Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 004
Chapter Title: Floor 1 Project Zombie World
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People online had said the Tower's trials were like virtual dimensions or something similar.
Maybe this was the zombie apocalypse world I'd always dreamed of coming true?
'I've wanted to fuck the female NPCs in a zombie apocalypse world for ages...'
Starting the trial.
The world went dark once more.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Starting the 1st Floor trial.
The 1st Floor trial is 'Survive for One Day'.
I closed my eyes and opened them again.
Suddenly, I was standing in a room of an unfamiliar apartment.
A quick look around showed it was a completely ordinary room belonging to someone.
The bookshelf had a decent number of books lined up,
there was a desk with a personal computer,
a single bed and a dresser,
and a closet filled with the owner's clothes...
Just your average someone's room.
"...The books are in Korean, so yeah, Daegu map confirmed."
Project Zombie World was a game set in a virtual America.
Books in Korean in a world where English should be the norm.
That meant this was the Daegu map mod I mainly played.
This was Daegu Metropolitan City around 2023.
I pulled out a smartphone of an unfamiliar model from my pocket and checked the date.
It had fingerprint lock; when I pressed my finger to it, the phone unlocked automatically.
'July 1st? July 1st...? The zombie apocalypse doesn't hit until July 4th...?'
I flashed a sleazy grin.
"Three days from now, that place in America... Illinois? Manhattan? Washington was it? ...Anyway, some state gets totally fucked..., spreads gradually, and by a week later it's worldwide... So zombies haven't properly appeared in the world yet...?"
Surviving one day in a zombie apocalypse game with no zombies...
This difficulty level is fucking easy, right...?
All the tension drained right out of me.
This was basically on the level of that "enjoy a delicious bowl of seolleongtang" option from the choices earlier, super easy mode?
I looked around the room some more,
got bored and hungry, and headed out into the hallway.
A plain living room and kitchen came into view.
The fancy wall clock hanging in the center of the living room read 7 a.m.
I scratched my belly and wandered around the whole house...,
checking out what was inside.
Looking around...
Well..., everything you'd expect was there.
Fresh edible food in the fridge,
kimchi, veggies, and meat in the kimchi fridge,
a baseball glove and bat in the small balcony storage,
five sharp kitchen knives in the kitchen, sorted by size and type.
Finally, I went into the bathroom and saw my reflection in the mirror.
It didn't look much different from reality.
I looked a bit older...,
but otherwise, it was just me, nothing special.
Rummaging through the house had made me hungry.
Morning, so I figured I'd grab something from the fridge to eat.
I dug through the fridge, ate some spoonable yogurt, and chugged a banana milk since it was there.
Still not enough, so I fried some eggs in a pan and paired them with rice from the cooker and kimchi from the kimchi fridge.
Didn't know who made the kimchi, but it was pretty damn good.
"Hmm..., nothing else to do...?"
I rolled around on the bed.
Glancing at the time, it was 9 a.m.
Time flew by while poking around the house and eating.
Pondering what to do, I habitually pulled the smartphone from my pants pocket and held it in my hand.
It was an unconscious habit, so I went to put it back...,
when a thought flashed through my mind.
'...How much cash does the owner of this body have in the bank? ...This house seems pretty nice.'
The unfamiliar smartphone unlocked again at my fingerprint.
I scrolled through the apps on the home screen,
spotted the smart banking app, and tapped it.
The bank app also had simple fingerprint lock, so it unlocked with my finger.
"Whoa!! Fuck...! So much goddamn money...!"
I double-checked the number, thinking I'd misread it.
Whoa..., 580 million...? 587 million won...?
"Damn..., way richer than real-life me.... Can I take this money back to reality?"
Seeing the bank account stuffed with cash made my stomach feel full just looking at it.
But realizing it wasn't actually my money brought on that post-nut clarity.
A closer look showed only about 250 million won in actual cash in the account,
the rest invested in stocks, ETFs, financial products? Some investment stuff.
Knowing a zombie apocalypse was coming to this world,
I sold it all off a bit below market price, quick as possible.
'No real need to do this..., but nothing else to do anyway.'
The cash, minus 50 million won, was all in 1-year or 3-5 year fixed deposits earning high interest.
I canceled those too and converted everything to immediately available funds.
"...Pulled all the money out, but now what? Can't take it to reality anyway...'
Somehow, with that kingly god complex,
I figured the zombie apocalypse was coming, so better pull it all out.
Because in movies and dramas, that's what they do in these situations.
But I hadn't thought about exactly what to do next.
Hmm.... Food and water...?
But the trial ends in 24 hours anyway?
"Eh, first things first, order a ton of tasty shit. Heh."
Lunchtime was approaching fast.
I opened the delivery app and ordered everything I wanted.
This world was about to turn into zombie hell anyway.
No regrets spending paper money.
In Project Zombie World, cash really was just scrap paper.
Only useful occasionally as kindling or fire starters.
Plus, I'd be gone from here in about 24 hours? Totally meaningless money.
Yukhoe, cold noodles, sweet-and-sour pork, chicken, pig's feet, pizza, burgers, etc....
I splurged on all the expensive-looking stuff.
After ordering food, I rolled around on the bed again, bored out of my mind.
Might as well go full apocalypse prep concept and order a shitload of food and water too.
"Wonder if 580 million won will get it delivered? Heh heh."
I opened the Coupang app on my phone's home screen and loaded up on bottled water and preserved foods.
Remembering canned goods and emergency rations had the best shelf life in the game, I went heavy on those.
Bought so much...
The card limit exceeded message popped up, and calls came from the card company and Coupang.
"No, card wasn't stolen. I just went ham on purchases. Yes, it's fine. Thank you."
"Yeah, I'll buy it all. Just send it. Too much for one delivery? It's okay. Really. Ah..., the delivery guy's got it rough. Still, please deliver it all. Yes, yes. Thanks for your hard work."
I got the card limit raised and bought even more.
Lounging back on the bed after the spree, a sudden thought hit me.
'Wait, fuck. Who the hell is this body's owner to have this much money? Crypto whale or something?'
Curiosity piqued, I searched the room where I'd first woken up.
Taking a slow, detailed look around, I realized he was a big corporate employee.
Lots of certifications, so he'd studied hard.
'...Huh? He's older than me? 28? Whoa..., six years older? No wonder he looked a bit aged...'
Checking the birthdate on one of the certifications and calculating with the current date, he was 28.
Real-life me was 22, so this world's body owner was six years older.
I turned on the computer.
Password protected, but it was the exact same one I used on my real computer.
I checked the computer.
Not a single game installed, the usual suspects.
Everything was work-related.
...Workaholic? Total job-obsessed freak.
Had a crypto exchange program, so yeah, he dabbled in coins.
Of course, I found the hidden porn folder and enjoyed the precious collection this body had amassed.
Yeah, doesn't play games but watches porn? That's a man for ya.
This body seemed to have a thing for married women...,
Lots of MILF stuff.
In the folder displaying photos mainly, I spotted something suspicious.
'...Huh? Real photos...? Feels like taken in this apartment...?'
No matter how I looked, the apartment layout in the photos matched where I was.
I even went out the front door and compared; definitely the same place.
'...This bastard was a pro at upskirting and stalking...?'
The main target in the photos was what looked like the married woman next door.
Digging through folders, something super shady caught my eye,
so I searched for hidden folders and scoured everything...
He even had a detailed profile of the neighbor married woman saved in a notepad file.
'...Hah, this psycho. Thought he was a straight-laced big corp guy..., turns out I'm still me...? Sneaking around doing this shit...'