Chapter 22: My Own Little Base
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 22: My Own Little Base
The Safe Base had several functions, and soundproofing was one of them.
It could block sounds and smells coming from the outside, as well as those escaping from the inside.
The reason I had noticed the guests coming from Seongsu Apartment a while ago was because I'd temporarily turned off that function. It was the same today; that was why I could vividly hear the zombies heading up to the second floor from inside my room.
I only kept the incoming sound from the outside turned on.
Since this studio apartment wasn't built with soundproofing in mind, the noise came through crystal clear.
So while Kim Ji-hee was holding her breath, terrified that even a whisper might leak out, I hooked up a TV I'd scavenged on my way back to a game console and browsed for something to play.
"Is the sound really not leaking out?"
I assured her it wasn't, responding to her hushed whisper.
Thud! Thud!
The sound of zombies pounding on a door echoed so loudly it felt like they were banging on my own.
Since it was the apartment right above mine, the vibrations rattled straight through the ceiling.
Hearing noises from other directions, it seemed there were still a few other survivors left in this building.
Honestly, it would be stranger if there weren't.
If there was any safe haven after the apocalypse began, it was this very building.
After all, I'd personally slaughtered every zombie that wandered near, and even went out of my way to clear out the surrounding area.
It wouldn't be surprising if some people had snuck into the vacant units to hide.
But their free ride ends today.
I didn't keep this building safe for their sake; I did it for mine.
I didn't particularly mind people surviving under my shadow, but I had absolutely no obligation to keep protecting them.
Besides, I had to clear the building out sooner or later anyway.
Although my Safe Base could expand up to 100 pyeong now, the only reason I'd kept it restricted to my tiny, five-pyeong room was because I hadn't found a better spot yet.
Unless I planned on moving elsewhere, it made more sense to clear the building out and claim the entire structure as my Safe Base.
If I decided to take in other survivors later, I could just have them live on the second, third, and fourth floors.
That was the beauty of a multi-server.
I had no intention of keeping this ridiculously broken base-type cheat mode all to myself forever.
If I wanted to play solo, why the hell would I have set up a multi-server in the first place?
I was just going to be extremely selective about who I let in.
Kim Ji-hee was the first, and anyone else allowed in from now on would have to prove their worth to me.
Not freeloaders like that auntie from the second floor who stole my meat.
The sound of a door splintering open echoed, followed by a bloodcurdling scream.
They probably had useless modes that were practically non-existent.
Maybe they had some trash-tier mode that could help them survive a one-on-one encounter with a single zombie, but against a swarming horde, they were utterly powerless.
If they had just stayed quiet and hidden, they might have survived.
I hadn't done anything to actively lure the zombies to them; I had simply chosen to do nothing.
The ones who had invited the zombies in were the auntie from the second floor and the other idiots in the building.
Honestly, the smell of grilled meat wafting through the hallway earlier was so absurd it made me chuckle.
I didn't care how safe they felt thanks to me clearing the area.
If they had even a single brain cell, they wouldn't have dared to grill meat inside their apartment.
Leaving the lights on was one thing, since blackout curtains could block the glow.
But zombies had a far keener sense of smell than humans. Grilling meat was basically advertising a five-star restaurant, begging them to come feast on fresh human flesh.
"Isn't it hilarious? Grilling meat in a world like this. Meanwhile, in other places, people are dying by the dozens and can't even sleep."
I had been curious.
When I'd gone up to the second floor to find out which fucking bitch had stolen my meat.
The moment I stood in front of Room 201, the overwhelming smell of meat hit my nose, instantly replacing my anger with sheer curiosity.
I wanted to see if my instincts, honed over 100,000 hours of playtime, were correct.
Everything was the auntie's own choice.
If she had just stayed quiet, she would have been perfectly safe from the Zombie Rush.
Of course, there was no absolute guarantee the zombies would have ignored her anyway.
People on other floors might have made noise or let smells leak out.
But regardless of those variables, the auntie from the second floor had ultimately sealed her own doom with her own sheer stupidity.
I could understand her thought process, though.
She must have watched the zombies swarming on the first day from her window.
Watching me slaughter them all, she probably convinced herself that this building was an impenetrable fortress.
It was probably similar to what drove Kim Ji-hee to seek me out.
Anyone who saw me wielding such a ridiculously broken cheat mode would think the same thing.
If I stay by his side, I'll survive.
And she had even tested the waters once.
On the afternoon of the day she stole my meat.
She had grilled it up, eaten it, and confirmed she was perfectly safe, hadn't she?
The auntie simply hadn't realized one crucial detail.
During the day, the Zombie Rush was inactive, and since I'd already slaughtered every zombie in the vicinity, there were none left to smell her cooking and attack.
So while it was ultimately her choice, the outcome had been entirely predictable.
This was the real fun of it.
This was what the zombie apocalypse was to me.
The sheer amusement of observing, predicting, and analyzing the behaviors of the various personalities populating this server.
"It's all set up."
Part of me wanted to go out and watch the show on the second floor.
The screams were already dying down, suggesting the "cleanup" was nearly finished.
But today was my day off.
I mounted the 75-inch TV on the wall, hooked up the Nintendo Switch, and booted up a game I'd downloaded.
"How do you play this?"
It was some kind of cooking game.
It was a two-player game, so we each grabbed a controller and started.
Chopping, prepping on the cutting board, fetching ingredients, and fulfilling customer orders—it required a surprising amount of coordination.
"Oppa! Carrots! Carrots! Onions!"
"..."
"Chop this! Serve it!"
It was fascinating to see her so full of life, making wonder if this was really the same woman who had stumbled in yesterday looking half-dead.
In the game, predicting NPC behavior was a given.
They were designed never to act out of character.
No, it wasn't just that they didn't; they were programmed from the start to only perform actions that aligned with their traits.
But reality wasn't much different.
The faces and actions of those tattooed thugs, their predictable outbursts, and the way they picked fights...
Everything had gone exactly as I'd anticipated, and the auntie's actions had been painfully predictable.
I felt a surge of confidence.
A firm belief that my 100,000 hours of experience would translate perfectly to the real world.
"Ah! Why would you put pineapple in kimchi stew?!"
"..."
She was nagging the absolute shit out of me.
When I glared at her, she caught my look and instantly froze.
As she slowly looked up and met my eyes, I couldn't help but notice how incredibly gorgeous she was.
"You're dead meat later."
"..."
"Why don't you make it then? The kimchi stew."
"Right now?"
"Yeah. Right now."
Pouting, Kim Ji-hee put down her controller and headed to the kitchen.
Calling it a kitchen was a stretch, considering it was right in front of us in this tiny room.
She turned on the gas stove and started cooking the stew.
We had plenty of ingredients thanks to the abundance of items from the supply boxes.
Soon, the sound of bubbling stew and a rich, spicy aroma filled the room.
"Fry some eggs too. Keep the yolks runny."
I abandoned the game, turned on the TV, and browsed for a movie.
Watching movies used to be a luxury to me.
Spending two hours grinding in the zombie apocalypse was infinitely more productive than wasting two hours on a movie.
But now, I was living in the actual zombie apocalypse.
It wasn't like I had avoided movies because I hated them, so I just put on a random film.
Soon, a small table was set with the kimchi stew, Hetbahn, kimchi, and sunny-side-up eggs.
"It's hell outside, but it feels like heaven in here."
I didn't ruin the mood by telling her it was only because we were in the early stages.
Honestly, even I couldn't predict how powerful this base-type cheat mode would become.
Just looking at the perks from levels 1 to 3, this cheat mode was so ridiculously broken that it shattered my expectations at every turn. It made me confident that once it reached level 10, I'd easily breeze through even the late-game difficulties.
"Don't worry, I'll make you beg to go back outside in a little bit."
"Oppa, is that seriously the only thing on your mind?"
Kim Ji-hee blushed, playfully scolding me.
She didn't seem to actually mind, suggesting she'd already prepared herself. It was just that as she grew more comfortable around me, her true personality was starting to show.
I scanned her up and down.
"With a face and body like yours, do you really think any guy would have anything else on his mind?"
"..."
It had been the same back at Seongsu Apartment. Not just the tattooed thugs, but even the guys in the hunting squad.
There were plenty of men who had given her far more blatant, lecherous stares than I ever did.
If even I could feel their eyes on her from the sidelines, she must have been acutely aware of it herself.
"Still... you're the first person to actually say it out loud like that."
"Maybe it's because I was the first to adapt to this fucked-up world."
"..."
Still, you had to admit there was a certain romance to this life.
While the people upstairs were getting slaughtered, here we were, eating hot kimchi stew with white rice and shooting the breeze.
Come to think of it, Kim Ji-hee was far from normal herself.
Dependency Level 5.
It was classified as a negative trait, but under the right conditions, it clearly had its benefits.
No matter what horrors unfolded outside, as long as she had someone to depend on and a safe space to relax, her mental state remained rock-solid.
Watching her clear the table and start washing the dishes from behind, I felt a sudden surge of arousal.
How was I supposed to hold back when looking at those slender, pale legs extending beneath an oversized shirt that barely covered her ass?
I stepped up behind her and pressed my dick against her ass. I felt her squirm, trying to wiggle away.
But did she realize?
Her squirming only made it feel that much better.
"Keep doing what you're doing."
"How am I supposed to do this when you're... ah!"
I had to admit, Kim Ji-hee was right.
This place really was heaven.