Chapter 18: Resolve

I pedaled my bike straight on the roads. When there were obstacles blocking my path, like abandoned cars or random debris from nowhere, I didn't stop and pedaled harder. My body, along with the bike I'm riding, passed through those obstacles like they were holograms as I continued on my way.

I ran away again...

Am I really that pathetic? Always running at the first sign of trouble in my life?

I know complaining like this is just stupid. I can't fight against that. Those tentacles are fast, and they can break concrete walls as if they are nothing. Just a single molotov made it hysterical. What will happen if I actually burn it?

The surrounding buildings, not just the condominium, might become rubble when it's done. I think that is what will happen!

So what? Should I just ignore it?

That's impossible!

That monster continuously grows as time passes. Sooner or later it will reach my room. I don't want to wait for the time it gets so close to my room that a single mistake will immediately hint at it from my existence. I can't stay within an alternate dimension indefinitely.

So leaving that place is the right decision.

Despite knowing that, I can't help it. Am I really going to live like this? Is my life always going to be a constant experience of fleeing at the first sight of trouble? Am I a rat? Is that it, just me changing houses like they're disposable things? Does my independence amount to these acts of cowardice for the sake of survival? What about my pride?

I know it's stupid. It's irrational to think about something as useless as pride when it concerns my life. Still, am I really going to be satisfied with just running everytime something happens to my surroundings?

... No, of course not!

I won't be satisfied with just being alive at all. I want to live free of any trouble. I don't want to be constantly fearing for my life, nor do I want to leave what I consider my home. I want to be left alone!

Just finding a secure place is not enough. There are countless monsters in this city alone. I just passed through many of them, and they are incredibly disgusting, grotesque, and wrong in many ways. They are also scary enough, and a few I briefly chanced encountering in my ride are killing each other with a ferocity and speed that is impossible for me to keep up with. A room alone won't prevent these monsters from getting to me!

I have to find ways to prevent them. Barricades alone aren't enough. I need preventative measures. Traps, pits, alarm bells, anything that can prevent these monsters from getting to me.

My powers aren't enough. I need to stop being so complacent and start actively thinking about what else I can do.

I have to learn not just general survival skills but also ways to hunt these monsters and the behavior of these monsters. Not just that, I have to learn a lot of things. I need to know how to make an effective barricade, I need to know how to build stuff on my own, and I need to know how to repair stuff. Those are just the basics.

I can't just put these thoughts off until later. This is the apocalypse, and no matter how much I wish it, living passively won't guarantee my peaceful life! I have to stop procrastinating and do everything in my capacity to secure my base as much as I can! And even if I secured my base, I have to think more about how I can improve it!

It's troublesome. It's too much work for me, who is just a shut-in loser who gives up on this world, but I can't live peacefully anymore. I should stop deluding myself into thinking that I can return to my old habits just because I have this power!

I need to learn how to fight!

As I built that resolve in my heart, I continued passing through the main road. I just drove my bike without stopping. Pressing the pedals hard with the soles of my boots and going at the fastest speed that I could. Even if I was moving this fast and going past the main roads, I just passed through the walls of the buildings and the random roadblocks on the way. Whenever I derailed from the road, I just drove past the buildings until I returned to the next series of roads, in which I just drove through.

During my drive, I've encountered many types of monsters. There was some large quadrupedal creature who prowled around the alleyways and then countless amounts of crawling monstrosities hidden within the tunnel pathways leading to other districts. I also passed through a building covered in web, a large cocoon of some sort, and even different types of flesh monstrosities and tentacle monsters that existed on every corner of this city.

I just left them all after a brief glance. I cannot use that place as my new base. All of them are dangerous. Rooftops isn't even an option because, not just birds, I've also seen different types of creatures flocking around the skies in different shapes and forms, killing each other while they, I assumed, screamed to each other. Faded World doesn't convey sound in the original world, so I wasn't sure, but I have a feeling that I'm fortunate I couldn't hear whatever noise they were making.

It took a long while until I found myself settling in an abandoned car dealership of some sort in a suburban area near a park. Despite the thick vines and weird wriggly tendrils covering it, I've read the signboard, which let me know I'm somewhere in Katsutadai, Yachiyo. I think that is still within Chiba, though incredibly farther than my initial location.

As to why I chose this, it's because it met my requirements for my base. This abandoned car dealership doesn't have many zombies within it. With just a few thwacks on their heads with my weapon, I managed to wipe out every monster in this place. Next, the interiors were secure. The front entrance could be closed with the metal shutters in it, and the lock was still in there, so I managed to do just that. The large windows that showcased their cars likewise have it, thoroughly enabling me to lock all sides of this place. There was also a back door in this place, which I simply locked with metal chain links conveniently placed beside it on a table. I checked everywhere, and it was all the possible entrances to this place.

Next, there was a veritable amount of plant monsters in the park just a short distance away from this car dealership. Unlike that weird tentacle monster with a slime-like base, the plant monstrosities in the park haven't gone all the way here despite being in this place for a long time. I assume these creatures have emerged when the apocalypse began, and if they still haven't reached their roots here despite having two months, then I assume there might be a reason. This place is also relatively far in the park that even if those plants somehow decided to extend their roots to this place, I would know because I will always check the outside constantly.

These plant monsters are important. I just checked, and I saw them thinning out the zombie population on the streets. They might also be the reason why there are a few zombies around this neighborhood to begin with. It's not just that. These plant monsters are important because I'm not just going to exploit them; I'm going to hunt them!

Finally, this place is not just secure, but it's also on the ground floor. At first, I've been hesitant to stay on a ground floor because zombies naturally crowd within it. Now, though, after that near-death experience at the condominium, I now felt that choosing a higher place doesn't necessarily mean I would be safe. If I am going to attempt to kill a high-level monster, then I might as well choose a place where I would be relatively safe. Staying on the ground floor was the obvious choice then!

There are no bedrooms in this place, but at least it has an office space, which I can turn into my own room. Other than that, this whole building has a lot of resources I can use to my advantage. It has a lot of cars, tools, and most important of all, gas!

After making sure the place is secure and I haven't missed any entrance unchecked, I jumped back to the real world in this location and checked everything. This place, unfortunately, doesn't have food stocked in it, but there were lots of power tools and even a couple of generators around. Most of all, there were a lot of fuel containers in a storage room, which could be used for any of the cars around here.

I will make use of all of that!

This time, in my third base, I will take everything seriously!

First of all, while I'm recovering my mana, I start making plans for my new base and then start moving things that I can move.

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Evening is coming close when I am done recovering. I have duplicated enough power lamps to light up every corner of this building and then used Faded World to duplicate cars and then drove them before parking enough cars around every possible entrance to this building, effectively blocking anyone from entering my place.

Now, I have to recover my mana again, but that was fine. I'm still in my preparatory phase for my next plan.

I prepared a lot of molotov through my power and even duplicates of cans of gas, which I put to the side. All of this will be used tomorrow.

I need a lot of mana. Common zombies just don't do it. I need to kill other variants of monsters if I want to get more mana.

Not just that, I also need to learn how I can increase my mana recovery. I recently realized that just increasing my mana capacity will be useless if I can't recover mana fast enough. Even if I get enough mana to stay in an alternate world for a whole year, I will have to wait for several years just to fill up that amount of mana if I ever have to actually use it all up.

That is not good. If killing monsters increases my mana capacity, then there might also be a way to increase the recovery rate of mana, right?

If there isn't any, then I have to consider using my powers sparingly.

"That doesn't matter. I'll just have to adapt and go along with it."

Not being able to adapt will make my life harder. I need to stop thinking it's troublesome and just do it.

This time, I will try to defend my base and make my own paradise with my hands!