I Became the One Who Takes. 39

## Chapter 39 - (7)

"It's better than I thought."
"Right?"

I was in the director's office in the corner of the math academy.

I had roughly looked around the building, but I hadn't examined each of these hidden rooms, so I was quite surprised.

I was worried about where I would sleep, but since it was an area full of academies, I could sleep on the sofas in the academy's consultation room or the director's office.

Considering my worries, a fairly comfortable sleeping arrangement was completed.

In addition to the sofa for Minhyuk and me to sleep on, there were several other sofas.

"These sofas are..."
"...Originally, there were other people besides us."

With mournful eyes, Minhyuk stroked the sofa.

I guess only three people wouldn't have suddenly faced the zombie apocalypse in such a large building.

It didn't seem like the right atmosphere to ask more, and I was tired, so we turned off the lights and lay down.

It was an uncomfortable place to sleep compared to usual, but I had been busy today, and it was much better than I expected, so I fell asleep not long after laying my head down.

"Ugh..."

I woke up with a hazy mind.

Minhyuk had already moved first, as he was gone from beside me.

I wondered if I should sleep a little more and tossed and turned, but I heard a small voice from the hallway.

Wondering what was going on, I slowly approached the door, opened it just a crack, and looked out into the hallway through the small gap.

Sua and Minhyuk were standing side by side in the hallway.

Very closely, too.

It was the first time I had seen the two of them with such a lover-like distance.

"Are you, are you really okay with this?"
"Don't make me say it twice."
"U-uh, okay."

Seeing the two of them like that, it felt like watching a drama.

If I had to pick a genre, it would be a youth romance drama.

The two people's faces got closer and closer, and their lips met, sharing a light kiss.

And then their faces separated.

Sua briefly followed Minhyuk's face as it moved away, as if she was disappointed, before stopping.

Minhyuk's face was red, as if that light kiss was his limit.

"..."

I retracted my previous thought.

I thought this novel might be an adult novel, but looking at the protagonist, it didn't seem to be.

"My heart is beating so fast."
"Huh? Uh, yeah..."
"Thank you, Sua. Let's definitely escape from here."
"Yeah, let's... let's do that."

Minhyuk thanked Sua once again and diligently left to check the ladder.

He was too kind and diligent, but that was also a disadvantage in some ways.

Sua probably suggested that light kiss first.

Judging from Minhyuk just now, he wasn't the type to initiate skinship first.

After Minhyuk left, Sua sighed softly.

It was a sigh mixed with disappointment, a bit of dissatisfaction, and several other emotions that were hard to explain.

I straightened my clothes and came out of the room, pretending I hadn't seen anything.

And then, pretending to be surprised, I called out to Sua.

"What, why are you here?"
"...It's none of your business."

As expected, a prickly answer flew back.

Then, after hesitating for a moment, she asked me a question.

"Did you see anything?"
"See what?"
"Never mind... by any chance, is a woman who suggests skinship first a bit much?"
"A bit much?"
"...Like, does she seem too forward, or like she's horny..."

Would there be a man who dislikes that?

I said with a smile.

"Every guy likes that kind of girl, right?"
"...I chose the wrong person to ask."

I gently approached and brought my face close to hers.

Then Sua turned her face to the side and answered.

I only spoke the truth, but Sua didn't believe me.

Seeing her from up close, Sua definitely had a different charm.

What should I say.

Like the heroine of a zombie apocalypse story, she had a face that looked like she had light makeup on even without any makeup.

Especially her thick eyebrows and bright red lips made me wonder if she really wasn't wearing makeup.

Just in case, I rubbed my finger across her lips.

Of course, it didn't smudge or come off on my hand.

I only felt the soft texture of her lips.

"W-what are you doing..."
"Should I kiss you too?"
"...You saw it, didn't you?"

Sua's eyes became sharp like a snake's.

I dodged the question with a sly smile and stepped back.

"I'll do it later when I get back."
"If I say I don't want to, you won't do it?"
"Then, I'll have to do it with Soyoon."
"...Trash."

Receiving her tacit consent, I headed to where Minhyuk and Soyoon were.

The two of them were standing there with anxious expressions.

As I approached them, their gazes focused on me.

"Hyung, are you really going to be okay?"
"Isn't it too dangerous? Oppa? Should we go with you?"
"No, I'm more comfortable alone. Don't worry."

I told the two people who were more anxious than me that I would be okay and explained the route I had thought up yesterday based on the layout of the buildings.

"It looks like these three buildings will be enough. They're far apart, and there are corners, so after luring the mutants, they won't be able to see us."
"...That sounds good?"

Minhyuk thought about my words carefully and nodded.

That alone was enough for me.

The words "it's okay" from the protagonist who would survive until the end of the novel were more reassuring than any other words.

On top of that, this route was perfect not only for luring but also for farming.

It was a commercial district with restaurants and clothing stores, so if we cleared the inside of the buildings and secured safety, we could get good items.

"Wow."

Soyoon suddenly exclaimed as I held the ladder under my arm.

"It was heavy even for the two of us to carry."
"I know."
"Really?"

I honestly didn't know it was that heavy.

Was it because my strength level had increased?

My strength seemed to have already entered the realm of superhumans.

After moving the ladder to the roof, I connected the ladder to the next building as planned.

"Then I'll be back."
"Oppa! Come back right away if it's dangerous!"
"Hyung, I'll run to you right away if you call me."
"...Come back safely."

Sua said as she handed me the jungle machete.

I almost left without receiving it because of the weapons in my inventory.

Receiving the farewells of the three people, I crossed the ladder and entered the next building.

Fortunately, the door to the roof was not locked.

Squeak.

The ungreased iron door made a loud noise.

I moistened my lips, which were drying out from tension, and moved my legs one step at a time inside the building.

I held the jungle machete in my hand and was wary of the inside of the building, but it was eerily quiet.

It was more frightening that this building, which would have been full of people in the middle of a bustling area, was so quiet.

Honestly, the silence was more terrifying than the zombies right now.

So I deliberately made a loud noise.

It was enough to kick the iron door with my foot.

"Oppa! Are you okay?!"
"Yeah! I'm okay!"

It seemed like I had stimulated not only the zombies but also other people.

But thanks to that, the fear and tension disappeared like snow melting.

I should buy them some meat from the store later.

Thud, thud.

Grrr.

Irregular footsteps and a phlegm-filled sound came from the lower floors of the building.

I had never been so glad to hear that unpleasant sound.

"If I had known an empty building would be this eerie, I should have brought Minhyuk with me."

Minhyuk, the protagonist, would have survived somehow even if I hadn't protected him.

But I changed my mind.

Minhyuk had to be over there so that he could protect Soyoon and Sua no matter what happened over there.

I swung the jungle machete at the zombies slowly crawling up the stairs.

The jungle machete, which I was swinging for the first time after reaching strength level 2, mercilessly turned the approaching zombies into points.

Even though I was swinging this heavy jungle machete, I heard a whooshing sound, as if I was swinging a switch or a twig.

Thanks to that, it didn't even take 20 minutes to defeat all the zombies that were rushing in.

A zombie staircase that I didn't really want to step on was created on the stairs.

"Ugh..."

I had to frown and step on the corpses of the zombies to pass by.

All that was left was farming and luring.

First of all, to ensure safe farming and luring, I had to block the entrance on the first floor.

Perhaps the commotion on the stairs was heard outside the building, as some zombies were lingering near the entrance.

I could have cleaned them up, but I vaguely saw the three people watching with worried eyes from the next building, so I roughly waved my hand at them, closed the iron door at the entrance, and locked it.

Unlike the academy building, this place had a clothing store on the first floor, so there was a separate entrance for this clothing store, which also had to be locked.

I went into the clothing store and closed the entrance here as well.

"...Is this a famous brand?"

I muttered after seeing that the prices of the clothes I glanced at were quite high.

I usually only shopped for clothes online, so I rarely came to stores like this in person. And it was also the first time I had seen a clothing store this quiet.

"Now I won't have to wash and wear the same clothes again."

Just the fact that I could change my clothes made me feel happy for no reason.

I went around the inside of the building, checking if there were any zombies hiding, and after securing safety, I started luring.

There was nothing special about luring.

I went up to the second floor and vigorously hit the outer wall of the building with the jungle machete.

One of the most reported noise complaints in apartments is the sound of children running and hammering.

Hitting the outer wall of the building with a steel blade also created a tremendous amount of noise, and I could see the guys staggering outside the academy building heading towards this place as if they were angry.

"I just have to repeat this twice, right?"

I thought I could finish it sooner than I expected.