Escape From of The Dead (1)  

A tall, sturdy man with long hair stood alone in an all-white room. His right hand skillfully operated the keyboards of three computers connected to a single server. His sharp eyes followed every movement of the graphs and numbers on the computer screens. His expression grew serious as one of the screens showed a graph fluctuating erratically. For a moment, his hands stopped as he tried to figure out what was causing the irregular movements.

Soon after, his nimble fingers returned to the keyboards, expertly inputting data into the computers he had been closely monitoring.

The all-white room was filled with advanced equipment befitting someone of a professor's caliber. Cables of various sizes were scattered everywhere—some as thin as headphone cords, others as thick as battery charger cables. The room also housed several small refrigeration units, resembling toaster ovens, containing small tubes filled with chemical solutions. In the center of the room stood a table that looked like an operating table, surrounded by various tools. Everything in the room made it resemble a high-tech laboratory.

The man, now wearing a white lab coat typically worn by researchers and professors, continued typing, his hands still encased in thin white rubber gloves. Moments later, the three computers flickered, and the word "Error" appeared on the center screen. The error, which wasn't a system malfunction, immediately stopped the man typing. A heavy sigh escaped from the man in the long white coat.

"So that's how it is," he murmured, seemingly to no one.

He strolled toward what appeared to be a safe on a table. His gloved fingers moved to press the keypad on the safe, entering a series of codes to unlock it. After inputting the necessary password, he retrieved something from inside. He held a small tube, about the size of an adult thumb, containing a clear green liquid of unknown origin.

"So all this time, creating a more perfect copy was pointless. It seems it must be combined with his."

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The spring night felt colder than usual, perhaps due to shifting wind patterns high above or Tokyo's lifeless state, devoid of its usual bustling activity. No matter the reason, the eerie atmosphere was topped off by the undead corpses wandering through the streets of Tokyo.

It was different, though, at one of the city's more recognizable schools. Koryo Senior High School in south Tokyo bustled with activity. On the second floor of the extracurricular building, a group of young people ran through the hallways, clearing their path of the creatures that blocked their way and tried to attack them.

The bat belonging to Ryuji, who leads the group, has collided with the heads of the creatures dozens of times. Dark red blood, still wet, sticks to the young man's stick.

When one of the creatures manages to grab the arm of a bespectacled girl roughly and tightly while attempting to bite her, a brutal slash comes from behind, sending the creature flying. Blood stains a wooden sword used to strike the creature.

The person who successfully separates the girl from the ugly creature is a sexy young woman at the back of the group. Their formation looks different from before, but the leader remains the same.

Ryuji is at the front, tasked with leading and clearing the route they will take. Directly behind Ryuji are Daiki and Mina in the middle, with Takeshi as the left-wing protector and Emi as the right-wing protector.

At the back is Aya-sensei, guarding the rear, ensuring a creature from behind unexpectedly embraces no one.

"Friends, be careful. Don't get separated from the formation," says Ryuji, swinging his weapon horizontally at two creatures attacking him simultaneously. The two creatures are thrown against the wall, their heads splattered with blood.

"That's what we're trying to do, Ryuji," says Emi, crouching to avoid an attack from a creature beside the team. With a strong jab, Emi drives her staff into the creature's throat from below.

Her attack is on target, piercing the creature's throat. Without stopping, she quickly kicks its chest, sending it flying and slamming into the wall.

Though blood pours from the creature's shattered throat, it manages to stand up again, watching as Emi and the others run far ahead. They continue running through the dark school corridor.

With their makeshift weapons, they try to protect themselves and their teammates from attacks or bites from the savage corpses. As they reach a corner of the staircase, they head down to the ground floor, but Ryuji stops and raises his hand as if signaling a code. The group members who see the signal stop follow Ryuji, who crouches to look down at the first floor.

"What's wrong, Ryuji? Why did we stop?" Emi asks in a low voice so the creatures don't hear but are still audible to her team.

The others also look confused, except for Takeshi, who keeps his stoic expression. Ryuji decides to catch his breath before answering Emi's question.

Of course, running through long corridors and down the stairs from the third floor while using energy to smash the heads of the creatures has drained his oxygen and stamina.

Like Ryuji, the others are also panting, breathing as deeply as possible. What they are doing now breaks the silence of the night, leaving only the sound of the undead's footsteps echoing.

Ryuji watches them intensely while waiting for his heartbeat to slow down and return to normal after the long run.

"I... learned something new. I realized it while we were running," says Ryuji quietly. His teammates look surprised by his words, except for Takeshi, who only looks at his friend blankly.

They knew Ryuji because he was seen as foolish and unreliable. Yet this time, Ryuji claimed he had learned something from them. They fully expected Ryuji to repeat something ridiculous as he did on the third floor.

"Realized something?" Mina, who was behind Ryuji—or more accurately, above him since they were currently crouched halfway up the school stairs—asked.

"Yes..." Ryuji replied briefly.

"What did you realize, Ryuji?" Daiki chimed in, addressing Ryuji by his first name since he had known him for a long time. However, they weren't particularly close due to being in different classes.

"From what I've observed, they can't see us clearly at night or in the dark. Because not all of them have been attacking us... and their attacks aren't as coordinated as they were during the day," Ryuji explained in detail.

"Correction to my earlier assumption, Takeshi," he added. When asked to verify Ryuji's explanation, Takeshi closed his eyes.

"I agree. Their attacks seem different compared to during the day," Takeshi said, siding with Ryuji.

"From what I've seen, they're groping in the dark. Those close to us attack directly, but the farther away only approach based on their hearing," Mina added from behind Ryuji, who was still on high alert, intently watching their surroundings.

"That's probably because their corneas and ciliary muscles are damaged, making their vision unclear in the dark," Mina continued, elaborating in detail as if she didn't want to be outdone by Kageyama Takeshi.

The others tried to digest the explanations from the three of them, and they were incredibly stunned that Ryuji had managed to draw such an accurate conclusion. This was even more so because his observation was directly supported by two of the school's most renowned smart students.

Their earlier assumption that Ryuji would only say something unimportant was wrong. Mina was also pleased that Ryuji had accurately pinpointed their weakness. Ryuji tightened his grip on the bat he had been using to crush their skulls.

"Alright... everyone, get ready!" Ryuji said in a low but firm voice. Takeshi, Daiki, Mina, Emi, and Aya-sensei, who had been crouching, now stood up and prepared their weapons after hearing the command from the blond young man before them.

"Let's go!" Ryuji quickly descended the remaining stairs, followed closely by his team.

Ryuji swung his bat at one of the creatures. Takeshi was equally quick in taking them down one by one. However, they seemed overwhelmed when they reached the school corridor, as far too many creatures gathered there. They couldn't run like they had on the second floor.

They could only walk slightly faster. Still, Ryuji refused to give up. He used all his strength to clear his team's path to the end of the school corridor.

The sounds of their weapons clashing with the heads of the starving corpses seemed to create a macabre melody in the eerie Tokyo night. As if unfazed by exhaustion, Ryuji continued to attack with all his might.

He protected his friends with every ounce of his strength, who were now incredibly precious to him. He thought no one else in the school could be still alive. He would never let his friends get hurt, no matter what.

One of the creatures was sent flying forward by a powerful kick, its head critically injured. It was Ryuji who had done that. But unexpectedly, two more approached him. Without hesitation, he swung his bat vertically at one of their heads.

Ryuji delivered a decisive blow, crushing the head of the living corpse, causing blood to splatter everywhere. He managed to take down one, but another one was still to his left.

The creature lunged at him quickly, catching Ryuji off guard. It tried to bite his neck, but Ryuji held it back with his left hand, gripping the creature's chin tightly.

Ryuji could feel the foul breath of the creature as its teeth snapped open and shut repeatedly, trying to sink into him. Feeling cornered, Ryuji dropped his bat to the floor.

With his now-free right hand, he tightened his grip on the creature's chin with his left hand, then quickly crouched slightly and lifted the grotesque creature with his right hand. With a forceful motion, he slammed the creature onto the floor, its head hitting the ground first.

The school floor was instantly stained with blood as the creature's head cracked open from the impact, killing it instantly. Not long after, Ryuji picked up his bat again and began striking down the creatures before him to clear a path for his group to escape the building. Aya-sensei was also busy at the rear.

She tirelessly swung her wooden sword, slicing through their skulls. Her breathing grew heavy from exhaustion as she fought against the overwhelming number of creatures in the corridor. Emi momentarily panicked at the seemingly endless horde.

But when she saw Ryuji, Takeshi, and Aya-sensei fighting relentlessly, she realized she, too, had to fight just as hard to protect the team.

...