A Walk Through Hell
When I first entered the tower, my only plan was to escape immediately. But after hearing I Junseong's reason for coming here, my thoughts shifted a little. Before entering the tower, I'd figured the government would handle everything. Hmm. But honestly, I couldn't trust them. So, feeling frustrated, I decided to pitch in myself. My goal was to farm as much cash as possible and get out. This would be my first and last act of patriotism.
"Mister, hurry up and search."
"I'm not a mister, you know?"
"Hey, Mr. Lee, hurry up and search."
"Y-yes, yes. I'm doing it right now."
The moment we left the starting point, we took down two more zombies and slipped into the villa right next door. But this I Junseong guy was way too slow. We needed to farm quickly and escape, yet here he was organizing everything. Does he have OCD or something?
My immediate priority wasn't cash—it was weapons. The tower's wooden bats were sturdier, but they'd break eventually. I needed to secure a spare while I had the chance.
"Is this worth taking?"
"It's fine. Put it in here."
The random junk I Junseong had gathered went into my bag. Thank god I have a bag. Without one, I'd be stuck carrying things like he was.
Just like the previous villa, we started from the fourth floor and worked our way down. Then—
A hammer!
I finally found an extra weapon on the first floor.
"Mister, come out quick. We're leaving now."
"Did you find a weapon?"
"Yeah."
We were heading straight for the exit from here. I couldn't afford to babysit this guy anymore.
As we moved carefully, I suddenly raised my fist and stopped. A half-second later, I heard him halt behind me. Ugh. Look at that reaction time. I swallowed my rising irritation and reviewed the plan.
From the residential starting point to the station was a four-minute walk. But since we had to avoid zombies, it would take about fifteen minutes.
"Grrrrk."
"Grrrrrrrrk."
"Grk."
Five of them were sleeping. I pressed a finger to my lips and signaled I Junseong. He nodded. Hopefully he actually understood.
We slipped carefully between the zombies. When I glanced back, I Junseong was following exactly in my footsteps. Yeah, even he couldn't mess that up. He's still a person, after all.
We advanced a little farther before I raised my fist again.
Damn it. A strolling zombie.
Stage 1 zombies came in two types: runners and walkers. In between were the strollers. Zombies spent most of their time asleep. But they didn't sleep twenty-four seven. Like this one, they'd sometimes wake up and wander around for a while.
The problem was not knowing how long this one had been awake. If two minutes had passed, it would turn into a runner soon. And runners weren't dangerous just because they ran. The real threat was their bodies loosening up, letting them move freely. Their combat power skyrocketed.
I signaled I Junseong to retreat. He nodded in agreement.
Quiet Footsteps
A passive skill that reduces the sound of the user's footsteps.
A blue hologram appeared before my eyes.
Nice!
In the tower, your actions could sometimes grant skills. Of course, the chance was extremely low. I checked the description. It was a passive that reduced footstep noise.
This is insanely good?!
In some ways, wasn't this one of the most important skills in the tower?
Whiiiish—
Something drew a parabola across the sky and fell.
Huh?
Crash!
The shattered glass fragments from the bottle scattered across the floor with a scraping sound.
Fuck, that's a beer bottle?!
It had clearly been thrown on purpose. By who?
"Krk?!"
"Oh, shit. No…"
The walker that had noticed us—no, the one that had just turned into a runner—began sprinting toward us. In that instant, the number one cause of hunter deaths flashed through my mind. It was exactly this: getting spotted by a stroller that had turned into a runner.
There was no time to hesitate.
Shit!
I charged forward and swung the wooden bat with all my strength.
Crack!
But the zombie's outstretched arm blocked it, preventing a clean hit.
"Huk!"
Then things went from bad to worse. Startled by the sudden fight, I Junseong let out a loud noise.
"Kwek?!"
"Krrrk!"
"Kweeeek!"
The five zombies we'd passed earlier all woke up.
We're fucked!
I immediately shouted at I Junseong.
"Kill this one fast and run! Go!"
"Huh? Ack?!"
"Run, I said!"
"U-um, which way?!"
God damn it.
Thud! Thud!
I barely dodged the runner trying to tackle me and slammed my elbow into it.
"Over here!"
"O-okay!"
Only then did I Junseong come running. With five shambling zombies in tow.
Crack!
A solid hit to the head. As the zombie hunched over, I Junseong ran up from behind.
"Stomp its head!"
"Y-yes!"
Crack!
The runner collapsed after a clean blow. Squish! I finished it by crushing its skull under my foot.
"Follow me!"
"Yes!"
We reached an alley where the villas were packed tightly together. Besides watching hunter videos and doing virtual walks on street view, I had one more hobby.
Parkour.
Parkour was a movement technique that could mean the difference between life and death. It wasn't easy, of course. Most hunters couldn't do it. But among experienced hunters, there wasn't a single one who couldn't. So I'd practiced too. You had to try it yourself to imagine it properly.
Good thing I practiced.
And this spot—where two villas were almost touching—was exactly where I'd secretly trained. The left building had a semi-basement, while the right one started on the first floor. Thanks to that, the verandas were staggered like first floor, 1.5, second, 2.5, and so on.
I stepped on the veranda and leaped sideways.
"Hup! Hoo!"
Maybe my condition was good, or maybe it was the snacks. Either way, I climbed faster and more nimbly than usual. I Junseong stared up at me in a daze.
"Jaeha-nim, what about me?!"
"Wait a second!"
I quickly pulled out a torn piece of cloth, tied the ends together, twisted it tightly, and reinforced it with duct tape. This should make a decent rope.
The shambling zombies were almost here.
"Hurry up and climb! Watch your footing!"
"W-will it hold?!"
"If you don't want to die, shut up and climb!"
"Ah, yes!"
After climbing all the way to the top floor like that, we held our breath and waited. A moment later, we heard the walkers smashing the glass door of the villa below.
Crash!
But it was the door of the neighboring building.
Lucky they're stupid. Their vision is narrow too.
They didn't know exactly where we were. They could only search around the last place they'd detected us. After three minutes, the zombies started running around.
"Kwoooor."
"Kweeeek."
But they just wandered aimlessly. In the end, unable to find us, they returned to where they'd been sleeping.
"Whew."
We could finally breathe again.
"I-I thought I was going to die."
Then why did you make noise?
Of course, it wasn't entirely I Junseong's fault. The real problem was that beer bottle that had flown in from somewhere. Damn it!
It had been thrown on purpose. Who the hell did that?
I'd heard rumors before. There were hunters who drew aggro onto others and then escaped leisurely. I'd thought it was just talk, but apparently not.
You son of a bitch. Just wait until I meet you.
But the culprit had probably already run away, using our crisis as cover. Still, it was fortunate things ended here. If this had happened near the road, we'd have died for sure. Dozens of zombies would be clustered along the street near Hongje Station. If all their aggro turned toward us, there'd be no way out.
"Since we're here, let's loot this place before we go."
"Ah, yes. Sounds good."
We entered the house through the veranda.
Lucky us.
Not every building could be entered. Most were blocked by shutters or wooden planks, as if real people had barricaded them against zombies. The buildings we'd passed earlier had been the same. Fortunately, this one wasn't.
"Jaeha-nim, would this wooden plank be useful?"
"Yes, put it here."
He seemed to be getting the hang of farming and had brought back something decent. While I quickly rummaged through the drawers—
Something sparkled inside one.
"Oh!"
It was the effect that appeared when you found a special item. I pulled it out.
"A key!"
Jackpot!
In the tower, keys had special meaning. There were many types, so I'd need to check, but they were usually used to enter special locations, access unique exits, or open locked doors.
I immediately opened the Tower of Calamity app and scanned the key.
◈ Used to open a reinforced safe
◈ Extremely rare drop
"Whoaaaa, fuck!!! I got it!!!"
I couldn't help but shout. But I couldn't hold it in. This was an absolute jackpot!!
Even a regular safe key would have been amazing, but this was C-grade! I'd never seen this rank in any of the videos before. There were rumors of B-grade keys being found, but most people thought those were lies. Which means this is practically the highest-grade key ever discovered!
The deep-seated resentment and anger I'd been holding inside melted away like snow.
Benefactor! Thank you! So this was all part of your plan!
The beer bottle that had flown at us earlier came to mind again. As I bowed toward the direction where the runner had been lying, I Junseong stared at me blankly.
"Jaeha-nim, are you feeling sick?"
"No. Just keep doing what you're doing."
I ignored him and continued bowing. Three times total. If there's a C-grade safe key here, there's a high chance a safe is nearby.
Of course, sometimes keys appeared without one. In that case, you could carry the key until you found a safe. Let's search quickly.
I checked every corner of the house, but there was no safe. It might be in another unit. This was apartment 502. Maybe it was in 501.
"Junseong-nim, let's go next door."
"Ah, yes."
I unlocked the front door and opened it carefully.