Chapter 18

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: penny

Chapter: 18

Chapter Title: Zombie Apocalypse (15)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The two guards at the entrance kept watch there, and Geon-woo followed us.

I wasn't exactly sure how many people were inside this building, but it seemed clear he was either the action leader or the boss.

At minimum, there were three able-bodied men—at least, that's what I kept reminding myself as we climbed the stairs, starting from the first floor, where the place was already a wreck.

"They've ripped all the doors off."

It looked like they'd gathered the residents upstairs and repurposed the front doors as building materials. It definitely felt far more advanced than our rundown officetel, which had started off promising but fizzled out.

The second floor was the same—all the front doors removed—and Na-eun strode right into room 203.

And loud enough for me to hear from outside, she shouted,

"You rotten bastards!"

Hearing that, I glanced back at Geon-woo, who was following me, and he smirked.

"Gotta make the most of 'em if we wanna survive. You get it, right, bro?"

He even threw in a wink. I seriously considered ripping out his earrings right then.

Shaking my head, I entered room 203. The first thing that caught my eye were the footprints.

Someone had walked around in shoes, leaving the floor a total mess, and Na-eun's scattered bras and underwear were in plain sight.

Unlike my officetel, which had a separate room, this one was all one space with a slightly larger living room—and that living room was trashed.

The fridge was already empty as a bone, and from the clothes strewn about, it seemed they'd taken anything useful, though a bit remained. Na-eun crouched down, stuffing the leftovers into her bag while muttering curses under her breath.

I opened a laptop with its charging cable still plugged in, but the screen was smashed.

"Ah. They didn't know the password."

"What absolute psychos? Smashing it just 'cause they couldn't crack it? What's wrong with them?"

Na-eun's outburst seemed aimed at the laptop's state.

"Yeah, this is overkill. No need to smash it. Did they really assume anyone who didn't come back here yesterday was dead and go all out?"

Someone might know how to bypass the password, and with comms still working, they could've reset it. It felt excessive, so I said to Geon-woo,

"Ahem. Well, when I said it was a pretty girl's room, the guys got a little carried away. They stuffed all her thin panties in their pockets on the way out."

"You're insane. No wonder all that stuff was gone. Lipstick, lip balm—everything. You didn't...?"

"What? It's indirect. Your boyfriend's fine with it, right? Sniffing's not a crime."

"You know saying that out loud just makes the listener feel grosser, right?"

I wanted to swing my bat and smash one of his body parts right then, but I held back.

"God, you crazy bastards. Sian, let's go. I don't wanna stay here anymore."

As Na-eun shot Geon-woo a cold glare and we turned to leave, we had to stop.

"What are they proposing now?"

Geon-woo sneered.

"Sounds like they're trying to give us a better deal."

"Oh, that's what it was?"

I'd wondered why places like our officetel with fewer residents had fewer zombies.

Videos from America and elsewhere showed zombies everywhere, so maybe they'd focused Plague Seeds on high-population countries like China and India?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

As I thought how systematically evil it was, another voice rang out.

"Wait, what the hell? Those bastards doing whatever they want?"

Geon-woo beat me to the punch.

"From the World's view, random generation causing mass infections in clusters might give humans a better shot at surviving than targeted drops. Solves the grouping issue."

I pieced together why the World accepted, but Na-eun grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

"Sian, let's head back quick. Means more zombies from now on, right?"

"Yeah. The way back won't be easy."

As we hurried down the stairs, Geon-woo bellowed loud enough for the whole building to hear.

"Hey, assholes! You all hear that? Grab your crowbars!"

Even this place, with some defenses in place, was scrambling. Who knew what it'd be like for us.

The two guards blocked the entrance right after we left.

'Was just planning to hunker down too naive?'

For Yoo Sian's quest—survive five days in the possession body—I'd figured gathering food with reliable people and holing up in a small space was the way.

But thinking bigger, it'd probably be better to band together, fight zombies, secure an area, and plan for the future.

"Sian! Zombie over there!"

Just like in the videos, a zombie stepped out from thin air.

I gripped my bat with both hands as Na-eun spoke in a deflated tone.

"Hang on, lemme prep the video!"

"Yeah, make it quick."

!

The chime signaled she started recording.

The instant I heard it, I charged, swinging the bat upward.

!

Like hitting a homerun, I sent the zombie's head flying far off, and the headless body crumpled backward.

!

"Perfect! That's good enough!"

Na-eun, done with her seconds-long clip, rushed to me.

Now that she was holding a bat instead of her smartphone, the trip back should be fine.

"Let's get home. Then we need to plan defenses."

Whether from random generation kicking in or the triple rate, zombies were popping up a lot on the way.

If I weren't so much stronger now, it'd be easy to get swarmed while killing one.

! !

Striking first before they could attack, I dashed in and smashed their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heads. That's when a quest appeared.

Enhancing Survival Rules further is great, but how do I boost my combat power more?

Checking Lee Sian's Status Window, it showed 483 right now.

Mastering Combat Sleep from the last enhancement had bumped combat power just a tiny bit, unlike Insight.

Given past quests were manageable, 500 shouldn't be too hard—but who knows.

I ducked into the stairwell with Na-eun to catch our breath.

"Na-eun, next one you see, you take it."

"Got it. I'll try. As long as it's just one?"

She'd only killed one zombie herself so far, so I suggested she get more experience. She agreed right away.

I'd always be nearby, but real combat reps are better the more you get.

I regretted those days at Global Academy just doing fitness training.

Once possession ends and I'm back as Yoo Sian, I'll smash a ton of goblins.

After resting up, we descended the stairs.

Keeping watch as we crept along, a lone zombie came into view.

Na-eun's turn, so I hung back a bit.

"Grrraaah!!!"

Spotting her, it charged with that familiar throat-scraping growl.

The bluish, corpse-like zombie lunged with arms outstretched menacingly, but against a tool-using human, the distance wasn't short.

Na-eun calmly raised her bat overhead, and when the head entered range, she swung hard.

!

A clear, homerun-like crack echoed down the alley.

She followed up on the fallen zombie to finish it off.

! ! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠! !

Lips pressed tight, she focused every nerve to avoid wrist injury from a miss, hammering the head.

!

After five solid hits on the downed zombie, its head finally shattered.

"Haaa... So tiring..."

Perfect kill secured, Na-eun shuffled over to me, spent.

I pulled her into a hug and gently patted her back.

"How do you burst heads in one go? Focusing so hard wore me out."

"No qualms about killing?"

"It's not even human. And we have to survive."

I gave her back two firm pats and we headed back to the officetel.

Thankfully, the four zombies we met en route were it—no more needed killing.

Unlike that other officetel, ours looked unchanged from pre-zombie apocalypse. Wary of any inside, we headed up to the third floor.

"This guy's trying to survive solo?"

The hallway between 302 and 303 ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was completely barricaded.

Jung Jun-ho must've worked hard while we were gone.

He'd scavenged desks, fridges—big appliances—to block the path, wrapping it all in torn curtains like rope to make it tough to clear.

And it all looked like stuff from 101.

After that woman died, he'd taken her home, body, everything, without restraint.

"Jeez, Sian, check this out."

[303 Jung Jun-ho, Call 010-XXXX-25XX]

He'd stuck his number on our door: "Call if needed."

"No way I'm calling."

Na-eun crumpled the note, tossed it out, scanned her print, and entered.

"Should we barricade the entrance too?"

I muttered, eyeing 301 next door.

If we blocked the third-floor entrance, we could use 301 too?

Na-eun, already inside, probably hadn't heard. I'd think on it for now.