Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.
<b>Chapter 5</b>
It was a bit of a detour to get to the city hall, but I had come to a home center in the suburbs. I wanted a sturdy weapon, something like a crowbar, but I also needed something to replace the current situation of no electricity and a portable stove.
Home centers are often used as hiding places in zombie movies, so I had a faint hope that this might be a possibility, but unfortunately, from the outside, it didnât look like it would live up to my expectations.
The walls of the store were mostly made of glass, probably for the layout, and most of them were ruined.
Seeing the zombies overflowing the parking lot in front of the store, I turned around and tried to get in from the back of the store. Unfortunately, I couldnât find a back door, and ended up having to go through the side of the store and enter almost from the front.
However, it was a better way to enter than walking around in the middle of a large parking lot and being a warrior.
The inside of the store was a little dark without electricity, but it was not so dark with a little sunlight.
I can sense the presence of zombies even in the dark, so I can defeat them even if I keep my eyes closed. I think my âNight Visionâ skill is working, so I can see clearly even in a place with few light sources if I am conscious of it.
On the first floor of the three-story building, there was a staggering number of zombies in the spacious area, and if I were to use a metal bat to take them all down, the bat would probably break first, but luckily I found a sturdy-looking metal rod on the ground when I entered the store, so I was able to avoid that.
Itâs not impossible to defeat them with bare hands, but I donât want to touch them one by one. I think the martial artists in the other world did it well.
The sound of zombies being defeated caused the zombies in the parking lot near the main entrance to react and enter the store, so I had to defeat them every time, which was a hassle, but I calmed down to some extent and searched the store.
The first floor had a wide variety of portable food, drinks, and camping supplies.
I throw the water and portable food into my item box. My item box only has a capacity of about 1,000 kilograms, and itâs frustrating that I canât have it even though there is still a lot of stuff in here.
The other three members of my party would have been able to carry a lot of food.
I will also find some camping gear and other things that I might use and put them in the item box, and the next step is to go upstairs.
The emergency stairs were closed, so I took the escalator, which was not working.
According to the floor guide map, there should be tools and other items on the second floor.
The emergency stairs were closed, so I wondered if there was someone holed up there? However, when I went around the first floor, I couldnât find any sign of survivors on the second floor.
The number of zombies on the second floor was much fewer than the first floor.
While defeating them, I first searched for a new crowbar and found one that was longer and stronger than the metal rod I was currently using, so I changed it. I put some spares in the item box.
Now that I had a new weapon, I thought Iâd better get rid of all the zombies on the second floor first, and thatâs when I started to move.
I felt a presence on the third floor that didnât belong to the zombies. The response was very weak, but it was probably a survivor. And there was also a sign of a zombie nearby it.
âTsk.â
I ran, roughly kicking the remaining zombies in my path, and ran up the escalator leading to the top. At the end of the escalator, there was a barricade made of furniture.
I jumped over it and got my feet on the third floor. This floor seemed to be a furniture store.
Unlike the other floors, the third floor was quiet, with no zombies except for the one I had sensed.
I went in the direction I had just sensed and found a silver swinging door ahead of me.
âIs it a backyardâŠ?â
I opened it quietly and walked in. On the left side of the corridor was a door with the words âStaff Roomâ on it, and on the right were two doors to the changing rooms.
The signs of a survivor can be felt from the staff room, and the signs of the zombie can be felt from the changing room in the back. In front of the changing room, there is a pile of furniture, perhaps as a barricade.
I was a little worried that the survivor might have been attacked by a zombie, but there didnât seem to be any danger at the moment.
I knock on the door of the staff room where I can feel the presence of a survivor and call out, just loud enough for the zombie in the backroom to hear me.
âIs there anyone inside?â
There is no reply, and the presence didnât seem to have moved as well.
âIâll open it.â
I was thinking of using my status cultivated in the other world to open the door with force, but unexpectedly, the door was unlocked and opened with a squeak.
There was an office table for four people in the center of the room, and along the wall on the right, there were computers and other machines on the desk, probably for office work.
I entered the room and looked to my left, I saw a girl sleeping on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket.