Jackpot Reward

"What the hell is going on?!"

"What just happened?!"

"What is this...!"

"I told you this was dangerous!!!!"

"......"

Stay calm.

Right now, figuring out why this happened didn't matter. What mattered was how to get out of it.

"Hey!"

"Sir, I'm sorry, but give me a second to think...."

"What about calling upstairs for help?!"

"Help?"

"If they make a racket up there, the zombies'll head upstairs, right? Then we push up and clear the first basement floor again!"

I'd expected him to blame me, to scream that this was all my fault. Instead, the man who'd just lost both his sons came up with a solution faster than I did.

"Yeah. Let's do that. You call them, and we'll contact them separately..."

"I'm already on with Nari! Hey, Nari — hang on, I'll put Juhan on! Hyung, here!"

The second the phone hit my hand, I checked the situation.

"Is the first floor safe right now?"

"Safe? What do you mean by—"

"Is it safe or not?! Is anything happening up there?!"

"Ah — yes, it's safe! Nothing's going on!"

"Then head toward the stairs that go down to the basement. Wait — it might be dangerous, so don't go yourself. Have Jaemin and Yeonghun check it out."

"I-I'll go with them!"

Why had zombies shown up on a first basement floor that was supposed to be secure?

The outline was starting to take shape.

And so was the solution.

"Hyung, there's music coming from below!"

"Sounds like someone left a phone playing a song??"

"What about the stairs?"

"They're still blocked off tight!"

"Okay. Hold position for now. And someone call Seonye and tell her to let Gihun go. Then have Gihun..."

I glanced around at the people nearby.

No real point hiding it, though.

This wasn't going to stay quiet either way.

"Tell him to keep an eye on Park Dokyeong."

"Got it. But why?"

"Just do what I say. We're trapped on the second floor because of the zombies."

"Ah..."

"O-okay! I'll pass it along!"

The call had barely ended before people crowded around me.

"W-watch Dokyeong-hyung...? What are you talking about?!"

"Are you saying this is Dokyeong's fault?!"

"No! Dokyeong would never do something like that!!"

"Exactly! Why would you even suspect ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him?!"

"......"

I kept my mouth shut.

Whether my hunch was right or wrong, we'd find out once we got back up.

"Nari."

"Yes!"

"There's something I need you and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the others to do."

"Just say the word! I can handle anything!"

I ended the call, handed the phone back to Yang Jaeyeol, and said,

"We're going to have to do this the hard way. You good on stamina?"

"Yes. No problem."

"Mingu?"

"Same here."

"Good. And you people — stop taking Park Dokyeong's side. Call Kwon Suhyeok and tell him to start screaming without a single second of rest. Or we die."

"....Fine."

"But it isn't Dokyeong-hyung."

"You're going to have to explain why you're throwing around accusations like that."

"Sure. If we make it out of here alive."

I turned my back on them and stared hard at a corner of the room.

In the end, I was going to need that bastard's help again.

Commercial spaces in expensive apartment buildings were always maintained far better than ordinary storefronts.

Fire extinguishers were mandatory, and someone actually checked whether they still worked.

Fwoooosh!!!!

I emptied the extinguisher from the taekwondo studio, and the narrow corridor filled with a thick white haze.

"Kraaagh!!"

"Kraaaaagh!!!"

While the zombies flailed blindly, their vision cut off by the smoke, I used these excellent eyes of mine to drive an axe straight into their skulls with perfect accuracy.

"Mingu."

I called his name and reached back. The axe left my grip and a combat shovel settled into my palm.

Yang Jaeyeol, who'd been crouching ahead of me and advancing with a riot shield, rose and handed the shield over.

"Be careful, hyung."

"Worry about yourself. Don't die by accident."

"Yes."

Jaeyeol was faster than me, but my eyes were better.

Which made me the best fit for this plan.

"Kraaagh!!!"

"Kraagh!!"

I burst forward, and the zombies packing the corridor charged straight at me.

Thud!!!!

I tucked my arm tight against my body and drove the shield into them with my arm and shoulder.

Taat!

I vaulted over the ones that went down and slammed into the next wave coming at me.

Slam, vault, run — over and over.

Zombies pouring in from both sides through the shattered glass walls were held back as best they could by Yang Jaeyeol, Park Mingu, the older men, and the younger survivors.

Meanwhile the rest of the group who'd come out behind me dove through the broken glass into the shops, spreading into a wide formation like a crane-wing battle line to meet the horde. I kept charging forward like a shell fired from a blazing cannon.

How far?

All the way to the stairs leading up from the first basement floor.

"Now!"

"Firing!"

Of course the restaurant had a fire extinguisher too. Park Mingu, who'd grabbed it, blasted the stairs with white foam.

At the same time, the men coming up behind him set down a table right beside the stairwell.

I dove under it. The zombies that had spotted me and come leaping down suddenly lost their footing in the blanked-out vision, crashed into each other, and tumbled down the stairs in a heap.

From under the table, I could see the fallen zombies right in front of my face.

If any of them so much as turned their heads, I'd be caught — it was a pathetic hiding spot. But it was enough.

Zombies didn't look at me.

"Over here! You zombie bastards!!!"

The ones that had spilled down the stairs into the smoke-free lower landing locked onto Park Mingu's bold shouting, scrambled up, and charged. Mingu spun on his heel and bolted toward the formation waiting further back.

"Kraaaaaagh!!!"

"Kraaagh!!"

"Kraaaa!!"

"Kraaaaaa!!!"

"Jaeyeol!!!"

Yang Jaeyeol burst out of the restaurant where he'd been hiding and carved through the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠zombies' necks.

That bastard's stats hadn't even gone up — so why did he keep getting stronger?

Either way, Jaeyeol's charge was the signal. The men from the restaurant across the hall poured out swinging golf clubs, baseball bats, and every other weapon they had, beating the zombies down.

Drawn by the noise and the sight of them, the zombies still cascading down the stairs — where the smoke was starting to thin — charged straight toward the cluster of people.

Under the table, I held my breath. The moment the forest of zombie legs in front of me thinned out, I slipped free and sprinted up the stairs.

"Kraaaaagh!!!"

"Kraagh!!"

"Kraaagh!!!"

There were still zombies coming down, but fewer than five of them.

Thud!!

Thwack!!

I slammed them aside with the shield, dropped them with the combat shovel, and raced up the stairs.

"Kraaaaaaagh!!!!"

"Kraaaagh!!!"

"Kraaaaa!!!"

"Kraaaaaaagh!!!!"

"Kraagh!!"

"Kraaaa!!!"

An enormous number of zombies were still on the first basement floor.

All because of the music coming from right over there.

Though right now, the noise from below was louder.

"That's enough!!!!!"

I bellowed, and the racket from the stairwell cut off at once.

In its place, every zombie's gaze locked onto me.

"Sorry, but mind getting out of my way?"

"Kraaaaaagh!!!!!!"

"Kraagh!!"

"Kraaaaaagh!!!"

"Kraaaa!!!"

"Kraaaaagh!!!!"

This time I tore down the first basement corridor.

Bashing with the shield, striking with the combat shovel.

And for just a moment, my eyes snagged on one particular spot.

"Kraaaaagh!!!!"

"......"

A female zombie about shoulder height.

Unlike the others, music was pouring out of her body.

That was why the other zombies were still tearing into her even now.

Kim Hyeonji.

The woman who'd gone off somewhere with Park Dokyeong, saying they were going to find out where the zombies were getting in.

Park Dokyeong was fine and sitting pretty on the first floor. Kim Hyeonji was down here as a zombie, leaking music while the others ripped her apart.

I had to kill her.

She might turn into a Mutant, and putting her down now would free her from this living hell.

But not yet.

The others needed to see what she'd become.

"You stay here."

"Kraaaagh!!!"

I blocked the charging Kim Hyeonji with the shield and drove the combat shovel into her knee.

Once she was down, I stomped both ankles until neither leg would work.

Then I ran for the underground parking entrance — where someone had cleared away every barricade we'd put up.

"Park Dokyeong. This was you, wasn't it?"

I had no hard proof against him.

Judging him guilty just because Kim Hyeonji — who'd been with him — was wandering around down here as a zombie was a stretch.

But I still believed Park Dokyeong was the culprit.

The reason...

My gut was telling me he was the one.

"Or not. Whatever."

What a peaceful world.

"Kraaaaagh!!!!"

"Kraagh!!!"

"Kraaaa!!!"

"Kraaaaa!!!"

"Kraagh!!!"

"Kraaaagh!!!"

Zombies surrounded me, screaming their heads off, but I sat there at my leisure, occasionally stretching out an arm.

It was one of those big minivans celebrities rode around in — the so-called festival vans — so they couldn't climb up through the trunk or the sides. The best they managed was hauling themselves onto the hood with a lot of grunting.

Every so often I'd casually shove the head of a zombie that had slid down the windshield and draped itself over the hood, and it would tumble off on its own.

But shouldn't they all be dead by now?

Still no word. That felt off.

Then again — it was Jaeyeol.

Not the kind of guy who died in a place like this.

"There you are, Jaeyeol."

"Hah...! Hah...! Hyung... it's done... We sealed the entrance... for sure too... hah..."

"I know. It just popped up."

I stared into empty air, and the space where my gaze rested lit up blue.

I hadn't hit the hidden condition, but we'd successfully cleared the underground mall.

Which meant I no longer had to worry about a Mutant showing up.

"Still, what the hell is this 'trust' even for? No matter how I look at it, it seems completely useless... Whatever. Let's open the box first. Last time, the guy who opened it first got the good stuff."

I reached straight for the blue box I'd received as a reward.

The lid began to tremble, then burst open like an explosion, and the reward appeared.

For the first time — a reward I could actually be satisfied with.

"This is... a jackpot???"