Chapter 16: Abrupt End

It's early in the morning, and here I am tying a makeshift rope made from bundled-up strings on the stairs and then attaching bells on them. After doing that, I step back and point my hand before uttering the words of my new technique.

"Rewrite."

The rope, along with the bell, loses its color after I push my intent on it, making it a part of the scenery of this colorless world.

This is an alarm system that I thought up after looking at all of the loot I got from this floor. I made some on the hallways and at the stairs leading to my room so it will let me know whether some zombies are coming. I remember from my first defense how those zombies just drag whatever is blocking them with their own steps, and if they can't do that, then they just push themselves up or crawl on top of whatever is blocking them. So I assume they don't have enough intelligence to walk past obstacles. They simply brute force their way if they can't move past it.

As for my new technique, Rewrite is an ability that lets me put whatever I have in the Faded World even if I'm not touching it. Basically, I can put objects I've thrown or put somewhere while I'm in Faded World into the real world with my intent alone. It costs a chunk of mana, and the amount of mana it drains depends on the type of item I am using it as.

I thought up this ability after thinking about it. I can do Invisible Strikes, so that covers my melee. How about range attacks? With that thought, I manage to create Rewrite. This technique isn't just useful for turning my projectile attacks from the Faded World real, but it can also let me manifest whatever I duplicated in this Faded World into the real world without touching them. Distance doesn't matter. I just need to have eye contact with it and enough mana to make it possible.

I'm glad I kept experimenting with my powers. Jumping into an actual alternate world might be impossible for the current me, but I can do something this minor with the amount of mana I have.

Anyway, saying the name of my technique is not necessary to activate my power. I just want to say it. It sounds cool!

... And I admit, I'm feeling depressed only hearing the moans of the zombies. Lately, I've been speaking loudly to myself for no reason other than to hear some coherent voice in my ears.

Ugh... I really hate it, but I can't really deny that I am feeling lonely...

"... Tsk." I shook my head.

Right, there is no time for brooding. I only have a short time in the Faded World. I have to take advantage of it as much as possible.

I turn my attention below the stairs before quickly moving down the floor. The moans of the zombies become louder as I get closer, until I get there. Even without the smell, the sight of a group of zombies and the grotesque flesh they left still made me grimace.

These zombies are never-ending. Despite killing a lot of them, they just keep gathering on this part and snarling at the air as if the sight of their dead zombies infuriates them. I have been trying to reduce their numbers, so why does it feel like it doesn't matter? They just keep coming!

Is there something I'm missing? Do they have a way to produce more of their numbers? I thought zombies only infected others?

It's also becoming quite bad lately. The smell of death has already reached my room that even eating is becoming hard for me. I don't know what to do. It's a waste of mana cleaning them up through the Faded World. I can't really clean this in the real world because of the existence of these zombies.

I might have to give up wiping them out and start thinking of targeting advanced variants of these zombies that might be lurking here somewhere. I know there are some. I've seen a lot of them on the streets below being hunted by the birds and that large, goopy tentacle thingy. Hunting other variants will give me more mana than just trying to reduce their numbers.

Right... Next time, I will do that!

____________________

After my brief hunt, I return to my base and start thinking about my next plan.

Right, I already scrapped my plan to wipe out the zombies below, but I still haven't thought about what else I should be doing. I am going to hunt advanced variants, but what kind of variant am I going to hunt, and how am I going to hunt them?

Well... I think I already have an idea of who I want to hunt.

That tentacle monster from the other side of the street. It's a perfect target for my next hunt!

It has been expanding its goopy-like body, and lately it's getting closer to this side. I haven't been targeting it yet because I want to focus more on wiping out the zombies below, but now that I realize it's impossible, I'll have to think about killing immediate threats to my peace. That tentacle monster is the most threatening compared to any monsters around me.

There is also that problem about the random short quakes and sound of explosions in the distance, but because I don't know what it was, I decided not to ignore it. The monster birds are busy hunting other zombies, and these zombies are roaming around the streets, so I think these monsters aren't that much of a threat yet in my life.

That tentacle monster is the one that makes me nervous. I feel like if it reaches my room, there is a high chance something bad happens.

I lay on my bed as I thought about the plans for how I would do that. The tentacle monster's body is below, so only thrown objects or projectiles are viable for dealing with it.

... Right, I haven't been using my molotov lately. I think it's time to use them again after this long.

"Later..."

I have to rest, eat, and wash myself before starting my next operation. I still have five hours before I fully recover my mana. So I have a lot of time on my hands. Well, it will be boring just doing nothing, so I might as well do my usual.

Brainstorming ideas for my survival!

____________________

It's past noon when I feel my mana fully recovered. I look at the mess I made on the floor and shake my head before standing up.

Right, I'm not good at making makeshift traps. I've gotten knives again and other stuff like detergent, broomsticks, and buckets, but I can't really think of anything useful for them that can at least prevent zombies from getting to my barricades.

I'll think about it next time.

Right now, I have to prepare.

I immediately take one of my molotov before jumping into the Faded World. Immediately after that, I walk towards the wall leading to the next room and walk past it. Once again, Faded World let me ignore obstacles blocking me, so I got an idea. What if I just ignore walls?

It's possible. So I can go to the next room without wasting time going to the entrance and moving to the hallways. As to why I am changing rooms, it's quite obvious.

I don't want that tentacle monster to know I'm using the edge of the side of this condominium as my base!

I don't know if it can recognize whether it is being attacked or not, and I have no idea if it has enough intelligence to discern which direction it is being attacked from if it could recognize foes. Regardless, I want to lower the chance of that ever happening. So I am going to attack it from a different room!

I walk forward until I am three rooms away from my own base before stepping into the bedroom and going straight into the outer balcony. I almost flinch when I see one of its tentacles swinging wavily in the air like it's seaweed. Its reach is quite high, and it feels like it is trying to absorb sunlight like a plant, even though it looks quite alive and disgusting.

Okay, Yakumo. Time to focus and start my first attempt at killing this monster. Hopefully fire is its weakness.

I take a copy of my lighter from my pocket while putting the bottle of homemade incendiary bomb on the floor.

"Rewrite."

After that, the molotov became a part of the monochrome color of this world. I didn't stop holding onto it even when my hand slightly passed through its image after turning it real in the original dimension. Next, I tried duplicating it through my intent. After another chunk of my mana got drained, a colored version of the molotov that turned monochrome suddenly existed, making its presence known on my hand, overlapping with its colorless counterpart.

That is right. I can only make duplicates that exist in the real world. It's impossible to duplicate them while I'm still holding them in the Faded World.

After making a duplicate, I start burning the cloth acting as a wick for this bottle of flammable cocktail before throwing it straight to the base of this tentacle's body and then pointing my palm towards the falling visage of that bottle.

"Rewrite!"

The thrown bottle of flammable oil turned monochrome before, with a sound of shattering glass, flames engulfed that particular part of that monster. The tentacle suddenly shuddered, before I felt a sudden tremor that shook where I'm standing on. The tentacle in front of me was moving erratically, lashing out at the ground and making gouges on it. My eyes naturally fell below which let me see its slime-like body that made up the base of these tentacles suddenly twitching. They trembled like waves, creating ripples around its goopy form while its tentacles lashed out.

Great. It's susceptible to fire. I just have to--!?

"Ah!"

The instant I thought of that, something slammed into the balcony. After that, my vision tilted while a sense of weightlessness engulfed my body. I tried to flail my arms around instinctively as I looked down and belatedly realized I was falling.

Right... I'm falling...

Straight to the ground.

The debris of the balcony I have been standing on is coming along with my descent to the concrete ground with nothing to cushion my fall.

How? Why? Where is the balcony below me?

No way! I'm falling! I'm going to die!

I don't want to die!

Flashes of memories flipped through my mind like they were a movie clip. Memories of my failures, the people I thought were friends who left me alone, who used me just because my family was rich, of my brother putting me down, my mother who doesn't love me, and my father's gaze as if he was looking at an insect. Countless images of my life in the estate, my bitter experience at the school, and even the competition within the family, and finally, my own rebellion when I finally left it all alone. Deciding to be a shut-in and stop caring about the world anymore.

All of that in an instant as the vision of concrete filled with the slimy body of that tentacle becoming bigger in my vision in slow motion.

What is this? Is this what they're talking about when you're going to die? How does life flash before your eyes as your mind tries to find ways to save your life?

I don't know... but there is only one conclusion for a person when they fall from the fifth floor of the building straight into the ground.

I am going to die!

"NOOOOOOOO---!?"

Without regard to my fears and denial, I fell to the ground.

And then...