrifice his right arm to kill a third rat, however, was intercepted by a girl in the Archery club with a lucky shot making the second rat fall and squirm around in pain as Hayashi stabbed upwards, the blade of his slingshot's blade not going all the way through. "{One more time...} [7 Element Channeling!][Elemental Attunement!]" Hayashi mustered all the strength he had left as the rat he stabbed attempted to bite down on his arm before stopping midway and dying, the sound of something sizzling could be heard all around the room. Hayashi limped over to the other rat still squirming in pain and looked at it in anger, his 7 elements and attunement heated the arrow as he put his foot on it making the rat thrash in pain. "It's trash like you why many people died...atone with your life." Hayashi applied pressure pushing the arrow stuck in its eye to its brain, killing the injured rat as everyone saw what happened. "Let's go...I don't even want to harvest these filthy things..." as Hayashi said, yellow and purple orbs fly to his hands without anyone noticing while walking further into the subway.

"Yamaguchi. Let's rest here, everyone got rations from the pres right?" Hayashi stopped midway through and asked his teammates who all stayed quiet and pulled out various wrapped pastries.

"S-Since when-" Yamaguchi was about to ask

"Always, during the first mission we never carried rations, so we had to learn from our mistakes. On top of that, we planned on staying here for about a week so it was obvious."

"M-Makes sense" Yamaguchi felt dumb as his entire team took out Bentos as the two groups sat separately as the Combat team and Foraging team seemed to be on edge.

"C-Come on guys, just enjoy your food!" Yamaguchi tried to calm the animosity between the teams feeling the amount of tension. "Hayashi-san?" he said looking at the grey-haired boy who was just eating his meat bun quietly as he just looked back and stayed silent.

"{You think I'm helping and making them mad at me? Hell no!}" He thought to himself as he finished his meat bun.

"Everyone finish up fast," he instructed his team. "System" Hayashi looked at the system window as it lit up. "Stats."

"PING" the system showed his stats

LVL:12

STR:40

DEF:39

INT:26

DEX:42

AGI:34

VIT:27

"I'm a little more powerful..plus all my abilities have been getting serious upgrades.." Hayashi put his hand in front of him and summoned his [Ronin] slingshot. "Let's go everyone, I don't plan on stalling, we have to keep going and claim this place for ourselves."

TO BE CONTINUED...