023
023
Kang Mu-yeol exited the hardware store.
I gave Kang Mu-yeol a thumbs-up from the rooftop.
Kang Mu-yeol raised his thumb in return.
As expected of Kang Mu-yeol. I knew he could handle it on his own.
Kang Mu-yeol returned.
I gathered the tenants on the rooftop.
And I told them that we had secured the hardware store.
Everyone was happy about the villa's development.
Among them, Im Do-young looked the most excited.
"I think there might be a slight misunderstanding, so let me clarify. It doesn't just mean we cleared out the zombies inside the hardware store. The hardware store has become a Safe Zone as well."
"...Oh?"
Safe Zone.
The tenants know how amazing a Safe Zone is.
After all, the place they live is a Safe Zone.
It's a space that completely protects against outside intrusion.
For instance, even when zombies climbed up to the stairs, they couldn't enter the 4th-floor hallway, which is a Safe Zone.
Even when passing right in front of the zombies, they just drooled.
"The hardware store is a Safe Zone? Then, if we ever get into danger after leaving the villa, we can just head into the hardware store and be safe? Without having to run all the way up to the 4th floor of the villa?"
"That's correct. Well, in reality, you shouldn't get isolated after leaving the villa, but it doesn't hurt to know."
Kang Mu-yeol periodically clears the area around the villa.
Besides, I am always monitoring the area around the villa via CCTV.
Unless someone sneaks out in the middle of the night, there's really no chance of being surrounded by zombies near the villa.
"Actually, that's not what I meant to say...."
While the Safe Zone is important, there was something more important.
"We need to select someone to manage the hardware store."
With the acquisition of the hardware store, a new function was created.
It was the function to manage the hardware store.
I could manage it myself, but I could also delegate the management to a tenant.
There was no need for me to do something like managing a hardware store myself.
It's just a hassle.
I have so many other things to do.
"If anyone here wanted to do it, I'm sorry, but you're out of luck. I've already decided who to entrust the hardware store to."
No tenant seemed disappointed.
Is it really not something to be disappointed about?
Does managing a hardware store look boring?
Instead, the tenants' gazes gathered in one place.
All the tenants looked at Im Do-young.
"Ah... me?"
He seemed flustered by the sudden attention, but he couldn't hide the corners of his mouth curling up.
The person I had in mind was also Im Do-young.
There was no one else to do it if not Im Do-young.
"Yes, Im Do-young-ssi. Please take charge of managing the hardware store."
"Can I do it? I've never run a store before."
"Actually, you won't even need to go there in person. It'll be faster to see it for yourself."
While I was at it, I gave Im Do-young the authority to manage the hardware store.
Then, Im Do-young's eyes widened.
"...Huh?!"
Im Do-young placed his finger in the air and moved it around.
Everyone watched Im Do-young's strange behavior with bewildered expressions.
I knew what Im Do-young was looking at.
It was the system window. Connected to the hardware store.
"Didn't you say you needed wire and a toolbox? Try taking them out."
"How do I take them out?"
"I think you just need to find them and press the button."
Im Do-young pressed his finger in the air with a serious face.
"It says I took them out? Where..."
"Go to your place. They might have been delivered."
Im Do-young went down to the 4th floor with a skeptical expression.
The tenants looked at each other and waited for Im Do-young.
They had expectant faces.
Im Do-young returned.
He was holding wire and a toolbox in his hands.
"...!"
"It was real! They were right in front of my door!"
Seeing the surprised Im Do-young, a satisfied smile naturally formed on my face.
Was I wearing that same expression when I first received supplies?
"Use as much as you want. If the stock runs low, tell me. You'll need me to refill the stock."
It was a structure where there was a fixed inventory, and if it ran low from overuse, I had to use Coins to replenish it.
In a way, it was similar to the daily supply.
"We might end up occupying other buildings, everyone. When that happens, I will select a manager suitable for that building. If you happen to be chosen, please work hard, and don't feel bad if it doesn't go to you. It's an honorary position."
Management is such a hassle.
I thought everyone would try to avoid it.
Many people's eyes became bright and eager.
'Ah....'
The name is grandly 'Manager', but they just get to use the items the building provides to their heart's content, and the management is done by me with my Coins?
'Seems like a loss, doesn't it?'
Since we had taken out the toolbox and wire from the hardware store, I decided to upgrade Kang Mu-yeol's baseball bat right away.
Repairman Im Do-young's current level is 4.
If I upgraded the baseball bat after leveling him up more, I would get better results, but.
I couldn't bring myself to spend Coins on Im Do-young right now.
It cost 9 Coins just to level up by 2 stages.
That's a significantly large amount.
Because Kang Mu-yeol's promotion requires 100 Coins.
9 Coins is almost a whopping one-tenth of that.
I have to save them.
It's okay if the weapon is a little less than perfect.
If the fundamentals are excellent, a lack of weaponry can be sufficiently overcome.
Kang Mu-yeol beat up zombies and people just fine with a plain baseball bat.
It's not too late to worry about the next Coin usage after promoting Kang Mu-yeol first.
That's how heart-pounding the promotion system is.
The tenants went back to do their own things.
Only I, Im Do-young, and Kang Mu-yeol remained on the rooftop.
"But does wrapping wire make the baseball bat stronger?"
Kang Mu-yeol asked Im Do-young.
Im Do-young replied while putting on work gloves.
"For starters, it gets heavier by the weight of the wire. If the mass increases, the power will also increase. Assuming you can handle it well, of course. But from what I see, Hyung, you look like you could handle something much heavier."
"Well, the baseball bat isn't heavy right now. But is that it? Just getting heavier?"
"The wire will also have a protective effect on the baseball bat. If you hit something just like that, the bat might break, but if you wrap it with wire, that possibility will decrease."
"That's not what I'm curious about. Don't you drive nails or something like that into it? That would seem more threatening."
I nodded while listening to Kang Mu-yeol.
Certainly, in movies and games related to the zombie apocalypse, baseball bats with nails driven into them or barbed wire wrapped around them always appeared.
Usually, it's a weapon held by a strong person.
Since Kang Mu-yeol is also strong, he is fully qualified to wield such a baseball bat.
"Hmm... is it necessary? First of all, nails don't seem great. Driving nails into a bat means there are cracks inside the bat. You won't be able to use it for long. It'll probably split apart after using it for a while."
"Ah, does it work like that?"
"Barbed wire... I could make it if you want. But it'll splatter a lot of blood. If you're okay with that, I'll make it for you."
"No. Now that I think about it, just wrapping wire seems sufficient."
Kang Mu-yeol was convinced.
There's no need to splatter blood unnecessarily.
If more blood splatters, the possibility of infection also increases by that much.
He wrapped the wire tightly with pliers and finished it off with wire cutters.
The reinforcement of the head part was finished.
Im Do-young took another item out of the plastic bag delivered from the hardware store.
"What's that?"
It was an object rolled up in a circle like tape, and the color was black.
"Is it electrical tape?"
"No. It's not electrical tape... It's called grip tape."
"Grip tape?"
"You know, have you ever touched a badminton racket handle? It's light and sticks to your hand, right? It's like that. If I attach this to the baseball bat, I think you'll be able to swing it much more easily."
"Oh. That really sounds like it would."
As expected of a Repairman.
He's really good at using items that have nothing to do with baseball bats to upgrade them.
Just listening to him, it sounded like the best output in the history of baseball bats would come out.
Im Do-young grunted as he pulled the grip tape tight and attached it.
Kang Mu-yeol helped. He held the bat steady so it wouldn't move.
The upgrade was finished only after wrapping the handle with tape several times.
"Try swinging it once."
Im Do-young held out the baseball bat.
Kang Mu-yeol took the baseball bat. Kang Mu-yeol, who felt it with his hand, smiled satisfactorily.
Kang Mu-yeol swung the baseball bat.
Whoosh!
The sound of cutting through the wind was heard. It was heavy.
"Wow, with this, I feel like I could beat up anyone who comes!"
Somehow, it felt like the 'anyone' Kang Mu-yeol was talking about included not just zombies, but humans as well.
'I don't know who it is, but that's too bad for them.'
I felt reassured because he is a tenant of my villa.
"Damn it. What a shitty situation."
Moon Byeong-dae, who entered the president's office, flopped down onto the sofa.
"I'm saying this now, but what the hell is going on all of a sudden?"
Moon Byeong-dae was on his way back from killing zombies just a moment ago.
Zombies came in endless waves.
A strange scream was also heard.
While commanding the zombie hunt for a while, the strange scream was quite annoying.
The pitch and volume were big problems, but the bigger problem was that when the scream was heard, more zombies were replenished.
I couldn't confirm if it was true or not because I was so distracted, but my intuition said so.
On top of that, I think I caught a glimpse of a zombie crawling on the wall.
Since I had heard rumors about crawling zombies attacking people, I couldn't ignore the possibility that I had seen things.
Anyway, it was a lull.
It was fortunate that I used a civilian subordinate as bait to send the screaming zombie elsewhere; otherwise, I would probably still be fighting.
"They would have died anyway if I hadn't sent them. I should consider it a noble sacrifice. Is there anyone outside?"
"I'm here."
Lee Jae-jeong opened the door to the president's office and entered.
"Did you hear about that guy?"
"You mean the guy who went to find Lee Sung-joo? Yes, I heard. Apparently, some guy who brought a baseball bat went on a rampage."
"Can you bring that guy here?"
"Do you think the swarm of zombies is also that guy's doing?"
"That's not important. That courage, having waded through the zombies. He's a talent I need. I have to bring him here. I have to make him one of our own."
"...Yes?"
"What do you mean 'yes'? Send the guys and bring him here quickly!"