Season 2: Chapter 11. True Survival (2)
Before entering the store, Almond checked his current condition.
[Hunger]
Your stamina has decreased by 5%. If hunger continues, your health will also decrease, followed by symptoms like panic, delusions, and hallucinations.
[Exhaustion]
You have used too much stamina. The recovery rate of your stamina has been reduced. You need to rest.
He was currently affected by hunger and exhaustion.
'I should go in and rest for a bit.'
Perhaps he would feel better after eating some bread and resting in the store.
Almond entered the store with that thought.
"What are you doing here during class hours?" a store clerk asked him.
'Uh...'
He hadn't considered that someone was inside.
'I need to lock the door now.'
Soon, the zombies from outside would swarm in. Then this store would be in danger, but how could he just lock the door?
'What should I do?'
The store clerk didn’t know about the zombie situation. Telling her that he was locking the door because of zombies wouldn't work.
'Should I just overpower her?'
Should he use force? She looked like a college student. Even if Almond was weak, he could probably overpower her. The issue wasn't just her though.
"Wow..."
Another male student was secretly eating pizza bread there.
"I thought you were a teacher," the male student muttered while chewing on his pizza bread.
He was thin and short with long, shaggy hair and looked a bit dark.
Almond looked down at himself. His character's body looked exactly like his in reality. He should have the advantage against a scrawny male student and a female college student.
However, the character's personality was the issue. He didn't know how this scaredy-cat would react if he got frightened. Plus, he could develop more mental issues if his hunger state persisted.
"Hey, go back. Now." The store clerk approached Almond from the counter. "Hey, pizza bread guy, you too. If a teacher sees, I'll get in trouble as well."
'I don't have time to think about this.'
Clang!
He locked the door without saying a word.
— Wait, he just locked it?
— So assertive lol
— I think the store clerk is falling for him lol
— He's playing the game on hard mode again, classic Almond~
"... Hey, what are you doing?"
The store clerk looked at the door and narrowed her eyes. She approached with her hair tied up and looked very displeased. She seemed angry.
"Why did you lock the door? Huh? Are you crazy? Do you want to get hit?"
Almond ignored her and walked toward the store.
[Hunger]
He had to address this issue first.
"Hey! Can't you hear me?!"
— Why is she so aggressive?
— If you deal with students all day, you'll become like that.
— She's gonna kill us! Seriously!
— So cute lol
Almond immediately tore open a peanut streusel bread and shoved it into his mouth.
“The store sure is nice. Even if there’s no electricity, there’s lots of things to eat.”
The streusel’s savory taste and the peanut butter combined made it doubly delicious. On top of that, the streusel bread’s texture was also very moist.
— Streusel is yummy
— It feels natural LOL
— Look at him chewing and grinding the nuts
[Hunger]
His hunger had now been alleviated.
Clatter... Creak.
He heard the store clerk trying to open the door again.
"Ugh, there are so many weirdos."
She was unaware of Almond eating the bread in the store and pulled out the rod from the latch. She had to open and lock it in this primitive way because it was an old-fashioned metal door.
However—
"!?"
Creak.
Almond pushed the rod back in from the opposite side.
"Are you insane? Have you lost your mind?"
Chomp. Chomp.
Without responding, he continued to eat his streusel bread and push the rod in.
"Ugh! What kind of new prank is this?!"
She kept trying to pull it out while he kept pushing it in.
Munch. Munch.
The door remained locked even though the metal rod went back and forth.
— LOL the almond's half-hearted game LOL
— Give the store lady some respect LOL
— Is this efficiency or what? LOL
— So funny LOL
— I feel sorry for the lady...
The store clerk became flabbergasted and asked, "Huff... puff... Hey. Why are you keeping it locked? Huh? Is your head messed up somewhere? Which grade and class are you in? Should I call your teacher?"
She waved her cell phone, seemingly trying to threaten him. That was a bad move.
"Oh. A cellphone."
Thud!
Before the store clerk could do anything, Almond snatched it away.
— ???
— He's so fast LOL
— Almond on a full stomach is invincible!
— Is this m-mechanics?
The store clerk didn’t know why he took the phone.
"Hey! Aren't you going to give it back?! Are you seriously crazy?!"
Naturally, the store clerk tried to confront him after he took her phone. However, she was no match for him.
Swoosh. Swoosh.
All her attempts to attack him missed while his every move was spot on. He kept pushing her forehead away without even looking at her.
"Ah!"
The store clerk grabbed her own neck as her forehead kept getting pushed back. Almond had pushed her away for the eighth time already.
"This... loser...!"
— I’m going crazy LOL
— Insane physical strength
— So hilarious LOL
— Forehead push-ups? What?
— Her forehead is turning red LOL
Laughter filled the chat window.
[Jyo has donated 1,000 won.]
[Why are you disrespecting the store lady? You weren't like this with Raina!]
"I'm not sure how to explain..."
[Fact has donated 10,000 won.]
[Inside Almond's mind: Huh? I just used my looks and it worked? What is there to explain?]
"Thank you for the donation, Fake."
— Naturally reading "Fact" as "Fake" LOL
— Tongue-tied LOL
— Is this a tongue-twister or something? LOL
— Nutty talk show, drink some water. You're a bit off
While Almond thanked the donor, the store clerk finally sat on the floor. She felt exhausted from doing push-ups with her forehead.
"Sigh... Insane... What is this? Suddenly, some crazy..." she mumbled to herself and couldn’t grasp the situation.
[TMI_Bug has donated 10,000 won.]
[From the lady's perspective, some random guy breaks into the store, locks the door, snatches her phone, and when she tries to take it back, he evades all attacks with incredible physical strength, pushing her forehead for over 10 minutes. And from the looks of it, he doesn't seem tired and could probably go on for another 30 minutes. A truly desperate situation.]
— LOL true that
— LOL
— I'd go insane for real
— I'd have a mental breakdown
— I would think it's some crazy dream LOL
"Long post Bug, you're banned."
[TMI_Bug is kicked out.]
— LOL
— Paid to get banned, LOL
— I naturally read it as Long Post Bug, LOL
— The summary is too long!
— So merciless~
Almond cleaned up his stream when the snack bar part-timer shouted, "Hey, how long will you keep doing this?!"
Almond consistently ignored her and looked at his phone.
— ??? I can do this all day.
— Hey, respond to her, LOL.
— He’s so mean...
"What? Are you interested in me? Are you trying to get my number or what?"
— LOL so cute~
— She’s finally going crazy.
— It seems like he's provoking her on purpose
Almond completely ignored the snack bar part-timer while still looking at the phone and murmured, "Ah, found it."
"What?"
He showed something on the phone to the snack bar part-timer.
"...?"
It was a newspaper article.
[Real-life zombies? Mutated virus revives corpses.]
The earlier articles read something like this:
[The U.S. declares a national emergency.]
[As of right now, governments in India and China have collapsed.]
Subsequent articles revealed more about their situation.
[South Korea isn't safe either. The first zombie has been spotted.]
[Airports have been shut down, but it’s too late...]
The articles suggested that the zombie virus had reached South Korea. All these events transpired within just a few hours. The nation had no time to respond.
[All officials and administrators evacuated to bunkers. Martial law has been declared.]
[The government acknowledges the national disaster. They have officially named it the Zombie Virus. It has quick transmission and a single bite or scratch means the end...]
"What... is this? Is this real?"
The snack bar part-timer looked at the phone in disbelief. No matter how she saw it, she couldn't deny the facts.
She tried to call someone on her phone.
Either they didn't pick up or she was too stunned and remained silent. She tried again, but no one answered.
Only then did she turn to look at Almond.
"You... so you locked this door because..."
Bang! Bang! Boom!
Something started banging on the metal door. This time, Almond didn't stop the snack bar part-timer. Instead, he started explaining to her.
"The PE teacher outside turned into a zombie. After that, one more student from our class became one. There were almost one hundred zombies outside the school gate. When the gate broke down, they all entered the school."
Bang! Boom! Boom!
The banging from behind sounded like the door might break and added credibility to his words.
"We have to hold out here. We have food here. We can last for quite some time."
"... Hold out?"
The snack bar worker's eyes wavered.
"For how long? Will holding out help? Should I call 911 to report?"
"I already did. When the PE teacher first went down. The class president and vice president already called."
Ziiiiing.
Then, a text message arrived on her phone.
[Emergency Alert: The zombie virus is spreading. All citizens, please read the handling instructions and prioritize your safety. The disaster management headquarters will soon provide relief supplies. Please wait until then.]
"... It's real."
A disaster message was belatedly sent out. Almond read it alongside her.
‘Supplies?’
It wasn't about incoming rescue, but them providing supplies. What did that mean? At least it wasn't about blindly enduring, which was fortunate.
"Sigh... What, what do we do..."
The convenience store part-timer sat heavily on the floor and seemed completely different from before.
"What's happening...?"
It finally felt real after seeing the disaster message. On the other hand, the chubby male student kept munching on pizza bread and showed no reaction. It seemed like he heard their conversation though.
A rumbling sound came from Almond's stomach.
'Maybe I should eat some pizza bread too.'
Almond decided to microwave some pizza bread while the microwave still worked. The convenience store worker didn't stop him from taking the bread at all. The situation felt meaningless to her by then.
Beep, beep, beep.
The store felt peaceful at last as he set the microwave timer, except for the zombies pounding on the door.
Almond spoke to the chat on his stream while the microwave ran.
"Do we just wait for the supplies like this? The game hasn't officially launched yet, so it seems easy."
— LOL, right
— Too easy for Almond...
— Easier than Kingdom.
— How do zombies get in like this? For real, is it a bug? LOL
A donation came in while they discussed whether or not Almond found a bug.
[BearGrylls has donated 10,000 won!]
[It won’t be that easy, LOL]
"Thank you, BearGrylls. Why?"
[BearGrylls has donated 10,000 won again!]
[Why? Because you can't solve basic needs. Is there a shower in the store? A toilet? Where will you sleep?]
"...?"
Almond was taken aback for a moment. Not because the comment was right, but because it was unexpected.
"This is a game. Why go that far?"
However, Almond was mistaken. Or rather, he was being complacent. He underestimated how twisted the game developers were in crafting this game.
"Hey..."
The convenience store worker tugged at Almond's shirt from behind.
"I get your plan. We seem to have enough food, but..." She hesitated, looked down, and cautiously asked, "... What about the restroom?"
"!?"
It actually seemed necessary since an NPC asked about it.
'I have to solve this too.'
Almond felt a headache coming on due to the unprecedented realism of this game.
***
[Beginner's Tip: Zombie School is an open-world survival game crafted to closely resemble real-life situations. Tackle small, but critical real-life challenges and enjoy true survival!]