Chapter 23
Chapter 23
"It's expensive."
Maybe because it's a biochemical weapon like a virus.
It was very expensive.
500 million meant I had to use all the Ether I had on hand.
It was Ether I'd earned by selling Mutants to the shop, but...
'It's an investment... an investment.'
It's fine.
Anyway, if I make the Mutants and Mutant Zombies fight each other and sell the corpses, I'll be able to earn even more than 500 million Ether!
"Purchase."
The potion was instantly grasped in my hand.
It just looked like a murky purple liquid.
After carefully storing it in the Dark Room so it wouldn't break, I headed straight for the Hatchery.
Han Min-ah, who was next to me, asked urgently.
"Where are you going?"
"Ah, that looks like a Hatchery. I have to get rid of all those things."
"...Are you serious? I see a new guy over there, too."
"That's true, but..."
Since it was their Hatchery, the main forces were stationed there.
—Black Horn Variant
"It does look strong."
A Mutant with black horns, its body wrapped in black armor.
It had much darker black blades on both sides than the Blade Mutant.
Just looking at it, it was heavy; it wasn't for nothing that 'Black Horn' was in its name.
There were two Hatcheries. Two of them each, for a total of four waiting.
"Gotta give it a try."
"...Be careful. I'll provide support."
"Okay."
Han Min-ah prepared to use a fire arrow, and I ran straight toward the Black Horn Variants.
"Krak?"
As soon as they spotted me, all four stood up at once.
—Deploying combat enhancement system.
'Can't drag this out.'
Since it was a critical area for the Mutants, it was obvious they'd swarm like bees if something went wrong.
Fast and accurate. That was the answer.
"Kraaaa!"
One of them lunged first.
Heavy footsteps shook the ground.
It charged in a straight line, leading with its black horns like a rhinoceros.
'A head-on fight wouldn't be bad either.'
Because I have the prosthetic arm's trait of muscle enhancement.
However.
'Why bother? If the durability wears down, I have to spend Ether again.'
It's annoying.
Whirrr—
I fired the wire. I slipped to the side like a matador, letting the horn attack slide past.
I wrapped the wire around its neck like a lasso.
Whirrr—
I ran to the next one.
This one also thrust its horns at me.
—Upper right.
Receiving combat assistance, I dodged them all.
One, two, three, four.
In an instant, the lasso was around all their necks.
At the same time.
I wrapped the line around a nearby rock and pulled.
Kwajik—! Kwajijijik—!
The four heads flew into the air.
Instant death.
"Whew..."
Combat assistance really makes things much easier.
Anyway.
I went straight up to the Hatchery.
Glug glug glug glug...
I poured the potion I bought from the shop right into the Hatchery.
Then.
A moment of silence.
And—
"Kraaaa!"
"Keeek!"
Something started wriggling inside the Hatchery.
At first, it looked just like a Mutant.
But it was different.
Its eyes were unfocused.
Drooling, with a form like a corpse rotting in various places.
It was a zombie version of a Mutant.
—Mutant Zombie — 4 Cost.
I could even take it under my command.
Of course, I can't do that yet because I lack the Cost.
"Alright! Go! Zombies!"
I once asked someone named 'To Mix or Not to Mix, That is the Question'.
└[Gallery Owner]: But do the ones infected with this not attack humans?
└[To Mix or Not to Mix, That is the Question]: Yeah, I inserted a gene that doesn't attack humans. It'll probably attack everything except humans?
A Mutant Zombie that doesn't attack humans.
I don't know if this makes sense.
Anyway.
"Kraaa!"
"Grrr!"
The Mutant Zombies that popped out of the Hatchery ran off somewhere like crazy as soon as they were born.
As I followed them—
—Level up!
—Level up!
—Level up!
"Is it level 18 now?"
2 levels left until level 20.
I'm looking forward to it.
"Shall I watch for a bit?"
When I went down below the Hatchery, Han Min-ah, who had been hiding, gestured urgently.
"Hey! Come quickly! Those Mutants are acting weird!"
"Ah... that?"
I looked that way.
A war was breaking out.
At first, the original Mutants seemed to be overwhelming them.
They were superior in number, size, and combat power.
The Mutant Zombies were being unilaterally torn and shredded.
But.
"Giii..."
The problem was what happened next.
One Mutant had its shoulder bitten by a zombie's teeth.
At first, I thought it was just a wound.
But from the bitten spot, the color started to fade rapidly.
Black. Murky. Its eyes unfocused, and saliva dripped down.
It wasn't even 10 seconds.
The Mutant that had been fighting just fine a moment ago was now lunging at its own comrade.
One became two. Two became five.
Five became dozens in an instant.
Like pouring oil on a fire, the infection swallowed the entire front line in an instant.
The Mutants screamed and tried to run away, but it was already too late.
The zombie army had grown to hundreds, thousands.
The colony instinct unique to insects was still alive even after becoming zombies.
No, it seemed even stronger.
"No way..."
Han Min-ah, who was next to me, was watching this whole scene with her mouth wide open.
"Scarier than I thought?"
The Mutant's appearance was that of an insect.
Like an insect, they moved in a colony. If that colony becomes zombies...?
"What do we do about that...? If they attack humans, the Shelter will collapse."
"Ah, you don't have to worry about that either."
I walked straight toward the Mutant Zombies.
"Wh-what are you doing!"
Han Min-ah tried to stop me urgently, but I was much faster.
I strolled leisurely among the Mutant Zombies.
"Sniff sniff... Keuu!"
"Kwooo!"
They were terrified and avoided me.
"No... is the smell that bad?"
Han Min-ah saw me and walked over slowly.
"Am...amazing. How did you do that? Were you a researcher?"
"Hmm... something like that?"
An expedition team that entered a different tunnel.
They fought at first, but seeing the swarming Mutants, they had no choice but to stick together.
"Fucking hell! There's no end to them!"
"Hey! Hold the line! Don't run!"
"We're... we're all going to die!"
Mutants. And they were only worker Mutants, yet they were crying like they were going to die.
But then.
Over there.
"Kraaaa!"
"Keee!"
A cry different from the Mutants' was heard.
People started to get scared.
"Wh-what is that sound? More are coming?!"
"Ah... I shouldn't have risked my life just to awaken..."
"Damn it..."
Along with a sense of futility, they were about to give up.
But.
"...Huh?"
In an instant, it became comfortable.
The worker Mutants that had been attacking slowly backed off, and soon started dealing with something coming from behind.
As if they had received an order, all at once.
And in an instant.
"Keeeek!"
The worker Mutants were wiped out.
But.
"Wh-what is that?"
"Zombies? Mutant Zombies!?"
"R-run!"
Most of them were terrified and ran away.
But the Mutant Zombies stayed still.
They didn't even turn their heads toward the expedition members.
As if they had no interest from the start.
Someone was walking out from among those Mutants.
"Huh? There are people here?"
It was Choi Han.
His appearance.
Perhaps it looked like parting the Red Sea in Noah's Ark.
"Oh God..."
"It's a miracle."
"Is... is that person... Jesus?"
He was misunderstood.
---
I sent the people away first.
After that.
"Gather them all up."
I ordered the Mutant Zombies.
They moved without complaint.
Hundreds at once. Like a single organism.
They piled up the corpses of the dead Mutants and even the remaining zombies that were still wriggling.
Piled up, piled up, and piled up again.
The tunnel floor was covered in corpses.
The disgusting smell of body fluids vibrated.
Fragments of black armor, broken horns, snapped blades.
A huge pile mixed with everything from Black Horn Variants to workers was created in front of me.
Thousands.
That was all Ether.
"How much will I get?"
Ah, before that.
"I need proof."
I saved the videos and photos I'd taken so far with my prosthetic eye.
So I could pull them out whenever I wanted.
"Alright... that's done. Now it's time to sell."
I opened the shop window with anticipation.
One. Two. Three.
Every time a corpse was sold, the Ether count went up.
At first, I watched it because it was fascinating to see the numbers go up, but at some point, I just stared blankly at the rising numbers.
Click, click, click.
How many minutes had passed?
"Whew... finished."
I dusted off my hands and checked my Ether balance.
Ether balance = 6.7 billion Ether.
"Wow..."
It took a beat for the number to register.
6.7 billion.
6,700,000,000.
"This is insane."
Did they say the Awakening Bead was 10 billion?
If I add this to that, it's a whopping 16.7 billion.
The me from earlier, pouring in 500 million, suddenly seemed distant.
"With this much... seriously."
It was a huge sum that could buy just about anything.
"Alright, shall I go get the Awakening Bead now?"
---
Swish... tap.
Kim Chul-su was sitting loosely, picking up and putting down the Awakening Bead.
Seeing that, Shelter Leader Kim Saet-byeol narrowed her brows and said.
"Hey, you're distracting. Stop it."
"...Alright, Noona."
Shelter Leader Kim Saet-byeol and Awakened Kim Chul-su. They were biological siblings.
"But Noona. Are you really planning on giving this away?"
Kim Chul-su asked, picking up the Awakening Bead with his index finger and shaking it.
His eyes were full of regret.
Because the value of the Awakening Bead was truly astronomical.
Kim Saet-byeol let out a short sigh.
"Can't help it. I already said I would."
"Man... it's such a waste."
"Nothing I can do."
"That's true."
Currently, Kim Chul-su is injured.
The risk was too high to send him down into the underground passage.
Because losing one Awakened person in the Shelter wasn't just a simple loss of combat power.
A moment of silence passed.
Kim Chul-su suddenly tilted his head.
"Noona. But."
"Yeah?"
"You said you'd give it to the person who killed the most Mutants."
He continued, rolling the Awakening Bead in his hand.
"....How would you know that? Is there someone underground to verify it?"
In an instant.
The corners of Kim Saet-byeol's mouth went up slightly.
"Hehe... you finally realized?"
Kim Chul-su's expression stiffened.
"....Noona, you're really cunning... were you planning not to give it away like that?"
Kim Saet-byeol didn't answer.
She was just smiling quietly.