Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: My First Minion
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After tucking Yoo Ha-yeon into bed for a bit, I headed up to the rooftop of the department store.
No, calling it a rooftop wasn't quite right—it was more like a terrace.
This was the top floor of the department store, home to fancy restaurants and a large café.
Beyond the door leading to the terrace was an outdoor walkway designed like a little garden path.
“…Hoo, this is fucking high.”
Of course, the power was out, so elevators and escalators were off-limits.
That left the stairs.
The problem was climbing eight floors on foot—it was no small task.
‘Is there any easier way?’
Sure, I probably wouldn’t need to come up here much.
Most of what I needed was on the lower floors, while up here were things like the movie theater and restaurants—useless right now.
“Please, just work on the first try.”
I fiddled with the rice I’d grabbed from the basement grocery section and the mosquito net from the kids’ section on the fourth floor.
The target? Pigeons.
In this urban wasteland full of nothing but humans, they were the most common animals around.
Perfect for testing my skill, which only worked on animal corpses.
‘Lucky—there’s a few here.’
I’d caught pigeons before.
If you’re wondering how a modern office worker like me ever snagged one, it was right after the zombie outbreak, when we were holed up in the dorm and our food was running low.
We’d started feeling the pinch, and someone suggested pigeons.
We had rice left over that was tough to cook without power anyway.
“Here ya go~ Food~”
I sat on a bench along the walkway and scattered the rice haphazardly.
City pigeons might be wild animals, but they barely fear humans.
Sure, if you charge at them, they bolt.
But toss a little food their way, and they ignore you to chow down.
-Coo, coo-coo.
Even now, in the zombie apocalypse, it was the same.
They hesitated at first, but once one started pecking, the rest rushed in.
They looked just like chickens.
Fat and plump, too—straight out of a coop.
Once they got that close, it was easy.
I just had to carefully, quickly scoop one up with the mosquito net.
-Flap flap! Flap flap!
“Piece of cake.”
The moment I nabbed one, the others scattered without a second thought.
Reminded me of the survivor group back at the dorm, ignoring me when I got picked for scouting duty.
“Poor thing. Don’t worry—I’ll make you reborn, like I got bit by a zombie.”
-Flap flap! Flap flap!
Of course, the pigeon couldn’t understand me and kept flapping.
“…So how do I kill it?”
Now that I had it in hand, offing it was the tricky part.
For a regular chicken, you’d wring its neck or something.
But I didn’t need pigeon meat.
I needed a zombie pigeon revived by my skill.
‘If I injure it wrong, it’ll be useless…’
The zombies outside were proof.
Some had broken legs, others missing their lower halves.
Some couldn’t even bite because their jaws were smashed.
Those just turned into useless meat lumps that couldn’t move right.
If this pigeon’s wings got damaged when I killed it physically, it’d be no better than a chicken waddling on the ground.
“Aha! That’ll work!”
An idea hit me, and I headed straight downstairs.
Yoo Ha-yeon was still asleep in the bedding section on the third floor.
‘Probably best not to show her this.’
Even if she trusted and followed me, seeing me kill a pigeon might make me look like a psycho to an outsider.
Could shatter the trust I’d built.
So I went down to the basement.
The grocery section.
“Alright~ Thirsty, buddy?”
I poured a few bottles of water into a suitable container to make a puddle.
Then dunked the pigeon’s head in it.
Holding its wings tight so it couldn’t thrash.
I held it there like a forced face-wash, and soon enough…
The struggling slowed.
‘Just in case, leave it a few more minutes.’
This way, I could cut off its air without major damage to the body.
-Drip, drip.
After it stopped moving entirely and a few minutes passed, I pulled it out.
No more motion—just water dripping off.
“Got it! See? It worked!”
-Uuuuuh….
Thrilled at securing an animal corpse for my skill test, I chatted to the nearby zombie lying there.
Didn’t know its name, but it groaned back like it was happy too.
‘Let’s test it right now!’
I sat down to try, but then remembered something from the skill description.
‘Wait, it mentioned possession or something.’
Possession.
From what I knew, it meant overlaying my mind onto it.
So, reviving this corpse would put my mind inside?
‘Then what happens to my body?’
No matter how I thought about it, it’d be defenseless.
In the end, I moved from the grocery section to the bedding area on the third floor.
I perched on the edge of the bed where Yoo Ha-yeon slept and placed the pigeon corpse on the floor right in front of me.
‘…Alright, here goes.’
It took a few tries to get the hang of using the skill.
The trick? Just think of the skill name.
No need to open the skill window every time—super convenient.
[Using Moving Corpse LV 1.]
A helpful message confirmed it activated.
-Hummmm.
Felt something leave my body, then blue light enveloped the pigeon corpse.
-Creak, creak.
The definitely-dead pigeon twisted grotesquely and rose.
A moving corpse, literally.
“…Holy shit.”
I saw zombies every day, but seeing an animal I killed come back to life hit different.
Fully revived, the pigeon just stared at me motionless.
-Ding.
[Successfully used 'Moving Corpse' on species 'Pigeon'.]
[Individual name: None.
Species: Pigeon.
Traits: Flight, Avian Vision.
Current condition: Good.]
Messages popped up: skill success and the pigeon’s basic stats.
“Why isn’t it moving?”
I’d made it a zombie pigeon, but it stayed put.
No food around?
‘Wait, what if it attacks Ha-yeon?’
Thinking of food reminded me I hadn’t considered her safety.
But luckily, no sign of it going after sleeping Yoo Ha-yeon.
‘Maybe it moves if I give it an order?’
My class was Necromancer.
Reviving and commanding the dead.
So this pigeon I revived should obey me.
“Uh… um… hand, come here?”
Like training a dog, I held out my hand lightly.
Then—
-Whoosh flap!
The zombie pigeon hopped up lightly and landed on my hand.
“Whoa! This is awesome!”
It obeyed me.
Not like the random zombies outside—this was a living corpse under my command.
In some ways, more useful than a slave like Yoo Ha-yeon.
‘If I level it up more, maybe even humans as zombies…’
If I could increase the number too.
Then I could build a zombie army that moved at my command.
‘…Those soldier bastards. Was wondering how to screw them over. Got the perfect power.’
The soldiers had tons of guns and ammo.
Prioritized over food from the army base.
Even if I wanted payback for what they did, I couldn’t win alone.
My only ability was zombie immunity.
Charging in like this? I’d be Swiss cheese—game over.
‘Build up slaves, grow my powers.’
Then, when I’m so strong guns mean nothing, I go after them.
Imagining them begging for death made me grin.
“But what’s possession?”
Looking at the pigeon on my hand, I tilted my head.
The skill description mentioned it.
‘…Possession.’
-Ding.
[Use possession on species 'Pigeon'?]
Thinking it while staring brought up the prompt.
“Talk about convenient.”
I hit [Yes] without hesitation.
I’d locked the third-floor entrance with a padlock and chain to keep intruders out easily.
My body would be safe here even defenseless.
Plus Yoo Ha-yeon was right there.
[Beginning possession on species 'Pigeon'.]
With the message, my mind started to blur.
。 。 。
‘Holy fuck.’
-Whiiiish!
I was flying through the sky.
I’d felt like I was flying during sex with Yoo Ha-yeon, but this?
No joke—I was actually soaring.
As a pigeon.
‘Never imagined… this skill is insanely useful.’
Freely gliding high above, overlooking Seoul’s urban core.
Pigeon eyes caught every detail sharply, no matter how fast I flew.
Even almost my whole backside.
‘This is a full-on drone.’
One I could see through directly.
Unlike a regular drone that just observes, this could physically interact too.
Like old-school messenger pigeons.
Carry a note to relay messages to far-off people.
In this zombie world where phones were dead, long-range comms were huge.
And on top of that.
‘Good—they’re still alive.’
I flew over the dorm where I’d been hiding, checking them out.
Perched on a nearby branch and peered through the windows.
Couldn’t hear voices, but got the gist visually.
‘Was wondering how to scout them. Problem solved.’
The survivor group still scraping by on dwindling food.
Soldiers lining up for the slut Shin Ju-ha to vent their urges.
And Chae Soo-ah sucking off the company commander.
‘Same old shit, you fucks.’
Wanted to fuck them up right then.
But I held back.
The right chance would come eventually.
‘…Numbers grew?’
Spotted some new faces.
Young guys and girls.
Looked my age—probably college students.
‘Hiding nearby and joined up, I guess.’
No way the soldiers took them in with food short.
Must’ve been some deal.
Maybe the newbies had a bunch of supplies to trade for protection.
‘Wonder what to do with them later…’
None of my business.
But if they’re in that group, they’ll get caught in my revenge eventually.
‘Eh, whatever.’
It’d been a brutal world where only I needed to survive for a while now.
If they got fucked over in that group, their fault.
Not my problem.
‘…Where are Ryu Da-hee and Han Mo-ah?’
The only two in that group who treated me decently.
I wanted to recruit them somehow.
Even if helping Han Mo-ah got me in this mess.
They were the only ones who stuck up for me and helped on the sly.
-Flap!
I took off from the branch, circling the dorm airspace to scout around.
That’s when I spotted people gathered in the back yard.
‘That fucker Seo Il-soo…’
Sergeant Seo Il-soo and a few soldiers.
Ryu Da-hee shielding Han Mo-ah behind her.
I knew it instantly.
They’d been eyeing Han Mo-ah, testing the waters.
Finally saw their shot today.
I dove straight at them from above.
-Whiiiish!
Pumped my wings and pecked the shit out of those asshole soldiers with my beak.
“W-what the fuck! Argh! G-get off me?!”
“S-Sergeant Seo! Th-that pigeon’s a z-zombie, isn’t it?”
The jumpiest one, Private First Class Kim Seok-ho, pointed and yelled.
“W-what?!”
No zombie-like wounds, sure.
But charging people out of nowhere, with weird movements for a normal pigeon—they caught on.
“Aaahhh!!”
“Y-you’re infected?!”
“Shut up! Where’s that professor fucker!”
At “zombie,” Seo Il-soo paled, freaked out, flailing his arms as he bolted inside.
‘Dumbasses. Enjoy that.’
They’d shit bricks over infection for a while.
After chasing off the assholes enough, I stopped flapping and perched on the nearby wall.
“D-Da-hee…”
“It’s okay now. Settled down…”
The two women who were their real targets.
They eyed me warily too.
‘Neither had boyfriends, I think.’
That’s what I remembered.
Sure, college students, twenty-four years old.
Might’ve dated outside school even if not on campus.
But high chance they were virgins.
Exactly what I needed to boost my powers: virgin blood and slaves enhanced by my semen.
‘Hang tight. I’ll come get you soon.’
I resolved that, gazing at scared Han Mo-ah and glaring Ryu Da-hee.
Especially those massive tits ready to burst.
Both stacked.
‘Can’t wait to fuck ‘em.’
After “saving” the two future slaves, I leisurely flapped off into the sky.
Leaving them staring after me, I headed out first.
‘Whew, guess that’s enough skill testing.’
My first skill ever.
Disappointed at first—only one, and seemed meh.
But trying it out? Crystal clear now.
Super useful.
Especially moving freely where humans can’t and still interacting physically.
‘Maybe name it later.’
My inaugural zombie, the pigeon.
Calling it “pigeon” forever felt lame—gotta think of a name.
With the successful first skill use wrapped, I leisurely returned to the department store.
Then.
‘…What’s that?’
Something caught below me in mid-flight.
It was flying too.
I dropped altitude quick and approached.
Thought I mis-saw at first.
Pigeon vision was flawless.
No doubt.
‘…A drone.’
The electronic gadget humans made to fly and surveil the ground.