Apocalypse Tyrant

Unlock (3)

Beeeeeep—

The ringing in my ears grew more intense every time I shook my head vigorously.

It was literally a sensation of my head going numb.

I didn’t expect to get up lightly without any damage like in Hollywood blockbusters where cars explode at the slightest provocation, but to this extent?

My head was dizzier than I had anticipated.

“Keeeeeek—!”

But that’s that, and this is this.

Countless zombies caught in my vision every time I whipped my head around.

The probability that those zombies would approach me, who had just jumped out of the car, and ask “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” was extremely low.

Rather, they’d probably flatten me like in the hamburger game just as I’d barely gotten up, and enjoy a human flesh party.

From the moment I first witnessed a zombie until now.

There was always only one thing I had to do.

Escape.

“Keeeeeek—!”

With a thud, a zombie flattened the spot where I had been lying just moments ago.

It flailed with hand gestures full of regret towards me as I hurriedly started sprinting.

Swish—!

But the sudden car self-destruction show didn’t just bring disadvantages.

A quick glance showed the car still blaring its alarm at the main entrance and zombies trapped underneath.

Zombies still vigorously stretching out their hands even though tires had crushed most of their upper bodies.

Corpses vigorously alive with injuries that would never allow a ‘person’ to survive.

As expected, or as per the cliché,

I had killed no less than 4 of those zombie bastards that needed their heads blown off with the self-destruction show.

The 4 remaining points gained from that dutifully moved to the dexterity stat,

and the dexterity that increased by 4 at once instantly proved its worth.

“Keeeeeek—!”

The roars of zombies gradually fading.

The distance between me sprinting at full speed and the zombies chasing me kept growing.

The game of hide-and-seek that started on the Humanities Building lawn led me past the main entrance to the side door where the hide-and-seek had begun.

Vrrrrr—!

Background music echoing in my head as soon as I saw the bloodstains soaking the asphalt.

Both the hedge trimmer that had been making a vicious sound and the crazy old man who had blocked my way with it were gone.

All that remained was the corpse of the zombie that had tried to ambush me from behind but had its head split by the old man.

The crazy old man was clearly on the verge of becoming a zombie, so that’s understandable, but where did the hedge trimmer that had been lying on the ground go?

I regretted the loss of what could have been called a weapon, but there was no time to stop.

Keeeeeek—!

Strangely, the zombies’ roars became clearer as the distance grew.

I hurriedly climbed the small stairs 2-3 steps at a time, crossing the asphalt soaked with bloodstains.

Bang—!

Without slowing my running speed, I pushed open the glass door with my shoulder and re-entered the Humanities Building.

“…Fuck.”

The Humanities Building corridor welcoming me as if the bloodstains on the asphalt I had just seen were nothing.

Bloodstains soaking the bulletin boards decorating the spaces between department offices, and dark red blood still slowly dripping down the corridor walls, apparently not yet dry.

A stench that made me instantly understand what the smell of blood was like stung my nose.

“Keeeeeek—!”

Moreover, zombies starting to run towards me after spotting me in the Humanities Building’s central hall.

Without any hesitation, as I was about to climb the stairs heading to the 2nd floor, something caught my eye.

[1F]

The elevator located right next to the stairs.

It was constantly indicating that it was waiting on the 1st floor.

Disaster and elevator.

Just thinking about those two simultaneously leaves me with an uneasy feeling.

As an avid viewer of “Crisis Escape No. 1,” and as someone who had completed safety training repeated like a tape recorder since school days, it was a natural reaction.

I had been taught over and over that using an elevator in such a crisis situation is dangerous.

But—

Keeeeeek—!

I alternately stared at the side door stairs I had run from, the Humanities Building’s central hall, and the stairs leading to the 2nd floor.

Especially the stairs going up to the 2nd floor.

Encountering zombies in that narrow area would be very dangerous.

Unless I had the ability to fly, I couldn’t predict how many times I might encounter zombies charging from above.

…The deliberation was brief, and so was the decision.

Swoosh—

The elevator gently welcoming me as soon as I pressed the open button.

Except for bloodstains spread on the floor as if someone bitten by a zombie had used it, it was an elevator with no apparent issues.

Beep—

After hurriedly pressing 4, I pressed the close button as if trying to break it.

“Kee—!”

[♩~ ♪~ ♬]

The roars of approaching zombies cut off abruptly, and familiar classical music started in the elevator.

I hurriedly regulated my breathing in the elevator that started ascending to the 4th floor with a slight floating sensation.

“Hoo— Hoo— Hoo—”

Now only the final stage remained.

From the 4th floor, climbing one more floor by stairs would lead to my planned destination, the Humanities Building rooftop.

I dusted off the varsity jacket I had put on to reduce injury when jumping from the car, and wiped the sweat that had somehow soaked my forehead with the back of my hand.

And in preparation for any eventuality, I quickly took out my smartphone from my pocket and unlocked it.

I touched the YouTube app on the smartphone that had a large crack, perhaps from hitting a small stone hidden in the grass when I jumped from the car.

Tok— Tok— Tok—

When I searched for ‘siren,’ which immediately popped into my mind when thinking of a loud sound, YouTube immediately displayed a video.

“Fuck! I said real siren, not a song!”

I clearly wanted a real siren, not hip-hop, but no matter how much I scrolled down, there were only videos related to hip-hop.

“Ah fuck!”

But there wasn’t enough time to search for another term.

Looking up at the display panel with anxious eyes, I saw the number changing from 3 to 4.

Ding—!

At the cheerful single note announcing arrival at the destination, I reluctantly touched a song.

I turned the volume up to maximum while listening to the intro reminiscent of a music box.

Swoosh—

The mechanical door opening at a constant speed regardless of the situation outside.

Crunch— Crunch—

And through the opening door gap, zombies continuing their ‘meal’ could be seen.

Whether due to the elevator arrival sound or the music heard through the opening door gap.

Zombies stopping their meal and staring at the elevator.

Seeing their torn and mangled faces, brief scenes flashed like a panorama.

Even when I first witnessed a zombie, it rushed at the screaming female student, not me.

They react fiercely to horn sounds, and stop ‘eating’ when they suddenly hear noise.

Whether they’re more affected by visual or auditory stimuli—

I couldn’t jump to conclusions based on a few fragmentary situations, but what was important to me wasn’t which they were more affected by.

What mattered was that ‘hearing’ was alive in them.

[♩~ ♪~ ♬]

My smartphone crossing the 4th floor corridor like a hockey puck past the elevator.

The heads of zombies continuing their meal suddenly turned at the music flowing from that smartphone.

‘…Now!’

This was the situation I had induced and hoped for.

Swish—!

The roars of zombies belatedly coming to their senses followed my gritted-teeth running, more intense than ever before.

“Keeeeeek—!”

In an instant, my two legs sprinted past the elevator and up the stairs leading to the rooftop.

Without even a chance to glance back, I ran at full speed towards the slightly open rooftop door.

Screech— Bang—!

Opening the iron door and closing it again simultaneously, I stretched out my two legs and leaned against the iron door.

Keeeeeek—!
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!

Roars full of anger and vibrations of heads and shoulders violently pounding the iron door soaked my lower back.

Screech— Screech—

As I applied more force, my shoes scraped the asphalt and advanced, so I quickly pulled them back to their original position and looked around hurriedly.

I had checked in advance with the horn, but there might still be unforeseen threats remaining on the rooftop.

Boom—! Boom—! Bang—!

The Humanities Building rooftop made into a small garden for students’ welfare.

An incongruously lush garden and smoking facilities for smokers came into view.

And as confirmed, neither zombies nor people were on the rooftop.

Uwaaaaaaah—!

At that moment, a familiar noise echoing from inside the Humanities Building.

Keeeeeek—!

With a cry of joy, the vibrations pounding the iron door instantly ceased.

“…”

Only after holding firm against the iron door for about 5 more minutes did I slowly release the strength in my legs.

“Haa— Haa—”

Only then did rough breaths escape my mouth and my legs lose all strength.

“Haa— Haa— Haa—”

Continuously gasping for breath, I slumped down against the iron door.

…I survived.

Sitting slumped, I closed my eyes and kept letting out empty laughs.

I don’t know why I was laughing, but somehow, giggles that made my shoulders shake kept escaping endlessly.

…I survived.

Thinking about it now, it was a reckless plan full of holes, but in the end, it succeeded.

From the Humanities Building lecture hall to the front of the main entrance where a literal zombie wave had crashed.

And from the front of the main entrance back to the Humanities Building rooftop.

Breaking through numerous crises, I finally survived.

“…No.”

I won.

I kept exhaling dry laughter and closed my eyes.

In this game of hide-and-seek with those damned zombie bastards—

“…I won, you sons of bitches.”