Chapter 056: The Marauders

The delinquent who had taken a bullet to the groin was bleeding profusely, collapsing to the ground and convulsing uncontrollably like an epileptic, his eyes rolling back in his head. The sudden gunfire threw the gang of delinquents into chaos and terror.

A few hundred meters away, Su Cheng packed away his sniper rifle and, carrying his blade, strode into the girls’ high school. The 98K sniper rifle produced in this game world came with an auto-aim feature—even someone as inexperienced as Su Cheng could easily hit his target, making it extremely user-friendly.

“Bastard, who the hell are you? How dare you meddle in my business?” The man with the small mustache yanked the female teacher’s hair, using her as a human shield, his bravado barely concealing his fear as he shouted threats.

“Boss, he’s got a gun,” one of the thugs, shaken by the grisly fate of his comrade, shrank back in terror and stammered.

In this country, where gun control was enforced with extreme rigor, even criminal syndicates rarely had access to firearms. For thugs like them, the mere presence of a gun was intimidating enough.

“Idiot, I know that,” the mustached thug barked, perhaps out of fear of suffering the same fate as his groin-shot friend. He hid behind the teacher, showing only half his face, and threatened, “Put the gun down or I’ll kill this woman.”

Su Cheng let out a cold laugh, regarding the thug as though he were a complete fool. “Moron, I’m not a police officer. What do I care if you have a hostage? That woman’s life or death has nothing to do with me.”

The thugs paused, their expressions bewildered. This man truly didn’t look like a cop—so what was the point of taking a hostage? Their leverage evaporated.

Hearing this, the captive teacher, Ms. Koizumi, felt despair darken her clear eyes.

“You think you can look down on me? I’ve killed people before!” the mustached thug snapped. He didn’t buy Su Cheng’s words so easily; pulling out a switchblade, he pressed it to the teacher’s neck, drawing a bloody line across her skin.

But Su Cheng ignored the thugs entirely, walking straight over to the girl beside the motorcycle.

“Keri Akebashi?”

He stopped in front of the high school girl, meeting her eyes for confirmation.

Yes, it was her.

“Do you know me?” Keri Akebashi looked at him blankly, clearly not recognizing this man.

“Your grandfather, Saburo Akebashi, asked me to find you. Come with me.”

“My grandfather?” Keri hesitated, then shook her head. “I can’t go with you. Ms. Koizumi is still in the hands of these bad people.”

Seeing the determination in her expression, Su Cheng dismissed the idea of knocking her out and taking her by force. This girl was clearly a crucial character in the storyline—without her trust and help, completing his mission would be difficult.

“I understand.” Su Cheng nodded, his gaze suddenly turning icy. “Xiao Bai, now.”

The thug holding Ms. Koizumi was about to threaten Su Cheng again when he suddenly felt a chill in his chest. Glancing down, he saw a gaping hole torn open in his chest, through which his still-beating heart was visible.

At the same moment, the teacher’s body remained motionless, but her head rotated 180 degrees to fix him with a wide-eyed, silent stare. Two streams of blood trickled from her eyes.

“Gh-ghost!”

The mustached thug let out a terrified scream, only to find his body paralyzed by some unknown force. Helpless, he watched as the teacher’s hand plunged into his chest and ripped out his still-beating heart. Then, with a grotesque smile, she bit into it as though it were an apple.

The horror of the scene nearly made the mustached thug wet himself.

By the time he snapped out of his hallucination, Su Cheng was standing before him.

“You!” the thug snarled, a flash of malice in his eyes as he lunged with the switchblade. But to Su Cheng, his movements were agonizingly slow—no threat at all.

The thug’s arm was halfway raised when, with a sharp crack, it tumbled from his shoulder to the ground, blood spraying from the stump. He barely registered that his arm had been severed before Su Cheng’s second stroke pierced his chest without hesitation, and the man collapsed into a pool of blood.

“He—he’s killed someone!” The remaining thugs, seeing Su Cheng dispatch a man so coldly, trembled like helpless lambs, forgetting entirely how ruthless they themselves had been toward the students and teachers moments before.

Ms. Koizumi, clutching her bleeding neck, stared at Su Cheng as if he were a veritable demon.

“Kill him! Avenge the boss!” a few of the braver thugs shouted. They roared their engines and charged Su Cheng on their motorcycles.

The engines thundered as the bikes bore down, but Su Cheng didn’t flinch; instead, he charged straight at them.

“He’s lost his mind!” the students watching from the school cried out, some of the more timid girls covering their eyes in fear.

Su Cheng’s steel blade struck the motorcycle with a shower of sparks. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he brought the sword down in a powerful arc, splitting the bike’s fuel tank in a single blow. The biker was sent flying more than ten meters through the air, crashing to the ground.

Gasoline gushed from the ruptured tank, and a stray spark set off an explosion, reducing the motorcycle to a heap of twisted metal.

Ms. Koizumi’s eyes were wide with disbelief—her entire worldview overturned by the sight of a man destroying a motorcycle with nothing but a sword.

“He’s a monster! Run!” The remaining thugs, panic-stricken, sped out of the school on their bikes.

With the threat gone, Su Cheng turned to Keri Akebashi. “Now can we go?”

He found a motorcycle left behind by the thugs and tossed Keri a helmet, gesturing for her to get on.

“Wait! Where are you taking my student?” Ms. Koizumi, seeing that Su Cheng intended to take Keri, mustered her courage and hurried after them.

“I’m taking her somewhere safe. The bioweapon outbreak will reach East Tokyo soon—you’d better find a place to hide as well,” Su Cheng said, putting on his own helmet.

“Bioweapon outbreak? Regardless, I won’t let a stranger take my student!” Ms. Koizumi insisted stubbornly.

“Your bra strap is showing,” Su Cheng said suddenly, pointing at her.

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she looked down to adjust her strap. In that instant, Su Cheng gunned the engine and sped off with Keri.

“That bastard!” Ms. Koizumi stomped her foot in frustration as they vanished down the street.

Once they’d left the school, Su Cheng took Keri to her old family home, a typical Japanese house in East Tokyo. This was where Keri had grown up with her parents, though since their fatal car accident, she had lived there alone while her grandfather worked at the lab.

Arriving at the Akebashi house, Su Cheng found signs that someone had already ransacked the place—drawers turned out, possessions scattered everywhere.

“Players in this scenario shouldn’t have found the Akebashi house so soon. This must be the Mitsui Corporation’s work. I wonder if they found any clues,” Su Cheng mused.

On the way, Su Cheng had questioned Keri thoroughly about anything the doctor might have left behind. According to her, he hadn’t left her anything special—certainly nothing related to the bioweapon outbreak.

“Is that you, Keri? What happened here? Did you have a break-in?” The neighbor, Mr. Kawakawa, poked his head in, concern etched on his face as he surveyed the mess.

“The thief must have already left, Mr. Kawakawa. It’s all right,” Keri replied politely.

“And this is?” The neighbor eyed Su Cheng suspiciously—he’d never seen Keri bring a man home before.

“He’s a friend of my grandfather’s.”

Mr. Kawakawa nodded, visibly reassured by Keri’s demeanor. “There was a report on TV about a viral outbreak in Tokyo earlier—everyone’s being advised to stay indoors. I’ve made beef curry tonight. Why not join us for dinner?”

It had been six hours since the outbreak began, and night had fallen completely.

“Thank you, that would be lovely.” Since her parents’ death, the neighbors had looked after Keri, often inviting her for meals.

Su Cheng noticed that Mr. Kawakawa showed no signs of infection; for now, at least, the area seemed safe. So, he followed Keri to the neighboring house.

“Mikiko, Keri and her friend will join us for dinner. Set a couple extra places,” Mr. Kawakawa called as he changed into his slippers and led Su Cheng and Keri inside.

“Is Mikiko not home?” Keri asked as she entered the living room, noticing it was empty except for their host.

“Something’s not right,” Su Cheng muttered, catching a whiff of blood in the air.

Drip. Drip.

Suddenly, a vivid red stain spread across Mr. Kawakawa’s white shirt, droplets splattering on the floor, pooling at his feet.

Su Cheng saw a decayed hand thrusting out from Mr. Kawakawa’s lower back.

“Mi...ki...ko…” the neighbor rasped painfully, before that rotten hand ripped his body in two, blood spraying everywhere.

“Uncle!” Keri froze in terror, her legs giving way as she collapsed to the floor.

Before her, a horrifying zombie—its entire body putrefied, only faintly human—emerged with a guttural snarl.

“Infected,” Su Cheng said coldly. In a flash, he drew his sword and charged at the monstrous zombie.

All around them, the scent of blood drifting in the night drew more and more shambling figures toward Su Cheng and Keri, closing in from every direction.