Before leaving, Tsubasa carefully inspected his personal equipment, and after ensuring everything was ready, he was the first to lead the way out the door.
Seeing their leader take the initiative, everyone in the classroom finally mustered their courage and nervously left the room one after another.
What greeted them was the empty, silent corridor. The scattered remains of zombies lay strewn everywhere. The sticky black bloodstains remaining on the floor seemed to narrate the danger and brutality of the battle that had taken place.
As the group moved forward, the expressions on their faces continuously changed. From the initial slight surprise, it gradually turned into intense shock.
"These zombies... were actually killed by Shiraha-sama and Yukinoshita-san!?"
"So many... the sheer number is too great. How could just the two of them possibly have done this!?"
"As expected of Shiraha-kun, he is truly too strong... He was actually able to clear the entire school building solo, even while accompanying a girl!"
The people in the group looked in disbelief at the "battle achievements" created by Tsubasa and Yukino. Even if some were unwilling to believe it, they confirmed the fact from the blade marks left on the remains of the zombies, and the holes where arrows had been pulled out.
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"Yukino... is actually this capable."
Hayato, walking at the back of the group, had eyes full of shock. He had originally thought that the deaths of these zombies were entirely Tsubasa's doing alone. But seeing those arrow holes, Hayato realized that Yukino hadn't just been standing by; she had contributed significantly.
The cold, indifferent girl in his memory gradually overlapped with the figure wearing a military vest ahead. Hayato's gaze became slightly unfocused.
Unknowingly, that girl had grown to this extent.
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"Yukino Yukinoshita..."
Utaha looked at Yukino's back, quietly clenching her hands without realizing it.
Everyone possesses a competitive spirit.
Compared to the decisive Yukino, Utaha felt she had lost too much right from the start.
Utaha knew Yukino's reputation.
The two of them had enrolled in Toyogasaki Academy with top-ranking scores; they had long become a hot topic of discussion on school forums.
Busybody students even gave them related nicknames.
Yukino's nickname was "Ice Queen."
Hers... was "Literary Queen."
And they were both collectively listed as the two most popular first-year female students.
Even though Utaha disliked this kind of pointless comparison, she possessed an extraordinary competitive streak when it came to rivals.
Especially since... Tsubasa clearly valued Yukino highly.
This made Utaha feel subtly uneasy inside.
Utaha didn't know why, but she wanted his recognition.
She had been wrong before, but she didn't want to keep making mistakes...
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After leaving the classroom, Tsubasa led the group back to the top floor of the school building.
Earlier, there were still some snacks in the principal's office that they hadn't had time to take. Now that there were more people, they could let everyone take some.
After finding food and water, the group's low spirits rebounded slightly, and their recognition for Tsubasa's command grew stronger.
In the teachers' office, someone found a map of the school, as well as a map of the city.
"It turns out the school we are in is called Berkeley High School... and this city is named Oak City, famous for its high-quality oak trees." Hayato muttered to himself while sitting in an office chair. He was attempting to analyze the possibility of Oak City being completely overrun.
"From this Oak City tourist brochure, it's clear that this is a major city in America. It is an important entity, on par with Washington and Philadelphia in the real world. The city has a total area of approximately 1030 square kilometers, a population of over 6 million, and directly influences the global economy and finance. It is a very developed city.
"The calendar next to it shows the date is the end of November. There is still electricity in the office... I boldly speculate that, even in the worst-case scenario, this city will not be completely paralyzed in more than a week. Perhaps, we can find other survivors in this world... If we are lucky, we might even find troops that haven't evacuated yet."
Listening to Hayato's optimistic tone, everyone's moods couldn't help but rise.
Facing the apocalypse, ordinary people still have an instinctive trust in government agencies.
"..." Tsubasa stood silently to the side. He felt that Hayato's thoughts were a bit too naive.
Assuming this city... truly lost control like in a disaster zombie movie, the military would certainly not allow the contamination to spread.
The possibility of making a drastic decision, even if painful, was extremely high. In the worst case... it might even be like what was shown in Resident Evil.
To cut off the infection, the government might drop a nuclear bomb on the city, completely eliminating any possibility of the plague spreading.
However, seeing everyone's excited expressions, Tsubasa didn't dampen their spirits by voicing his thoughts.
The continuous occurrence of terrible situations kept everyone's nerves constantly on edge. Everyone was under immense pressure.
Tsubasa still needed these people to carry his weapons and become cannon fodders. He absolutely could not let everyone lose hope now.
"It seems... our battle with those monsters is destined to be unavoidable..." Taisuke, who was looking at the dense horde of corpses outside the window, mumbled in a low voice, his eyes filled with fear.
"Taisuke, I'm so scared..." Makoto looked out the window, only feeling dizzy; his vision blurred, and his legs constantly trembled, as if he was about to faint on the spot.
Makoto was not very brave; asking him to kill a single zombie was very hard, let alone venturing out with the team. This guy, however, had no sense of tact. A few simple words from him destroyed the atmosphere Hayato had so painstakingly created.
Hearing Makoto's words, Taisuke patted his friend's shoulder and flexed his muscles. "Makoto, don't be afraid... I will protect you!"
Although Taisuke was not a great person, he was decent to his friends.
Facing these "amazing" teammates... Hayato could only rub his temples wearily and let out a heavy sigh. He felt that the total number of times he sighed in a year didn't add up to as many as he had today.
After sighing, Hayato raised his face to look at everyone, and then said, "According to the map, there are no student cafeterias in this city, so survival supplies must be insufficient. If we don't plan to use this school as a base, we must leave quickly. According to the map, there should be a dedicated parking lot at the school gate, but I don't know if there are any vehicles parked there that we can use to leave."
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Translator's Corner:
This chapter has 1131 Words. Other than the word count report, I have nothing else to share! Thanks for reading!