Chapter 134: The King of Yongsan
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 134: The King of Yongsan
What is the most entertaining thing in the world?
People often say:
Watching a fire, or watching a fight.
They're right.
They're right, but to be precise, it's not the primal act of watching a fire or a fight itself that brings enjoyment.
It's the pleasure of watching things burn in a roaring fire, or watching someone get beaten to a pulp and ruined in a fight.
People only find enjoyment when others fail or when they succeed themselves. But since succeeding doesn't happen as often as one would like, they watch others fail to feel a sense of relative superiority.
So, in the grand scheme of things, watching the drug cartel currently being chased by zombies is also a form of watching a fight.
A fight between zombies and humans.
At first, it wasn't very interesting.
How dare they try to get a free ride by firing guns the moment the 2nd Zombie Rush starts, especially when they have such a massive base?
It annoyed me.
Well, since I came here to tear this place down anyway, it shouldn't matter to me what they do, but I really wanted to teach them a harsh lesson.
That mindset is what makes this so entertaining for me right now.
"It's a good thing I didn't just leave them alone."
A Zombie Rush is a double-edged sword that can be an opportunity for some and hell for others.
Since it's an event that awards double the Coins, if you play your cards right, you can earn far more Coins than usual while easily grinding your levels and stats.
That must be why the drug cartel at the Yongsan US Military Base is firing off bullets without holding back.
They're smart.
Of course, ammunition is limited.
It's a finite resource, and while simply possessing it grants a highly threatening amount of power, as is always the case, there are times when hoarding something only makes it go to waste.
In the beginning, there is no weapon as threatening and absolute as a gun. But as time passes, people's stats rise, and skill levels increase, people who don't find guns all that threatening—like me—will start to appear one by one.
Moreover, this isn't just a standard zombie apocalypse; it's a world where people, if they're lucky, start with a random skill.
If they can use their bullets now to grow faster and hoard Coins ahead of everyone else, their threatening weapons will certainly dwindle, but their absolute power will put them far ahead of the pack.
And it's not like bullets can only be found here.
They could raid other military bases, prisons, or police stations.
They made a wise choice. If I had given them more time, they might have been a bit trickier for me to deal with.
My decision to act now was an excellent one.
They fled all the way to the War Memorial.
This seemed to be their main base of operations.
The zombies swarmed after them in a massive horde.
Then, about twenty guys who were the real deal emerged from the War Memorial.
Just looking at them, every single one of them looked terrifying, like they had completely lost their minds.
It wasn't just their appearance; there was a certain aura radiating from them.
The kind of guys who wouldn't have thought twice about killing someone even before the zombie apocalypse.
I'm the same way, but I got a strong feeling that these guys fit into a zombie apocalypse much better than they ever did in the old world.
And the skills each of them possessed proved that their intimidating looks weren't just for show.
"Huh. Level 8?"
The guy standing right in the center, watching the approaching zombies with a relaxed smirk, possessed a whopping Level 8 Mode.
[Jeon Jae-jung]
– Age: 38
– Mode: Late Bloomer (8★), Hot-tempered (6★), Cruelty (7★), Leadership (6★)
– Stats:
– Strength: 8★ (-1★)
– Agility: 5★ (-1★)
– Stamina: 7★ (-1★)
– Mana: 4★ (-1★)
"Wow. This guy is a real bastard."
He had the best stats of anyone I'd seen since starting this multi-server.
I wondered if anyone would ever surpass Oh Yoon-seop, but to think someone with such high raw stats could exist right now.
These numbers explained everything: how they managed to take over the Yongsan US Military Base, how a drug cartel could thrive even more in a world of zombies, and why their faction was so massive.
"The world really is a big place."
If I excluded my Base Invincibility effect, his stats were high enough to go toe-to-toe with me.
Of course, my stats would still be higher once I was fully buffed with all sorts of items, but his stats alone were incredibly impressive.
Even with hundreds of zombies swarming toward them, the fact that he was smiling showed just how relaxed he was.
And he had every reason to be.
[Late Bloomer (8★)]
– Gain stacks every time you kill a zombie. (★: 1) (2★: 5) (3★: 20) (4★: 200) (5★: 3,000)
– Gain stats through stacks.
– Stats gained through Late Bloomer increase regardless of existing stat limits. (Max 10★)
– Mode level can be increased using stacks.
– Consume stacks to gain a temporary stat-boosting buff.
– Gain 50% of the stacks when a zombie dies within the faction's territory.
"That is a fucking broken mode."
Getting stronger just by killing zombies in a zombie apocalypse.
Could there be a more broken mode than this?
Of course, if you compared it to a Cheat Mode, you could say there were better ones, but among normal modes, absolutely no one could argue that this wasn't completely broken.
Others kill zombies for Coins.
If they kill a certain number, their stats or skill levels might rise.
But that isn't because of "experience points" gained from hunting zombies; it's simply because the stats used to kill the zombies were repeatedly exercised.
Late Bloomer, however, is essentially like gaining pure experience points just for killing zombies.
While others are merely raising their Coins and stat proficiency, Late Bloomer adds experience points on top of that, allowing the user to cash them in and purchase stats with stacks.
My interest was piqued.
"I need to take that."
This wasn't something I could just look at, think 'Wow, what a nice mode,' and move on.
Even I needed to steadily collect modes.
In particular, the Cheat Mode called Safe Base is a Base-Type Cheat Mode. While it's safe to say I'm practically invincible within the Safe Base, the day will come when I must step outside, unless I plan on living within a 5km radius forever.
I have to grow to prepare for that day.
Even when I step outside the Safe Base, I need to be able to create an overwhelming gap—similar to the Base Invincibility effect I enjoy inside it now—so that I can expand to a wider Safe Base and eventually raise the level of my Safe Base Cheat Mode to 10 or higher.
To do that, I must use Predation on him.
The best way would be to accept him as a Resident, but I don't keep guys like him under me.
Not that he has any intention of serving under me anyway.
I'll have to aim for the highest probability using a Predation + Predation combo, and if it doesn't work, so be it.
If left alone, he will keep growing and eventually threaten me.
Well, he won't actually be a threat, but...
Just being a nuisance is already threat enough to me.
Eliminate dangerous elements.
That is how I survive the zombie apocalypse.
– Exclusive to Hunting Type. When defeating an enemy, there is a 30% chance to prey upon and absorb 1 of the target's positive modes. (Max 3)
– When defeating an enemy, there is an 80% chance that 4 random stats will increase by 4★. (Duration: 300 minutes)
– There is a 40% chance to prey upon and absorb 1 of the target's modes. Upon failure, 1 of the target's random stats permanently decreases by ★. Failed modes cannot be preyed upon for 7 days.
– Force the target to absorb 1 of your owned modes. There is a 10% chance the mode's level will increase by ★.
– Prey upon a target in a near-death state. Restores 30% HP.
– Prey upon zombies. Special modes are activated based on the number of zombies of each level preyed upon.
(1★: 1147)
(2★: 294)
(3★: 34)
(4★: 1)
(5★: 0)
– Prey upon an owned mode. There is a 5% chance to obtain 1 Point.
– Prey upon an item. There is a low chance to obtain an "Enchantment Stone".
These were points I had originally saved to invest in Hunting Expert.
But how could I resist after seeing that mode?
I immediately raised Predation to Level 9.
Just as I wanted, the success rate of Predation increased.
To 30% upon killing them.
And I also gained a 40% chance to directly absorb a mode.
At Level 8, a new option to prey upon my own owned modes had also appeared.
Since it said there was a 5% chance to obtain 1 Point, this seemed like a function to clean up the trash modes I had picked up here and there.
At some point, whenever a shitty mode I didn't want came in, I would just toss it aside without even checking. I had about thirty of them piled up now, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to dispose of them all at once.
Part of me wanted to clean them out right now and immediately push it to Level 10 if I happened to get 6 Points, but that would be too inefficient.
It made more sense to hit Level 10 first to increase the probability of getting points.
Of course, reaching Level 10 would also increase the success rate of Predation, but there was no guarantee I'd get exactly 6 Points anyway.
And finally, there was the option to prey upon items.
It certainly showed the sheer majesty of a Cheat Mode once again.
The options were so clean and necessary, almost as if the Cheat Mode was showing off because a mode like "Late Bloomer" was threatening its position.
I gripped my scalpel.
"I am the King of Yongsan! Come at me!"
I slipped into the crowd of zombies to prey upon the guy who was currently introducing himself to them.