Episode 25
Episode 25
Sandevistan.
It's a reflex booster that connects to the central nervous system.
└[Sandebiseutan] : Using this Sandevistan is good. The world slows down.
└[Doctor Repair] : But it has side effects, you know. Use it in moderation.
└[T] : That's a basic implant.
└[Nova] : Sandevistan.... More efficient if you use AI.
"Looks like it speeds up your reflexes and body, right?"
Sandebiseutan.
Seeing what that guy said, that the world slows down, it must be true.
If so...
"That's a good thing."
Everyone posting on the gallery isn't just an ordinary person.
Most are "named" users, and they were people who boasted top-tier skills in their respective fields.
Sandebiseutan, one of those people.
If it's an implant he uses, it must be extraordinary.
"Alright, I should buy one."
I entered the shop.
Heading to central nervous system implants,
[Name] : Military-grade Sandevistan
[Category] : Central nervous system implant
[Required Ether] : 50 billion Ether.
"Holy sh*t...."
It was so expensive that a curse word came out the moment I saw it.
No, and here I thought, with a nickname like Sandebiseutan...
Turns out he was rich.
"Absolutely can't buy this."
Besides.
A prosthetic arm is 2 billion Ether.
A prosthetic eye is 1 billion Ether.
I was planning to get implants for my left eye and arm.
Because I have to balance both sides.
I have to get it with the remaining 1.7 billion Ether.
Then, something caught my eye.
[Name] : Pulse Drive
[Category] : Central nervous system implant
[Required Ether] : 1.7 billion Ether
"Perfect."
1.7 billion Ether.
So expensive.
Anyway.
"Let's start."
I started the implant process.
I bought everything from the shop.
Left prosthetic eye, left prosthetic arm, and finally, the Pulse Drive.
Using the Alchemy skill, that is.
A while later.
"Oh...."
As expected of an implant.
I felt power overflowing throughout my whole body.
"Nice."
Now both eyes and both hands.
I even touched up my central nervous system.
Of course, my appearance remained human.
"Doctor Repair was right."
The saying that things that come in pairs—both legs, both hands, both eyes...
You have to match them equally for the functions to improve.
"That aside."
I came out of the room.
Kang Tae-san, Kang Ju-ah, Lee Su-ah, and Han Min-ah.
They were gathered together.
Before that.
"Kang Tae-san, Kang Ju-ah. What do you want to do?"
I had already told them we were leaving.
I gave them time.
After all, they provided us with lodging without asking for anything in return.
There's no harm in taking such kind people into the shelter.
However.
"This place... it's the only thing our parents left us."
"That's right... we'll stay here."
Perhaps because this building itself is precious to them.
They didn't want to leave.
"Well, it's your choice... but if anything urgent happens, contact me anytime."
"Yes!"
"Alright then.... let's go now."
There's no business left in the shelter.
The reason I came here was none other than to see how people in the shelter live, and to save people.
I achieved all my goals, so there's no reason to be here.
"Let's go."
"...Wait a second."
Just as I was packing my backpack.
Dudududu....
"What's that sound?"
"...A helicopter?"
It was fascinating.
A helicopter taking off in an apocalypse like this?
"Something's weird...."
"Yeah."
I had a bad feeling.
So I hurried a bit.
"Come out quickly."
I called out Lee Su-ah and Han Min-ah.
But then.
"Uh.... what's that?"
Lee Su-ah saw the helicopter floating in the sky,
and frowned deeply.
"What's wrong?"
"That helicopter.... it has a company mark I recognize."
"A mark?"
I looked up at the helicopter too.
Maybe because it was landing, it was quite close.
When I examined it with my prosthetic eye,
"Hmm?.... That looks familiar."
It had a double helix and red points.
It was easy to remember.
"It's Taesung Group."
"That's right!"
One of the major conglomerates existing in South Korea.
Taesung.
I remember they were very famous for bio-research.
"Isn't that in Seoul?"
"Yeah... there's no reason for them to come to Sejong."
"Strange..... anyway, let's go quickly."
From Seoul to Sejong.
The distance alone is quite far.
Yet they came all that way by helicopter?
Something is weird.
"Let's go quickly."
We tried to move our feet and get out quickly.
But.
Aeeeeeeeng!
Suddenly, a siren sound was heard.
A broadcast was also heard...
-This is an announcement to all personnel within the shelter. Please enter your homes and do not come out. Once again..
"Telling us not to come out?"
"I don't know. Let's just get out quickly."
We ignored the broadcast and the siren, and headed toward the entrance.
But.
"It's closed."
"Yeah."
The barbed wire gate was firmly shut.
Even soldiers were deployed.
It was as if they were blocking something from getting out.
"Don't tell me.... me?"
"That could be it."
Swallowing the Awakening Orb and leaving the shelter?
Wouldn't any shelter manager lose their mind over that?
"Is there no way?"
Lee Su-ah, who had been staring straight ahead,
asked me.
But.
"Well, there is an answer. We can use a bomb."
There are bombs in the cyberpunk dimension.
I can buy one and use it.
But.
"Then the shelter will be destroyed....."
That was the problem.
I can't hurt innocent people.
"Then we have no choice but to head back to the underground passage."
"Hmm...."
It couldn't be helped.
We turned around and headed to the underground passage.
But.
".....What's that?"
"They're wearing suits."
In front of the underground passage.
There was an old man in a white lab coat like a doctor and a young man in a suit.
Their conversation began to be heard.
"Doctor. They say that according to them, there is someone who developed the variant zombie virus..."
"I am looking into it. But..... honestly, it's hard to believe."
What is this?
These people... did they come here after hearing the shelter manager's words?
It's not certain yet, so if I listen again...
"Where is that person?"
"According to the shelter manager... they are searching for them after the lockdown."
As expected.
It was true that they were trying to find me.
'Well.... even I was surprised by the variant zombie virus.'
I didn't know someone like that would be in the Alchemist Gallery.
Anyway.
"Let's go in first."
"Good. It would be best to collect samples."
Their conversation.
I paused after hearing that.
'.....There won't be any corpses left.'
I sold them all.
If you sell a corpse, the blood spilled is also counted as part of the corpse, so everything gets sold.
So...
It means there is absolutely nothing for them to find out.
"Hmm...."
But it wasn't a good thing.
If they go down to the basement and confirm there's nothing there....
They will put all their effort into catching me.
'This is troublesome.'
I thought I could leave the shelter easily....
It was harder than I thought.
But.
"Let's follow them."
I had one skill.
Night's Veil.
This will turn us into invisible people.
We followed them in just like that.
I gained quite a lot of information while following them.
Especially.
'Taesung, huh....'
As expected of a major conglomerate, they survived.
They collected food, and above all, they say they are still doing research.
However.
"How is the zombie weaponization proceeding?"
"Well...... we came here to find a clue to that, but..... there's nothing here?"
Zombie weaponization.
From what I see, they were plotting something enormous.
Perhaps....
Mega Corporation.
A company that encompasses the entire planet.
It seemed like they were trying to make Taesung a super-conglomerate.
'Crazy.....'
However.
This wasn't the urgent thing.
"Well, can't be helped. Tsk.... I thought we might get something."
"Looking at the video, it was truly amazing.... It's a pity. I'll have to see that person in person."
They are going to try to find me now.
Taesung Group.
A major conglomerate, at that.
"Let's get out first."
"Yeah, I don't want to be in this basement anymore."
With that, they left the underground passage.
As soon as I confirmed they had completely left.
"Whew.... did you hear that?"
"Yeah....."
All three of us.
We frowned as if we had heard something we shouldn't have.
That aside.
This wasn't the urgent thing.
"Let's get out first."
"What's the method?"
"Robots."
Exploration robots that dig tunnels.
The ones I bought when I was rummaging through the junkyard.
I released them.
"Make a path."
The exploration robots took out their drills and started digging the ground.
Wooooong!
Fast speed.
At this rate, I thought we could get out within a few hours.
"Hoo!"
"We're out!"
The exploration robots finally broke a path to the outside.
As expected of robots from the cyberpunk dimension.
They have great performance, don't they?
At that time.
Lee Su-ah asked.
"Where are we going now?"
I answered her question simply.
"First, there's something that bothers me. Taesung Group. These guys are going to track me now."
"...That's true."
"And, I need a shelter. Something with a space as huge as a soccer field?"
"Ah!"
Han Min-ah suddenly made a sound.
She had an expression like she remembered something.
"That's it! That place! Incheon!"
"Incheon?"
It seems like a good idea.
However.
"The downside is that there are a lot of zombies."
There were pros and cons.
But the fact that there are many zombies might actually be good for me.
I need to build a shelter, and having many zombies means there's a lot of labor, right?
"Alright, let's go to Incheon."
First, before heading to Incheon.
It was too far.
I needed a car.
So I decided to go to a nearby highway.
-Gyeongbu Expressway.
There was quite a lot of dust on the sign.
"What should we do now?"
"Yeah."
We can't run here.
Because there were quite a lot of abandoned cars.
But.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
'I think I can sell these?'
I tried selling a compact car parked on the side of the highway to the shop.
-Matiz - 1 million Ether
"Wow!"
It fetches a decent price.
It's definitely worth selling at this rate.
"Nice."
An idea came to mind.
The crazy act of driving and selling off vehicles at the same time.
'There are thousands of cars just on the highway..... this is huge.'
I immediately entered the shop window.
There were all sorts of vehicles in the cyberpunk shop.
Of course, they were very expensive.
"This one should do."
There was one vehicle that caught my eye.