Chapter 29
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: The Survivor from Shelter D
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The next day, we cleaned the inside of the munitions factory.
We cleared out the zombie corpses inside, picked up the shattered glass shards... The factory interior was so vast that it took quite a while, but we still managed to finish before afternoon.
I decided to put off going outside until tomorrow and focus on leveling up today. My own level-up was important, but Zixuan's was even more so.
Just as a Mechanic gains more diverse skills with each level, the same went for a Healer. The more skills she acquired, the broader the range of support she could provide me.
The munitions factory was overflowing with guns, so I opened a window like this...
Rattle, rattle.
And pulled the trigger mercilessly. The zombies would come swarming at the sound of gunfire, but it didn't matter. No matter how many of those things gathered, they couldn't get inside the factory.
One Jumper leaped high into the air, but no chance. I aimed at the Jumper that crashed into the building wall and pulled the trigger. Luckily, the bullet hit. The Jumper toppled over.
「Job experience has increased. (2-person party bonus +160%) (Massacre bonus +200%) (Chain kill bonus +250%)」
"My level went up to 12."
"Congratulations."
Variant zombies gave a lot of experience. For Zixuan, who was much lower level than me, it was pure explosive leveling. From 10 to 11, then 11 to 12. She managed two levels in just 30 minutes.
But there was still time left. And plenty more zombies to kill. The gunfire drew the zombies, and their howls drew even more from farther away.
It wasn't like some party had started or anything. I showered them with a hail of bullets as earnestly as I could. In the end, my level hit 21, and Zixuan pulled off the feat of reaching a whopping 15.
"A new skill appeared. It's called Accuracy Up..."
"Cast it on me."
Accuracy Up. It was originally a buff for Gunners, but it could be applied to other classes too. She placed her hand on me, and the Accuracy Up buff activated.
「Accuracy Up +20% (Lasts 30 minutes)」
The difference was noticeable enough. 20% meant reducing my miss rate by 20%. Well, with so many targets, the gap didn't feel huge.
A mountain of zombie corpses piled up in front of the munitions factory. Leaving them like that would lead to rot and all sorts of problems, so I figured we'd have to burn them soon.
That was when Zixuan spotted something and let out a little "Oh," pointing at it. I followed her slender finger.
It was far away, but with my high perception, I could clearly make out the "something's" face. A survivor was riding a motorcycle with a face frozen in terror.
Not an unusual sight, but the survivor's face looked familiar. It was the woman from Shelter D we'd seen just yesterday.
'Save her, or not?' If it were just regular zombies, maybe, but with variants in the mix, leaving her be meant the motorcycle would eventually get overtaken—and her fate was obvious.
Honestly, "saving her" wasn't a choice I welcomed. We'd already stripped their supplies, and the gunfire we'd made had drawn a ton of zombies outside.
Zixuan spoke up in a trembling voice.
"Wouldn't it be better to save her, at least?"
"We can't take responsibility."
"But... leaving her like that feels wrong..."
It had been 40-60 just moments ago, but Zixuan's uneasy expression tipped the scales. I spoke calmly to her as she looked at me anxiously.
"Shield, please."
"Yes? Oh, yes!"
She nodded hurriedly and placed her hand on my head. A transparent barrier formed around me. The shield's level must have gone up—it covered a much wider area than before.
I slung my rifle over my shoulder and hopped on the motorcycle. Then I exited the factory through the back door. The moment I did, a zombie charged at me like mad.
Of course, just a regular one, so I killed it easily. Bang! The bullet shattered its head, and the body crumpled.
I rode the motorcycle out. Finding the woman wasn't hard.
I just followed the direction the zombies were moving in.
The zombies chasing the survivor woman split into two groups. Naturally, the new batch started pursuing me. I pulled the trigger on my rifle.
Bang! Bang!
The gunfire made the line of zombies chasing me grow longer. I ignored it and gunned the engine to pursue the woman.
I spotted her as we crossed an intersection. She was screaming, bitten by a regular zombie.
"S-Save me!"
I charged the regular zombie and swung my fist. Thud! Its head crumpled like an empty tin can. It wouldn't die in one hit, but I hadn't aimed to kill it outright.
"Y-You..."
The woman spasmed at the sight of me. Then she started sobbing and begging.
"P-Please save me. I don't want to die like this. My siblings are still at Shelter D..."
Her death was all but certain.
The wound was bad enough, but with the zombie virus in her bloodstream, she'd turn into just another shambling zombie on the streets a few hours after the incubation period.
Of course... that was assuming I—we—didn't intervene.
I looked at her, then hoisted her onto the motorcycle. Zombies that had caught up lunged at me. Too annoying to deal with, so I kicked a few away, and they tumbled off.
I hit the pedal. Leaving that spot was over in an instant. No surprise—it was fast to begin with, and Metal Reinforcement had made it even faster.
Back at the factory on the motorcycle, I opened the door and slipped inside before the zombies could catch up. Zixuan rushed down.
"Sh-She's bitten?"
She'd passed out during the ride, her eyes closed.
Blood was gushing from her wound. Leaving it like that, she'd probably die from blood loss before turning.
I spoke to Zixuan a bit urgently.
"Heal her."
I'd heard Zixuan's healing was level 4. Enough to cure not just regular zombie bites but mutant ones too.
Soon, her hand touched the survivor's arm.
And... a miracle happened.
Not one I'd performed, but Zixuan's. Healing. The survivor's wound began to knit closed.
Her arm, which had been a mangled mess of torn flesh moments ago, returned to its original state. Modern doctors would faint at the sight.
"Will she be okay?"
Even though she'd healed her herself, Zixuan seemed anxious because the survivor still hadn't opened her eyes. But to me, she was just out from the pain—the wound was perfectly healed.
"She'll be fine."
The woman woke up about an hour later. She blinked a few times, saw my face, and freaked out again.
Was my face that ghostly or something...
Anyway, I asked her.
"Are you with it?"
"Y-Yes!"
She looked at her arm. Then her face went blank. She couldn't make sense of the situation.
"I was definitely bitten by a zombie..."
"We treated you. Well, Zixuan here did."
"In case you didn't hear, we're superhumans from Team Apocalypse. We healed you with our powers."
She stayed silent for a bit. Not deaf, so she was probably judging if I was telling the truth.
To help her grasp it faster, I opened the curtain. The burning sunset light flooded the room. Zombies patrolling outside spotted us and started pounding the window.
"Eek!"
The survivor woman recoiled in horror.
"Don't scare her too much."
Zixuan gave a wry smile and asked her this time.
"Why were you being chased by zombies alone?"
"Well..."
The survivor woman explained in a shaky voice what had happened before the bite.
Her name was Yi Yu-na. I'd guessed East Asian from her looks, but a Korean? Never imagined.
With the scavenging team short on members, Yi Yu-na had been picked for a new one. She'd gone out searching for supplies with the others.
Then they ran into a zombie horde. If it had been regulars, they could've taken them or shaken them off, but unfortunately, there were several variants in the mix.
In the end, the team scattered, and she ended up being chased.
"Then... I got bitten by a zombie..."
She looked at her arm again.
"Th-Thank you."
She bowed her head to us. But I shook my head and spoke curtly.
"Save the thanks. Keep our powers secret, and leave once you're feeling steady."
I had no intention of half-heartedly pitying her. Yi Yu-na nodded with a frightened look. It wasn't like I was going to eat her...
I'd said that, but with night falling and zombies besieging us, sending her off right away felt off, so we let her stay the night.
Of course, she had to stay locked in the room—no wandering the factory.
Zixuan, who'd been holding back who knows how long, started chatting her up. TMI. No, that was beyond TMI—total TTMI.
"Is Korea divided into South and North here?"
"Yes..."
"Who's the South Korean president? And the North Korean one?"
She fired off impromptu questions, kept the convo going, and if it stalled, pivoted to another topic. Yi Yu-na looked sleepy, but Zixuan's mouth showed no signs of stopping.
Well, she'd only had me to talk to all this time, so she must've been bored... And same gender, after all.
"Don't you think it's time to let her sleep?"
Finally fed up, I said that to Zixuan.
"Oh, sorry. You sleepy?"
At Zixuan's question, Yi Yu-na perked up and shook her head vigorously.
"No!"
I got the feeling this Yi Yu-na woman was bad at saying no.