Soon after, the sound of footsteps echoed up the stairwell, accompanied by savage, hunger-filled growls.
"Groaar…!!!"
Gabriel knew that sound—no, he knew it intimately. Even without relying on the Gigan, just hearing it was enough.
From the stairway, several zombies emerged, staggering forward as they closed in.
Their eyes were clouded white, their bodies deathly pale, driven only by an insatiable instinct—even though their flesh was already rotting.
"Hmph," Gabriel snorted. "Pathetic creatures of darkness who have lost their way… you dare set your sights on me?"
The moment those words left his mouth, one zombie lunged forward wildly, followed by five more.
Within the perception of the Gigan—which allowed its user to see movements as fast as sonic bullets—the zombies' actions looked like a paused video, slow and easily analyzed.
The instant they entered the optimal range, Gabriel moved.
The shovel in his right hand swung viciously, smashing and crushing their heads one by one.
Blood sprayed in all directions, staining the floor, the walls, and even Gabriel's raincoat, which had been clean just moments ago.
With their heads crushed, the zombies collapsed and lay scattered, while Gabriel stood calmly at the center of the slaughter—like a solitary ruler who had just restored order to chaos.
Moments later, system notifications appeared in the air, informing him that each zombie head killed granted 1 system point.
The very next second, Gabriel's body gave out. His strength drained away as he dropped to his knees, vomiting violently once again.
The mask of composed confidence that had covered his expression shattered completely, leaving behind a face pale as death and slick with cold sweat.
"Ugh… this is my first time killing zombies… damn it, not even an hour in and my mental stamina is already wrecked?" he muttered, half-grumbling.
Gabriel let out an even longer breath than before, then slowly put his mask back on—the persona of Ash, the Pale Mist Who Watches the Stars, settling over him once more.
Then Gabriel walked toward the rooftop railing, pulling a bottle of mineral water from the pouch at his waist.
He unscrewed the cap, and when he reached the edge, he drank slowly.
For a moment, he fell silent, gazing at the scene below—a world like a nightmare made real.
A trace of hesitation crossed Gabriel's face.
He wanted to use the Gigan again, to hack into the eyes of every existence and determine which students or teachers were still alive.
After all, gathering survivors was one of his primary missions.
But something held him back.
The reason was clear: Gabriel had already seen the world from a zombie's perspective, accidentally witnessing their final memories before death.
He lowered his head, part of his bangs covering the Gigan, then finally curled his lips into a grin.
"No. There's nothing to be afraid of," he murmured softly. "They're just creatures of darkness—former humans who refused to accept death."
With resolve, Gabriel lifted his head. Intricate blue geometric magic circles formed within both Gigan eyes, radiating a light that pierced through the surrounding reality.
"Ash… who has conquered death, cannot fear witnessing death," Gabriel declared, his voice brimming with conviction and a dramatic aura that seemed to shake the air itself.
"Shiya Tensō!"
The Gigan was activated at maximum output, its circuits spreading throughout the surrounding space.
In an instant, magic circles manifested on every existence that possessed eyes within the radius of the entire school, as if marking all living and dead beings nearby.
With that superhuman perception, he began to scan every existence—through the eyes of zombies, students, and teachers alike.
He witnessed the world from their perspectives: fear, panic, the instinct to survive, and the hunger to hunt.
Every tiny detail, from the subtlest movement to the briefest glance, was absorbed into Gabriel's consciousness.
Second by second, he traced them all—marking who was still alive, who had just turned, and who was already lifeless.
Until finally, his focus stopped on a single figure—one that sparked both interest and curiosity.
Long purple hair flowed behind her, following movements that were graceful yet lethal as she cut down zombies with flawless precision.
The sway of her uniform skirt added an elegant rhythm to every swing of her blade, each strike felling another creature of darkness.
Gabriel smiled faintly. He knew who she was. Still, to be certain, he briefly traced her memories through a zombie's eyes—no more than a single second.
There was no mistake.
That girl was Saeko Busujima.
However, his earlier actions had exceeded the Gigan's safe usage threshold. The eyes burned with heat, faint smoke rising from his head as if the power itself were demanding its limit.
Even so, the Gigan flashed once, gleaming like a shard of the sky, and Gabriel broke into a bright smile.
He had obtained the information he wanted—and now, despite its brutality, the world felt slightly more controllable in his hands.
Zzrettt! Zzrettt! Crak!
The perspectives woven through the Gigan suddenly severed. A violent glitch rippled through his vision; the Gigan's left eye cracked slightly, and blood flowed from its corner, trailing down Gabriel's cheek.
He let out a long breath, resting the shovel on his shoulder. The light of Gigan flickered faintly—as if awaiting its command.
Gabriel assumed an attack stance—his body lowered, muscles tensing, and the Gigan eye igniting in blue, like the gaze of an avenging angel descending from the throne of heaven.
"But…"
A dark smile spread across his face—the smile of someone far too comfortable standing between delusion and reality.
"Carve my name into your souls as you crumble into dust…"
He swung the shovel to the side, gripping it with both hands level with his shoulders. The wind began to swirl gently around his body, as if responding to an aura he himself had brought into existence.
"I am Ash. The pale mist that watches over the stars. The existence that once Conquered Death!"
At the same time, Gabriel focused his thoughts. A transparent panel appeared before him.
Without hesitation, he allocated five free attribute points into Agility (AGI).
Ding!
[Agility: 4 → 9]
The moment the points were absorbed, the world felt different.
Everything slowed.
The staggering movements of the zombies became clumsy and predictable.
The sway of their arms, the shift of their weight, even the faint twitch before they lunged—each detail unfolded clearly within Gabriel's perception.
His body felt lighter. Sharper.
As if the air itself had grown thinner, more obedient.
Gabriel exhaled softly.
"…Heh."
In that instant, the boundary between hunter and prey was decisively rewritten.
The three zombies were already four steps away when Gabriel stomped against the rooftop floor—and in a single burst, his body shot forward like a shadow whipped into motion by a violent gust of wind.
His speed skyrocketed. At the very least, he was now moving on par with a national-level champion athlete—perhaps even faster.
Yet the most terrifying change wasn't the increase in raw speed—
It was how his body adapted.
The boost in AGI caused the synchronization between his physical body and Gigan's perception to spike sharply.
His reactions followed Gigan's visuals instantly, without the slightest delay.
As if his body were being forcibly dragged to keep up with the sharpness of a god's eyes.
___
Additional Note:
So—how is it? Do you like Gabriel? My new MC who… yeah, this time is full-on chuunibyou. If it feels cringe, please forgive me. Ehehe~
No matter what, one of my hobbies is creating protagonists with abnormal personalities.
But how does he compare to Rian Andromeda?
The narcissist himself?
Write your thoughts in the comments.
Oh—and by the way, the MC will soon meet Saeko and Shizuka-sensei!