The campus was enormous.
As they cleared out zombies, they carefully observed their surroundings.
Even after an entire day of nonstop combat, they had only managed to clear one-fifth of the school.
There wasn't a single living person anywhere.
Moreover, it was impossible to leave the campus.
This game clearly only allowed movement within the school grounds.
After a full day of extermination, the two returned to the dormitory.
The same routine repeated itself over the following days.
Endless zombie clearing.
Monotonous, exhausting, relentless.
Yet during this process, Yukino Yukinoshita's courage and mental resilience grew rapidly.
She became agile. Decisive.
She no longer hesitated to pull the trigger and blow zombies apart.
Even when brains and blood splattered across her body, she remained unfazed.
She was completely different from the Yukino who had once frozen in terror—who had been so frightened that she had lost control when she first encountered the evil spirit girl.
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
During those seven days, Yukino also gave something back.
Nothing excessive. Nothing extreme.
Every night, she gave Kisaragi Akira shoulder and back massages to help him relax.
Were Aikido techniques really meant to be used in massage?
Regardless, it was surprisingly comfortable.
Additionally, since they both wore the same type of short dormitory attire after showering, it was… admittedly a pleasant sight.
She also personally handled daily chores such as fetching and pouring water.
All of Akira's clothes were washed by Yukino herself.
It was obvious—she truly wanted to repay him.
As for the zombies—
Together, they killed tens of thousands of them.
The number of zombies inside this school was absurd.
There was no realistic way to eliminate them all.
Without even realizing it, Akira accumulated over 7,000 Doomsday Points.
He used that time to further strengthen himself.
[Human]: UnknownDoomsday Points: 7000
[Doomsday Status]:
Cognitive Doomsday (12★)
Abnormal Doomsday (12★)
Uncertainty Doomsday (12★)
[Abilities]:
Rank B: Physical Enhancement (Lv.3)
Rank B: Five-Thunder Divine Art – Eclipse Thunder Form (Lv.3)
S-Rank: Primal Stone — Vector Manipulation (Lv.4)
It cost 10,000 points to upgrade Physical Enhancement to Level 3.
His physical strength increased even further.
Punching through a steel plate was effortless now—and his speed had increased dramatically.
Upgrading Primal Stone — Vector Manipulation to Level 4 cost 60,000 points.
At this stage, its power was roughly comparable to that of a high-level esper—except it carried the innate advantage of a Primal Stone.
At the same time, Akira learned that reaching Level 5 would require 150,000 Doomsday Points.
Now, he only had 7,000 points remaining.
As for Yukino—
She personally killed more than 3,000 zombies.
After subtracting the Survival Points spent on daily food and water, she still had 3,000 points left.
[Zombie-Infested School: Only 2 Survivors Remaining!]Congratulations! You have successfully survived and completed the game![Automatic Return in Progress…]
Akira and Yukino exchanged glances and let out quiet sighs of relief.
It was over.
The two figures vanished from the dormitory.
When Akira regained his senses, he found himself back in the Unconventional Research Club classroom.
He checked the time on his phone.
"—!!!"
It was still during the break period.
Time hadn't moved at all.
They had spent seven days inside the apocalyptic game—
Yet not even a single second had passed in reality.
"Game space…"
It involved time manipulation.
This was far more complicated than it appeared.
A moment later, Yukino also regained consciousness.
The instant she saw the familiar classroom—
Her eyes sharpened.
She reflexively drew her gun.
"Yukino—calm down. You're back."
Akira pressed her gun down, grasped her shoulders, and guided her back into her chair.
Her reaction was a textbook case of post-traumatic stress.
"…I'm back…"
Yukino silently put the weapon away.
Akira gently massaged her temples with both hands, helping her relax.
Once she had fully calmed down, he spoke seriously.
"Yukino, listen carefully."
"…Okay."
"This is about the end of the world."
They talked for a long time.
Akira explained the apocalypse to her in detail.
Yukino was shocked—but she accepted it far faster than expected.
After all, she herself had already been affected by an abnormal doomsday factor.
"I understand," she said firmly. "I'll keep all of this secret."
"I believe you. But what's more important right now is your body."
Yukino looked down at her hands.
Her skin was still pale and smooth—but it felt as though they had killed countless zombies.
Her combat experience in the game was clearly affecting her physically.
That was something that needed attention.
"…Right."
Suddenly, Yukino remembered something.
She held her palm over a glass of water.
A burst of pale white cold surged out—
The water instantly froze into solid ice.
"Oh?" Akira raised an eyebrow. "You gained an ability?"
He was genuinely surprised.
Yukino had actually acquired an ice-based power from the game.
She smiled faintly.
"At the end of the game, the system told me I could exchange my Survival Points for exclusive items or abilities."
"I spent all 3,000 points on an ability called Frost Authority. It lets me control ice."
After some thought, Akira decided to test her.
He closed the classroom doors and windows.
Then he asked Yukino to attack him directly.
After days of fighting side by side, Yukino trusted Akira completely.
She launched her attack.
It caused him no harm.
After testing, the conclusion was clear.
Yukino's ability was roughly Level 2.
She could generate ice spikes and release freezing air.
However, she couldn't yet freeze enemies outright or manipulate ice over a wide area.
Still—
It was a solid ability.
Ring—ring—ring!
The class bell rang.
Akira and Yukino returned to their classroom together.
Along the way, he gave her several important instructions, and they exchanged contact information.
At the stairwell entrance—
A figure stared at the two of them, clearly puzzled.
"Akira-kun… were you and Yukinoshita-san always this close?"