Before they knew it, an hour had passed.
Gabriel was fast asleep; his breathing was steady, his shoulders rising and falling slowly, his whole body immersed in a calmness he rarely experienced.
On the other side of the room, Takashi was helping Kohta load the rifle magazine with bullets. Both of them worked with complete focus.
Click—click—shlk.
The rhythm of metal broke the silence, regular but not disturbing.
Not far from them, slow footsteps approached... light, but clear. Without anyone really noticing, Shizuka appeared from the direction of the bathroom.
She wore a towel that barely covered her body. Her hair was still wet, her skin glistening from the warm water that had not yet completely dried. Her face was faintly flushed—clearly, Shizuka was heavily intoxicated.
Her eyes were half-closed, and she stared at Gabriel, who was asleep, like a cat looking at its favorite toy.
Her eyes narrowed affectionately as she looked at the sleeping Gabriel. Her tongue licked her lower lip. "...Hihihi~ Gabriel-kun... you look delicious~♡"
And without warning, Shizuka immediately fell on top of Gabriel, who was fast asleep.
Gabriel woke up instantly, as if struck by lightning. "W-WHAT!? W-WHAT'S GOING ON!?" He stared in panic. "S-Shizuka!? W-Why are you on top of—"
Takashi and Kohta turned around spontaneously.
Kohta dropped the magazine from his hands. "H-HAAAAH!?"
Takashi stared blankly. "SHIZUKA-SENSEI!? WHY—!? OH MY GOD—"
Shizuka didn't answer.
She just smiled drunkenly, her face slowly approaching... very slowly...
And—
MUAH.
She kissed Gabriel's lips without hesitation. But that wasn't all, because suddenly Shizuka's tongue shot out, entering Gabriel's mouth and grabbing his tongue, then sucking on it.
"Slurp~♡ ngah~♡ haah... haaah~♡"
At that moment, Gabriel felt like he was exploding like an overheated computer.
The warm sensation with the light scent of alcohol from Shizuka's lips, tongue, and saliva that still lingered—was enough to make his head spin.
His entire face turned red up to his ears, his breathing became labored, and his voice cracked like a broken microphone. At that moment, his Chuuni mask immediately fell off.
"U-UMM... ♡ Mmm~♡ ngkuh~♡ SHI— SHI— SHIZUKA—!?!!?"
Takashi covered his mouth, his shoulders trembling as he tried to suppress a laugh mixed with panic. "B–bro… you're in danger… but of a very different kind."
Kohta trembled too—between shock, envy, and frustration with life. "G-Gabriel-kun... your life is like a harem anime... w-w-why is God so unfair...?"
Meanwhile, Shizuka clung to him like a drunk koala, leaning on Gabriel as if he were a premium pillow from a five-star hotel.
Gabriel?
Absolute panic.
Eyes wide.
Face bright red. Breath caught in his throat.
His chuunibyou collapsed completely.
Takashi and Kohta?
They could only watch—frozen—not knowing whether to help... or deliberately not to help.
A few seconds later, Gabriel was finally able to move.
With stiff movements full of fear, he grabbed Shizuka's shoulders, lifted her slightly, then pulled her body away from the deadly embrace.
Her face was still red as if she had just been boiled.
Without saying a word, Gabriel got off the sofa, grabbed his Shovel next to Takashi, then immediately jumped out of the balcony.
Takashi and Kohta stared blankly.
"...He ran away?"
"...From the second floor?"
However, with Gabriel's Agility attribute reaching 9 points, his body landed perfectly without a single scratch—like a parkour pro escaping from a life-or-death decision.
On the other hand, Shizuka, who was suddenly left behind, went limp, her body slumping onto the sofa.
Within seconds, she was sound asleep. Silent. Peaceful. As if she had never nearly destroyed someone's self-worth just moments ago.
***
After running aimlessly for several minutes, Gabriel finally slowed down.
His steps wavered—not from fatigue, but from the lingering effect of Shizuka's kiss, swirling through his body like a sweet aftertaste that refused to fade.
His face flushed, his breath slightly unsteady, and his eyes behind the bangs glistened with moisture.
Finally, he came to a stop.
Ahead of him, the streets, shattered by chaos, were now filled with a horde of zombies.
They moved sluggishly, yet their numbers were so dense that they formed a curtain of rotting flesh, blocking the entire path.
And instead of the lingering intoxication fading… a crooked grin spread across his face.
"I am the Eye of a God… Ash, the watcher of the stars… the incarnation of forbidden power…"
As soon as the words left his lips, all the zombies turned simultaneously. Their teeth chattered, their bodies creaked like rotting wood. Yet Gabriel didn't flinch an inch.
Within his vision—inside the reach of Gigan—the world slowed down, like a broken film reel.
Gabriel raised his left hand forward, as if reaching for something unseen.
"O creatures without souls…" he murmured softly, yet the words echoed, "wailing beneath the rotting mists of this world…"
His breath faltered for a moment—caught between the remnants of intoxication and a pulse of some unseen force.
"The throbbing darkness… the tearing mist… the ravenous abyss…"
His bangs swayed as the wind brushed against his still-flushed face.
"Open your eyes… and know your place."
As the words left his lips, a faint robotic hum resonated in Gabriel's mind—a mental resonance between himself and Gigan.
"Hira Gankyū!"
From behind his bangs, a geomantic magic circle appeared, layered and slowly spinning, its mechanical patterns moving with steady rhythm.
At the same time, Gigan's magical circuits spread outward, like gentle waves brushing the air around him.
The wave spread across the entire area within a 30-meter radius.
A few seconds later, the eyes of every zombie in the zone began to change. Geomantic circles identical to the one in Gabriel's eyes appeared, replicating the pattern he had set.
Then, without warning—
Several zombies suddenly turned and attacked the others, as if invisible strings controlled their movements. They bit, tore, and knocked each other down.
No verbal command.
No shout.
Only automatic motion, like puppets following the rhythm of a marionette.
All of this happened because Gabriel was not only manipulating their vision.
He was also influencing their brains, making them believe false information—convincing them that the figures around them were fresh, delicious humans.
In other words, for zombies whose minds were driven by nothing more than simple instincts, such manipulation was incredibly easy for Gabriel.
Instantly, notification sounds rang inside his mind—a stream of digital chimes marking each zombie tearing another apart.
Ding! ding! ding! ding!
System points kept rising without pause.
Gabriel stood frozen for a moment… then slowly lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly.
"Hehehe~…"
The dark laugh slipped out softly, almost like a whisper dripping from his throat. His left hand, which had been extended earlier, now rose to touch his face, covering part of his cheek and mouth.
"Hehehe~… hah…"
Then, as if a switch in his mind had been flipped, he lifted his head slightly—his bangs swaying, Gigan spinning faintly behind the hair.
"Hahahaha… Hahaha… HAHAAHAHAHA—"
Amid the scene of zombies tearing each other apart, Gabriel laughed freely like a child who had just found their favorite toy.
The laughter wasn't entirely madness… but a mixture of euphoria, intoxication, and deep satisfaction at watching his points continuously increase.
It was as if the world around him existed merely as a backdrop for one thing:
Gabriel was having fun.
***
While Gabriel was off somewhere, controlling zombies far from Rika's home, Takashi and Kohta exchanged glances, their expressions hard to read.
Kohta held his modified Armalite AR-10 (T) like a father cradling his first baby. Takashi gripped his Ithaca M37, weighing its heft in his hands.
A few seconds of silence passed… before Takashi finally spoke.
"So… we go look for Gabriel now?"
Kohta furrowed his brow, thinking intensely.
"…Or do we just pretend we didn't see him run off after getting kissed by Shizuka-sensei?" he murmured.
Takashi pressed his lips to hold back a laugh. "Kohta… that's cruel."
Kohta glanced out the window, then exhaled. "Listen… Gabriel may be a chuuni, but he's not the type to die easily. His agility is insane, and… well… he's Gabriel."
He recalled how fast Gabriel had moved earlier. Takashi had seen it too, and finally, he nodded in agreement.
"That's right," Takashi replied. "He'll be fine… as long as he doesn't run into Shizuka again, I guess?"
Kohta immediately nodded in agreement.
The two fell silent again.
Takashi finally continued, more rationally:
"Let's just wait. If he doesn't come back by nightfall… then we'll go look for him."
Kohta gave a thumbs-up. "Agreed. That's the safest and most… sensible plan."
Takashi smirked and added, "Besides… if the two of us go, who's going to watch over the girls?"
Kohta turned toward the stairs, his cheeks flushed. "Right! If something happens to them… I… I'll never forgive myself!"
Takashi patted his shoulder with a mischievous grin. "Relax, weapons genius. Saeko's there."
Kohta nodded firmly. "Exactly! With Saeko-san watching over them, their survival chances go up tenfold."
Finally, the two leaned back, weapons resting on their laps.
Takashi exhaled. "So… we just wait for Gabriel to come back from… his little adventure."
Kohta glanced toward the door. "Hopefully he doesn't cause any extra trouble."
___
Author's Note:
How's everyone...!!! Gabriel was kissed or... more precisely, received a French kiss from Shizuka Sensei 😌
Ah. Don't forget give me some power stone too...!!!