Chapter 35: Exploring the Police Station
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 35: Exploring the Police Station
When it comes to the most famous rare items in a zombie apocalypse, backpacks always top the list.
Backpacks are the foundation of all farming and the most crucial means of storage in a zombie apocalypse.
You always have to carry weapons to prepare for zombies that could appear at any moment. At the same time, the very reason you roam outside all day despite the constant threat of zombies is to farm. You can't just carry your looted items in your hands, so you inevitably need something to put them in. Carts make too much noise and still require a hand to pull, but a backpack can be worn on your back, distributing the weight comfortably across your shoulders and back.
Even so, carrying a heavy load is no easy feat. However, rare backpacks help reduce the perceived weight, allowing you to farm a bit more.
In Zombie Apocalypse, there was no such thing as an internal expansion mod.
Since it was a game, after all, such realistic details weren't implemented. Instead, the weight a user could carry was determined by their Strength stat, and backpacks merely served to lighten the load. Ultimately, carrying over a certain weight limit would penalize your movement.
But since this is reality, it seems I also have to consider the actual physical space inside the backpack.
Which makes sense.
If you could stuff a massive bed into a backpack just because you had the strength to carry the weight, this would be a fantasy genre, not a zombie apocalypse.
But what if an internal expansion mod was applied?
Then even fantasy becomes somewhat acceptable.
"At two meters, a real bed actually could fit inside."
It was a Level 3 Backpack, no less.
Backpacks with this kind of option had a 99% chance of being rare items, making them incredibly hard to find.
Even if you went through hell and back to scavenge one, they were often only Level 1.
I had received this one day through the "supplies necessary for survival" distribution—an effect of my god-tier cheat mode, Safe Base.
In fact, it had happened so recently that I hadn't even noticed.
After returning from a farming run, I mentioned setting up a separate weapon storage. While checking the items Kim Ji-hee had moved to Room 202, I spotted the backpack, inspected it, and found out.
If we had looted a backpack from a zombie corpse, there was no way I wouldn't have known. So I asked her about it, and she said it was in the supply box.
I was already eating my rations with daily gratitude, but this made me sing the praises of the Safe Base all over again.
For the first time, I head out of the house fully geared up.
It's the same path I always take, but for some reason, I feel incredibly refreshed.
And it isn't just a trick of the mind.
[Status Window]
– Age: 30
– Modes: Tutorial (10★), Safe Base (5★), Zombies are an Excellent Source of Meat (★), Base Invincibility (5★), Sex! x3 (19+) (★), Solo Leveling! (10★), Omniscient Host Perspective (10★), Predation (3★), Hunting Expert (3★)
– Points: 0
– Coins: 719
– Stats
– Strength: ★★★★★
– Agility: ★★★★
– Stamina: ★
– Mana: ★
Even without the Base Invincibility effect, my stats are this high.
My Stamina being at Level 1 is a bit of a wild card, but if I use Predation to raise it by two levels, I can practically consider myself under a semi-Base Invincibility effect.
No wonder my body feels so light.
I head past my usual farming grounds toward the police station.
The Seongsu-dong Level 1 Police Box was located near a large apartment complex.
Past the Seongsu Apartment, toward the I-Park.
Being close to an apartment complex meant danger.
Indeed, the closer I got, the denser the zombie population became.
The sheer number of zombies made it look nearly impossible to slip past quietly—a classic post-Zombie Rush phenomenon.
As humans gradually expand their active living areas and territories, the zombies are slowly pushed back. But that also means the density of the displaced zombies increases exponentially.
An increase in zombies makes an area harder to farm, but there's another problem: stronger zombies emerge from these dense hordes.
Level 2 Zombies.
Most people probably haven't encountered them yet.
Grrr...
Taking a detour, I quickly dispatch any zombies I encounter while weaving through the gaps between buildings.
I haven't come to raid the police station right this second.
To raid it, I'd first need tools to cut through iron bars.
Today's mission is a scouting run: to figure out which route to take and how to break in with the shortest path, avoiding zombies to gain entry.
Seongsu-dong I-Park.
The closer I got to the massive apartment complex, the more tightly packed the zombies became.
With no humans left alive, the silence was absolute, meaning I had to be extremely careful not to make even the slightest noise.
To make matters worse, the area around the police station was crowded with buildings, making it difficult to scout from a distance.
"Looks like no one else has made it this far yet."
I had hoped to get a free ride if possible.
Actually, this was a better scenario for me.
If there were groups that had reorganized faster than I expected, it wouldn't have been surprising if the police station had already been looted, given that a few days had passed since the Zombie Rush ended.
As I surveyed the area from a distance, unable to get too close, the sounds of battle echoed from the opposite direction of where I had come.
"They're coming from the side!"
"Fuck, there are so many of them!"
"Break through! We have to get those guns today!"
That direction is toward the Han River. I wonder if they're one of the factions based over there. Their numbers seem quite substantial.
Otherwise, unless they were completely insane, no one would be screaming at the top of their lungs in the middle of a zombie horde.
They seem pretty confident.
And they have reason to be. The survivors I've met so far might have looked like ordinary people, but since Modes are distributed randomly, there are bound to be quite a few people with surprisingly good Modes.
For those who know how to utilize them, Level 1 Zombies are practically a goldmine for farming Coins.
I can see zombies from a bit further away starting to swarm toward the source of the noise.
It's not like every zombie within a several-kilometer radius instantly rushes over just because of some noise, so I don't think those bastards are going to die. Still, seeing other people in a situation like this is a somewhat welcome sight.
"Hmm. Maybe I should just raid it today."
While the zombies inside the police station remained, some of the ones in the vicinity had headed toward the noise, thinning their numbers.
At this rate, if I pushed myself a little, wouldn't I be able to clear a Level 1 police station?
My original plan to just scout was to prevent any unforeseen variables and play it safe, not a solemn vow that I absolutely wouldn't take any risks today.
I watch for a moment.
The main entrance of the police station was wide open, and there were shattered windows all over.
It didn't look like they were broken by intruders; rather, it was likely the result of the chaos that erupted inside the station on the day the apocalypse began.
The thought crosses my mind that there might not be many firearms left, but I decide not to worry about that.
While securing guns is a crucial farming objective, what's more important to me right now is clearing the quest and grabbing some free Points.
"Time to move."
With my mind made up, I draw my new Butcher's Dagger and sprint toward the police station at full speed.
Naturally, the noise draws the zombies' attention, and they begin to swarm.
I don't have time to get bogged down in a street brawl.
The abandoned cars scattered everywhere make excellent stepping stones to lose the zombies.
Thud! Thud!
Stepping on the cars draws more and more aggro, but the distance to the police station shrinks just as fast.
Skreeeech!
Suddenly, sensing a sharp presence from the side, I turn my head and spot a zombie leaping toward me.
Level 2 Zombie.
Unlike the lumbering Level 1 Zombies, this evolved species knows how to run and possesses the basics of coordinated combat.
Even without observing its attack patterns, as the Host, I can tell it's a Level 2 Zombie just by looking at the number "2" floating above its head.
"I can't pass this up."
While getting inside the police station quickly to secure a bottleneck was important, it would be rude to just ignore a Level 2 Zombie in a one-on-one encounter.
After all, my current Tutorial Quest requires me to defeat ten Level 2 Zombies.
I only have a brief window.
It would take the Level 1 Zombies about ten seconds to climb onto the car.
That was more than enough time.
Maintaining my momentum, I plant my feet to halt, duck, and grab the collar of the leaping Level 2 Zombie, slamming it onto the roof of the car.
Thud!
Even if it was faster and stronger than a Level 1 Zombie, its movements were driven by superior instinct, not intelligence.
Normally, this might have been a dangerous move.
In a place crawling with Level 1 Zombies, even if it lunged without being able to control its own body, simply grabbing onto me would have allowed the rest of the horde to swarm and finish me off.
But the moment I dodged and grabbed it, the Level 2 Zombie—whose stats were slightly lower than mine—had no choice but to yield the initiative to me.
Pinning its flailing arm with one foot, I drive my Butcher's Dagger into its neck.
Stomping on the embedded dagger with my other foot to drive it deeper, I rip it out and kick its head.
Its head is half-torn off.
It would probably die if left like this, but Level 2 Zombies have incredibly tenacious vitality, so I couldn't be sure. I spend two more seconds to deliver a decisive kick to its head before immediately taking off.
"Whew, fuck. That was close."
Narrowly escaping the Level 1 Zombies that were already crawling up the car I was standing on, I dive into the entrance of the building labeled "Seongsu-dong Police Precinct".
With a sensation like passing through a squishy membrane, the world momentarily wavers, and a message pops up before my eyes.
"What the? Get out of the way!"
Blocking my vision when every second counts?!
You piece of shit...!
As I try to swipe it away, the text catches my eye.
[You have entered the Seongsu-dong Police Precinct Dungeon (★).]
[Dungeon Quest 1]
– Difficulty: ★
– Clear Condition: Defeat all zombies (★: 25 / 25) (★★: 3 / 3)
– Reward: 100 Coins, 1 Point, 1 Pistol (★), 10 Pistol Ammunition
So this is what a dungeon is like!
Before I even have time to marvel, I spot two trajectories thrusting toward me from both sides and roll forward.