Chapter 3
Chapter 3
There were various people there, from computer repairmen working at the Electronics Mall, but my father was nowhere to be seen.
As I kept searching for him with shaky eyes, I spotted a familiar man.
"Uh... UmiCom President-nim...?"
"Oh! Isn't that Kim Sajang-nim's son?"
I found the man who used to work right next to my father.
"Hello... have you seen my father?"
"Ah... that is..."
The UmiCom President-nim hesitated and didn't give me a straight answer, and his attitude made me even more anxious.
"Please, Ahjussi... my father is... he's safe, right...?"
"Sigh... you should know... Kim Sajang-nim went on a business trip to Ulsan early this morning... I think he said he was going to install some GM24 monitors..."
My father, as the UmiCom President-nim said, was someone who took subcontracts from the GM Company to go to newly opened places to set up internet connections or install those advertising monitors you easily see at convenience stores.
I hadn't been worried since he hadn't gone on a business trip for a while, but of all days, he had to go to Ulsan today...
Thud...
Hearing that, the strength left my legs and I slumped to the floor.
The UmiCom President-nim ran over to me, smiling awkwardly, and said,
"Th-that... Kim Sajang-nim is sturdy, so he'll be fine... Don't... worry..."
His voice grew quieter as he spoke, as if he wasn't sure himself, and I couldn't stop the tears that suddenly welled up.
"Hueuk... damn it!!"
As I lay on the floor crying and shouting, the people around me just looked at me with pity and didn't do anything else.
"W-wait..."
Crying sadly at my own helplessness, I realized again that this world was like a "Ruined Game," and I remembered the days I used to enjoy with my family in the past.
'That's right... Father stopped playing games because he complained of VR motion sickness, but... his ability back then...'
Because my father couldn't have a proper hobby in the busy reality, he mainly did the fishing he used to enjoy in the past, even in the Ruined Game.
Since he fished in the apocalypse world, he learned fishing skills, and I remembered that he learned skills related to stealth while moving safely between rivers and seas to avoid zombies.
'If Father understood the game system well, he might still be alive!!!'
Jump!
"Uh-uh? Kim Sajang-nim's son...? Ar-are you okay?"
As I, who had been crying while calling for my father just a moment ago, jumped up, the UmiCom President-nim asked with a worried expression, and I turned my body without a word and walked toward the building exit.
"Hey, Kim Sajang-nim's son!! You can't commit suicide!!!"
The UmiCom President-nim, thinking I had given up on life and was trying to kill myself, hurriedly ran over and grabbed my body.
"I'm not going to commit suicide... President-nim... have you played the RIP game?"
"Huh? What is that all of a sudden...?"
The President-nim looked at me strangely as a crying man brought up a game, and I said to him,
"If you've ever played the RIP game, try following me."
I raised my hand and brought it down, calling up the system window.
The UmiCom President-nim looked at me strangely but followed along just in case, and he was surprised as the system appeared before his eyes.
"Ugh?! Th-this is..."
"Looks like you've played the Ruined Game.
Then, press the book-shaped icon below to check your skills... and go back home to find your family."
With that, I turned around and stood in front of the exit, staring at the zombies visible in front of me.
'Mother's main activities were cooking and farming... She doesn't even have movement skills like Father, let alone combat types...'
[Crude Spear]
Info 1: A crude spear crafted by traveler Kim Geum-seul.
Durability 3/10
Attack Power 20~21
The spear, which had pierced the heads of countless zombies on the way here from home, was in such a precarious state that it wouldn't be strange if it broke at any moment.
I used the system's loophole to smash the heads of all the zombies that couldn't enter past the exit.
As a large number of peanut butter jars fell to the floor, a new window appeared before my eyes.
[Traveler's actions confirmed.
Acquiring new skill.]
[Level Up!
Acquiring new Free Point.]
Finally...
I was more excited about getting a new Free Point than learning a new skill.
I hurriedly opened the system and pressed the cross-shaped icon that was flashing with a red light.
[Status Window]
Name: Kim Geum-seul
Level: 2
Free Point: 1
It was a status window that was empty compared to other games, but this was the philosophy of the developer of the Ruined Game who pursued extreme freedom.
The status window was literally freedom... You could invest points in everything to grow.
Some hardcore players dumped everything into defense to create skin that wouldn't be pierced even if bitten by zombies, enjoying public sex with living zombies, and some dumped everything into charm to seduce NPCs in the game and enjoy sex.
'What do I need most in this situation...'
It would have been good to secure safety by raising defense like the hardcore players, but skin that could withstand the grip of zombies required at least 10 defense.
'What I need right now...'
I recalled 37 repetitions and a post by a hardcore player I had read on an internet community.
[Title: Hey, you can fuck them too, Zombie Girl Part 2
Where should I use my Free Point?
That's up to you guys!
Defense? That's good! Attack Power? Essential for catching mutant zombies!
Charm? Hehe, good choice.
But in a world with this much freedom, it's not fun if you walk a set path!
So I recommend this! Grow the skills you have!
Defense? You're done if you don't get bitten!
Attack Power? Destroy them with even stronger skills!!
Charm? Level 3 Persuasion skill is more effective than 10 Charm!]
'That's right... It was also the only post in the community full of all kinds of profanity that didn't have many downvotes... That means it's effective and trustworthy...'
I decided where to use the Free Point and pressed the flashing book button.
'Oh, wait... I said I learned a new skill, right?'
[View My Skills]
[A] Blessing of All Things: You can check the information of all beings in this world.
[P] Spearmanship: You can handle a spear naturally.
'Spearmanship... I guess I got this from smashing heads with this crude spear until now...'
If I raised Spearmanship right now, I could hunt zombies more easily, but the spear's durability was also hanging by a thread, and since Blessing of All Things was such an overpowered skill, I decided to strengthen the Blessing skill.
Like in the game, I pressed the Free Point labeled '1' under the status window with my finger and placed it over the Blessing of All Things floating next to it.
[Warning]
[Do you want to use your Free Point?]
[It cannot be undone.]
[Confirm] [Cancel]
A warning message that it was irreversible appeared before my eyes, and I nodded and pressed the Confirm button.
Then, the Free Point under the status window became 0.
Instead, a '+1' appeared in front of Blessing of All Things.
[A] Blessing of All Things +1: You can check additional information about all beings in this world.
'Additional information...'
I used the enhanced blessing on the crude spear I was holding in my right hand.
[Crude Spear]
Info 1: A crude spear crafted by traveler Kim Geum-seul.
Info 2: The materials used during production were Trifoliate Orange Shears handles and a kitchen knife.
Durability 33/100
Attack Power 15.5 ~ 16.2
'Durability stats and attack power expanded... well, not expanded, I guess I can check it a bit more precisely.
Plus, Info 2...'
I was surprised by the new information, and after binding the kitchen knife and the wooden handle more tightly with tape I had brought from home, I used the ability again.
[Crude Spear]
Durability 57/100
Then, I could see that the durability of the crude spear had increased.
'The drop in attack power seems to be because the blade has become dull...
The fact that the durability didn't reach 100 even though I reinforced it with tape... means the wooden handle is slowly breaking.'
In the past, when buying the Trifoliate Orange Shears, Mother wanted to buy a light and sturdy aluminum pair, but due to Father's insistence, they bought the cheaper, old-fashioned wooden pair, and that caused trouble here.
'Father... let's buy good things from now on...
So please, survive and come back...!'
I organized my thoughts, then left the building, and hurried my steps toward Mother's company as the sun began to set.
--
Huff... Huff...
It's hard enough to walk on a regular paved road, but walking while stepping on grass that comes up to my ankles is doubly hard, and of course, maintaining vigilance at all times and piercing the heads of zombies that appear occasionally made the fatigue pile up dozens of times faster than usual.
"Huff... Huff..."
The road in front of Mother's company was already full of nothing but liquid that looked like people's blood and stopped cars, as if the riot had ended, and I couldn't find any living people.
Geu-uh-uh...
Of course, there were plenty of damn zombies.
Puk!!Pop..
"Huk!!"
The crude spear, which I had barely kept alive by reinforcing it twice on the way here, turned into polygons along with the zombie and went up to the sky with that last blow.
Puk!!
Geu-uh-uh-uh...
I hurriedly took out the spare spear I had brought to give to my father and pierced the head of the approaching zombie.
"Huff... Huff... That was almost fucked..."
On the way here, I went into a dollar store that was open and used a spoon I borrowed to scoop out a small amount of butter from the peanut butter jars dropped by the zombies, and threw the empty jars on the floor.
"This is the third jar now..."
Collecting the peanut butter dropped by the zombies I caught on the way here, every little bit counts, and I was already able to collect 3 jars of peanut butter.
I put the full jars in my bag, squeezed out my last bit of strength, and ran to Mother's company, knocking on the closed door and saying,
Tung tung tung!
"Excuse me!! Is anyone inside?! Excuse me!!!"
Tung tung!!
At my repeated voice, nearby zombies approached, but the system must have been absolute, as they couldn't come inside the stairs.
I felt relieved and kept trying to knock on the door, and at that moment, a low but angry voice was heard.
"Shh!! What are you doing!! Don't you see that?!"
"Whew.. Thank goodness, please open the door. Those zombies can't come into the building."
The man who appeared to be a security guard doubted my words, but seeing what was visible outside the glass door, he felt relieved, saying it was real.
"Who are you to ask me to open the door?"
It was a security guard who made the right choice, and I was grateful that such a person existed.
"I am the son of Director Lee Su-mi who works at this company. I came looking for her because I was worried about Mother.
Is she inside?"
Hearing my words, the security guard was startled and hurriedly unlocked the door.
"Oh my! You were Director Lee's son... I'm sorry."
I entered through the open door and closed it.
"Whew.. Thank you for believing me.
By the way, where is my mother?"
"Everyone is gathered on the rooftop.. I was planning to close the security window of the stairs and go up the moment the first floor was breached, but there was a reason why zombies weren't coming in even in this chaos."
I nodded at the guard's words and told him about this situation.
"Ahjussi, have you ever played the RIP game?"
"Yes.. My son made such a fuss about wanting to play it, so I played it for a while, but... at my age, I got VR motion sickness, haha..."
"That's fortunate. Then what kind of skills did you learn in the game back then?"
At my question, the guard thought for a moment, then clapped as if something had occurred to him.
"Ah! My son made a fuss about wanting to learn magic, so instead of not giving him his allowance for two months, I bought a magic book and read it together."
I was surprised at that answer and told him to check his skill window quickly, and the guard opened the system window using the method I taught him and read the skills he possessed.
"So... it says... Fire Mastery...
What does this mean?"
"Read the description below too! Jackpot!!"
I was excited to have found a magic user, even though it wasn't my ability, and the man tilted his head at my appearance and read the description section.
"You can use basic... fire magic...?"
Even after reading the description, the guard tilted his head, asking what this meant, and I recalled the content I had read in the strategy post.
"Ahjussi! The Ruined Game... no, the current reality is that you can use the abilities from the RIP world as they are!
Magic is... yes, imagination! Spread your hand and think of flames flickering on it!!"
At my words, the guard, who had been smiling awkwardly, closed his eyes with an expression of 'let's try it just in case', and
Hwareuk..
"Ugh?!"
"Jackpot!!"
A flame the size of what you'd make using a lighter appeared on the guard's hand.
"I-I thought of the fire I always see when lighting a cigarette... This...?"
"Ahjussi!! Congratulations! Now, if you keep training that ability, you'll be able to live safely with your family!!"
The guard, who had been staring blankly at the fire, started to smile brightly at my voice and grabbed my hand, shaking it vigorously.
"Thank you!! Thank you so much!!!"
I naturally smiled at the man's attitude and gave him advice that wasn't quite advice.
"But it's night now, so I think it would be good to sleep here for the night, prepare, and then find your family."
"Understood!! Come on, let's go to the rooftop quickly!"
The security guard, as if he had completely opened his heart to me, took the lead to go up the stairs as if attending to a superior, and I also followed him up with a smile.