Chapter 27
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Fall of the Chilsung Faction
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“Yaaawn... I'm so damn sleepy. I think I'm just too wiped out, boss.”
Late at night on the rooftop, the youngest member of the Chilsung Faction muttered through a yawn while on night watch.
“That's why I told you to take it easy. If you go at it too hard, you're gonna be beat by bedtime.”
“But boss, in a shit world like this, what's the point of living if you can't even get laid?”
“Heh, can't argue with that.”
The two of them mumbled while gazing out into the darkness.
“But seriously, what's the point of standing watch? It's so dark, you can't see a damn thing.”
“Big bro said to do it just in case. Imagine if zombies snuck in while we're all crashed out. That'd be a real shitshow.”
“Yeah, fair enough. I could handle one or two with my bare hands, though.”
The maknae jabbed at the air like he was shadowboxing as he spoke. The other guy just chuckled in disbelief.
“Bullshit. Who was it that bolted the second they saw a zombie last time? You were too scared to even look back.”
“Aw, come on, that was just the first day we ever saw one. I'm not scared of 'em at all anymore. Speaking of, that girl we grabbed today—she's top-tier, right? Pretty face and a nice rack.”
Recalling the woman they'd snatched that afternoon, the maknae grinned. The guy who'd been there with him smirked like he was reliving a fond memory.
“Eh, not really my type, so I didn't notice. But man, it was hilarious watching her boyfriend bawl and beg. Who the hell wanders around outside with a girl in this world? Guy couldn't even protect her. Right, maknae?”
The man stared straight ahead, expecting an immediate reply from the maknae. Instead, what came was a short scream.
“Gah!”
“Whoa, shit! What the hell? Why're you—huh?”
The man jolted in surprise.
Just moments ago, the maknae had been right there cracking jokes. Now he lay crumpled on the ground. His arms and legs were twisted at unnatural angles, foam bubbling from his mouth as he lay unconscious.
“W-what the fuck? What the hell is this?!”
The man panicked. They were on the rooftop—nowhere to hide a full-grown body. Yet somehow, the maknae had been attacked here. And not just attacked—the force had shattered bones.
He scanned the surroundings. No sign of anyone else. No sounds.
As if it had always been just him and the maknae up here. Nothing more.
The chilling thought sent goosebumps racing across his skin. He reached for his radio to call the others—
“Nah, that won't do.”
A unfamiliar male voice rang out, and the radio exploded into shards.
“H-huh?”
One inexplicable event after another left the man's mind blank.
The maknae suddenly struck down. The shattered radio. The unknown voice.
This was no normal situation. He bolted toward the stairs at full speed. But he hadn't gone far when a massive impact hit his leg, sending him tumbling.
“Guh! What the hell is going—huh?”
Not knowing what happened to his leg, he tried to stand and check it. That's when he saw it—twisted at an impossible angle. The realization hit just as agony surged up from it. He opened his mouth to scream, but a hand clamped around his throat.
“Can't have you waking everyone up. That guy passed out on his own—nice and quiet. Guess I'll have to knock you out myself.”
Chills ran down his spine at the voice from directly behind him. His airway crushed, oxygen cut off, his vision faded even as his mind reeled.
Where the hell had this guy come from?
I slipped into the shadows with Shadow Veil and took out the night watch guys quick. Didn't kill 'em though—these bastards are gonna be my loot drops. Leaving 'em combat-ineffective like this, the zombies will turn 'em into fresh ones on their own.
Aside from these two, I'd confirmed everyone else in the Chilsung Faction building was asleep—except for the one guy on standby with a radio.
Time to get to work.
I slipped out of the Chilsung building and headed to a nearby one. Inside, zombies I'd lured and trapped before nightfall swarmed the place.
“Come on, you zombie shits. Follow me!”
I flung the door open. The zombies spotted me and came charging like mad. I led 'em straight into the Chilsung building, then ducked into the shadows.
Losing their target when I vanished, the zombies started shambling around inside. One wandered into the bathroom where a guy was taking a leak.
“Wh-what the hell?”
Suddenly overrun in what he thought was a safe building, the man yelped in panic. The zombies pounced, tearing into him.
“Gaaah! Help! Somebody!”
His agonized screams roused the gang members from sleep. They poked their heads out, only to lock eyes with zombies that couldn't pile onto the first guy. I watched from the shadows as one tried slamming his door shut. I stuck out a foot and smashed it to splinters.
My goal: turn every last Chilsung bastard in here into a zombie. Can't let 'em turtle behind doors.
Hidden in the shadows, I systematically kicked in every door hiding gang members. Nowhere left to run.
“What the—why's the door—?! No!”
“Help! Why're there zombies inside?! Gaaaah!”
Perfect. Just like that. Keep pushing up floor by floor and zombie-fy the lot.
As I watched the first-floor holdouts scream and get mauled, people started coming down from above.
“Shit! How the fuck are zombies in here?!”
“No idea! Just wipe 'em out!”
Woken by the screams downstairs, they'd grabbed weapons and come to assess. Can't let 'em hunt zombies, though.
From the shadows, I drew my knife and sliced ankles one by one as they descended.
“Aaaagh! What the fuck!”
Zombie fights end the instant you're bitten, so distance control is key. That means fast footwork—which these ankle-biters couldn't manage. They got swarmed, shredded to ribbons.
More up top, so I herded some zombies upstairs to keep the chain going. Less than an hour later, every Chilsung member was confirmed bitten.
Good. Great. Turn into mutants, all of you. And hand over those coins and demonic energy!
Job mostly done, I stepped out of the shadows. The zombie horde spotted me and lunged.
Perfect timing—I'd prepped something special for tonight.
I pulled a kitchen knife from my pocket and infused it with a bit of demonic energy. It cloaked in black, transforming.
- Grraaahhh...
I swung at the nearest zombie. Its head sheared clean off. Like Mana Drain, its body withered instantly, demonic energy sucked dry.
I'd enchanted the weapon with Mana Drain. Killing zombies barehanded was too slow for crowds—touching each one to absorb was inefficient. Then it hit me: infuse the skill into a weapon with some demonic energy. Tested it on stashed zombies pre-nightfall. Success.
Now, killing zombies auto-absorbs their energy. But only full kills count—chopping limbs won't do it.
So I went for necks and head stabs, dropping zombies left and right while siphoning energy. Short reach on a kitchen knife means it's barely better than hands right now. But with a real blade later? Efficiency skyrockets.
Mana Drain enchantment successful!
If you asked if black magic from my old world had tricks like this, I'd say hell no. We didn't deal with hordes of weak-ass monsters that often.
Even in big numbers, monsters had more demonic energy per head. Nuke 'em with AoE magic, then suck up the corpses' energy—good enough. Zombies? Less energy than a single goblin, even in swarms.
Here, low energy but endless numbers force a new playstyle. Enter: weapon-enchanting Mana Drain.
It costs some energy upfront, but it's minimal. Otherwise, it'd take forever.
Faster than barehanded now. A killing intent locked on my neck—I twisted away. Sharp claws raked the empty air where my throat had been.
The all-too-familiar talons made my lips curl.
Lacer, right on cue.
I backpedaled fast. Some had fully mutated into Lacers. Others were mid-transformation.
Too bad not all turned Lacer—some other mutant types would be nice for achievements. Oh well.
No use complaining.
A bit later, I'd cleared the building: all Chilsung goons turned regular zombies or Lacers, now put down.
“Hoo... Been a while since I really worked up a sweat.”
Dodging and striking through packs of Lacers left me a tad fatigued.
Still, over ten Lacers bagged. Plus sixty-plus regular zombies in this building alone.
Wonder how many coins... Time for the status window.
- Equipment Repair Lv 2
Coins jumped from 42 to three digits already? Jackpot.
And level 10 somehow.
[You have reached Level 10. You may acquire an additional trait.]
Huh? What's this now?