Chapter 5: Surprises and Gifts


Upon arriving at the destination, I found the main gate tightly shut as expected, making entry quite difficult.

There were floor-to-ceiling windows on either side of the main entrance, but tapping them revealed they were made of reinforced tempered glass—impossible to break with the tools I had on hand.

As I was considering whether to climb to the second floor to look for an open window, Rin effortlessly pushed open a small door next to the main gate.

The door was actually unlocked—what a shock.

This is a security door for staff access, usually locked with an electronic lock that requires card swiping to enter.

Normally, the door should automatically lock during a power outage, but fortunately, this one remained unlocked. Though I don’t know why, it saved me a lot of trouble.

After entering with Rin, we found the lobby surprisingly clean.

To say the least, the absence of bloodstains or corpses lying on the ground, combined with the spacious and tidy hall, is already a plus.

The reception area showed no signs of being looted either. I figured it might be because no one thought they’d find anything valuable in a swimming facility, or perhaps survivors were all rushing to supermarkets instead.

Judging by how neatly everything was arranged, it’s possible this place wasn’t even open for business when the outbreak began.

Otherwise, entertainment venues like this are usually among the first disaster zones… Maybe this place would be safer than I imagined.

“Brother, look over here.” Ling called out to me from a distance, standing in front of a glass window. Behind the glass was a small, isolated personal space, likely a guard room.

The glass window could be slid open, but it had steel bars installed on the inside, making it difficult to climb through.

On the other side, there was a metal door. Upon inspection, I found it was locked from the inside. Unfortunately, it was an electronic lock that had automatically engaged when the power went out and hadn’t been unlocked with a matching key since.

Peering through the glass window… I saw the corpse of a man lying on the floor, already showing signs of decomposition.

” Infected.” Any human infected with the virus will turn into an Infected after death, and only those Infected who die a second time will undergo biodegradation, decaying into skeletons.

Therefore, intact corpses or bodies with a certain degree of decay are almost certainly Infected, without exception.

“It probably got trapped here after the power outage.” Perhaps this electronic lock wasn’t designed with much humanity in mind—no one came to rescue it, and it didn’t have a key itself… Or maybe it hid inside voluntarily and accidentally locked itself in?

Yet through the window, no signs of struggle were visible… On the contrary, it was oddly too clean, which is somewhat strange.

But who knows, infected always have strange reasons to appear in various places.

“Ah, ah… ah…” As a result, while we were observing, infected woke up from its slumber, but it didn’t show much reaction upon seeing me and Rin.

I took two steps back, letting Ling stand in front. Sure enough, the infected’s reaction became much weaker.

It seems the infected only reacts to the nearest living creature. If I hide behind Ling and divert its attention, I can minimize its hostility toward me.

Just as expected, it had already lost interest in me and turned its gaze toward Ling, pressing both hands against the glass window, staring intently.

Who knows if it’s developed… certain interests?

Along the way, we encountered many infected. To be safe, I didn’t let Rin appear in front of large groups of infected, only experimenting with isolated infected.

Of course, not all infected showed interest in Rin, but most would fix their gaze on her body, which seemed related to her clothing.

If Ling puts on a coat and wears long , the likelihood of her being ignored would be greater.

The more her body and the more revealing her clothing, the more it would attract the infected.

Even before the apocalypse, Ling’s outfit would have been very eye-catching, and it’s likely that the infected inherited this habit.