"...Y-Yes, it's me."
Cold sweat poured down Koichi Shido's forehead as he pushed up his glasses and stepped forward steadily, despite his voice betraying fear and tension he could not hide.
"Right now, I think all of you are nothing but burdens. Even if you entered my survivor base, you'd only be threats, endangering the lives of others."
"Students are far too troublesome in the end."
Zeroy let out a faint sigh, tinged with regret.
"You're no exception, Shido. However, since I at least know who you are, I'm willing to give you a chance."
A tactical dagger appeared in her hand, and she casually tossed it to the ground at Shido's feet. The crisp metallic clink on the pavement rang sharply in everyone's ears.
"Kill these burdens and prove to me your ability and loyalty."
Her voice was cold and cruel. From what she knew from the anime, Shido was someone who needed to be eliminated—he would only lead the group to ruin—but she wanted to confirm whether the Shido in reality was the same as in the story.
"Otherwise, you'll die here with them."
"...?"
No one had expected Zeroy to say that. The students instantly fell into extreme panic; frightened cries and trembling figures erupted one after another.
Shido's pupils shrank, his face filled with disbelief. He had thought he was about to die...
Looking at the cold, merciless girl before him, a hideous expression slowly twisted across Shido's face, his lips curling into a warped, manic smile.
He gritted his teeth and crouched to pick up the dagger.
"In that case, there's only one answer—"
His raised voice carried a near-pathological fervor.
Under the students' incredulous gazes, their teacher shouted, "I will offer you my absolute loyalty!"
"T-Teacher, you..."
The students were gripped by shock and fear.
Shido's eyes turned cold as he locked onto the nearest student.
"Eeek—!"
The girl's face went pale in an instant, her whole body trembling at the sight of Shido's hideous, hate-filled expression.
"T-Teacher... you're joking, r-right?"
Her voice quivered with tears as she instinctively backed up two steps—only to collapse to the ground when her legs gave out.
"Joking?"
Shido sneered.
"I've had enough of you damn brats!"
"Every one of you—self-important, stupid, useless! You're nothing, yet you dare to think you matter!"
In that moment, he tore away the genteel mask he'd worn, revealing the darkest, most twisted depths of his true nature.
"You think I liked playing the kind, caring teacher? Heh! If you didn't have some use, I'd have kicked every one of you away long ago!"
His low voice seethed with long-suppressed malice.
"However, I should thank you—if not for you fools, how could I get this once-in-a-lifetime chance to stand before her and prove my worth?"
Shido's grip tightened on the dagger, his knuckles whitening, his eyes glinting coldly.
He looked at the collapsed girl, his voice suddenly soft yet full of malice. "Ishida, I've always known—you've liked your teacher, haven't you?"
Before he'd even finished speaking, he crouched and seized her slender neck.
The girl struggled in terror, tears blurring her vision, but she couldn't break free of his iron grip.
"Do you even know what you are? And you dare to like me?"
Shido's smile grew more twisted, his eyes full of mockery and cruelty. "But it's fine—since you like me so much, do your teacher one last favor."
"N-No... please..."
Her plea was faint, filled with despair.
"Die!"
Shido roared as he swung the dagger down toward her chest without hesitation.
Slash!
A flash of steel, and crimson blood sprayed forth like a blooming flower of death.
"AAAAH—!"
Shido clutched the stump of his severed arm and collapsed, screaming in agony.
"Wh-Why... why?!"
His only answer was another cold arc of the blade.
This time, his head flew high, blood gushing from his neck.
When it hit the ground, his twisted, frenzied expression was still frozen in place.
No difference—then he dies.
Zeroy sheathed her blade, standing tall, her voice calm yet commanding as she said:
"That's your teacher's last lesson to you."
"The malice of the human heart, the rules of the apocalypse, and one last thing I want you to know—"
"I protect humanity, not beasts without limits."
Her cold gaze swept over each trembling student.
"So never do anything that endangers the group or others. Any malice—bury it deep and never let it show, or I'll consider you a threat without a second thought."
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze falling on the head lying on the ground.
"And you've seen the fate of a threat—just like your teacher."
The students were silent as death, fear, and shock intertwined in their hearts.
"Now, follow me."
Zeroy turned and walked toward the school gate.
The students hadn't recovered from the events that had just unfolded. They were pale, their bodies weak with fear.
Yet, under Zeroy's cold, commanding presence, none dared to delay. Even with trembling legs, they supported each other, stumbling after her.
At the gate, they looked out onto the street.
On what had been an empty road, scattered zombie figures now appeared again, shambling closer.
Zombies were like that—they were everywhere. And because they moved slowly, even if noise drew them in, stragglers could take a long time to arrive.
So even if you cleared an area, before long, more would appear from the corners.
"Wait here."
Zeroy propped the toppled school gate back upright to block the outside threat.
Then she drew her Striker Unit and went to meet the zombies, repeating her schoolyard method—making noise to gather them, then cutting them down without mercy.
In flashes of steel, heads fell and blood ran through the street.
In only five minutes, no zombie was left moving, and another mountain of corpses stood tall.
"Alright, you can come out now. You have twenty minutes to gather what you need from nearby stores."
"Remember, one day's worth of supplies is enough."
...
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