Chapter 59
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Valhalla Factory Clearance
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I raise the grenade launcher. Aiming it at the building, I fire off a single shot lightly. Whoosh. With a sound like air escaping, the grenade flies off, piercing through the building's window and disappearing inside.
Soon after, a fierce explosion fills the interior of the building.
「Job experience gained. (2-person party bonus +160%) (Massacre bonus +300%) (Chain kill bonus +200%)」
Judging by the multiple experience notifications popping up, a few zombies must have gotten caught in the blast and died. But I knew this was far from over.
I count silently in my head.
One, two, three...
The front door is shoved open and collapses forward, windows shatter. Spotting the Chasers charging in aggressively, I don't hesitate and use Metal Generation and Metal Transformation to create a barricade.
Of course, I don't expect it to hold them back. Chasers can scale even the high walls of Shelter Apocalypse with ease. As long as there's an exit, they'll find a way inside.
I'm just shaping the terrain to our advantage.
Almost simultaneously, the residents' firearms roar to life. I grip the grenade launcher and activate Metal Reinforcement. The launcher glows blue. Whirrr.
The bodies of the clustered Chasers explode. But some still break through the barrage of grenades and bullets, closing in. Zixuan provides timely support.
The residents in Power Suits, boosted by strength buffs, can hold their own in close combat against Chasers. Pedro, the former leader of Shelter B, swings his katana like a fish in water.
His katana, specially made from mithril, pierces the Chasers' defenses. Every swing fells more Chasers.
"Watch out!"
At Zixuan's shout, I instinctively look up. A Chaser has leaped high like a Jumper, plummeting straight toward me. I grab the heavy acid shotgun.
I aim it at the creature. Who's faster—me or it?
Bang!
Amid the gunfire filling the battlefield, the Chaser tumbles backward unceremoniously. I hadn't even pulled the trigger... Looking around, Emily stands there with her anti-materiel sniper rifle trained this way.
I give her a slight nod of thanks, then scan the battlefield again. It's utter chaos. Most residents are shielded by Zixuan's barriers.
But some have taken damage as the barriers crack under Chaser assaults. And that number is growing.
Zixuan is moving frantically, but her face is pale as a ghost. She'd already burned through a ton of AP on the way here, and now she's depleting even more. It's only natural.
We need to end this fight fast.
"Everyone, fall back!"
At my command, the residents begin retreating bit by bit.
The Chasers charge ferociously toward the vacated spot. Even with their bodies shredded to rags, they don't care.
I place my hand on the barricade. It begins morphing at my will. It slowly lifts, soon forming a massive hemisphere.
The Chasers below can't escape and end up trapped inside.
That should keep those ones pinned for a while.
Excluding the ones inside, about twenty Chasers remain. Still a lot, but fewer than what we've faced before.
The residents' firepower unleashes on the wounded monsters.
As the volleys concentrate, the Chasers start dropping one by one until every last one lies sprawled on the ground. I gasp for breath.
My head feels like it's splitting open. Same reason as Zixuan. Overusing AP has my stomach churning. Bile rises in my throat.
The next moment, the metal of the hemisphere thuds heavily. As if something inside is trying to break out.
Yeah, it's not over yet. The ones inside are still alive and kicking.
"Everyone, focus up!"
Zixuan casts healing on me. It helps a little, but not much. AP depletion can't be fixed with healing.
Soon, a Chaser tears through the metal and bursts out. The first one takes an exact headshot from Emily's anti-materiel sniper rifle and rolls across the floor.
Seizing the moment, Jason charges in recklessly and tosses a bomb inside the hemisphere. It tears off an arm from the Chaser that got sniped, but...
The bomb detonates with a boom. I rush over and blast the Chaser gripping his arm with the heavy acid shotgun. Bang! Bang! Bang!
The stubborn bastard finally lets go after three shots to the forehead. I ask Zixuan to treat him.
It's a life-threatening wound—and considering the virus, he'll turn zombie soon—but one of her healings should fix him right up.
I turn my gaze back to the hole in the hemisphere, smoke billowing out.
One breaks through the smoke. It's badly damaged. Pus oozes from its charred, blackened skin from the burns.
The stench of cooked meat hits me, somewhat nauseating.
The residents' firepower saturates it.
"Damn bastards!"
"Die already!"
The residents step forward as one and shout. I advance too, joining in.
"You motherfucking pricks, eat this and drop dead!"
I empty all remaining grenades into it. Explosions rack the hemisphere. Metal shards spark and patter to the ground.
I confirm the entrance is clogged with Chaser corpses, order the residents back, and apply Metal Transformation to the hemisphere again.
It opens, revealing the carnage inside. One live Chaser... exactly one. The one playing dead lunges and bites at me the moment I approach.
But it can't pierce Aegis. I smash its eye with my fist. My punch literally pulverizes the eye, and I follow up by pumping it full of shotgun shells as it howls in pain.
Its head explodes, splattering its remains all over me. My clothes are shredded, exposing the Aegis underneath.
Aegis isn't unscathed either. I'd repaired its durability to max before the fight, but now it's down by more than half.
Zixuan eyes the skin visible through Aegis's gaps with worried eyes, checking for wounds. Confirming none, she smiles and says,
"You look like Iron Man?"
I shrug and reply,
"I love you 3000."
"Hmph, I saw you eyeing Emily earlier?"
But she doesn't seem upset, nestling into my chest. I hug her back. No zombies remain in this Valhalla Food Factory now. Everything here is ours.
That's when it happens.
"Leader, there's something here!"
Jason, whose arm is fully healed, points to a 'glowing item' in the center of the hemisphere and calls out. That's... a Sci-Fi Notebook.
'Lucky break.'
Chasers drop Sci-Fi Notebooks at an extremely rare rate. Like 0.1%. You might get one after killing a thousand, if you're lucky.
We've beaten those odds and scored one.
But... looking closer, the glowing item isn't just the Sci-Fi Notebook.
"What's that? Just looking at it makes my heart race..."
Still nestled in my arms, Zixuan peers at the thick, leather-bound book inscribed in some ancient script, her face flushed with excitement. She's drawn to it instinctively.
I doubt my eyes and stare at the book again.
Realizing what it is, I bite my lip slightly and say,
"No wonder. That's..."
'A skillbook.' A skillbook. Exactly what it sounds like—a book for Healers to learn skills.
And it shouldn't exist anymore. The skillbook system vanished about five years ago. No big reason.
They didn't want to make the already overpowered Healer class even more broken.
'Then...'
Alex, the professor I met at Hansol University who's now a teammate, is from eight years ago, deleted in a patch.
So... a skillbook from five years ago showing up isn't that weird.
'But were skillbooks around eight years ago?'
No. The skillbook system was introduced in the 3rd anniversary event. So is this 'Valhalla Food Factory' from a patch several years back?
Five? Six? Seven?
Assuming a place exists with an eight-year-old patch because Zixuan is from then.
Maybe 'someone' from five, six, or seven years ago caused the skillbook to spawn here in Valhalla Food Factory.
If all these assumptions hold, that someone is probably one of Team Apocalypse.
'Who could it be...'
While I'm lost in thought, the residents bring over the Sci-Fi Notebook and skillbook. I decide to shelve it for now.
'Think later...'
"Let's open them together."
Zixuan rests her chin on her hand, looking expectant. I nod. We decide to start with the skillbook. Placing our hands on both covers, we...
"One, two, three."
We open them. They're filled with indecipherable ancient script. I can't read it. Unless I ask Queen to decipher, only a Healer like her can.
"Just read the first part."
"The grace of the gods is fair to all mankind."
"Potion Crafting."
"Good skill?"
"Very good skill."
Potion Crafting. A now-deleted skill that lets you craft single-use healing potions.
Personally, I'd have loved Mind Control. Mind Control dominates not just zombies but survivors' minds too.
Of course, that's just the dream; Potion Crafting is plenty satisfying.
When I head out solo, I can stock potions and get healing without her.
"Now open that one."
"Wonder what's inside..."
Excluding the Halo Sci-Fi Notebook, this is my first time even getting a Sci-Fi Notebook itself. What's in it?
I open the notebook with some anticipation. My eyes widen.
'This is...'
Apocalypse All-Purpose Machine