Chapter 65
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Infiltrating Shelter D
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Sneaking into the interior of Shelter D wasn't difficult. Their boasted steel walls were made of metal after all, and the watchmen weren't even particularly vigilant.
That said, food rations had recently become scarce, and even drinking water wasn't properly distributed. With people barely eating or drinking, how many would be properly guarding the walls late at night like this?
Three residents stood atop the walls, but even they just stared blankly ahead with dazed expressions. They hadn't noticed me at all.
I created a small door in the wall and slipped inside. Shelter D was deathly quiet, like a ghost town. I focused my senses, wondering if it might be a trap, but there wasn't even a hint of human presence.
I walked quietly, heading toward Ben and the executives' quarters.
After walking for a while, I ran into a boy about as tall as my waist. He was carrying a water jug on his head. His face looked familiar—Dmitri, one of the main NPCs.
As a side note, Dmitri's nickname is "Beggar Boy." Players gave him that because he was always begging them for food in the game.
Dmitri stared at me. He soon made a shocked face and dropped the water jug. The water inside spilled across the floor.
"You..."
I fiddled with my rifle. If by any chance Dmitri shouted out my identity, I planned to kill him. Hoping it wouldn't come to that, I gave a wry smile and said,
"Do you know me?"
Dmitri didn't even think to pick up the jug again. He immediately dropped to his knees. With an expression of awe, as if he were before a god.
"You've come to save us, Savior. Did the angel come with you?"
He must be one of those who had fallen for the rumors Yuna spread and now believed in the "Zixuan Church." I put a finger to my lips and said,
"Stay quiet and go inside."
Dmitri nodded vigorously and scurried into the building. I watched his retreating figure for a moment, then headed back toward my destination.
Finally, I reached Ben's house. A group of guards protected the front. Unlike the earlier watchmen, their faces gleamed with healthy vigor.
I wanted to avoid conflict as much as possible, but I knew from the game lore that these were Ben's personal guards.
I approached the barbed wire they were leaning against. I placed my hand on it and used Metal Transformation. The wire behind them morphed into sharp spears that pierced their heads.
They collapsed forward without even a single scream.
「Occupation experience gained. (1-person party bonus +150%)」
I stepped over their bodies and entered the house. Inside the barracks, I bumped into a man who had been brushing his teeth. One of the executives whose name didn't appear in the game.
The moment he saw me, he dropped his toothbrush and reached for his pistol. But... I was much faster. With successive gunshots, his body slumped to the floor.
At the same time, the inside of the house grew noisy.
"What's going on!?"
I ran toward the corner where the voice came from, and Ben burst out. The black bald man.
He raised his shotgun at me and pulled the trigger. But I already knew he would react like that.
One shot.
It bounced off the shield.
Two shots.
Bounced off the shield again.
Three shots.
The instant he fired, I was already right in front of him. I swung my fist at his face. Thwack! He was wearing a power suit, but he flew back powerlessly.
I aimed the shotgun he had been holding at the fallen man.
"Wh-what the hell is this about?"
Ben said. I replied in a calm tone.
"Sophia told me about your plan."
After speaking, I watched his expression closely. Just in case Sophia had deceived me, I was keeping that last possibility in mind.
"That bitch...! Damn, damn it! I admit I was wrong, so please spare my life."
But he readily admitted to his plan and began begging for his life on his knees.
I had no intention of letting him live. He was useless anyway and would only be a source of trouble. Ben was rated as the most incompetent among the Shelter Alphabet leaders.
In fact, having him as a companion caused food supplies to dwindle over time. Because he stole it (...). His traits were incompetence, corruption, and betrayal. He was the epitome of someone you didn't need.
I pulled the trigger. Bang. The metal bullet tore through his head. He slumped against the wall, blood trickling from his head.
「Occupation experience gained. (1-person party bonus +150%) (First elite NPC kill bonus +300%)」
After staring at his corpse for a moment, I confirmed no one else was alive in the building and went back outside. Sophia was waiting for me, leading a group of people.
"Are you finished?"
She looked at me with a strange mix of anticipation. I nodded.
"Thank you."
She knelt before me. The people following her also knelt toward me. Residents of Shelter Apocalypse who had been waiting outside the walls arrived.
Ben's death, and our infiltration of Shelter Apocalypse, had thrown Shelter D into chaos. Some argued we should drive them out.
But the chaos subsided quickly.
We were armed, of course, but Sophia was with us, and above all, we had brought canned food and drinking water.
They accepted the situation faster than expected, and all but a tiny few decided to join Shelter Apocalypse.
Of course, I didn't trust Shelter D's residents 100%. They would undergo thorough screening by Queen. If they didn't pass, we wouldn't accept them.
...In the newly united Shelter Apocalypse, after the screening was complete.
Yuna was excitedly proselytizing with Dmitri.
"Everyone, believe in the angel! The angel is the one ray of light that will illuminate this world!"
Here, the angel referred to Zixuan. In other words, they were spreading a religion worshiping Zixuan.
She probably thought Zixuan would like it... Well, if Zixuan saw this, she'd probably blush and kick her blankets, wondering "Why is she like that?"
As I thought that, Dmitri glanced at me and added,
"We also have the Savior! The Savior is another ray of light for this world!"
Yuna glanced at me too, then nodded proudly and said,
"That's something I can agree on."
Watching them, I sighed. This is more embarrassing than I thought.
Still, religion helps integrate people. Sorry to Zixuan, but if the proselytizing continues and she shows a few more miracles, they should blend in naturally.
...Now, only one final matter remained.
Sophia. She and I had a tangled history in many ways, but thanks to her, things went smoothly.
I learned of Ben's plan in advance, and because she opened the Shelter D gate on time, our residents entered easily.
Moreover, since her subordinates—the ruling class of Shelter D—pledged loyalty to me, public sentiment calmed quickly.
On top of that, she was a talented individual superior to other NPCs.
Well-educated and resolute enough to cut off her own finger, she would surely be helpful to the shelter in some way.
However, she told me she would leave. I tried to persuade her once, but she wouldn't change her mind.
"You don't have to leave."
"If I stay here, the people I led won't fully integrate into Shelter Apocalypse. And you'll end up distrusting them. Wondering if Sophia and her group are plotting to betray you."
"They won't."
Well... I said that, but deep down, I had thought the same. She looked at me silently, then spoke with a playful expression.
"If we meet again someday... I won't steal your food then."
I replied innocently.
"If you do, I'll smash your head in first."
"...Who would stay after hearing that?"
With that, she said,
"I'm leaving now."
And turned to walk away. I watched from the window as she boarded a truck, then turned away without regret.
If she's lucky, she'll survive in the city. If fate allows, we'll meet again someday.
「Owned Shelter」
Shelter Name: Apocalypse
Level: 2
Population: 299
Owner: Park Si-hyun (Mechanic)
Sub-owner: Zixuan (Healer)
Loyalty: 87
Absorbing Shelter D had greatly increased our population. Yet loyalty remained in the high 80s. Proof that Shelter D's residents were integrating well.
'Now...'
The expanded shelter felt cramped. We needed to expand it. Wider, to cover the entire island.
And... we needed to grow stronger. This incident made me realize how powerless I—we—were. If a Tyrant had entered Shelter Apocalypse, could we have stopped it?
No, we couldn't have.
Sentry Guns? Electric barbed wire? They wouldn't be enough against it. I needed to finish the machine factory quickly and rush production of combat android robots.
If I focused solely on this route without distractions and mass-produced combat androids nonstop, not even a Tyrant or any zombie would be a threat.
'To complete the machine factory quickly.'
I needed materials from completing construction androids, and 'skill levels' to boost success rates. Truthfully, my current skill levels weren't that high.
I'd steadily worked on proficiency, but crucially, my levels were low.
My current level is 32.
I needed at least 40.
Assuming I kept grinding proficiency, by then I could max out the early triple set (Metal Transformation, Metal Reinforcement, Metal Decomposition).
And above all... at level 40, I could acquire the 'Living Machine' skill. In short, it's an 'automatic machine repair' skill.
Durability would recover automatically without my intervention.
It was a match made in heaven for mobile android robots.
'To hit 40...'
The factory district wouldn't cut it.
I kept killing zombies entering it, but most in the area were already cleared. I needed to farm experience elsewhere.
I knew a power-leveling route for rapid gains.
'The subway.'
Subway stations scattered throughout the city. Inside the stations were hordes of Chasers and variant zombies. Killing them would yield massive experience.
Apocalypse All-Purpose Machine