Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Other Side World (3)
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TATATA-TANG!!
Under the crimson sky, harsh gunfire echoed through the desolate city.
As if alerted by the racket that fresh prey had appeared...
- Kieeeek!!
Zombies and ghouls emerged from all directions, charging in.
To avoid getting surrounded, I kept running forward while firing.
Firing while on the move required serious focus and skill, but...
TATATA-TANG!
Thanks to my cheat 'Super Accuracy,' I didn't even need to aim. Just locking eyes on them was enough.
And while the bullets from the muzzle weren't live rounds but rubber ones...
Pop-pop, bang! Pop-pop, bang!
Thanks to the rifle's 'Fixed Damage' effect and the monsters' low HP, two or three shots to the head made them explode.
Even if their heads didn't burst, the 'Knockback' effect sent them flying backward, so the monsters in front of me couldn't close the distance easily.
The problem was the ones charging from the sides and behind.
- Kiaaak!
Click.
BOOM!
When they got too close, I'd use Transfer to drop a shockwave mine from my inventory onto the ground, but...
I could only do that so much. I didn't have enough mana to keep laying mines while moving.
The Transfer skill used barely any mana, sure, but right now I was constantly refilling ammo in the rifle with it, plus deploying mines.
Like getting soaked in a drizzle, my mana was on the razor's edge.
"...This won't do."
I still had plenty of ammo and consumables, but without mana, pushing further was impossible.
I needed to find a safe spot to recover some mana first.
With that in mind, I shoved back and killed the monsters while scanning around quickly.
"...Ah, damn it."
But all I saw were rubble from shattered, collapsed buildings.
Scraping that best-laid plan, I switched straight to Plan B.
"Come on out, come on..., somewhere sloped, come on out......"
Find a slope.
No matter how ruined it was, this was once a modern city, so slopes had to exist.
My backup plan: climb one, hunker down, and hold out until my mana recovered enough.
I knew it.
It was insane.
But that insane idea was totally doable.
Because I had my 'Special Modified Rifle.'
"...Found it!"
My mana wasn't just low—it was one step from depletion—when I finally spotted a slope.
But zombies and ghouls swarmed not just ahead, but the whole path to it.
So I decided to burn every last drop of mana.
Left hand pulling the rifle trigger, right hand firing the underbarrel grenade launcher.
All while using Transfer to keep reloading both the rifle and launcher.
TATATA-TANG, thunk! TATATA-TANG, thunk!
BOOM! KABOOM!
The path cleared.
Destination getting closer.
The more it did, the fiercer the monsters charged, like they absolutely wouldn't let me pass.
But rifle knockback and grenade shockwaves killed, repelled, or flung them back—they couldn't reach me.
After that short, all-out sprint...
I reached the slope.
But I wasn't fully there yet.
Had to climb until the path leveled out.
"Hah..., huff......"
Breath burning.
Body slowing.
I'm superhuman and all, but my stamina sucks, so I tired fast.
Almost there, though, so I didn't stop running.
Squeezed out the last of my mana, spraying the grenade launcher.
Bang, BOOM!
- Kiaaak!
The monsters blocking the uphill path got blasted by shockwaves and tumbled off.
Just as my mana hit zero...
The path flattened.
"...Oh, nice?"
Midway, it was collapsed.
But that worked in my favor.
Path cut off, surroundings crumbled—no way down except jumping.
No other options meant no worries about flanks.
Perfect turtling spot.
Anyway, mission accomplished.
"This is my turf now, so scram."
- Kieeeek!
BOOM!
I chased off the monsters already up there with the grenade launcher.
Once the flat area was clear and they'd all tumbled below, I pulled ammo crates and grenade boxes from my inventory, setting them down.
With no mana now, and the mines I'd laid on the way up exploding, I needed supplies out beforehand.
Thud, thud, thud.
Each crate hit the ground with a heavy thunk, announcing how packed they were.
Every time, I thought of that supply officer whose face I didn't even know.
'Thank you.'
And please keep it coming.
Sure, firepower stuff might go missing sometimes, but bear with me.
Sending that silent thanks to the—him? her?—supply officer, I dropped about ten crates, then grabbed a flare.
Loaded a fresh round into it and fired skyward.
Bang!
Under the red sky, the flare's crimson glow drifted slowly down.
Unlike natural light, its artificial shine would tip everyone off.
"I'm not the one finding Im Da-hee—she's gonna find me."
Striding coolly out to find her was great and all, but...
Embarrassingly, I'd forgotten my stats were trash for a sec.
Still, while I turtle here, I'll draw aggro from monsters, and the flare will rally anyone watching.
Might be safer letting her come to me than me hunting.
"...Picked it just for the affinity boost."
I glanced down at the rifle in my hands.
'Special Modified Rifle.'
Hard to call it same-tier as the pistol 'Holy Gun.'
A weapon built to toy with foes, per the system description.
Somehow, it was shining brightest here.
"Life's full of surprises, huh."
Click.
Chuckling at the idiom that popped up, I racked the rifle.
BOOM!
The last mine I'd laid on the slope detonated.
- Kieeeek!
- Kiaaaak!
- Kigigik, kigigik!
The monsters, stalled by the mine, now surged up with savage fury.
I hosed them down.
TATATA-TANG!
Penalty from hand tremors sent bullets spraying wild.
But 'Super Accuracy' twisted them mid-flight straight to my targets.
Headshots...
Pop-pop, bang!
- Kieek?
- Kiaak!
- Kigigik!
Rifle's 'Fixed Damage' burst heads or...
'Knockback' flung them back.
And just as I'd figured...
Rumble rumble!
Upslope monsters collided with the knocked-back ones, tangling, tumbling, or falling off.
In the gap, I grabbed a fresh mag from the crate and reloaded.
Dunno if the supply officer was meticulous or just bored...
Grateful either way—they packed mags pre-loaded, not loose rounds.
Freaked me out when I checked back at the training grounds.
Thanks to that, I could reload fast without Transfer.
Though in a real pinch, I'd dip into recovering mana for the skill.
TATATA-TANG!
Right as I emptied that mag...
Ding.
"......?"
An alert rang in my head.
A system window popped up in my peripheral vision.
A quest window.
Glowing gold.
"...I get not wanting to interrupt combat, but doesn't this feel a bit late?"
Only one quest glows gold.
The one that always shows for story progression.
⚙ MAIN QUEST ⚙ Chapter. 2 Main Quest.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Meanwhile, Im Da-hee—who'd gotten separated from Lee Yoo-jin and Park Ga-ram after getting sucked into the rift...
Crackle!
Krunch!
- Kieeek....
Thanks to Lee Yoo-jin's tips on using her electric skill, she was dispatching monsters without issue.
"Phew... Think that's all the monsters inside the building."
Im Da-hee scanned around with sharp eyes.
She flicked the blood off her spear tip onto the floor.
With mana recovered and her electric skill unlocked, she'd switched from down mode to warrior mode, striding boldly to the window.
She wiped dust from the glass with her hand and peered out.
"...A lot."
The seething mass of monsters visible through the window.
Even in warrior mode, that horde daunted her a bit; she shook her head and stepped back.
Or tried to—then...
"......That?"
Far off, a red flash shot into the sky.
She knew it was a flare, even if she'd never used one.
"Only one person would fire a flare."
The sole firearms user: Lee Yoo-jin.
Well, she was about to say only him..., but then she remembered Lee Seo-yeon suddenly started using a pistol too.
But unlike Seo-yeon with just her pistol, only Yoo-jin handled all kinds of guns.
So the flare had to be him.
"...He's calling us."
These monsters were weak, sure, but their numbers were insane.
Yet he fired that flare, broadcasting his position.
To fellow students here.
And to the monsters.
Given his skills, even hordes shouldn't faze him.
But drawing every monster's eyes? He'd be in a brutal fight.
- Kiaaaak!
The monsters outside stopped shambling and let out eerie roars.
Then bolted toward the flare.
Im Da-hee broke into a cold sweat at the sight.
"Lee Yoo-jin... you okay......?"
Too many heading his way.
And what help could she even provide if she went?
She could barely handle spearwork and had just learned to use her electric skill.
What good was her amateur self to him?
...Weak thoughts bubbled up.
Slap!
Im Da-hee smacked her own cheek.
"...Stupid."
The stinging pain on her cheek.
Her flagging spirits vanished.
"Who cares if I help or not."
She gripped her spear tighter.
"The squad leader's calling me... us. I have to go."
Even if he was strong, he'd need her.
So she'd answer the call, race there.
Steeling her resolve against weakness, Im Da-hee kicked the door down.
Focused electric skill into her legs and stomped the floor.
Boom!
Crackle!
A blue trail streaked toward Lee Yoo-jin.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "......"
Im Da-hee arrived where the flare had gone up—where Lee Yoo-jin should be—and gaped blankly at the scene.
TATATA-TANG!
Bang, BOOM! KABOOM!
A mountain came into view.
A mountain of monster corpses.
And it was piling up in real time.
No one else around, so Yoo-jin must've made it solo.
She could only think...
Amazing.
And wonder if he even needed her.
But that thought didn't linger.
Im Da-hee leaped down from the building.
The instant she channeled electricity through her body.
"Oh! You made it!"
Lee Yoo-jin, firing from the slope, spotted her and shouted happily.
Im Da-hee twirled her spear overhead in reply.
He yelled back.
"Hold up, wait! I'll clear a path for you!"
Then he kicked a nearby crate toward the monsters.
Clunk.
The crate popped open on impact.
Rumble!
Dozens of grenades spilled out.
And his follow-up...
"Get down!"
Bang!
Detonate them all at once.
KABOOOOOM!!