013
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I secured the Villa rooftop with Kang Mu-yeol in the lead.
The rooftop became a Safe Zone.
Now, if anyone wants to get some breeze or sunshine, they can just come up to the rooftop.
That in itself was a huge merit, but there was another advantage.
The fact that the view was wide open.
"It would be great for sniping from here."
I am a Slingshot Master.
Strictly speaking, I'm not a master yet, just in the growth phase.
Because I have the Slingshot skill.
Tenant Levels can be raised with Coins, but my Level or Skill Level cannot be raised with Coins.
If I could, I would have used every Coin I earned to raise my own Level first.
Because that would have been a much safer option in many ways.
My Level only goes up if I honestly accumulate experience points.
The same probably goes for Skill Level.
You just have to use it for the level to go up.
I haven't had a Skill Level increase yet, but that's my guess.
Anyway, the rooftop was perfect for accumulating experience points for the Slingshot skill.
The house windows were narrow, so aiming was uncomfortable.
But if I went to the rooftop?
The view was wide open, making it much easier to snipe.
If sniping is easy, that means I can catch that many more Zombies, and catching more Zombies means I can secure more experience points.
I was looking around to see if there were any lonely Zombies, when three people caught my eye.
They weren't Zombies; they were people.
All three were holding equipment that was insufficient to be called weapons.
A middle-aged man and woman, and a young girl.
'Are they a family?'
They kept looking around anxiously.
Zombies that had been in a dormant state were slowly waking up after hearing the noise.
How did the whole family end up drifting here?
As I focused on them, the Status Window came into view.
「Name: Ju Hye-kyung」
「Occupation: Nurse」
「Level: 5」
The middle-aged woman was a Nurse, of all things.
And her Level was a whopping 5.
Im Do-yeong, who made the Slingshot that pops people's heads like balloons, was only Level 4.
'I shouldn't have compared them.'
The scene of a Looter's head bursting after being hit by a steel ball played automatically in my head.
Nausea rises every time it comes to mind.
I should have compared them to Kang Mu-yeol instead.
Even when Kang Mu-yeol was Level 5, he easily handled multiple Zombies.
The wall of Level 5 was high.
But a Level 5 Nurse?
Just looking at her age, she seemed to have quite a bit of experience.
Unless it's surgery-level, wouldn't she be able to treat most things?
In this kind of apocalypse world, medical personnel are precious.
Among the Tenants, including me, no one is injured yet.
But you never know what might happen to people.
You don't know who will get hurt, when, or how.
There's no harm in securing them in advance.
I didn't really have high expectations for the other two.
'The husband is a Cleaner and the daughter is a Collector...'
The Cleaner's Level was also 5.
It's on the high side.
But how would a Cleaner be helpful?
The house gets cleanly remodeled anyway once I secure it.
And everyone should clean their own house.
I can't just make them clean the house just because they're a Cleaner.
The Collector seemed more useful than the Cleaner, but their Level was only 2.
'Oh...'
Suddenly, I felt a sense of shame.
Calculating profit and loss while looking at people in danger.
And they aren't even Looters.
Isn't it right to just save them first?
There are plenty of houses left anyway.
"Let's save those people."
It might sound like I was suggesting we work together to save them, but in reality, it was no different from dumping the work on Kang Mu-yeol.
Im Ji-ah and Im Do-yeong were non-combatants anyway, and I had no intention of leaving the Safe Zone.
Besides, Kang Mu-yeol is amazing at catching Zombies.
It was Kang Mu-yeol who saved Im Ji-ah and Im Do-yeong, and it was Kang Mu-yeol who secured the houses, including the rooftop.
A Level 7 Warrior is invincible and a god.
"Understood. Should I bring them to the rooftop?"
"Please do."
Kang Mu-yeol grabbed his baseball bat and left the rooftop.
Im Ji-ah and Im Do-yeong remained on the rooftop.
It's a rough sight to show non-combatants.
Whether it's blowing off Zombie heads or human heads.
"Would you two like to go back down?"
"No?"
Im Do-yeong said.
"You're going to support Kang Mu-yeol-ssi with the slingshot, right? I want to watch too. I think I need to see it to help make a better slingshot."
Come to think of it, that was true.
There are things you can only know by seeing them in person.
"I want to stay here too. I don't want to be left alone for no reason."
That was understandable.
If Kang Mu-yeol brings that family back, everyone will be greeting them on the rooftop, so if someone is left out, they might feel alienated.
"But I won't watch. Please tell me when it's over."
It didn't seem like they were staying because they wanted to see the Zombies being caught in person.
The 4th floor was higher than I thought.
While Kang Mu-yeol was going down the stairs, the family was surrounded by Zombies.
Zombies that had been approaching slowly from a distance blocked the family's path.
While the family hesitated, the Zombies following behind cut off their retreat.
The man swung a chair belatedly, but a chair wasn't good equipment for dealing with Zombies.
Because Zombies approach without getting tired.
Although a chair might be more useful when dealing with Looters.
Against Zombies, the kitchen knife Ju Hye-kyung is holding is better.
"Uaaah!"
The husband, Nam Hyun-sik, pushed the Zombie with the chair leg with all his might.
The Zombie that was pushed back fell on its butt but got back up immediately.
A look of dismay washed over the family's faces.
There's no use if not now.
I hooked a steel ball onto the slingshot and pulled it back with all my might.
"Oh...!"
Im Do-yeong's gaze didn't think to leave the slingshot.
The gaze was quite burdensome.
But as the creator, I couldn't really say anything about him looking closely at the weapon he made.
Tik!
Perhaps thanks to the skill, the steel ball pierced the head of the Zombie that was creeping toward Nam Hyun-sik without wavering.
If it can pierce a Zombie's head in one shot from this distance, it's definitely thanks to the skill.
The difference between having a skill and not is huge.
Nam Hyun-sik froze and didn't move.
Well, if the head of a Zombie approaching you suddenly explodes, it's natural to be flustered.
Rather, Ju Hye-kyung and her daughter, Nam I-seo, looked around.
I waved my hand so they could spot me.
Smiling slightly to make myself feel as harmless as possible.
I made eye contact with them.
The look of fear was still there.
But they had no time to pay more attention to me.
Other Zombies were still closing the distance every moment.
Nam Hyun-sik also came to his senses soon.
He pushed the Zombies with the chair he was holding to keep them from getting close.
The chair was definitely good equipment for securing distance, but it had no lethality.
It only stopped at pushing the Zombies away.
They didn't scream for help.
They seemed to know that it might wake up more Zombies around them.
Pak!
In the meantime, I pulled the slingshot and took care of one more Zombie.
They were surprised again, but quickly came to their senses.
There was no need to smile and wave.
This is why experience is important.
They were still glancing at me and wary, but it seemed they decided to grab the lifeline for now.
They started approaching the Villa.
Just then, Kang Mu-yeol arrived on the ground.
Kang Mu-yeol ran quickly to where the family was.
Nam Hyun-sik's family was surprised again when they saw Kang Mu-yeol running toward them.
"I've come to help."
Kang Mu-yeol explained briefly and then crushed the Zombies' heads with his baseball bat.
They seemed a bit relieved only after all the Zombies were taken care of.
They didn't let their guard down until the end when I caught the Zombies with steel balls.
They approached the Villa under Kang Mu-yeol's escort.
"That's it."
Just around the time I thought they could safely enter the Villa now that Kang Mu-yeol was with them.
I saw something strange in my peripheral vision.
Something seemed to be crawling on the rooftop of the building next door.
'Crawling?'
Even in a normal world, it's strange for someone to be crawling on a building rooftop.
It was the same now that it had become a Zombie world.
It would be strange if it were a person, and strange if it were a Zombie.
Because Zombies walk around too.
I turned my gaze to look at the rooftop of the building next door.
There was nothing on the rooftop.
'Did I see wrong?'
It wasn't.
Someone was crawling on the rooftop of the building next to that one.
Even though it was crawling, it wasn't slow at all.
It was actually fast.
Hwik!
Something that crawled to the rooftop railing lightly kicked off the ground and leaped to the next building.
It was a movement that couldn't come from a crawling person.
No, it wasn't a human movement.
"Th-that, what is that?"
It wasn't just me who saw it.
Im Ji-ah pointed at the crawling thing with a trembling finger.
"Don't worry. It won't be able to come here."
Because the rooftop of this building is a Safe Zone for now.
I reassured Im Ji-ah.
'Is it a Zombie?'
The possibility of it being a Zombie was high.
It didn't seem like a person.
The crawling Zombie's gaze was fixed on Kang Mu-yeol and Nam Hyun-sik's family.
Eyes that seemed to be targeting prey.
"Kang Mu-yeol-ssi! Watch out!"
I warned Kang Mu-yeol while simultaneously pulling back the slingshot.
The target was, of course, the crawling Zombie.
Just then, the Zombie that was precariously attached to the edge of the rooftop kicked off the railing.
Even if there weren't many high buildings, it was a 4-story building.
Even for a Zombie, it's a height where you wouldn't be able to keep your bones intact if you fell properly.
The crawling Zombie didn't care.
Kang Mu-yeol discovered the Zombie rushing down from the air.
As expected of a Level 7 Warrior, he immediately raised his baseball bat.
Just before the Zombie reached him, Kang Mu-yeol swung his baseball bat.
Hwiik!
The heavy sound of wind reached the rooftop.
No impact sound was heard.
A miss.
The Zombie that jumped from the rooftop crouched down low and dodged Kang Mu-yeol's swing.
The disadvantage of a heavy blunt weapon.
There is a delay until recovery after a swing.
Kang Mu-yeol had good strength, so the recovery delay was short, but.
The Zombie's movement was faster.
I immediately pulled the slingshot and fired.
There wasn't even time to aim properly.
Sswae-aek!
The steel ball cut through the air.
I aimed roughly, but the direction was accurate.
The target was the crawling Zombie.
The Zombie, which was about to kick off the ground, hesitated for a moment.
It glanced at me, then changed direction and jumped to the side.
The steel ball hit the ground.
"No...?"
Did it just see the steel ball flying from behind and dodge it?