Chapter 318
Chapter 318
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 318
Chapter Title: 128. Tower (4)
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Message from m9: Capsule? There are plenty of capsules around here. They're everywhere.
Jackpot.
m9 being friendly toward me was definitely a good thing.
Everyone from Korea to the rest of the world knew there was no better guide around here than him.
But not everyone on the internet was a good person like me.
No site was free from the rot of malicious users.
m9 mentioned the name of one user who hadn't been very visible lately.
m9 sent me a photo.
It laid bare Reporter—U Min-hee's ugly true face on the internet.
I met up with m9 again.
"Whoa, SKELTON. I see you around a lot lately. You hoping to move into our apartment too?"
Eating well and climbing the slanted apartment every day had completely transformed m9's body from the scrawny guy who'd made a huge fuss about moving to The Hope three years ago.
What was it? Like his body had evolved specifically for scaling inclines.
Noticing my gaze, m9 flexed his arm muscles in a ridiculous pose and struck a playful tone.
"My body? Like a leopard, right?"
He gave off strong long-armed ape vibes, but I kept that to myself.
Anyway, the driving force behind our m9 navigating the harsh apocalypse was probably his eternally positive mindset.
Mental victories were fine.
Better to forget or vent—even if it meant getting finger-pointed—than let stress build up and turn into illness.
That was the right attitude for surviving doomsday.
After watching a few crumbs fall from the tilted apartment with a clatter, I asked m9,
"Any new residents in your neighborhood?"
"Nah, that ain't happening."
"Why not?"
"Bad blood with Kim Byung-chul or something."
"I see."
Maybe he'd pissed off Kim Byung-chul pulling some batshit stunt.
Whatever. Not seeing those Ji father-daughter creeps was good for my mental health too.
"This way."
Convergent evolution, right?
Where unrelated species evolve similar traits under specific conditions.
Survival skills worked the same way.
Just as our hunters plotted "parkour routes" through rough terrain, m9 had carved out his own personal parkour path through these ruins.
"Watch closely."
m9's gear was a harness with a detachable grappling hook rope.
When leaping dangerous gaps between buildings, he'd secure the hook rope to his harness, take a running start, and jump hard to the other side.
If the leap failed, the harness line caught him, preventing a fatal fall, and distributed the load evenly to avoid injuring his back or muscles.
"Now, over here."
He lightly cleared a good 6 meters and beckoned me over.
"Think you can make it?"
I followed with ease, but it was pretty precarious.
As I caught my breath and detached the rope, m9 stood on the opposite rooftop, surveying the vista below.
"Down there and over there—that's monster turf. Zombies over that way. Looks like people across the river, but probably not normal ones. Fanatics, maybe?"
I'd underestimated m9 a bit, but he had every right to still be alive.
He had a solid grasp on everything around him.
"The capsules should be over there. I spotted a huge pile before."
m9 scratched his scruffy jawbeard with his nails, eyes narrowed in thought.
Something on his mind.
Soon, he turned to me.
"Hey, SKELTON."
"Yeah?"
"Bit late to ask, but... you good?"
"With what?"
"Reporter."
"What'd that guy say?"
m9 leaned against the railing and stretched his neck.
"Said his crew has a powerful Awakener."
"Awakener?"
"Yeah. Touch anything in the warehouse, and he'll send 'em. Who knows if it's true, but you know Reporter—he's no ordinary user."
m9 gave a wry smile.
"...Yeah, nobody's a pushover. Online, they all act unhinged, but open the lid and they're all big shots."
Doubt clouded m9's face.
Makes sense.
Your long-time community buddies turn out to be heavy hitters once the internet masks come off.
In this mess, the users involved were just Kim Byung-chul, U Min-hee, Defender, and me.
U Min-hee was infamous around Incheon, but Kim Byung-chul had nearly dominated all of Korea once.
No wonder m9 was having a sage moment.
"...Did only the tough ones survive, or were the boards always full of heavies?"
m9 glanced at me.
"Even you're no slouch, right? SKELTON?"
"I'm two strands."
"?"
"Or a rascal, maybe."
"Reporter said."
My killer gag got no reaction; m9 stone-faced, changed the subject.
"Touch even one thing in the warehouse, and he'll send people."
"Yeah?"
I couldn't know the details, but one thing was clear.
My junior U Min-hee knew about the secret assets under The Hope.
Not everything, but definitely that something was there.
Hence the tantrum.
Honestly, even as his senior, I still didn't get what made U Min-hee tick.
But he wasn't gonna derail my plans.
"Over there?"
"Yeah."
I confirmed the capsule spot.
Problem: bad terrain.
Vehicles couldn't get in easily.
"Anywhere else?"
I asked m9 for the next spawn spot.
After another tough trek, we reached the second cluster.
"What do you think, SKELTON?"
It was an old university campus.
Sloped, but road-connected, with few obstacles blocking vehicles.
A strong 4x4 could handle it.
Problem: zombies.
Wuooooh—
Wuooooh—
Eerie zombie hums echoed like background noise from all sides.
Even in broad daylight, the gray-shrouded monster zone screamed apocalypse, amplified by the zombies' chorus hitting synesthetically.
Beyond the grayed-out campus, white capsules gleamed.
"Thanks, m9. Again."
"What're you planning?"
m9 eyed the capsules warily.
I gazed at the same spot and said calmly,
"Lately... don't you think our board's kinda empty?"
"Yeah. We get newbies, but they're sketchy, right? Average level's Defender-tier."
"So I'm trying to bring in some fresh, green, untainted blood."
"Huh? Possible?"
I smiled and nodded.
"Probably."
I wanted our board bustling next year too.
Not this slow sink into gloom, but like pre-war—tons of people sharing stories, back to doomsday community roots.
Even if I ended up the last human, more fun, vibrant times along the way might make that final moment less lonely.
John_nenon probably built Failnet with similar thoughts.
Revenge at first, then noble connection for all.
Dunno if I could pull it off like him.
But at least I'm on the stage.
Teaming up with Kim Byung-chul was a smart move.
"What? Destroy it with monsters? Man... what to even say. Classic hunter thinking."
Kim Byung-chul didn't get my idea, but explaining the goal, need, and reason got me a military jeep—combat troops included.
I wasn't one to turn down gifts.
If it was just monsters, I'd skip the troops, but we had zombies and human-sized killers ahead.
Two modded priest SUVs, two squads with heavy weapons, and our jeep took us there.
m9 and I had already scouted from a high building, mapping roads and obstacles—no blocks en route.
We reached the danger zone smoothly.
Wuooooh—
Wuooooh—
Now the real zombie swarm began.
Not just zombies—caterpillar types spotted too.
Plus scattered small-scale erosion zones.
"Appreciate it."
I told the soldiers.
And,
"Same here."
To my team.
Hong Da-jeong's drone was already overhead, monitoring live.
Plan: Reach capsules, secure in 3 minutes, back to The Hope.
I'd only briefed Kim Byung-chul, so no frontline input before, but now concerns flooded the comms.
"This plan really okay?"
"Yes. It's fine."
"For real? Capsules spawn monsters right away."
The unit lead, Major Hwang, was a whiner.
"After 3 minutes, feel free to pull back first."
"No, even if you say that..."
"Report I ordered it."
Vroooom—
Major Hwang, butt-hurt, started the vehicles anyway.
Just what I wanted.
We followed.
No way he'd spray bullets out of spite.
That'd wake every sleeping zombie to swarm us.
Even a narrow-minded guy like Major Hwang knew better.
We plowed through zombies casually, heading smooth to the campus.
"Here."
Major Hwang stopped.
As expected.
"Timing from now."
"Do it."
I looked at my team.
Cheon Young-jae and Defender.
I trusted Young-jae most.
We'd prepped: Support if "ripe enough."
Might exceed 3 minutes, but we had ways.
My comm linked direct to Kim Byung-chul.
Wuooooh—
Wuooooh—
Zombie dirge swelled; stragglers shuffled into view. I eyed the creepy white clumps on the gray field ahead.
"..."
Capsule checking was high-risk.
Especially cold weapons like me, inspecting manually.
Shing—
Gripping my two axes, I approached.
Soldiers murmured.
"What? That guy? Axes? Just axes okay?"
"Dunno. Old hunter, let's watch."
"Even Kim Daram wouldn't do that."
She knew Kim Daram.
Good for me.
That Daram was under U Min-hee.
Maybe dead by now.
That's the world.
Intrusive thoughts meant static in my head.
Not blindly hating like professor days.
I'd changed.
But.
"Senior Park. Ready."
The monster-hating flame in my chest burned undimmed.
I swung at the repulsive gray-white mass.
Hard enough to cleave in one.
And.
Clang!
My axe blocked by... my other axe?
Meaning.
"Immature."
Not ripe yet.
Exactly what I wanted.
"Oho."
"As expected."
Cheon Young-jae and Defender rushed up, hoisted the capsule.
"Careful. Don't stimulate it."
Time to load: Exactly 3 minutes.
"..."
Major Hwang stared silently from afar.
No words. He boarded, spun his vehicle, took point.
Wuooooh—
Wuooooh—
Zombies surged as we followed him back.
Tatata-tang!
Bang! Bang!
Chase ensued against the landslide of zombies, but that's secondary.
Capsule secured safely.
Put it on Da-jeong's fave robot vac, release before the government dragon—problem solved.
But this incident had more issues.
The warehouse lurkers rivaled the dragon in scrutiny—especially U Min-hee.
I'd heard from m9, but the potential threat soon materialized.
As capsule op wrapped up,
A vehicle arrived unhindered.
Kim Byung-chul's soldiers stood guard in rows as the door opened and out stepped a woman—lean and sleek like a leopard, unlike long-armed-ape m9.
We spotted each other almost simultaneously.
"Senior?"
"..."
Kim Daram.