Tutorial's End

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The sun was just peeking over the horizon, casting a gloomy shadow over the city in a somber mood. This landscape had become so familiar that I could barely remember what it looked like before—though to be fair, I never bothered paying attention in the first place. But to these things that had been holed up in the school for the past ten days, it must have felt entirely different.

Squeeze.

"Huuuuh..."

Staggering zombies approached, and they gripped their weapons, took deep breaths, and steeled their resolve.

"""Grraaaargh—"""

Only five zombies. I untied the rope I was holding.

"Bite!"

The ropes that had been yanking their waists taut went slack, and they charged at the zombies with roars.

"Uwaaaak!"

Unlike the half-hearted effort from before, blasting one as an example seemed to light a fire under them—they went full lynch mob on the zombies, furious and frenzied.

Bang-.

Thud, thwack, thwack, thwack...

"Head! The head!"

"Kill it, die!"

"Hah, hah, hah...!"

It was comical seeing two or three humans surround a single zombie and beat it to a pulp—the situation felt completely reversed. Thwack, thwack, thud.

Crunch.

Thud...

"Stop!"

They were going beyond killing and turning the zombies into zombie meatballs, so I yanked the ropes again.

"Alright, awakened ones? Raise your hands."

One by one, they started raising their hands. More succeeded than I'd expected—guess hunger really brings out the survival instinct in people.

"Now, those who got a job other than Survivor, put 'em down."

Like rewinding a tape, hands dropped one by one. I clicked my tongue.

Well, that's normal.

Then No.1 Hunting Dog shot his hand up.

Snap-.

"Oh? What's up."

"U-um, next to my name it says Survival Swordsman..."

"Ooh—wait, you handled a sword or something?"

"Yes! I've done kendo since I was a kid..."

No wonder he swung that steel pipe so oddly. They say even among five idiots, one has to be slightly less idiotic.

"Okay. You're the leader!"

Clap clap clap.

"Th-thank you..."

"From now on, they're your responsibility. Run, die, whatever—doesn't matter."

"Pardon?"

"Huh?"

Thwack-!

"Didn't I tell you not to open your mouth without permission?"

"...Sorry."

"Let's do well, yeah?"

"Yes."

The newly promoted leader, No.1 Hunting Dog, straightened up with perfect discipline. I pointed at the zombies shambling over at the sound of our voices—nearly double the previous group.

"Get everyone, even the unawakened ones, awakened and come back."

Swish-.

No.1 glanced at the hunting dogs and zombies, face hardening as he gripped his weapon tighter. I released the ropes again.

"Bite!"

...

After cracking the whip, it was time for the carrot.

"I'll give you 30 minutes. Grab everything except zombies and rot, pile it all in front of him."

In front of the neighborhood mini-mart, I tossed backpacks at the fully awakened hunting dogs.

Gulp-.

"I'm thinking of giving you guys about 10% of what you farm. Might give more depending on how well you do. Fighting?"

Zing-.

"What're you dawdling for? Get your asses in there!"

They jolted in surprise, finally grabbing bags and rushing into the mart. Connected by ropes around their waists, they looked like a string of Vienna sausages.

-Don't panic! Stick together, stay close to each...

Sounds of fighting between the mart zombies and hunting dogs echoed out soon after. I figured No.1 would handle it after all that, but to be safe, I told the girls too.

"If anything feels off or they're slacking, just kill 'em. Don't help unless it's really dangerous."

"Yes, Master."

"Master Cheongun? Where are you going?"

"I ran auto-farm too. Time for me to grind."

Grabbing zombies here and there yesterday and today had filled my experience bar right up to the brink of level-up. Another hundred or so should push me to level 5.

"Hey, got any Bacchus or Hot Six left?"

"Vitality Potions and Awakening Potions... right?"

"Yeah, those."

The potions she'd stirred all night without sleep in that cauldron were now treated like cheap fatigue relievers or energy drinks.

"Ahaha... y-yeah."

Even she couldn't hold back a bitter laugh—her hand trembled as she handed them over.

Embarrassingly effective compared to anything else, sure.

But they do have her fluids in them.

Gulp gulp-.

I dumped her potions down my throat and kicked the car right next to me.

Rattle...

Vroooom- vroom-.

"Graaah?"

"Grraaaargh-."

Thud, thud, thud...

Zombies swarmed at the car alarm. Crawling out from building gaps and corners, easy to hit a hundred.

Click-.

Sawed-off shotgun in one hand, axe in the other, I walked toward them.

-Groooaaarrrgh!

Zombie groans mixed into a heavy wave crashing against my skin.

"Whew, that's a lot."

Too busy with construction lately to clean my front yard, Seongjeong-dong. Time to pick up the pace again.

With that thought, I raised the shotgun.

Boom-

...

Plunge-.

As I buried my axe in the last zombie's skull, Jeong Da-jeong approached with a towel, watching.

"Good work, Master."

"Yeah."

I wiped the blood off roughly with the towel and tossed it on the ground.

"Master, about the mart farming..."

"Hold on."

I cut off Jeong Da-jeong's immediate report. More important things than that trivial update.

I pulled up my status window right away.

Two free stats from hitting level 5. Fun dilemma where to dump them, but that paled next to the message blinking below.

Blink, blink-.

Three job candidates popped up like the second job change in the novel. As the term "evolution" suggested, they were tailored to my actions.

And one of them, No.2, I recognized.

The original Cheongun's job.

Hovering my finger over No.2 brought up a summary of its skills.

Most Heinous Murderer is pure PVP build.

An upgraded sin system called Sin Karma, skills to detect human traces or find humans in range—optimized for human hunting, influenced by all the killing I'd done.

In contrast, No.1, Master of Heavenly Evils, looked commander-type. Stat bonuses and buffs based on slave count, experience and gains from slaves' actions, skills to empower slaves. Came from having Jeong Da-jeong and Doksayeon as slaves.

Finally, No.3, Monopolist of Plunder, boosted farming, reduced resource consumption, and let you duplicate held items with skills—operations-focused.

Though I wondered if I'd farmed that much for it to show up...

But that wasn't the point.

Commander, PVP, or ops...

Jobs depend on the user, but none appealed.

No.1 wasn't bad, but slaves need to grow for its potential to bloom—late-game payoff. No.3 had zero combat focus; worst growth. Mercenary contracts via "employment," ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but still non-combat.

No way I'd pick No.2, Most Heinous Murderer.

Half experience from zombies, time limits to kill humans? And in the original, it hunted mostly awakened humans—clear growth ceiling.

"What the hell."

Scamming noobs with god-tier jobs, but I get this? I'm doing way better than them.

Resigned to pick the least bad, No.1—then a new message popped up.

"Huh... hahaha, well I'll be damned?"

Twinkle twinkle.

Seemed the system agreed with me—a new candidate added. I went to check it out.

Until Jeong Da-jeong spoke.

"Ah, Master, looks like rain. Huh? But why's it so..."

Drip, plip-.

"Black?"

I froze.

"What?"

I snapped my head up to the sky. Thick clouds, just like she said, spewing rain.

Pitch-black rain.

Why is this happening already...?

I double-checked my memory—no mistake. Black rain starts on day 20. Not day 10. No way it should fall now.

Plip, plip plop, plip-.

Plop plop...

But regardless of my thoughts, the black rain poured down. For the first time, I panicked for real.

"Get inside a building now!"

No time to leisurely pick jobs.

Drip, drip plop.

Pour-.

Pour-.

Skin turning black where raindrops hit.

Looks like my stroll just got a lot longer.