Ryuji clenched his fists, his body tense as he whispered to himself, "What the hell… is this?"
The strange moon. The endless flood of zombies.
Just from what he could see outside the window, there were already thousands of them. Every inch of land in his vision was crawling with the undead.
And then, realization struck him.
His mind raced back to the information displayed on his system interface—the words that had been there from the beginning.
"Seven Days to Die."
Seven days… Was this what it meant? A massacre every seven days?
Previously, he hadn't given it much thought. His time with Erina had kept him occupied, and the world, despite being harsh, had still felt manageable.
But now…
"This isn't a game. In a game, you can respawn when you die. You know the rules, the mechanics…"
Yet here, reality was cruelly different.
Staring out at the horde, Ryuji felt despair creeping in. The only reason they weren't swarmed yet was because they had built a defensive wall around their camper van. The zombies' senses weren't particularly sharp, so as long as they remained silent, they could stay undetected.
But if even a single one of them noticed the van—
It would be over.
Even though he believed that metal was stronger than flesh and bone, sheer numbers could change everything. If thousands of zombies pressed against the van at once, they could crush it with their combined weight.
The reinforced walls wouldn't hold forever.
As he was lost in thought, he noticed Erina stir beside him.
Her long eyelashes trembled slightly as her eyes fluttered open.
Ryuji reacted instantly.
He turned, pressing a hand gently but firmly over her mouth before she could make a sound.
Then, with his free hand, he pointed to the window.
Erina's golden eyes widened in confusion, but as she followed his gesture and looked outside—
Her entire body froze.
A muffled whimper escaped her lips, panic flashing across her face.
But she quickly understood.
She covered her own mouth, stifling her scream before it could escape.
Ryuji could feel her trembling.
Her breathing was shallow, rapid, but as the seconds passed, she slowly calmed herself.
Only then did Ryuji release his grip on her mouth.
Erina continued to clutch his arm, pressing herself against him, her body shaking with fear. Her crimson eyes glistened with unshed tears as she buried herself in his embrace, seeking comfort.
Ryuji held her tightly.
Right now, she was the only warmth he could hold onto.
The two of them curled up together, keeping their movements small and controlled, watching in silent horror as the sea of zombies trudged past.
Time lost all meaning.
They remained frozen in place, their bodies stiff from tension. Even sleep came and went in small, restless bursts.
When nature inevitably called, they used plastic bottles they had scavenged earlier, barely making a sound.
Ryuji felt his face heat up as he caught a glimpse of Erina in such an intimate, vulnerable moment—but for the first time since he had met her, there wasn't even a hint of lust in his heart.
There was only fear.
Because as the hours passed, something even more terrifying began to happen.
The moon—which had already been unnaturally bright—was changing.
It was getting brighter.
Not just that.
A deep, unsettling red was slowly creeping in from its edges.
And under this blood-red glow—
The zombies… changed.
Their sluggish, stumbling gait quickened.
Their dull, empty eyes began to glow.
Ryuji wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the zombies outside seemed to be growing more frenzied. Their movements were becoming wilder, and every now and then, he could hear one of them letting out a chilling roar.
"Damn it…"
Watching the increasingly erratic undead, Ryuji took a deep breath. He glanced up at the eerie moon, his gut twisting with a sense of foreboding.
He pulled out his phone—long dead from lack of power—and turned it on briefly before it shut off again. The time showed only 2:00 PM, yet it felt as if an entire day had passed since he'd been trapped in this place.
"Good thing I managed to craft those guns and bullets yesterday. Otherwise, I'd be completely defenseless right now."
Checking his inventory, he frowned slightly at the remaining four or five batches of gunpowder. Not much left.
If only he had more time—or better yet, the unlimited stamina like in a game—he'd be in a secure, steel-fortified gas station with Erina instead of huddled inside this RV.
"But if things are really playing out the way I suspect… this RV won't be safe for much longer, either."
Ryuji looked at the horde outside, then gently ran his fingers through Erina's hair. She was just as tense and anxious as he was, but nestled in his arms, she could at least get some rest.
His gaze flicked to the sky again. The moon had deepened in color, tinged with even more red than before. Strangely, Erina, too, seemed more energetic than earlier. Suppressing his unease, he opened his system interface.
Energy: 900.
He stared at the number in silence. Then, his hand slid down Erina's body into her clothes, gently pinched her plump breasts, and then began to knead them.
While kneading, Ryuji felt the smoothness of her skin, the beautiful little strawberries, and the gradually accelerating heartbeat.
"Ryuji?"
Erina opened her eyes, gently called Ryuji's name, and looked at Ryuji with some confusion. Her eyes were full of confusion. She didn't know why Ryuji would do such a thing at this time.
Ryuji raised a finger at her, asking her to keep her voice down, but his hand did not stop at all, instead he became even more bolder.
Erina's face quickly turned red. She glared at him with a mixture of shy frustration on her face. She didn't understand why Ryuji would do something that might expose them at this time. But now was not the time to fight with him, so Erina bit her lips and tried to control Ryuji's hand with her own hand to prevent him from continuing to do something strange.
But Ryuji did not stop.
He took a deep breath and continued to caress Erina's body. Erina held his's hand even tighter to prevent him from taking any further action.
However, Ryuji kissed Erina's lips.
At first Erina was very resistant, but after accidentally making a little sound, she could only obediently raise her head and let Ryuji kiss her lips. Her hands which had been trying to stop him also moved away.
Erina's delicate flower path was entered by Ryuji's fingers. The rough fingers made Erina quite uncomfortable, but she still felt a pleasure that was hard to let go. However, she still covered her mouth tightly to prevent herself from making any sound.
So, when Ryuji pulled his fingers out from Erina's snow-white buttocks that looked like ice cream balls, a long, sticky silk thread was pulled out from the pink area.
He put his finger in his mouth. Erina immediately punched him in anger and shame, then silently closed her mouth.
Because she had already felt the burning thing of Ryuji, she was helpless and knew that at this time, she could no longer stop him.
Then, Ryuji slowly entered the hole, which was still as tight as the first time, and entered the narrow passage.
Erina was not that heavy, and at the beginning, she could still move on her own while straddling on Ryuji's lap. But as the two of them got into the mood, Erina, who was trying hard not to make any sound, soon lost the strength to keep up, so Ryuji took over, holding her snow-white, soft hips and move them back and forth continuously.
It didn't take long before the two of them couldn't help but gasp for breath together, but even while they were gasping, their hearts were already pounding, and they were suppressing their sounds so that outside couldn't hear them.
They did it very successfully, so when Erina was recovering her strength on Ryuji's body, the zombies outside didn't notice them.
Ryuji took a deep breath, glancing at the moon in the sky. Over half of its surface was cover with red.
Without another word, Ryuji reached into his inventory and began crafting dirt and stone blocks. Simple materials, but they might come in handy soon. Dirt was easy to obtain, and stone only required a few small rocks.
Erina stirred beside him, sensing the change in his demeanor. She followed his gaze to the blood-red moon and tugged at his sleeve, silently pointing at it.
He nodded, acknowledging her concern. There was no need for words—they both understood that something was very wrong.
Erina watched as he worked, then finally noticed just how unnatural the moon had become. She clenched his sleeve a little tighter.
Ryuji remained silent, methodically preparing for what was to come. He retrieved the food they had scavenged, wrapping it in a blanket before opening it carefully—minimizing noise as much as possible.
But things rarely went according to plan.
Just as they were halfway through their meal, Ryuji noticed the moon outside had turned completely red.
A sinking feeling settled in his stomach. He quickly reached for his phone again, pressing the power button just long enough to see the time before it shut off once more.
' 17:59:42 '
Almost six o'clock.
Ryuji watched helplessly as his phone flashed a low battery warning before shutting down automatically. Just as the screen turned black, the final second ticked to 59.
The very next moment, the sky plunged into darkness.
The moon, once merely tinged with red, was now a deep, bloody crimson, staining the world in its eerie glow. There was no time to react—before Ryuji could even process what was happening, a deafening chorus of enraged zombie roars erupted from all directions, echoing through the mountains.
His heart pounded as he turned toward the window.
And what he saw nearly stopped it entirely.
Countless zombies had turned their heads in unison, their glowing yellow eyes fixated on his location. Their skin was now covered in an unnatural, sinister green hue—an omen of something far worse than before.
The next moment, these zombies rushed towards them with roars!
"Shit!"
Ryuji didn't hesitate. He rushed to the RV's entrance, slamming a wooden frame against the door and reinforcing it to the best of his ability. He upgraded it as high as his system would allow, barricading the entrance completely.
But before he could even catch his breath, a horrifying sound reached his ears—
The sound of his makeshift barricade being ripped apart.
The undead had already reached the walls of the RV. The pounding of fists, the screeching of nails against metal—it was relentless.
Thinking fast, Ryuji grabbed more wooden frames, stacking them against the walls, desperately trying to reinforce the vehicle. But it wasn't enough.
Not even twenty seconds later, he heard a new, far more terrifying noise—
Thud. Thud. Thud.
From above.
"They're climbing onto the roof!" Erina's voice trembled with fear.
Ryuji's blood ran cold.
Through the window, he could see them—zombies hurling themselves at the RV without any care for their bodies, mindlessly slamming against the vehicle. Dozens. Hundreds. A seething tide of undead engulfed the RV, tossing it about like a raft caught in a violent storm.
"Fuck this!"
Snarling, Ryuji yanked out his machine gun, taking aim at the broken window. There was no need for precision—he unleashed hell, bullets tearing through rotting flesh. Each shot struck multiple targets, heads bursting like overripe fruit.
But it was useless.
For every zombie he killed, more simply trampled over the corpses, pressing in even tighter. The RV lurched, pushed off-course by the sheer weight of the horde, rolling uncontrollably toward the abandoned town in the distance.
Ryuji had no control over it anymore.
Still, he kept firing, but the imbalance in weight from his attacks only made things worse. The undead toppled the RV, flipping it onto its side. It hit the ground hard, skidding, then began to roll again and again, as the horde continued to push and shove, eager to break it open like a tin can.
Inside, chaos erupted.
Ryuji and Erina were thrown against the walls as the RV tumbled. The impact slammed his head against a cabinet, nearly knocking him out. Erina let out a pained cry, trapped beneath the collapsed bed frame. If she hadn't barricaded the windows earlier, the grasping hands of the undead would have already torn her apart.
But this was still a death trap.
There were too many.
Even if the RV held for a little while longer, it wouldn't last until morning.
If there even was a morning to see.
Ryuji took a deep breath. He stopped shooting.
Wasting bullets wasn't going to save them.
Instead, he used what little time they had left to crawl toward Erina, swiftly constructing wooden frames around them, creating a tight enclosure—just enough to keep them from being tossed around in the rolling vehicle.
He wrapped his arms around her, feeling her trembling heartbeat against his chest. In the darkness, amidst the relentless clawing and tearing of metal, he heard her whisper:
"Ryuji…"
Her voice was weak.
"Are we… going to die?"
A pause. Then, more softly—
"Will we… become one of them?"
She was in pain. He could feel the warmth of her blood against him. Her head must have been injured when the RV flipped.
He exhaled sharply, forcing himself to remain calm.
Pulling out his phone, he pressed it into her hand.
"Erina…" His voice was steady. "My name is Nakamura Ryuji. I'm from China. My mother's name is in that phone. If—"
He swallowed hard.
"If you ever find my yourself in my world, look for her or for me, if I am still alive… give her some money for me, okay?"
"…Ryuji?" Erina's voice wavered.
She didn't understand why he was saying this now.
He smiled faintly.
"I'm saying goodbye, Erina."
"Being with you…" His grip on her hand tightened. "I was really happy."
A new notification appeared in his vision.
—Do you want to return Erina Nakiri back to her world?—
[Yes]
The moment he made his choice, Erina disappeared from his arms.
Her warmth.
Her heartbeat.
Gone.
Only empty air remained.
And as the zombies finally tore through the RV's walls, as death itself reached out to claim him, Ryuji grinned.
"What a damn good dream that was."
With a chuckle, he reached into his inventory.
And pulled out a full batch of gunpowder.
Like hell he was going down without a fight.