Episode 5
Episode 5
Armored Type zombie.
A massive arm, grotesquely enlarged on one side like an armored vehicle.
It exuded an overwhelming power capable of pushing a tank with just that one arm.
With the muscle fibers of its forearm bulging as if they were about to burst, the ground shook every time it swung, tearing through the air.
The other one.
Skeletal Species zombie.
It was a bizarre mutant zombie, even just to look at, that fought by extracting its own bones from its body and wrapping them around itself like a hedgehog.
The jagged, protruding bones shone hazily in the sunlight, exuding an intimidating aura that suggested anything it touched would be pierced.
The two of them were currently locked in combat.
Every time the Armored Type's massive arm sliced through the air and came crashing down, the Skeletal Species would either use its bone spikes as a shield to take the hit or nimbly twist its body away.
Kung, ku-kung.
Dull crashing sounds rang out in succession.
It was a close match.
However.
'You shouldn't fight.'
It's a loss.
If one of them loses an arm in the process, it's my loss.
"Zombie Control."
I used it immediately.
Since I could control 4 Cost, the bastards paused for a moment, dazed, then slowly walked toward me.
The killing intent that had been aimed at each other's throats had vanished completely.
"Yes, yes."
Two mutant zombies!
I've grown tremendously.
"Alright, I just need to keep growing like this, right?"
And then.
I leveled up.
I guess Zombie Control counts as a kill, too.
A familiar system window popped up clearly in my head.
【Name】 : Choi Han Lv.3
【Stats】 : F
【Unique Ability】 : Trading Gallery Lv.2
【Unique Skill】 : Zombie Control Lv.2
【Points】 : 1
"Nice."
I leveled up once more.
I invested the point into the Gallery without hesitation.
【Unique Ability】 : Trading Gallery Lv.3
【Update Elements】: 1. Trading cooldown 3 days → 1 day
2. Currency trading system added.
"Oho...."
Now the trading cooldown has been reduced to 1 day.
Compared to the initial week, this is tremendous growth.
Besides.
"Currency system?"
Just the word gave me an intuition that it would be something amazing.
I checked the description.
[Currency Trading System] : You can buy and sell items under the system's mediation.
"Wow!"
I opened the trading system right away.
Balance : 0 Ether.
"Ether?"
It seemed to be the currency unit.
The balance was still empty, but it was clear what this one system meant.
Now, there's no need to barter with the people in the Gallery.
It seemed to be a method where the system measures the value directly, and if the price doesn't match, it fills the gap with Ether.
"Nice."
Perhaps the news spread.
[Marching Necromancer] : Oh, a shop? I can sell things too. I suppose the Gallery Owner is buying?
└[Necro-aspirant] : That's even better!
└[Corpse Researcher] : Then it is time to list my art pieces.....
└[No. 20] : Shiny! Upload more! I will take it!
"Heh heh...."
They, including myself, also started listing items in the shop.
[Marching Necromancer] : Huh? The prices are strange.
└[Necro-aspirant] : You stupid old man! What are you doing uploading the latter part of the Necronomicon!
└[Corpse Researcher] : My art piece is only worth this much! What is going on?!
└[No. 20] : Uhehehe! Shiny! Shiny!
The list they uploaded could be checked through the shop.
[Name] : Summon Dark Lord
[Category] : Skill
[Required Ether] : 10 billion Ether
[Name] : Corpse Explosion
[Category] : Skill
[Required Ether] : 10 million Ether
[Name] : Chimera 12-5X
[Category] : Summon
[Required Ether] : 10,000 Ether
There were only 3 items listed. The scale was on another level.
On the other hand, the things I uploaded were.
[Name] : Cola
[Category] : Food
[Required Ether] : 100,000 Ether
[Name] : Cheap Gem Bracelet
[Category] : Accessory
[Required Ether] : 5,000 Ether
"As expected."
They didn't have that much value. If I consider the units, it seemed similar to Korean Won.
Anyway, there was something else I was most curious about.
"Then how much are zombies?"
[Name] : Normal Zombie
[Category] : Summon
[Required Ether] : 1 million Ether
[Name] : Mutant Zombie
[Category] : Summon
[Required Ether] : 5 million Ether
"Oh...."
It gives a pretty good value.
It was probably because the world I'm connected to is a city called 'Necro,' where necromancers live.
If I had chosen a fantasy world at the beginning, the price of these zombies would have been much lower than now.
"A mutant zombie is 5 million Ether."
At 5 million each, the calculation was that if I sold 2, I could buy that 10 million Corpse Explosion skill.
"Should I sell them right away?"
Useless worries flooded in.
They were mutant zombies I obtained by chance, but I couldn't just sell them off immediately.
"No, let's hold on for a bit."
It wasn't the time to use Corpse Explosion yet.
In a situation where I can't even properly protect my own body, an explosion skill?
An explosion ultimately attracts everything around it.
The perfect timing would be when I become confident that I can survive even if surrounded by hundreds of zombies.
"Are you done?"
"Ah, sorry."
It seems I stopped walking while lost in thought.
Lee Su-ah was waiting for me with her arms crossed.
Her expression was blunt, but there was no sign of annoyance.
At my apology, she lightly shrugged her shoulders.
"What does it matter? You made 2 mutant zombies your subordinates. Let's go now."
"Yeah."
As we started walking side by side, Lee Su-ah suddenly opened her mouth.
"Come to think of it, Armored Type zombies are tricky opponents. I'm glad it worked out."
"Right?"
If I had to pick the most troublesome entity among the mutant zombies, it would definitely be the Armored Type.
"Because bullets and knives don't work on them."
"That is true."
Since lethal weapons don't work, it was a zombie you had no choice but to avoid.
But if it blocks the space itself with that massive arm, even avoiding it wasn't easy.
"But something I always thought was,"
Lee Su-ah continued.
"If you use that Armored Type zombie for defense, there's no answer."
"That's true."
The Armored Type, whose only weakness is high stamina consumption.
But if operated with defensive tactics, even that disappears.
Just by blocking with those big arms or throwing surrounding debris, there was no way for a human to break through.
"We're here."
Before I knew it, the apartment building came into view.
Back in the room, I called Lee Su-ah out.
"Why?"
"I have a proposal."
"What is it?"
"Let's live together from now on."
"What?!"
Lee Su-ah's face turned beet red in an instant.
She reflexively wrapped her arms around her body.
"We aren't that kind of relationship yet..."
"No, listen. From now on, I'm going to send the mutant zombies out to hunt."
"Ah...."
"But I have no means to protect myself."
"So, you're saying you want to use me as a bodyguard?"
"Exactly."
"What's the pay?"
"What do you want?"
This was a negotiation. I have to give something in exchange for protection.
After pondering for a moment with her gaze lowered, Lee Su-ah slowly opened her mouth.
"Put me in your crew."
".....Are you serious?"
It was actually a good proposal for me.
I'd be really grateful if an assassin like Lee Su-ah joined under me!
"But treat me as an equal. At least when you form the crew, I'll pretend to follow you."
"Deal."
We became comrades.
Now we can watch each other's backs.
"Shall we properly pull some growth now?"
With even Lee Su-ah in my crew, I don't have to worry about my own body anymore.
Because an excellent assassin is protecting me.
"Let's go on the offensive."
I summoned Mutant Zombie 1 and 2.
"Geu-eo-eo"
"U-eo-eo..."
"Alright, go and hunt to your heart's content."
"U-eo!"
"Geu-eo!"
Pushing each other with their shoulders, they rushed out of the apartment.
Apocalypse.
It's a world where it's hard for humans to live, but even so, survivors always exist.
"He...help me!"
A man was being chased by a horde of zombies.
And in the middle of the road in broad daylight, at that.
Rusty car wrecks rolling on the asphalt, broken pieces of glass.
There was nowhere to hide.
Every time the man's rough breathing and footsteps broke the silence, other zombies would hear the sound and crawl out from between the alleys and buildings.
In a world where you survive by keeping quiet, he was announcing his own location.
It was a hopeless situation.
"Ugh.... I want to live!"
He was also part of a crew.
But it was shattered by the famous bike crews of Daejeon.
After that night when the sound of engines and screams were mixed, those who remained scattered in all directions.
He had been wandering around looking for a new hideout, or at least a shelter where he could hold out, only to end up being chased like this.
"No... no!"
Chii-ik.
His foot caught on a stone, and he was dragged across the ground.
His body, having lost its balance, scraped right across the asphalt.
His palms were scraped, but he didn't even have the luxury to feel the pain.
Without even looking back, he could feel the footsteps getting closer.
The shadows of zombies rushing like wild dogs covered his back.
"Ah....."
The man sensed his end.
He closed his eyes.
But.
"U-eo-eo-eo-eo!"
A monstrous cry that burst out suddenly.
It was a howl that sounded like it would burst a throat, indistinguishable whether it was a beast or a zombie.
Kwa-kwa-kwang!
Dull and heavy impact sounds rang out in succession, and the zombies that had surrounded him were sent flying in all directions.
As if they had been hit by a cannonball, they floated into the air unbelievably and then tumbled.
"W-what?!"
As soon as the man opened his eyes, it came into view.
"Hiiik! Ar...Armored Type!"
A massive body with only one arm abnormally enlarged.
As if the side of an armored vehicle had been torn off and attached to its arm, that one arm was thicker than a human torso.
Every time it stepped with its arm, the ground sank, enough to cause cracks on the asphalt.
The man reflexively jumped up and started running.
But.
"...Huh?"
The Armored Type didn't even glance at the man.
As if he had been out of its interest from the start, it turned its body and charged toward the rest of the zombies.
Kwang, kwang.
Every time that huge arm sliced through the air, zombies flew into building walls, onto overturned buses.
"W-what..."
The man stood there blankly.
At that moment, his spine turned cold.
"Hiiik!"
When he looked back, it was there.
A zombie in the form of white bones wrapping around its entire body.
Exposed skeletons instead of skin protruded here and there, and it felt like just getting close would be enough to get pierced.
"S-Skeletal Species!"
But there was something even more eerie.
Bone spikes extending like spears from the Skeletal Species' body.
On each of those spikes, normal zombies were impaled.
Carrying the zombies that were struggling while impaled, the Skeletal Species was walking slowly.
I don't know if it was just my imagination, but it looked like it was showing them off like trophies.
"H-help me!"
The man squeezed his eyes shut.
But.
"Geu-eo?!"
The Skeletal Species stiffened as if it had suddenly discovered something.
It seemed to turn its head toward the man for a moment, but then it just brushed past him and ran away.
Heo-eok... heo-eok...
It was only after a while that the strength left the man's legs.
He stared blankly in the direction the Skeletal Species had disappeared.
A loud roar came from that direction.
"Geu-eo!"
"U-eo!"
And soon, a strange situation unfolded.
"U-eo-eo-eo!"
"Geu-eo-eo-eo!"
The Armored Type and the Skeletal Species, the two stood facing each other and growled.
It was as if they were competing over prey.
".....What on earth is this?"
The man couldn't even judge whether he had just survived, or if he had gotten involved in an even stranger situation.