Chapter 24
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: First Night in the Factory District
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The first night in the factory district. I stood watch. Part of it was to let Zixuan sleep comfortably, but more than that, I was worried about any variant zombies that might try to get inside.
Of course, the odds of a variant zombie making it all the way in here were low, but I couldn't completely dismiss the possibility.
...At times like this, I missed the auto-sleep function from VR games. If a zombie in the game came into a building, it would wake you up automatically.
Lost in such thoughts, I opened the Sci-Fi Notebook I'd picked up earlier that day. Inside the Sci-Fi Notebook was a drawing of an angel in white robes wearing a golden halo on her head.
'A halo, huh.'
An item that amplifies a healer's skills. Not bad at all. I couldn't equip it myself, but a healer could.
The materials weren't too demanding either, so I could make it whenever I had some spare time.
Soon, I tucked the Sci-Fi Notebook back into my backpack and peered outside through the peephole I'd deliberately left open.
Darkness had settled deeply, but with Aegis equipped, my boosted perception let me get some vision correction even in pitch-black conditions.
Fuzzy shapes came into view in front of the plastics factory.
As I kept staring, my eyes adjusted, and the fuzzy shapes sharpened bit by bit. Mostly regular zombies, but a few variants mixed in.
Fortunately, they didn't seem to notice us watching; the zombies were just wandering aimlessly, as if sniffing out our lingering scent.
That's when it happened. A chill ran down my spine, and I pulled back. Crash. The next instant, something pierced through the gap and slithered inside. Sharp spines. No, more like tentacles.
Still dazed as I processed it, the filthy hairs clinging to the tentacle sharpened. If I'd let my guard down, those sharp hairs would've stabbed me and infected me.
I knew what this disgusting tentacle belonged to. Or rather, I knew the identity of its 'main body.' It was a Flower. An entity that attacked with tentacles blooming from its body like flowers.
Of course, its attack power was low and not much of a threat, but it was a real pain because it could strike through even tiny gaps like this.
I used Metal Transformation to seal off the peephole. Observing outside was nice, but I didn't want to keep watching those Flower tentacles probing in.
As the wall narrowed, the spines twitched like they were trying to escape, but they ended up wedged in place. I swung my metal sword at the spasming, pained spines.
It let out a gurgling screech as the spines were severed. Green fluid splattered across the floor.
'I'll have to hunt down that Flower tomorrow.'
Who knew what other building gaps it might find that I didn't? That creepy bastard would keep shoving its spines through any tiny cracks it discovered.
Sure, it wouldn't be a big threat if it didn't come right up to the peephole, but that was no reason to leave a potential danger alone.
I stayed up all night just in case, but thankfully, nothing else tried to break into the factory after that. Zixuan stirred, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she woke.
"You haven't slept at all?"
"You're up. Keep watch for a bit so I can catch some shut-eye. Wake me if anything happens."
With that, I collapsed onto the blanket where Zixuan had been lying. Exhaustion had hit its peak. No wonder—I'd pulled all-nighters for days hunting the Devourer, and now I'd stood watch too. I was at my limit.
The blanket wasn't as plush as the beds back at Houseplus, but it was still soft enough.
A gentle hand eased my head onto the pillow. I should sit up and say thanks. 'Thank you.' I mouthed the words and fell asleep just like that.
Slept like a rock, no dreams.
When I woke, Zixuan was up on the truck doing something. She turned, saw me stirring, and smiled.
"You're awake? I made food, so come eat."
Perfect timing—my stomach was growling. As always, it was just cold canned goods, jerky, and bottled water. But in this world, that was a feast.
I shoveled tuna from the can with disposable wooden chopsticks and said,
"Thank you."
My throat was parched, so I chugged a whole bottle of water. Gulp, gulp.
"Si-hyun, don't push yourself so hard. I can help too."
Sure, her help might not amount to much, but her words alone were plenty to be grateful for, so I thanked her.
"Thanks just for saying that."
"So, what's the plan for today?"
She was asking about the day's agenda. I nodded and answered.
"I'm going to take out the variant zombies."
Just like it sounded—Jumpers, Champions, Flowers, and the rest patrolling in front of the factory yesterday. Even if they couldn't get inside right now, if their numbers built up, it'd be trouble.
They'd just get in the way of future farming too.
'And...'
At the same time, I planned to create an 'artificial' zombie wave to seize the ordnance factory.
It had worked at the army base too—the Destroyer's weakness was its excessive pack mentality toward regular zombies, to the point it couldn't use heavy weapons on them.
If I led a zombie wave right to it, I could neutralize its heavy guns.
"...Should I help?"
No wonder she'd hesitated alone like that—she must've been mulling over asking this.
I chuckled at her serious expression and shook my head.
"I'm good."
Zixuan needed to level up too, but there was no need for her to take risks. She wasn't a sturdy frontline partner to kill zombies with me; she was the healer to patch me up when I got hurt.
Plus, with variant zombies as a wild card, I planned to keep her cautious until we got into the ordnance factory.
I placed my hand on a sheet of iron plate inside the plastics factory and started manufacturing bullets. Starting with 12-gauge shotgun shells, then rifle rounds...
Until my AP was depleted—until my mind grew foggy—I churned out over a hundred rounds.
Finally, I checked Aegis. I worried there might be breaches, but even after blocking several variant attacks, there wasn't a single scratch. As expected of a power suit.
With all preparations done, I even got Zixuan's shield buff before placing my hand on the factory wall. The wall slid open, creating a small gap.
"You have to come back safe."
I nodded in reply and slipped out through the gap. The patrolling regular zombies spotted me and lumbered over.
I hadn't noticed yesterday, but their speed was noticeably faster than in Scenario 1. Still, compared to variants—especially the Devourer I'd faced—it was snail-paced.
No intention of picking off regular zombies one by one, so I ignored them and scanned the surroundings. As if it'd been waiting, a variant zombie burst out from the pack of regulars and charged me.
A Champion. Not a tough opponent. It was basically just a regular zombie with boosted physical stats. I'd taken one down easily when entering the plastics factory yesterday.
But its superior physical prowess made it hard to shake, a clear fact, so I raised my shotgun and pulled the trigger.
12-gauge shot scattered into it.
A small boom, and its body was shoved back. One more. Its body compressed like it was sucked into a black hole, then exploded. I reloaded swiftly and swept my eyes around.
A Jumper sprang toward me like a coiled spring. Thud! The heavy body collided, knocking me down. Pain shot through me like numbness everywhere.
But it was bearable. Still on the ground, I punched at its chomping jaws. Thud! Its face crumpled on impact.
Aegis packed a serious punch on its own. Not just the +10 strength—my whole body was mithril. This time, I swung an elbow.
Broken teeth rained down.
I shoved hard again to throw it off, grabbed the shotgun from the ground, and fired. Rack, boom! The blast sent it flying back.
An experience gain message popped up. I caught my breath, then looked up at the plastics factory roof. There, plastered like a suction-cup patient, was the Flower.
I set the shotgun aside, aimed my rifle, and fired. Bang, bang, bang, bang. Out of four shots, I barely clipped it with one.
That was enough to knock it off the roof.
The fallen Flower lashed tentacles at me in rage. I ignored them and closed in. The tentacles struck, but Aegis didn't budge.
If it attacked with weight like the Jumper, maybe, but how much did those tentacles weigh? Realizing it wasn't working, the main body lurched up.
But the shotgun barrel was already aimed at its head.
Boom!
Recoil bucked as the shot slammed into its body. It flew airborne 1-2 meters before crashing and staying down.
「Occupation experience increases. (Solo party bonus +150%) (First elite zombie kill bonus +300%)」
「Occupation level has risen to 18.」
A level-up message appeared.
'Guess that's all the variants around for now.'
Of course, new variants would keep showing up. By tonight, they might replace the ones here.
But for the moment, I'd cleared out the current batch. After staring at the Flower corpse a bit, I slung the shotgun and rifle on my back and left the factory.
Uwoooo.
Drawn by the gunshots, zombies from nearby factories started swarming in. Dozens at a glance.
No, it was pushing past a hundred already. The zombie wave operation was going smoothly.
I ran. Even if regulars were easy pickings, getting surrounded by that many would doom even me.
Especially with variants potentially popping up everywhere. I dashed to the intersection, and the regular zombie numbers swelled even more.
A few variants joined the chase. Ten or so? No way I could handle that many, so I ducked into a motorcycle factory about 200 meters from the plastics one.
Used Metal Transformation to seal the factory door. Thud thud, thud thud. Zombies started pounding on it. I surveyed the interior.
No finished bikes, just incomplete ones scattered around. Materials littered everywhere—they just needed assembly. That meant I could finish them.
I placed my hand on an unfinished bike.
「Used Metal Transformation (Lv.4) to synthesize Motorcycle Grip x1, ..., Motorcycle Tire x2, producing VC 374.」
「VC 374」
Durability: 60/60
Speed: 16
Stability: 7
Description: Immune Corp's mass-produced motorcycle. Fast, but with somewhat low stability.
Apocalypse All-Purpose Mechanic