“Huff Huff… W-What are we going to do now?” The slightly overweight man asked while panting.

Aleen shook his head and looked to the map in his head to find a safe route until the central tower.

Currently, they were on the roof of the five-floor building. The group of zombies had destroyed the fence protecting the stairs and chased after them, but fortunately, Aleen predicted it and asked the group to climb at the roof; so when the zombies came, they were already in a safe place.

Unfortunately, though the zombies weren’t chasing after them anymore, the commotion had alerted all the zombies in the surroundings of the presence of living beings, so the streets around them were overflowing with walking dead.

So, though they were currently safe, they would have to face the horde of zombies when they decide to resume the travel.

“It’s harder than I thought, huh…” Aleen muttered so softly that nobody heard him.

To be honest, Aleen thought that this mission would be easier than the first two; the only problem, though, was protecting the others until the central tower.

Aleen had the confidence of reaching to the tower in the determined time without a problem; after all, his skill was a speed-type. On the other hand, his skill was almost useless when it came to protecting others.

Aleen looked to the group and thought about his options. Though he could abandon them without it weighting in his mind, Aleen at least wanted to help Aya if it was possible; after all, he could be considered the reason because she was here.

Besides, the reward would be bigger if more people survive.

No... Aleen could not fool himself. He wanted for them to survive. Even if he knew that he could leave them behind, Aleen was not coldhearted enough to leave them to die without a reason.

Am I too softhearted? Aleen smiled wryly in his mind.

Shaking his head, he let out a long sigh to calm his mind.

“We cannot stay here. Though the zombies can’t reach here currently, it'll be bad if they find a way to come up. Besides, we lost too much time already, and I fear that the time we have left is just enough to reach the central tower.”

The others remained silent.

“… Do you have a plan?” Finally asked one of them, the stubble guy. Aleen looked towards him and nodded his head firmly.

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“I have.”

The expressions of the group turned for the better. Aleen’s next words, however, froze them.

“It’s pretty simple. I will lure the zombies away and you will take advantage of the opportunity to run away.”

“Wait wait!” The college girl interrupted at that moment. “Do you mean like, attracting all the zombies for yourself!”

Aleen only nodded silently.

“That is not a good idea.” The stubble guy said with a frown on his face. “Though I know that you are strong, so many zombies are probably too much even for you.”

Aleen shook his head. “Don’t worry, though I probably can’t kill all those zombies, they can’t stop me if I want to escape.”

The others remained silent when they heard it.

Aleen looked towards them to ask if anyone had an objection, and prepared himself to go. But at that moment, one of them raised his hand.

“B-B-But w-what happens i-if we are c-chased by other z-zombies?”

Who spoke, with a nervous voice, was the slightly overweight guy.

Aleen immediately frowned when he heard his question.

Looking around, he noticed that some others had guilty expression on their faces. Apparently, they also thought the same.

Aleen did his best to suppress his irritation and spoke with a dark expression.

“I’m not your nanny. If you are unable to survive even after I lure most of the zombies away, then you are better dead. At least, you will not become a burden to the others.”

Everybody but Aya, the rich college girl, and the two bodyguards, lowered their heads in shame.

“All of you have weapons.” Aleen continued. “A few zombies wouldn’t be a problem if you work together and are careful.”

The others could only nod silently.

Aleen then explained the plan and drew an ugly map on the roof with the sword, signaling the place where they were going to meet. Then, he stood up and walked towards the edge of the roof.

But before he could jump down, someone grabbed his sleeve.

Turning around, he found the silver-haired girl looking towards him with an expressionless look.

“I’ll go with you.”

Aleen made a startled expression before shaking his head firmly.

“No. I’m confident of escaping from the zombies alone, but it’s different if anyone is with me. To be honest, you will only slow me down.”

Aya furrowed her brows a little bit, but finally, let go of Aleen and turned around.

Then, she said something softly.

“Don’t die.”

Aleen was startled again, but then he smiled a little and shook his head. “Of course.”

Without turning to look at the others, he jumped down.

Though his body was enhanced twice, Aleen didn’t want to know if it could endure a fall from the roof of a five-floors building. So, instead of falling directly to the ground, he used some objects as footholds and descended until the street.

The place was filled with zombies, and a rotten stench invaded Aleen's nose once he touched the ground, but he didn’t let it disturb him. Aleen was, after all, someone who survived two games, with stronger and more frightening enemies. Mere zombies were not enough to intimidate him.

So, when the zombies began to rush towards him, he held his sword calmly and took a step forward.

With a thought, all his mana circulated through his body. He didn’t activate his skill, but the current him didn’t need it to deal with mindless level one zombies.

His aspect was activated, and smalls currents of lightning surrounded his body; then, he slashed with his sword.

Behind him, a zombie slowly fell.

But before its body could touch the floor, the sword flashed again.

And the killing began.