Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Zombie Apocalypse (17)
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Though Na-eun and I were close enough to watch porn together on the laptop from apartment 301, I boldly deleted it all for the sake of a healthy sex life and started downloading regular movies instead.
A big screen to watch something on would be nice.
After queuing up a ton of downloads, I kept searching room 301, but there was nothing worth salvaging.
The men's clothes didn't fit me, and while they'd be a bit big on Na-eun, she flat-out refused to wear some other guy's stuff.
Guess I'll just turn them into rags or ropes or something.
The only loot from 301 was the laptop, but clearing out the space was a huge gain.
Our place was stuffed with supplies—no room to chill except the bed—but here we could at least sit on the floor.
It hit me that sleeping at home and handling mornings and afternoons here would work great.
"Shall we hang out here?"
"The door doesn't lock right. Kinda iffy, don't you think? Let's just wait for the downloads and head back."
The paths from the stairs to the third floor and over to 303 were blocked off, but leaving this door wide open still felt wrong.
We busted the doorknob, after all.
When you're getting affectionate and there's an open space nearby, it definitely kills the mood. So much for the double-life idea—I scrapped it quick.
Maybe use it as a dumpster later.
While waiting for the movies to download, another racket erupted outside.
"Calling all survivors to Star Mart! We've got tons of supplies and manpower—come on over! Urgh! Zombie! Grab it!"
"I'll take it down!"
"Uwaaaah!"
Sounds of them beating the crap out of a zombie followed.
I glanced out at what sounded like a full-on show, then turned back to Na-eun, who always put my mind at ease.
"Those guys are such morons."
"They probably think they've hit the big leagues now. Ask your friend. Over a hundred people maybe?"
"Hold on. Checking."
Na-eun fired off a message, and a reply pinged back fast.
"They say they've made it to top group status, but no exact count—they're recruiting like crazy today."
"Plenty of suckers falling for that show. Makes sense to team up if you're short on muscle or supplies."
I gave 301 another once-over, confirmed it was empty, grabbed some drinks, and headed back to 302 with Na-eun.
We drew the curtains, killed the lights, fired up a downloaded movie on the laptop, and spent the time quietly.
We'd hustled hard yesterday and today, so this kind of break felt earned.
The thought of exercising to boost my combat power flickered through my mind.
I'll hit the gym in 301 later.
*
As Na-eun whipped up another chicken breast dish, I mentioned heading to 301 for a workout. She pouted her lips.
"I wanna join too."
"After dinner, we can do some bodyweight stuff together to let it digest."
"Okay. And then other exercises after that, right?"
"If dinner's good?"
"Gotcha. Guess I'll splurge on extra ingredients to make it tastier today."
But then Na-eun followed me out toward 301.
"Huh? Why're you coming?"
"Gonna use up the leftovers in 301 first. We can block the path with the fridge, yeah?"
"What a homemaker."
On the way, I peered down through the corridor window—zombies were milling around in decent numbers.
Lots of the corpse-like ones, but plenty of fresh infected too.
This from a random triple wave?
I couldn't even picture what populous countries hit hard by concentrated plague seeds looked like.
Once I saw Na-eun head home with the leftover frozen dumplings, I kicked off with push-ups.
'Body feels way too light.'
Thanks to my boosted physical stats, bodyweight exercises were a breeze.
I upped the intensity with burpees, but repeating them would only nudge my stamina—no way it'd fill the gap in my combat power.
Like back at Global Academy, where no matter how hard I trained, my combat power never cracked three digits?
Quest clear needs 500 combat power; status window says 483, so 17 short. If grinding bodyweight is inefficient, maybe more real fights?
Leveling to 4 might unlock answers, but that means heading downstairs to smash zombies again.
A full sweep before more pile up could bump it a bit, but leaving Na-eun behind? No thanks.
I just kept burpeeing till I sweated, warmed up nicely, showered, and headed back.
Checked on the way: combat power still 483.
Dinner was gochujang chicken breast and fried dumplings, same as last night.
"Dumplings are gonna be luxury food someday."
"Thinking about it, they take a ton of ingredients."
Dough alone, plus all that filling—how many components?
Unlike chicken breast, which you can get from raising birds, this needed variety.
Another tasty dinner down, and Na-eun roped me into dishes.
"You ate, so you're on cleanup. But heading to 301?"
"Yeah. Gotta make good use of the gym. I'll head over first and start working out~"
I rushed the dishes to catch up with Na-eun, already in 301.
I matched her squats, but like with burpees, it wasn't enough volume for real growth.
"Haa... haa... Sian, were you always this stamina monster? Not a single drop of sweat."
"Working out with you feels tougher and more effective."
It slipped out casually, but damn if it wasn't true.
Burpees, squats, push-ups—I could go forever. Sex? Not so much.
Sex requires syncing with someone, maybe that's why?
If banging boosts combat power, I'd enjoy it, but I really need to master Insight.
Master Insight, and combat power would explode.
I left Na-eun catching her breath after a set of squats and grabbed a baseball bat from the next room.
She took it from me without a second thought.
"Wanna swing this at me?"
"Never even considered hitting my boyfriend."
Na-eun pondered with the bat in hand, then gripped it two-handed.
One hand should've sufficed—that looked way too serious.
"Dodge good!"
Whoooosh
Na-eun swung the bat right at me.
She was holding back some; slower than when she smashed daytime zombies.
I waited for Composure—Insight activation—letting it get close... but the bat stopped.
"You're that close and you don't dodge...?"
Full pout on her face, she lowered the bat to her waist.
Asking my girlfriend to do this was pushing it, huh.
"Sorry. Thought it might be a growth breakthrough, but of course my Na-eun's too sweet."
I went to hug her for comfort, but the bat flicked up and poked my chest.
"I just worked out—sweaty as hell. Shower first, then hugs."
She handed me the bat and headed to the room.
'Could've triggered Insight right there, but activation's trickier than I thought.'
Composure kicks in during crisis, then in that sped-up brain moment, layer on Insight to read their moves.
Thought it was an anytime active skill, but it's got heavy restrictions.
Makes sense, kinda like future sight.
Back in the room, I waited a bit; fresh-from-shower, dewy Na-eun emerged from the bathroom. Hugged her quick.
We sat on the bed, queued up a different movie from daytime, and watched. If not for the zombies outside, it'd feel like a solid day off.
Na-eun fidgeted, tracing my abs; I gently stroked her butt.
Before long, we were more into each other's touches than the movie when her smartphone buzzed.
"Huh? One sec?"
Paused the flick; she picked up.
"Young-eun? What's up? We said no calls..."
Young-eun—Na-eun's friend I'd met before?
Digging through memories, Choi Young-eun popped up.
Na-eun and Young-eun—similar names, thick as sisters in college. Yeah, that tracked.
While I recalled her, Na-eun's face turned serious and switched to speaker.
"Our Bulkwang Gang's protecting the mart, got it?!"
"You recruited all day, now playing favorites?!"
"Quiet down first, please!"
"Just smash the zombies, duh. Yeah? We're joining!!"
"Real fighters know— we've got way more combat experience than you punks!"
"It's night! Worst time to fight zombies!"
Some gangster types had stormed the mart.
The apparent mart leader was begging them to pipe down, but it wasn't landing.
"Na-eun, what do we do? They're gonna fight."
Young-eun whispered.
"Don't you outnumber them? How many can fight?"
"Uh... young guys, maybe 40? But these Bulkwang Gang thugs are demanding women and saying men get top spots."
"You think the guys'll fold?"
"Yeah."
"Tons of supplies, women, workers to exploit—easy life for a takeover."
"Sian, Young-eun can hear you."
Na-eun chided me for the cold take from the gang's angle.
"Oh. Right, you're with Sian..."
"Yeah, zombies mean you gotta let us in, right? Hey, smash that glass!"
"Fight! Zombies or those bastards—hit 'em and drop dead! Kill 'em!"
"Kyaaack!"
"They're insane!!"
Call cut out.
"Sian... what about Young-eun..."
Na-eun looked frailer than I'd ever seen.
Even now, Composure activating? Mind's spinning faster.
Mart beats Bulkwang, noise pulls zombies anyway.
Bulkwang wins, they'll shove mart folks out as zombie bait.
Either way, incoming zombies gotta die.
"Let's go. Zombie hunt. Bonus round on any live Bulkwang Gang if they're still kicking."
The moment it became surviving five days with Na-eun—not solo—it stopped being someone else's problem.
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