Chapter 1
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Apocalypse All-Purpose Machine
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To save (destroy) the apocalyptic world overrun by the zombie virus, we gathered!
...That's the premise of the game, Team Apocalypse.
Team Apocalypse features a total of five characters.
The first character is the Gunner, who handles firearms.
The second is the Blader, who wields close-range weapons.
The third is Psychokinesis, who manipulates telekinesis.
The fourth is the Healer, who possesses healing abilities.
And finally, the fifth character is the Mechanic, who can freely manipulate metal.
There are synergies and counters between the characters, but according to user reviews, the balance is pretty damn solid.
Ah, of course. That's not how it looks to me, a veteran who's been grinding this one game for a solid ten years.
A city overflowing with zombies. In this hopeless place where not even a speck of dreams could be found, a battleship straight out of a sci-fi movie made its appearance.
The battleship was enormous enough to blanket the entire city. A human might have been terrified, but the zombies weren't.
The zombies let out sharp howls toward the battleship. Among them were final evolution forms whose physical abilities had skyrocketed to the point they could leap toward it.
But that was it. Just because they could reach the battleship didn't mean they could destroy it. The battleship was constructed from adamantium, an alien metal.
It was far too sturdy for flesh-and-blood beings to break. The battleship's hatch opened. And it began emitting a powerful light.
"This is the power of science and technology!"
Shouting like a mad scientist, thousands of main cannons fired from the battleship. The intense barrage swept away not only the final evolution forms but the zombie-infested city itself.
I admired the spectacular graphics for a moment, then glanced at my party members' characters. Their characters were frozen in place.
Their hands and legs twitched slightly, as if they didn't know what to do, fidgeting restlessly.
I smirked and spoke into the air.
"Newbies are so cute."
Ah, not talking to myself.
I was streaming. Even though Team Apocalypse isn't popular in Korea and is a has-been overseas, my viewer count is in the double digits, and I'm content with that.
Soon, the chat window popped up.
[33-Year Veteran Reservist: As expected of a veteran ㄷㄷ Pulling out the battleship in 35 minutes.]
[Natubi: Look at the newbies freaking out lol Probably their first time seeing a battleship in the workshop.]
[Stone Cold: Makes sense. Unless you're a veteran Mechanic, the game usually ends before you even get to it.]
By the way, my viewers are all veterans too.
No one but veterans would be watching my stream at this hour. I left the newbies behind and boarded the battleship, cruising the city and massacring zombies.
In the end, I cleared the game solo. A clear possible only with the Mechanic.
Of course, Gunner or Blader veterans might scoff at a 35-minute clear time, but that's just veteran talk.
When it comes to solo carrying newbies, Mechanic is the best.
"And the best thing about Mechanic is you don't even need the battleship—you can just go down the robot factory tree and..."
[33-Year Veteran Reservist: Leader's at it again. Peace, I'm out.]
[Natubi: Mechanic evangelist bullshit lol]
I scanned the chat reactions and quickly changed tack.
"I won't."
Soon, the game ended, and I exited. It'd be nice if viewers stuck around after, but more than half dipped anyway.
Thinking I'd call it a night, a donation sound suddenly blared.
(10,000 won donation)
[Executioner's Greatsword: Wanna see newbies freak out again haaah haaah]
"Thanks for the 10,000 won donation from Executioner's Greatsword! Alright, I'll make sure to freak out the newbies for real."
Got a 10k donation. Not hard to spook newbies, so one more round?
I snuck a peek at the clock. 11:20. Even one round, if I push it, ends in about 40 minutes, perfect to shut down at midnight.
Set difficulty to Hard Mode, speed to Personal Set. With a light heart, I hit queue.
- Queue registered.
- 1/15
"Back in Korean server days, sometimes you'd wait 30 minutes just to play. That's why they called it a fancy restaurant. Says you wait forever for one dish."
[Natubi: Ah, miss those days a bit. Korean server was cleaner than global though.]
[33-Year Veteran Reservist: Cleaner? Trolls everywhere, pad-lippers everywhere?]
[Stone Cold: Yeah yeah, paradise for asshats trying to pull mutant zombies out of the lab.]
[Natubi: Trolls still exist. But we've got counters now, so getting trolled makes you the troll... Honestly, still pisses me off though.]
I read the chat and chuckled.
"Well, trolls aren't rare, but things are way better now. Thanks to me, of course."
I'd been trolled plenty too. Most trolls I ran into ended up quitting after I relentlessly hounded them.
How? Made dozens of alts and stalked my marked trolls every game, blocking their trolling.
I was obsessive back then.
Did that hundreds, thousands of times. Finally eradicated the trolls. Well, some survived without crossing me.
"Veterans can teamkill if they want. Not with our hands—with NPCs or zombies."
For smooth play, mutual attack ban is on outside special modes. No direct player teamkills.
But troll-like teamkills are possible. That's why veteran trolls are scarier than the final boss.
Everyone—Gunner, Blader, Psycho—dies to the 15-minute final evo. Healers go without saying.
[Executioner's Greatsword: Let's upload newbie massacre content to YouTube.]
"Ah, did that last time and got flamed hard."
Filmed newbie massacre off-stream once, uploaded to YouTube. Then noobs who'd never played Team Apocalypse swarmed and raged.
-Yeah, pretty brutal even by my standards.
Early-game evolved zombies swarming, massacring newbies and NPCs—it was a sight. But too many censored scenes.
Newbies' faces were hyper-realistic. Terrified ones fleeing, desperate ones thrashing to survive.
Showed raw human nature in apocalypse. Even newbies sacrificing others as bait.
Those survivors didn't last. Became snacks for the 15-minute final evo.
Ah, should've edited it.
Veterans would've lasted longer, but newbies...
- 8/15
Queue half full.
I sighed dramatically to the viewers.
"Those BJ snack bar guys do it all the time... That's why no users, or whatever."
There's a game called the snack bar opposite this fancy restaurant. Queue pops in under 5 seconds—total banger.
"So not no users, just queue's so fast even existing ones bail."
[Executioner's Greatsword: True lol]
"Right? Tormenting newbies in a dead game? Just tickles my ears."
- 15/15
Mid-rant about grudges—on newbies—the queue filled. Even on global, queues drag.
- All queued players ready. Entering apocalypse world in 10 seconds.
10, 9, 8—
I stretched lightly. Body stiff from streaming and gaming all day. But game's on, whatever.
Timer hit 0, game started.
- Please select your class.
Mechanic, obviously. Others playable if I want, but can't solo carry for donor.
Gunner: 4
Blader: 4
Psychokinesis: 4
Healer: 2
Mechanic: 1
'Newbies...'
Mechanic's niche and hard, fine. But only two Healers? Everyone knows they're boring...
National rule's at least five Healers. Hypocritical, sure.
「Your class: Mechanic」
- Class Level: 1
- Available Skills: Metal Transformation (LV.1)
That instant, intense light engulfed me, and I blacked out.
When I woke, I was in a lab.
A familiar lab despite never seeing it. I recalled: game's 'tutorial' spot.
Usually skip tutorial, but for some reason, couldn't...
'Why does it feel so tactile?' Team Apocalypse is high-fidelity VR.
But no full 'virtual reality' like in novels. Still, the vivid sensation gave me chills.
'What the hell?'
I eyed the group in the corner. Seven whites with pistols, four East Asians, three blacks.
Perfect 5:5 male-female ratio.
Fancy restaurant got that many girls?
...Or netkama dudes using female avatars.
"Wow, feels just like reality."
They spoke. Shockingly, in Korean. My head spun. What? Localized foreigners?
Like that rice bowl lover.
...Nope.
"What? How's your Chinese so fluent?"
A woman with red cross medkit among East Asians spoke. Sounded Korean to me, probably Chinese to her.
"I'm speaking Chinese? You're speaking English right now."
A hairy Western guy shot back.
Sounds Korean to me, so likely native tongues. Possible? I concluded.
No. Tech's advanced, but perfect translation's still sci-fi.
"Damn, what's going on?"
Westerners caught on.
"No way, we're trapped in the game?"
...Black guy quickest. Dumb East Asian piped up. With spicy curses.
"Does that make sense? Use your brain, you retard."
I'd bet Korean on that East Asian. Too spicy.
"What'd you say, you short fuck?"