Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Necromancer Awakening
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Overwhelmed by the sudden terror, my legs gave out, and I collapsed right there.
Thud.
What the hell was this zombie standing in front of me?
It stood completely still, without so much as twitching.
Terrified, I couldn't move a muscle—I could only stare at it.
Its appearance felt so familiar, like something I'd seen somewhere before.
But I just couldn't place it.
Halloween cosplay?
No way, what Halloween in March?
A surprise party? That doesn't make sense either. I don't have friends—who'd throw a surprise party for me?
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded like mad.
I let out a slow breath and backed away, and with a 'beep', a holographic screen popped up in front of me.
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●Status Window
Name: Kim Cheonjae
Job: Unemployed
HP: 100/100
Stamina: 9 Attack: 9
Defense: 9 Speed: 9
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“……What the?”
A familiar screen covered in black text framed by a blue border.
So familiar that I knew exactly how to use it.
This was one of the menus from the game I played.
The status window from *Land of Ruin: Last Game*.
‘A dream?’
I waved my hand through the holographic screen. It scattered like smoke where my hand passed, then quickly reformed.
What was going on?
A dream?
Yeah, it had to be a dream.
This couldn't be real, right?
As I blinked, doubting it, a soft voice echoed in my ear.
[Round 1 begins.]
“……What?”
-Eeeeek. Eeeeeek.
The zombie in office worker clothes grimaced angrily and let out another weird noise.
Fortunately, it seemed restricted somehow—it didn't move.
Shaking, I looked around. I needed something, anything, to fight it with.
As I slowly scanned the room, one item caught my eye.
[Baseball Bat: Attack +5]
An item description window.
Just like with the hologram earlier, it was identical. Exactly like the game manual I knew so well.
While I hesitated, the zombie started moving. Not walking, exactly—it shuddered and inched forward bit by bit.
“G-Get lost.”
-Kreek…. KreEEK….
“Get lost!”
The zombie's eyes slowly swiveled toward me.
Then it charged.
“Hiiiiaaaak!”
“Uwaaaak!”
Crack.
“Aaack! You fucking bastard!”
The zombie sank its teeth hard into my shoulder. The pain was so intense a groan escaped me—“Hngh!”
Its teeth weren't sharp, thank God. If they were any sharper, it would've torn a chunk of flesh right out.
“Aaaah!”
The pain drowned out my fear of it.
Not that it wasn't scary anymore. The rotting flesh by its eye and the stench pouring off it were still there.
“Die!”
I clenched my fist and smashed its head.
Thud.
“Die already!”
Thud!
“Let go!”
Thud!
“Let go, you motherfucker!”
I slammed my fist down hard on the zombie's jaw.
Splat.
Its jaw unhinged, and it toppled sideways. Still pumped with adrenaline, I kept kicking it.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Die! Die! Die!!”
My roar echoed through the room.
After pounding on it for a while, I was gasping for breath.
“Hoo….”
“Kreee…. Kreeeek….”
Still moving after all that?
The zombie slowly pushed itself back up, as if all my blows had done nothing.
This office worker zombie in front of me—it looked familiar now. It was from the early part of *Land of Ruin*.
Was I dreaming of the game?
It matched the story right after character selection perfectly.
‘……No way.’
No dream could hurt this much. Even if it did, the pain was way beyond waking up levels.
Terrified, I grabbed the baseball bat.
“……Right.”
Whoosh—
I swung it hard at the zombie's legs.
Thud!
I felt the heavy impact through my hands. The zombie lost its balance and collapsed.
Still on the ground, it reached out a bloody hand toward me.
“Get lost!”
Thud!
* * * * *
The world had changed.
I had no idea why, but while I slept, everything had turned to ruin.
No—everything had transformed exactly like in the game I played?
The bite wound on my shoulder from the zombie was swelling red. The tooth marks were already rotting, the skin turning discolored.
It hurt.
It hurt so much.
The pain was so real it made me question if it really was a dream. I'd broken bones in a motorcycle accident once.
But even that hadn't hurt this bad.
“Hoo….”
Leaving the zombie corpse by the bed, I grabbed my phone.
Ring ring ring. Ring ring ring.
There was signal, but no one picked up.
“Someone pick up, damn it….”
The stench of the rotting corpse filled the room. I threw open the window to breathe.
-Kieeeek!
Zombies teeming outside the building stared up. Maybe because of the light on in my room—all their eyes locked on here.
-Kiek!
“Wh-What?”
Panicking, I slammed the window shut.
Thud.
“Fuck….”
They'd come for us.
I turned off the light.
Click.
The instant I did, a chilling noise leaked from the zombie I'd taken down.
-Kieee….
Click.
I turned the light back on.
Then I drew the blackout curtains to block any light from escaping.
“Ah…. What do I do.”
Calm down.
Stay calm, Kim Cheonjae.
Bang bang bang!
Someone pounded on my studio door.
“Aaak!”
A scream came from outside.
-Kyaak!
A woman?
I grabbed the baseball bat and crept to the door.
“Who is it?”
“I-It’s… it’s me, Yoo Sora from next door.”
“Huh? Sora-ssi.”
Creeeak.
I opened the door to see a terrified Yoo Sora. Her hands and feet trembled violently—she must've seen something like I did.
“Ch-Cheonjae-ssi.”
“……”
“Did you… look out the window by any chance?”
“Yeah.”
“Weird… weird people….”
People.
I see. She didn't think of the ones outside as zombies. In a way, her thinking was more normal than mine.
Maybe I was the weird one for instantly pegging them as zombies just from looks.
“KyaAAaAak!”
“Wh-Why?!”
“Th-There! In your room, Cheonjae-ssi….”
Yoo Sora's finger pointed into my room. Right— the zombie from earlier lay there.
Green liquid oozed from its body, soaking the floor.
To her, it probably looked like a one-sided murder scene.
Thinking it was a dream, I said casually,
“That’s a zombie.”
“Zo… bi?”
“Yeah. A zombie infected with the virus. See the green liquid on the floor?”
“……Sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“You don’t know zombies? Zo—”
Ugh!
I clutched my shoulder. It suddenly throbbed hard.
The pain was so bad I breathed slowly, and suddenly my body shivered like I had the flu, my legs going limp.
I slid down against the wall.
Hurting this much—it couldn’t be a dream, could it? Doubts crept in.
Yoo Sora covered her mouth and stepped back.
“A-Are… you okay?”
Like I’d be okay? I just hung my head instead of snapping.
What good would explaining to her do?
“Zombie… you’ve never seen zombie movies?”
“……I have….”
“That kind of zombie….”
She looked at me like she couldn’t believe it. Fair enough—even I couldn’t wrap my head around this.
Who’d believe zombies just popped up out of nowhere with no explanation?
This wasn’t a game or anything.
I took a deep breath.
Siiiip—
Hoo.
“Sora-ssi, do you see a blue window nearby?”
“Blue window? You mean this?”
Yoo Sora waved her hand in the air.
I couldn’t see it, but if she could, then it had to be—
Her personal status window.
“You mean this one that says ‘Status Window’?”
“……Okay. Sora-ssi, room 302. Head to 302 right now.”
“302?”
“Yeah. Ring the bell, then get Myeong Nikjin to come here. No—actually, not Myeong Nikjin…. Say Ma Jeongwoo—Kim Cheonjae is looking for Ma Jeongwoo.”
“……”
“Hurry!”
“Y-Yes! Got it.”
Yoo Sora ran off down the hall with anxious eyes. I was on the second floor. If she hurried back, she’d be here in five minutes.
Suddenly, a fever surged.
‘No way….’
Is this… that?
If this matched what I knew—
Danger.
‘Z Virus infection.’
“Hoo.”
My eyes were starting to droop.
It fit the game’s depiction perfectly.
-Kieeeek.
-Keek!
To make matters worse, staggering figures climbed the hall stairs at the end of the corridor. Their clothes marked them as local students.
Unfocused eyes, limping gaits.
“Damn.”
Zombies.
At least a dozen, even at a rough count. Had I built up immunity to zombie fear in this short time?
They didn’t even scare me now.
But I wasn’t ready to accept death either.
If this was a dream.
Or if I’d entered the game.
I didn’t want it to end so easily.
And I never wanted to feel that pain again. No—if I went down like this, even worse agony awaited.
Bitten. Torn. Swallowed.
My body shredded to rags and devoured.
Too late to run.
No strength left to swing the bat.
This goddamn virus.
If there’d been even basic medicine, I could’ve delayed the infection.
Wait.
If this space was like *Land of Ruin*—
There was one way I could survive.
An extreme method no one else could pull off.
‘Let’s do it.’
I mustered every last bit of strength and stumbled back into my studio.
“Kitchen knife…. Kitchen knife….”
There it was.
Like it was begging to be used, it sat plainly on the counter. I set down the bat and gripped the kitchen knife.
[Rusty Kitchen Knife: Attack +2]
What if it failed?
“……Better than getting torn apart by a zombie.”
In this situation, this was my only option left.
A secret only Jeongwoo and I knew—an Easter egg the *Land of Ruin: Last Game* devs hid in the early game.
“……Please.”
I beg you.
Crunch!
“Hngh.”
The knife plunged into my chest.
“Haaaahk.”
Blood overflowed from the wound.
“Hngh.”
Thud.
I groaned in agony and collapsed.
Too shallow? The blade was dull since it wasn’t sharpened.
It hadn’t pierced my heart.
Just pain dominating my mind.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
Zombie footsteps echoed down the hall. Then they poured into my studio.
-Kreek. KreEEk.
“……”
Veins bulged on my forehead.
Gritting my teeth, I gripped the knife handle with my left hand.
Clenched my right into a fist.
Smack!
I smashed it hard against the knife handle.
“Kraaah!”
My vision flashed white.
Ding!
[System Message]
[Congratulations, player ‘Kim Cheonjae’, on your job change to ▶Necromancer◀!]
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