Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Make Sure You Survive
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Two more guys came charging out after them, only to slam headfirst into the wall just like the first ones.
I headed up to the second floor, looking for anyone willing to talk. A few people were huddled in the corner of a classroom, trembling in fear.
One woman was there too, her clothes half torn off, sobbing uncontrollably.
"If you're not planning to rush me, come downstairs."
They all jumped at the sight of the three guys knocked out cold against the wall.
"You with these bastards?"
"N-no! These guys work for Kim Dong-soo."
"Kim Dong-soo?"
A new name I'd never heard before.
"Tell me more."
It was the same old story in this apocalypse world: a strong guy builds a gang, hoards all the food. Men became laborers or zombie shields. Women were used to satisfy lust.
"These super strong people burst in, calling themselves believers or something. Then their cult leader showed up."
No way I'd expected that damn bastard to pop up here.
"He said we had to liberate the student union building, so he took Kim Dong-soo and the athletic club kids with him. But no one's come back since."
Of course they hadn't.
Their corpses were scattered across the plaza.
The navigation showed two dots: the cult leader and Kim Dong-soo.
The two had ended up as friendly meals for the Frankenstein zombies.
"Is that all of Kim Dong-soo's guys?"
They whispered among themselves before pointing upstairs.
"Two more on the third floor. They're using the athletic dorms up there."
I told them to tie up the unconscious ones and headed upstairs with Roji.
The moment we reached the third-floor stairs, two burly guys with chairs and steel pipes came roaring at us.
I blocked one with a door and tripped the other coming from behind.
"Wh-what...?"
Bad luck for him—the spot where he started tumbling was right at the top of the stairs.
He rolled down with a crash, scraping his head against the stairwell wall all the way to the second floor.
Roji went down to check and shook her head.
"He's dead."
I dragged the fallen guy from the third floor downstairs.
"Tie this one up too and grab anything that can be used as a weapon."
The boys went up and came back loaded with stuff.
Steel pipes, wooden clubs, two-by-fours, aluminum bats, golf clubs—you name it.
There were even knives: kitchen knives, cleavers, sashimi blades.
They'd scavenged them from the restaurant strip near the main gate.
The captives didn't know much about the cult leader.
One of them woke up first, so I pressed a sashimi knife to his throat and grinned.
"Pl-please... spare me..."
"Answer right, and I'll let you live. Hesitate, and I'll carve you up. So answer well."
He nodded, shaking violently.
He was just a lackey clinging to some strong guy.
Most of it was useless crap about the cult leader's miracles, but there were some useful bits.
Other survivors were holed up in the shops across from the main gate and in a church.
I got a rough count of the believers watching them.
Seemed like I'd heard everything worth hearing, so I left the four guys in their hands.
"Handle it yourselves. Forgive them or give 'em what they deserve."
"Y-you said you'd spare us!"
"I will. But them? Who knows."
The kids' eyes lit up behind me.
One girl was already gripping a knife.
"P-please! Dong-soo hyung made me do it."
"Die—!!"
A sickening squelch and pig-like squeals later, the four were hacked-up corpses.
"Oppa, you're so ruthless."
"Gotta be, to survive in this world."
Woojin University Main Gate Shopping District—
Two burly guys guarded the entrance to one shop building.
It was where they'd locked up survivors they'd dragged in from around the area.
A group approached from the alley end.
The two guards tightened their grips on their steel pipes.
"The cult leader sent us to pick these guys up."
I spoke politely, but they eyed me suspiciously.
"Who the hell are you?"
"I'm from the school over there. I'm a believer too, so no need to be on guard. The cult leader fixed my arm."
I rotated my arm to show them.
Playing the part of a survivor who'd witnessed the cult leader's miracle and converted.
They scanned me up and down before opening the door.
"Get in."
Inside, my senses sharpened—eyes and ears on high alert.
My heightened perception picked up the hostility scattered around.
A creepy sense of pleasure oozed from the corner.
Women's moans meant some bastard was having his fun.
'Spot on. Five upstairs, three down...'
Every Mart had over 40 people, plus the cult leader using offense/defense tickets—I couldn't handle that alone.
Now there were only ten burly guys left, no cult leader backing them up.
A few believers among the survivors, but they were civilians who'd bolt at the first sign of a fight.
"Leave the kids here and go report to the guy on the second floor. Ask how things went after the cult leader left."
"Got it."
Orders to report to the one running things in the cult leader's place.
Perfect timing—I was about to smash his jaw and charge upstairs anyway.
Up on the second floor, a shirtless brute lounged on a sofa, smoking.
"What happened to the cult leader and the elder? Did they go to the student union...? Gaaah—!!"
The second I spotted him, I launched myself.
Two or three times faster than a normal person, I tackled him and we rolled across the floor.
I sprang up first, wrapped my arm around his neck, and twisted with all my strength.
Crack!
With a burst, his eyes met mine as he faced away from me.
I'd twisted too hard—his head spun 180 degrees.
He stared at me in horror before collapsing.
As I got up from snapping his neck, the two in front charged.
I shouldered one aside; he crashed into the one behind, both tumbling.
I grabbed a nearby table and smashed it down.
Both died without a scream, heads bursting like zombies.
The other brutes screamed and fled at the sight.
Downstairs was already chaos.
A few kids from school were piling on one guy.
Even a gangster can't shrug off three or four pissed-off attackers.
"Haat—!!"
Roji's performance was impressive.
She tripped a charging pipe-wielder and drove her elbow into his solar plexus.
No rookie moves there.
By the end, even the survivors from upstairs joined in, slaughtering all the gangsters.
Some had suffered badly—they stabbed at already-dead bodies.
Like at the mart, I picked out the cult leader's direct underlings and left the rest to the survivors.
Meanwhile, Roji and I raided the church, but it was empty.
They'd all fled while we fought, or the cult leader had taken them all.
"Looks like we're about done here."
"……."
"Why so quiet?"
"I believe you now—that you killed the monster."
"What changed your mind all of a sudden?"
"Seeing you rip off car doors and hurl barricades clued me in, but fighting... I felt it. You're not just strong—you're a warrior hunting beasts."
"Warrior? Don't flatter me."
"That's just the vibe. Strong guys are hot. I like that."
Her cheeks flushed as she spoke.
Didn't sound like lip service.
"More importantly, you fight damn well yourself. Took down two guys."
"I was a track athlete through middle school. Still do boxing and martial arts regularly. Confident I can beat most guys."
No wonder she had the best physique in the girl group.
Turning her into a slave would yield insane stats.
Back at the shops, it was all wrapped up.
The cult collaborators' corpses littered one side.
"We interrogated them. Executed only the irredeemable ones. We haven't thanked you properly for saving us. Truly grateful."
A man in his ambiguous elderly years bowed. One of the frail folks from the top floor—a former opposition city councilor.
The survivors had voted him their leader.
I exchanged quick greetings and told a boy from school:
"Go to the student union and tell everyone at the business building to gather out front. Got something to say."
I led the shop survivors to the front of the business building.
Gathering everyone from the student union, business building, and shops came to about 80 people.
Similar to the Every Mart group.
I climbed somewhere everyone could see.
80 pairs of eyes were intimidating, but I had to give them a parting word.
"The student union and main street shops still have plenty of food left. 80 isn't a small number, but..."
Luckily, the cult gang had cleared nearby zombies.
I hadn't checked the back gate, but with the front open, no need for it.
I called over the councilor and introduced him as the new leader.
This many people needed a central figure to boost survival odds.
Finally, I wished them all survival and left with Roji.
"How do we get there?"
I pointed at the road clogged with cars.
"We have a car, but the road's like that, so we parked midway. Gotta walk from here."
"How far?"
"30 km."
"Whoa, that's crazy far."
Not really, if we walked.
With agility at level 59, I could piggyback Roji and outrun any track star.
Just as I opened my mouth to tell her to hop on, time froze.
'What the—again?'
A zombie AI popped up in front of me.
In a brand-new costume, no less.