After confirming in the Chat Group that Superman had arrived in this World, Saeko raised her hand.”Teacher, I am not feeling well and would like to go to the infirmary.”
Her tone was steady, and her expression showed no flaws.The teacher on the podium glanced at her, didn’t ask further, and nodded.
Under the gaze of the entire class, Saeko stood up and walked out of the classroom.She did not go to the infirmary; she went to the Kendo Club.Pushing open the door to the dojo, it was empty.Saeko walked to the cabinet in the corner, crouched down, took out the long wooden box, and opened it; the blade glinted coldly in the dim light.
As she carefully wrapped the sword in white cloth, she opened the Chat Group.
[Saeko]: Mr.
Superman, are you sure you don’t need me to meet up with you?
[Superman]: No need.
I am running back and forth across the World, tracking the source of the virus.
I should be able to find the answer soon.
….Saeko’s hand paused.
Across the World…
running back and forth…How long had it been since he entered this World?
Saeko was silent for a few seconds, closed the wooden box, and an indescribable emotion welled up inside her.It was not simple surprise, but a more complex feeling in the face of true power, realizing one’s own insignificance, yet feeling a strange sense of peace because this power was on her side.
This was the “Superman” from another World.Zombies…
She silently recited the word in her heart.Over the past few days, she had watched almost every zombie-themed movie she could find.
Those rotting bodies, the endless appetite, the transformation from human to monster after being bitten.Saeko had initially thought she only felt fear and repulsion toward them.
But that wasn’t the case.When she closed her eyes, the images that appeared in her mind were not of her fleeing for her life, but of her swinging her sword.
The blade slicing through rotting flesh, severing bones, one zombie after another falling before her…And in these imagined scenes, the corners of Saeko’s mouth were curled upward.Saeko opened her eyes and looked down at her hand gripping the sword.
Her fingertips were trembling slightly, not from fear, but from excitement.How she longed to verify it with her own hands whether her sword could truly sever the heads of those monsters.This desire was so intense, so intense that it confirmed once again just how ugly the Beast lurking within her heart was.
She took a deep breath, suppressed these thoughts, and pulled another folded piece of paper from her pocket.This was the list Jina had given her, detailing the teammates she would encounter in this World’s “plot,” as well as the person she might fall in love with.
Over the past few days, she had observed them one by one according to the names on the list.
The boy named Komuro Takashi Jina said that in the original story, Saeko would develop feelings for him.
She didn’t contact him directly, just stood at a distance and watched a few times; he would lie on the rooftop railing, looking dejected, staying there for an entire afternoon.
She inquired about the reason: the girl he liked was named Miyamoto Rei, and Miyamoto Rei had chosen his best friend Igou Hisashi. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
A typical teenage angst love triangle.Saeko folded the list and put it back in her pocket, her face expressionless.
What Jina spoke of was a possibility for the future, but to her, it was just the emotional trajectory of a stranger; she had no real sense of it.Saeko had not experienced those life-and-death moments, had not seen him burst forth with any shining qualities in a desperate situation; all she saw was a high school boy depressed over a breakup.
She couldn’t say she disliked him, but she certainly couldn’t say she liked him either.She had no intention of interfering in others’ relationships…
and besides, there were more important things now.”Jina said that the zombies first appeared at the school gate.”
Saeko muttered to herself, the information provided by Jina flashing through her mind though incomplete, at least she knew where it started.
She gripped the wrapped sword in her hand, pushed open the dojo door, and headed toward the school gate.Before she even reached the school gate, the clamor had already reached her.The sound of the iron gate being struck, the screams of women, the panicked shouts of men.
Then she saw it outside the school gate, several figures with strange movements were surrounding a tall man.
That man had pinned one down, but five or six more were approaching.
And inside the school, a PE teacher had actually opened the iron gate.Saeko did not hesitate.
She quickened her pace and brushed past the PE teacher who was standing stunned at the gate.”Excuse me, please let me pass.”
The iron gate closed behind her.
The cloth strips were unwound layer by layer, revealing the hilt; she drew the sword.
The blade reflected a cold light under the noon sun.
“Sir, be careful not to get bitten by the zombies.”
Saeko assumed a middle stance, her voice steady, her gaze already locked onto the nearest zombie lunging at her.Karl looked at the purple-haired girl who had suddenly appeared beside him, and only one thought crossed his mind:
“It’s a good thing I’m playing Superman right now. Otherwise, in front of this group of goody-two-shoes who are all braver than the last, it would be really hard for someone with a villain template like me to blend in.”
“Student, I will draw the attention of these monsters. You should leave here quickly; it’s too dangerous!”
Karl continued to use his reporter persona, his voice carrying the perfect amount of anxiety.At the same time, he glanced at the street corner another large group of zombies was surging over, at least thirty or forty of them.
It was time to enter as a different identity.Saeko did not answer him…
She answered with action.
The back of her blade struck the chest of the leading zombie first, with precise force, causing it to lose its balance and fall backward. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Immediately following, she twisted her wrist, the blade slashed horizontally, and the second zombie’s head flew off cleanly.
The sword was stained with dark liquid, which dripped down from the tip.Saeko panted slightly, something in her chest beating violently.
It wasn’t her heart.
It was some deeper, more primal impulse.The sensation of the blade cutting through flesh was even more pleasurable than she had imagined.The memory of that rainy night overlapped with the scene before her; the wooden sword became a real blade, and the lecherous man became an ugly monster.
The corners of her mouth curled upward uncontrollably.Then, a greater sense of guilt washed over her, like a basin of ice water poured over her head.
There were living people around, people who needed protection, yet she was actually enjoying the slaughter.
Saeko’s movements stalled.
Her hand was still gripping the sword, but the tip was trembling slightly.
A zombie lunged at her from the side; she didn’t react in time.Frost began to spread from the zombie’s feet, covering its entire body in a fraction of a second.
The zombie remained in its lunging pose, frozen into an ice sculpture, stiff in place.A gentle voice sounded:
“Child, this is not something you should have to face.”
Saeko snapped back to reality and turned to look.
The tall man wearing glasses had appeared beside her at some point.
The surrounding temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees because of him.
But what truly stunned Saeko was not that it was seeing him reach his hands toward his own collar.
Karl grabbed his shirt collar with both hands, performing an action he had rehearsed countless times in his mind.Ripping it open, the sound of fabric tearing was clean and sharp.
Beneath the white shirt was the blue and red tight-fitting suit, the S emblem on his chest particularly striking in the sunlight.
He tossed the torn shirt aside, turned around slowly, and exposed his broad back to Saeko, completely unguarded.This action itself was a statement you are safe now; the battlefield ahead is mine.Looking at that red and blue back, Saeko suddenly realized the man’s identity.
“Everyone has fallen into difficulty…”
Karl turned his head slightly, his tone as calm as if he were simply stating a fact,
“From here on, leave it to me.”
Then he said those words, with a slight smile, his tone not deliberately high-pitched, but rather very gentle, as if comforting a child awakened from a nightmare.
“After all… I am Superman.”