Chapter 9: Taming
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 9: Taming
Five groups. The hunting squads were organized with about five to eight people per group.
The hunting squads had only one purpose.
"We have to hunt zombies and gather coins. It might seem like there's no immediate use for coins right now, but black market dealers respawn in random locations, and you can buy items from them."
A skinny guy—who didn't seem to have anything to do with the tattooed thugs I saw earlier—explained enthusiastically.
Seeing how he hesitated and stuttered, he didn't seem like someone who had stood in front of a crowd very often.
Now that's a real zombie apocalypse user.
From what I could see, he probably had around ten thousand hours under his belt too.
No matter how familiar you are with a zombie apocalypse, to treat it like a game and act this quickly when it actually happens in reality requires a serious amount of experience.
"Coins can be traded between users. Once you gather them... you just need to submit them to the joint fund."
Joint fund, my ass.
It was obvious those bastards in the executive committee—or whatever the fuck they called themselves—would hoard it all.
Naturally, the tattooed thugs weren't included in the hunting squads.
But they couldn't just send the regular people alone. They needed someone to monitor how many zombies were killed and whether they were actually hunting properly, so one of the sly-looking underlings of those tattooed try-hards was assigned to each group.
Impressive.
To think they could establish this kind of pyramid hierarchy in just a few short days.
Each of the five groups had a different vibe, but ours seemed like a relatively comfortable one.
First of all, there was one tattooed guy—unlike the other groups—and the other four men, though seemingly unrelated to the thugs, looked like they worked out.
Checking their info, they all had one or two combat modes, giving off the vibe that this was the main hunting squad.
For starters, there were five proper combatants. Plus me. And one woman.
Seeing how the other groups consisted mostly of young boys or middle-aged men, they probably didn't expect much from them.
I could tell what was going on immediately.
"Why are you here?"
"...I don't know. They told me to come along just in case anyone gets hurt..."
This was my first time having a proper conversation with her.
Seeing her deeply dissatisfied expression, I checked her info and understood why.
[Kim Ji-hee]
- Age: 23
- Mode: Noona's Hands Are Healing Hands (★★★★), Dependency (★★★★★)
- Stats
* Strength: ★
* Agility: ★★
* Stamina: ★
* Mana: ★★
She had probably revealed her Noona's Hands Are Healing Hands mode.
Level 4 is incredibly good, so sending a healer like this out into the streets—even if it's just Level 1 zombies—is madness.
[Noona's Hands Are Healing Hands (★★★★)]
- Healing efficiency increases by 50%. Healing duration is reduced by 50%.
- Consumes 1 Mana to use Healing Hands. Bleeding stops immediately in the treated area.
- Consumes 2 Mana to use Warm Healing Hands. Immediately cures wounds caused by zombies.
Having such a broken mode and sending her to a place where she might die?
That's pure idiocy.
I hadn't known until I saw it, but now this woman, Kim Ji-hee, looked different to me.
"You're quite the talent, aren't you?"
"..."
Since Level 10 is the max level in this game, I thought a Level 4 mode wouldn't be that great.
I figured it would need to be at least Level 7 or 8 to even compare to the cheat modes I have.
Of course, other users can't raise their mode levels, so that's their limit, but good is still good.
Warm Healing Hands actually cures wounds.
Even if it can't prevent the 50% infection rate from bites, using it means you can completely cure the 5% chance of indirect infection from scratches.
Since using mana takes 10 minutes of recovery time per 1 mana, it's a 20-minute cooldown, but practically speaking, as long as you have Kim Ji-hee, you won't die from some bullshit 5% scratch infection.
That's why she needs to be protected.
Keeping her safe in a secure location to at least prevent scratch infections would be the smart choice for the group.
Of course, it's also true they don't absolutely have to do that.
There's no excuse to refuse.
After all, rather than having an injured person walk all the way back to the base, treating them on the spot allows them to continue hunting immediately.
That's why they sent her.
As each hunting squad headed in their designated directions, I struck up a friendly conversation with Kim Ji-hee.
"Aren't you curious why you were put in a hunting squad? All the other women are only made to work inside the Seongsu Apartment complex."
"...I'm not."
Since I was pestering her, Kim Ji-hee spoke informally to me again, just like when we first met.
She didn't even turn her head, as if she really didn't care, but I didn't mind and kept talking.
"They're taming you."
"..."
This word must have caught her attention, because she unconsciously turned her head to look at me.
And she just stared.
Her eyes told me to keep talking.
I smiled at her.
"You're pretty. You probably hear that a lot, don't you?"
"You don't know Ji-hee?"
Another man answered my question.
Not the tattooed try-hard in our party, but a greasy muscular guy with bulging muscles.
He sidled over and started blabbering loudly as if he were Kim Ji-hee's spokesperson.
"You don't know Kim Ji-hee, the former SN Entertainment trainee with two million social media followers?!"
"I didn't ask."
There's no way I'd know that when we don't even have phones.
No wonder she was so pretty.
"It's truly an honor, Ji-hee. I'm a huge fan. I even sent you a DM, and you read it back then!"
"..."
"You sing so well, too. Your mouth is so small, but how do you hit those high notes so well? Haha... I always listen to your songs when I work out."
Seeing a guy built like a mountain sucking up to her made me grimace.
"She does suck well with that small mouth."
"...Hey!"
"...?"
Kim Ji-hee, who had kept a straight face until now, lunged forward for the first time and covered my mouth.
Then she glared at me with daggers in her eyes.
"Mmph, mmph."
"Seriously, don't."
I had a good idea of what she wanted to say.
She probably meant, "Don't tell these guys who worship and suck up to me that I sucked your dick."
I nodded.
Thanks to that, the muscular guy who was sucking up to her stepped back, looking embarrassed.
"Anyway, in a world full of guys who suck up to you just to get a taste because you're pretty, they're finally in a position to do something about it, right? You walked right into their territory where they hold all the power. They could force themselves on you, but they don't want to do that. Men prefer it when pretty, high-and-mighty girls like you strip and suck them off of their own free will, rather than forcing them."
"..."
"..."
The atmosphere of this party, filled only with men, instantly turned icy.
I could see the four guys and the tattooed try-hard looking like they wanted to kill me with their eyes, but if I cared about that, I wouldn't have joined this group in the first place.
"They probably thought that if they sent you out to hunt zombies, set up a situation where you almost die, throw you into danger, and scare you half to death, you'd fall in line on your own. Today, while hunting, a situation where you're left alone facing a zombie will probably happen naturally. They'll watch and save you right when you're about to piss yourself. Right?"
"..."
"Are you talking shit? You motherfucker. Do you want to die?"
The thoroughly triggered tattooed thug approached and threatened me.
He came right up to my face and glared, making me grimace.
"Ah, fuck. Your breath stinks."
"You son of a bitch."
Seeing him raise his fist, I laughed.
"Just do your job as a monitor, dumbass. Do you think you're more valuable than a Level 4 healer or me, who has a food-related mode? They probably put you here because you have a Level 3 combat mode at best. If you don't want to get fucked, just watch quietly and make sure you save this girl before she gets hurt when you push her into danger."
"..."
Honestly, if we fought here, I'd lose based on stats.
Although my stats were up by 1 level due to the Base Invincibility mode, today of all days, it was my Stamina that went up, and the rest of my stats were at their base levels.
This guy probably wasn't much different, but as I said, he had a Level 3 combat mode.
And unless his tattoos were just for show, there was a high chance he actually knew how to fight.
The problem was, if that was the case, he wouldn't be intimidated by my provocations.
"Ugh."
A fist slammed into my stomach.
I could have avoided it if I wanted to.
But I just took it.
"You motherfucker. You talk real dirty. Yeah, like you said, you're a valuable resource, so I won't kill you. But you're getting a beating."
Kicks came flying.
Just because I'm a veteran of the zombie apocalypse doesn't mean I feel less pain.
I raised my guard and endured the pain.
Through my raised guard, I made sure to memorize this bastard's face.
I'm holding back right now for the sake of making the event interesting, but it won't take long.
After stomping on me for a while, his feet stopped, and I heard him move away.
"Ugh, fuck. That hurts like hell."
If they left me behind, I could die, but they probably thought I wouldn't since we weren't far from the base yet.
If I got left behind like this, there would have been no point in getting beaten up.
I dragged my aching body up and caught up with them.
Kim Ji-hee, walking at the very back, asked with a worried look.
"...You let him hit you on purpose, didn't you?"
"What the hell are you talking about? Look at his size. It's obvious I'd get totally wrecked."
Her suspicious gaze didn't waver.
She was probably remembering how easily I had killed the zombies.
"Stop talking nonsense and use your Healing Hands. I think my ribs are broken."
"How did you know... about Healing Hands..."
"What? I'm asking you to do the 'Mom's hands are healing hands' thing. Here."
I took her small, soft hand and slid it under my clothes.
Her cold hand touched my skin.
Kim Ji-hee flinched in surprise, but she didn't pull away.
And she used her Healing Hands.
"Ah, that feels much better. Touch me here too."
"Are you crazy? Do you want to die?"
When I slyly pulled her hand up and rubbed it against my nipple, Kim Ji-hee pushed me away.
Envious glares pierced into me.
The tattooed thug looked away entirely, his expression saying he would kill me later.
Fortunately, a second round of beating was avoided as a zombie came into view.
"You. You go out."
Looking at the tattooed thug pointing at me with a wicked grin, I put on a victimized expression and pulled out the kitchen knife tucked into my waistband.
"A knife, of all things."
The tattooed thug sneered at me.
I walked past him, looking slightly intimidated.
The tattooed thug placed a hand on my shoulder and patted it.
"Do your best. I'll save you if you're in dan—cough."
It wasn't very difficult to plunge the knife into the neck of a guy who had completely let his guard down, draping his arm over my shoulder.
As his eyes rolled around, trying to process what had just happened, I twisted the knife lodged in his neck and ripped it out.
Killing a Level 1 zombie was no different from killing a human.
Because in the end, zombies were just humans too.
His massive frame collapsed.
The five pairs of eyes staring at me were filled with sheer terror.
I smiled sheepishly.
"He died before he could even kill a single zombie."