Three days passed, Tanaka stayed in his room, forgetting what had happened outside. A hikikomori man who is filled with fantasy and wild imagination seems to have a tendency to be alone and forget about his surroundings.

Those three days passed by Tanaka without sleeping at all.

In that long duration, Tanaka had finished the cup of noodles he had picked up yesterday from the convenience store. It was a gluttony that Tanaka thought was relatively new since he became a hikikomori.

Usually he only ate one cup of noodles every two days, but this time he ate three cups of noodles every day. The increase in demand up to six times than usual.

Thanks to that, Tanaka had to go out again to get food from the convenience store. To be honest, he himself was still a bit doubtful about what he was doing since normally the actions he had yesterday and were about to do were included in the theft category.

As soon as Tanaka stepped out of the room, he was reminded of the previous incident.

"Zombie apocalypse, huh... That means that high school girl from yesterday actually just wanted to grab some food and I accidentally killed her,"

Tanaka remembered about it. When he reviewed it, it was true that the office male zombie shouldn't have noticed the girl's existence until the moment Tanaka came and caused him some misfortune.

However, Tanaka with his brain function tried to get the thought to be ignored first. Looking for priorities that are more important than thinking about regretting things that have happened.

Tanaka's brain chose priorities to take in food and other necessities. As a result, he became focused to think more about what to take when he arrived at the minimarket.

The hikikomori looked at the door of the next room, the place where Tanaka had had a conversation a few days earlier that didn't go well. This became something that bothered Tanaka quite a bit.

Tanaka remembered that as long as he stayed in the room, there was no sound from the next room. Tanaka was actually a bit suspicious, but he tried to ignore it for a bit longer.

Tanaka didn't want to bother the girl for a while. This was done without him knowing that the occupants of the next room were starving.

Tanaka passed through the front area of room number five. He now went to the mini market where he usually shopped.

~~~

Footsteps were heard. It was the sound of footsteps that could be clearly felt through vibrations in a solid object called the floor. Vibrations and sounds that can be heard clearly by a high school girl in a room, lying in front of the door of her room.

"Ah, a walking sound?"

A low voice spoke from the girl's mouth. The girl who had not eaten for days was now at her limit.

Her stomach felt tight, her head was heavy, her breathing was not smooth and her mind was not in a good condition at all. She was on the verge.

"I guess it was just something passing by. It must be just my imagination!"

[Hey, come out and quickly check around!]

Something grew inside the girl's mind, ordering her to stand up and check the surroundings. Something that is not very clear how it looks or sounds.

The starving high school girl tried to open the door where the lock was a bit broken. She's trying to go out to see a new world, or maybe she's just obeying orders from her other self.

The wind hit the girl's body, the morning breeze. The wind that the body shouldn't be able to feel unless one really concentrates.

Or if a person is starving and is at his limit.

"Even if I have to starve to death, at least I will enjoy this precious time first,"

said the girl with the high school uniform still attached to her body. The wind that blew seemed to give energy to the weak and hungry body.

"Hrauuu!"

The zombie came and the girl who was trying to absorb the energy of nature stopped her stretching activity.

She took a hiding place behind the iron shoe rack in front of room number one or the room facing the stairs.

"Damn, there's a zombie coming in from the open gate!"

"Hrau hra!"

"Grraaaa!"

Not only one zombie entered the boarding area, but several others followed.

There are at least five zombies at the bottom of the boarding area. It was a dangerous situation for a girl who was experiencing a state of starvation to face off against enemies that numbered more than zero.

Zombies are creatures that observe the surrounding area slowly. That is, within a period of time, the zombies will try to go up to check.

It was the place where the high school girl lived. The place where the room key is a bit broken. A place where that is the only place for her to live.

Dangerous.

That was the girl's situation now.

"I can't let it go!"

The girl tried to push the heavy iron rack. The goal is to block the stairs so the zombies can't go to the upper area.

With only a few strength left, the girl forced her body. Luckily, thanks to the slippery floor in the stairwell, the iron rack could be pushed.

Even though the rack is successfully moving, the pressure of the gravitational force and the frictional force of the object still makes a sound. Sounds which zombies can detect.

The sound that caught their attention.

"Graaaa!"

"Damn it, I have to hurry!"

Without saying anything, the girl tried to cheer herself up. Thanks to her 'want to survive' spirit, the thrust she gave off became even stronger. However, this will have to be paid at a very high price.

[Hey, are you that stupid!? Quickly stop and return to your room!]

"I can't, I want to feel the wind and the things that are outside!"

A small crash was heard. It was an iron rack that had reached another part of the side of the stairs.

The zombies who had noticed the sound of rubbing began to climb the stairs. With the iron rack blocking the front floor of the stairs, the zombies couldn't enter the upper area.

The exhausted girl tried to rest her body on the floor.

[Ahhh, you're hurt! Your insides are hurt. You're forcing your body!]

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The girl's stomach was in excruciating pain. The small sounds of his stomach groaning for a long time were accompanied by a feeling of nausea that did not subside.

Looking back at the iron rack holding the zombies, it couldn't be dropped easily. The reason is because the front side of the rack is blocked by an iron fence that protrudes into the inner area.

That side of the fence makes the zombie push to be disturbed. Thanks to that, the girl was able to calm down for a while.

However, calm is not the right word to define what he is feeling.

He crawled towards the door of her room. Weakness, pain, helplessness and blurred vision. That's how the hungry poor girl feels, waiting for the zombies to break through the barrier that was just created.

"I can't hold back my consciousness anymore!"

The girl snapped in her mind as if it was her body's last command to rest. Rest for good.

[Hey, I smell food!]

The other self snapped back in the mind of the girl who was on the verge of 'sleeping forever'.

Sniffing, there was a smell of some kind of noodle broth that had just been brewed.

The girl who had activated her basic survival instincts had now become alert again.

"Where? Where?"

[In the room number six section. I'm sure it's from there!]

The other self helps navigation. This is because the girl's senses are not fully integrated.

There is a sound of the stomach as if trying to tell the body that it needs food immediately.

As the girl drew closer to the door to room number six, the stench became more pronounced.

A thumping sound was heard, it was the door of room number six which was forced open by the girl who stood up.

[Hey slow! Your body won't be strong enough to endure if you keep forcing it like that! The food won't run away, so just relax and use your hands to move. Save your energy!]

Her body was in numb, his mind was chaotic and only coldness could be felt from within his body.

The girl with all her strength tried to go to the source of the delicious smell.

Although, unfortunately, it's just the smell of the leftover soup from Tanaka's cup noodles.

~~~

The road is still the same as yesterday. Filled with blood and crashing vehicles. Nothing has changed except for the appearance of the zombies.

The trees were infested by birds with bloodstains on their feathers. Crows are eating dead zombie corpses.

Their pointed, conical beaks were shiny, not plain black as usual but black with red streaks. Red from the color of blood.

Someone came from in front of Tanaka, she was a young woman in casual clothes.

Tanaka prepared with his hands ready to hit. However, the woman just walked by, ignoring Tanaka without the slightest concern for the man.

"Are they zombies or not?"

Tanaka asked in his mind.

This was Tanaka's final conclusion regarding the current state of affairs. First, the town that Tanaka lives in has experienced a zombie apocalypse.

Second, Tanaka has a kind of special power which allows him to not be detected by zombies. This was something Tanaka still had to uncover.

Third, there are zombies, there are also survivors. A classic theme that is often the plot of a zombie apocalypse story.

"Could it be that I'm something like a zombie?"

Guess Tanaka on point number two which is still a mystery.

However, since there was absolutely no evidence or anything to support that hypothesis, Tanaka put it away for now and continued to observe the surroundings.

Tanaka noticed a few cars that still looked pretty good in the middle of the road.

"Maybe, if I had the equipment I could fix the car!"

thought Tanaka. He continued to pay attention to the sidewalk area where electricity poles could be seen standing firmly without any disturbance.

"Luckily the electricity pole is still standing. If only one pole is damaged, I can't get electricity supply at the boarding house,"

The sideways alley on Tanaka's right was filled with zombies drinking water in the puddle. Tanaka learns that zombies need nutrition just like humans.

The morning was still cold. However, Tanaka who has a strong body can withstand the cold.

"I am the analyzer!"

That's what Tanaka thought as he looked around. The syndrome he's had since he graduated from middle school.

Behind the bush, there is a black kitten that looks like it has not moved in its mother's arms. It was the sight Tanaka saw while trying to approach the bush that had a suspicious aura.

"Poor little black cat,"

Tanaka saw a kitten that was almost dead.

Visible body movements that only arise in the chest area. Very small movement.

Tanaka, who couldn't bear to see him, was now just trying to cover the bodies of the two cats with the bushes around him. Hoping that no zombies will find out about the two of them.

"If only I had studied animal care,"

Tanaka regretted. Due to Tanaka's busy schedule in the past, he had absolutely no time to learn such extra things.

Tanaka himself really wanted to save the kitten. However, remembering the past where he failed to save birds in the orphanage made him oppose futile actions such as 'trying to save'.

Letting her die in her mother's arms was a decision made by Tanaka. The choice he thought was the best.

Tanaka continued on his way while trying to distract himself from the scene. Walk home.

......

...

The basket walked down the street, pushed by someone behind him. A basket filled with items.

A rather difficult terrain to pass. The sound, which for some people is very ear-tingling, arises from the friction of the wheels of the basket against the asphalt of the road.

Tanaka was the one who pushed the basket. Move on the chaotic streets filled with zombies.

Or something like a zombie, based on Tanaka's thoughts.

"Aren't all humans basically hikikomori?"

Tanaka was triggered by a topic that suddenly appeared in his mind. This was Tanaka's habit which was due to getting used to being alone for some time.

Arguing and debating inside his head.

"I mean, we humans isolate ourselves from the dangers in the ocean, don't we?"

In his mind, Tanaka tried to corroborate the notion that humans are basically just hikikomori. The context taken is distress with an analogical approach.

A hikikomori based on Tanaka's thinking is someone who tries to avoid the dangers of the surroundings. A form of cowardice of an individual.

The same thing happens in the human environment. Some people prefer to live in a place that is safe for them rather than challenge something dangerous out there.

The analogy may be quite well founded in some cases.

"Or also the existence of danger in other fields such as mountain peaks. This causes us not to dare to stay there for long, right?"

However, not for this one case. This is just another form of baseless matching.

That's what happened in Tanaka's brain. He was trying to argue with himself.

In the end, Tanaka retracted his opinion that humans were the same as hikikomori. However, the case of hikikomori is limited to the social environment.

A woman in a rather tight office dress passed in front of Tanaka. Or so Tanaka saw at a glance.

"She's beautiful. Too bad she's become a zombie. Besides, why is there a pink wire in her . . . crotch?"

Tanaka noticed it. However, he couldn't help but laugh at the thought of what she actually did when she was still a human.

"...I never thought that this kind of office woman actually existed,"

Tanaka continued after his small laugh. However, Tanaka had stopped laughing since he remembered that the woman's fate was not as fortunate as Tanaka's.

Tanaka continued on his way home, waiting to see the unexpected appear in his room.

...

Tanaka reached the front gate of his boarding house. His body fell down with his knees propped up as a foothold. He made a pose as if he was desperate for something.

"I should have proposed to her then!"

Tanaka complained as he thought about a certain occurrence when he was with the landlady. Tanaka was a person who often had random thoughts, so things like this had happened a lot.

"Well, then let it go. Now is the time to be confused!"

Tanaka returned to the perception of his eyesight, directed the gaze of the two eyeballs towards the front. The place where the boarding house is located.

"Why are there zombies in front of the stairs!"

There are some zombies blocking the stairs. They were blocked by some sort of metal rack that looked familiar to Tanaka's eyes. The iron shoe rack that Landlady bought from a former school.

The iron rack blocked the zombies. However, the rack also prevented Tanaka from returning to his room.

"Alright, now let's be sure that they are zombies!"

Tanaka tries to convince himself that the zombies are really zombies where human corpses come back to life. Putting aside the theories that they were still human.

Before hitting them, Tanaka remembered something. It was a suspicious message he received on his cell phone SMS.

(Zombie reacts and will check somewhere if there is a sound or there is just some strange movement)

The message was sent by a number that Tanaka didn't recognize. Actually it is a number that is owned by the military agency in his own country.

Tanaka tried to believe the information first. He still hesitated to kill zombies.

He is not considered by zombies or may not be detected. It was Tanaka's advantage to be able to attack the zombies.

However, if that special thing were to become inactive due to him killing zombies, Tanaka would definitely meet a dead end.

Tanaka picked up a bicycle that was located on the side of the road. Driven by bicycle towards the garbage can of the house across the street with the aim of making a sound.

The zombies noticed a loud sound. They drew closer to the source of the sound, towards the trash can that was hit by the driverless bicycle.

The stairs became empty, Tanaka went upstairs. However, he came to a halt in front of an iron rack that was blocking him.

Tanaka thought about why something like this could happen. The iron rack couldn't move on its own unless something moved it.

Zombies are definitely not the culprit. So, the only person who might be the perpetrator of this incident is only one person.

The girl from the next room.

Tanaka shifted the metal rack lightly. The iron rack which had managed to make Tanaka sprain when lifting it.

Tanaka didn't notice the oddity.

However, the hikikomori man's attention was not on the metal shoe rack, but on the open door of his room.

"I believe I closed it earlier!"

Said Tanaka which was true.

Tanaka approached the door of his room. Something very suspicious sounded inside.

It was a sound like something scratching, moving and making other strange sounds.

"Could it be that he's stealing something?"

“… Please… please have some food. Damn, only a few drops of gravy remain!”

The voice paused slightly as if the owner of the voice was looking for something while checking it.

Tanaka slowly and quietly entered the room which was the room he usually slept in.