Chapter 112: The Second Zombie Rush
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 112: The Second Zombie Rush
The reason I didn't head straight to the Yongsan US Military Base was because the situation was a bit awkward.
"Hmm. It only halfway overlaps."
The Yongsan US Military Base, which was scheduled to relocate to Pyeongtaek, awkwardly straddled the 5-kilometer radius of my Safe Base.
I could have just moved the Safe Base a bit to the left, but since I had already relocated it once when I reached Level 10 and moved, the system wouldn't let me move it again.
Maybe it was because a quest to expand to other regions from this starting point was currently in the works.
Either way, now that I could raise the level of my Safe Base through Faction Quests, cheap tricks like shifting the base sideways wouldn't work.
That was why it was so awkward.
I could just lure them inside the Safe Base to fight, but things didn't always go exactly as planned.
If they decided to run away, I'd have to chase them. Fighting in an area without the Base Invincibility effect was practically equivalent to losing half of my greatest strength.
Of course, even without the Level 10 boost to all stats, my stats were still high.
If I went fully buffed, I could probably get all my stats up to 10 even without Base Invincibility.
But that was incomparable to Level 20.
The difference in how "Time Acceleration" and "Time Deceleration" felt—the sheer sensation of things slowing down and speeding up—was massive, and the same went for their durations.
Besides, it was going to be a real gunfight over there. One wrong move, and catching a stray bullet or two would be all too easy.
Therefore, I had to make thorough preparations.
For now, I decided to put it on hold until I cleared Faction Quest 2 and squeezed out as many points as I could.
I was just about to look around for any nearby small factions when—
[Main Quest 2]
– Survive the Zombie Rush.
– Time Remaining: 9 days, 11 hours, 40 seconds
– Survival Time: 120 hours
– Reward: 8 Points, 1 19+ Cheat Mode, Normal Mode Level (★) Selection Ticket x20, Safe Base-Exclusive Underground Bunker (★)
"Huh?"
A quest popped up out of nowhere.
The 2nd Zombie Rush.
To be fair, it was about time.
Had it been about a month since the 1st Zombie Rush?
I had been so busy that I'd temporarily forgotten, but the Zombie Rush was originally a recurring event.
In particular, because the difficulty of the Zombie Rush increased over time, once the Zombie Rush mode was installed, the user had to constantly reinforce their base, prepare defenses, and upgrade their armaments.
"Hell's about to break loose again."
In that sense, the timing wasn't bad.
The relocation was complete, and while I was still filling up the interior, the exterior was securely blocked off by outer walls.
The same went for the "Resident" and "Level 3" residential areas.
I had completely enclosed them with outer walls surrounding the apartment complex and installed automatic doors so that only those with the required Membership level could enter.
Unless the zombies could fly over a ten-meter-high wall, there was no way the interior would be breached.
The building housing the cafeteria, food store, and hospital was no different.
I hadn't built a separate wall around it, but I had converted the building itself using the Safe Base-Exclusive Outer Wall and installed automatic doors. Unless someone opened the door from the inside, no zombie was getting in.
In other words, no matter how many or how strong the zombies were, as long as no one opened the doors out of sheer boredom, Seoul Forest Paradise would never be breached during this 2nd Zombie Rush.
Of course, I hadn't built Paradise just to hide inside like a coward.
I had sealed off the exterior simply because I didn't want the inside of my base stained with disgusting zombie blood.
It also served the dual purpose of keeping outsiders out.
Naturally, I was going to go out and hunt the zombies.
That was the whole point of a Zombie Rush.
While a Zombie Rush was hell and a time to hide for some, for others, it was a point-duplication glitch and a prime coin-farming event.
"I should go raid Yongsan first."
Originally, I had planned to take my time, gather points, and figure out how to clear them out while still benefiting from Base Invincibility.
But now that I was locked into a nine-day time attack, I intended to raid the Yongsan US Military Base and plunder its supplies, even if it meant pushing myself a little.
In a zombie apocalypse, you could never have too many firearms.
One might think it'd be better to wait until after the Zombie Rush, use the rewards to boost my specs, and then go. But the Zombie Rush didn't just target me.
It came for everyone equally.
At a place like the Yongsan US Military Base, the bastards there would surely use their supplies to hunt zombies too.
They would farm whatever the zombies dropped, raise their stats, and skyrocket their skill levels.
Giving them time would do me no favors.
Of course, since my only disadvantage was being alone, there was no need to panic. Still, I concluded that finishing them off before the Zombie Rush would give me peace of mind.
"Alright. First, what I need to do..."
I immediately gave Oh Yoon-seop an order.
"Go find a small faction nearby."
"Yes, Boss."
Then, I began enclosing all the vacant plots of land in Seoul Forest with outer walls.
I had already enclosed the land to the left of the residential area bordering the Han River with outer walls since it was cleared, even though it wasn't being used yet. However, the area near that performing arts theater or whatever it was, along with the forest behind the cafeteria building, was still being cleared, so I had left them alone. I needed to finish those up first.
I aggressively handed out Part-time Job Quests.
Coins were flying out, but more were coming in anyway.
The number of Membership members was only growing by the day, never shrinking.
And everyone was eagerly buying food with the coins they earned from killing zombies.
The Super-large Supply still brought in more than enough to sell, so food kept piling up while coins were constantly being duplicated.
It wasn't just food, either; the meat obtained from killing zombies was processed at the cafeteria, yielding massive profit margins.
Normally, I'd have to go out and farm meat whenever we ran low, but I'd probably harvest an absurd amount during the Zombie Rush.
Because of that, I had to think about filling an entire warehouse with freezers.
"Fill this warehouse with meat freezers."
"Oh. Right now?"
"Yeah. I'll assign some people to help you, so go get some freezers."
"Yes, sir!"
I had expanded the warehouses specifically for purposes like this anyway.
In the future, I even planned to expand them beyond 100 pyeong and dedicate each warehouse to a different purpose.
There was so much to do.
As for stockpiling food, I didn't even need to worry about it since supplies arrived daily just by me breathing.
Defending my land was also covered, as nine days was more than enough time to enclose all the plots with outer walls.
There was no need to issue any warnings.
Taking care of every single Membership member was impossible.
The scope of safety I guaranteed as members of Paradise was strictly limited to "Residents" and "Level 3 Membership" members.
The rest weren't really part of the Paradise faction; they were just in a mutually beneficial business relationship.
Even for Level 2 members, just having access to water, electricity, and heating services during the Zombie Rush would be a massive help to their survival.
"And..."
Aside from that, there didn't seem to be much else to take care of.
In reality, a Zombie Rush didn't usually come with a warning like this.
It just happened out of nowhere.
Even if you configured it to give an advance warning, it would only give you a day or two at most.
Just enough time to rush back home if you happened to be out.
In that case, there wasn't much a user could do.
They'd spend the remaining time tidying up the house, checking food supplies, and repairing the external barricades once more.
They'd pull out ammo, load their weapons, and if food was a bit tight, head out even at night to farm the surrounding area.
In the end, farming was everything.
You had to prepare to the absolute limit to survive.
So, I also drew up a farming plan for maximum preparation.
"We have to stay indoors for about five days straight. Is there anything you need?"
In this regard, Kim Ji-hee was somewhat of an expert.
She was excellent at killing time by playing console games connected to the TV all day long.
"Huh? Really? I don't have to go to work?"
"Go to work... I doubt you even could."
"Hmm."
Instead of brushing off my words, Kim Ji-hee pondered them seriously.
But the answer was too easy for her.
"If I watch all the dramas and movies I've been wanting to see on Netflix, five days might actually be too short..."
Communication services were provided inside the Safe Base.
As a result, while internal communication was possible through the Paradise Membership, existing internet and TV services were also accessible.
While receiving real-time broadcasts from TV stations was impossible, surprisingly, OTT sites allowed offline viewing. As long as there was a TV, electricity, and internet connection, one could watch the movies and dramas saved there.
Maybe I should watch some too.
It didn't sound like a bad idea.
Since the high defensive walls would completely block out any noise, it wouldn't even be loud. Time would fly by if I just leisurely drank coffee inside while watching movies or dramas.
Of course, I'd have to spend some time hunting zombies, but it wasn't like I'd be hunting twenty-four-seven.
"I'll set aside some chicken to eat while watching movies."
While we sold food daily, the Special Meals were literally special meals meant only for Kim Ji-hee and me, so we had an entire warehouse packed with them.
A warehouse filled with the Thermal Pouches that came with the supplies.
Even if all other food disappeared, there were enough Special Meals in there to last us half a year.
I suppose this, too, was a privilege exclusive to Cheat Mode in a zombie apocalypse.
How secure would this place be once the Zombie Rush ended and I installed the underground bunker beneath us?
I might actually find myself looking forward to the Zombie Rush.