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Because Busujima Saeko was injured, Shizuka Marikawa volunteered to take on the task of cooking, but her skills seemed to be rather poor.
She was flustered in the kitchen, kneading dough, adding water when there was too much flour, and adding flour when there was too much water, repeating the process.
Watching the dough continuously grow in size, Kisaragi Rin realized that he wouldn't be able to eat anytime soon, so he decided to take a bath first.
The bathroom in this villa was quite large, especially the bathtub, which allowed Kisaragi Rin to stretch out comfortably.
After filling the tub with hot water, Kisaragi Rin lay down in it, and before he had soaked for long, the bathroom door opened again.
"Marikawa-sensei?"
Kisaragi Rin asked doubtfully, but the response was not Shizuka Marikawa's somewhat dazed voice, but Busujima Saeko's.
"Shizuka is cooking. I'll help you bathe today."
The water level rose slightly, and a sensation completely different from Shizuka Marikawa's came from behind him.
It was probably the difference between jelly and pudding—slightly smaller, but more springy and elastic.
Based on the bra sizes Kisaragi Rin had seen, Shizuka Marikawa was a J, while Busujima Saeko was a D.
"Busujima, I remember you just finished applying the medicine, didn't you?"
Kisaragi Rin asked Busujima Saeko; he remembered that Marikawa-sensei's ointment couldn't get wet.
Busujima Saeko ran a bath towel over his back. Hearing Kisaragi Rin's words, she looked a little troubled.
"Just call me Saeko. Shizuka didn't tell me."
"She probably forgot. I'll just have to reapply it."
Thinking of Shizuka Marikawa's personality, Kisaragi Rin said helplessly.
"Then, Kisaragi Rin."
Busujima Saeko rose slightly, hugged Kisaragi Rin from behind, and rested her face on Kisaragi Rin's shoulder.
"Can I ask you to help me apply the medicine later?"
Kisaragi Rin felt as if he had raised Busujima Saeko's favorability too high.
...
Shizuka Marikawa watched expectantly as Kisaragi Rin put the black, unknown object into his mouth.
"How is it? Is it edible?"
Shizuka Marikawa asked.
Kisaragi Rin was silent for a moment, then opened his mouth and said to her, "It's delicious."
"Really?"
Shizuka Marikawa also took a piece and put it in her mouth. A cloying sweetness and burnt taste immediately spread from her taste buds, and she couldn't help but spit it out.
"Kisaragi Rin, you're mean! It's clearly awful."
"Making such unpalatable food, this is your punishment."
If it weren't for Shizuka Marikawa's plea, he wouldn't have tasted this dough dish that looked so strange. It proved to be indeed inedible.
"That's too much! I worked hard for a long time too."
Shizuka Marikawa raised her hand in protest.
"Shizuka, I found instant noodles in the cupboard."
Busujima Saeko's voice came.
Shizuka Marikawa gave up protesting and chose to throw it away.
Kisaragi Rin chose a seafood ramen, and looking at the two people at the table also eating noodles, he suddenly felt a sense of warmth.
"Marikawa, Busujima, where are your families?"
Kisaragi Rin asked a question, as they hadn't seemed worried about their families even after the apocalypse began.
"My father's swordsmanship is even more superb than mine, so there's no need to worry. And he's at a dojo abroad, so there's no way to meet him given the current situation."
Busujima Saeko said calmly.
"Is that so? What about Marikawa-sensei?"
"I'm an orphan, so I don't have any family to worry about."
"Uh, I'm sorry."
After a moment of hesitation, Kisaragi Rin still asked his true intention.
"If one day I have to leave this world, would you be willing to come with me?"
He would leave here once the mission was over. Having spent these past two days together, Shizuka Marikawa and Busujima Saeko had helped him a lot, and leaving directly would be somewhat irresponsible. Kisaragi Rin wanted to know their thoughts; if they weren't willing to leave, he could only try his best to send them to a safe place before he left.
Kisaragi Rin's sudden question made both Shizuka Marikawa and Busujima Saeko stunned.
Leave this world?
Although they had long known that Kisaragi Rin was not an ordinary person, the idea of leaving the world still sounded somewhat fantastical, like the delusions of a chuunibyou middle schooler.
"Don't rush to make a decision. My world might not necessarily be safer than this zombie world. Following me might lead to more dangers."
Although the real world seemed calm on the surface, he had now stepped out of the safe zone and become a player. Especially since a player's identity could be directly transferred through killing, with such a bloody setting, Kisaragi Rin didn't know how much his peaceful life would change.
Shizuka Marikawa and Busujima Saeko exchanged glances, then looked at Kisaragi Rin, their faces showing determination.
Shizuka Marikawa tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said, "Hmm... if it's Kisaragi Rin, then I can."
"Don't forget, my debt hasn't been repaid yet."
A warm current surged through Kisaragi Rin's heart upon hearing their replies. Then he started to get a headache; if both of them left with him, where would they live, and how would they solve the identity problem?
Diary in the Workshop
Day 3: Busujima Saeko and Shizuka Marikawa decided to leave with me. I took them into the Workshop. Shizuka Marikawa curiously asked me, "Did you release the virus?" I flicked her head. Continued dealing with zombies, and in the evening, it was Shizuka Marikawa who appeared.
Day 4: Killed zombies. Today it was Saeko who appeared. I just want to take a simple bath, why is it so hard?
Day 5: Killed zombies. Today it was Shizuka who appeared. Have they made some mystery agreement? Why do they take turns every day?
Day 6: Tokoname City had a power outage! Still killing zombies. They said it was because there wasn't enough hot water, so Shizuka Marikawa and Busujima Saeko went into the bathroom together.
—
Takagi family's survivor camp.
Komuro Takashi was holding a gun, patrolling the wall. A hideous scar was now on his face, extending all the way to his neck, appearing somewhat terrifying in the darkness.
Still the same as the original plot, they chose that school bus and met Koichi Shido. Miyamoto Rei was unwilling to obey Koichi Shido's command, so both of them got off the bus. The difference was that, without too many attachments, the chubby boy Kota Hirano and the pink-haired Saya Takagi chose to stay on the school bus.
After that, Komuro Takashi struggled to survive with Miyamoto Rei. His injury was caused by thugs at a gas station. Fortunately, he happened to encounter the Takagi family's vehicle out searching for supplies.
So he appeared here, and relying on his identity as Saya Takagi's classmate, he was "given" this job that didn't require him to go out and face zombies.
Yes, "given," Komuro Takashi thought so. Various encounters made him increasingly impulsive and irritable, and even Miyamoto Rei had been avoiding him recently.
When Miyamoto Rei was with my good brother, the zombie crisis broke out, and my good brother died in front of me, while I regained Miyamoto Rei's favor. I should be the protagonist.
This thought suddenly popped into Komuro Takashi's mind, lingering as if he were possessed, an unnamed anger burning in his brain.
At this moment, a nuclear bomb exploded over Japan, not the previous Fat Man and Little Boy, but a brand new one. An electromagnetic pulse swept across the entire Tokoname City, and the electric fence around the camp also stopped working. In an instant, the camp plunged into darkness.
Panicked cries, gunshots attacking zombies, the roars of rioting zombies outside the camp—countless sounds echoed throughout this camp.
"The camp... it won't hold!"
Komuro Takashi held his gun, his eyes wide with shock, and without hesitation, he wanted to turn and leave the wall to find Miyamoto Rei, but he was heavily knocked to the ground by a punch.
The bearded man shouted from the wall, "Don't think about running away! There are zombies everywhere outside! If you're a man, hold the line! Hold the line!"
"Kid, get up and shoot!"
After shouting, the bearded man kicked Komuro Takashi again, continuously unleashing firepower on the zombies below.
Komuro Takashi got up from the ground, picked up his gun resentfully, and began to defend the wall.
Of course, the camp couldn't hold. Without lighting or other mechanical equipment, the roaring gunfire would only attract an endless stream of zombies.
After barely ten minutes of holding out, zombies had already climbed over using a ladder of corpses, and the side of the camp had also fallen.
Watching the bearded officer die under the zombie siege, Komuro Takashi fled without hesitation. He couldn't die here; he had to live!
What he didn't notice was that in the darkness, a zombie had already appeared behind him and pounced directly upon hearing the sound of running.
His neck was bitten, blood splattered, and Komuro Takashi struggled violently, punching and kicking but unable to break free. This painful, suffocating feeling made him suddenly recall the last time his throat was squeezed.
An endless surge of anger seemed to burn through his windpipe. Amidst the intertwining of rage and pain, his consciousness gradually blurred, finally plunging into darkness.
When he regained consciousness, the camp had returned to calm, with only a few zombies still roaming. Komuro Takashi looked at his skin, now covered in cracks, with what seemed like fire flickering within them.
"I really do seem to have a protagonist's halo, Kisaragi Rin."
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