Season 3: Chapter 14: Walnut Battle (1)
Jessie halted as she reached the second-floor railing.
"Someone's there."
"Yeah? On the second floor?"
"Yeah. And there's a lot of them."
"… What do we do? We were planning to go up from the second floor via the stairs."
Climbing the wall took a lot of stamina. With typical stats, it was impractical to reach the roof like this. While the combat-trained Jessie could likely make it, the rest would probably fall. Hence, they had planned to take the stairs from the second floor.
"We need to change plans. Let's go to the third floor."
"… Sigh. Alright."
Ultimately, she withdrew her foot headed for the railing and resumed climbing the pipe.
***
"Wow. Have the numbers thinned out a lot now?"
"Yes. Let's take a look."
[Remaining Survivors]
Class 1: 0
Class 2: 14
Class 3: 30
Class 4: 0
Class 5: Surrendered
"Now it's a showdown between Class 2 and Class 3... Where would you place your bets?"
All the other challenge teams had been eliminated. Only Class 2 and Class 3 remained. Their confrontation was inevitable.
"Obviously, Class 3 has the numerical advantage..."
"But?"
"Class 2 stands out for their item farming."
The commentator's remark prompted the camera to zoom in on the equipment worn by Class 2.
"Items?"
"Yes. Class 2 went to the cafeteria and armed themselves with equipment from the kitchen that seem superior to me."
His point had merit. Indeed, their equipment made from sturdier materials looked more robust.
"They're using large kitchen pot lids as shields."
"Is that so? Those are made of metal and certainly better than desks turned into shields?"
"Absolutely. Their weapons are mostly kitchen knives affixed to the ends of mop handles, which are basically real spears. Class 3’s broken mop handles are too primitive in comparison."
Compared to Class 2's weapons, Class 3 was still in the Stone Age.
And the disparity didn't end there.
"Even their gloves are better. They have chainmail gloves from the kitchen meant to prevent cuts when handling meat."
"Ah. The ones used when cutting meat?"
"Yes. Class 2 is all wearing them. Zombie teeth can't penetrate those."
These chainmail gloves were designed to protect hands from sharp knives. Naturally, they would not be pierced by a kitchen knife, much less zombie teeth.
"Ah... there's quite an equipment disparity, isn't there? So what's Class 3's advantage?"
"Obviously, they’re in optimal condition created by a stable environment, teamwork, and numbers."
"... Teamwork again?"
— Teamwork LOL
— Morale, organization, perseverance!! LOL
— It's the chosen Class 3~ With grit, they shall endure~!
"It's like a battle between seasoned foreign mercenaries and the united Class 3."
"Yes, but Class 3 still holds the overall advantage. You can't ignore their numbers. And there's one item that stands out, isn't there?"
"Oh! That's right! The longsword that Almond is wielding!"
"Exactly. It’s a good weapon in the hands of the right person. That's what matters."
***
"Today, we’ll break through to the roof," Tako announced.
"There's not much time left until the helicopter arrives. We need to get up there early and spend a day just to avoid any uncertainties."
What could happen on the way up and how much it could delay them was unpredictable. It was best to arrive as early as possible.
"We're heading to the second floor now. Get ready."
“Okay~”
The kids dutifully gathered their gear, but murmured among themselves.
"Hey. Aren’t we thirty in total?"
"… Yeah."
"Let's not talk about that yet. They'll probably take a few more."
They knew as well that not everyone could be saved, but there was nothing to be gained by discussing it further here.
"Alright. Enough talk. Let's go!"
The group of thirty all headed to the second floor together. Since they had explored it once before, they didn’t have much trouble. However, they went through the checking process one more time.
"We'll take it one floor at a time. If we don't, there's no going back and we'll all be wiped out."
With each ascent, they had to thoroughly eliminate the zombies on that floor and clean up neatly to secure a retreat. If even one zombie was left behind, it could become an unpredictable factor.
"Clear."
"None here."
"None in the bathroom either."
The search went smoothly and quickly concluded.
"None here eith... Aaargh?!"
As expected, were there still zombies left? Class 3 brandished their spears and rushed in.
"..."
However, what they saw wasn’t something as threatening as a zombie. It was a student hanging from the ceiling, dead.
"He must have survived" someone murmured bitterly.
Class 1 had taken over this classroom. They thought the entirety of Class 1 had either died or turned into zombies. Apparently, there was a survivor. However, he chose to end his own life rather than turn into a zombie.
This occurred when a student’s depression reached its peak.
"How did he hang himself?"
"The chaos caused by the zombies exposed the ceiling infrastructure."
Normally, there would be no place to hang a tie in the corner of the ceiling. The ceiling had severely collapsed here due to the zombies rampaging around. Thanks to that, the student could easily end his life.
Class 3 had heard such sounds too.
"Here... Ah... Huh?"
"Wha... t... sound?"
Mysterious voices leaked from the ceiling.
"Shh!"
Bubblegum commanded everyone to be quiet and crouched. Class 3 orderly retreated toward the door, covering their mouths.
"Sounds like people, doesn't it?" Tako whispered.
"Was there someone on the third floor?"
"There should only be five on the challenge team. It's possible."
Tako had already concluded that Class 3 was the only group left in the main building. Based on testimonies from various classes, this hypothesis was almost certain.
This new group probably came in from outside.
"Guys. Check if any rope or something is hanging from the classroom windows nearby."
"Okay~"
The kids nodded and dispersed to other classrooms.
***
"Nothing?"
No one spotted any signs of rope.
Tako tore at his hair.
'Ah.'
Then, the answer came to him.
"It's the gas pipes. Where were they?"
He looked at the map and dashed into a classroom by himself. After opening a window, he inspected the railing.
'If they climbed up here, they must have rested on this railing at least once.'
They definitely would have left footprints.
"Hmm?"
No shoe marks could be seen on the railing. Hadn't they climbed up this way?
Tako leaned out to look more closely at the gas pipes.
"A false lead?"
Could he really tell by looking? He doubted it, but he looked anyway to find something.
[You observe the target.]
‘Huh?’
A skill inherent to his character class activated. The accumulated dust on the gas pipes became magnified in view.
[Signs of someone having been there were found.]
Indeed, a group had passed by there.
He peered up. Only the blue sky was visible. Their traces had already disappeared.
"What's up? Did you find something?" Bubblegum asked from behind.
"Yeah. There are definitely enemies on the third floor."
"… Hmm. So what are we going to do?"
"Let's go check it out. To the third floor."
***
Clang!
Class 3 opened the fire door. They were attempting to enter the third floor for the first time.
"Let's go. To the third floor."
They stealthily proceeded with cautious steps. The third floor was still an unknown world. They walked for a bit and turned the corner of the staircase.
"Hold."
Almond raised his fist in the front to signal them.
"I'll look first."
He stretched his neck out to look up and could see part of the third-floor corridor. Nothing was there. At least, nothing visible to the eye.
"Let's go."
Class 3 advanced again.
Bubblegum gave orders from behind according to their plan, "Shields to the front."
The formation of Class 3 changed from a single line into a diamond shape. The shield bearers were positioned on the outside to defend against and break through any enemies. They raised their shields as if they would fight soon.
"Haah... Haah..."
"Phew. Haah."
Tense breathing sounds echoed here and there.
"Advance together and check the rooms."
They proceeded while checking every room from the bathroom closest to the staircase to the classrooms in succession.
"Bathroom clear."
"No one from Class 1."
One by one, they began to confirm the empty rooms. So far, they hadn’t found anyone else yet. Where could those guys from before be?
"What? There's no one?"
They had looked everywhere, but still found no one.
Tako frowned.
'This is strange.'
Something felt off.
"They must have gone up first," Bubblegum spoke relaxedly and made a logical inference.
Others also supported this opinion.
"Are they trying to monopolize the helicopter rescue by securing the rooftop first?"
"Let's go to the fourth floor then. We need to catch up with them before they reach the rooftop."
Following Bubblegum's command, everyone headed for the staircase.
Takoyaki kept tilting his head in puzzlement.
'This is strange...'
Then…
"Huh?"
Click.
He grabbed Bubblegum.
"Bro, I've figured it out."
"What...?"
"We shouldn't go. Not yet."
‘What?’
Bubblegum looked incredulous and turned to Almond for support as if asking for someone to take his side.
"Almond, do you understand what he's saying?"
"Yes."
"What is it then?"
"We shouldn't go."
"..."
— Hahaha! No way!
— Correct~
— What a walnut hahaha
— LOL
— Bubblegum is terrible, of course Almond doesn't know, so why ask? haha
— So what is it then?
***
About ten minutes earlier, Jessie and the kids from Class 2 had almost crawled through the third-floor window.
"Haah... Gee... This is tough."
"I thought I was going to die."
Everyone seemed to be struggling except for Jessie, who was in the combat corps.
"It seems there are no zombies here."
"Indeed."
Fortunately, the third floor had originally been a zombie-free zone.
"But Jessie, doesn't it seem like we’re outnumbered?" a player named Oote asked.
"Yes. And they’re probably more organized. I saw how they were moving earlier."
"… I see."
A scholarly-looking man suggested to Jessie, "If we’re outnumbered, then let's go up first. We can just close the door."
His username was NerdKing, but he had been called Masok until now.
"Ok Masok," Oote agreed. "Let’s go up first, close the door, and stall them. That's good. We could even keep them from coming in at all."
It sounded like a good proposal, but Jessie shook her head.
"That won't work."
"Why?"
"If we just close and lock the door, they'll break through it with a sledgehammer."
"Oh, they have a sledgehammer?"
"Yeah."
"Dammit. Then what about a barricade?"
"Do you not hear that?"
"!"
They could hear feet dragging as if echoing from the fourth floor. There were definitely zombies on the fourth floor. The noisy sounds of bumping here and there indicated a high probability of special zombies.
"The zombies on the fourth floor will get us if we try to make a barricade."
"What if we deal with all of them first?"
Class 2's current combat capability was at an elite level. Even if there were special zombies, they believed they could win.
The problem wasn’t the zombies. It was the other people.
"Deal with the zombies first? Sure, we could. But then those guys coming from behind will block our retreat and we'll just become meat shields for the zombies."
"… Oh, I see." Oote scratched his head and asked again, "So what are we going to do?"
Jessie closed her eyes for a moment, lost in thought.
"They don't know we’re here."
"… Right."
"They’ll definitely come up to the third floor. Naturally, they need to get to the rooftop."
"Yeah."
"Let's go back down to the second floor using the pipes again."
"…!?"
They had climbed up with great difficulty. Now they had to go down again? However, the strategy seemed like it could work.
"We'll take the rear. Let them be our meat shields."
"Oh…!"
Masok and Oote nodded.
"That's good. They don't even know we exist. They'll just go on and clear out the zombies themselves."
Indeed, it was a good strategy.
"But will the timing work out?"
If the other group was still on the second floor and their paths overlapped, everything would be messed up.
"From now on, we'll all climb up on the pipes between the second and third floors. As soon as we see them entering, we'll go in."
Shortly afterward, Class 2 climbed back to the gas pipes.
"Ugh… I, I have a fear of heights…"
Although some students cried out, they had no choice.
"Just a moment. I'll take a look."
With her remarkable sense of balance, Jessie hung onto the pipes and poked her head out to the side.
'They're going up.'
Class 3 gradually moved from the second to the third floor.
Jessie raised three fingers, signaling them to start descending when she counted to three.
"One, two…"
Whoosh.
Jessie re-entered the second floor first and the other kids followed one by one.
Class 2 returned to the second floor while Class 3 moved to the third. Thus, they switched positions. Class 2 had now taken the rear of Class 3 according to Jessie's plan.
Masok couldn't help but giggle.
"They've all gone up, right? It went completely according to plan."
***
[Beginner’s Tip: The biggest difference between humans and zombies is that humans use their heads. Yes, some players might not be distinguishable from zombies. Hahaha!]