Chapter 105
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: I Must Become Stronger
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KWAAANG—!!
"This should be about enough for now."
I stowed away the shotgun and longsword I'd been abusing for hours, then hopped up onto a nearby desk.
Zombie corpses torn to shreds littered the area in every direction.
The stench of blood and rot vibrating through my body made me grimace.
A quick use of 《Clean》 finally made it bearable.
'This is fucking exhausting.'
The physical strain was no joke, but the mental fatigue was even worse.
After taking control of the underground survivor group...
I'd launched a full-scale cull.
I killed off all the old folks with no skills, the washed-up middle-aged men, the ugly women who just ate food without contributing—everyone like that.
The survivors were young or pretty women, those with knight-level skills or standout talents, and men useful for labor.
Even so, the gender ratio was about one man to every two women.
'Most of the fathers and brave men probably died off early.'
How else could women who couldn't even climb a ladder make it up to shelves over 8 meters high on their own?
There was a reason I'd seized the survivor group so easily.
Once the culling was done, the next step was reorganization and forming a subjugation squad.
I handed that off to Doyun, who looked pretty shaken by everything.
He seemed smart enough.
Plus, he knew a lot, so he made makeshift armor, taught people how to fight—did his part, anyway.
Of course, he'd be discarded the moment we linked up with the second floor.
Zombie hunts began alongside Doyun's reorganization.
Unsurprisingly, casualties piled up at first.
Especially since I shoved the constant complainers—the ones just trying to save their own skins—right to the front lines.
But they couldn't run; they'd die by my hand. So they clutched their shield-bases and rebar spears, fighting zombies through tears and gritted teeth.
And for those who survived, I let them relieve their urges with the women I'd designated as communal fucktoys.
After the initial whiners got culled, complaints dropped off fast.
Some even started finding purpose in life.
A few got exclusive sex slaves as rewards.
Subjugation squad volunteers and genuine effort skyrocketed.
That was two days after I'd taken over the group.
Once I confirmed the squad had a solid rotation going, I shifted my focus from group management to zombie extermination.
Swinging my shotgun and longsword, blasting zombies with magic.
But with tens of thousands of them, even non-stop killing barely made a dent.
Constantly rubbing up against those living corpses—it was exhausting, obviously.
Now it was the afternoon of the third day.
I'd been mowing down zombies since morning and was taking a break.
Feeling refreshed after 《Clean》, I sighed and gazed up at the ceiling.
'How long did the power last...?'
It was a little over a month, I think.
Which meant the lights illuminating Martco's basement wouldn't last much longer.
In the dark, the biggest threat was zombies, naturally.
'The time limit isn't just about food, huh.'
Sua probably hadn't thought that far, so it was just coincidence.
But it sure motivated me to move.
I had to wipe out the basement and first-floor zombies ASAP.
Time limit: one week.
Four days left.
'Gotta ramp up my power.'
With that thought, I opened the shop window for the first time in ages.
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Points on Hand: 4852
4852 points.
Before coming underground, I had around 2100.
In the past day-plus, I'd taken down at least 2700 zombies from hunting.
But simple math said I could kill about 10,800 more.
Not enough for the first floor, let alone clearing the basement.
Plus, once the bulk were gone, I'd have to hunt down stragglers—so even fewer in practice.
To speed things up, I needed to get stronger.
But dumping points into stats felt inefficient.
'The returns are too low.'
My strength and agility were at 200 now.
But it wasn't twice as strong as at 100.
Ballpark, maybe 1.5 times.
Probably halves every 100 points.
That was my theory.
'So what I need are skills.'
That's why I'd opened the shop. I scrolled through buyable skills, pondering.
'Gotta get magic types and swordsmanship for sure.'
Plus skill-like abilities close to superpowers, like 《Nameless》 or 《Enslave》.
Then one caught my eye: 《Enhancement》.
160 points—the one I'd skimmed past when buying 《Clean》 before.
No descriptions in the point shop, so no clue what it exactly did.
But it kept drawing my gaze.
Like it was exactly what I needed right now.
'It's just 160 points. Might as well.'
I decided to buy it.
Along with the next steps after basic swordsmanship and low-level magic: 《Mid-level Swordsmanship》 for 700p and 《Mid-level Magic》 for 900p.
And 《Enhancement》 for 160p.
Since I'd been using the shotgun too, I grabbed 《Marksmanship》 for 300p, just in case.
Left me with 2792 points.
Perfect for the next one: 《Advanced Swordsmanship》 at 2700p.
《Advanced Magic》 jumped to 4000p, so I splurged on Advanced Swordsmanship instead.
'What a letdown.'
Nearly 5000 points gone in a flash, down to 92.
I dumped the rest into magic power.
Magic power scaled better than other stats, at least.
Points hit zero, magic power at 232. I closed the system.
New skill knowledge flooded in. I shut my eyes, letting it settle.
Advanced Swordsmanship, Mid-level Magic, Marksmanship, Enhancement.
It took 30 minutes to sort four skills' worth in my head.
Eyes opened. The world looked... different.
"This is..."
Blue particles floating in the air, dust-sized.
Curious, I reached out—they scattered.
Then I noticed them rising from my hand too.
'Mana.'
Instinct told me that's what they were.
Source: me.
They vanished beyond a certain range.
Mid-level Magic must've boosted my mana sensitivity.
'And the movement's totally different.'
Like when I first got swordsmanship.
Body optimizing automatically.
But now, beyond optimization—movements suited for actual swordplay.
I pulled the longsword from my inventory.
Grip shifted naturally, stance set.
Countless sword paths flashed in my mind. Body followed.
SHHHHK—!
Air sliced sharply, echoing.
I was stunned.
"Sounded like three swings, but..."
I'd swung nine times.
Technique deceiving even sound.
I was overwhelmingly stronger now.
And that wasn't all.
I drew mana from my body, wrapping the blade.
But operated it differently now.
Not just clumping mana—sharper, finer control.
Treated the blade as an extension of my body, circulating it.
After ten perfect cycles, blue light settled in the core, thin blue film coating the edge.
'Sword aura.'
That thing from wuxia or fantasy, exclusive to powerhouse knights.
I'd ignored expert stuff before, but like I was compelled, I stabbed the sword into the ground.
SCHWUK—
Was it stabbing? More like inserting.
Blade sliced into concrete like fruit, no resistance.
Insane. Nothing else to say.
"Grroooaaar..."
A zombie shuffled by.
《Nameless》 active, so it ignored me, passing harmlessly.
I swung the aura-wrapped longsword lightly, like brushing it.
SHHHHRUK—
And just like pudding, the zombie split in half.