HOTD! Busujima’s Step Brother

"Kuh!?" I groaned at the shockwave.

"What the hell?!" Takashi shouted, "What the heck is happening?!"

All zombies immediately turned their attention to the factory building. I looked over, noticing a smoke rising from a window.

"Shit!" I cursed.

As if laughing at this situation, the choice appeared.

[Make your choice!]

1. Command everyone and save the Takagi group from danger. (Reward: 10 Shop Points)
2. Run and save your life! (Reward: 20 Shop Points + 1 Strength)
3. Fuck working in team! I alone am the honored one. Save Don Takagi and his group alone. (Reward: 500 Shop Points + 3 All Stats)
4. Just wait until the chaos is over. I'm sure they are all dead by now anyway. (Reward: 1000 Shop Points + 1 All Stats)

What am I, the strongest sorcerer?

However, thinking about it for a second, my plan to return the society to normal would be useless if there was no leader. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't do it alone as a high school boy.

I needed a figurehead to gather and unite the survivors, and Don Takagi was that person.

Without him, this city was doomed. I could escape and try to survive alone, but that would be difficult. I didn't know where to find food or clean water.

System? How could I rely on such an unreliable one?

"Papa!" Saya's scream snapped me from my thoughts.

She ran inside the building, but was stopped by Saeko.

"It's too dangerous!" Saeko reasoned with her, holding her arms.

"But Papa is inside! I can't leave him to die!" She yelled, trying to break free.

The Takagi family was important, but they weren't my only choice. I could survive alone and find a way to get out of this city, maybe even leave Japan.

But then I remembered Saeko, and how she told me she would follow me wherever I go.

'Ah shit. I don’t want to burden her with another plan, so this is the best choice I can choose.'

"Everyone, go into the humvee and leave immediately!" I shouted.

Everyone looked at me in confusion.

"Don Takagi told us to secure this place. Going inside right now will just add more zombies to the factory. Return to Takagi Estate and call for help. I'll save him." I told them, "Saeko, you are in charge. Go."

Everyone was silent, but Saeko nodded and led the group to the humvee. However, Miss Shizuka and Saya stayed.

"But Daiki." Miss Shizuka said, "We can't just leave them like this!"

"Let me come too!" Saya said, "I can't abandon Papa and Mom!"

I turned around and looked at the building, seeing the black smoke rising from inside.

Zombies were still going in, but not as many as before. They were probably heading to the noise source, that was the explosion.

"Just fucking go. I have no energy to protect you. If it's me alone, then I can move and assess the situation quietly. I will leave this place in ten minutes. If I don't return, you know what will happen." I said to them coldly.

"Brother, let's go together." Saeko suggested. "It's dangerous to go in there alone."

I shook my head. "It's fine. Just go. Just trust me, okay?"

She stared at me for a moment before nodding her head. "Alright. We'll wait for you at the mansion. If you don't return in a day, or if no communication arrives, I will find and kill you myself."

That was a joke, but I knew Saeko wasn't kidding. If I didn't return, she would probably go to find and kill me.

However, she didn't need to worry.

"I'll make sure to get back in time." I said with a smile.

She nodded and got into the driver seat of the humvee. Miss Shizuka was driving the jeep and everyone else got in. Kohta had to force Saya to enter the humvee, and then locked the door to prevent her from leaving.

As they drove away from this place, I looked at the factory building and sighed.

'Let's do this.'

I chose the third option.

[Ding! You have received 500 Shop Points + 3 All Stats. Congratulations, you have become the honored one.]

This unreliable system still had time to joke around like this.

Still, thanks to it, I managed to calm down and think carefully.

Some zombies lingered near the entrance, so I popped one flashbang and threw it to the ground, catching their attention.

Flash!

"Hwaaa..."

Attracted by the loud sound, the zombies turned and walked to the flashbang. While they were distracted, I dashed to the entrance.

'I should check the first floor first.' I decided, 'If I'm lucky, they should still be around there, or near the explosion source.'

I was pretty surprised by my speed. Right now, I had double the status when I first transmigrated. By simple math, I should be twice as fast, but it didn't seem that way.

'Almost one and a half? No, maybe even lower. So the growth isn't linear, I think? I am not at some superhuman level yet.'

As I pondered on my current ability, I arrived at the entrance and entered the building. It was dark and quiet, but I could hear the sound of gunfire from somewhere deeper inside.

'Don Takagi is alive, huh.' I thought to myself.

A good sign, he was alive.

I followed the sound and soon found myself in a hallway. There was a door at the end of it and I could see light coming through the gap underneath. As I got closer, the sound of gunshots and swords clashing became louder.

Many footsteps belonging to zombies were also audible.

'Heh, I guess I should hurry up.'

I ran as fast as possible, my feet pounding against the floor. On my way, I bought one hand-grenade from the shop.

I opened the door and looked inside. It was a large room, filled with corpses of the undead.

Don Takagi was fighting alongside his men, but they looked tired and were surrounded. I also saw some people who were injured, being protected by two men.

'Damn. How did they end up like this?'

There were corpses of people too, the advance party most likely.

Some men noticed me and relayed messages to Don Takagi. He turned around and looked at me.

"Busujima Daiki? What are you doing here?! Why aren't you with the others?!"

"They returned to your house! It's getting too dangerous to stay, and I came to rescue you." I replied, "Cover your ears for a second and run toward this way at my signal."

"What?" One of Don's men asked, looking at me.

I didn't explain further. I pulled out the grenade's safety pin with my teeth and threw it.

"Fire in the hole!" I shouted and covered my ears.

Boom!

The explosion was loud and shook the ground beneath our feet. The zombies that were close to the explosion were blown apart by the blast while the other fell backwards due to the shockwave.

"Run!" I yelled again, covering my ears. "I will clear a path!"

I unsheathed my sword and dashed back. My body moved swiftly as I slashed through the zombies that blocked my path.

"Follow me!" I shouted to the survivors.

They did so without hesitation, following behind me as we ran towards the exit.

"Kyaaa!" Shrill scream rang from behind.

A man was bitten by a zombie, but I ignored him and continued running. I had no time to waste on him right now. If I did, more people would die.

"I will remember you." Don Takagi quickly stopped and beheaded him before he could turn into a zombie. "Let's run!"

We continued to run until we reached the exit.

Before entering, I made sure to remember my path so we wouldn't get lost.

After reaching the door, I checked the surroundings and saw that there was a crowd outside. The zombies I attracted by flashbang earlier tried to enter when they heard the grenade's explosion.

"Shit." I cursed and took a step back. "There are too many!"

"We need to go through the second entrance." Don Takagi said, panting. "Honda, you lead the way."

One of his men nodded and went ahead of us. I followed him, my sword ready in my hands. After a few turns, we arrived at a big door.

"This is a service entrance for the workers." Honda explained, "It's usually locked, but it seems that someone opened it before we got here. We can leave through this door."

Don Takagi nodded and gestured for us to go in.

I followed behind Honda, but was surprised when I saw a zombie crawling on the floor suddenly leaped toward him.

"Watch out!" I shouted and slashed at the zombie's head with my sword. I then turned around and kicked another one in the stomach, sending it flying backward. "Keep running!"

The group of men ran past me and left through the door.

We were still followed by zombies, but they weren't that fast.

"Busujima Daiki, let's go!" Don Takagi called out to me.

"Yeah."

Pulling the pin from my last flashbang, I threw it behind me and quickly followed them. They prepared the vehicles quickly and started the engine.

At the same time, the flashbang exploded, creating a louder sound that attracted all zombies to it. I got into the backseat of a car where Don Takagi and two others were waiting for me. It was Honda who was driving.

"Honda, take us back to my house." Don Takagi ordered. "Everyone else, follow us."

"Yes, sir." Honda replied.

I looked at the other people in the car. There was a woman and a man who looked like an employee of the water treatment plant. 

I wondered how they could survive this long, but now wasn't the time to ask questions. We needed to leave this place before the horde of zombies caught up to us.

And as the vehicle began moving, I saw something in the corner of my eyes. A figure resembling a dog was running on all fours among the zombies, trying to follow our cars.

However, it was too late. We already left the factory, leaving the weird zombie behind.

"Daiki." Don Takagi spoke up, "Thank you for saving us. We owe you our lives. If there is anything I can do to repay this debt, just say so."

"Please save your thanks for later, sir." I said, smiling, "Let's return to the mansion and rest first."

I already got my payment from the system, but this was also a good opportunity to get closer to the influential Don. I had a few things in mind.

‘For now, I want to rest. It’s so exhausting.’

***

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