Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Cheol-keong!
I jumped over the heavy iron fence.
The moment I landed, the sound of the fence shaking spread out.
Perhaps hearing that sound, slow silhouettes in the darkness far away began to turn their heads one by one.
They were regular zombies.
Things with rotting flesh hanging off them, walking toward this side as if being dragged in twisted postures.
However.
"Kyaaaak!"
"Keeek!"
I decided to send out our newly joined family members to check their combat power.
It was the Claw Type and the Tentacle Type.
The official name is 'Distorted Type', but it's a hassle, so I decided to just call it Claw Type.
"Now, go!"
At a single command, the two sprang forward.
Sharp claws slid out from the fingertips of the Claw Type.
The length alone was easily as long as a forearm.
It slashed through the air, swinging horizontally once.
Seuk-waak—
Along with a dull yet crisp sound, the waists of the regular zombies were sliced in two all at once.
With one swing, dozens were sliced right through and rolled on the ground.
The Tentacle Type didn't want to be outdone and stepped up.
Thick, long tentacles extended from its back like whips, grabbing and bursting the zombies.
Ppong! Ppong!
Corpses flying away as lightly as if it were ridiculous.
"Refreshing, isn't it?"
I muttered to myself without realizing it.
"But there's a downside. I think they'll be weak in close-quarters combat."
Lee Su-ah, standing next to me, said quietly.
Certainly, these two, whose main strength is wide-sweeping attacks, would have difficulty performing at their best in narrow spaces.
"That's true..."
But it's still fine.
I had the Armored Type and the Skeletal Species.
Close-quarters combat in tight spaces, and defense. Those two could fill that role.
Anyway.
After blowing away the regular zombies to some extent.
"Let's go through that door."
A huge iron door on one side of the research complex.
It was big enough for a large truck to pass through easily.
Old tire tracks were still clearly visible on the wide road stretching out in front of the iron door.
In one corner of that iron door.
Through a broken gap, there were traces of someone squeezing inside.
Scratches, footprints made in a hurry somewhere.
Lee Su-ah crouched down and examined the traces carefully.
After a while, she nodded as if convinced.
"Looks like the traces of the people that guy mentioned earlier, right?"
"Ah, the people who couldn't get out?"
"Yeah. Looking at the marks, they must have gone in quite hurriedly. It seems they came in to avoid the regular zombies outside."
"A wise choice. No need to waste stamina fighting unnecessarily."
"Yeah. Seems like they were quite experienced people."
The fact that it's a place where experienced survivors went in and never came out.
"Let's go."
But it was already too late to turn back.
We had a reason to come inside here.
Lee Su-ah and I stepped into the research complex building, which was filled with darkness.
Click...
I pressed the flashlight button.
A narrow, focused beam of light cut through the darkness.
Lee Su-ah also turned on her flashlight and began shining it here and there.
The space slowly revealed itself.
Huge trucks were parked in rows.
The ceiling was high, and the space was immensely wide.
"It's a vehicle depot."
"Yeah. It's huge."
I scanned the surroundings with my flashlight.
Nothing was moving.
The smell of rot was faint, too.
"There are... no zombies."
"Let's keep going."
"But is there anything to take?"
In an apocalypse, farming is as important as survival.
There was a high possibility that there were useful things inside these trucks that used to transport supplies. However.
"There are no keys."
The trucks had double and triple locks on them.
It seems they were quite valuable supplies.
"Let's go inside first. We'll find the keys later."
"Yeah."
"Here it is."
I discovered a door leading inside and stepped through it.
"...What is this? A hallway?"
"It's strange..."
A long, narrow hallway stretched out ahead.
And.
On both sides of the hallway, laboratories were lined up behind transparent glass walls.
"It's transparent."
"...Bloodstains..."
Inside the glass, bloodstains were clearly left on every white tiled wall.
Handprints where someone had pressed against the wall, streaks of dripping blood, trails where something had been dragged.
"Corpses..."
Beyond the glass, corpses could be seen lying here and there.
They were zombies, but they were already all dead.
I don't know how long it had been, but they were completely stiff and blackened in places.
But there was no need to be scared.
Because I had the Variant zombies by my side.
"Armored and Skeletal, protect me and Lee Su-ah. The rest, Claw and Tentacle, kill anything that approaches."
As the order was given, the Variants silently took their positions.
The Armored Type and Skeletal Species stuck to the left and right of me and Lee Su-ah as if shielding us, and the Claw Type and Tentacle Type moved to the front.
"Let's pick up the pace."
"Yeah."
Our footsteps quickened.
We encountered another door at the end of the hallway.
"This is the next section."
I grabbed the handle and pushed it open.
At that moment.
"Fuck!"
I reflexively stepped back.
Beyond the door, things filled the narrow space.
They were zombies. But they weren't regular zombies.
-Caffeine Zombie - Cost 1
-Ketamine Zombie - Cost 1
The Caffeine Zombies started shaking all over as soon as they saw us.
Their eyes were bloodshot, and their muscles twitched as if convulsing.
They took on bizarre postures with irregular and fast movements, as if electricity was running through them.
"Up there!"
"What the fuck is that?"
The Ketamine Zombies were different.
They were quietly looking down at us while gripping the ceiling with their hands and feet.
However.
"Grrr!"
The Claw Type sprang forward and sliced the Caffeine Zombie in one go.
Without even being able to scream properly, it was sliced in two and swept to the floor.
"Ugh!"
The Tentacle Type extended its tentacles to the ceiling and wrapped them around the Ketamine Zombie's torso.
It snatched it right off and slammed it against the wall a couple of times with all its might.
Kwoong, Kwoong!
"Over there!"
"Ah! There are so many of them!"
There was no time to look away.
Beyond the door, dozens of drug-addled zombies were overflowing throughout the hallway and rooms.
The Caffeine Zombies were convulsing and bumping into each other, and the Ketamine Zombies were crawling on the walls and ceilings with strangely slow movements.
Things contaminated with various drugs began to appear.
"Fuck."
It was a spectacle.
Literally.
But it's fine.
"Go!"
I ordered all the Variants that were escorting us.
As if they had been waiting, the Variants exploded forward.
"Uwoooooh!"
The roar of the collision shook the hallway.
Every time the Claw Type's claws flashed, several were swept away at once, and the Tentacle Type's tentacles thrashed about like whips, smashing the drug zombies to pieces.
"We're being pushed back a little."
"Yeah..."
Certainly, the drug zombies were different from regular zombies.
Still.
We had a whopping four Variant zombies on our side.
A force that could easily handle hundreds of regular zombies if used well.
They weren't opponents that things on a bit of drugs could handle.
"It's over."
A few minutes passed.
Nothing was moving anymore.
The hallway floor was littered with things whose shapes couldn't be recognized.
A strange, nose-stinging smell was thick in the air.
It was a chemical smell created by various types of drugs mixing and evaporating.
Lee Su-ah and I reflexively lifted our sleeves to cover our mouths and noses.
"Let's cross quickly."
"Yeah."
There was nothing to look around for.
This place was also an experimental zone.
There was nothing to salvage anyway, and no reason to stay.
We hurried our steps toward the next door.
And.
When we opened the door.
"Oh."
"This is..."
It was clearly different from what we had seen so far.
Only here did I finally feel like I could breathe a little.
A single fluorescent light was flickering, casting a faint light, and an old beverage vending machine stood against the wall.
Tables and chairs were scattered here and there, and a cup ramen container that someone had left in a hurry was rolling on a table.
It was a break room.
However.
Just then.
"Ohhh! Reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived!"
Dirty lab coat, cracked glasses, face stained with grime.
The man suddenly approached us and tried to grab our hands.
"Where do you think you're going!"
He, who was trying to grab Lee Su-ah's hand, got lightly kicked in the stomach.
He trembled.
I mean, why try to grab someone's hand upon first meeting...
"Who are you?"
I asked him, clutching his stomach.
"I... I am Lee Hyeon-jae, who was a researcher here."
"A researcher?"
"Y-yes, that's right."
"If you're a researcher, do you know this place well?"
At my question, Lee Hyeon-jae thought for a moment and answered.
"I know well about the 1st and 2nd floors, but... I don't know about the basement 1st and 2nd floors."
"Why?"
"Because only researchers with a higher clearance than me could enter."
Higher clearance...
Well, it's not important anyway.
I grilled him on things I was curious about.
"Was the research done here human experimentation? I saw drugs coming out of the zombies earlier."
"N-no. Absolutely not."
"Hmm..."
"Originally, we are a research complex that studies chemical agents. But after the zombie outbreak, the direction changed."
"Changed?"
"The higher-ups started researching zombies, and in the end... even the researchers got infected."
Honestly.
I can't believe it.
From what I see, it's almost certain that they did human experimentation...
For now, since there's no concrete evidence.
"Fine. Then guide us through the 1st and 2nd floors, because we need to wipe out the zombies."
Just then, the Variant zombies behind us stepped forward.
Then.
"H-huff! V...Variant zombies!"
Lee Hyeon-jae was trembling in terror.
However.
"I told you to guide us quickly, didn't I?"
"......What? No way! A...Awakener?!"
"Yeah."
"Gasp!"
Lee Hyeon-jae's eyes changed.
I could see something greedy in his eyes.
"Please, come this way!"
Lee Hyeon-jae, looking excited, led us to the stairs to the 2nd floor.
There wasn't much on the 2nd floor.
Server rooms, power rooms, etc., that manage the facility.
First of all, places where there couldn't be any people.
It was actually much less than the 1st floor.
The problem was the basement.
"I don't know about the basement either. I heard they research Variant zombies..."
'That's going to be tricky.'
Even with just the drug zombies, we struggled a bit.
What if the Variant zombies were mutated by drugs?
It seemed like it would be very tricky.
However.
"Guide us."
I'm not the one fighting directly anyway.
If it's dangerous, I can just run away.
Since I also have the Night's Veil skill.
"Ugh... I'm scared."
Lee Hyeon-jae took out the keycard for the basement 1st floor with a disgusted expression.
Emergency power was supplied to the power room, so the doors started working normally now.
Beep!
As soon as he swiped the keycard, the door opened.
Stairs leading downwards appeared.
Putting the Variants in front, we started to go down slowly.
Perhaps because emergency power was supplied, we didn't need flashlights anymore.
The moment we arrived at the basement 1st floor.
"Variant?"