Chapter 4: Home Decorating
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 4: Home Decorating
In a server set in a world where the zombie virus has only just begun to spread, the very first thing you need to do—just like what most people are doing—is stockpile food.
Unless you're a hardcore doomsday prepper, nobody keeps months' worth of extra food stacked up in their house.
Not only is the shelf life short, but foods with long expiration dates aren't exactly the kind of things you'd want to eat on a regular basis anyway.
Naturally, if you wait until disaster strikes to look for food, it's going to be hard to find.
On top of that, in a world hit by the apocalypse, the law can't do its job.
In a world where might makes right, the way people act when food is right in front of them is entirely predictable.
Violence. Looting.
No matter the circumstances, the food in supermarkets and convenience stores has an owner. The store owner bought it with their own money, so it's basic common sense that they own it.
But if you don't have the power to protect that food, you're bound to become a Golden Goblin.
Besides, when it's not just one or two people, but dozens or hundreds showing up to rob you as if they're entitled to it, there's no way to resist.
You can only stand by and watch.
The ones who offer money or other survival supplies to pay a fair price are the better ones. The vast majority either use violence to just take what they want, or steal from the people who actually paid for their food.
Getting mixed up in that kind of chaos is not a good idea.
No matter how much experience I have—even with 100,000 hours under my belt in the zombie apocalypse—I don't have the ability to survive getting ganged up on by hundreds of people with my current low stats.
What's impossible is impossible.
The zombie apocalypse isn't an overpowered RPG growth game; it's a survival game.
Surviving by making the absolute most of what you're given is what makes you strong.
In that sense, I targeted something others weren't interested in.
"Up we go."
Basically, when you start a zombie apocalypse, your character's stats are fixed.
Males get a bonus level in Strength, starting at 2.
Females get a bonus level in Agility, starting at 2.
Everything else starts at 1.
There are other ways to raise your base stats, like using a stat mode to convert various penalties or advantages into points to add or subtract, but that's the general baseline.
So, a Strength of 2 can be thought of as the strength of a man who works out—slightly stronger than the average adult male.
This meant that while lifting a thick mattress felt a bit heavy, it wasn't too much of a struggle.
The place I visited was a mattress store.
Since this area was lined with furniture shops, people didn't really gather here.
I saw a few zombies, but Level 1 zombies won't attack unless you draw aggro nearby, so I just ignored them and walked in.
There was no way anyone would be here.
The door was wide open, as if the owner had fled when the outbreak started, allowing me to shop in peace.
After lying down on a few different options, I picked the mattress with the highest price tag.
"Whew, heavy."
I could lift it by myself, but I couldn't just carry it back like this.
Not only would it block my vision, but if I used both hands to carry a mattress, even a pathetic Level 1 zombie could bite my neck.
I solved that problem with a cart I'd picked up on the way.
I loaded the mattress onto the cart, secured it with some rope, and pulled it along with ease.
"Lalala~"
Rattle, rattle.
The rattling noise drew the attention of some zombies, but I ignored them and jogged on.
Unless you're completely surrounded with no way out, you won't get caught by a Level 1 zombie unless you're a cripple.
There weren't many of them, so I could have just killed them, but if blood splattered on my brand-new mattress, it would feel too gross to sleep on.
I had to walk about twenty minutes back to my apartment.
The way back was a living hell as well.
"Sigh. Dumbasses. Did you really think you could get a free ride?"
The smart ones would have already looted the local convenience stores or pharmacies.
The people crowding here now were probably latecomers who had no other choice.
Unless you actually started inside the Homeplus when the zombie apocalypse broke out, breaking in there to farm and make it out alive is practically impossible at this stage.
"Yeah, you guys do your thing. Just ignore me."
A little further away, people were busy fighting among themselves.
Groups rushing in for food.
People desperately trying to defend it.
There was no reason to feel sorry for anyone.
I just quietly watched as I passed by.
Some people eyed me warily and edged closer, but none of them attacked.
"What is that?"
"Is that a mattress?"
"Why is he..."
"Let's not mess with him... He's weird."
Well, if you have any sanity left, it's only normal not to mess with a guy who's grinning from ear to ear while shopping for a mattress in a city where zombies are tearing people apart, the bitten are turning, and corpses are piling up.
Thanks to that, I made it back home without any trouble.
I immediately threw my old mattress out of the house.
Before the apocalypse, disposing of a useless mattress like this would have cost money, but now it was just trash I could dump anywhere.
If I left it outside, someone would probably pick it up gratefully to use as a barricade.
In its place, I laid down the plush, queen-sized mattress.
It made my already cramped apartment even tighter, but that was fine.
"This will be perfect for having sex."
In the early days of the collapse, every single second is precious.
Especially right now.
When even the zombies are still disoriented and their numbers are fewer than humans, veterans like me could easily finish most of their farming, as long as they avoid massive Demonic Lairs like Homeplus.
That's why veterans don't usually play the early-stage apocalypse settings.
It's just too boring.
Yet, I had invested those incredibly crucial moments into getting a mattress.
Even if I didn't have to worry about food anymore, I could have gone looking for medicine or weapons.
But I didn't regret it.
Lying down on it, I was beyond satisfied.
Drowsiness washed over me.
"Wow, holy shit. There really is a reason why these are so expensive."
Earlier, while carrying it, I had wondered what kind of crazy bastards would dump twenty million won into a mattress, but now I totally got it.
If you have money to burn, investing this much into a bed where you're guaranteed to spend six hours a day sleeping makes perfect sense.
I only didn't know because I'd spent my whole life sleeping on garbage mattresses.
"Glad I grabbed the pillows too."
I had bundled the pillows and blanket that were on display as samples when I tied down the mattress. They were incredibly soft, and the moment I lay down, they cradled my head in pure, fluffy comfort.
"This is heaven."
The cost of wasting a whole day?
Who cares.
As I rolled around on the bed, another message popped up.
[Tutorial Quest 1]
– Kill Zombies (★)
– 0 / 100
– Reward: 1 Point
"Oh, fuck."
It was a sweet, tempting fruit that instantly shattered my resolve to spend the rest of the day having sex with my bed.
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Points were the core of Cheat Mode.
If Coins were the currency of the zombie apocalypse, Points were a currency meant solely for me.
– This is a Server Host-exclusive mode. You can obtain Points through various quests to increase your Mode Level.
There were so many modes I wanted to level up.
I was curious about the Safe Base, and I wanted to level up the Sex Mode too.
Plus, since any new modes could be unlocked using Points, I desperately needed them if I wanted to unlock hunting-type modes as well.
"Maybe I'll head out for a quick workout."
Time flies like an arrow in the apocalypse.
Setting aside how short time feels in-game because 24 hours are compressed into 8, this was a multi-server where 24 hours were a full 24 hours—yet the sun was already setting.
It was almost lunchtime when I woke up and saw the server finished downloading, and it was just past lunch when some woman came by and sucked my cock.
Even though shopping for the mattress felt quick, it had taken a little over two hours, so it wasn't surprising that the sun was already going down.
Transitioning from winter to spring, the days in March are still short.
At 5 PM, it wasn't night yet, but night was a time you absolutely must not go outside during a zombie apocalypse.
While daytime didn't belong to humans either, the limited visibility at night meant you'd spot zombies—who could leap out from anywhere—five times slower.
On top of that, while Level 1 zombies remained unaffected, Level 2 zombies and above received buffs at night, like increased stats.
So even for me, unless I was incredibly bored, there was no reason to risk my life hunting zombies at night.
Just a light run until sunset.
I needed to clear out the surrounding area anyway.
There were weapons scattered all over the streets on my way back.
I had picked up a golf club from among them, and now I stepped out of the house with it in hand.
Although only a few hours had passed, the streets as evening approached were eerily quiet compared to earlier in the day.
Things had settled down in just a matter of hours.
That was how terrifying the zombie virus was.
The lore of this zombie apocalypse world dictated that because the infection was so rapid and potent, less than 10% of survivors would remain within 30 days of the outbreak.
This worked in my favor.
It meant that, at least for the time being, I wouldn't have to run into people cowering in fear inside their homes.
Groooaaan.
A Level 1 zombie wandering the street spotted me and shuffled over.
I took my stance and swung the golf club like a baseball bat.
Thwack!
A head burst open.
Well, my Strength was too low to make a head dramatically explode, but it was more than enough to send flesh flying.
Groan...
This is why blunt weapons suck.
Unless you can crush the skull in a single blow, zombies don't die.
Still, the impact feels much more satisfying than using a blade.
And if you keep hitting them, they'll die eventually anyway.
"Man, that impact is killer."
Even if it took a bit longer, the thrilling sensation of the impact—just like the vivid taste of the hamburger I'd eaten earlier—drove me to swing the golf club like a madman.