Chapter 7: Seongsu Autonomous Organization
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 7: Seongsu Autonomous Organization
There are various events in the Zombie Apocalypse.
If you visit the Zombie Apocalypse Gallery, which is filled with true hardcore veterans, you can find a well-organized list of these events. Among them, the most popular ones are usually those related to survivors.
Of course, these events can only be triggered if the NPC survivors are still alive. Veterans who usually start in extreme mode set two or three years into the future rarely get to see them, but those who enjoy these events still look them up from time to time.
Among them, there is an event that is practically a cliché: the Hardline Faction event.
Honestly, it's hard to even call this a mere novel or game cliché; it's just basic human instinct.
The law of the jungle.
In a world where the law has vanished, might makes right, and those with power form groups to establish a class society.
The countless situations that unfold within that dynamic are pure, unadulterated entertainment.
An event where you can witness all kinds of ugly human desires.
People often said, "Sure, it's fun to watch in a game, but would it really be like that in real life?" But now that it's actually happening, it seems exactly like that.
"This is going to be so fucking fun."
Watching those guys already putting on airs and looking down on the crowd, I couldn't help but find it incredibly amusing.
How did they all manage to match, sporting Irezumi tattoos down their arms and wearing short sleeves like a uniform?
To an ordinary person, it was certainly an intimidating sight.
Indeed, some people looked visibly terrified seeing them carry sashimi knives on their hips as makeshift weapons.
But now that the Zombie Apocalypse has begun, muscles and knives don't mean a thing.
In the end, the total sum of stats for men and women is the same. While it's true that those who used to work out have an advantage in raising their stats, that gap can easily be closed with effort.
In other words, those tattoos and muscles are nothing more than a bluff.
The funny thing is, ordinary people don't know that.
And even if they did, they wouldn't be able to overcome their fear so easily.
I quietly shifted my position.
The seat next to the woman I saw yesterday was occupied, so I went to the row behind her and greeted her.
"Hey."
"..."
I whispered it right in her ear, so there was no way she didn't hear me, but she ignored me.
Instead, the people sitting next to her looked at me.
"Who are...?"
"I'm her friend."
When I answered confidently, everyone turned their gaze to the woman.
Only then did she look back at me, frowning as she asked,
"Who are you?"
Oh, playing it like this, are we?
Her embarrassment was written all over her face. I wanted to tease her more, but the atmosphere wasn't right for it, so I decided to stop.
"Ah, sorry. I got the wrong person."
Although many people were gathered in the spacious auditorium, they weren't all the same.
Everyone was a mess due to the sudden apocalypse, but even among them, there was a clear division between those who still looked decent and those who didn't.
The section where the woman sat seemed to consist of the relatively well-off.
Their seats were near the front, too.
And it was close to where the tattooed try-hards were standing.
Naturally, I noticed the try-hards looking over here.
I quietly stood up and returned to my seat.
"Alright. Since we need to start building our Seongsu Autonomous Organization base tomorrow, please report to Seongsu Apartment by 8:00 AM."
The people standing at the edges of the auditorium were taking down the names, addresses, and phone numbers of those who were leaving.
Unbelievable.
It was obvious they planned to use Seongsu Apartment as their main base and exploit everyone else as labor, without having any intention of guaranteeing their safety.
Well, I suppose that makes sense.
There are still plenty of people left.
They probably think they can just use them up and throw them away.
I waited outside, and near the very end, the woman, the people who looked like her family, and the tattooed thugs came out.
"Just trust us. We have someone with a Level 4 Combat Mode, and another who has over 500 hours of playtime in Zombie Apocalypse, so you don't need to worry about survival."
"We're counting on you."
The people bowed obsequiously to the tattooed try-hards, while the woman stood among them with an uncomfortable look in her eyes.
It was fascinating to hear those unexpected words.
Zombie Apocalypse.
Then again, it made sense.
Whether reality had become a game or a game had become reality, the game called Zombie Apocalypse hadn't vanished.
In fact, was there anyone around my age who hadn't played Zombie Apocalypse?
Since it was a niche game, they might not have played it extensively, but it was famous enough that most people would have at least some experience with it.
Even if only a tiny fraction of players remained now, ten years later, that didn't mean the rest had vanished without ever playing. It certainly included players who had played their fill before quitting.
And even if they hadn't played in a long time, it didn't change much.
After all, there had barely been any updates worth calling a major change over the past decade.
That explained the confidence of those try-hards to some extent.
This world was undergoing changes so characteristic of Zombie Apocalypse that anyone who had played the game would recognize them at a glance.
If you were confident in your survival skills, there was absolutely no need to be scared in the beginning.
I was glad I had postponed the quest that rewarded 1 Point to come here.
Points could be earned at any time, but if you missed the timing on an event like this, you'd never get another chance.
Think about it.
Because I slipped in among these clueless people early on, someone like me—who doesn't even live near Seongsu Apartment but in a studio apartment in the beggar neighborhood near Tapgol Park—could at least get in as a laborer. If I tried to squeeze in later once their faction had stabilized, I'd be lucky if they just cursed and told me to fuck off, unless they were desperately short on hands.
Since I was participating in a fun event, I needed to prepare so I wouldn't fall behind.
Even if I had to push myself, I had to get that Point today.
---
[Quest Complete]
[1 Point Acquired]
Killing 100 zombies was no easy task.
It was tedious.
If my stats were a bit higher, I could have done it quickly, but trying to kill them with base stats took all day.
On top of that, I didn't have enough time to just hunt down isolated stragglers, so pushing myself to take on multiple zombies made it even harder.
Still, I managed to get it done somehow.
Whenever I passed a building that looked deserted, I'd go inside, clear it out, and move on.
After clearing out a few buildings like that, the quest was complete.
There was also some loot.
[Pork Belly 1kg]
[Chicken 1kg]
For a 1% drop rate, triggering twice wasn't a bad haul at all.
I had given all my food to the auntie upstairs, so I had nothing to eat tonight, but now I could just grill some meat.
Also, I hadn't realized this, but killing zombies could drop weapons too.
[Rusty Dagger(★)]
- Damage to zombies +1
The multi-server definitely seemed to offer a decent amount of farming fun.
In single-player Zombie Apocalypse servers, Coins didn't actually mean that much.
You could use them at the survivor black market on rare occasions, but it was hard to find where it opened, the prices were a total rip-off, and veterans treated the black market as an event to be wiped out for even greater rewards rather than a place to buy things. Naturally, Coins themselves didn't hold much value.
That's why newbies usually installed the Coin Shop Mode to add features like trading for food.
I was worried because the multi-server didn't seem to have that mode, but it looks like there's no need to worry.
Instead of useless scraps of paper cash, players could just use Coins to trade food or weapons like this with each other.
It didn't look like much of a weapon, but +1 damage was bigger than it seemed.
While you could kill them regardless of their stamina if you aimed for vital spots, it wasn't easy for beginners to do so, and starting from Level 2 Zombies, they wouldn't die easily even if their vitals were stabbed.
A good weapon was also a great means of survival.
When I returned home, the lights on the second floor were on.
Since I had cleared the area around the studio apartment, she would be fine for now, but before long, the zombies would probably happily pay her a visit.
It was none of my business, so I just went straight back to my place.
Whether the Auntie from the 2nd Floor lived or died was no longer my concern.
Instead, the serious dilemma of which mode to invest my newly acquired 1 Point in was a far more important matter.
"Ah, fuck. If only they gave me a few more Points."
The problem was that there were too many things I wanted to do.
An insanely broken mode like Safe Base was obviously something I had to level up as soon as I got Points, which made me hesitate.
But for the current event, it would also be great to unlock a decent, overpowered hunting-type mode, which added to my dilemma.
Realistically speaking, spending Points on anything other than these two in the early stages would be a waste.
In my heart, I really wanted to level up the Sex Mode...
But that was something I could take my time with.
It wasn't like I couldn't have sex just because I didn't raise the mode level.
"Using a Point on a hunting mode this early just because I'm intimidated by some weaklings would be a bit of a waste, right?"
[Safe Base(★) Level Up]
I invested 1 Point into Safe Base.
"What?"
I had only invested a single Point, but the return was absolutely massive.