Chapter 147: Zombie Rush = Double Coin and EXP Event. Massive Meat and Enhancement Stone Drop Event.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 147: Zombie Rush = Double Coin and EXP Event. Massive Meat and Enhancement Stone Drop Event.
I have never once let my guard down in the zombie apocalypse.
I live every single moment treating it as my actual life, and at some point, I began to cherish it enough to aim for the 100,000-Hour Rule without dying once.
I'm probably not the only one; most of the few degenerates who pour their lives into the zombie apocalypse play it that way.
They throw themselves into danger as if their lives are worthless, but the moment they're on the verge of dying, they struggle like crazy to survive.
That's not just because they value their in-game lives.
People at this level absolutely dread having to start a new world.
That tedious, repetitive early-game farming.
Although the zombie apocalypse is a highly open-ended game where your playstyle varies wildly depending on how you choose to survive, the early game is almost the only phase where everyone, without exception, repeats the exact same routine for a very long time.
Checking your spawn point, scouting the area, killing any zombies with whatever can be used as a weapon, layering up on clothes, farming the surroundings for food...
Securing a safe base, finding things to fill it with.
Scouting around for a place to settle, and only when you find a base you like do you finally start decorating and fortifying it.
There are also a few set places you have to visit for that.
Grocery stores, furniture stores, general store warehouses, large warehouses.
Fire stations, police stations, military bases...
Only after reaching this point can you finally start doing what you actually want to do and go on expeditions to other cities.
It takes a considerable amount of time to get to this stage, and nothing is more tedious than repeating that entire process, which is why everyone tries their hardest not to die.
Whatever the reason, staying alert to avoid death is the same, and it's no different in reality.
In fact, you have to be even more cautious in reality.
I must always keep in mind that the information I know about the zombie apocalypse might be wrong in reality.
Although the Zombie Rush is a mode I'm familiar with, new information might have been added, and there are indeed things I'm seeing for the first time. That's why I never let my guard down, stay vigilant, and always operate with a safety-first mindset.
So, having that kind of mindset while simultaneously thinking of this as a ridiculously lucrative event is a complete contradiction.
But still...
"Ah... fuck... this is so damn sweet."
Right now, my "rare" farming rate has increased by 5% based on the farming rates of "Residents" and the "Host" within the Base Invincibility Safe Base. On top of that, the Hunting Expert Cheat Mode adds another 10% to all "rare" farming rates, bringing the total to a 15% chance for "rare" items to drop.
Because of this, a massive amount of "rare" meat is dropping, and my warehouse is packed with items—regardless of whether they're Level 1 or Level 2—that have rare options attached to them.
But on top of that, even "Enhancement Stones" are dropping at a 15% rate, which is where I feel the difference the most.
"Selling Enhancement Stones is going to be incredibly lucrative."
It's not just good items that need enhancement.
In fact, low-level items might actually get a better efficiency boost from each individual enhancement.
I don't know exactly how the enhancement effects scale, but things like '+1 Damage to Zombies' or 'Sharpness Level 1' are far more effective when they go from 1 to 2.
Especially against Level 1 zombies, these absolute values make a massive difference.
Kuaaagh!
When a zombie collapses and drops meat and an Enhancement Stone, it is pure sex.
Coins have increased to 2 Coins, and since I have two different things stacking every time I kill a zombie, it's incredibly sweet.
"Ah. At this rate, I won't even be able to look at zombies as zombies anymore."
On the Paradise Gallery, some people call the Zombie Rush a 'Double Coin Event.'
To those who are prepared, it might indeed look that way.
But taking things lightly like that is exactly how you get killed in the zombie apocalypse.
"An event that gives double coins, where they gather in massive hordes so you can sweep them all at once and get tons of meat and Enhancement Stones... What was that called again?"
Humming to myself, I slipped through the darkness and returned home.
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Although the enhancement system had been updated, no news of anyone actually enhancing anything had been posted.
It was only natural.
The Paradise Gallery could only be used within Paradise's Safe Base, and there was no enhancement center in Paradise yet.
Today was Day 3 of the Zombie Rush.
There were still two days left, and since everyone was busy just trying to survive, no crazy bastard would be running around trying to clear a Level 3 Dungeon.
Even looking globally, there was no place where a "Black Market Mart" or a "Black Market Enhancement Shop" had appeared yet.
Although only the Safe Base's range was currently visible on the Paradise Map, the rough terrain of other areas could still be seen.
If a Paradise Mart or Enhancement Shop appeared, it seemed like they would just be marked on the map, similar to how the current Membership Members were displayed.
By Day 3, people's reactions seemed to fall into one of two categories.
Those who were starting to look around and explore when it wasn't the Blood Hour, and those who were whining that they couldn't hold out any longer.
To be precise, there were three categories.
The third category couldn't leave any reactions because they had already died, lacking even the strength to whine.
Among them, the first category.
One of those who had adapted and survived the Zombie Rush came to find Paradise.
"We want to join Paradise as well."
Originally, "Paradise" just referred to my Safe Base.
I had initially created it with the broad meaning that everyone within the radius of this Safe Base was part of the Paradise I managed, and becoming a Membership Member within it was the way to join the Paradise faction.
But now, to the users of the Paradise Gallery, the Paradise Membership Members, and the people living inside the Safe Base, Paradise meant this very place.
It was used to refer to the Level 3 Membership Members and Residents living in Seoul Forest.
I didn't bother correcting them.
Because it didn't really matter whether Paradise was specified as a physical location or used abstractly to refer to the Paradise Membership itself.
What mattered was the reality.
If people yearned for Paradise and wanted to enter, it aligned perfectly with the purpose of the faction I had built.
A small party of about five people.
But regardless of where they came from, arriving right as the Blood Hour ended and confidently declaring their desire to join Paradise meant they had skills.
It meant they had traveled during the Blood Hour.
It was obvious just by looking at them, but checking their stats one by one confirmed my thoughts.
Each individual was quite specialized in combat.
Despite being three men and two women, they each played combat roles that made good use of their gender characteristics.
Well, I hadn't seen them fight in person, but looking at their stats, they didn't seem bad.
I called Oh Yoon-seop.
Conveniently, Oh Yoon-seop was just heading out to hunt after the Blood Hour ended, so I could hand them over to him immediately.
"These guys want to join Paradise. Test them."
"Yes, sir. Understood."
"Are we taking the test from him? Could you test us yourself? We want to become the Main Hunting Squad."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Well, they certainly didn't lack confidence.
Then again, who was I to call anyone cocky or arrogant?
As long as you have the power to back it up, you're more than welcome to be cocky and arrogant.
And what they were showing was just a healthy amount of confidence.
I scanned them once more.
The Main Hunting Squad, huh.
I didn't know how good they actually were.
But the modes they possessed made it a bit awkward to accept them even as Residents, let alone the Main Hunting Squad.
"Hmm. Your skills are a bit too crappy to be the Main Hunting Squad."
"...How did you..."
"I can tell just by looking."
"Skills are just a support. Once you see our actual combat ability, you'll like us immediately."
Since they were going this far first thing in the morning, it would be a bit cold to just turn them away or dump them on Oh Yoon-seop.
I was planning to just rest at home today, do some casual zombie farming, and go to sleep, but this changed things.
Seriously, how is it that not a single day goes by without something interesting happening?
"Let's go, then."
An entertaining scenario came to mind.
I headed toward the city center, taking Oh Yoon-seop's hunting squad and the five challengers with me.
Even though the Blood Hour was over, zombies were still swarming everywhere.
The density had just shifted, making it slightly easier to find zombie-free areas if you navigated carefully, but to ordinary people, it still looked like a complete zombie wasteland in every direction.
After walking for a bit, I spotted hordes of zombies split across a wide road.
Their numbers probably weren't exactly equal, but they looked to be of similar size.
I assigned Oh Yoon-seop to the side that looked slightly larger, and placed the newly challenging hunting squad at the opposite end of the road.
"You know what to do, right? Once we start, just hunt the zombies. The side that clears them first wins."
For the new challengers, success was their ticket to joining.
"If you kill them all without anyone dying, you pass. I'll accept all five of you with Level 3 Membership. And if you finish faster than our hunting squad, I'll make you the Main Hunting Squad."
"Yes!"
"Will you also upgrade us to Resident or Level 4 Membership?"
"I'll upgrade one of you."
"Thank you!"
"Don't thank me yet."
You have to win first.
And I set a reward for Oh Yoon-seop.
"If your squad wins, you get 200 Coins each. For Oh Yoon-seop, I'll give you 3 Resident Points and the right to appoint one Resident."
"...!"
I knew Oh Yoon-seop had been working his ass off lately to raise his Battle Stance from Level 8 to Level 9.
To him, the reward of Resident Points must be incredibly sweet.
Oh Yoon-seop's expression became dead serious.
He bowed deeply.
"I will make sure we win and protect the honor of Paradise."
"Right, right. We can't have the Main Hunting Squad title stolen by some random, scrubby bastards from who-knows-where."
I sat on top of a car parked near the middle and opened a special meal I had brought along.
Scooping up mouthfuls of the cup-rice packed with various ingredients, I watched the two groups charge toward the zombies.