Chapter 181: There Are Many Eccentrics in a Zombie Apocalypse
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 181: There Are Many Eccentrics in a Zombie Apocalypse
When playing Zombie Apocalypse, people don't say for nothing that half the players are screw-loose dumbasses and the other half are brainless idiots.
There are the bastards who logged in just because they wanted a game where they could mindlessly slaughter both zombies and humans.
The bastards who pour dozens of hours into spraying bullets in a Demonic Lair, burning their final spark of life whether they get bitten or not.
And the bastards who spend hundreds of hours doing that crazy shit over and over again just because they like the feeling of fighting zombies bare-handed and tanking hits—those are the ones who play with their brains turned off.
When it comes to the "eccentric" category, the criteria get a bit blurry, but usually, those truly unique eccentrics weren't as common as you'd think.
The definition of an eccentric is vague to begin with, and it's hard to draw the line between whether someone is just unique or a total dumbass.
For example, in my case, I was a bastard obsessed with events.
Just to trigger an event, I'd purposely let all my hoarded food get stolen, or completely blow up a base I'd spent dozens of hours painstakingly building.
I'd fall for obvious beauty traps and get kidnapped, swallowing down all kinds of stifling frustration just to see an event. I spent a massive amount of time doing that.
Granted, given my massive playtime, the hours I spent playing brainlessly were just as high as the hours I spent playing like a weirdo.
Anyway, whenever these eccentrics post about their gameplay on the Zombie Apocalypse Gallery, they stand out immediately.
– This guy is a total eccentric.
– Why the hell is he doing that in Zombie Apocalypse?
– Guess he has nothing better to do in real life.
Guys who research the zombie virus.
Guys who try to recreate the vaccine.
These kinds of scientist eccentrics are actually relatively common in Zombie Apocalypse.
Since a mysterious virus is the driving force behind the game's plot, digging into its cause is a perfectly natural and fundamental question to ask.
Plus, because a vaccine exists, the technology to treat or prevent the virus does exist within the game.
Even though ZA Pharmaceutical Company shut down due to a mysterious accident, leaving only finished products circulating around.
Many science majors agreed that since a vaccine had been made, reverse-engineering it to figure out its ingredients wasn't entirely impossible.
Starting from that, to guys who kidnap survivors to perform human experimentation.
To the real eccentrics who are actually helpful to the game—the experts who break down invisible stat experience points to calculate exactly how many hours of what exercise are needed to raise a stat.
There were so many of those bastards.
No, wait.
It wasn't that there were many of them.
It was that only those kinds of bastards were left in the game.
Casual players had either had their fill or had been weeded out by the steep learning curve.
But the hardcore fiends roaming the world of Zombie Apocalypse survived to the bitter end, constantly inventing new things they wanted to do to enjoy the game, even as it turned into a dead game.
The guy standing in front of me right now seemed to belong to that breed.
The Eagle Five Squad reported.
"We went to farm near Bomun Station, and we heard the sound of someone fighting a zombie nearby. But it didn't sound like a big fight. The noise was rhythmic, but it just wouldn't end. It was only one guy, and he kept muttering something to himself, but he wouldn't reply to us. We got curious and checked it out, and wouldn't you know it, this guy was beating a zombie all by himself with a spoon!"
"..."
The nerdy-looking man in his mid-30s wearing glasses spoke up.
"I was researching the life force of zombies."
"And he got bitten in the process," one of the Eagle Five Squad members added.
"...I intended to conduct the experiment on a Level 1 zombie, but it turned out to be a Level 2 zombie..."
"Yeah. So we thought it was fascinating and brought him back with us."
"Hmm."
He certainly was a peculiar one.
With nearly two months having passed since the outbreak of the Zombie Apocalypse, here was a guy running around beating zombies with a spoon to test their life force.
And it wasn't like he had some secret trump card; he'd been bitten by a Level 2 zombie and was destined to die or turn any moment.
Yet, the fact that he didn't seem particularly bothered only added to his sheer idiocy.
"You're about to die. Doesn't it hurt? You said you got bitten."
"It hurts, but it's a shame. I really wanted to figure out the zombie's life force."
This dumbass's face was visibly flushed from a high fever, yet he kept spouting nonsense.
"Hmm... If only I had plenty of items with the 'damage to zombies' option... We really need to clarify those ambiguous options that are hard to convert into visible damage in reality, so we can judge whether they're actually valuable or not..."
"Are you a Zombie Apocalypse player?"
Only a Zombie Apocalypse player could spout such nonsense in real life.
And not just some casual who dipped their toes in, but someone who had fully immersed themselves, fallen into the sauce jar, and ended up in this multi-server.
"Yes. I've played a modest 20,000 hours or so."
"..."
"Whoa. You're a senior! Allow us to introduce ourselves. We're the cute 1,000-hour-tier squad of five."
The way he pushed up his glasses, nodded, and waved his hand as if to say it was fine was the cherry on top.
This guy is the real deal.
I wasn't exactly in a position to judge who was "the real deal" or not, but I felt a sense of awe.
Is this how other people feel when they look at me?
For now, I cast "Noona's Hands Are Healing Hands" on this Zombie Life Force Researcher.
"...Ah! What is this?"
"Huh? Captain? Did you save him?"
"I healed him. Keep talking about what you were saying earlier."
There was no need to accept every Zombie Apocalypse player.
Experienced, veteran Zombie Apocalypse players had the potential to perform just as well as those with high-grade modes and high levels, even if they were 20 to 30 percent lacking in stats. But as I said before, among those who still played Zombie Apocalypse or had thousands of hours of playtime, very few were sane.
I'd rather deal with people like the Eagle Five Squad, who just purely enjoyed the game with their brains turned off.
But you could never predict what this kind of eccentric would do.
One thing was for sure, though.
At least for me, I absolutely loved these event-like bastards.
"...Zombies have life force. That's obvious, right? Since humans have life force too. I believe there is a threshold. This world has changed to be like a game. It's a game built on the framework of a zombie apocalypse, but inside, it's not just a zombie apocalypse. It's mixed with RPG elements and a hodgepodge of growth mechanics. It's almost as if someone requested to mix this and that together."
"..."
His serious words made me flinch.
After all, if we were to trace the cause of this hodgepodge system, most of it came from reflecting the feedback of me, the host of this server.
"So, in the end, while you normally have to decapitate a zombie or stop its heart to kill it, other methods that were impossible in a standard zombie apocalypse are also viable here. Meaning, you can kill them by striking non-vital areas. Because they have life force."
"Oho."
It was a pretty interesting theory.
Of course, he wasn't the first to come up with this theory.
It was a topic that constantly popped up on the Paradise Gallery.
That as long as HP existed, life force must exist too.
And that the existence of options like '+1 Damage to Zombies' on items meant that even if it wasn't visible, damage values did exist.
You could kill a zombie without decapitating, burning, or stopping its heart.
The question was, what was the threshold?
If zombies really died from their life force being depleted by physical impacts...
How many times did you have to hit them?
That was the key.
"I was researching that. Using Level 1 zombies, which have relatively low life force... But it's not easy. I need to gather samples, but the zombies have gotten stronger since the Zombie Rush... I also need a weapon that deals average damage to serve as a baseline, but that's been hard to find. In the end, I overextended and got bitten... but you saved me. Thank you. Did you give me a vaccine? I'd like to repay you, but I don't have any Coins left..."
"Forget it. Do your research here."
I was the person who should have the least interest in this topic, yet at the same time, I was also the most curious.
Since I could smash a zombie's head in a single blow no matter what I did, I had no practical need to know their life force.
Yet, as someone who poured enchantments and enhancements into the best items and wondered how 'damage to zombies' actually applied every time I looked at my sword's options, I couldn't help but be incredibly curious.
But me, doing the research?
Setting aside the time it would take.
Using my brain like that was definitely not my strong suit.
But then the Eagle Five Squad went and dragged in exactly what I needed.
An eccentric who couldn't suppress his curiosity even while dying.
This guy was worthy of being recognized as a true eccentric.
"I'll register you as a Resident, so go wild. I'll support you with whatever you need."
"...My stats increased."
"Because you're a Resident."
"Can I disable it? I'm conducting my experiments with specifically calibrated stats."
"..."
Even though I was offering to save him, feed him, and give him a place to sleep, this eccentric bastard immediately asked a question instead of saying thank you.
"Who to talk to when I need something? I assume you won't give me administrative authority? I've heard about Paradise... I'm looking forward to this. I don't need much. Among Level 1 weapons..."
The eccentric bastard showed no signs of stopping his excited babbling.
For a brief moment, I wondered if saving him had been a mistake.
It wasn't like figuring that stuff out would put food on the table, but...
I did have some hope that things might become a bit more standardized.
Systematic and easier.
That would be hopeful news for the survivors.
And for me, it meant more customers.