Chapter 34
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Shelter Apocalypse
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As if it meant to sweep everything away, the rain poured down relentlessly for three full days. During that time, I crafted weapons using the blueprints I'd obtained from the arsenal factory.
I handmade every single part through my notebook, then assembled those parts into weapons...
Three days flew by before I knew it. Finally, the dark clouds parted, and the torrential downpour that had been gushing from the sky like an open hole came to a stop.
From the rooftop, the factory district looked quiet. Not a zombie in sight, not even a trace of one. Whether they'd been swept away by the floodwaters or followed the survivors, my gloomy mood had lifted considerably.
I donned Aegis and stepped outside. Then, as planned, I began constructing a barrier of iron. My goal was to block off the intersection first and foremost, preventing ordinary zombies from getting in.
Having already built an even taller wall back at Shelter A, stacking this one was no challenge for me. Especially since my Metal Transformation level had risen since then.
Sometimes I ran short on materials,
「Used Metal Generation (Lv.2) to create aluminum.」
but I could just generate more with Metal Generation. The skill level was low, so the amount produced per use wasn't much, but with my job level being what it was, I never ran out of AP no matter how much I used.
Of course, that made sense—my current level was 23. Considering the average player in Scenario 2 was around level 15 or 16, that was pretty high.
Sure, the real veterans might laugh and say "only 23?", but I was confident I could hit at least level 30 in the factory district in no time.
In any case... over the course of two hours, I successfully sealed off the entire intersection.
Ordinary zombies wouldn't be getting in anymore. The wall towered over 3 meters high. That said, this only applied to 'ordinary' zombies—variants could hop over whenever they wanted.
But with sentry guns installed in spots here and there, even if they did, it wouldn't matter.
I called out to Maria.
"Could you cultivate a vegetable garden here?"
Maria nodded.
"It's possible, but... we don't have any crop seeds."
"I'll find the crop seeds."
I knew exactly where to find crop seeds. A place with hundreds to thousands of them, sorted by type. Not far from here was Hansol National University.
And inside Hansol University was the 'Agricultural Research Institute.' As the name implied, it was a facility dedicated to agricultural research, storing crop seeds.
My plan was to raid that research institute. Some of those seeds were for fast-growing improved varieties, like potatoes harvestable in just days.
Once we secured proper farmland, food would no longer be a worry. Drinking water could be fetched from the river and purified with the filtration system.
Next, I fabricated four additional sentry guns, one for each intersection point. I combined the remaining mithril bolts with metal wiring and set up the sentry guns at the crossroads.
As long as it wasn't raining, those sentry guns would take out any variant zombies that climbed over the wall. I stretched languidly, then began gathering supplies from the secured buildings.
I planned to leave only a few buildings intact and demolish the rest to reclaim the materials.
The scavengers, scattered after their defeat at the hands of the Salvation Church, spotted the new wall that hadn't been there before. For something erected in just a few days, it was impressively massive.
In height, it rivaled Shelter D's 'Wall of Steel.'
'The Salvation Church's doing?'
They hadn't stuck around till the end and had fled, so they didn't know the Salvation Church had been routed by Park Si-hyun.
'No work androids were deployed or anything.'
The scavengers grew curious and peeked inside the wall from the buildings. Confirming no one was around, they began climbing over.
They froze at the sight of the sentry guns. The machine gun sights were locked right on them.
"It won't shoot, right? It won't shoot, right?"
"Dammit, how should I know!?"
"It will shoot."
The response didn't come from among them, but from the intersection. Park Si-hyun stood there in Aegis, shotgun at the ready, aimed straight at them.
"S-Salvation Church scum?"
"Shouldn't we shoot first?"
"If it's the Salvation Church, I—no, we—took them out. Are you scavengers?"
"...Yeah."
They had no choice but to admit it uneasily. They were among the nicer scavengers, but they still lived by preying on survivors' supplies.
Naturally, they assumed Park Si-hyun would see them as enemies. But he shook his head.
"I have no intention of discriminating. If you want to live here, you're welcome to."
The scavengers exchanged glances, pondering. But their deliberation didn't last long. A wall like this, sentry guns guarding the interior.
Turning down an offer like that would make them fools.
The newly integrated scavengers into my shelter numbered eight men and five women. Their gaunt faces suggested days of starvation, so I distributed food and water first.
I'd loaded up plenty from the department store last time, so we still had ample supplies. Of course, once we started consuming in earnest, it'd only last a few weeks.
"Is this okay?"
"In the game, they didn't cause trouble... but reality's another story. Still, if we can keep them in line, they'll be useful."
Scavengers were mostly wanderers. They'd encountered and fought zombies far more times than any average survivor.
If these seasoned survivors helped me actively, resource farming would speed up considerably. Of course, betrayal was a risk to consider.
I planned to show them the 'potential' ahead. And before that...
"Please heal their wounds."
Wanderer life wasn't easy, so their bodies were covered in scars here and there. I intended to show them a miracle through healing.
Zixuan nodded and approached them, beginning to cast healing. The pure white light touched their bodies, erasing wounds with every contact.
"Ooh!"
"It's the saintess!!"
The healing's effect was tremendous. Some were already treating her like an angel or a goddess.
"She's an angel. Everyone, this is a shelter under the angel's protection."
And Maria(...) piled on from the side, stoking their faith. I didn't stop them. It was partly what I'd aimed for anyway.
In any case, having integrated the new survivors, I assigned them buildings. While doing so, I subtly revealed a bit of my superpower.
I'd remodeled part of the factory into living quarters for them. It wasn't hard for me, but they looked at me with eyes full of admiration.
As I endured their burdensome gazes, 「You have become the leader of the survivors.」
A message appeared, likely because their loyalty had reached a certain threshold.
「Please name the shelter.」
"Apocalypse."
I named it on a whim, nothing else coming to mind.
「The name and fame of Shelter Apocalypse begins to spread among survivors.」
「Owned Shelters」
Shelter Name: Apocalypse
Level: 1
Population: 16
Owner: Park Si-hyun (Mechanic)
Sub-Owner: Zixuan (Healer)
Loyalty: 68
Loyalty maxed at 100, so 68 wasn't exceptionally high. But it wasn't low either—they wouldn't betray easily.
Plus, once I showed them the potential ahead, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say betrayal was impossible. Unless they were idiots enough to kick away a freebie watermelon.
With that in mind, I gave Queen her orders. If any signs of rebellion showed, have the sentry guns eliminate them.
I couldn't fully trust numbers alone.
Before heading to Hansol University for crop seeds, I decided to make the Halo as pre-planned. I scoured the factory district for Halo materials.
With zombie numbers greatly reduced, I gathered them without much hassle. Then, using those Halo materials and the Halo blueprint...
「Used Metal Transformation (Lv.5) to synthesize Blueprint: Halo x1, mithril screws x15, …, thermometer x1 into Halo.」
「Metal Transformation (Lv.5) proficiency has increased dramatically.」
「Metal Transformation level has risen to 6.」
Metal Transformation reached level 6. The completed golden ring. I handed it to Zixuan.
"What is this, a safe?"
"The thing Sun Wukong uses?"
Now that she mentioned it, it did look similar. Zixuan placed the Halo on her head.
"Does it look okay?"
I couldn't help but chuckle.
"You look just like Sun Wukong."
"Ah, what's that supposed to mean? Comparing a girl to Sun Wukong."
She said that, but it suited her surprisingly well. Guess it's true that fashion's ultimate accessory is the face.
In any case, with the Halo equipped, her skills were enhanced. Buffed accuracy rose from 20% to 30%, and strength or agility buffs saw increased 'stat gains' as well.
Duration jumped from 30 minutes to an hour. Doubled, in other words.
Healing was now at a level where it could revive anyone short of fully dead.
"What if you end up resurrecting people later?"
"Resurrection is possible."
There was a resurrection skill among healer abilities. It had limits—like only within hours of death or turning zombie—but still.
It was outright cheat-level. Of course, resurrection was the healer's ultimate tech tree. By the time she could use it, I'd have finished the spaceship and cleared the game.
As I thought that, she raised her hand. Pure white light spread in all directions. Area healing. Her enhanced healing must have evolved the skill.
Seeing her growth made me proud.
But her growth wouldn't stop here—she'd keep advancing, and so would I.
'I need to build those work android robots soon.'
Shelter Apocalypse.
What I'd achieved was just the beginning.
Apocalypse Versatile Machine