017
017
"Kkyaaaaaak."
The Siren, the loudest among the zombies, let out a howl.
The Siren's scream was super-duper loud, so everyone covered their ears.
'Damn, my mind is going fuzzy.'
The distance was too close.
The scream went past my eardrums and shook my brain.
It was to the point where it was hard to keep thinking.
As the Siren screamed, the zombies' movements changed.
I had only grown up seeing zombies that moved slowly.
The zombies with the Siren were different.
They started running.
Perhaps because they weren't used to running, the zombies in the front row fell to the floor.
The Villa stairs were narrow.
The fallen zombies blocked the path.
"Kkieeeeeek!"
The Siren howled again.
Then, the zombies in the back row started climbing over the fallen ones.
It was like watching a wave.
A zombie wave.
"Are you ready?"
"Of course, Sajang-nim. Just give the order."
Kang Mu-yeol, holding a baseball bat, stood in front of the stairs.
Looking at his broad back, it felt like it would never be breached.
'Actually, there really is no chance of it being breached.'
The hallway up to the 4th floor was a Safe Zone.
I predicted that no matter how much the zombies pushed in with sheer numbers, they wouldn't be able to enter the 4th-floor hallway.
However, there was another problem.
If the hallway gets completely blocked by zombies, we won't be able to get out either.
'I can't take in Tenants.'
The more Tenants there are, the better it is for survival.
Tenants cannot backstab me.
I can invite people with useful jobs for survival without worrying about backstabbing.
It was the alpha and omega of my job, Housekeeper.
But what if I can't take in Tenants?
The meaning of my job fades.
It becomes "this group forever."
It's like being isolated in the Villa, but I don't have to worry about starving to death.
When I catch zombies, I get Coins, so the zombies filling the Villa were just Coins.
The problem is that there's no progress.
And having to greet a horde of zombies every time I come out to the hallway.
It's not just about the Tenants; it also makes it difficult to secure this Villa.
If the Villa is full of zombies, I can't secure other floors.
It means the dream of securing the Villa is one step further away.
"Let's catch them."
The zombies that were pushing up the stairs like a wave stopped right in front of Kang Mu-yeol.
It was thanks to the Safe Zone.
Kang Mu-yeol stood in front of the stopped zombie wave and looked down at the zombies.
He grinned and raised his baseball bat.
"Hahahahahaha!"
He laughed heartily while smashing the zombies' heads one by one.
"Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha!"
One zombie head per breath.
Another zombie filled the empty spot of the zombie that died with a burst head.
I pulled the slingshot with all my might.
It definitely felt like efficiency increased as my skill level went up.
It was pulled much more lightly.
The target was the Siren.
I felt like I had to deal with the Siren first.
The Siren was too loud.
Even though the 4th floor was a Safe Zone, it couldn't block the sound.
The Siren's scream came straight into my ears.
Zombies are guys that don't know day or night.
If the Siren screamed while I was sleeping, I was confident I'd wake up startled.
'I feel like I'm going to get a stiff neck.'
I could get a stiff neck from waking up startled.
It was a disaster that had to be prevented at all costs.
Therefore, the Siren had to be dealt with first.
Swaeeeeek!
The Siren stared precisely at the flying steel ball.
"Kkeeeeek!"
As the Siren screamed, the zombies in front suddenly blocked the Siren's front.
The steel ball ended the lives of innocent zombies.
The steel ball, having pierced the heads of a couple of zombies, lost its momentum and rolled on the floor.
The zombies with pierced heads flopped onto the floor.
"Oh."
I aimed directly at the Siren, but failed due to the interference of a normal zombie.
It didn't seem like the normal zombie blocked it on purpose.
The Siren definitely screamed at the moment I fired the steel ball.
It seemed like the scream could control the zombies' actions as it pleased.
'I definitely need to deal with it first.'
Once I shoot the slingshot, the normal zombies approach, so I couldn't think of a brilliant solution.
The zombie wall was too dense to clear a path.
The only people who could reduce the number of zombies were me and Kang Mu-yeol.
We took an unscrupulous position of only attacking from the invincible zone, but it wasn't easy to handle the volume.
Kang Mu-yeol kept smashing zombie heads with his baseball bat, and I kept aiming for the Siren with my slingshot.
Zombies filled the empty spots, and the slingshot only popped the heads of normal zombies.
Zombie heads rolled into the 4th-floor hallway.
The Safe Zone blocked the intrusion of zombies, which were elements that could threaten survival.
Maybe it's because a headless zombie isn't a threat.
It was treated poorly.
Nam Hyun-sik used his major to clean up the zombies with burst heads and their bodies.
Thanks to that, the expression of Kang Mu-yeol, who had been executing zombies like a machine, brightened a little.
However, just because his mind was at ease didn't mean his body recovered.
Even Kang Mu-yeol, a Level 7 Warrior, was human after all.
His swing speed gradually decreased.
His breathing became labored.
Come to think of it, the sun had set and it was dark.
"Let's stop here for today. You've worked hard. I'll prepare some delicious ingredients for you. For now, have some snacks here."
"Huff, huff. This much is nothing."
Kang Mu-yeol, saying that, snatched the chocolate bar from my hand.
And he said it was nothing.
Anyway, I judged that it was difficult to eat on the rooftop since the sun had set.
Today, too, we had no choice but to eat all together in my house.
It was definitely much more crowded in the house since more Tenants came in.
Since the number of people increased, Im Ji-ah became busier.
"Shall I help?"
"Ah. Thank you. Could you slice that?"
"I'll help too."
"Then please wash the vegetables!"
We prepared dinner all together.
"This Villa really doesn't seem to have good soundproofing."
-Gueeeee....
-Gueooo....
Zombie sounds were heard from beyond the front door.
Since the Villa stairs were filled with zombies like a clogged blood vessel, it was no wonder the sounds could be heard.
My house's dining table was the same.
It was a 4-person table, so we couldn't all sit together.
In the end, we spread out newspapers again and sat on the floor together.
"Sajang-nim, it's okay for you to eat at the table."
"Everyone is eating uncomfortably, so I can't be the only one eating comfortably. Go ahead and eat."
"We'll eat well."
It seemed like memories of the past still remained.
The days when the zombie outbreak happened and no one had enough food.
Remembering those days when everyone focused and savored the taste even when eating a single piece of food, they savored Im Ji-ah's cooking.
"Mmm. It's delicious."
"It looked like there were definitely not enough ingredients. How did you make such a rich flavor?"
It was when everyone was eating with admiration.
"Huh? What's that?"
Nam I-seo pointed at the window with her hand.
Something flashed past the window.
"...Hmm?"
This house was on the 4th floor.
Unless it was some giant crow-like thing, who or what could flash past the window?
I continued eating, thinking nothing of it.
Just then, something was caught in my peripheral vision.
I immediately turned my head and checked the window.
"...!"
Just as Nam I-seo said, there was something.
The something was moving quickly along the wall as if it had suction cups on its hands and feet.
"Ruining my appetite."
The something was definitely a Spider.
I had seen it climbing a building before, so it wasn't strange.
When it was climbing the building next door, I just thought "oh well," but seeing a Spider climbing my house's window made my disgust soar.
The feeling of being watched.
"I really need to get rid of it...?"
As expected, I shouldn't leave the zombies gathered in the Villa alone.
'I've collected a decent amount of Coins, too....'
I definitely shouldn't leave them alone.
When the zombie outbreak occurred, a large Mart was a place that had to be visited.
A dream space overflowing with all sorts of farming elements.
On the other hand, because there was a lot of foot traffic, securing a large Mart from zombies was not an easy task.
However, Moon Byeong-dae pulled off that difficult feat.
Moon Byeong-dae, who had been a thug in the neighborhood, used his underlings to kick out those who needed to be kicked out and recruit those who needed to be recruited.
Even considering that the Mart had been looted initially, there was no problem feeding and supporting his underlings for a while.
Since there was also a guy who managed logistics, Moon Byeong-dae didn't really have anything to do.
Moon Byeong-dae was sitting in the manager's office, puffing on a cigarette.
Knock knock.
-I'm coming in.
"Yeah, come in."
A man dressed neatly, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, Lee Jae-jeong, entered.
"You must use them sparingly. Not many days are left."
He spouted words like someone on their deathbed.
Even though he wasn't a doctor.
"What happened to Lee Sung-joo? Still no contact?"
Lee Sung-joo.
Slanted eyes and corners of his mouth that were always smiling wide.
And a knife.
He was one of the Looters who had infiltrated Min-jun's Villa.
"I know too. If he hasn't returned by now, it's already too late."
Moon Byeong-dae clicked his tongue and stubbed out his cigarette on the desk.
"Send a few guys to search the vicinity. He might have died after securing some supplies. We have to secure those again."
"Ah, because of that...."
"What?"
"It's nothing."
Thinking about securing supplies first when a person died.
However, Lee Jae-jeong had no complaints.
Anyway, the living have to live.
"Did you secure his route? Where did he say he was going that day?"
"I have secured it. Just a moment...."
Lee Jae-jeong spread out a map in front of Moon Byeong-dae and showed it to him.
"I heard he was going this way. It's a bit far from the commercial area, but there are many houses, so he might have secured quite a few supplies."
"He was good at one thing, at least, right? His resourcefulness."
Among the numerous houses, Min-jun's Villa was also included.