“Huff… huff…”
Yukino pressed her back tightly against the metal door, breathing in short, frantic gasps.
In her trembling hands was a broken table leg wrapped tightly with tape, serving as a makeshift club.
“What the hell is happening…”
She was on the verge of breaking down.
First she’d watched a classmate kill a monster.
Then she’d been dragged into some apocalyptic survival game.
😱
Now she was being hunted.
Not just by zombies…
But by people too.
A little while ago, she’d chosen “Yes” when the game prompted her.
The next thing she knew, she’d been transported here.
At first, she’d arrived alongside a blond delinquent with dyed hair.
Then they ran into zombies.
They fled together until they found an abandoned warehouse to hide in.
Inside…
The guy snapped.
He kept muttering incomprehensible nonsense to himself.
Then, without warning, he’d pulled out a knife and lunged at her like a madman, saying he wanted to fulfill his dying wish before the zombies got him.
😡
He wanted to rape her.
Thankfully, she’d reacted in time.
She blocked his knife with the table leg and escaped from the warehouse.
She’d been running ever since.
For dozens of minutes.
Everywhere she went, there were zombies.
She’d nearly been surrounded and torn apart alive more than once.
She was completely exhausted.
There wasn’t a single safe place left.
Thrown into a nightmare world out of nowhere…
Then immediately forced into this situation…
She was mentally and physically drained.
Her legs felt like lead.
The arm she’d used to swing the table leg at zombie after zombie was sore, numb, and trembling uncontrollably.
She leaned weakly against the cold metal door.
The fact that she hadn’t completely lost her mind in a situation this hopeless spoke volumes about her mental strength.
Unlike that blond thug.
He’d gone insane in less than an hour.
“That man… he’s completely crazy…”
Just thinking about him—
And the horde of zombies chasing her—
Filled Yukino Yukinoshita with fear.
“Hey! You’re hiding in here, aren’t you?”
A frivolous, crazed voice echoed from the room next door.
Bang!
The neighboring metal door was kicked open.
“Tch. Not here.”
“…!!”
Yukino’s heart nearly stopped.
It was him.
He’d found this area.
Her palms, rubbed raw until they bled, gripped the table leg so tightly they shook.
Holding her breath, she listened carefully.
Footsteps passed by her door…
They didn’t stop.
They grew quieter…
Until they finally disappeared.
“…Did he leave?”
She let out a long sigh of relief.
Thank goodness.
He hadn’t found her.
She didn’t have the strength left to resist anymore.
If he found her now…
She was dead.
Crash!
The classroom window suddenly exploded inward.
Yukino whipped around.
The blond thug stood on the shattered windowsill, grinning as he stared at her with naked lust.😈
“Found you.”
“…!!”
She instantly turned and reached for the door, trying to escape.
Smack!
His hand slammed against it first.
The door wouldn’t budge.
He raised the knife in his other hand, pointing it straight at her.
“Stay back!”
Yukino desperately swung the table leg.
But her arms had long since given out.
The weak swing nearly threw her own balance off.
It carried almost no force.
The thug caught it effortlessly with one hand.
With a sharp tug, he ripped it away and tossed it aside.
Then he slowly looked her up and down, the knife still pointed at her.
“Damn… what a beauty. Never thought I’d get to play with a top-tier high school girl like you before I die! Hahaha!”
“You disgusting criminal!”
Yukino shouted, fury blazing in her eyes.
Instead of angering him, it only excited him more.
“Hahahaha! Nice! Keep cursing! There’s no law here anymore. Just zombies. Relax. I’ll make sure you enjoy yourself. Then we can die here together.”
As he spoke, he reached out, trying to pry away the arms she had wrapped tightly across her chest.
Tears welled up in Yukino’s eyes.
She bit her lip so hard it hurt.
She didn’t want to die.
And she absolutely refused to be violated before she did.
“Someone…”
“Please… save me…” 🥺
In her mind, a figure emerged—
A young man standing in the darkness, lightning dancing around him as monsters fell before him.
And those unforgettable golden eyes.
“I won’t let anyone bully a member of my club.” 😎
A calm, icy voice rang out.
“Huh? Who the hell are— Let go of me!”
The thug’s outstretched hand had been seized by a firm grip.
Yukino turned her head.
Those familiar golden eyes.
Adrian.
“You bastard! I said let go!”
Enraged, the blond thug swung his left fist straight at Adrian’s face.
“Watch out!”
Without thinking, Yukino drove her right leg upward with all the strength she had left.
THUD!
A direct hit.
💥
Right between the legs.
“GYAAAAAHHH!!”
The thug let out an agonized scream and collapsed to his knees instantly.
“…”
Adrian watched in silence.
That had to hurt.
A lot.
He reached out, gently pulled the stunned Yukino to his side, and placed her behind him.
“You… you bastards…”
The thug staggered back to his feet.
Grabbing the discarded table leg, he charged at Adrian in a frenzy.
“A piece of trash like you…”
“It’d be better if you died here.”
Adrian simply shook his head.
Still holding Yukino’s hand, he sidestepped the attack and calmly walked out through the door.
“What…?!”
The thug froze.
His body…
Wouldn’t move.
A pitch-black substance, thick and viscous like a swamp, had silently crept over his body.
💀
Cold.
Wet.
Sticky.
It clung to him from every direction.
Little by little, strength drained from his limbs.
His life force was being devoured by Dark Water Thunder.
Dark Water Thunder.
For those whose vital essence has already leaked away, their yang energy cannot recover quickly.
Rather than waiting, it draws upon the yin energy of the kidneys to nourish the liver first, allowing yin to manifest before yang is restored.
Only after the body’s vitality has recovered does further refinement begin.
Its qi appears as black, viscous liquid suspended in the air.
Greasy.
Slippery.
Cold.
Damp.
Unrestrained and free.
Once released, it spreads like flowing mercury, seeping into every crack without leaving a single opening untouched.
Heavy and murky, yet endlessly unpredictable.
It corrodes flesh, devours vitality, drains marrow, and erodes both heart and will.
That was why Dark Water Thunder possessed more than just destructive Dark Lightning, though he was capable of wielding both
It could also corrode…
And consume the very life of its victims.
“…..”