It's Not a Trash Skill

Vision Enhancement?

Vision Enhancement??

Vision Enhancement???

"My eyes are already 2.0, damn it!!!!!"

"A-are you crazy...? What the hell is wrong with you?!!!"

"......"

I stopped screaming at the sky, lowered my head, and stared blankly at O Jihye.

I stared, and stared some more.

Then I asked,

"Crazy, you say?"

"Huh..?"

"You're asking if I'm crazy?"

"Hey...."

"Yeah, I'm crazy! Who the hell wouldn't be after that?! I went through all that bullshit and all I got was Vision Enhancement?! This is fucking ridiculous..!! Hey, you perverted bastard of a god!!! This is going too far even for you!!!!!"

"Please snap out of it!! You're actually scaring me!!!!"

"Fuck!!!!!!"

"Kyaaah!!!"

I couldn't pull myself together for a while.

No—there was a real chance I was just going to lose it completely.

The Random Box had already given me the Non-slip Gloves I was wearing. And from the Random Skill Box? Just Vision Enhancement.

"Ha.. hahaha... hahahaha~ hahahahaha!!!"

"What is wrong with him..!"

I hadn't even hoped for something protagonist-tier.

But this? This was just insulting.

Even the extras who show up in front of the main cast, flex for a few panels, and then vanish get more useful skills than this.

Even those nobodies.

Even the filler extras shoved in just to pad the chapter count get better than this—and I completed the first quest perfectly, even hitting a hidden condition the protagonist never managed, and all I get is Vision Enhancement??

"I'm not dying..."

"What..?"

"......"

"Please stop staring at me like that..!!"

"I'm not dying. No way."

"I-I won't die either!"

"I'm not fucking dying!!!!! I'm too pissed off to die! Thinking about how happy that perverted bastard would be if I did—I refuse to die!!!!!"

"Kyaaaaah!!!!! I'm not dying either!! You lunatic!!!"

I grabbed O Jihye by the shoulders and shook her hard as I made my vow.

I was not going to die.

Die for whose benefit, exactly?

And these gloves had already proven the point.

If something looks useless, you just make it useful.

Vision Enhancement.

I was going to make damn sure it paid off..!

Night fell while we were still on top of the bus.

As darkness settled, the zombies grew even more vicious, howling louder than before. Lights began flickering on one by one in the surrounding buildings—places that had looked completely empty of people.

And that was when I found a use for Vision Enhancement.

"Oh... now this is something..?"

I could see.

My eyes had already been 2.0, and with Vision Enhancement on top of that, I could make out a woman in nothing but her underwear through the lit window of an officetel.

"Haha.. hello there.."

"What are you muttering about by yourself..!"

"Ah, no! Don't close the curtains!! You son of a..!!"

Shame.

She had a great body.

But Vision Enhancement wasn't only good for peeping.

"I can see them..."

"See what?"

"Kueeeh...!!"

"Kueh.."

"Gueeeeh.."

I could see them.

There was moonlight, streetlights, and scattered building lights, but even so, things that should have been invisible in the dark night were visible to me.

Not crystal clear, but clear enough that I could roughly make out the fingers of a zombie two car-lengths away.

And I was still on top of a bus.

Maybe this skill wasn't complete trash after all?

"W-what are you doing..?"

The webtoon hadn't been overflowing with detailed explanations.

But it had laid out a few key settings about the zombies.

1. Zombies grow stronger periodically.

Once this night passed and tomorrow morning arrived—exactly one week in—the zombies would get a bit stronger and a bit more agile.

Not that they kept ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠powering up every single week.

Only the first turning point, the one-week mark, was spelled out clearly. After that, the story just described them suddenly getting stronger at certain points.

There was probably some pattern to it, but the scraps of information in my memory weren't enough to figure it out.

2. The difference between day and night.

At night, zombies became more ferocious and their physical abilities improved slightly.

That was why the protagonist's group almost never went outside after dark.

Except when they had no choice, or something special came up.

But that wasn't the only reason the night restricted them.

They really did only get a little stronger.

Specifically, they got as strong as they would at the next turning point.

In other words, the zombies tonight and the zombies tomorrow morning would have the exact same physical capabilities.

A kind of preview, basically.

So it wasn't that the zombies became too strong to move around at night.

Rather, once night fell, their temper got fouler, they grew more sensitive, and more tenacious.

Their pursuit became twice as relentless, and they reacted sharply even to the smallest sounds.

Which meant luring them with noise was actually much easier at night, and the same sound could pull in zombies from a wider area.

The real restriction on movement came from the darkness itself.

You couldn't see well, so countless variables could crop up. It was hard to read the surroundings, and sometimes you couldn't even tell whether something was a person or a zombie.

And you couldn't just walk around with a flashlight on.

At night, zombies were especially sensitive to moving lights.

So people stayed put at night not because the zombies were stronger, but because of everything else.

At least in the early days.

From the mid-game onward, different reasons would make night travel impossible.

Tap-tap-

I rapped the bus roof with the entrenching tool.

"Kraaaagh!!"

"Kraaaaaagh!!!"

"Kraaaah!!!"

"Kraah!!"

"Kraaaagh!!"

"Kraaaaaaa!!!!"

They definitely howled louder than when the sun was up, swarmed a little faster, and reacted more violently.

Thud! Thud-thud!! Thud-thud-thud!! Thud-thud!! Thud-thud-thud-thud!!!

In an instant the bus was surrounded, rocking like an earthquake had hit.

"S-stop it..!!! What the hell are you doing..!!!! Kyaah!!"

"......"

I wasn't doing this out of boredom.

I was testing.

How far out the zombies would come from.

How they reacted to other sounds once they were already drawn in.

"Hey, your shoes... why are you barefoot?"

"You expect me to run in heels?! Of course I took them off!"

For all her yelling, the way she curled her toes and hugged her legs made her look a little pitiful.

She was really fighting for her life too.

To her this was just a webtoon... no.

To O Jihye, this was the real world.

She was a person living in this real world.

Anyway, what should I use to test further?

The entrenching tool was out of the question, and the collapsible baton felt a little too precious to waste...

"Ah!"

There was a way.

More precisely, there was someone who could help.

"Lady on the second floor of the officetel!!!!!!!"

"A woman?"

"The one in the yellow bra and white panties!!!!!!!"

"You pervert, even at a time like this..!!"

"Shut up! You crazy bastard!!!!!"

That got a reaction.

"Please help me out!!"

"Get lost! You pervert!!"

"Just a second! Don't close the window! If you help me, I'll help you too!!"

"Yeah, right. I don't need it, so shut up! This is so embarrassing..!!"

"What?! There's a woman on the second floor?? Is she alone??"

"Who the hell are you!!"

"Seventh floor! We've got plenty of food at my place!"

"So what the hell do you want me to do about it!!"

"What do you mean, 'so what'? Give me a round and I'll share some food."

"Fuck off! You son of a bitch!!!!"

"If you get hungry, just say the word~ Ah! Before that, send me a pic. My number is..."

"Kyaah!!! Don't say it!!!!!!"

That was enough.

Once I confirmed the zombies were streaming toward the officetel, I jumped down onto the roof of the SUV I'd been on earlier in the day.

Thud!!

The distance to the officetel was roughly twenty meters.

Of the zombies that turned at the sound of my landing, only the ones that hadn't left the road yet looked back.

About fifteen meters out.

Of course I wasn't doing this for some precise mathematical calculation.

I was a liberal arts guy—numbers weren't my strong suit.

I just wanted to see how much they reacted to a new sound while already being lured by another one.

And how limited their night vision actually was.

"......"

"Kraagh!!!"

"Kragh!!"

"Kraaaah!!!"

"Kraaaaah!!!"

I crouched on the SUV roof and watched the zombies coming back.

Flattening myself would have hidden me better, but right now I was testing how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good their night eyes were.

And I got my answer.

"Kraaaaaaagh!!!!"

"Kraaaagh!!!"

"Kraaagh!!!"

"Kraaaaaa!!!!"

One and a half lanes.

At first the zombies just charged toward the SUV, but from about one and a half lanes away they lifted their heads slightly and locked onto me precisely as they ran.

So how far was that?

By eye it looked like about five meters.

"Hey..! What are you doing, that's dangerous...!!!"

Yeah, it was dangerous.

Better to think this through back on the bus.

Taat!!

I launched myself again, caught the side of the bus, and scrambled up onto the roof.

"What the hell were you even doing..!! Do you actually want to give me a heart attack?!"

"Lie down first."

"What??"

"I said lie down."

"Hey.. hey..! Hup!!!"

I locked my arm around O Jihye's neck like a headlock and pulled us both flat onto our backs.

"Y-you said I stink...."

"Pull out your phone."

"Huh..?"

"Hurry up and turn on the stopwatch."

"I'll do whatever you say, just tell me what you're thinking?!"

Even while complaining she already had her phone out and the stopwatch running.

After more than thirty minutes passed, the howling that had filled the area finally quieted down somewhat.

"Wow... they really are persistent at night.."

"......"

"Alright. I'll tell you."

"Haa..."

Lying with her head ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on my arm, lips pressed tight, O Jihye stared at me while I explained my plan.

"Y-you're saying we're going to escape from here..? Right now??"

"Yeah."

"Why..! It's night, you can barely see..!!"

"I can see. To a degree. Status Window share."

Now it would show up in O Jihye's eyes too.

My so-called trash skill.

Current time: 11 p.m.

Current location: the road roughly three hundred meters from the front gate of Mapo Police Station.

No final destination.

Just get as close to Gongdeok Station as possible.

Operation start.

Thwack!!!

My hips slammed hard into O Jihye's surprisingly soft ass.

"Haaang!!!!"

"Kraagh!!"

"Kraaaagh!!!"

"Kraah!!"

"Kraaaaaah!!!"

"Kraaaagh!!!!"

The moan that burst out of her set the quieted zombies howling again.

But I didn't stop.

Thwack! Thud! Thud-thud! Thwack!

Neither did O Jihye.

"Haaang!! Haeung!! Heuut!! Aaah!! Ahk..!! Be a little gentler..!!!"

"If it hurts, scream louder!"

"Haaaang!!!! Haeung!!!! Aaang!!!!"

O Jihye's moans cut straight through the zombie howls and started drawing other reactions.

"Fuck! Keep it down!! Who the hell is rubbing it in?!!"

"Let me have some too!! Share some, you bastard!!!!"

"I'm so fucking jealous..!! Hey! Second floor!! You really not hungry?!"

"Please shut up already!!! Some of us are trying to sleep!!!!"

"Hey!!!!! Stop making those moaning sounds!! You sons of bitches!!!"

The effect was perfect.

Voices I hadn't even heard earlier started exploding out of the officetels lining both sides of the road.

Officetels full of single-person households more than families.

A situation where no one knew who was alive or dead, and it had already been going on for nearly a week.

Food was almost gone, and death was creeping closer by the day.

And someone out there was making a racket with sex moans so loud no one could sleep.

Of course people were going to explode.

Thanks to that, the zombies that had swarmed toward the moans split left and right, pouring toward the officetels along the roadside.

"Hey..."

"I told you to be quiet now."

"Th-that's not it..."

"What?"

"It's really... touching..."

"......"

It was just a show.

A show to get people riled up.

O Jihye was wearing a skirt, and I was wearing pants.

But that didn't change the fact that repeatedly slamming into her ass made little buddy react—perfectly natural.

"Ahem..!"

"......"

I cleared my throat, let go of her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hips, and pulled my lower half away from her ass.

In the meantime O Jihye smoothed her skirt back down over her thighs and sat neatly on her knees.

But this wasn't the time to sit around being embarrassed with each other.

"Let's go."

"O-okay..."

I carefully scanned the surroundings with my enhanced night vision, then carefully jumped down toward the front of the bus.

Pretty high up.

Was I going to get hurt?

Me, not her.

I was a little worried, but O Jihye already had both legs dangling toward the front windshield, ready to jump.

And before I could even give the signal, she jumped straight at me.

"Ugh..!!!"

"Haa..! Haa..! Haa..!"

"Hey..! You're supposed to say something before you jump..!"

"You told me to be quiet and follow you quickly..!"

"......"

Yeah, my bad.

She really did listen way too well when it was inconvenient.

I pushed myself up from under O Jihye on the road, dropped into a low crouch, and moved fast between the tangled cars.

But that only got us so far.

Up ahead, zombies that hadn't been drawn by the officetel noise were still wandering around, blocking the way.

I still planned to keep moving.

Get under.

Are you sure you're okay..?

Worry about yourself.

....You're really coming back.. right? To get me...?

......

I couldn't promise.

If the situation went south, there was nothing I could do either.

But I would try my hardest.

Even the answer I gave her right now.

Of course.

You have to come... you have to...

O Jihye let go of my forearm—she'd been gripping it desperately—and crawled under a car.

I vaulted over the median barrier that even a car crash hadn't broken through, then swung the entrenching tool with everything I had.

Kwaak!!

Beep!! Beep!! Beep!! Beep!! Beep!! Beep!! Beep!!

The blade punched into a car door and the alarm blared.

I dropped low at once, slipped between the cars, vaulted back over the median, and crawled under the car where O Jihye was hiding.

Promise kept.

Huff..! Huff..!

......

O Jihye clutched the back of my hand tightly, breathing in short gasps, and we waited for the zombies to swarm toward the screaming car.

By the way, we'd really caught the last train on this one.

The alarm was still working now, but a few more days and the batteries would be dead—this method wouldn't work anymore.

Same if I hadn't had this skill.

Let's go.

Okay..!

Through the narrow space under the car I confirmed there were no zombie legs nearby, carefully slipped out, and started moving again.

From there it was the same process over and over.

We kept advancing until, far ahead over the tops of the cars, the entrance to Gongdeok Station came into view.

And off to the right, as if telling us exactly where to go, hung a sign that read 24-Hour Sauna.

"Huff..! Huff..! Huff..!"

"Haa! Haa! Haa! Haa!"

Fortunately we didn't need to go through the main building entrance.

At the corner of the building there was a separate small doorway leading down to the underground sauna.

We leaned against the stairwell wall—invisible from outside the building—caught our breath, then slowly descended the stairs together.

24-Hour Sauna.

The door wouldn't be locked.

But there was no telling how many zombies might be inside.

Still, we had no choice but to open it.

We could wash the zombie blood off our bodies.

There would be food and water we hadn't been able to grab from the police station.

And if we were lucky, it would give us the softest bed we could ask for.

Ssshk-

The moment I pushed the smoothly opening door and stepped inside, I realized it.

Vision Enhancement was not a trash skill.

It was the best skill that had just saved my life.

From these sharp scissors.

Shiiik!!!!

Tseut!!

Blood ran down from my torn cheek.

But there was no time to check the wound.

What had greeted us here wasn't a zombie—it was a person.

"Huff..! Huff..! Huff..!"

"......"

What a fiery welcome.

Drip-