Chapter 1
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Apocalypse, But It's Too Easy for Me
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In the cramped confines of my tiny studio apartment, I was glued to my phone, hyper-focused on a live broadcast.
Anyone watching this stream would be just as riveted.
You couldn't afford to miss even a second.
"1, 5, 11, 19..."
I jotted down the numbers flashing on the screen, circling the matching ones on the paper in front of me.
"36, and finally 42!"
What I was watching was the lottery draw. Once the last number dropped and all seven digits matched perfectly, I shot up from my seat.
"Holy shit! Jackpot! Four billion won is mine..."
Most people who hit the big one would be screaming their lungs out, losing their minds. And why not? The odds are insanely low.
You buy a ticket hoping for the best, but deep down, you never really expect to win.
That's why landing something this unbelievable feels so damn euphoric.
Me? I wasn't that thrilled.
I'd known I was going to win.
Or more precisely, I was dead certain of it.
"Mir, you didn't screw me over, huh? Figures a goddess wouldn't stoop to petty scams."
The reason I hit the jackpot traces back a few days.
A few days ago, after rolling around in another world for over ten years, I finally clawed my way back home.
I can still picture the goddess Mir's face, pleading desperately for me to stay.
When she begged me to remain in her world, I just laughed and shot back.
"I'm done being your fucking errand boy, bitch. How long were you planning to grind me?"
She'd dragged me into that world on a whim, and looking back...
I uprooted every last corrupt bastard in the kingdom.
I bridged the emotional chasms those assholes dug, even sparking wars, and forced harmony between humans and other races.
I smashed the Demon King threatening humanity.
I did everything!
So what the hell more do you want?!
I figured I'd done more than enough for a world that wasn't even mine.
That's why I wanted to come home. Living as a black magician there—even after saving the damn place—meant being shunned like a freak.
"Black magicians are unpredictable maniacs!" one kingdom whined, even though I'd planned to ditch them anyway because they were spineless backstabbers. I blew it sky-high.
Better to escape that shitshow than stress out in it.
On top of that, I had one demand for Mir: make sure I could live without money worries.
First up? The winning lottery numbers.
To shut down any bullshit excuses, I specified: send me back, and make sure I win a first-prize lotto worth at least two billion won ASAP.
I saved the world—four billion to live large is fair, right?
I even demanded ways to keep the cash flowing afterward.
At first, Mir balked, saying she couldn't interfere with my home world. But after mulling it over, she nodded. "Fine."
She looked a tad shady, so I wondered if she'd scam me. Send me back with fake numbers, then I'd never return to hassle her.
I'd secretly prepped backups, but looks like the goddess kept her word.
Hell yeah, I'm rich now!
Back in my original body, the ten-plus years in that world hadn't aged me a day. Still 28. My life's prime is just kicking off.
All that suffering paid off, fuck yeah.
After every wild ordeal imaginable, reaping the rewards feels incredible.
Alright, tomorrow I'll cash this in.
Gonna drift off dreaming about how to blow the dough.
I flopped onto my stiff mattress and closed my eyes.
In the quiet night, buoyed by euphoria, I plunged into deep sleep.
...
...
...
BAM! BAM!
Huh? What the hell?
I was sleeping like a rock when someone started pounding on my door like a maniac.
Who the fuck?
Phone said 6 a.m.—dawn—and this asshole's causing a racket.
After yesterday's high, I wanted to savor it in my dreams, so I shut my eyes again.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
"Hey! Hey, you in there? Open up! Please!! Save me!!"
The lunatic outside was yelling bloody murder now.
What fresh hell is this at the crack of dawn?
"Save me"? The fuck?
I considered ignoring him, but he wasn't budging anytime soon. Sighing, I dragged myself up.
Still groggy, I shuffled to the door, unlocked it, and yanked it open—only for the guy outside to shove his way in.
What the actual fuck?
"Mister, what do you think you're—"
I recognized him—one of the guys from the same floor in this building. Didn't know his name, just the face.
But... he looked off. Way off. His face and clothes were soaked in blood.
The kind of sight you never see in normal life. How many modern folks go through life without witnessing someone drenched in gore?
Plenty probably die without ever seeing it.
Yet here it was, right in front of me.
"What the hell happened?"
"L-Let me in first! Or the monsters... the monsters are coming!!"
Monsters? What kind of batshit nonsense is this?
He stared at me like some movie monster was real and closing in.
-GRRRRAAAAAHHH
Then, from down the hall, a guttural roar no human could make echoed out.
Not one—several, overlapping in a horrific chorus.
"Aaaah, they're here already! Hurry!"
"Fuck it, get in."
I needed answers, but first things first. I pulled him inside and slammed the door, locking it tight.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Moments later, something else battered the door like a battering ram.
Unlike the guy's frantic knocks, this was mindless slamming—pure brute force.
My brain couldn't keep up.
"You okay, mister... Oh, fuck, what is this shit?"
I turned to grill him properly, and a curse slipped out.
Bloodied as he'd seemed through the crack, now I saw his right forearm clutched in his left hand. Blood poured between his fingers—clear bite marks from something monstrous.
Hadn't seen the thing yet, but his condition screamed bad news.
"KYAAAAAHHHH!"
Right then, a piercing woman's scream split the air, signaling the morning apocalypse.
My eyes snapped outside. The scene was unreal—had to be a hallucination.
People fleeing in panic, stomping wildly, chased by humanoid things that weren't human.
Dull gray skin, blood-smeared mouths—like they'd just mauled guys like this one. One caught a woman, sank teeth into her throat.
Elsewhere, a downed body swarmed by more, ripping flesh with their jaws.
"Zombies...?"
Movie shit, playing out live.
Wait a sec. Then...
I glanced back at the guy. He was trembling violently, face twisted in agony, collapsing to the floor.
His skin was graying, just like those things outside.
Of course. Bitten by a zombie, turn into one. Classic cliché.
Soon, his shaking stopped cold as full gray overtook him—like a machine unplugged. Dead silent.
No idiot could miss what was happening.
He rose slowly, head lifting to reveal bloodshot eyes locked on me. With a roar, he lunged.
Normal person? Run like hell.
The old me—pre-isekai—definitely would've.
But this zombie charging for my throat? I extended a hand, grabbed its head, and stopped it cold. Effortlessly.
It gnashed futilely, overpowered.
A grin crept onto my face.
Sudden sweet loot like this? How could I not smile?
Mana Drain
Demonic energy absorbed. Target withers rapidly.
Its body shriveled at warp speed, turning mummified, a desiccated rag.
Meanwhile, the demonic energy inside flooded straight into me.
See? Always have insurance.
Just in case Mir's numbers flopped, I'd hidden my black magician powers from her and smuggled them back.
Couldn't let her catch on, so I'd whittled them down to near-nothing—cell-level weak compared to my prime. But if I could just hold onto a spark, I could rebuild here.
Then these zombies popped up, brimming with familiar demonic energy. I tested an absorption—identical to my old world's. Perfect for refueling my strength.
I dropped the husk and peered outside. World-ending chaos: smoke rising everywhere, streets littered with mangled corpses, screams as people fled zombies.
Textbook zombie apocalypse.
Stuff from webnovels and flicks, now real life.
But I've got zero worries.
I'm probably the only black magician here.