Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Michael Beach
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We arrived on the 5th floor, and Jeongwoo and I divided up the tasks.
Checking one by one would take too long.
“Jeongwoo. You check from that end. I’ll start from here.”
“Got it.”
Jeongwoo dashed to the end of the hallway.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
I rang the bells for all four rooms. Only one house responded.
Just 501.
In case of any trouble, Jeongwoo stood guard at the opposite hallway.
I waited quietly in front of the responding 501 for an answer.
Footsteps sounded soon after, and a slurred male voice leaked from the intercom.
-Who ith it?
“Michael?”
-No.
“Open the door. It’s Kim Cheonjae.”
-Oh! Genius Kim!
Creeeak.
[‘Michael’ the player shows favor toward Kim Cheonjae.]
He was the American GI stationed in Korea who sometimes played footvolley with me. A muscular black guy, but with lousy athletic reflexes.
Mention he’s black and they’d call it racist.
Nah.
Those were our nicknames for each other.
This bastard calls me yellow monkey too.
“Hey, Hugim.”
“What’s up, yellow monkey.”
“Any weird shit happen at your place?”
“Weird shit?”
“Yeah, move.”
I shoved Michael’s waist aside and stepped into the room.
No signs of zombies.
‘Why?’
Zombies climb from bottom to top.
My room on 2 was close to the 1st floor, so it made sense they showed up.
But.
Why’d zombies appear on the 3rd and 4th floors?
Was it different from the tutorial I remembered?
Not zombies seeking out rooms directly. Only spawning in designated ones.
So what was the rule for zombie spawns?
Let me think a sec.
Zombie rooms...
Three total.
My 202.
Dongtak hyung’s 303.
The landlord’s daughter’s 404.
“...”
22, 33, 44.
Some kind of pattern?
Then 5th floor should’ve been 55, but it only went to 504.
Meaning either no zombies on 5th floor.
Or the bastard was in some third space I didn’t know about.
Michael followed me inside.
“Genius Kim. How you gonna wear shoes in the house?”
“Sorry.”
His brow furrowed.
“Get out. Right now.”
“Nah. While I’m here, gotta show you this. Come look.”
I threw open the window and showed Michael outside.
Light leaked through the window, and zombies started waving their arms and screeching like fans at a stadium concert for some celeb.
-Kieeeek!
-Krhaak.
-Kieek!
Michael’s face went stiff.
“Ge-Genius Kim! Zom-bees! Zom-bees!!”
“Yeah. Zombies outside, right?”
“Fucking awethome!”
Good he was freaked out.
With this guy’s usual personality, I figured he’d think it was just cosplay.
Lucky he clocked them as zombies right away.
Truth be told, I’d been a little worried because of Yoo Sora’s reaction.
She hadn’t bought it when I mentioned zombies.
If Michael pegged them as zombies on sight.
Then the normal folks on the lower floors would too.
“Michael. Zombies scare you?”
“...Of courthe.”
“Then put on a mask so you don’t get infected with the zombie virus.”
“Mask, okay.”
Michael yanked open the dresser drawer, grabbed a dust mask, and slapped it on fast.
“And find a weapon you can fight zombies with.”
“Weapon?”
“Wea-pon. Wea-pon.”
“Oh! Weapon. I got one.”
“What?”
Michael lifted the pillow on his bed and pulled a pistol out from inside.
Click.
“Weapon. Thith enough?”
A pistol from the pillow.
“Th-that a real gun?”
“Yeah.”
He pulled the magazine and showed me. Real bullets loaded in it.
Not even a blank in the chamber.
I swallowed hard.
“Why you got a gun in the house?”
“Unit gave it to me.”
“No way. How’d you sneak it off base? Firearms aren’t allowed outside, right?”
“Off bathe? Don’t know where that ith, but on mithion, I can carry.”
“Mission?”
“Patrol mithion!”
On official duty, huh.
I’d heard Americans keep guns bedside.
Never knew anyone hid one in their pillow.
‘...Gun’s handy in this mess.’
“Got anything edible?”
“Edible..., chocolate.”
“Water?”
“Water too.”
Michael opened the fridge and pulled out a plastic bottle. Still sealed, brand new.
My throat was parched, so I chugged it straight—no cup.
“Kaa!”
“Genius Kim! How you gonna drink from the bottle!”
“Didn’t touch my lips. Gulped it from the air.”
“Oh...”
“Whatever. Let’s bounce. Your best bud’s outside.”
“...Beth bud?”
* * * * *
Jeongwoo beamed when Michael and I came out.
“Oh. Ain’t this Hugim Michael?”
The two were called the dream duo on the footvolley team. Undefeated streak in every match they played together—insane record.
“Monkey Jeongwoo! Armor tho cool.”
“Thanks. Uniform looks good on you too. You said you were military?”
“Yeth, I’m tholdier!”
They traded compliments over nothing.
Michael was the team’s morale booster at every afterparty. Thanks to him, our moods always lifted.
Plus, being military made him seem reliable.
I lit a cigarette and asked Jeongwoo.
“Ma Jeongwoo, you check the landlord uncle’s room?”
“Yeah. No zombies anywhere. Snagged the gold ring and necklace like you said.”
Jeongwoo grinned wide and showed me the gold accessories.
“Nice. Devil?”
“Nope.”
“None on 5th... Rooftop next?”
Jeongwoo shook his head hard.
“Shut. Or sealed, really.”
“Sealed?”
“Yeah. Not just locked. Full barrier. Axed it—no dice.”
Rooftop wasn’t a permitted zone in the tutorial then.
I scratched my head.
“You checked every room on 5th?”
“Yeah.”
None on 2nd.
None on 3rd.
None on 4th or 5th.
So where the hell was the devil?
If we didn’t find it soon, the zombies would go berserk—big trouble.
Reason newbies looped this tutorial two or three times: the devil.
Find it, breeze through the round. Miss it, turns into hell mode, players get left behind.
We’d be screwed too if we didn’t track it down quick...
I checked my phone watch.
Exactly an hour and a half gone.
30 minutes till the devil reacted.
Maybe there.
“1st floor.”
“Huh?”
“We never went to 1st floor.”
“...Devil’s down there?”
Only spot left no matter how I sliced it.
System always placed the devil somewhere obvious. We’d cleared every visible spot from 2nd to 5th.
Jeongwoo whispered, face grim.
“We really gotta head to that zombie hellhole?”
“Afraid so.”
No helping it.
Hated the idea, but only way for an easy tutorial clear.
“Everyone, follow.”
I cracked open the fire hose cabinet midway down the hall.
Coiled hose inside. I slammed my fist into the back wall.
Bang!
Crack.
Wall crumbled, revealing a first-aid kit.
[Supply Box]
Popped the lid—three experience capsules.
“Less than I expected.”
“How’d you know about the exp capsules here?”
“First round keyword: ‘top floor fire cabinet.’ Didn’t forget.”
“Damn, your memory’s nuts. I blank on the whole early game.”
“Yeah, should’ve crammed for exams with this brain.”
“If you’d studied instead of gaming, that zombie would’ve eaten you already.”
“...Point.”
We each downed a capsule.
Gulp.
Golden light swirled over our heads.
[Acquired a small amount of experience.]
Not a ton, but better than zilch. Grab everything we could.
“Alright. Let’s roll.”
Hologram system message popped up right as we turned to leave.
[System Message]
[Warning! Zombie (Normal) x2 defeated]
[Remaining Zombies (Normal): 0/2]
What?
I yelped in a panic. My staked-out zombies going down meant someone attacked them.
“Ma Jeongwoo!”
Jeongwoo flinched hard.
“Y-yeah?! Why the yell? Nearly jumped outta my skin.”
“Emergency. All my zombies on 1st floor are dead.”
“What? How?”
“No clue. Can’t switch screens—ain’t a PC.”
“Ha...”
Michael eyed us, lost.
“Dead? Who died?”
“Shut it. Stay quiet till we talk to you first. Okay?”
“Shut it? Okay.”
“Okay. Shut it.”
* * * * *
[Meanwhile, on the 2nd floor]
Landlord Park Dongpal, now a zombie, shuffled down the hall, drooling green goo from his mouth.
“Kieeeek. Yoo.... Sora.... Krhaaaak....”
Dozens of office-worker zombies trailed behind him.
Right then, the three who’d banded together to chew out the landlord arrived on 2.
First up: nurse Jang Dongtak, extinguisher in hand.
“Park Dongpal!!”
His bellow echoed through the floor. The zombies screeched back, earsplitting.
-Kieeeek!
Jang Dongtak nudged his glasses down and rubbed his eyes.
“Huh....... What the?”
Next came PE teacher Kim Dusic and Yoo Sora.
Kim Dusic blinked in total disbelief.
A horde of movie zombies shambling right at them—had to be disorienting as hell.
Yoo Sora clapped both hands over her mouth in shock and muttered.
“Zom... bie.”
Jang Dongtak caught her whisper and asked carefully.
“Zombie?”
“Cheonjae oppa said it earlier. Zombies.”
“...For real?”
“Look.”
Kim Dusic spotted the lead zombie’s face and bellowed.
“Park Dongpal! It’s Park Dongpal!!”
Everyone’s faces went slack with shock.
Even Kim Dusic, who’d yelled it.
Short time had passed, but Park Dongpal was fully zombified.
His sluggish steps loomed all the scarier.
Jang Dongtak, refusing to believe it, stepped forward and leveled the extinguisher at them.
Click.
Pin out.
“Everyone, fall back!”
Squeezed the handle.
Pssshhhhhh!!!
White powder blasted forward. Zombies vanished in the cloud for a sec.
Nailed it—Jang smirked.
Fleeting.
Powder cleared, vision returned—Park Dongpal charged from the front.
Tadadadada!!!
“Kiyaaaaaak!”
“Uwaaaak!!”
Crunch.
Straight bite to the shoulder. Jang dropped the extinguisher and crumpled.
Thump.
Too instant—no chance to fight back.
Sssssss—
Jang pissed himself.
“Hweeeek,” he groaned. Yellow puddle spread from his pants.
Even then, instinct to protect the others kicked in—he mustered his last strength to yell.
“R-run.... Run... away.... Run!”
“Kieeeek!”