Chapter 32
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Work Android Robot
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An android robot that came up to about my chest height. Unlike a regular android robot, however, its joints were twisted every which way, and its eyeballs were rolled back, creating an incredibly creepy atmosphere.
Zixuan, who had glimpsed it absentmindedly, even let slip a "damn" without realizing it. Of course, I wasn't keeping an android robot around because of some bizarre fetish.
This was none other than the broken Work Android Robot I had brought back from Shelter A as a condition for accepting James's request.
In my spare time, I would take out the android robot and fiddle with it to build up my understanding.
Because you couldn't just make an android robot with parts alone. It required skills, understanding, and parts—a perfect trio for this high-tech marvel.
「*Your understanding of the Work Android Robot has increased.」*
After messing with it for nearly half a day, I finally set the android robot down once the message appeared.
It was convenient not having to go outside, but it was a terribly boring task for me all the same.
In the game, time would accelerate automatically during understanding work. What took six hours of staring could be done in just a few seconds...
But I got it done.
I stepped out of the workshop and grabbed a late lunch. After shoving some ketchup-mixed canned veggies into my mouth, I went to find Zixuan.
I remembered her saying she had something fun to show me on the rooftop. She was right there on the rooftop, plastered next to the Sentry Gun. And beside her was none other than Queen's hologram.
"You're here?"
She turned around, having sensed my presence, and spoke. I nodded.
"What are you up to?"
"Nothing much."
She shrugged and looked down below. A mutant zombie was wriggling around down there, its entire body covered in blood and wounds like it had been hit by a bombing run.
She extended her hand. A beam of white light shot out from her. It was her new skill, remote healing. The mutant zombie's wounds began to heal.
"Even doing it like this raises the proficiency."
"...I see."
"Do it again, Queen."
Once its wounds had fully healed, the mutant zombie charged toward the munitions factory with renewed vigor. Queen's hologram nodded, and the Sentry Gun opened fire once more. Thud thud thud.
The mutant zombie hit the deck again from the machine gun fire. And then the whole process repeated endlessly. Eventually, I started feeling sorry for the thing.
It was the kind of perverted play you'd expect from veterans, but apparently, she'd started doing it out of boredom, noticed her skill proficiency going up, and turned it into a grind session.
In a different way, I thought Zixuan was impressive. The mutant zombie she'd been toying with like a plaything finally died under the barrage once her healing cut off.
"Where can I find a new toy?"
Zixuan muttered with a grin.
As I stared at her in disbelief, the hitherto silent Queen's hologram spoke up.
「Queen asks: Can healing abilities be applied to robots as well?」
"No."
Healing could only target living beings, after all. If it could heal robots, mechanics like me would be pointless. Healers would be totally broken.
「But what if the robot has flesh and blood?」
"Then yes."
She was talking about bio-android robots.
Made of the same flesh and blood as humans. In the game, bio-android robots were treated as living beings and could receive healing.
Since this world was based on the game, it probably worked the same here.
「Understood. Rephrasing the question. Master Park Si-hyun, is it possible for you to create a bio-android robot?」
"It's possible."
Of course, just because it's possible doesn't mean I can make one right now.
Creating a bio-android robot is, naturally, even harder than a regular android robot.
You needed a machine factory first, then raid a biotech lab for biotech knowledge. In short, it takes a ridiculously long time.
And there's no real need to make one anyway. But upon hearing my answer, Queen looked at me with shining eyes, as if expectant.
"I'll make one later."
Way later. I had no idea when that "later" would actually be.
「Queen confirms.」
Queen replied calmly, as if she were truly looking forward to it.
"By the way... doesn't it look like some storm clouds are rolling in?"
Zixuan, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, pointed at the sky. I looked up. The sun was still blazing for now, but there were definitely a few dark clouds mixed in.
Well, it hasn't rained once since you've been here. About time. I brought the Sentry Guns inside. They could break if they got wet.
* * *
Roooaaar.
The sound of a waterfall-like downpour tickled my ears. I was gazing at the scenery outside. Zombies that had been hard to spot until yesterday were now scurrying around like mad.
Ah, zombies get a stat boost on rainy days. If you ask why, that's just the game setting. In short, stay inside and hunker down when it rains.
Overcast sky, torrential rain, zombies dashing about wildly. Watching it all made for a seriously depressing sight. I suddenly craved a cigarette. I promptly drew the curtains.
I had originally planned to farm parts for the Halo today. But since it wasn't urgent, I pushed it to tomorrow—or rather, after the rain stopped.
I plugged a USB into the munitions factory's main computer. It was the one with movie files from the Houseplus fourth-floor theater.
I hooked it up to the projector and played it in the room I'd converted into a bedroom. With the rain pouring, I figured watching a movie would shake off the gloom.
"You're here?"
Zixuan had the blankets neatly laid out, waiting. It was a theater just for the two of us.
"What movie should we watch?"
"You got Dawn of the Dead?"
Dawn of the Dead—a zombie flick. A zombie movie in a zombie world... Come to think of it, it'd probably be immersive. Though it'd be more fun than scary.
"Queen, you have Dawn of the Dead?"
Queen's hologram materialized beside me and spoke.
「No Dawn of the Dead, but... search results found a similarly named file: 'Curse of the Early Night.」」
Worried about copyright, huh? Huang Feihong becomes Huang Feihyun, and Dawn of the Dead becomes Curse of the Early Night, apparently.
"Play that one."
The projector soon started playing the video.
Curse of the Early Night.
It opens in an ordinary home where a blonde woman—Diana—who took sleeping pills and went to bed early wakes up to knocking at the door. What she sees is the neighbor boy, Vivian, gnawing on her husband's neck.
Woooaaah.
"Fucking! What the fucking!"
She shoves Vivian away and barely manages to lock the door. But her supposedly dead husband rises. He's turned into a zombie.
She freaks out, bashes her husband's head, and bolts outside to hop in her car. The night is growing darker by the minute. To make matters worse, even the streetlights are flickering.
She jams in the car key to start it quick, but her husband comes chasing after. Luckily, it starts, she runs him over with the car, and speeds out onto the street.
The opening of the movie.
'It's just Dawn of the Dead.'
Aside from shifting the time from dawn to early night, it's identical. I chuckled at the zombies. After seeing real ones, the movie's CG and makeup-laden zombies just looked cute.
What if I got dropped into that world? No clue, but it'd be way better than this one, right? No mutants there.
Though they seemed stronger in strength and agility than the 'regular' zombies here...
'Nah, what kinda crazy thought is that.'
I glanced at Zixuan. She was watching the movie with rapt fascination. ...Wait, don't normal girls hate movies like this?
We watched comfortably. Morning slipped by as we did. As the movie ended and it queued the next one, gunfire rang out from outside.
I opened the curtains. The shots were coming from not too far away.
"That was gunfire, right?"
Whose could it be? Shelter D survivors wouldn't come out in this downpour, so probably scavengers.
I scanned beyond the window, but saw nothing.
"Probably nothing."
Likely just scavengers getting chased by zombies. Not Shelter D folks, and no reason to save scavengers.
But my words proved empty—the gunfire kept coming nonstop. One shot, two, three... and not from one spot, but dozens of places all at once.
'Why go out of their way?'
A group of survivors hunting zombies? As far as I knew, no reason to. Especially not in the rain.
"What's going on?"
"Guess I should check from the rooftop."
Saying that, I headed up to the rooftop. Just in case, I didn't forget to get Zixuan's shield buff. With her shield buff, even a sniper shot wouldn't take me down.
The rooftop was a total puddle-fest from the rain. I sloshed through the water, scanning the surroundings. Flash. The dark ground lit up momentarily from a lightning strike.
Bang, rat-tat-tat.
Amid the ongoing gunfire, I pinpointed the direction. A group of people was fighting zombies. Or... were they?
The situation was odd. Across from them, another group was advancing. They had zombies out front. That's when I vaguely guessed their identity.
Only one group used 'zombies' in fights against survivors: the Salvation Church.
For some reason, these guys who rampaged more viciously than zombies in various map spots had shown up in the industrial zone.
'Normally, the Salvation Church doesn't reveal themselves unless they make contact with players.'
No idea who it was, but one of the players must've contacted the Salvation Church.
'Or maybe not...'
This was a pain.
I watched the survivors frantically pulling triggers with the Salvation Church bearing down on them. Scavengers. They were bad news too.
The kind who snatched survivors' supplies to scrape by day to day.
I gripped my gun, pondering briefly. The dilemma didn't last long. When lesser evils fight greater evils, you help the lesser ones.
Plus, scavengers could become allies later through 'events.'
The Salvation Church, on the other hand, was a pack of psycho zealots who sicced zombies on people according to their doctrine.