Strongest Boyfriend In The Apocalypse: Every Girl Depends On Me!-Chapter 27: First Big Purchase

Jump. Roll. Strike. Retreat.

Again and again.

Each hit chipped away a little more. The axe started cutting deeper. The monster’s movements slowed just slightly.

But Ethan was worse off.

His legs burned. His arms trembled. His breathing was ragged.

He could feel himself reaching the limit.

The Walking Mutant slammed him into the ground again.

This time, Ethan didn’t bounce back up.

He lay there, staring at the dark sky, ears ringing.

The monster raised its claw.

Images flashed through Ethan’s mind. The university. The girls. The fire. The road. The promise he had made without realizing it.

Not like this.

He roared and rolled aside just as the claw smashed into the ground, inches from his head.

Using the last of his strength, Ethan forced himself up and ran straight at the monster.

It laughed.

A deep, ugly sound.

Ethan jumped higher than he thought he could.

The axe came down with everything he had left.

This time, it went in deep.

Right through the neck.

The blade stuck.

The Walking Mutant staggered.

Ethan held on.

The monster thrashed, roaring, clawing at him. Blood sprayed, thick and dark. Ethan felt the world narrowing, his vision tunneling.

He screamed and pulled.

The axe tore free.

The head fell.

The body took one step.

Then collapsed.

Silence crashed down.

Ethan stood there for a second longer, then dropped to his knees.

His whole body shook.

His ears rang.

His chest hurt with every breath.

The interface appeared quietly.

[You have slain a Level 5 Walking Mutant.]

[+1000 Boyfriend Credits gained.]

Ethan barely registered it.

Then another message appeared.

[You have received a Boyfriend Skill. Emotional Endurance.]

Ethan slumped forward, palms on the ground.

The girls rushed toward him.

"Ethan!"

"Are you okay?!"

"Don’t move!"

He didn’t answer right away.

He just sat there, breathing, alive.

The monster was dead.

And for the first time, Ethan understood something clearly.

This world was not done testing him.

Not even close.

.....

The massive body of the monster lay on its side, twisted and still, one arm bent under its weight, the other stretched toward the place where Ethan had been standing moments earlier. The smell was thick, a mix of blood, sweat, and something raw that made the air hard to breathe. Steam still rose faintly from the corpse, as if the monster’s heat had not yet left it.

Anna was the first to reach Ethan, her hands shaking as she grabbed his arm, her face pale and tight with fear she had been holding back for too long.

"Ethan," she said, her voice breaking as she tried to pull him up. "Ethan, say something. Please."

Nina came right behind her, already crouching, her eyes scanning his body like she was afraid of what she might find. Eva followed, then Gracie, then Mella and Helen, all of them talking at once, voices overlapping, panic mixing with disbelief.

"Are you hurt?"

"Can you stand?"

"Don’t move too fast."

"God... that thing was huge."

Ethan tried to speak but only managed a rough breath at first. His chest rose and fell unevenly, every inhale burning like fire, every exhale feeling too weak. He planted one hand on the ground and slowly pushed himself upright, letting their hands support him as his legs threatened to give out again.

"I’m fine," he finally said, though his voice came out hoarse. "Just... tired."

"Tired?" Gracie repeated, staring at him like he had lost his mind. "You just fought that thing alone."

She turned and looked at the corpse again, her mouth falling open slightly as the reality settled in.

"That wasn’t even normal," Eva added quietly. "It didn’t react to the bullets at all."

Nina didn’t say anything at first.

She just stood there, staring at the dead Walking Mutant, her lips pressed together, her grip tight around the handle of her axe which she had picked up again without realizing it. Her eyes moved slowly from the monster’s claws to its torn neck, then back to Ethan.

There was something different in her expression.

Not fear. Not anger.

Something closer to awe.

Ethan noticed it.

And just then, the familiar interface appeared at the edge of his vision.

[Loyalty Update Alert.]

[Nina Ortega.]

[Previous: 32%.] 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

[Current: 40%.]

No other notification followed.

No warmth. No pulse. No increase in Love... He wasn’t expecting that anyway.

Ethan exhaled quietly.

He was glad there was improvement, even if it was only Loyalty. It meant she trusted him more now, saw him differently than before.

Still, a small part of him couldn’t help wanting more, wondering what else it would take, or if there was a line he hadn’t crossed yet.

He pushed the thought aside and focused on the group.

They helped him sit against a broken concrete slab, and Helen quickly handed him water. He drank slowly, his hands still shaking as the tension finally began to drain from his body.

For a while, no one spoke.

The night felt heavier after what had happened, quieter in a way that made every sound feel too loud.

Eventually, Anna broke the silence.

"That thing..." she said slowly. "That wasn’t a zombie."

Ethan nodded.

"No," he replied. "It wasn’t."

Eva leaned forward slightly, her brows drawn together. "Then what was it?"

Ethan stared at the ground for a moment, choosing his words carefully.

"It’s not just zombies out there," he said. "That’s what I’m trying to say. Whatever happened to this world didn’t stop at reanimating the dead. There are other things now. Monsters. Mutations. Stuff that doesn’t follow the same rules."

Gracie swallowed. "Like that one."

"Worse, I guess," Ethan said honestly.

That single word hung in the air.

Helen folded her arms tightly around herself. "How many are there?"

"I don’t know," Ethan answered. "But I know they exist. And I know guns won’t always be enough."

That made everyone go quiet again.

They all looked down at their rifles, weapons that had once made them feel safe, that had saved them more times than they could count. Now, after watching bullets bounce off that monster like rain, those rifles suddenly felt smaller, weaker.

"So what do we do?" Mella asked softly.

Ethan lifted his head and looked at them, one by one.

"We stay ready," he said. "We don’t assume anything is safe. And we don’t stay in one place longer than we have to."

Nina finally spoke.

"You knew something like this could show up, didn’t you?" she asked.

Ethan met her gaze and nodded.

"I didn’t know when," he admitted. "But yeah. I knew."

She didn’t accuse him. Didn’t argue.

She just nodded slowly, accepting it.

They rested for a while longer, tending to bruises, reloading weapons, trying to steady their nerves. The body of the Walking Mutant lay nearby like a warning, a reminder of how close they had come to dying.

After some time, Ethan stood again, feeling steadier now.

"We need to move," he said. "But before that, there’s something I’ve been meaning to do."

The girls looked at him curiously.

He closed his eyes briefly and opened the Store.

The familiar interface appeared clearly this time.

[Store.]

His eyes went straight to the item he had been thinking about for a long time.

[Name: FORD Twenty-seater Van.]

[Cost: 5000 BC.]

[Description: A twenty-seater large, durable transport vehicle with four spacious rows, wide interior space for passengers and gear, reinforced suspension, and reliable performance for moving large groups safely. Maximum speed at 140 kilometres by hour.]

Ethan glanced at his balance.

Over sixteen thousand Boyfriend Credits.

He didn’t hesitate.

[Purchase Successful.]

The air in front of them shimmered.

Metal groaned softly as something massive began to take shape, forming piece by piece, solid and real, tires touching the ground with a dull thud. Within seconds, a full-sized van stood before them, clean, intact, and completely out of place in the ruined street.

Everyone froze.

Teresa’s jaw dropped.

"What... the hell... is that?" she breathed.

Eva blinked rapidly. "Did... did you just summon a car?"

Ethan opened the door and glanced back at them with a tired smile.

"Transport," he said. "We’re walking too much."

For a moment, no one moved.

Then Gracie laughed, a short, almost hysterical sound.

"Okay," she said. "Yeah. Sure. Why not."

They climbed in one by one, still stunned, touching the seats, the windows, the interior like they were afraid it might vanish. Nina sat near the back, arms crossed, eyes forward, quiet as always, but the tension in her shoulders had eased slightly.

Ethan started the engine and pulled onto the road.

As they drove, the night stretched ahead of them, dark but calm for once. He turned on the radio, adjusting it until music filled the van.

"Dynamite" by Imagine Dragons started playing.

Gracie perked up instantly. "No way."

Eva smiled faintly. Anna leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes for a moment as the sound washed over her. Even Nina’s foot tapped lightly against the floor without her noticing.

For a short while, they vibed.

They sang softly. Laughed a little. Forgot where they were going and why.

It felt almost normal.

Then Ethan slowed the van.

The headlights illuminated something ahead.

He stopped completely.

The music cut off.

The road was gone.

A massive hole stretched before them, so wide it swallowed the street entirely, its edges jagged and broken like the earth itself had been torn open. It was huge, easily the size of a football field, and deep enough that the bottom disappeared into darkness.

But the worst part wasn’t the hole.

It was what was inside it.

The moment Ethan stepped out of the van to have a clear look at it, his heart skipped.

Countless zombies.

Packed together, moving, climbing over one another, growling, their sounds echoing upward like a living pit of death. Hundreds of them, maybe more, trapped below but very much alive.

With that view, his eyes widened.

"Fuck hell..."