Chapter 13: Uninvited Guests
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 13: Uninvited Guests
Seeing Kim Ji-hee's face made me glad.
"You're here already?"
I expected her to come, but I didn't think she'd be here so soon.
Honestly, expecting her to come was just my own assumption—or maybe self-confidence. I had a faint feeling that she might not show up at all.
Looking at it as a simple binary choice, it was just as I had told her: either become a sex toy for a bunch of thugs in a crowded place...
...or become my own personal sex toy.
Looking only at this difference, I thought I was the better option since I offered good welfare and guaranteed safety. But from Kim Ji-hee's perspective, she might just see us both as the same kind of bastards.
I'm at least slightly better.
That was just my own opinion. Maybe to Kim Ji-hee, if she absolutely had to choose between the two, that place might actually be better.
After all, that group of Tattooed Thugs hadn't touched her yet, whereas I had already thoroughly violated her mouth.
Besides, she might have had some confidence.
Confidence that she could control things as she pleased.
In an apocalypse like this, a woman's looks are a weapon.
Well, it was the same in the old world, but it was even more true now that the world had turned into a literal animal kingdom.
So, in a situation where I thought she would come but couldn't be entirely sure...
Kim Ji-hee had arrived much faster than I anticipated.
"We have a huge problem."
Though it didn't seem like she had come for the reason I was thinking of.
"What's the big deal? Come inside first."
I grabbed Kim Ji-hee's wrist and pulled her into the house.
She must have slipped out in secret, as she checked outside before coming in without much resistance.
Just the two of us in my private space.
All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind, but there was no need to ruin the mood now after playing my cards so well.
"What is it? Didn't you come here to get fucked by me?"
"No, I didn't! They said they're sending people to kill you. You need to run, fast."
"Huh? You came all this way just to tell me that?"
"Yes. They said about five people are coming this way tonight."
Finding where I lived would have been easy if they had followed me on my way back yesterday.
They had been so obvious about tailing me that it was hard to even pretend I hadn't noticed.
"Are you sure you should be telling me this? If you have no intention of coming to me and plan to stick with them, why bother warning me?"
"..."
Kim Ji-hee frowned.
What was she thinking?
Since she wasn't an NPC, I couldn't read her mind.
I couldn't quite gauge her feelings either.
Even if it was a deal, I was still the guy who shoved his cock in her face and made her suck it during our very first meeting.
If she just left me alone, I would die anyway. Why go out of her way, risking danger, to warn me?
"By the way, how did you get out?"
"It's hunting time today. I told them I was going to the restroom for a bit..."
"Ah."
It seemed the hunting squad had gone out as usual despite yesterday's chaos.
Since the Tattooed Thug wasn't there, it would just be the four guys who wanted to get on her good side, so she probably slipped away easily.
"So you have enough time for me to cum once, then?"
"Hey!"
"Just kidding. Have you eaten?"
"..."
Her expression didn't look like she had eaten a proper meal.
I had just asked on a whim, but her face darkened.
"Don't tell me they starved you?"
"Don't worry about me, just run. I'm only telling you because it would sit wrong with me to let someone I know die."
Even if she hadn't received rations, Kim Ji-hee wouldn't have starved.
If she had a home, she'd have some food stashed away.
But that didn't matter.
"What's your Coin goal for today?"
"...10 Coins."
"Here."
She didn't refuse.
This alone showed that Kim Ji-hee's resistance toward me had faded significantly.
Accepting them while knowing there would be a price to pay meant she thought receiving them from me was the better option.
Of course, because she knew that, her expression grew even gloomier.
A closed space.
Alone with me, and she had accepted my Coins.
"I'll just give it to you today. Consider it payment for the information."
Push and pull is important.
A single, casual remark can sometimes have a greater effect than expected.
"...Thank you."
"Also, you have your phone, right? Go search the Zombie Apocalypse Gallery. There should be some guides on how to hunt zombies with basic female character stats."
"...Okay."
If just reading about it made it easy, everyone would be doing it, but it was still better than nothing.
The most important thing was the mindset to kill something that looked like a human.
Even in the VR game Zombie Apocalypse, quite a few people quit because they immersed themselves too much, hesitated to kill human-looking zombies, and gave up. But this was actual reality.
Even knowing they would die if they didn't kill, their hands would inevitably hesitate when it came to actually stabbing or killing.
This wasn't just about moral qualms regarding taking a life; it was also a matter of fear.
Can I kill it?
If I don't kill it, I die.
The pressure of that thought was what froze people up.
This was a good thing for me.
Because of it, our progress was moving along nicely.
"Come back whenever you need to next time."
I didn't bother spelling out what I would want next time.
There was no need to trigger her defenses by saying it out loud when she already had a vague idea anyway.
I also packed some snacks and chocolate bars from today's rations that were easy to carry.
"Eat these if you get hungry tonight."
"...Thank you."
"If you're grateful, want to give me a quick blowjob before you go?"
"...I'm leaving."
Her expression had softened considerably compared to earlier.
Considering I didn't get slapped for making a joke that was actually half-serious, wasn't this basically a partial success?
I walked out with Kim Ji-hee.
After walking a short distance, the four men I had seen yesterday were there.
I waved to Kim Ji-hee as she walked back toward them.
Whether they were pretending not to notice or actually believed her excuse about the restroom, it was highly likely that one of those four had talked about me.
Even if they couldn't do anything in front of me, once the word got out that they were going to kill me, spilling the beans about how I killed that Jeong-cheol guy would be a great opportunity to score points.
Watching her walk away, I went on my way as well.
Since it would take some time for the guests to arrive, I needed to prepare to welcome them.
*
Heading toward Tapgol Park, I found quite a few zombies.
By the time I filled my quota of 40 zombies and scavenged 1kg of beef, the sun was setting.
They probably wouldn't show up until late at night.
Knowing I might have to wash up again later, I put off showering and filled my stomach by mixing a Hetbahn into some ramen.
The guests arrived right on schedule in the dead of night.
A time when everyone was fast asleep.
Did they really think I'd be sleeping just because they came at dawn?
I could hear a commotion starting from the entrance.
Since they didn't seem to have any intention of being quiet, I didn't bother waiting for them to break in.
This was my sanctuary.
Although the square footage of my Safe Base had expanded, I had no plans to move yet.
More than anything, I absolutely could not tolerate getting blood on my soft mattress.
Before they could pick the lock, I stepped out first.
I shoved the door open violently, feeling the resistance of the people standing behind it.
About three of them.
And then, my eyes met with one of them.
I grinned at him.
Seizing his shoulder while he was still frozen in shock, I drove my kitchen knife into him.
Since I hadn't caught him completely off guard this time, I could see him trying to block it even in his panic, but it was futile.
This was my Safe Base.
Inside the Safe Base, Base Invincibility Mode was active, and Base Invincibility was none other than a Cheat Mode.
Level 2 Base Invincibility increased all stats by 2 levels, making my current Strength level 4.
"Gah!"
I ripped the kitchen knife out of his stomach and plunged it into his neck.
The kitchen knife itself didn't have a very good blade, so if it got stuck in a bone, the edge would chip, or it might fail to inflict a fatal wound.
Knives are meant to kill quickly and easily, but in that case, it would fail to serve its purpose as a tool.
I kicked the guy aside and greeted the bastards behind the door.
"You're here?"
One. Two. Three. Four.
Just as Kim Ji-hee had said, there were exactly five of them.
It was plenty.
"Thanks. I'll happily feast on your Points and Combat Mode."
I only needed three of them, though.
But I also had to account for any runners.
I immediately swung the kitchen knife at one of them.
Since they had come to kill me in the first place, they were all armed.
I slashed the wrist of the first guy who raised a blade, then stabbed him in the shoulder.
As his posture collapsed, I stabbed him in the neck and kicked him back, sending him crashing into the others in the narrow hallway.
"You son of a bitch. Kill him!"
Only after two of them had died did the remaining three fly into a rage.
Not that snapping out of their shock changed anything.
"Argh! His strength... Fuck! Why is he so..."
They must have felt it was unfair.
They were probably guys who had worked out a bit and knew how to fight.
Since the apocalypse had begun and there were combat-related modes, they might have even hunted Level 1 zombies with ease.
But in this world, numbers on a screen mattered more than any of that.
Strength Level 4.
Agility Level 4.
Stamina Level 3.
No matter how many users with basic stats of Level 2/1/1 ganged up on me, they couldn't defeat me in this narrow hallway.
By the time I had killed four of them...
...the last one had backed out of the building, and my Base Invincibility Mode effect had deactivated.
"Spare me... Please..."
But having already lost all will to fight, the last survivor had thrown his weapon to the ground and was busy begging on his knees.
These guys weren't even the Tattooed Thugs; they were just punks who flattered them.
I nodded and approached him.
"Thanks."
"Yes, yes. Please..."
"I'll put this to good use."
The uninvited guests had left behind a precious gift.
[1 Point Acquired]
[Hunting Cheat Mode Unlocked]