Veteran Newbie (2)
“……”
While Ju Kang-rim was at a loss for words, the zombies reacted to the noise. Not all of them responded to sound, but some were hypersensitive.
Two of the zombies standing by the emergency stairs staggered toward him.
No choice.
Ju Kang-rim had no option but to hide in the shadows and wait for them to pass. He let the first one go by, then the moment the second entered the room, he jammed the jagged end of the broken IV stand he'd snapped off straight into the zombie's brainstem.
His body might be weak, but years of accumulated experience hadn't vanished. He pierced the narrow gap where the skull met the spine in one thrust.
Hearing the zombie collapse, the first one turned back.
“Gah, graaah!”
The zombie let out a guttural roar and charged at Ju Kang-rim. The old Ju Kang-rim would've already smashed the second zombie's head by the time he finished the first. But now, even pulling out the improvised spear was a struggle.
Yet his ingrained martial arts kicked in instinctively. He grabbed the charging zombie, hoisted it up, and slammed it headfirst into the floor. It twitched shallowly before going still.
“Hoo……”
After taking down the two, Ju Kang-rim wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead. Just two zombies, and he was already drenched like it'd rained. He scanned for more approaching, but nothing stirred.
Lucky they're weak ones.
Being old zombies, they were slow and fragile.
Then his smartphone dinged and vibrated.
Remaining Soul Fare: 4 nyang
Soul Fare? Ju Kang-rim noticed the amount had increased from the earlier 0 nyang.
“No way… Do I get this for killing zombies?”
Come to think of it, Yeomra had mentioned some kind of underworld currency usable only by grim reapers. He just hadn't expected it to pop up like loot from a game monster.
It wasn't unheard of to get paid for zombie hunts. That's why private zombie hunters existed. Zombies popped up sporadically in numbers even the government couldn't handle fully, so civilians got hired for the rest.
Even without that, a black core could be extracted from a zombie's brain. Without removing it, zombies could revive via gates. Black cores also suppressed zombie plague symptoms or enhanced awakener abilities, fetching high prices on the black market.
Officially banned for civilians, but they can't stamp out every underground deal.
So instead of disgust, Ju Kang-rim figured the underworld worked similarly.
Grim reapers must calculate per head, huh?
As he pondered the value of soul fare, another ding brought a text.
“……”
Ju Kang-rim thought a grim reaper deserved a more serious vibe. He was staking his remaining lives—no, his infinity—on hunting immortals, after all.
Then another text from Yeomra.
And a new message appeared. Not from Yeomra—a window.
Report for Duty
📍 Target: Zombie Hunt (2/5)
🎁 Reward 1: The proud sense of accomplishment as a new grim reaper
🎁 Reward 2: Soul Fare 25 nyang
Ju Kang-rim finally found the reply window.
Reaper Phone… What a bureaucratically horrifying name. And as the pinnacle of underworld power, it had to be Yeomra's doing.
Ju Kang-rim stuck out his tongue and touched Biman. As Yeomra said, his thoughts converted to text instantly. Luckily, it required a separate "send" thought, minimizing mistakes.
The sudden formal shift screamed copy-paste. Probably from a response manual.
No more replies from Yeomra. Instead of waiting, Ju Kang-rim treated soul fare like straight currency.
Wondering if Biman had anything useful, he checked its functions. It handled calls, texts, photos, even app installs like a normal smartphone. But pre-installed apps stood out: Shop, Enhance, Abilities, Messages, Inventory… Tabs galore, but staring at the blood-red interface made his eyes ache.
Whoever designed this psycho UI is a red fetishist. Wanna paint their eyes red too.
Nothing immediately helpful, so he tapped Inventory.
It listed his current possessions literally—no inventory storage.
His eyes locked on the last: Saingeom? He wasn't holding it visibly.
But he wasn't a normal guy—he was an awakener who'd crossed to the afterlife and back. Some could summon items from thin air.
So I have a Saingeom, but it's not visible.
Call it mentally? He imagined reaching into the void like in movies or comics.
Nothing.
Good thing no one saw.
“Grahk!”
But he had an unexpected audience. A zombie drawn by the noise stood frozen at the entrance.
Position fully exposed, Ju Kang-rim braced for a frontal fight.
“Gaaaaah!”
“You little shit.”
Worse, the zombie bellowed, echoing down the hall. Some did that—summoning cries that grouped zombies. Not enhanced, but variants like this caused packs.
Thud thud thud. More from the stairs.
Couldn't handle three with a bent aluminum rod.
Then Biman buzzed.
Saingeom's always in my hand. Most familiar weapon. He repeated it.
Most familiar…?
Ju Kang-rim recalled his most used weapon. Ammo shortages meant no guns or bombs—primitive tools only. Spears, swords, axes, even pencils or whips. He handled all, but one stood out.
“Damn it!”
No time as zombies charged. Something materialized in his grip—he swung.
Crack.
Like splitting wood, the zombie's head cleaved in two. He shook it off.
His right hand now held a forearm-length hand axe. He smirked bitterly. Dark blue with twinkling star-like flecks, but identical to his zombie-hunting staple.
“Gaa, aaaah!”
Zombies roared and rushed. But the moment he gripped the axe, Ju Kang-rim was back in hunter mode.
He twirled it lightly to flick blood, then decapitated the first's crown. Kicked the next's knee, shattering it, then cleaved its lowered head. For the third, he uppercut its jaw with the haft, created distance, and split its forehead.
“Hoo……”
Three down in under five seconds—a pro hunter's pace. Sweat came late, from stamina drain alone. Tension had vanished the instant he gripped it.
“Experience splitting thousands of zombies doesn't fade.”
He instinctively checked the split heads for black cores—essential for plague suppression or awakener boosts.
“Huh?”
No cores. Just dried gray mush. Had he killed a weird human? Then he spotted black goo on the axe.
Black core?
It oozed stickily onto the blade and absorbed. No manual extraction needed—it auto-collected on kill.
Saingeom feature?
Biman buzzed.
Report for Duty
📍 Target: Zombie Hunt (5/5)
🎁 Choose Reward:
🎁 Reward 1: ★Proud sense of accomplishment for a newbie grim reaper★
🎁 Reward 2: Soul Fare 25 nyang
Rewards seemed tweaked, but he ignored and picked 2. Pride, fulfillment, passion? Euphemisms for "I'll work you till you're broken and jaded."
Ding. Soul Fare: 35 nyang.
25 reward + regular zombies at 2 nyang each fits.
He recalled the Shop tab. 35 nyang covered that item.
He tapped Shop and selected.
◈ Secures vision visible only to you in darkness. Light unseen by normals, only those with spirit sight.
Basically a personal flashlight. Gates darkened skies, making visibility crucial. Invisible to others? Perfect for his path.
Bought it, checked for more. Not enough nyang left.
Then a text.
I get it, but no one manually types system messages like that.
Couldn't say outright that top-brass attention stressed him out—back off already.