My Reality Became a Zombie Game World, but Only I Can Use the Game System

Chapter 7: Kenzaki Reiha

I approached the academy, trying to avoid zombies as much as possible to avoid further exhausting my stamina. Of course, the paths in the real world were more complex and intertwined than in “DL4.” In the game, zombies were placed in positions that couldn’t be avoided, but in reality, avoiding them all was also an option.

I peeked at the school gate from around the corner, but there were still a large number of zombies wandering around. It would be difficult to break through with just the machete. If I used the full-auto assault rifle I bought from the store, I might be able to break through, but I didn’t want to use it, as I might hit and hurt living students with the scattered bullets.

The current Info Value ORTA had increased to 127 on my way here. Should I buy another item from the store?

“Ai, can I use the store system anytime?”

“No. It can only be used in a closed space where there are no zombies, in other words, the Safe Room.”

Well, I expected as much.

The “DL4” also had the same limitation, so I didn’t expect much. I considered breaking into a nearby house and using the store, but I had resistance to committing such a criminal act. I had killed so many zombies, yet I found it strange that I had such resistance.

“Let’s look for a place with fewer zombies.”

In addition to the main gate, the academy I attended had two other gates, the back gate and the service gate. Also, since the wall wasn’t very high, it was possible to climb over it.

As expected, I was able to climb over the wall from a place with fewer zombies. Thanks to my improved physical ability as a player, I easily reached the top of the wall. I checked my position by looking at the other side of the wall, and it wasn’t bad that the school building was nearby.

Looking down from the top of the wall, I saw two male student zombies wandering around.

—Two, or rather, two bodies…—

I had been unconsciously counting zombies as “bodies” rather than “people” from the beginning.

They were things, not humans. I had to think of them that way to be able to swing the machete without hesitation.

I landed quietly on the ground, but the two zombies quickly noticed me.

“Aaaah… Aaahhhhhhhhhh… Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

I grimaced for a moment as I tried to cut down the attacking zombies. It was a familiar face. Although I had never spoken to him, he was a classmate.

Nevertheless, I swung the machete and decapitated the two zombies. The current Info Value ORTA on the menu screen increased by 9.

Yeah, I’m getting used to it. I can take down zombies with familiar faces without a problem.

The Info Value ORTA obtained from zombies varied, so the current Info Value ORTA and the number of zombies defeated were not equal. I had already lost count of how many zombies I had defeated. I was so tense when I defeated my first zombie, but I had changed a lot.

I kept an eye on my surroundings, but there were no zombies nearby.

I felt something was wrong. There were so many zombies at the main gate, but why were there none on this side?

Then, I was called from above.

“Hey, you over there.”

Looking up, I saw a girl with blue hair in a ponytail sticking her face out of an open window on the second floor of the nearby building, beckoning to me. It was Kenzaki Reiha, my classmate.

Where was Yume-nee? First, I decided to head to Yume-nee’s classroom.

I turned my face back down and started walking towards the school building entrance.

“Huh…? Eeeh!? Hey, don’t ignore me in this situation!”

“Huh? You mean me?”

“Of course it’s you!”

With her beautiful blue eyes showing a hint of anger, Kenzaki-san shouted. She was one of the top beauties in the class, competing for the first or second spot, and her angry face carried a powerful presence.

“Is there any way you can come up here? I have something I want to talk about.”

“Sorry, but I want to stop by the bookstore after this…”

“Could you not say something that sounds like an awkward breakup excuse during a lonely walk home!?”

…Ugh. This is troublesome.

I’m in a hurry to go help Yume-nee, so I really don’t have time to entertain a classmate I barely talk to.

“Karamine-kun, you were absent from school today, right? So, if you came here, it means you’re looking for someone, right? Let’s exchange information.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. Kenzaki-san, you’re very perceptive.”

“Fufu, I’m pretty smart, even if my grades are barely passing.”

“Oh, I’m starting to feel anxious now.”

I had somehow imagined that Kenzaki-san was good at both academics and martial arts, given her beautiful appearance, but it seemed that she was at least not good at studying.

To understand the situation at the academy, I decided to join Kenzaki-san. With my current physical ability, I could easily climb up to the second floor by kicking the wall hard. Kenzaki-san was surprised, her eyes wide open, as she saw me come in through the open window.

“You’re surprisingly athletic. I’d like to make you a disciple of the Kenzaki school.”

“Oh right, your family ran a kendo dojo.”

“Yes. It might end with me considering our situation, though.”

My memory seems to be stable. Just in case, I checked with Kenzaki-san through conversation to make sure she wasn’t a zombie, but it seemed there was no problem.

I took a quick look at Kenzaki-san’s situation.

Her uniform, which fit her well-proportioned body, had traces of being pulled in several places, but she didn’t seem to be injured. The black tights covering her legs were only slightly torn. The blood attached to her uniform was probably from the splatter.

Kenzaki-san blushed and made a gesture to protect her body from my bold gaze. Her blue hair ponytail swayed, revealing her agitation.

“Karamine-kun, you’re quite perverted.”

“I was just checking to see if you were injured.”

“Ritsu-san’s a closet pervert.”

“(*Sigh* You’re making things complicated, so just be quiet…!)”

I silenced Ai in my mind and then checked the situation in the room where Kenzaki-san was.

From the positional relationship, it was clear—it was the second-year classroom. In front of the door, a barricade had been constructed using desks.

There were several zombies inside the classroom, but they were all lying on the floor.

I realized that I was in a safe zone, and I collapsed on the spot. The tension I hadn’t realized I was feeling had snapped. It seemed that the journey encountering zombies had taken more stamina from me than I had imagined. I couldn’t fight in this state. I decided to take a break and talk to Kenzaki-san for a while.

In a critical situation, it was important to keep a cool head by talking light-heartedly as usual. That was what my late father had taught me.

Sitting on the floor, I could see the zombies lying on the floor more clearly. It seemed that their heads had been split open with some kind of weapon.

“What happened to these zombies?”

“They’re really zombies… Right, I defeated them with this.”

Kenzaki-san showed me a blood-stained mop. It was broken in the middle, probably due to overuse.

“You split the heads of your classmates, who are zombies, with a mop? Kendo practitioners are scary.”

“I don’t want to hear that from someone who decapitated their classmates!”

I tried to set a trap, but it seemed that Kenzaki-san had seen me defeat the zombies. Since she had called out to me after I defeated the zombies, it meant that she had intended to just watch me if I had been attacked by zombies. It was a calm and desirable response.

Kenzaki-san, however, was talking to me very normally, even though I was holding a blood-stained machete. She was a brave person.

“I was just joking. It’s much better for you to be able to defeat zombies than not. Anyway, can I ask what happened at the academy?”

“Well… I first saw a zombie during class. It was around 10:30 a.m.”

Kenzaki-san’s story was more or less as I had imagined.

A large number of zombies had attacked the academy, and many teachers and students had been bitten. They were evacuated to the gymnasium building, but Kenzaki-san had fought against the zombies to protect the other students, and she was left behind in the school building. As she was holed up, the students who were supposed to be dead also turned into zombies after a few hours, and the situation worsened.

It was just before 3 p.m. now. There has been enough time for those who were bitten to turn into zombies by now.

“Are you sure that the students evacuated to the gymnasium building?”

“Yes. I think many students are holed up there.”

There was no mistake in what Kenzaki-san was saying.

Now, the mystery of why there were more zombies on the main gate side was also solved. The gymnasium building was located right after the main gate. The fact that there were many zombies gathered there meant that there were still many surviving humans.

“By the way, the person I’m looking for is Yume-nee… Do you know Inoue Yume?”

“The perfect senior who’s famous, right? I’m sorry, I know her face, but I haven’t seen her.”

I wasn’t disappointed, as I hadn’t expected to get any eyewitness information so easily.

From what I had heard, it was highly likely that Yume-nee was also in the gymnasium building. I had to go help her.

But this was an information exchange. I had to provide Kenzaki-san with the information she needed to survive. I suppressed my eagerness and began to tell Kenzaki-san about the zombies.

“I see, they react to loud noises. That’s why students who scream are attacked…”

Kenzaki-san nodded, placing her hand on her chin, as if she understood. It was a very intellectual gesture, and she looked amazing. I couldn’t believe she was my classmate who was barely passing.

“Hey, Karamine-kun, there’s a disciple of the Kenzaki school in the gymnasium building.”

“Huh, is that so?”

“If you want to survive in human society, it’s better to pretend to be interested even if you’re not. Anyway, I also want to go save him in the gymnasium building. Our goals are the same. Can’t we cooperate?”

I considered Kenzaki-san’s proposal.

Unlike me, Kenzaki-san was not a player. If she was bitten, she would turn into a zombie, and her physical ability was also within the human range.

As a decoy, she might be helpful, but it somehow felt like a heartless thing to cooperate with her, while thinking of her as a decoy.

While I was struggling with my thoughts, Kenzaki-san began to talk in a torrent.

“Kenzaki Reiha of 2nd-year B class. I’m the only daughter of the Kenzaki dojo. Height 162 cm, blood type B, born under Sagittarius. Favorite type is someone stronger than me, recent troubles are finding a place to hide the tests I got a failing grade on from my parents, and the most exhilarating moment recently was when I split the head of a zombie.”

“What’s with the sudden self-introduction? And you should show your parents the tests you got a failing grade on.”

“I thought my self-promotion wasn’t enough.”

“This isn’t a job interview…”

“By the way, I’m a D-cup and still growing.”

“Do you think I’ll be swayed by that information!?!”

The faint fantasy I had about Kenzaki-san, who was in the upper class of the class caste, was shattered, and my polite language collapsed.

However, I liked the part where she said she was exhilarated when she split the head of a zombie. The hurdle of attacking a zombie that was once human was high, and if she couldn’t overcome it, she wouldn’t be any help at all. In that sense, the fact that she had already experienced defeating zombies was a big plus.

“That’s not bad. Okay, let’s cooperate.”

“Huh? Because I’m a D-cup…?”

Kenzaki-san stepped back, hugging herself protectively. Why are you backing away when you were the one who suggested it?

“Because she’s a D-cup? You pitiful perverted monkey who doesn’t know the goodness of an A-cup…”

“(*Sigh* What’s with your push for small breasts…?)”

I got tired of dealing with Ai and Kenzaki-san, so I left them alone and opened the store screen from the menu.

My accumulated Info Value ORTA was 136. If I was going to make Kenzaki-san my ally, it would be better for me to buy her weapon.

“By the way, Karamine-kun, I’d like to borrow that blade from you… I’m a busty, beautiful kendo practitioner.”

“Don’t think that I’ll listen to you just because you’re flaunting your breasts! Wait a minute, I’ll prepare something better for you.”

I had intended to prepare a weapon for Kenzaki-san normally, but somehow, an unnecessary conversation was inserted, and now it seemed like I was weak to big breasts…

I sighed, lamenting that Kenzaki-san’s misunderstanding was accelerating, and I began to buy some items from the store.