Solo Play
I slipped out of the villa and continued moving with extreme caution.
That was when I spotted a pile of zombie corpses scattered across the ground.
Did our benefactor—the one who threw the beer bottle at us—take care of these?
If I wanted to pass safely, the correct approach would have been to clear them out as I moved. But someone had already done the job for me.
As expected of my benefactor! I knew I could count on you!
Thanks to that, I was able to advance without any trouble.
By the time my back started aching from staying in a constant crouch, I finally saw it.
Hongje Station!
I had discovered Hongje Station, its lights still brightly lit.
After staring at a city swallowed by darkness, the sight of bright lights felt strangely unsettling instead of comforting.
Looks like quite a few people have already escaped.
Zombie corpses were piled up all around Hongje Station. To be honest, clearing this many by ourselves would have been incredibly dangerous.
The entrance to the brightly lit station. Zombies sensitive to light.
That’s right.
The escape exits were always guarded by a swarm of sprinters.
That was why I had planned to wait for other people and clear them together, but… they were already taken care of. Lucky me.
“Let’s head inside.”
“Yes.”
To escape, we needed to go down to the ticket gates.
No zombies downstairs. No people either.
Thanks to the Echo Sonar Bike Helmet, scouting was easy. Whether the zombies were awake or asleep, I could detect their sounds from a distance.
“Mister Junseong, if you stand inside the ticket gate for thirty seconds, you should be able to escape.”
“Yes. Huh? Aren’t you coming with me, Jaeha?”
“I still have some things to take care of.”
In truth, I had considered escaping together with him.
But since I was already inside, I wanted to prove that what I had only imagined was actually possible.
Of course, I had no intention of coming back in here a second time.
“You’re not planning to enter the tower again, are you, Mister Junseong?”
“N-no, no, of course not. I think I underestimated how dangerous it was.”
That was a relief.
If he had said he wanted to come back, I would have tried to talk him out of it no matter what.
“Sell the items you got here to the hunters. They’ll give you a decent price. It might feel cheap considering you risked your life, though.”
“Haha, still, thanks to you, Jaeha, I managed to get quite a haul.”
I Junseong flapped the hem of his jacket.
“Then go on in.”
“Yes! Jaeha, thank you so much. If we ever meet outside, I’ll treat you to a really big meal!”
Since he was a local resident too, we’d probably run into each other someday.
“Sure.”
I waved at him and turned away.
At first I had planned to dump him at the exit and run, but now that we were actually parting ways, I felt a strange mix of relief and reluctance.
Quiet Footsteps Lv.2
Yes! This is exactly what I’m meant to do!
Solo play suited me perfectly.
Entry to the first floor was automatically solo. After entering, however, hunters could team up and move together.
But there was one clear downside to partying up.
Skill levels rose much more slowly than when playing solo.
Some people would probably say safety was worth more than anything. But my thoughts were a little different.
How can I trust someone I just met?
Of course, I had never heard of a hunter openly stabbing someone in the back. But you never know.
After all, there had been that guy who threw a beer bottle at us.
Or maybe the victims just never lived to tell the tale.
Okay, that’s going a bit too far.
With zombies everywhere, why would people need to fight each other?
Next to the Hongje Station exit was a pharmacy. And right beside the pharmacy was a police station.
But the police station would definitely have stage-two zombies, so I skipped it.
Should I loot the pharmacy first?
Without hesitation, I stepped inside.
Crunch. Crack.
Someone had already been here—the glass door was completely shattered.
This was a pharmacy I used to visit often. Seeing it in the middle of an apocalypse felt strangely surreal.
I first picked up all the pain relief patches, painkillers, and ointments scattered around.
This subspace backpack is seriously convenient.
I didn’t even need to open the backpack and put things in one by one. Just touching an item made it automatically store itself according to my will.
Taking things out was just as easy.
Time to treat myself first.
The throbbing from my bruises still hadn’t gone away. I quickly took off my clothes using the subspace backpack and slapped on some patches.
I don’t think I need the painkillers yet.
After grabbing some bandages as well, I left the pharmacy.
I continued walking up along the roadside.
When I passed by a restaurant blocked off by a metal shutter, I paused.
Should I farm this place too?
It was a café that was always packed with people. I vaguely remembered something about “Moonstar vibes,” but since I had never been inside, I wouldn’t know.
Creak.
I carefully opened the entrance door and stepped inside.
“Grrrrk.”
“Kurrk.”
“Kuuuuh.”
Three sleeping zombies.
To be honest, it was still a little scary. But now that I had an E-grade hand axe, I should be fine.
I moved behind the two zombies that were clustered together. The last one was a bit farther away, so if I took care of one at a time, I could keep it as one-on-one fights.
Huu.
I took a light breath and smashed the back of the nearest one’s head!
CRACK!!
The hand axe sank in as easily as if I were splitting open a watermelon.
“Kwehk?!”
“Krrk?!”
The other two woke up from the noise.
I kicked the closest one in the chest—
THUD!
Then brought the axe down on the one that had fallen!
SLASH! CRUNCH!
Even the fingers that tried to block my strike were severed.
“KWEEEEEEHK!”
I knocked away the arm of the last one that came staggering over late and finished it off.
THUNK! STAB! STAB! STAB!
“Huuup… huu… huu…”
Just that short fight had me burning up, my face flushed with heat.
Three at once is pretty easy now.
The item advantage really was huge. If I had still been using a wooden bat, I would have had to fight like my life depended on it.
Now it was time to farm.
I hurriedly searched every corner.
Three bags of coffee beans.
An espresso machine.
A tumbler.
A battery-powered LP player.
Three LP records.
Café farming isn’t bad at all.
If you brewed coffee from the beans and drank it, you could gain a temporary boost to strength and stamina. It even relieved fatigue.
The effect was better than water or soda. That was why hunters bought it at high prices.
If you brought coffee with you when entering the tower, you could dope yourself up in between fights.
And using this espresso machine would make the effect even stronger.
To carry the coffee, you’d need the tumbler obtained from the tower as well. Selling them as a set would probably get an even better price.
The LP player and records surprisingly sold for decent money too. Maybe for collection or decoration?
My next destination was across the street—an area lined with clothing stores.
If I was lucky, I might be able to farm some decent defensive gear.
“Grrrrk.”
“Kuuuuh.”
“Krrk.”
Just by looking, there were well over ten sleeping zombies on the other side of the road.
I bent my waist low, held my breath, and carefully moved forward.
Whew. Good thing I have the Quiet Footsteps skill.
Fortunately, I crossed without waking any zombies.
Damn it. Two of the stores are blocked off.
Unfortunately, only one clothing store was open.
Creak—
Worried about waking the zombies on the roadside, I entered as quietly as possible.
This is a bit disappointing.
Unlike the usual scenery, the store interior was almost empty. There were more mannequins than clothes.
And the clothes weren’t thick enough to use as armor—just thin cardigans and t-shirts.
Still, I managed to salvage a few things.
Leather gloves.
A scarf.
A bucket hat.
Well, it’s better than nothing.
Hands and the neck were the most frequently targeted areas. Even though it fell short of my expectations, these were still pretty decent defensive items.
Before leaving, I checked the road through the glass wall.
Hmm.
That was when my eyes landed on one of the mannequins.
Maybe… this could actually be useful?
I stuffed the mannequin into my backpack as well. I also grabbed a few pieces of clothing that couldn’t be used as armor.
After passing the stores with their shutters down, I entered a stationery shop. There should be something useful in a place like this.
Hmm, what’s this?
A flashlight.
A set of Christmas tree lights.
A mini car.
Two robot toys.
Five ballpoint pens.
Ten batteries.
Just a bunch of random junk.
Still, the flashlight is pretty good.
Though I probably wouldn’t use it much. Zombies woke up when they saw light.
The batteries aren’t bad either.
Batteries from inside the tower were three times more efficient than ones from outside. They could be sold not only to hunters but on the regular market as well.
If I play my cards right, this might work out.
The plan I had come up with at the beginning. As I continued farming, useful items kept piling up nicely.
While I was gathering the items—
THUD! CRACK! BANG!
“KWOOOOOOR!” “KWEEEEHK!”
This way! Into the alley!
I heard the sounds of a fight coming from outside.
I hid behind a shelf and watched the scene.
Five people were running away from the zombies on the roadside.
Huh? Weren’t they running away?
The fleeing people suddenly turned back toward the zombies.
They systematically took down the zombies that approached them in a line.
They must have lured them on purpose for farming.
I didn’t know how they had ended up teaming up, but they looked reliable. Two of them even seemed to be proper hunters.
After cleaning up the zombies, they chatted cheerfully among themselves.
Should I go over and say hello?
If I stayed hidden and we ran into each other later, it would just create an awkward atmosphere.
I stepped out of the stationery shop, waving both arms widely as I approached.
They must have noticed me too, because they turned in my direction.
When I got close enough, I greeted them.
“Hello there, everyone?”
“Oh, there’s another person?”
“Looks like this person’s a hunter too.”
The hunter turned out to be a middle-aged man.
But he called me a hunter?
Ah, must be because of my gear.
Of course, there was no way to tell if something was an item or not just by looking. The app could only scan things when they weren’t being worn.
Now that I think about it, I’ve farmed a lot already.
I came in empty-handed, yet I was already geared up enough to be mistaken for a hunter.
Maybe I really am a talent hoarder?
“Were you farming alone?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Farming by yourself is dangerous. Want to join us?”
“Thank you for the offer, but I’m fine. I prefer being alone.”
“Really? Well, you look like a veteran, so I guess you’ll be okay.”
With that, the hunter uncle led his group into the clothing store I had just come out of.
Thanks for clearing out the roadside zombies for me.
The perfect environment for carrying out my plan had been created.
“Huu. Alright then… shall we give it a try?”
I entered a suitable store and began preparing to execute my plan.