Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Zombie Apocalypse (8)
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There were a lot of zombies to deal with, but the geographical advantage was clear.
The narrow space of the escalator, and me up above.
A zombie with blood-red eyes frantically searched for someone to infect and came rushing up the escalator.
"You shouldn't run on the escalator."
And with the power out right now, wouldn't jumping around like that cause problems?
"Is now the time to say that?"
Na-eun shot me a reproachful look, as if she'd heard my quiet mutter.
She must have broken her concentration while searching for enemies on the sixth floor, just in case.
Feeling a bit sorry about that, I gripped the baseball bat tightly with both hands.
Kang-kang-kang-kang-kang!
Three zombies were already charging up, stomping hard on the metal steps.
The moment the lead one entered the range of my baseball bat, I swung down with all my strength.
Kaaaang!
A sound like hitting a home run echoed from the bat.
The zombie's head shattered in one blow again, its body collapsing, and the ones behind shoved the headless corpse aside.
In that instant, their speed slowed, and the unnecessary movement created an opening, so I swung the bat once more.
Kaaang!
With that, I took down five zombies and completed the second quest from Lee Sian.
I still couldn't feel much difference in my physical abilities.
I'd need to swing it a few more times to get a real sense.
The third zombie charging up the escalator leaped over the second one with agile movements.
I froze for a moment seeing it jump higher than expected.
Until now, I'd been targeting just the heads, but now the head was higher up?
In the time that felt like it was flowing slowly, I chose to step back.
As I quickly retreated, it swung its arms wildly at the end of the escalator—right where I'd been standing—and the failed big attack left a huge opening.
Thwack!
Aiming for that gap, my bat swing produced a different sound than before.
Not just cracking the head, but exploding it? Like when I'd bashed them to confirm kills before, the head burst all at once.
This must be the quest reward.
As I felt the strengthened power firsthand, Na-eun called out.
"Sian! They're coming over there! Coming!"
"How many?!"
"One!"
"Four more coming from below. Can you handle it?"
"I have to!"
"Prioritize not getting hurt, measure the distance, then swing. Can you do it?"
"I can do it too!"
I thought I should make her something with longer reach than a baseball bat later, like a spear.
With my current strength, I could deliver these one-hit kills, but for Na-eun, it might take longer than when I'd beaten that goblin with a sword.
And I didn't have time to slack off either.
I aimed my bat at the zombie charging up the escalator.
Splat!
I burst the head of the lead one.
Splat!
The second one's speed slowed because of the corpses cluttering the escalator, making it easy to burst its head.
Splat!
The third stumbled over the bodies, and I didn't miss that opening.
The fourth got buried under the piling corpses that slid down and couldn't climb up.
Having dealt with the zombies faster than expected, I hurried to support Na-eun.
Thud thud thud thud thud!
No support needed.
Somehow landing her first proper hit, she was grimacing as she smashed the downed zombie's head with her baseball bat.
Once the zombie's skull was completely smashed and brains exposed, Na-eun took a few steps back and dropped her bat.
Kang clatter-kang!
Startled by the bat bouncing on the floor, she quickly stepped on it to stop the noise.
"Haa... Ah? You saw?"
Catching her breath and spotting me, Na-eun gave an awkward smile.
"You did great. Really glad you didn't get hurt."
I went to her, hugged her close, and gently patted her back.
Her heart was pounding hard and fast, but as I patted to a slow rhythm, I felt her heartbeat gradually calm.
"You did great. You did great. Remember how you did it?"
"Not really. I was just scared, so I swung with everything I had and thought I had to finish it."
Lucky she didn't miss or drop the bat.
I finally understood why Composure, the first rule of my Survival Rules, existed.
The Plague Lord had sent zombies humanity could handle.
So as long as you kept your wits and had decent gear, you could hold out.
Keep that in mind and push through the trials ahead.
"Did you get all yours?"
"Ah. Probably one left."
"But is it okay for us to just stand here?"
"A zombie got buried under the corpse pile."
"Doesn't that seem more dangerous?"
Thinking about infection, yeah, it did seem riskier.
Sudden enemies bursting from a corpse pile were more threatening than standing ones.
And without leg guards, it'd be a hassle to deal with.
No leg pads at the sporting goods store, huh?
"Should we take the emergency stairs?"
"After all this noise, they've probably all gathered. Should be fine."
I figured all the ones that could come had come, after swinging the bat hard in this open vertical space.
We took the emergency stairs we'd used to come up to the seventh floor and descended slowly, pausing briefly at the third floor for women's clothing.
"Wanna check clothes?"
"Yeah... Let's. It's my reward for taking down my first zombie."
She hesitated a moment before coming up with a solid reason.
Free shopping as compensation for her first kill? Pretty generous.
Opening the closed door to the third floor, we saw the women's clothing stores in shambles.
Being lower down, they'd been looted fast.
Still, plenty of good stuff left, so Na-eun lightened her steps to grab what she could.
Meanwhile, should I check my quests?
『Quest』
Defeat (5/5) zombies.
-Completed: Physical Ability Enhancement
The original quest was complete.
I'd definitely felt the physical enhancement in my body, so in terms of combat power?
Level hadn't gone up, but combat power had nearly doubled in one go.
Simple math: even one-handed swings with the bat now had the power of two-handed ones?
I knew that wasn't literal, but it meant I could probably fight even holding a shield.
Another quest had popped up too?
I checked the new one right away.
To me, this was just shopping.
『Quest』
Defeat (4/10) zombies.
-Completion: [Skill] Survival Rules (F) Enhanced
Still a zombie-hunting quest, but I liked the reward.
Since Composure was rule one of Survival Rules, it probably strengthened by adding more rules?
Curious what'd come next, but I could guess it wouldn't be flashy.
Now I'd have to hope for more zombies on the way?
As I finished checking the Status Window, Na-eun came over beaming, her once-empty bag now bulging compared to mine.
"Sian, gotta fill your bag too, right?"
"Wanna fill it with fresh veggies? You know all we've got for breakfast is nutrition bars?"
I rustled one out from my pocket.
Meant to eat it on the way here, but too many eyes, so I pocketed it—forgot till now.
Na-eun took one, unwrapped it, popped it in her mouth, and mumbled while chewing.
"Let's find veggies. How'd you plan to survive a month on these? Sweet and tasty, but you can't last on this alone."
"In extreme situations, maybe?"
"Hurry down. Lots of people probably went already. Might be nothing left."
We headed to the basement together, and as expected, it was picked clean.
Cucumbers, carrots, zucchini remained, but easy-munch stuff like lettuce or cabbage was gone.
"Guess cucumbers it is."
I stuffed my bag full of future vitamin sources and left the department store.
It was getting into midday; the sun felt a bit hot.
Outside, groups with what looked like weapons were moving around, so others had learned to cope with zombies too.
Definitely fewer zombies on the streets now.
People eyeing our bulging bags as we exited made me think we should take the long way to the officetel.
Choosing the detour route back, I asked Na-eun.
"Na-eun, anything useful at your place?"
"Hm. Don't think so? Got cosmetics and pads stocked. Freezer's a mess too."
With her diet and workouts, probably like mine.
Barring emergencies, the officetel would stay our base.
Back home, the area was deserted.
Maybe they'd gone scavenging far, joined others, or headed to shelters.
Up on the third floor, we unpacked, first filling water bottles from the sporting goods store.
Gotta carry these whenever we head out.
"Room's getting messy."
With food, extra water, and weapons stocked, only the bed was left for relaxing in my room.
We showered with the precious clean water—end uncertain—and sat on the bed checking news on our smartphones.
Na-eun had tons of messages from friends; she reassured them she was fine with me.
I just read and ghosted. Her social skills really shine.
Instead of news sites, I tuned into a YouTube livestream news channel.
"Zombie hordes have appeared in Korea too!"
"Haa. It's only been a little over 13 hours."
The news hit with bad tidings right away.