The PE teacher’s hands were still gripping the bars of the iron gate, his knuckles white.
He watched with his own eyes as that tall, bespectacled man tore open his shirt, revealing the blue and red bodysuit underneath, the S-shield on his chest shining dazzlingly in the sunlight.
A red cape, a blue suit, red trunks worn on the outside…
This image required no explanation; even those who had never read a comic book had seen this symbol in various forms of pop culture—Superman.
Then, before he could see anything clearly, the monsters that had been baring their fangs and brandishing claws as they surged toward the school gate a second ago were suddenly frozen in place.
Frost manifested out of thin air beneath their feet, locking them one by one, keeping them in their lunging poses like a collection of twisted ice sculptures.
The entire process was so fast it was as if someone had pressed a pause button.
A gentle voice sounded in Saeko’s ear:
“Child, this is no place for you. Go to the school; it will be safer.”
Before Saeko could react, her vision blurred, and she found herself standing inside the school gate.
Saeko looked down at the sword in her hand; the zombie’s filthy blood on the blade had not yet dried.
She looked up, only catching a glimpse of a red and blue figure hovering in mid-air outside the school gate.
Ultraman—now Superman—floated there, with the sunlight hitting him from behind, casting a huge shadow on the ground.
Ultraman looked down at the PE teacher and Saeko at the school gate, a gentle smile appearing on his face.
It was not the condescending gaze of a ruler, nor the intimidation of a tyrant, but a curve that brought peace of mind, one with warmth—a smile.
“Notify the people inside the school. These monsters are highly infectious; do not get bitten, and do not get scratched,”
Ultraman said, his tone as calm as if he were discussing a trivial matter.
“But don’t worry, I will protect you.”As his voice trailed off, he vanished.
Only the afterimage left in the air by that red cape proved he had truly been there.
Saeko remained looking up, stunned for a long while, before slowly sheathing her sword.The excitement that had been churning in her chest had subsided at some point, replaced by an indescribable emotion.
Saeko recalled that figure from just a moment ago—sending her to a safe place, then facing all the danger alone.Gentle, firm, and matter-of-fact…
That was Superman…
…
At the same time, in the nearby business district, the streets were already in chaos.
Previously, this had been a typical afternoon scene—housewives carrying shopping bags, office workers just coming out of convenience stores, teenagers chatting in front of the arcade…
Now, screams and cries poured in from all directions.
An office worker in a suit was tackled to the ground, and a colleague was preparing to bite his shoulder, making a terrifying sound.
A woman holding a child was desperately pounding on the rolling shutter of a convenience store, but the owner had already locked it tight.
More people were running, but they didn’t know which direction to run in.
The crowd collided like headless flies; some were pushed down, and others trampled over them.
“Help! What’s wrong with you! Let me go—”
“Don’t come over! Don’t come over!”
“Mom—”
Ultraman floated in mid-air, his super vision taking in all these scenes.
He counted in his head; there were at least forty zombies active in this district, and the rate of infection spread was faster than he had estimated.
Yet, it seemed that in the blink of an eye, the terrifying monsters from a moment ago vanished from before his eyes.
Ultraman lowered his altitude, landing on top of a street lamp.
His cape fluttered noisily behind him.Then Ultraman spoke.
His voice was not loud, but it reached the ears of everyone within several hundred meters with precision, as if by magic, piercing through all the screaming and chaos:
“Everyone, stay away from those who are acting abnormally. They have been infected with a virus that transmits disease to those who are bitten.”
The people on the street froze.
They looked up and saw that figure hovering in mid-air.The midday Sun poured down from behind him, outlining a silhouette whose face could not be seen, but they saw the red cape and the S-shield on his chest…
“Everyone,”
the voice sounded again, gentle and firm, like an invisible hand resting on everyone’s shoulders.
“Let us stand united to face this disaster.”
Ultraman maintained this pose, feeling the gazes cast by the crowd below—surprise, dullness, disbelief, and then slowly turning into something more complex.Some were crying, some were covering their mouths, and some began rummaging for their phones to take pictures…Ultraman silently mocked himself in his heart: Read the latest chapters at g.com.
“So pretentious…”
If he followed his usual efficiency, these people wouldn’t even see what he looked like.
He could have cleared the entire street of zombies in one second and left immediately, without any need to pose here.
But if that were the case, people wouldn’t know who saved them…
Ultraman needed to showcase himself through his actions, just like Superman, so that he could earn the trust and support of the Chat Group members…
That was why Ultraman stood here, enduring the nausea to play the role of his childhood idol…
becoming a Son of Tomorrow living in people’s imaginations.
A bit nauseating…
but Ultraman endured it; after all, everything was for his own safety….
Jina sat in her room, hands clasped on the desk, staring at the floating Chat Group screen.The Chat Group was very quiet.
Saeko hadn’t spoken, and neither had Superman.
Ever since Superman said in the group,
“I’ve arrived at the business district, the scope of infection here is vast,”
there had been no new messages.She wanted to type and ask about the situation, but she was afraid of disturbing them Saeko was dealing with zombies, and Superman was saving people; her sending a message would only distract them.
Jina didn’t like doomsday-themed works.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand the malice of human nature; it was precisely because she knew too well what people would turn into in desperate situations that she was unwilling to watch them.
She preferred stories about hope, stories about how people could still illuminate each other in the darkness.And a zombie apocalypse was precisely the stage where human nature was most prone to collapse.
When order disintegrated, when resources were scarce, and when survival became the only goal, many people would tear off the mask of civilization and reveal a side even more terrifying than zombies…
That was what she was truly afraid of.
“I hope Superman can stop the despair of that World…”
Jina closed her eyes and rested her forehead on her clasped hands, her voice as soft as a prayer.
“Not just the zombies, but also the human heart…”
She knew Superman couldn’t hear these words, but she believed he would accomplish these things.
After all, that was Superman!