Chapter 18
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The Devourer's Hunger
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Inside the lab, Jo Jae-hwan devoured every experimental specimen in sight and realized he had gained a new ability. He could now use the powers of the zombies he consumed.
He acquired legs as sturdy as a crustacean’s and tentacles on his back that he could wield like his own limbs. On top of that, he even gained a new brain that let him control regular zombies at will.
When he stepped out of the lab, he coincidentally ran into a human survivor. The woman screamed in terror and bolted the moment she saw him, but he easily caught her with his vastly superior physical abilities.
“Sis, why’d you run away?”
He approached the terrified woman, who couldn’t utter a word, with a bright smile and opened his mouth. A new set of jaws sprang out from his mouth. Then he shoved her headfirst into it.
Her screams filled his mouth. But his jaws moved, and her cries didn’t even have a chance to continue as they slid down his throat.
As with all meat, he figured live meat would taste better than dead meat. And he was right.
The first human flesh he’d ever tasted was incomparable to the zombie meat from the lab. The tender texture and juices flowing out—he devoured her ravenously, not leaving a single drop of blood behind.
He wiped his mouth with a napkin—shreds of her clothing from the dead woman—and muttered to himself.
‘I want more.’
The phrase “heavenly taste” didn’t do it justice. He wanted “more.” The hungrier he got from eating regular zombies, the stronger that desire grew.
Tracking signs of human survivors, he soon realized there was a shelter nearby packed with humans. Those inside—or anyone who might be—tempted him greatly.
If adult woman meat tasted that good, how delicious would a child’s be? Meat, meat, meat. But he knew breaking into the shelter wouldn’t be easy.
No matter how strong he’d become, human guns were still a threat. That’s why he mobilized other zombies to wear down Shelter A’s defenses.
Countless zombies approached Shelter A. This was the hidden backstory behind the zombie wave that broke out, unknown to the humans.
There were many approaching zombies, but not a single one managed to get inside Shelter A. They were all blocked by the truck walls. I provided covering fire with my rifle, racking up experience points.
My level didn’t go up, but after repelling the entire zombie wave, Zixuan’s level rose from 5 to 6. With an excited expression, she whispered to me.
She’d just acquired a new skill—Rapid Healing. Unlike regular healing that slowly mends wounds, Rapid Healing lived up to its name, closing wounds at a rapid pace.
Rapid Healing was effective for serious injuries. Well, it was only Lv. 1, so I couldn’t expect much from it yet, but someday it’d benefit me too.
I congratulated her, but on the other hand, I couldn’t help thinking.
‘That zombie wave came out of nowhere…’
It felt too contrived to call it a coincidence. The zombies weren’t swarming the humans on top of Shelter A—they were targeting the shelter itself, trying to get inside.
‘Baal’s appearance?’
The boss of Scenario 1 didn’t just have the ability to turn regular zombies into variants; it could also control regular zombies.
‘No, if that were the case, variant zombies should’ve shown up.’
Yet no variant zombies had appeared. Still, it was too early to let my guard down. There might’ve been variants that got taken out by the survivors’ bullets.
If that was the case even by some slim chance, we needed to reinforce Shelter A. Sure, Team Apocalypse mattered, but letting the game NPCs die didn’t sit right with me.
I’d thought about doing it someday, but I never imagined it’d be today.
“Emily, could you bring some construction materials?”
I planned to use my psychokinesis to create a wall encompassing all of Shelter A. It wouldn’t be mithril, but steel alone would make it impossible for regular zombies—or even variants—to breach.
“Construction materials?”
“I’m thinking of building a sturdy wall around this place.”
I tapped the truck wall with my hand as I spoke. Emily nodded.
“We’d be grateful if you did. Hey, you heard her? Bring over the construction materials from the construction site.”
There was a construction site inside Shelter A. Apparently, plenty of materials were still left there.
“Yes!”
The survivors, fired up, began hauling the materials over at Emily’s command. They were metal aluminum pieces—perfect for my abilities.
I placed my hand on them and activated Metal Transformation.
The aluminum began to morph, gradually taking the shape of a wall.
At Level 4 Metal Transformation, this was to be expected—it allowed for finer work than Level 3. Plus, the “workload capacity” had increased dramatically.
Of course, more capacity didn’t mean I’d finish the whole thing today.
In any case, a metal wall began steadily rising in front of the trucks under my control.
“My god…”
Even Emily, who knew a bit about my abilities, gaped in awe. The other survivors? Their jaws dropped. I glanced at them briefly and continued the work.
“Not bad for a Mechanic.”
Johnson came snooping around. Well, with everything happening in the shelter he wanted to take over, there was no way he’d stay out of it.
I ignored him completely. Fortunately, he seemed to care about his reputation among the survivors and didn’t hurl outright insults. Instead, Goyle showed up and growled a few times.
“You’ll end up dead.”
A metallic rasp echoed like a snake’s hiss.
“Fuck off, you retarded bastard.”
I shot back boldly, flipping him the bird. Goyle, pissed off, huffed and even used his psychokinesis. His class was Psycho (Kinesis).
Now I see—he had anger management issues too?
The construction materials rose about 3 meters into the air and started flying toward me. I watched impassively.
“Watch out, dodge!”
Emily screamed from the sidelines. But I didn’t budge an inch. The materials hurtled down at me. Yet they bounced off like they’d hit an invisible barrier.
I’d restrained my emotions as much as possible, worried it might not work, but the “teamkill prevention” seemed to be functioning normally.
“You armpit-stinking fuck, why can’t I kill you?”
Goyle’s face twisted in rage. He scowled so hard it looked like his skull might crack open, gathering his power where everyone could see.
Teamkill prevention was in place, but if he tried hard enough, he could probably kill me. No need for me to deal with him, though. Sneering, I turned to the watching survivors.
“That bastard attacked me, right?”
Their gazes turned icy in an instant. Goyle, not wanting this kind of attention, looked flustered and glanced around.
“F-Fuck, what’re you looking at!? Turn your heads!”
Then I looked at Johnson. He glared back at me, growling. Birds of a feather. Even his party members were the same—though maybe some attachment had built up over time.
Well, Olivia and one black guy turned away like they couldn’t stand to watch.
That’s when James chimed in from the side.
“We can’t let a dangerous element like that stay in our shelter. What do you think?”
He had his pistol out, aiming at Goyle with a cool expression—mindful of the survivors’ eyes. Plus, he could cut off Johnson’s lackey, so he must’ve been thrilled.
“I agree with you this time.”
Emily, who’d been watching, nodded. She’d pulled out her anti-materiel sniper rifle and aimed it at Goyle. His face drained of color.
In the end, Goyle tried to settle it with brute force but got booted from the shelter. According to Emily, Johnson didn’t intervene.
It might seem cold, but it was smart. Sticking up for Goyle there would’ve only tanked his own reputation. He was one step away from taking Shelter A—he wouldn’t want to mess that up.
“I’ll kill you if we cross paths.”
Goyle spat threats at me as he stormed off toward the city outskirts. Yeah, right. Could you even survive on your own? Well, with his level, his odds weren’t bad.
Whether he lived or died, it was no longer my problem.
It took a full four days to reinforce Shelter A. Longer than I expected. But once done, it’d hold out for quite a while.
If worst came to worst, it’d buy enough time for someone to help.
Only after erecting a wall even I was satisfied with did I return to Houseplus with Zixuan. She kept looking at me with eyes full of admiration.
When I asked why, embarrassed by the stare, she said she respected me. Probably because building that massive barrier looked cool to her.
Not just her—the male survivors had watched with respect in their eyes, the women with admiration.
They’d faint if they saw Aegis or the Sentry Gun… I chuckled at the petty thought as I got out first and headed into Houseplus.
The power was out. Well, it was about time. Zixuan’s cheerful face fell—that’s aside.
I could restore power if I wanted, but I didn’t feel like investing more effort here. It was time to hurry preparations for moving to Shelter D.
Of course, it wouldn’t happen in a day or two, so I reinforced Houseplus too. You never knew when a variant zombie might break through.
I reinstalled the Sentry Gun—not outside, but inside the third floor of the large mart where we were staying. It’d take out anything that managed to breach Houseplus.
Though I couldn’t imagine anything doing so.
“Boss, are we really ditching Goyle?”
The white guy—Zeppelin—asked, and he shook his head.
“Of course not. I’ll bring him back soon…”
But he had no intention of fetching Goyle back to Shelter A anytime soon. Goyle had been chased out by survivor “consensus.” Bringing him back on a whim would piss them off for sure.
As a trade-off, his party members were getting restless. They feared ending up like Goyle, booted from Shelter A. They wanted their leader to do something for him.
Some leader qualification bullshit.
‘Leader my ass.’
He grumbled inwardly, thinking of Park Si-hyun with a growl. Losing Goyle was a pretty big blow to him too. Aggressive as he was, Goyle followed orders better than anyone and got shit done.
‘I need to bring him back.’
He came to that conclusion.
Apocalypse All-Purpose Machine