Chapter 136: Zombies of the Blood Hour
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 136: Zombies of the Blood Hour
Oh Yoon-seop and the Hunting Squad were tense.
It was the start of the 2nd Zombie Rush.
They recalled the 1st Zombie Rush at the words of the Owner of Paradise, who had warned them that this one would be much tougher than the first.
They had survived.
Survival meant they were strong. Though everyone had their own circumstances during the first rush, they felt it had been relatively manageable.
But this second time, just looking at the system messages made it clear it wouldn't be easy.
The stat reduction messages applied to them chipped away at their confidence, and the hordes of dozens of zombies roaming outside made them hesitate to even step foot out there.
Oh Yoon-seop and the Hunting Squad were gathered at the Level 3 Membership residential apartment complex.
Although the Level 3 Apartments and Trimage were surrounded by walls, they were connected by automatic doors that allowed passage back and forth.
Level 3 residents couldn't enter the Resident-exclusive housing, but Residents could go to the Level 3 residential area, so they had gathered here.
"Lieutenant Colonel, what should we do?"
Oh Yoon-seop was the commander-in-chief here.
Whether to go out and fight was his decision to make.
"Hmm..."
Oh Yoon-seop was also deep in thought.
The Captain had said:
It wouldn't be easy.
Don't overdo it. When the timing is right, go out and take them down little by little.
Surviving is more important than dying from reckless overexertion, so keep that as your top priority.
Of course, he had also added this:
"When the zombies are moving in a massive horde, you'll probably die if you fight them, so just let them pass and hunt the stragglers. Even those guys won't be easy, but at least you won't have to deal with hundreds at once. If you feel like you're going to die, run. Besides, we have Kim Ji-hee, right? She'll save you from the brink of death anyway, so fight hard enough to barely keep breathing, and you'll get stronger."
"..."
He was basically telling them to fight until they were half-dead.
Oh Yoon-seop agreed with that sentiment.
As a soldier, there was nothing he valued more than physical stamina.
Only with physical stamina as a foundation could a strong mental fortitude be sustained.
To fight and defeat zombies, one had to be stronger than them.
And the fastest way to achieve that was to push one's body to its absolute limits.
In this world, Oh Yoon-seop had already realized this after raising a few of his stats.
That was why he had to be cautious.
"First, we wait for the Blood Hour to pass before we head out. Did everyone get enough sleep?"
"Yes, sir."
"We got our seven hours of sleep."
"Since the zombie rushes are said to trigger at exactly 00:00 during this period, we will adjust our sleep schedule based on the duration of the Blood Hour."
"Understood!"
Oh Yoon-seop was old-fashioned and rigid, but he wasn't stupid.
Although the Captain hadn't explicitly told him to avoid the Blood Hour, he deduced that it was the peak of the zombie rush. He immediately realized that if they avoided that window, they could use it as rest time, and he flexibly adjusted their plans accordingly.
Today was a day for gathering information.
Five days.
120 hours wasn't that long, but if they broke down and utilized each day efficiently, it could be an incredibly long time.
It wouldn't be too late to fight after slowly gathering information.
They waited.
The first Blood Hour lasted from 00:00 to 02:00.
Although no message popped up to announce the end of the Blood Hour, they could tell because their stats returned to normal.
Even without checking their stats, they could tell just by looking at the sky.
The Blood Moon.
The crimson moon still hung in the sky, but the red, mist-like light that had blended into the darkness—making it feel as if their very vision had been stained red—had vanished.
"Let's go."
From the inside, the outer wall was transparent, allowing them to clearly see the outside.
There were still many zombies on the streets.
The streets, which had previously not shown a single zombie, were now crawling with them, making them wonder if this was even the same place. Still, the numbers had decreased significantly compared to during the Blood Hour.
During the Blood Hour, the sheer parade of zombies completely filling the roads had been goosebump-inducing.
At a glance, hundreds of them had packed the streets, scraping against the outer wall as they passed.
Fortunately, because the outer wall blocked all sound, the zombies hadn't even attempted to break in. If hundreds of them had started pounding on the wall, they would have spent the hours sweating in anxiety, even knowing they were perfectly safe inside.
"We're heading out through the back gate."
The back gate had relatively fewer zombies.
Gripping their weapons, they rushed out the moment the gate opened, lunging at the nearby zombies to suppress them.
"Whew. I don't think these guys are Level 1."
"This is how Level 1 originally was. Don't let your guard down, everyone."
Even though the Blood Hour had passed and their stats had returned to normal, the contrast was bound to feel massive compared to when the zombies had been debuffed by -1★.
That was why it was crucial not to get careless and to give their all even when dealing with Level 1 zombies.
They kept verbal communication to a minimum, relying mostly on hand gestures.
Clearing the alleys and heading toward the main road, Oh Yoon-seop took the lead.
In any case, he had to protect the Hunting Squad in this situation.
He was the only one who had received the Resident effect, boosting all of his stats by 4★.
To Oh Yoon-seop, Level 1 zombies weren't much of an obstacle.
He dispatched the lunging zombies while occasionally passing some over to the Hunting Squad.
His real role was dealing with the Level 2 zombies.
Level 2 zombies, empowered by the Blood Moon, were foes that the Hunting Squad members had to fight one-on-one with everything they had just to defeat.
Oh Yoon-seop had to take care of them.
Of course, while it was true that the Hunting Squad needed experience against Level 2 zombies to grow stronger faster, Oh Yoon-seop judged that in a battle against multiple enemies, survival-based growth was more important than raw experience.
The hunt went smoothly.
Although there were still quite a few zombies outside, they were scattered in small groups of dozens. As long as they didn't trigger a massive wave, the numbers were perfectly manageable for Oh Yoon-seop and the Hunting Squad.
In fact, having more of them was actually a good thing.
Ever since joining Paradise, they had cleared Level 2 Dungeons as the main hunting squad and pioneered various areas. If they had only been told to hunt five or six zombies, even with Level 2s mixed in, it might have felt a bit too trivial.
This was the perfect number to practice their teamwork and hunt at a steady pace.
"This is great."
The words slipped out naturally.
Of course, that relaxed attitude was only possible because it was the beginning.
From 02:00 to 06:00.
It took them four hours just to clear the zombies near the Level 3 Apartments and Trimage.
This was because they had to lure the zombies away in small groups to avoid drawing aggro, and they couldn't skip looting the defeated zombies either.
Even if nothing dropped, just searching the corpses one by one took time.
And just as they returned inside at 06:00 to rest and regroup, the world turned crimson once more.
"It's the Blood Hour again."
"We'll rest for two hours first. Wash up, eat if you need to, and gather back here at 08:00."
"Yes, sir!"
For now, they had gathered the information that the Blood Hour lasted for two hours.
Although assuming the Blood Hour starting at 06:00 would also last two hours was merely a guess, they had been under extreme tension during their four-hour hunt, so they needed a proper rest anyway.
A two-hour break after four hours of hunting might have been a bit generous, but...
It was only the beginning.
He had scheduled the two-hour rest period partly to gather more data.
And Oh Yoon-seop's decision proved correct.
The Blood Hour that lasted from 06:00 to 08:00 vanished precisely at 08:00.
"The next Blood Hour will likely be from 12:00 to 14:00, and the one after that from 18:00 to 20:00."
It wasn't confirmed yet, but Oh Yoon-seop felt relieved at the thought of these being fixed intervals.
If there was a guaranteed way to avoid the Blood Hour, they could continue their highly profitable hunts from the safety of this secure fortress.
Oh Yoon-seop and the Hunting Squad set out once more.
The streets they had cleared were filled with zombies again, and it took time to sweep them once more.
Around the time the sun began to rise.
"Huh?"
"Zombies!"
The sound of running zombies echoed from afar.
"Hold!"
Oh Yoon-seop and the Hunting Squad pressed themselves against the cafeteria building.
If worst came to worst, they planned to take temporary shelter inside the cafeteria instead of heading back to the apartments.
But then, they saw something in front of the charging zombies.
It was a person.
"Huh?"
A person was running, leading a massive train of zombies behind him.
And that tiny speck of a figure quickly grew large enough for them to recognize.
"The Captain?"
"Lieutenant Colonel, I think that's the Captain."
They had heard beforehand that he was heading out as soon as the zombie rush started, but was he only just returning now?
But if he was running from the north, just how far had he gone?
A sudden wave of awe washed over them.
"It looks like he's returning from somewhere..."
"No, wait... how is it even possible to go anywhere in this chaos?"
Just hiding from the Blood Hour and cleaning up the leftover stragglers took them four hours, and after a two-hour break, they were basically back to square one.
With such a massive army of zombies on the move during the Blood Hour, how could anyone roam around and come back?
"Oh? What's this? You guys were hunting? I'm hungry, so I'm heading in to eat. Go play with those guys behind me for a bit."
The man waved casually as if returning from a morning jog, running straight into the Residential District with a massive horde of zombies hot on his heels.
He spoke with utter nonchalance, but the blood splattered all over his body and his visibly stuffed backpack proved he hadn't just been out for a light jog.
"...That is the kind of man our Captain is."
Oh Yoon-seop drew his weapon, burning with loyalty.
He was filled with a sudden surge of motivation to clear out the zombies the Captain had left for them.
"We finish this before the next Blood Hour and head back. If we clear them all, I'll give you free time until 20:00."
"!!"
Instead of cheering, the Hunting Squad members burned with a fierce fighting spirit.