Chapter 168
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: Solar Plant and the Hunt for Mir
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I took Sohee and Ria and teleported straight to the factory area first.
In an instant, the scenery around us shifted, and the two of them looked around curiously in every direction. It felt oddly cute.
"This is seriously broken. Where the hell are we, anyway?"
"Here? Hmm... I can't pinpoint the exact location, but it's gotta be at least an hour away from the base on foot?"
"An hour? That's not that far, then."
"Ah, that's if I were sprinting at full speed, of course."
Sohee, who'd been listening to me, frowned at that.
"An hour by your standards? That means it's crazy far! But if you can get here in less than a second, yeah, it's totally a cheat skill."
"Well, it's only usable within my territory. Still, I'll admit it's pretty broken."
"No, that's still broken... Hell, your whole existence is broken. You solo hordes of zombies like it's nothing, create a safe zone, and now you're even powering the base with electricity and water? You're a total balance-ruining asshole."
Sohee muttered as she lightly punched my arm.
"Jealous? Then you do it."
"Fuck, if I could, I would've already. That's why I'm bitching about it! But anyway, what's this place?"
"This? The place you just mentioned that generates electricity. Everything around here is solar panels."
At that, Sohee's eyes widened as she looked around in wonder.
"Oh, really? These are those solar panels I've only heard about... So cool. You made all of these?"
"Yeah. Burned through a shit-ton of coins for 'em."
"How many?"
How many was it again?
Each solar panel costs 1,000 coins, and I installed 30 of them. Plus, expanding the territory ate up a fortune, and then the barricades on top...
Roughly, this was it, right?
"Around 35,000 coins, I'd say? This place is a huge investment."
"Ah, 35,000 coins... What? Not 3,500, but 35,000?"
Sohee whipped around toward me with a shocked voice upon hearing the number. Ria, who'd been quietly listening to our conversation, looked just as stunned.
"That's right. Why do you think I went all out on the barricades?"
"I figured it was to keep zombies out... But if some idiot stumbles in and messes with this stuff, it'd be a disaster."
"Exactly. You have no idea how pissed I was when I got a midnight alert about someone breaking in here."
Ria bowed her head with an apologetic look at my words.
I'd said it half-jokingly, but she took it seriously?
It had pissed me off, though.
Now that I was doing the math properly, I realized I needed to add some proper defenses here later. The coin investment was way bigger than I'd thought. If some trash hit this place, I'd lose my mind—and recovering it would cost a fortune I couldn't even fathom.
Coins were already stretched thin; I couldn't afford to waste them on stupid shit.
Anyway, enough chit-chat. Time to go find Mir like I planned.
"Alright, let's get to business. Hey, which way to Mir?"
"Ah, we should head outside first and check."
At Ria's words, we stepped out of the factory. She circled the perimeter once, then pointed in one direction.
"Probably this way. I came from here and climbed over the fence to get in."
"Oh, right, your status window had that Cliff Climbing skill. I wondered what it was for—guess you used it to scale the fence."
This morning, when I saw Ria's Cliff Climbing skill in her status window, I'd dismissed it as useless in a zombie apocalypse.
But using it to hop a 5-meter barricade?
Thinking about it, it might actually be handy for survival. If you could scale walls to escape zombie hordes that can't climb...
Though if they piled up like during a zombie wave, it'd be useless.
Combat skills were still king.
Killing zombies eliminates threats and nets coins, unlike just running, which might save you now but leaves no room for growth.
But what can you do if you're weak? Gotta survive somehow.
"Hey, when are you gonna explain what we're doing? Fill me in."
Sohee was staring at us impatiently since I hadn't explained the situation yet.
So I gave her a quick rundown of what Ria had told me.
Omitting why I had to capture Mir myself, of course.
Mentioning the goddess Mir would lead to spilling everything about my return from another world, which I wasn't ready for.
Even Yejin and Seoyun, who knew about my black magic, had no clue where I learned it.
This might come out someday, but for now, it stayed secret.
No upside to spilling it.
"So, to sum up, we're going to take out this Mir guy? But couldn't you handle that solo? Why bring me?"
Sohee tilted her head after listening quietly.
"Sounds like Mir has mind-control powers. Those usually need close range, right? So why not snipe him from afar with your skills?"
She was thinking of the black magic I'd shown her before.
She couldn't sense demonic energy, so she wouldn't know what spell it was, but she'd seen zombies vaporized in an instant and the system-declared unkillable Raider drop dead on the spot.
She was right; I could just blast Mir's hideout from range with a black magic snap, no need to get close.
And yeah, that'd make Sohee unnecessary.
"Not wrong, but killing Mir isn't the goal. Capturing him alive is, so no instant death. Though I'll kill him eventually."
"Then why bring me?"
Sohee pointed at herself.
"Part bodyguard for her, part to test Mir's abilities."
"What? So I'm meat shield?"
"Meat shield's not inaccurate. Gotta see what his control does."
Sohee scowled and glared at me.
"Not inaccurate? You're straight-up telling me to be a meat shield! And a lab rat too? What if something happens to me?"
"What could happen? You might get controlled, but I'll protect you. Don't worry—anyone in my circle, I keep safe. Trust me."
Her scowl softened a bit at my words.
"Plus, there's something else I need to check up close with Mir. Beyond his powers. That's why no ranged attacks."
"Something to check? What?"
"Secret. Can't tell anyone."
I had to confirm if this Mir was the goddess I knew—something only I could verify.
And no one else needed to know.
Once we found him, it'd be a cozy one-on-one chat.
"Hmm... Even from unnie Yejin?"
"Huh? Why bring up Yejin?"
"Anyway! Secret from her too?"
I had no idea why Yejin came up, but since it was secret from her too, I nodded.
"Yeah, secret from Yejin too. Not telling anyone."
"Fine, whatever... Ahem! Let's go catch this Mir-or-whatever!"
Seeing me nod, Sohee seemed a tad pleased, grinning as she started walking in the direction Ria pointed.
What was that about?
Like before when she asked if Yejin and I were dating... Does she like me?
That felt a bit like jealousy toward Yejin.
Hmm... I'd figure it out in time.
We headed in the direction Ria indicated.
It took nearly the whole day, arriving late at night.
"Finally here."
Considering my speed, I'd figured half a day tops, but it dragged on.
"Sorry..."
Ria mumbled apologetically, head hung low.
Which made sense—her initial direction was completely opposite Mir's place.
About two hours in, we learned she was hopelessly directionally challenged.
We'd wandered blindly until we finally got here.
She felt bad for delaying us.
"Whatever. We'll camp tonight and head in tomorrow."
I pulled a tent from my Subspace.
After seeing me do this all day, the two just watched casually now.
Their initial shock had been adorable.
"Wait, you're not saying we're all sharing this one, right?"
Sohee pointed as I set up the single tent.
"Yeah, just one. Plenty big for three."
"N-No... Even so, three people..."
"Don't like it? Sleep outside."
I crawled in.
"H-Hey, it's not that I hate it... Damn it! Fine, we'll share!"
Sohee grumbled as she entered, Ria following quietly.
The tent was spacious enough that we didn't have to huddle; we lay down with some space between.
Ria was out cold the moment her head hit the ground, breathing steadily.
I wasn't sleepy yet...
Glancing aside, Sohee was still awake.
I sidled over sneakily. She shot me a "what the hell?" look.
Ignoring it, I whispered in her ear.
"Hey, let's fuck right now."
Sohee's eyes screamed "are you insane?" She nearly yelled but noticed Ria sleeping and lowered her voice.
"W-What? What the hell! Ria's right there..."
"She's out deep. Be quiet, she won't wake. So, yes or no?"
She glared, scowling.
"You... You're gonna do it anyway, regardless of what I say, right?"
"Bingo~"
"Haa... Fine, whatever."
Hearing that, I immediately dropped my pants.