[★ Feat Achieved! Killed 100 Zombies!]
[You gained x1 Ability Gold Ticket!]
"Are you cold? I can give you my uniform. It wouldn't do much against the chilling air of the night, but it's better than nothing, right?"
After we fought our way into a convenience store, I immediately shoved the heaviest shelf against the front door while Mei secured the back entrance to ensure no hidden zombies were lurking inside. Only after she confirmed it was safe did the two of us slowly and quietly drag a large display cabinet across to block our only other escape route.
The plan was simple. By claiming an intact convenience store, we could fill our stomachs and secure a temporary resting place for the night.
Most of the electronics seemed to have been fried by the Honkai eruption, ruling out hot meals like instant noodles, so we had to settle for bread and biscuits. As much as I would have loved to see Mei cook with my own eyes, our current circumstances definitely didn't allow for it.
Mei didn't seem to have any complaints about the food either. Even though her expression looked much more stable than it had hours ago, the lingering guilt hadn't completely vanished, evident from the way she kept briefly glancing out toward the desolate streets.
"No, I'm okay. The cold isn't that bad."
Right now, we were sitting low behind the counter, keeping ourselves completely hidden from any prying eyes outside.
Since the dairy products would likely spoil quickly, I decided to grab a carton of strawberry milk to not only quench my thirst, but also speed up the digestive process.
If I still possessed my old, ordinary body, I wouldn't dare abuse my gut like this during a crisis. Doing so would no doubt force me to use the restroom, risking a noise that could attract wandering zombies or, worse, a Honkai beast.
That's right. Honkai beasts.
We had actually crossed paths with one before making it to the store. Judging by its small, stunted form, I assumed it was just a low-tier mob. Even so, I hadn't recklessly charged at it, nor urged Mei to do the same.
Sure, I was confident I could take it down, but that was assuming I was on my own. Mei had proven she could handle herself if things got dangerous, but she was still a normal human, not a genetically enhanced supersoldier like me.
In the end, we simply gave it a wide berth and slipped past as quietly as possible.
Anyhow, my digestive tract was a lot tougher now, so I didn't think I'd be needing a toilet break just from drinking a carton of strawberry milk. As I munched on a pack of expensive biscuits I normally couldn't afford, I decided to use the downtime to roll the gacha ticket I'd earned earlier.
[Rolling the Ability Gold Gacha.]
[Despair Aura III]
|Rare Ability|
Allows you to emit an aura of despair that makes people feel a sense of deep unease and fear toward you, weaker targets will feel their morale and spirits crushed and be overcome with despair unable to retaliate.
That's neat. I guess I could use this to neutralize a crowd very easily. Like a zombie horde for example. I was expecting something more, since it's a gold ticket and all, but I'm not that disappointed by the result. It's another handy AoE abilities.
Alright, next one.
[Rolling the Random Silver Gacha.]
[Tinker - Cloaking]
|Elite Ability|
Allows you to build technological constructs or contraptions related to cloaking, such as invisibility fields, anti-radar baffles, sound suppression systems, etc.
Motherf*er... I clutched my head, gritting my teeth as I fought back a groan to keep from screaming through the sudden influx of technical knowledge violently hammered into my brain.
After a minute, I let out a shaky breath of relief. Honestly, it would have been great to have this ability before the outbreak blew up in my face, but picking up another Tinker specialty wasn't a bad deal — especially one geared entirely toward stealth and keeping unwanted attention away.
If that smirking clown Otto somehow took an interest in me because of the prank I pulled on him, this would come in handy to keep him from tracking me down.
Knowing him, he might have already sent someone out to sniff out the identity behind that little paper slip.
"Are you sure that's comfortable enough? You're going to wake up with a stiff neck tomorrow using that makeshift pillow, Mei."
After eating our fill, Mei had stuffed the empty wrappers into a trash bag, layering it over a bundle of unused plastic bags to fashion a crude headrest. It kept her head slightly elevated off the cold linoleum, but it was nowhere near as comfortable as a real pillow.
I was used to sleeping on hard floors from my past life, so a little physical discomfort wasn't enough to break me. The same, however, couldn't be said for the girl sitting across from me.
Before her father was dragged down by the scandal, Mei had lived the life of a pampered young heiress, accustomed to absolute comfort with zero worries outside of homework and exams.
Or at least, that's as far as I'm aware about her life. It's not so different than every students attending Chiba Academy.
"Are you implying that my body is so fragile I'll wake up with a sore neck just from a single night of bad posture? That's rude, you know, Haru-kun?"
Mei retorted with a soft pout. Her mood had visibly improved now that her stomach was no longer growling. Her hair was still slightly damp from the improvised shower we had rigged up earlier.
"I see. My worries were entirely unfounded, then? My bad."
It hadn't been anything fancy, just a couple of water bottles hung over the showerhead with a few tiny holes poked through the plastic. Then, voila, a slow-drip camp shower is ready to go. By using this method and being mindful of the dripping water, we were able to keep the sound low as best as we could.
Mei had been genuinely amazed by the idea, praising my resourcefulness when I suggested it. But it was just a life-hack trick I remembered from a YouTube video in my past life; I never expected it would actually save the day in the middle of an apocalypse.
Of course, she had hesitated at first. From her perspective, society had collapsed into a ruthless survival-of-the-fittest nightmare, meaning precious resources like water ought to be strictly rationed to avoid waste.
However, what she didn't realize was that the so-called "end of the world" was entirely contained within Nagazora. The outside world was still turning just fine, and I knew that for a fact.
Suddenly, I felt a gentle poke against my cheek, pulling my wandering thoughts back to reality. Mei was staring at me with a knowing look that wiped away any trace of her previous playfulness.
"You're spacing out again, aren't you? That's the exact same face you made back on the rooftop."
...She was really paying attention to me, huh?
"You aren't sitting there thinking 'she's conscious of me, huh?', are you?"
My eyes widened at her uncomfortably accurate read of my internal monologue.
"Fufufu, surprised? It's not that hard, you know? Your face tells me everything I need to know."
My mind instantly flashed to Adept Spycraft. I hadn't skipped a single day practicing my micro-expressions in front of the digital mirror since acquiring the skill. Because it was a systemic ability, I wanted to master its properties completely.
To make my acting convincing, I had to stay constantly mindful of every subtle twitch of my facial muscles. The skill had laid out the blueprint, and I merely had to walk the path.
"Or so I thought. But... your expression got a lot harder to read when we were fighting the zombies."
Of course, I couldn't maintain the skill flawlessly under high-stress combat conditions. When I had to focus entirely on swinging a weapon and dodging, I likely let my active concentration slip.
Besides, I still had to sustain the Mist Flame illusion over my body. By that same logic, I wouldn't even be able to fall asleep without dropping the academy uniform projection entirely.
Fortunately, I had discreetly grabbed a pair of long trousers from an employee locker while she wasn't looking, putting them on so I wouldn't have to stress about accidentally revealing my Ben 10 shorts if I were to doze off.
"You're quite perceptive, Mei. I guess I'll have to stay on my toes if I want to keep you from seeing my awkward sides, huh?"
"Pfft. It's a little too late for that, I already—"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Her sentence was abruptly shattered by the sound of nearby gunshots. Her expression hardened instantly as she scrambled up and grabbed the wooden katana leaning against the freezer.
"Stay here, Mei. I'll go check out the situation—"
As I moved to stand, her hand shot out, grabbing my wrist with enough force to halt me in my tracks.
"Let's go together."