Chapter 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: School Scavenging
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, I slipped out early before anyone else noticed and met Emily, who was guarding the truck barricade.
To leave the shelter, you had to get her permission—that was Shelter A's rule.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes and stretching, Emily asked me,
"You're heading out alone?"
"Is that a problem?"
"Well, it's not forbidden, but even for a psychic, isn't going out solo too dangerous?"
"Ah, I'll be fine."
I was a psychic, sure, but pretty much no different from a regular person. What I trusted wasn't some superpower—it was the knowledge I'd built up over ten years of playing the game. I knew the local geography like the back of my hand.
Of course, some of it was just from vague illustrations...
"Got it. Just in case, take this flare. If you run into trouble around here, fire it off. We'll come get you if we can."
She tapped the barrel of her anti-materiel sniper rifle with her finger and handed me the flare.
「Acquired Flare x1.」
Taking the flare, I felt a twinge of bewilderment.
I'd played the game for ten years, but Emily had never once given me a flare. Did that mean this wasn't just some scripted game?
'If it's different from the game...'
The hidden piece in the lab had been in the exact same spot. But just like with the flare, there was no guarantee other variables wouldn't pop up. The thought weighed on me psychologically.
Still, I headed out. Like Johnson had said last night, it was just a matter of when you'd die. If my skills were lacking, the end result was the same either way.
As planned, I decided to raid the school. That's where the combo items for crafting the Screw Gun dropped.
With just the Screw Gun, I could take down dozens of regular zombies on my own. My goal for today: craft the Screw Gun, hunt zombies, and hit level 5.
The reason for pushing to level 5 specifically? Because at level 5, Metal Transformation would level up to 2.
At level 2 Metal Transformation, even if I couldn't make something as complex as a gun from scrap metal, I could at least cobble together a crude sword.
Sure, my low level meant I'd be laid up groaning after just one try.
But with that crude sword, I could trade in Shelter A and maximize my gains.
'Buying a machine gun would take hundreds of those metal swords, though.'
The school wasn't far, but not exactly close either. On my way, I ducked into nearby houses to farm.
'Still plenty of loot around.'
If I hadn't gone into Shelter A yesterday and just looted houses instead, I could've gotten twice as much. Even after someone had already been through them once, there was still a good haul left.
I focused on lightweight stuff: water bottles, canned goods, kitchen knives, toolboxes, and so on. I crammed my backpack to the brim.
"Grrrrowl!"
Damn. Coming out of a house, I ran into a zombie. Grimacing, I pulled the steel pipe from my backpack—the one I'd gotten from trading with the survivors yesterday.
Then I swung it hard at the zombie. Clang! Even with my average human strength, the force of an adult man swinging a steel pipe was nothing to scoff at.
Even against a zombie that wasn't quite human. The zombie's head took the hit and it crumpled backward, twitching.
No zombie could move after massive head trauma. Well, mutants were the exception.
With that in mind, I kept swinging the steel pipe vigorously. After ten years of staring at zombies, I didn't hesitate. I bashed until its movements stopped and the experience message appeared.
「Job experience gained. (Solo party bonus +150%)」
I searched the zombie's body. In its torn pocket, I found a wallet with an ID and bills. I pocketed them all.
「Acquired ID Card x1.」
「Acquired 10,000 won x13.」
Luckily, I made it to the school without running into any more zombies. No idea if the ones nearby had chased after a car or something, but I got lucky.
[Evergreen School]
Passing the bloodstained school sign, I entered the grounds. The first things I encountered inside were zombies—students in uniforms, from the look of them—charging at me.
I bolted at full speed. My steel pipe's durability wasn't infinite, and taking on that many at once was impossible.
If I were some martial arts master, maybe I'd consider it, but without skills, I was just a regular guy. One who'd avoided exercise his whole life, at that.
Once inside the school grounds, I slammed down the front gate shutter. The sluggish zombies pounded on it with their arms and legs. I could hear it rattling, but they couldn't get in.
Just to be safe, I grabbed the shutter and used Metal Transformation. The metal thickened and toughened up a bit.
'Time to start the real adventure.'
I'd made it into the school successfully. But the true adventure started now. I flicked on the standard-issue flashlight, gripped the steel pipe tight in one hand, and began searching the school.
I stayed alert. There were definitely zombies hiding inside. I had a rough idea of their spots from the game, but unknown variables could still crop up.
'Worst case, I'll use the plasma pistol.'
Beginner Plasma Pistol.
It was a one-shot deal, which sucked, but my life mattered more. No way was I forgetting that. Anyway, I started checking classrooms one by one.
A toolbox, like one a worker might've used.
「Acquired Toolbox x1.」
I grabbed all the chalk from the front of the blackboard too. You might wonder what for, but you never know with survival.
「Acquired Chalk x3.」
「Acquired Padlock x1.」
I'd searched six out of seven classrooms on the first floor. When I opened the door to the last one, an eerie wail from the darkness made me slam it shut.
Immediately, something started pounding on the door—bam, bam, bam. Heart racing, I braced the door and locked it with the padlock.
I headed for the back door right away, but it was already padlocked shut.
I reflected the flashlight beam off a nearby mirror and peeked through the window into the classroom. Something was moving. Of course it was—a zombie, no doubt.
'More than one?'
The problem was the number. At least two, maybe more.
Gripping my steel pipe, I debated. Team Apocalypse was full of high-risk, high-reward spots. Lots of zombies inside meant a good chance of valuable loot.
But on second thought, no need to risk it yet. I could check elsewhere first, and only go for broke if I didn't find what I needed.
With the padlock on, they weren't getting out anytime soon.
Forcing my pounding heart to calm, I slipped into the staff room. Was coming alone a mistake after all? Farming solo in this darkness was insane.
I'd done it plenty in the game, but damn—this was no respawn.
One bite, and it was over. No healer here to patch me up. There were some in Shelter A, but I wouldn't last the trip back—I'd turn before then.
And Emily would just say,
[See? I told you not to go alone.]
Then splatter my head with her anti-materiel rifle. Which, by the way, I'd actually experienced in-game.
Anyway, I wasn't in the mood to take risks right now.
All that thinking actually calmed my nerves. I cracked open the staff room door and shone the flashlight on the mirror.
The reflected light lit up the interior for a split second. Something inside charged at me. This time, I didn't dodge—I readied the steel pipe to strike.
A female zombie with grotesquely twisted legs. Its lurching run was nightmarish. But seeing it, I felt more relief than fear.
Student-teacher zombies were on the weaker side of the ones that spawned in the staff room. I brought the raised steel pipe down on its head.
"Stay down!"
The student-teacher zombie pitched forward. But its arms flailed to grab me. I smashed the pipe into its skull again.
Thud!
With the crunch of its head caving in, the steel pipe snapped in two.
「Equipped Steel Pipe has been destroyed.」
I jammed the jagged end into its skull. Not something I wanted to do, but it was the surest way. The thrashing student-teacher zombie finally went still. I wiped the blood off myself. But the thick blood stench soured my mood.
I pulled a 2L water bottle from my backpack and chugged it. Lost the steel pipe.
'Can't use this anymore.'
Still, I found a replacement trophy in the staff room: a cue stick. An item I'd never seen in-game. Why a pool cue was in a staff room was beyond me...
'No way they used this on students, right?'
Wooden, but with good reach, it'd do in a pinch.
「Acquired Electrical Room Key x1.」
「Acquired Science Lab Key x1.」
「Acquired Classroom Master Key x1.」
「Acquired Standard Math Textbook x1.」
「Acquired Screws x21.」
「Acquired Tape Measure x1.」
I stuffed in whatever seemed useful. Got everything I needed up to here. Time to head to the science lab. Target: the electric drill in the drawer.
Combine the electric drill and screws, and I could make a Screw Gun. After some twists and turns, I made it into the science lab.
There were zombies inside, but not too many—I cleared them all. Alcohol, alcohol lamp, hydrochloric acid container, and the electric drill.
I set the electric drill and screws on a desk and placed my hand on them.
Apocalypse All-Purpose Machine