Chapter 61 2. Protagonist Syndrome
Protagonist Syndrome
Chapter 62
* * *
8th floor of a building in New York, USA.
Michael, a survivor peering at the zombies through a shattered window, doubted his eyes and quickly turned his body.
"Claire! Claire!"
The blonde high school girl had just fed documents into a drum fire to keep the flames alive.
Her green eyes turned toward Michael.
Without even a moment to catch his breath, Michael blurted out:
"We're in trouble! Big trouble! The zombies... they've all gone crazy right now!"
"...Huh? What—what do you mean they've gone crazy?"
"Ah, just come see for yourself! Hurry!!"
Claire, along with the other survivors, rushed to the window in bewilderment.
Staring outside, Claire froze.
"...What... are they doing...?"
The zombies filling New York's streets were blankly staring up at the sky.
Ash fluttered down like snow.
Then—
The zombies' bodies dissolved into black mist.
"!"
Sinister smoke was sucked upward into the sky.
A cloud formed in an instant, thick enough to blot out the endless sky.
The dark cloud swelled as it absorbed smoke from all over New York.
Then, it began moving—toward Seoul.
* * *
Beijing, China.
The zombies silently dissolved into darkness.
"What's happening?!"
"I don't know! The zombies just suddenly—!"
The darkness rose ceaselessly into the sky.
Tens, hundreds of millions of dark particles gathered, obscuring the heavens.
Before long, a massive dark cloud loomed over China's skies.
Ravenous, it continued to devour the darkness as it moved—toward Korea.
Liu Yen, daughter of the Triad boss, trembled as she watched the impossible phenomenon unfold.
"...What the hell is happening now?"
* * *
Australia, Mexico, Europe, Japan, Russia, Africa.
The anomaly occurred across the entire planet.
Zombies covering the Earth transformed into dark clouds and began moving.
Thick, ashen clouds cast shadows over the land, blotting out the gray sky.
Federica, the Italian mafia boss who had been idly watching the spectacle, muttered under her breath.
"Fucking hell, what kind of madness is this?"
The world, already sunken in gray, now bore an eerie dark cloud that shrouded the entire planet.
"Is this really the end...?"
Federica couldn't help but think of one word—the end of the world.
* * *
<Kkhhkhkhkh...>
The Lord of Corpses, floating upside down, let out a derisive laugh.
Above her, the ominous dark cloud writhed and spread.
A mass sacrifice of zombies—in exchange, the undead clouds had been swiftly gathered from across the world.
Every single particle of that cloud was a zombie.
Following the command of the Lord who ruled over all corpses, every zombie had converged here.
From the Lord, ash scattered.
From the shadows of the ash staining the land pitch-black, zombies crawled forth.
I steadied my breathing.
Though the situation was overwhelming, a surge of anticipation rose within me.
『The title 「Hunter of the Wild」 reacts to 「Eraser of Calamity」.』
It was all thanks to that message.
「Eraser of Calamity」
A title once held by the named character Ruijel.
The condition: As the 「Hunter of the Wild」, one must perfectly clear the tutorial in their world.
In that regard, Ruijel had been absurdly lucky.
The world Ruijel was in had been the size of a small kingdom, with just one castle marking its end.
The monsters that appeared were, by sheer luck, goblins—not as lethal as zombies, just weak little imps.
Cunning but mindless, the goblins blindly attacked the castle without any strategy, following the system's orders.
Creatures that didn't use their heads were pathetically fragile.
The castle, in turn, annihilated the swarming goblins.
Thus, Ruijel, the 「Hunter of the Wild」 who had been the first in his world to slay monsters, obtained 「Eraser of Calamity」.
Truthfully, even by the time I had possessed this body, the full details of 「Eraser of Calamity」 had never been revealed.
In the game, the protagonist was on Earth, and with zombies covering the entire planet, obtaining the title had been impossible.
So players could only speculate—no one had ever uncovered its true effects.
Still, Ruijel had been hailed as the 「Hope of the Tower」, boasting immense potential.
(Of course, he later got utterly wrecked by Park Ha-rin, the 「Calamity of the Tower」, but that's beside the point.)
Actually, no—first of all, Ruijel was a man.
I had no intention of handing over anything good to some random dude.
I was already barely keeping myself alive amid the obsessions of certain women—I had no room in my life to care for some other guy who wasn't even Yeong-han.
If I could take something for myself, I would.
But achieving a perfect tutorial clear on Earth had seemed impossible.
Seriously, how the hell was I supposed to hunt down and eliminate every single zombie scattered across the planet?
Unless we were 30th-floor-level powerhouses, it was outright unthinkable.
But thanks to the Lord of Corpses, an anomaly had occurred.
The Lord of Corpses was the ruler of all corpses—she could summon every last zombie scattered across the Earth.
Right. If I could just wipe out that cloud of undead, everything would be over.
<Can you... even handle this...?>
The Lord of Corpses spoke in her usual lethargic voice.
"Nothing's impossible."
At my answer, the Lord twisted her lips.
"!"
The swirling ash intensified. A portion of it transformed into black, viscous liquid.
Like rainwater, it splattered in all directions.
From the shadows darkening across the ground, zombies of indiscernible origins crawled forth.
"...Don't die."
Kim Seon-hwa, standing beside me, tightly gripped my hand as she spoke.
"I'll protect Si-hyun."
Hayase remained steadfast behind me, guarding my back.
I turned my gaze toward the distant battlefield where the clamor of combat never ceased.
KWAANG!
Park Se-eun, swinging her holy greatsword, clashed fiercely with the cult leader.
〈Mana 0 / 52〉
Her mana had long since depleted, forcing her into a brutal melee without the aid of abilities.
Then—
"HYAAAAH!"
A high school girl with flowing orange hair let out a sob as she charged forward, clumsily gripping Dororang's Knife above her head.
Her stance and momentum were both dominated by fear.
Yet, Lee Ji-hyeon's terrified pupils gleamed.
〈Lee Ji-hyeon activates [Pull In].〉
An invisible wave surged forth, yanking the cult leader off balance.
Caught off guard, the cult leader staggered as her center of gravity tilted abruptly.
"Now, left side!"
〈Lee Ji-hyeon activates [Forecast].〉
Oh Han-yeong used her ability to predict the cult leader's next move.
Beside her, Ga Da-hui, gripping Dororang's dagger, lunged forward.
〈Ga Da-hui activates [Correct].〉
Her dagger stance shifted with practiced precision.
Moving with the grace of a model, she dashed across the ground in an instant, closing the distance to the cult leader's neck—and drove the dagger deep. A flicker of discomfort crossed Ga Da-hui's face.
But the cult leader was the enemy who had sought to sow death among her friends. There was no mercy in that hand.
With a movement more refined than before, she twisted the wound in her neck wider. Ga Da-hui slipped away like an eel.
"HAAAAH!"
Park Se-eun, perfectly timed, leapt up and brought her holy sword down.
"GRRAAAGH?!"
The cult leader's eyes bulged as the blade pierced through her abdomen.
"This... isn't over yet!!"
Park Se-eun clenched the hilt of the holy sword and slammed it into the ground.
KWAANG!
The cult leader's body was pinned like a stake.
"You... little...!! GRAAAAAAAH!!"
The cult leader glared defiantly, resisting the sacred power.
She screamed as she desperately tried to pull the sword free.
But—
ZZZTTT!
"GRRGHH?!"
Her hand slipped from the glowing holy sword. Her limbs went limp.
Yet, though her eyelids trembled violently, she did not die.
"W-What? Even after all that, she's still alive...?"
The cult leader couldn't die.
She was the vessel through which the Lord of Corpses would descend upon Earth.
There was no way she would be allowed to perish.
GUUUUUUNN!
A darkness like the abyss surged from the cult leader's gaping wound.
But the Lord of Corpses' mercy ended there.
"Hahk... Hahk..."
The cult leader, impaled by the holy sword, could only writhe in searing agony.
"...Haah."
The girls, drenched in sweat and panting, turned their gazes toward me.
Han Hyeok-do, Minase, Kang So-eun, Jang Yeong-han—many others looked at me as well.
Their desperate eyes conveyed their plea.
Right. There was only one thing left for me to do.
Annihilate the zombies.
[Proliferating Zombie]
[Predator Zombie]
[Mist Zombie]
SHWAAK! SHWAAK!
Countless zombies were swallowed by the tendrils of darkness.
Mutated zombies spewed forth from the abyss, multiplying endlessly.
Park Se-eun, her face exhausted, stopped beside me. But with great effort, she mustered the strength to nod at me.
I nodded back at the girls before charging toward the mutated zombies.
#
—KIIIIEEEEEEK!
As I cleaved through a zombie, rotten blood splattered.
Park Se-eun, Kim Seon-hwa, Hayase, Lee Ji-hyeon, Ga Da-hui, Han Hyeok-do—many fought against the mutated zombies in the midst of the chaos.
But some zombies broke through, targeting me.
The [Poison Bell Zombie], which I had warned everyone to avoid due to its toxicity.
Seeing the oozing, pus-filled eyes of the creature, I thrust my fist forward—shattering its skull with a straight punch.
Green blood exploded outward. The toxin-laced fluid melted through my shirt.
But—
〈[Optimal Progression] is active.〉
The universally adaptable [Optimal Progression] boosted my resistance.
A toxin that would induce fever in any normal human—yet I stubbornly resisted.
Still, the accumulated poison gradually made my skin burn. Soon, fever and chills set in.
Time was against us. Everyone understood that, but the situation was far from manageable.
—GRRRAAAAAH!
The undead horde was endless.
[Elite Skeleton]
A skeleton boasting tremendous bone density broke through the defenders.
Its bone-forged sword descended. I bent my waist to evade, but a gash still opened on my side.
After over ten minutes of brutal combat, my head spun.
[Seize]
I stole as much as I could to endure, but even that was nearing its limit.
KWAANG!
"KYAAAAH!"
One by one, the girls guarding my rear were overwhelmed by the undead assault, collapsing unconscious.
Even Hayase, who had held out the longest—
"Hahk... Hahk..."
—finally planted her sword into the ground, barely keeping herself upright.
The multicolored blood of mutated zombies dripped from her chin.
Everyone had reached their limit.
Kang So-eun, who had been holding back the swarm, was no different. Her brown hair was drenched in sweat as she gasped for breath.
Three of the zombie swarms had their limbs torn off and lay scattered, but only one remained, clutching Kang So-eun's tattered swarm.
KWA-AANG!
As my momentum faltered,
<Hmph.>
The Lord of Corpses gave me a look as if she found this all terribly dull.
"Wha—!?"
The swarm Kang So-eun had been controlling suddenly turned on her.
A swarm that should only have been able to attack me swung its arm toward Kang So-eun.
Still, it was aimed in my direction—just with her in the way.
PAANG!
Kang So-eun, caught in the middle, was struck on the back of her hand and sent flying.
"!"
You fucking bitch...!!
The moment I tried to leap toward Kang So-eun—
—GRRROOOAAAR!
A mutated zombie lunged at me from the side.
I was about to use [Semi-Spirit Form] to break free when—
"Hup!"
Hayase moved faster than I could.
She launched herself into the air and caught Kang So-eun mid-flight.
"Ghk—!?"
But she couldn't fully absorb Kang So-eun's momentum—the two of them tumbled roughly across the ground.
Hayase, blood dripping from her forehead, quickly checked Kang So-eun's condition.
"Ugh..."
Miraculously, Kang So-eun was unharmed despite the impact.
She had managed to redirect the force of the zombie swarm's strike at the last second. If she hadn't, she would've died instantly.
Fucking bitch...!
I gritted my teeth and glared at the Lord of Corpses.
Hayase, caught in the aftermath, was drenched in blood and slumped over. Both of them were on the verge of death.
"..."
Just as my focus wavered from their condition—
The air beside me split open.
SWOOSH!
An [Armpit Zombie] burst from the shadows.
I barely blocked its ambush and drove Do Ro-rang's dagger straight into its skull. As I scanned my surroundings, I realized almost no one was left standing.
"Huff... Huff..."
"Haaahhk..."
Everyone had collapsed from exhaustion.
Even the Striking Sword Way disciples couldn't muster the strength to grip their swords—some couldn't even clench their fists.
Han Hyeok-do himself had slumped to the ground, staring at me with hollow eyes.
His expression screamed, Is this even possible?
Everyone looked like they were on the verge of death.
<...>
And yet, the Lord of Corpses showed no reaction whatsoever.
The dark clouds above thinned indifferently.
More mutated zombies rose from the ground.
Without lifting a finger, she had effortlessly summoned enough to overwhelm us.
"Guess it was impossible after all..."
The corpses of the fanatics rose, assimilated into the horde of mutated zombies. Being capable fighters, they provided more than enough biomass to fuel the swarm. Not only that, but a second zombie swarm was now lumbering toward me.
The ground beneath me trembled.
"Ha..."
A massive hand swung down at me.
I grabbed the Holy Sword of Sacrifice embedded in the earth, and light erupted from it.
PAANG!
The palm split apart from the light, crashing down on either side of me.
I exhaled a blood-tinged breath from between the severed fingers.
"You call this trash enough? Send something stronger."
My words were bold, but my hand gripping the holy sword trembled.
Deep and shallow wounds covered my entire body.
Still, I forced my drooping eyes open and glared at the sky.
The heavens remained swallowed by an impenetrable, dark blue void.
Beneath thunderous black clouds, the woman worshipped as a goddess looked down at me with disappointment.
<So this is where you end too...>
Her tone was as casual as if she were stifling a yawn.
<All bark and no bite... Just a child after all...>
"...Crazy bitch."
I wanted to ask her something in return.
Earth's population was seven billion. Even if only 10% survived, that meant—
The remaining 90%—six point three billion—had turned into zombies.
Sure, half of them probably got lost during transport here, but still.
And you expect me to deal with all that alone?
That's...
Impossible from the start.
But I had to.
For the sake of a better future.
『Optimal Progression sustains your will.』
I couldn't afford to collapse here.
<Well then... I'll take special care preserving your corpse...!>
Her voice rose with anticipation at the thought of acquiring a high-quality body.
At the same time—
WHOOSH!
The zombie swarm's hand descended upon me.
「Mana - 0/G-」
I didn't have enough mana to activate [Semi-Spirit Form].
But—
CREEEAK!
Thanks to Optimal Progression, time around me slowed to a crawl.
Everyone watching screamed—even their cries stretched thin in my distorted time.
Death was close.
Yet, as I stared at the black clouds, a hollow laugh escaped me.
"Where the hell have you been? Some protagonist you are..."
Electricity surged through the clouds.
Unseen by anyone, it dyed the sky before erupting into brilliance.
『Probability of your survival—100%』
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GANG!
What tore through the ominous black clouds was a pale current of lightning.
Like a thunderclap discharging, it branched across the entire sky. And within its radiance—
A streak of blinding white light descended.
<...What?>
The Lord of Corpses turned in disbelief, but it was too late.
KWA-A-A-A-ANG!
The furious bolt had already struck the earth.
A zombie arm in its path was instantly pierced.
The lightning reached me in an instant.
PA-ZI-ZI-ZI-ZIZIK!
Silvery-white hair, dazzlingly bright, fluttered as sparks danced around it.
Amber pupils gleamed from between strands illuminated by the lightning.
Eyes that had once been utterly indifferent now softened as they looked at me.
"Even covered in blood, our Si-hyun is still so handsome, huh?"
Even in a moment like this, she spouted nonsense—this mega yandere.
"You're late. I almost didn't get to see my little brother."
The most terrifying existence in this world.
The strongest being in this universe.
Park Ha-rin grinned at me with a lustful smile.
"That's not allowed, you know~♡"
Pale lightning erupted from her entire body.