HOTD! Busujima’s Step Brother

Armed with everything I had collected so far, M1A1 rifle with full magazine, Katana, and a standard police handgun, I immediately departed from Takagi Estate after explaining the situation to Miss Shizuka.

I already got the situation from Kohta, who managed to regain his consciousness at the same time I finished my preparation.

Also...

1. Abandon them. They aren't that close to you. (Reward: 100 Shop Points)
2. Save them. Comrade for life! (Reward: 500 Shop Points + 1 All Stats)

There were only two choices this time, which sounded reasonable.

However, I already knew how my system's choices worked. The higher the reward, the higher the risk that I would have to take. The fact it offered me 500 Shop Points just for saving the protagonist and the others sounded strange.

The last time I took the 500 Shop Points choice, I had to save Don Takagi and his comrades from a horde of zombies alone.

Which means saving Takashi and the other two girls would yield the same or higher level of danger. Naturally I considered the danger to be higher because I didn't have to save them alone.

"Brother, focus. Worrying won't change anything." Saeko whispered from behind me, as if knowing my worries.

Yes. She was accompanying me to save Takashi, Saya, and the bitch Rei.

After Miss Shizuka reported to Don Takagi, I doubt that man wouldn't send anyone for us. His relationship with his daughter had just mended. There was no way he wouldn't move heaven and earth for the sake of finding her.

But I didn't want to bet everything on Don Takagi's cavalry and waste time waiting, so I decided to act first.

The place that Kohta told us about was, surprisingly, the mall we decided not to visit this noon. Based on the fatty's words, the survivor welcomed them at first and attacked them later, catching them off guard.

Most likely, their intention was never pure.

His gun, AR-10, was stolen. But he said the magazine jammed and the survivors probably wouldn't be able to fix it. Still, that didn't mean we could relax. They had a police officer with them, meaning they had a loaded handgun.

"Saya and the others are locking themselves safely on the top floor right now. However, I doubt they can hold on any longer against 50 or more people in the shelter."

It was a time attack. I must act fast and stealthily.

"I can see the mall."

After running at Saeko's full speed for 15 minutes, we managed to reach the mall. I wanted to get faster, but my current stats already put me above human, or even exceptional human's standard.

Thus, there was no way to get much faster without leaving Saeko.

"Drink some water first. The lights are on, so people there still have electricity." I said, giving her bottled water.

Mall usually had a different power supply. Even when the rest of the city suffered from blackout, large buildings like malls and hospitals usually could survive a little bit more. But in this world, who knew how long before everything broke down.

We watched as bright lamps illuminated some areas of the buildings. I looked at my flip phone, which I took back, and closed it again. No signal, as expected.

"I am ready." Saeko wiped her lips after gulping all of the water greedily.

Approaching them with a friendly intention wasn't possible with the gun that I brought. We sneaked close to the mall, near their barricade, and I noticed someone stood guard on top. He held a sharpened metal pole in his hand.

Fortunately, he didn't see anything. I opened my system shop and bought 2 smoke grenades for 40 Shop Points. Just like usual, I pretended that I pulled it out from my vest.

"Get ready. Once I throw this, we will jump over the barricade and head inside the mall."

Saeko nodded.

Tang- Ting ting…

Swoosh!

With a loud sound, grey smokes spewed out of the smoke grenades I threw and covered the view.

"Hm?"

"What is that thing!? Where did it come from?"

"Fuck, my eyes!"

After some confusion among the guards, we jumped through the barricade and entered the building. The smoke spread far and fast enough to cover our infiltration, so no one could notice us.

"Where did you get such a thing, brother?"

"Rika's inventory." I answered Saeko as we ran.

Fortunately, we were able to locate the staircase leading upstairs without encountering resistance along the way. 

Just in case, however, I checked every corner carefully before proceeding forward. Our journey continued quietly until we reached the fourth floor of this complex structure.

Upon arrival, we discovered an open door leading into what appeared to be a staff office. The door of this office was closed shut even though I heard some noise inside.

"Hey, why are they suddenly shouting loudly like that?"

"I don't know! We can't see anything from here. Hey, idiot. Don't try to use this chance to get closer to Takashi, you stupid!"

"Now is not the time to fight, Takagi. And Rei, we're in danger so can you step away?"

"Okay."

Three voices echoed through the air, carrying clear distinction amongst each person speaking respectively. Those voices sounded somewhat similar to Saya, Rei, and Takashi's.

And they were fighting each other at this crucial moment?

'This anime's protagonist group is such a mess.' I sighed inwardly.

I nodded at Saeko after confirming their identity. We approached the door and called out to them.

"Takagi, are you inside?" Saeko's voice was more distinct than mine. Plus, they definitely heard our footsteps earlier.

Immediately, the noises died down. Three pairs of feet stepped towards the door and waited anxiously beyond its threshold.

"S-Senior Busujima?" A girl's voice rang out hesitantly, sounding vaguely similar to Rei.

Hearing that, Saeko clicked her tongue. Right, Rei was supposed to be the same year as us. And for unknown reason, my sister didn't like being called Senior by her.

'It's never clear why even in the series, but that's not important.'

"We're here for your rescue." I added while keeping an eye at our surroundings.

"Oh my God! Really!?" This time it was Saya, undoubtedly.

"Yes." My answer came swiftly and firmly. "I'd like to explain why, but we have no time. I think the people outside will realize there is an intruder soon. We have to leave."

"Yeah, but... We accidentally locked ourselves in. The door is broken and won't budge at all." Takashi explained hurriedly.

"How the heck-" I rubbed my temple hearing that. "-whatever. Stand aside, I'll break it open."

I counted to three internally and kicked the door with all my strength. It creaked loudly under force. However, it didn't break yet.

"H-Hey, stupid! Wait a little bit. We haven't moved from the door yet!" Saya's panicked voice could be heard.

Ignoring that, I counted loudly this time.

"One."

Bam!

Once again, I kicked the door. Though it didn't open, the room behind it became noisy, followed by soft cursing coming out of it.

"Tsk!"

"Don't tsk at me! Damn it! We haven't moved yet, stupid!"

"Two."

This time, I used the momentum from running up and landed another blow straight ahead using my left leg.

BAMMM!!!

The sound reverberated throughout the entire corridor as the thick metal door cracked open. I could see three of them looking at me with stunned expressions. 

They were obviously surprised to see me kicking a thick metal door open like it was nothing.

Unfortunately, it didn't budge completely. Only half-opened at best, but it was enough for them to crawl out.

"Time to go." I said, beckoning them.

***

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