Chapter 121: Students, Rise Up!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 121: Students, Rise Up!
The zombie apocalypse is a survival genre game, but strictly speaking, it is also an RPG.
There are stat level-ups and skill level-ups, and even though it's a private server where I'm the only user, various types of NPCs appear as survivors and trigger various events.
Every user has their own playstyle, but to enjoy events alongside survivors, the user must fully immerse themselves in their role.
It is an RPG in that sense.
A role-playing game.
How do you define your playstyle? Dividing it into a hunting type or a base-building type is part of role-playing, but how a user responds to an event as a character and leads the event is also a crucial part of role-playing.
That's why I'm quite used to these kinds of events.
In a zombie apocalypse, over 80% of factions inevitably end up with this kind of structure:
The exploited majority at the bottom.
The ruling minority at the top.
And the opportunists bridging the gap between them.
The minority cannot defeat the majority.
Even with powerful weapons, if the majority loses their fear and rebels, the rulers are bound to be overthrown.
That is why the middle tier exists.
Those who receive benefits from the minority to manage the majority.
They are more numerous than the ruling minority, but fewer than the exploited majority.
Just like the few people managing the crowd of students here right now.
"What the?"
"You bastard. Who are you? Get back to work."
I smashed the heads of the two guys approaching with expandable batons with my fists.
At that, the students, who had been walking back to work with expressions that said they knew it would end like this, froze in their tracks.
"What is that?"
"Is this for real?"
"What's going on?"
"I think he just killed the Student Council guys."
"...What? I don't think we should get involved in this."
I began to incite the confused crowd.
"We cannot go on like this! Rise up! Fight and struggle for our freedom! Since when did this school belong to the Student Council? Just because they have a little more power doesn't give them the right to rule over us! Even if they are at the top, we must fairly elect representatives to speak for us through votes!"
Naturally, no one immediately agreed with my bullshit.
If anyone had jumped out to join me right then and there, they'd probably be insane.
When someone suddenly appears out of nowhere babbling about a revolution to people already broken in by the system, it's only natural for them to wait and see, even if they secretly agree.
Especially since this was a tactic sometimes used by rulers to weed out dissidents.
Though the fact that I had just brutally beaten two of the middle-tier enforcers made that theory a bit shaky.
Well, it wasn't like I said those words expecting an immediate reaction from the lower class anyway.
"Over there!"
"Who the hell is that guy?"
"Which faction is he from?"
"I don't know. Just grab him!"
I saw six men rushing toward me at high speed.
I quickly ran over to the side of the students carrying the cargo and shouted.
"Let's kill these motherfuckers who sell out their fellow students and bring down the Student Council! Injustice and corruption must be eradicated!"
I had only used the term "Student Council" because I heard the people whispering it just moments ago.
There was no need to ask for confirmation. It was obvious. The moment the words "Student Council" came out, I knew they were the ruling faction here.
If not, whatever.
But there was no way they weren't. Groups with such pretentious names were always the ruling faction.
"Uh, uh... It's dangerous. They're really strong. Run away!"
Although they didn't join me, they clearly harbored no goodwill toward their oppressors. The students carrying the cargo couldn't bring themselves to step forward, but they cheered me on with their words.
I suppose I could count this as cheering, right?
Advising me to run away instead of grabbing me to hand over to those bastards was, from their perspective, the greatest show of sincerity they could offer.
Indeed, the guys running toward me were fast, and they looked quite strong.
After all, to rule over a majority without firearms, one would need overwhelming physical force.
Force so absolute that non-combatants wouldn't dare fight back.
And cruelty.
To maintain that, they also needed to keep their numbers up.
As they drew closer, I saw the students backing away from me. They didn't want to be mistaken for my accomplices.
I stuck close to their side and encouraged them.
"We can do this! Have courage! They're nothing. If we join forces, we can overcome them!"
"Argh! Don't come over here!"
"What is wrong with this guy?!"
"We don't know him!"
And to give them courage, I pulled out my pistol and fired at the rushing men.
Bang!
The remaining five guys, clearly not expecting me to pull out a pistol, looked panicked and tried to dodge, but my "Time Acceleration" and "Time Deceleration" were faster.
It took less than a second to aim and fire.
There was clearly only one gunshot, but three of them collapsed.
"Gasp!"
"...!"
A heavy silence fell.
I really love this.
The exact moment when bastards who were acting like they owned the place finally face reality and realize they shouldn't have messed with me.
The way dozens of people stare at me with eyes full of awe.
"How long will you live the lives of slaves just because you were unlucky and didn't get good skills?!"
Spoken in this atmosphere, my random, off-the-cuff remarks would carry immense weight to them.
Because I held a gun.
These weren't just empty words; I possessed the actual power to tear down the upper class.
"Is this... for real?"
"Can we really escape this?"
Surprisingly, at this point, people slowly began to join in one by one.
The oppressors had all fallen. The remaining two guys were kneeling on the ground with their hands up, staring at the barrel of my gun.
Seven men had been taken down by just one person.
Those seven could have controlled and suppressed the dozens of people here.
At least, until now.
But I had just shown them how fragile that control really was.
They began to strive for change, little by little. Even if they couldn't act immediately, a change in mindset was more than enough.
[Faction Quest 5]
– You have ignited the spark of revolution among the oppressed students of the "Konkuk University" faction. Stand by the students who yearn for freedom and lay the groundwork for them to reclaim it.
– Clear Condition: Collapse of the Konkuk University Student Council
– Linked with "Faction Quest 2." Clearing "Faction Quest 5" will add 1 count to the clear conditions of "Faction Quest 2."
– Rewards: 2 Points, Normal Mode Level Selection Ticket (★) x3, 5,000 Coins, Safe Base-Exclusive Ceiling (★)
"Let's elect our representatives through votes and make sure no one ever suffers from injustice and corruption again!"
"Waaaaah!"
Seeing them erupt like this from just a little nudging, their oppression must have been incredibly severe.
I didn't know what kind of place this "Student Council" was, but they were probably quite violent.
It made sense, considering the coin-earning methods taking place here at Konkuk University weren't exactly clean to begin with.
In a place filled mostly with students, students sold their bodies, and students controlled other students.
Of course, there seemed to be some adults among the ruled, but the vast majority were students.
If they were being ordered around by someone older, they might have been able to accept it psychologically.
But when someone younger speaks down to you, orders you around, or uses violence against you—even if you endure it at the time due to the difference in power—it leaves a deep, festering resentment in your heart.
It's like the military.
Just because someone enlisted earlier, they wear a higher rank, look down on you, swear at you, and abuse you. Sure, you endure it because of military discipline, but...
...deep down, the urge to tear that senior bastard limb from limb only grows stronger.
It was exactly like that.
That's why my words resonated so deeply with them.
Although I was mostly guessing, this probably didn't apply only to the students here.
When the apocalypse began, everyone was randomly assigned a Mode.
This was practically what divided people into classes, creating slaves and rulers overnight.
Simply because someone was slightly better at killing zombies.
Especially in a university, where intellect used to be the standard of authority, physical power had suddenly become the metric for class. There were bound to be people whose social standing had been completely inverted.
Now was the time to unleash that rage.
"Where do we go?"
I asked the students following me after I received the quest.
Rather than finding it strange that I didn't even know the way, the students, swept up in the heat of the moment, eagerly pointed me in the right direction.
We passed the sprawling university buildings and headed toward the College of Engineering.
As we walked, taking in the view of the lake inside the campus, a group of armed men rushed out to suppress us.
"Don't wimp out! If you chicken out now, you'll never escape for the rest of your lives!"
Honestly, now that I had the quest, I didn't actually need these useless lower-class students behind me.
But there was nothing better than this to set a dramatic mood, so I left the hesitating crowd behind and charged forward.
It didn't matter how many of them there were.
"What kind of crazy bastard is causing a riot here—!"
"This is my turf, you motherfuckers."
Inside a Safe Base, I was absolutely confident I couldn't die, no matter what kind of crazy shit went down.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
I don't hold back my strength to match my opponents.
I had ammo to spare, so why shouldn't I use it?
Overwhelming power was what they used to rule over the majority of students with their small numbers.
But I could use it just as easily.
"Fuck! Take cover!"
"What the hell, a gun?!"
"This is too much..."
"Rush him! Just get close! Take down that one bastard!"
Perhaps because they were a decent small faction, the guys facing me didn't panic and moved systematically to counter the gunfire.
They were definitely a bit different from the guys I had met so far. They were fast and organized.
Too bad their opponent was me.
Bang, bang!
"Argh! Fuck! I'm hit!"
"Take cover!"
"How the fuck do you dodge bullets, you asshole? You try dodging them!"
Still, I deliberately avoided shooting them in the head or heart.
There were other people meant to finish off these guys whose combat capabilities had been cut in half.
"These bastards are crippled now! We can kill them! Let's kill them!"
"..."
"Come at us, you sons of bitches!"
The hesitating students stepped forward, brandishing crude objects that could barely even be called weapons.