Carving Through the Zombie Horde

Zombies—hell, to brag about cleaving them, I gotta survive and get back first. I peered down at the ground from the balcony.

"Aigoo, how many of those bastards are there?"

The motorcycle noise had already drawn a ton of aggro, and now the racket from the swarming zombies was pulling in even more in a vicious cycle. Easily over a hundred already, and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠numbers would keep climbing as time dragged on.

"Hey. Open your skills."

"Y-yes?"

"Like how you showed me your status window. Do it."

Only then did she stammer out her skills. Yeah, she definitely needed some mental reconditioning once we got back.

I had my own Blunt Weapon Basics and Short Blade Basics skills too, but... well.

'Not bad, but...'

They wouldn't help much with our immediate situation.

'Not that she's in any shape for it anyway.'

Meeooow~

"..."

Jeong Da-jeong stared down at the zombies with dead eyes. Expecting proper combat from her seemed hopeless.

Conclusion: I had to punch through that zombie horde alone.

If only I'd grabbed the nail gun, but in our rush, all I had were two swords and a couple daggers.

Maybe the most dangerous moment yet.

Still, I had my aces.

In case her awakening didn't go as planned, I'd held onto that one free stat. And...

My one and only job active skill, one I'd never tested. 'Fitting for the job's namesake.'

One more point in Fear would amp it up even more.

"Hoo. One screw-up slave, and I'm suffering like hell."

Still, using that free stat and my stacked Evil Accumulation left a bitter taste, separate from all that.

I taped up the gaps between my suit and gloves before heading out, bundled Jeong Da-jeong in as many layers as possible and taped her up tight, then headed to the 32nd floor where the elevator had stopped.

"That's why it wouldn't go down."

A zombie wedged between the elevator and the floor.

Thud-

Thud-

Thwack-

"Grraaagh-."

Looked like it tried forcing the doors open to escape the zombie inside, triggering the sensor and halting it.

Stab-

"Grk-."

Crack, crack-

Splat-

Killed the wedged zombie, yanked it out hard, and the doors finally closed, the elevator resuming normal operation.

"Grra..."

Stab-

Stab-

Cleared out the zombies lunging as the doors opened. Then hopped in, hit the 1st floor button, and lit a cigarette.

Crunch.

"..."

27th... 22nd... 15th... As the elevator descended, I could see Jeong Da-jeong tensing up. I was much the same.

Difference was, mine was turning straight to adrenaline in real time.

"Hoo. Hoo-hoot-"

Think about it—when else in life do you get to pull off movie shit like this? Experience you couldn't buy.

As we neared the 1st floor, I donned the motorcycle helmet and triggered the skill.

Activating the skill brought a faint black haze rising over my suit. Power surged through my body; I test-swung my sword.

Whoosh-

A slash with speed incomparable to before, whistling through the air. Satisfied, I told Jeong Da-jeong,

"Stick close. Lag behind again, and I'm ditching you."

The doors parted slowly, revealing the 1st-floor lobby packed with zombies. Raising my sword to dozens of pairs of eyes locking on like a horror flick,

Twitch, twitch-

"Come on, you fucks."

Started light: cleaved the heads of two blocking the landing horizontally.

Schlunk-

Splat.

Heads split clean like a lightsaber cut. The second was a bit short, but the first's cross-section was smooth.

"Ha, feels damn good!"

Shouting that, I kicked off the real blade dance.

Slash-

Slice-

Splat-

Slash-

Slash, slash again. Kicked aside corpses faster than zombies dropped, swinging nonstop.

'Like slow-mo.'

Zombies already slow, slowed further by my skill. Me? Faster than ever.

My swing lagged behind an outstretched zombie arm—but my blade hit the head first. Followed with the other sword, lopping the head off a sidecomer.

But more filled the gap. Over a dozen down, no end in sight.

'Gotta kill faster.'

But zombies ahead, walls beside—tight space limited my moves.

"Hup-!"

Thrust left arm out like a shield, plunged into the horde's heart.

Crunch, crunch-

Chomp, chomp-

Zombies clawing, biting from all directions—eight ways, even. Chills ran down my spine, but trusting the bike suit, I shoved forward. And shoved again.

"Huuuuh-!"

Thud-

Thwack-

But the weight piled on with every step. Reaching the front doors, outside zombies added their mass—no more pushing.

"Hey!"

Stab, skewer-

Stab, skewer-

Stab, skewer-

Stabbing heads of zombies gnawing my left arm with my right sword, I yelled back at Jeong Da-jeong,

"On one-two-three, kick my back!"

Kicked aside floor corpses to make space.

"One, two..."

Retracted left arm, backpedaled in a flash.

Thud, splat-

The fresh corpses between my arm and zombies collapsed, opening swing space.

Planted feet firm, yanked arms into deep X, roared,

"Three!"

Splat-

Heavy kick to my back. Felt emotional, but nah, imagination. Whatever.

"Hup-!"

Her kick boosted my momentum—I charged the horde.

Max speed into the pre-cleared space... unleashed crossed arms like springs.

Slaaaash-

Thud, thud, thud, thud...

All touched zombies crumpled, opening a wide semicircle. Feeling the numb thrill in my hands, I bolted through.

Gulp-

Gulp-

Crunch crunch crunch.

Splat, stab, skewer-

"Hah. Hah, haaah..."

Finally out of the 1st floor, into the apartment yard—but breath up to my chin.

But that space? Couldn't let it close.

"Hooo... Hup-!"

'Aim high left, low right...'

Pulled arms taut again, exploded pent-up power at approaching zombies.

Swooooosh-

Thud, thud, thud.

Zombies dropped, and a translucent window popped up.

Unintended, but novel-like—a combat skill generated.

"Grraaagh-."

"Grrraaagh-."

No time to register with zombies swarming—triggered it right away.

Strength drained from my body, but felt invisible hands guiding my arms up.

'Not fully auto—more like form correction.'

Matched the feel, body flowed into the strike... too wordy, calling it Cross Crescent Slash from now on.

Shiiiing-

Thud, thud, thud, thud...

Far crisper than before—zombies ahead crumpled instantly.

Sploooosh-

Plop plop.

Skill range matched my swords—blood sprayed everywhere, but still. Not enough.

"Hah. Haaah. Haaah-."

Sploosh-

Thud, thud, thud...

Once, twice, thrice... spammed the skill relentlessly. Body grew heavier by the second, but time was short.

Current Cross Crescent Slash power was full Evil's Specialty doping. So before it ended, one more time... just one more hit of this dizzying rush...!

"Haha... hah!"

Lunge-

"Stop..."

"Huh!?"

Right as I went for another, Jeong Da-jeong blocked me—irritation exploded.

"Fuck, you wanna die!?"

"N-not that... sir."

Glanced around.

"...You can stop now, sir."

Finally saw it: corpse piles in crescent arcs along my path. Only staggering distant zombies left standing—me and her alone up close.

Plus, a window floating before my eyes, don't know since when.

"Hah..."

Got so hyped in the blade frenzy I missed the level up. Regret it ended crashed in with fatigue.

Thud-

"Cheongun-ssi!"

"Hah, hah... whatever. The bike?"

"Ah-!"

She finally scurried to the motorcycle. Luck held—no major damage, engine roared right up.

Vroom-

"Hooo..."

Sighed deep at the sound, cig in mouth.

Didn't even light it before...

Thud, crash-

Blackout.