Hari Was Elite
Lee Hari was elite. She was a woman who had proven her abilities long ago. It was common knowledge that children born from a man's womb—not ordinary clones—were stronger. She didn't particularly want to admit it, but Hari was a child with a biological father anyway. She was stronger and wiser than the other orphanage kids. If she'd been born just a few months earlier, she would've gone to Katus instead of Kim Haena. She'd expected that herself, so when Haena screwed up, she'd even resented the director. Now, though, she could only think that meeting him like this was the lucky break.
...Our forces—
Anyway, so Hari had learned more than the others. How to gauge a squad's strength, how to lead them efficiently, how to analyze enemy numbers and quality before making effective calls. She was elite enough to take a squad the moment she entered Katus, so that prep was only natural. And Hari had never even imagined a day when that knowledge would be useless.
She figured Dad's organization wouldn't have anyone with that kind of training, so she'd be a huge help once she joined. That was a delusion.
"Okay, everyone stick together! There are tons of these bastards here, so don't step forward for no reason!"
What appeared before Hari's eyes were zombies. Zombies packed so thick it reminded her of that night-street procession. She had no choice but to tense up.
Hari calmly calculated how many zombies she could drop with her ammo and marksmanship. Once Director Seon Yeowon secured her spot, she gauged how many elite monsters were mixed in that she would need to watch. They had to protect the non-combatants who'd come along—like Shin Roa. Handing "protection" to rough-looking Han Seohee might've been risky, but there was no one else for it.
An Sua's level seemed decent enough, but she'd done a bare-minimum analysis on the way here. Skill-summoned pistol type, firing handguns. Great for assassinations, ambushes, crisis response. A 2kg rifle got cumbersome during movement or searches, so it wasn't without merits. No jams somewhere, no running dry on ammo—skill-based gun meant endless supply.
But that was it. Her marksmanship was sharp, but her bullets didn't look special. Just mana-heavy shots to drop one zombie at a time. She could play firefighter in a pinch or harass with agile moves, but she wouldn't be proper support.
In the end... I have to do it.
Of course, her father—the one she'd chosen to call father—was strong. But even he couldn't breeze through this dungeon. That's what Hari thought.
Until she saw the man's sword charging ahead.
"Huh?"
It was a plastic sword. And it danced again right before her eyes.
I... shouldn't watch!
Gawking at him while he fought well was inefficient. No way he'd get hurt or endangered, no matter what. What she needed to do now was widen her field of view, scan the whole room. Stay alert for any zombies slipping past him toward their allies.
Ugh...
She knew. But no matter how much she told herself focus on the zombies, she couldn't tear her eyes from that radiant glow.
She knew. It wasn't her first time seeing it. Back during the escape, he'd shown superhuman might, his back an unbreakable shield.
Still, she hadn't expected this level.
"Hup!"
Flesh sprayed. Zombies were literally mulched. Like a shepherd lazily herding cattle with a stick, he swung that plastic sword in sloppy semicircles.
And no zombie made it inside those arcs. Not because they were good little livestock, but because none had intact upper bodies left.
The room-filling zombies were instantly bisected into torsos and legs, crawling feebly everywhere.
"Alright, room's clear. You gun girls? Got the iron rods?"
"Yes!"
Kim Haena shot her hand up. Hari glanced around, let out a deep sigh, then reluctantly raised hers.
"We got 'em, Master!"
His first slave, An Sua, bounced on her toes and thrust her hand skyward.
...How the hell did it come to this?
Hari shut her eyes, recalling what he'd said before they entered.
Crawling zombies ahead. Ammo won't cut it no matter how much we burn, so let's scrounge some iron rods from a ruin or something.
Hari had objected, of course. Melee was better with martial arts or her dagger. Basic combat meant keeping distance with guns. Even if bullets were precious in this world, they weren't worth a human life. Sending low-level Haena or herself into zombie melee was suicidal.
Back then, she hadn't realized the zombies would be slow, pathetic crawlers.
"See? Just stab the twitchers one by one, slice the loose clumps easy!"
Hari eyed the crawlers with cold, dead eyes. She slammed the sharp rod down hard—zombie skull exploded.
...This.
No tactics, no expert marksmanship, no fancy footwork needed. Hell, calling it "combat" was an insult. It was more like a game.
Sometimes the kids went out to the yard for dirt play, spotted a worm, and stabbed it with a stick. Hari couldn't help overlapping herself with those children.
"I got four already!"
"Five for me! Praise me, Master!"
Hari sighed deeply. Seemed she was the only one drowning in self-loathing.
"Eeyaah! Ah, missed!"
Yeowon's rod barely grazed the zombie's skull.
"Hey, auntie. Don't rush—calmly aim for the head. Like this!"
Bat met ground—skull burst.
"You... couldn't you just sweep 'em solo?"
The man shook his head.
"Efficiency would suck balls."
"Huh?"
"Mana-infuse the sword, swing it around for days... sure, but AOE's a burden."
"Skills inefficient?"
"Eh..." He trailed off, shaking his head.
"Anyway, last time no one to help, it sucked solo. Do me a solid."
Before he finished, Han Seohee poked Hari's shoulder.
"You, what? Smash 'em quick! Smashing gives EXP—why you slacking?"
"EXP... from smashing?"
Obvious, thinking about it. EXP went to the killer, and these crawlers weren't fully dead yet.
She just couldn't swallow how this dead-simple act handed out EXP.
"Goddamn..."
Hari gripped the rod and started poking crawlers dead.
Door opened soon enough.
"Next! Let's go!"
Kim Sunwoo bellowed energetically. The rest followed.
Hari couldn't shake the creeping uselessness.
The genre's different...
Until recently, she'd braced for brutal fights ahead. Bad luck meant death; comrades dropping left and right. Survive the gauntlet, prove her worth as a warrior, earn the right to live—that was the life she'd expected.
But this...
Even if it helped him somehow, injecting meaning into this brain-dead chore wasn't easy. No talent required. No skill. Just plop anyone here—they'd handle it fine.
Poke monsters, snag EXP. That simple.
Surely, even if I jumped in... total bullet waste. Nothing more, nothing less.
No matter how she steeled herself, reality didn't budge.
At least if elite monsters showed—
She barely rallied her mind and trailed him deeper into the dungeon.
Of course, her big moment never came.
Elite monsters appeared, treasure chests opened, descent to next floor—Sunwoo cleared it all without a hitch.
Hari could do nothing but follow in his wake.