Rolling for Abilities
The first random ability draw came up a dud, and I sank straight into misery.
“Haaah... what if I don’t have a combat ability at all?”
This sadistic excuse for a draw system didn’t so much as post the odds, let alone tell you what abilities were even in the pool. I couldn’t be sure a combat skill was something you could pull at all.
“Ha. One more. Just one more try.”
Even after that first miss, I decided to put my faith in the random draw one last time. Fingers trembling, I selected it again.
You have purchased a Random Ability Draw. 2,000 P has been deducted.
A notification flared, and with it a slot machine materialized and started to spin.
“Please...! Please...!”
I pressed my palms together and prayed.
“It doesn’t even have to be a good one! I just need to know there’s a combat ability in there! Please!”
Mid-prayer, the slot machine clattered to a halt.
Ding!
Congratulations! You have acquired the ability One Shot One Hit!
“Nice!!!”
This time something that anyone could tell was a combat ability had come up, and the joy ripped right out of me.
“It’s combat, right? It has to be...! Please! First let’s see what it actually does.”
I tapped the ability with a finger and read the description.
Lv. 1
Increases the hit rate and critical-hit chance of attacks against a target.
“Hahaha—yes!”
Combat ability confirmed, I grinned. I finally knew exactly where every remaining point was going.
“All in!!!”
I dumped the rest of my points into the random ability draw.
Ding! Congratulations! You have acquired the ability Sixth Sense!
Ding! Congratulations! You have acquired the ability Third Eye!
Ding! Congratulations! You have acquired the ability Imperial Swordsmanship!
“Good, good!”
The names alone sounded useful, and a satisfied smile tugged at my mouth.
“Alright. Time to settle the accounts.”
Points spent, I selected the abilities one by one and checked what they actually did.
Your sixth sense opens its eyes. You can feel threats bearing down on your body.
The first one looked like a danger sense—the same electric tingle as that spider-bitten hero over in America, the one that warned him before a hit landed.
“This’ll do.”
Satisfied with the first, I opened the second.
When used, inspects another player’s abilities. Consumes a small amount of stamina.
“Another player’s abilities?”
One of the notifications flashed back through my mind.
Congratulations! You have entered the Apocalypse Event! Players will receive a variety of abilities. Survive!
It had definitely said players. Other people had special abilities too, the same way I had my point shop.
The window after that had talked mine up, declaring that my ability was one of a kind and utterly unrivaled—but that didn’t change the fact that everyone else had abilities of their own, and that I needed to be careful of them.
“This isn’t bad either.”
Knowing an opponent’s ability before they used it was an enormous advantage. I could see now why the notification had congratulated me, crowing that mine was unique and without equal.
Nothing but decent pulls so far. In a good mood, I checked the next reward.
Swordsmanship once used by the knight order of an empire now unknown.
Swordsmanship skill improves.
“Ah. This one’s a little disappointing.”
It was a combat ability, no question—but I didn’t have a sword. In Korea, blades were among the hardest weapons to get your hands on. In a world already gone to the apocalypse, harder still.
“Still. It’ll be worth something someday.”
With that, I finished sorting through what I’d drawn.
“Shame there’s only one combat ability I can actually use right now. Even so, every last one of them is good.”
I looked over the pulls and smiled, satisfied.
“Alright. Next menu.”
I pressed the quest tab sitting at the bottom.
Main Quest
Daily Quest
Two quest windows appeared in front of me. I opened the daily quest first.
Defeat zombies!
☐ Zombies defeated — 1/5
🎁 Reward: 50 P
It looked like a repeatable, the kind of quest you could take once a day, just like in a game. Five zombies for 50 P meant the payout for killing them effectively doubled. Not a bad quest.
The one already on the counter had to be the zombified man from next door—the one I’d killed earlier by slamming him into my front door.
“Simple enough. Main quest, then.”
Done with the daily, I tapped the main quest right after it and read.
The Apocalypse Event has arrived. You are still a beginner who knows nothing. For now, survive!
📍 Objective: Survive for 7 days
⏳ Progress: Surviving — Day 1 of 7
🎁 Reward: 500 P
The quest itself was simple. Survive for seven days.
“Let’s see. Eleven packs of instant rice, four cans of Spam, three packs of seasoned seaweed, six bottles of water...”
The moment I finished reading, I took stock of the food in the apartment. A man in his twenties living alone doesn’t keep much on hand, but there was enough to last a week and then some.
“Hmm...”
Looking at the food, I started to think. Lasting seven days at home wasn’t the problem. The problem was whether I ought to spend all of them shut in here.
That earlier notification had said I wasn’t the only one—there were other players out there with special abilities. If so, odds were good they were my competition.
Surviving that competition meant I needed points. Holing up and doing nothing for a week was as good as throwing those points away.
Killing zombies earned points, and buying food spent them, so going outside to hunt and secure food was the more efficient way to come out ahead.
“And yet, stepping out right now...”
The moment I actually meant to leave, the noise from outside reached me.
Screeech!
Bang!
“Wh-what the hell, you bastard—get away from me! Gyaaaah!”
“Please, somebody save me!”
“Don’t come near me, don’t—! Kyaaaagh!”
Outside was chaos itself. Zombies weren’t the only thing I had to watch for. Cars tearing around as people fled, screams at every hour, runners everywhere—the variables weren’t just one or two.
“Right. I’ll wait two days. Just two.”
In the end I decided to stay inside. Two days from now, the people who were going to die would be dead, the people who were going to live would still be alive, and the chaos ought to have settled at least a little.
And so, for two days, I held my breath in the apartment and waited for my moment.
Two Days Later
The Apocalypse Event has arrived. You are still a beginner who knows nothing. For now, survive!
📍 Objective: Survive for 7 days
⏳ Progress: Surviving — Day 3 of 7
🎁 Reward: 500 P
Just as I’d planned two days earlier, the two days were up, and I got ready to leave the apartment to hunt zombies and scavenge supplies.
“Hmm. This’ll do nicely.”
Back when I’d worked under a loan shark, I’d bought a baseball bat to scare people with, then barely ever used it. I took a few practice swings and nodded, satisfied.
“Alright. Shall we?”
Just as I’d planned two days earlier, the two days were up, and I finished preparing to head out for points and daily necessities.
A weapon for the zombies, a bag for the supplies—once both were ready, I stood before the door.
Creak.
I eased it open.
“Ah, shit.”
The frown hit me the instant the door moved. The man from next door, the one I’d killed last time, had turned and was rotting right there on my threshold.
Maybe it was the confidence of having a point shop at my back, but the crushed corpse didn’t raise the terror it had before. All that came up was the sour unpleasantness of rot.
I didn’t have the luxury of fussing over a corpse, though. At the far end of the apartment hallway was the woman from next door—the same woman whose throat that man had torn into two days ago.
Her neck was a grotesque ruin, bitten by her own husband until the bone showed halfway through, but she didn’t seem to care about that. She lurched along the corridor, wandering.
Thud.
Crack.
“Grrrrrh...”
The sound of my door shutting made her twist what little was left of her neck at a hideous angle and fix me with a glare.
“So a bite really does turn you.”
Faced with something no one could mistake for human, I locked both hands around the bat, nerves drawn tight, and braced for her to rush me.
“Kieeeek!”
Sure enough, the instant she saw me, the woman from next door—no, the zombie—came charging.