The steel house might've been safe, but it sure wasn't comfortable to live in. So, with energy to spare, Ryuji got up early while the two won were still enjoying the comfort of sleeping in. He figured he'd go take care of a certain…physical problem of his while they were still lost in their dreams.
Sotis being this strong really ca with its own set of troubles.
Moving quietly, he got up, washed up, and strolled lazily toward the rchant woman's room, planning to properly "enjoy" her company again — after all, she really was surprisingly good.
But just as he was approaching, a sudden gust of sand-laden wind swept past, forcing Ryuji to squint his eyes and instantly clearing whatever drowsiness still lingered in his mind.
"…Sandstorm?"
That was his first half-asleep thought.
But then — sothing in his survival instincts scread at him.
His expression shifted instantly as he turned his gaze toward the opposite side of the pit— the very one Tsunade and Kiri had dug out before.
And in the next second — any trace of desire within him vanished completely, replaced by a bone-deep chill that spread throughout his entire body.
Because what he saw…
Was zombies.
Endless, endless zombies.
Far away on the cliffs, the undead staggered and shuffled along, moving ceaselessly in a single direction — and there were no fewer of them than the last ti.
If anything… there were more.
And this ti, with his enhanced vision, he could see even further into the distance.
Zombies. Still more zombies. Shoulder to shoulder. Step by step. An unending flood stretching beyond the horizon. All marching relentlessly forward.
He slowly turned, scanning the surrounding wilderness.
Every direction.
Nothing but zombies.
A vast, boundless ocean of the undead.
Overhead, the pale moon hung in a sky tinged with yellow-brown, the swirling sand turning day into sothing like twilight.
Ryuji stood there — mouth slightly open — so stunned that he didn't even notice the sand blowing into his mouth.
He just stared.
And stared.
This day…
Isn't this supposed to be the sixth day?
A terrible thought clawed its way into his mind.
Pulling up his system screen, he stared blankly at the blood-red number six displayed there.
After a long mont of silence, he finally accepted reality.
Without saying a word, he turned toward the rchant's room. But this ti, he didn't go there for pleasure.
Instead, he stripped away all the steel fras he'd previously traded her, bought the last seven grenades she had left, and quietly closed the door behind him as he left.
Then, he made his way back to their steel shelter.
By the ti he returned, Kiri and Tsunade had just finished getting dressed and were about to step out to wash up.
But Ryuji stopped them.
Without a word, he pointed toward the world outside.
Kiri's jaw fell open in shock.
Tsunade… simply sat down hard on the ground, her face drained of all color.
There were too many of them. Far, far too many.
They'd considered the zombie tide that Ryuji had ntioned before. They'd imagined waves of zombies crashing in like the sea — but they had never, not even for a second, expected things to be this extre. To be exactly as terrifying and exaggerated as Ryuji had warned.
"T-These zombies…"
Kiri swallowed hard, her hands trembling slightly. At last, she understood why Ryuji had been so obsessed with traps and fire attacks.
With this sheer scale… she could shoot until the end of ti with her revolver and still never wipe them out.
"Where did they all co from? And didn't you say they wouldn't appear until the seventh day?"
Her voice was low, barely above a whisper. Even though she knew that unless they shouted at the top of their lungs, the zombies wouldn't notice them… she still instinctively tried to make herself quieter.
"How would I know…"
Ryuji ran his hands over his clothes, subconsciously searching for a cigarette. He was panicking too — there was still so much he hadn't finished preparing. He still had so much to do...
"Calm down, Ryuji. We're here."
It was Tsunade who spoke, her face pale, but her tone steady. Being at a safe enough distance from the zombies had allowed her to recover so strength.
"And besides... judging by what you've told us and the number of zombies we can see, they shouldn't be able to break through to us... For now, cover the windows with whatever you can find. I'm going to rest for a bit, then barricade the door."
Ryuji took a deep breath and imdiately acted on Tsunade's words, using whatever he could to block the window facing her.
It wasn't until quite a while later that Tsunade managed to recover enough strength to summon solid blocks of iron with her reality-warping ability, sealing the main door shut completely, leaving the zombies no chance of forcing their way in.
The three of them hid inside the house in complete silence.
Ryuji and Kiri kept watch by the window, while Tsunade sat by the bed, staring unblinkingly at the iron barricade blocking the door — terrified that, in the very next mont, so blood-soaked monster would co crashing through.
Silence filled the air like a suffocating fog. Every second felt longer than the last. None of them wanted to risk a fight unless absolutely necessary — not Ryuji, not Kiri.
"If we open fire now... we'll just get sward and drowned in these monsters, won't we?" Kiri muttered quietly as she wiped down her pipe rifle and the revolver Ryuji had given her.
She had been excited when he handed her the revolver — for her, it was a huge boost to her combat power, allowing her to fight with much greater freedom.
But now... looking at the situation outside... even the revolver felt useless compared to a machine gun.
"Give two more machine guns. I'll see if there's any way I can modify them after I materialize them."
Without a word, Ryuji silently crafted two more crude pipe machine guns and handed them over.
kiri didn't hesitate. She imdiately activated her ability, materializing them to study their structure. But after a while, she simply closed her eyes in frustration.
There wasn't much to modify.
In fact, after materialization, these makeshift guns were even weaker than the ones produced directly through the system.
At least the system-generated ones didn't jam or fall apart. They didn't have issues with firing speed or accuracy. But once materialized... these improvised guns were practically guaranteed to break apart, and their accuracy was absolute garbage — no rifling, no stabilization — they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.
With a helpless sigh, Kiri set the guns aside, ntally preparing to experint later: maybe switching rapidly between reality-mode for shooting and system-mode for reloading might work... or vice versa.
She couldn't test it now, but there was one thing she was absolutely certain about — when it ca to using a revolver, her reloading speed left the system's auto-reload in the dust.
She could reload all her bullets in a fraction of a second — less than 0.4 seconds, to be exact.
But for Ryuji ... the system's reloading was clearly faster than his own hands.
Watching Kiri's frustrated expression, Ryuji knew imdiately that these crude modifications weren't worth it.
He sighed softly and continued watching the slow-moving tide of zombies outside — and the blood-red glow beginning to spread across the moon in the sky.
Wait a minute.
If he rembered correctly… the blood moon wasn't supposed to turn red this quickly.
Ryuji's heart sank.
If the blood moon's arrival was accelerating with each wave... if the timing was coming earlier and earlier...
Would the seventh wave be a permanent, full-day blood moon?
The very thought made Ryuji's hands tighten into fists.
He stared at the moon above — slowly, steadily being dyed red — while ti inched closer and closer to noon.
And sure enough, by noon, the moon had already turned half-red.
Even worse... the zombies outside had grown faster — noticeably more agile, more aggressive.
Ryuji fell silent for a long ti.
This process... was three hours faster than last ti.
He couldn't help but laugh bitterly to himself.
"Why is it... that only bad ons like this always co true?"
~~~~~~~~
Next Bonus Chapter target: 150 PS.
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